Healthy, Home-made School Lunch's

I thought this was an AWESOME idea for back to school lunch's. Check it out!

http://www.theidearoom.net/2010/08/kids-home-lunch-ideas.html

Holy lack of posting!

Sorry I haven't posted FOREVER!!! We got a surprise a couple of months ago. I AM PREGNANT with boy #3! I cannot cook when I am pregnant. Making just about anything grosses me out....therefore, no posts. We cut up fruits and veggies and just eat them plain. It is delicious but very uneventful. Sorry, I will get back on the bandwagon soon...hopefully!

Balsamic Chicken

Sorry for the lack of posting....this one is DELISH!

Ingredients:
4 chicken breast (frozen)
1 bell pepper (I used 1/2 red, 1/2 orange)
4 sm Zucchini
4 Roma tomatoes
1 can black beans
1/4 c balsamic Vinegar
1/8 c olive oil
1/2 c sliced green onions

1. Put frozen chicken breast in a large skillet with lid, on low. Salt and pepper

2. Meanwhile, cut up bell pepper and zucchini and add to cooking chicken.

3. Let cook until chicken is 1/2 cooked. (about 15 min). Take out chicken and cut into pieces. Re-add to vegetable mix.

4. Cut green onions and tomatoes.

5. When chicken is done, turn off heat. Add tomatoes, onions and beans until they are warm, drain juices.

6. Mix vinegar and oil and pour over top.

YUM!!!

Children: Make sure pieces are cut small enough for them to eat.

Babies: before adding the chicken back in shred a little and set aside some beans. Once it is cooked, cut some zucchini small enough for your baby. Make sure you take out what the baby will eat BEFORE you add the vinegar and oil.

Typical Lunch

This is our typical lunch.....Every.Single.Day! We have a peanut butter & Jelly Sandwich with sugar free jelly. Side it with dairy, fruit and a veggie. WE NEED HELP! We use all different kinds of fruits such as banana's, mango's, cantaloupe, grapes, strawberry's...you get the idea. We have a hard time finding veggies that are easy. We usually go for carrots, bell peppers or cucumber. Instead of the cheese we sometimes have vanilla yogurt and dip our fruits and veggies in that. My son LOVES that!

As healthy as this is....I can't get away from it. It is the one EASY healthy thing that both me and my son will eat.

I need Ideas!!!! HELP

Berrylicious Syrup

This is SOOOO super tasty. You can use Strawberry's, Blueberries, raspberries or whatever you desire.

1 c. Fresh or Frozen Berries
2 Tbls. Orange Juice Concentrate
1/8 c. Sugar.

Cut larger berries into smaller pieces. Place in a pot with orange juice concentrate and sugar. Bring to a boil and serve. I like it cold or hot. You can serve it either way. Mmmmmm and those poached eggs were DELISH!

Simple Chicken

Ingredients:
16 Cherry Tomatoes
1 c. Salsa
1 Lime
4 Chicken Breast

Cook the chicken breasts (plain, no water) in a crock pot on high 4-6 hrs or on low for 6-8 hrs. When they are completely cooked, take them out and shred the chicken. Place 1/4 cup salsa on each breast along with 4 cut up cherry tomatoes. Cook on 350 for 15 minutes. Take out and squeeze fresh lime on top.

Children: Put whatever they like on top or give them chicken with squeezed lime.

Ratatouille

There are SO many of Zonya's recipes that I like!! Check them out here. That is where I got this one. It is DELISH! It makes a large batch. I actually used a 9X13 and 8X8 and cooked them both at the same time. It worked perfect. I put chicken in one and no chicken in the other. This is only 233 Calories and 10 g of FIBER per 2 1/4 cups!!! (Without Chicken). Lovin it!

Preheat oven to 350.

In a LARGE bowl combine:
1 sm eggplant unpeeled and cut into 1" cubes
4 sm potatoes, diced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 sm zucchini, cut into 1" pieces
2 lg onions sliced

Put in a 10"X15" baking dish (or in the 9X13 and 8X8)

Note: if you are doing chicken put 4 chicken breasts under veggies on the baking dish.
Then....mix together:
2 tsp minced garlic (4 cloves)
1 tsp dried basil
1 1/2 salt
2 cans (14.5 oz each) diced tomatoes, no salt added
3T olive oil

Pour over vegetables and toss.
Cover and bake at 350 for 2 hours
When timer rings, pull out of the oven and let sit covered for an additional 30 min.

Serve and sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese over it. ENJOY!
Baby: You may want to set aside a small amount of the veggies your baby will eat and cook them in a separate pan the same time you cook the rest. It ends up soft enough they should be able to eat anything.

Children: We fed our 2 year old the same thing we had. We just cut it in small enough pieces from the beginning.

To find the rest of the nutritional info on this recipe, click on the link above and then click on the Ratatouille recipe. The info will be at the bottom of the recipe.

Orange Bran Flax Muffins

This is another one of my moms fancy shmancy recipe's...once again I change it to how I like it though. We freeze them in freezer bags also for snacks, breakfasts and whatever we want!

I make them in 2 sizes. The large ones for me and my husband and the small ones for my little men. It is easier for them to hold onto and I think they like that they have their own special ones.

1 1/2 C. Oats - blended in the blender to make them more fine
2 C. Whole wheat Flour
1 C. Flax seed
1 Tbsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Oranges, quartered and seeded
1/2 C. Brown sugar
1 C. Buttermilk (I use powdered)
2 eggs
1 tsp. Baking soda
1 1/4 C. raisins, craisins, blueberries, raspberries....or whatever you want. I used blueberries and raspberries.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. You can use paper liners if you would like...I don't so I just coat it with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine oats, flour, flax seed, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a blender or food processor, combine oranges, brown sugar, buttermilk, eggs and baking soda. Blend well. Pour orange mixture into dry ingredients. Mix until well blended, stir in raisins. put in muffin tins and bake for 18-20 minutes. Makes 24 or 12 lg.

Brazilian Black Beans and Rice

First off, don't look at my white rice. My husband usually likes the brown rice but not with this recipe. It is still a good one...you can DEFINITELY try it with brown rice. I like it just fine.

2 c uncooked rice
2 c or 1 lrg can of Black beans
1 pkg Turkey smokies (they are less than half the fat in the beef ones)
1 Onion chopped
1 minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Cook rice. Saute garlic and onions. Add smokies adn beans until warmed through. Add to rice and eat....SOOO Easy!

Children: Serve the same

Babies: I would take out the beans and rice and give it to them.

Asian Salad

This was such a fun salad and my SON LOVED IT! That is what makes it all worth it.

You can add as much or as little of these ingredients as you want to make it as big or as small as you want.

Spinach sliced into small pieces
Tomato into small cubes
Frozen peas
Frozen corn
Gala apple into small pieces
Craisins
Top with a healthy Asian dressing!! MMmmmmmmmmmm!