Last Friday, we had four of Eben’s sweet little friends over for a dreidel playing, cookie decorating, candy cane and cocoa consuming – fun for all. Wow! It was fun, fun, fun! The children played several rounds of dreidel, created the most beautifully decorated holiday cookies you have ever seen and just had a overall grand time.
The mister, Eben and I made the organic sugar cookies and organic frosting the night before – a favorite among the children were the gingerbread and snowmen shapes.
This type of a party is simple and can be thrown together in a few minutes. As Eben would say it was, “Easy, peasy, lemon squeezey!” I used our everyday dinnerware, a reusable snowman and miniature holiday trees as the centerpieces and kept things extra simple by only offering cookies and organic peppermint cocoa. We created a fun ambiance, by turning on all of the holiday and Christmas tree lights and playing A Charlie Brown Christmas.
Want to throw a holiday cookie decorating party this week? Here is my sugar cookie recipe to get you started:
Ingredients:
5 cups all-purpose organic flour
2 teaspoons organic baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 cups organic butter or Earth balance, softened
2 white organic sugar
4 organic egg or egg substitute
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400°. 2. In a bowl mix together flour, baking soda and baking powder. 3. In a larger bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Add in one egg at a time and the vanilla. Gradually add the dry ingredients. 4. Cover and chill dough in refrigerator for at least 1 hour or overnight. 5. Roll out dough on floured surface until 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. 6. Bake 6-8 minutes and cool completely.
How do get into the holiday spirit with your children?
Celebrate Hanukkah by making organic miniature dreidel cakes. These little treats are easy enough to make with your kids — they’ll be your master decorators and you can create a new tradition that your family will look forward to year after year. Jump over to Inhabitots to learn how you can make miniature dreidel cakes in a few short steps.
Have you had a chance to make some fun Halloween goodies for your family? If not, there is still time. Here are my favorite 3 quick and simple Halloween treats – that will have your little goblins and ghosts moaning for more!
– Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Sticks: These are a Halloween must at our house – a treat that the entire family enjoys. All you need are popsicle sticks, large marshmallows, melted chocolate chips and sprinkles. Whole Foods has a great selection of marshmellows and sprinkles that are vegan and organic.
– Mummy Pizzas: These are great for a quick Halloween lunch or snack – perfect for a party and can be made using all organic ingredients!
– Yummy Mummies: I made these several years ago and use them every Halloween – especially for parties. If you construct them well, they will last forever.
What are your simple Halloween treats that you save for the big day?
* The lead image is the Haunted Halloween House that Eben and I made. What do you think?
We spent Sunday at our Green Market – it was fantastic! Ever more fantastic than I expected. Eben choose a giant organic cinnamon roll and devoured it. I was lucky – he gave me a bite.
Eben has always wanted to take his lunch to school. I have asked him before if you would like to eat school lunch and he looks at me as if I am a tad crazy and says, “I am a take my lunch kid.” So, that is that, he takes his lunch to school. I am glad that he wants to because the mister and I can influence what he has for lunch and since he leaves everything in the lunch box that he doesn’t eat, I can keep track of that too. However, the tricky part is making lunches that are delicious, nutritious and hot. It is cold here in Colorado! Another challenge we faced was finding a lunch box that is easy to use, will accommodate a thermos and is good on the environment.
We checked out several lunch boxes and decided on a laptop lunch box system. First, we love the design and that the lunch box is Earth friendly. It is a large lunch box with five smaller containers inside (1 large with a lid, 1 large without a lid, 2 medium without lids and 1 smaller one with lid). It also comes with a fork, spoon and a bottle for a drink. You can also purchase an insulted bag to hold the laptop lunch, I would highly recommend purchasing this. It is insulted and has a pocket for a napkin and another zipper pouch that is perfect to hold an ice pack. It also has an adjustable strap so it can be worn like a messenger bag. (Which Eben loves because any chance he has to be like Indiana Jones is a bonus.)
The best part of the system is everything is BPA free and easy to use and clean. It however does not have anyway to hold hot foods and is not big enough to accommodate a thermos. Our solution was to purchase a stainless steel thermos. Then, we found a local artisan who creates handmade thermos cozies that we were able to attach to Eben’s lunchbox with a clip. It has worked out really well and has allowed Eben to have a combination of hot and cold items for lunch everyday.
Now comes the really tricky part, how to pack a healthy lunch that your kids will actually eat. When packing Eben’s lunch each morning, the mister and I always choose at least one item from the following categories: protein, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, calcium, and a healthy fat. This way he has a good selection and will have a well balanced meal that will gives him the energy that he needs to stay focused through the latter part of the school day. Try to choose at least one item from each category, read on to get started. 1. Protein:
organic almond, soy or peanut butter
organic cheese
organic hummus
organic beans
organic edamame
organic tofu
organic nuts
organic seeds
organic hard boiled egg (not vegetarian)
organic wild caught tuna or salmon (not vegetarian)
organic whole grain sandwich bread, pita, crackers or tortilla
organic whole grain pasta, couscous, quinoa or brown rice
organic granola
organic corn
3. Vegetables:
organiccarrots
organic olives
organic celery
organic green beans
organic peas
irganic cucumber
organic eggplant
organic potato
organic sweet potato
organic cabbage
organic tomato
organic squash
organic coleslaw
4. Fruits:
organic apple
organic banana
organic strawberries
organic peach
organic plum
organic grapes
organic watermelon
organic cantaloupe
organic apricot
organic orange
organic mango
organci kiwi
organic nectarine
organic raspberries
5. Calcium:
organic cheese
organic yogurt
organci tofu
organic almonds or almond butter
organic beans
organic hummus
organic milk or fortified soy, rice or almond milk
organic fortified orange juice
6. Healthy Fats:
organicalmonds or almond butter
organic avocado
organic extra virgin oil olive
organic flax seed or oil
orghanic olives
Here is a week’s worth of meal plans that Eben really enjoys, these may help you get started or you can add them to your already great kids lunch box meal plans. Day 1
6 organic homemade vegetable nuggets
1/2 cup organic homemade coleclaw
1/2 organic plum
1/2 cup organic vanilla yogurt
100% organic homemade vegetable juice
Day 2
organic bean, cheese and hot sauce burrito
organic carrots with hummus
organic cherries and grapes
1/2 cup organic vanilla yogurt
organic milk or 100% organic homemade vegetable juice
Day 3
organic homemade cheese raviolis
3 organic whole grain crackers
organic carrots with hummus
1/2 cup organic strawberries
100% organic homemade vegetable juice
Day 4
organic homemade minestrone soup
3 organic whole grain crackers
1/2 cup organic olives
1 organic fresh peach
organic cucumbers with organic strawberry vinegrette
There are many other meal plans available, you can make sandwiches such as almond or peanut butter with 100% fruit spread. Another huge hit at our house is pizza, the mister will make a few homemade organic whole grain vegetarian pizzas from scratch on the weekends and then freeze them for later in the week.
What are your children’s favorite lunch box meals?
