My Plant-Based Family

Eating Whole Food, Plant-Based Diet recipes, On a Budget.

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7 Tips for Simple Plant-Based School Lunches

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When I originally wrote this post in 2016, my youngest was starting kindergarten. We have a 10-year gap between our older and younger kids, so at the time it felt like I’d been packing school lunches FOREVER.

Now that I can look back on all those years of packing plant-based lunches, I know which habits actually made the biggest difference. The biggest lesson? Keep it simple. You don’t need a Pinterest-perfect lunch box or a completely different meal every day.

These are the simple school-lunch tips that worked for our family and made busy mornings much easier.

Simple School Lunches

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One thing that made packing lunch easier was sticking to a simple formula: a main dish + a fruit or vegetable + an easy side. I still think simplicity is one of the best ways to make school lunches manageable.

Want examples? See How to Pack an Easy Plant-Based Lunch Box.

Tip 1: Use Containers Your Child Can Open

If you’ve ever visited your kids at lunch, you can see it’s a madhouse, especially at the kindergarten table. A lot of the kids can’t open their containers or individual packages. You end up with a 5-year-old who can’t open their applesauce and just talks to their new friends.

We always have our kids practice with new lunch bags, lunch boxes, thermoses, and containers. They should be able to handle everything they take on their own. We even practice for a few days before school starts so that I can see that they can operate every type of container.

Tip 2: Keep the Lunch Simple

If this is their first school experience, they probably don’t know how to manage their time. Stick to just a few foods to avoid overwhelming them when they open their lunch box. We pack a main item, a fruit and/or veggie, and another item. Then each day, I check the lunch box to see what gets eaten.

If the lunch box is empty, I’ll add more food next time. If there is still food left, I’ll find out why: maybe a friend shared food, maybe something didn’t survive the morning in the lunch box, or maybe they spent the whole lunch talking to their friends.

Tip 3: Let Your Child Have Some Input

I didn’t give my kids unlimited choices. Instead, I’d offer simple options: apples or strawberries? Crackers or pretzels? Giving them some control helped me pack foods they were more likely to eat without turning lunch packing into a negotiation.

My ultimate goal is to teach them to pack their own lunch and make reasonable choices. No, you can’t pack a lunchbox full of fruit; you need more types of food to stay fueled.

Tip 4: Pack the Right Amount for YOUR Child

I quickly learned that my kids didn’t need identical lunches. One barely ate during lunch because he was busy with everything happening around him. The other wanted every bit of space filled—and ate it all. He normally gets two types of fruit, a main dish, something a little “snacky” like pretzels, and anything else he can fit in there. Pay attention to what actually comes home in the lunch box and adjust accordingly.

Tip 5: Let Older Kids Help Pack Their Lunch

My ultimate goal is for the kids to pack their own lunch. Around first grade, I caught one of my kids packing a piece of bread, a granola bar and crackers. Now he is 17 and still eats that way; he isn’t a fan of most fruit or veggies.

Though we’ve simplified our lunch box packing formula over the years, our earliest lunch box guide is still online.

Tip 7: Keep Cold Foods Cold

We always have various-sized lunch box ice packs that either go into a special pocket of the lunch bag or just go inside the bag. We’ve even used one where they put the whole thing in the freezer. I don’t have a favorite brand, so I just pick what is the best value and meets our current needs.

The best advice I can give you is to have twice as many ice packs as you think you will need. I can’t tell you how many times we went to pack lunches and realized that yesterday’s ice packs had not been returned to the freezer. In this situation, more is better.

More Plant-Based School Lunch Help

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Bob’s Red Mill Oatmeal Cups Giveaway

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This post is sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Once school starts our mornings are packed. We eat breakfast, get ready, make lunches, and are out the door. I’ve found a healthy, hot breakfast that my kids can make themselves, Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Oatmeal Cups.

Bobs Red Mills Oatmeal Cups

We had gotten into a cereal rut because I needed something easy and fast in the mornings. My kids will often wake up before me; I’m not one of those wake up before your kids kind of moms (I get every minute of sleep I can). That meant the kids would usually have cereal. I preferred for them to have something healthier but our busy mornings didn’t always allow it.

Then I discovered Bob’s Red Mill Oatmeal Cups. At first I was skeptical but the ingredients list won me over. The oatmeal cups vary by flavor but use real ingredients that I would typically put in homemade oatmeal like flax and chia seeds. My favorite flavor is Apple Cinnamon!

Bobs Red Mills Oatmeal Cups

My kids are 5 and 7 and they can prepare the Oatmeal Cups all by themselves. If you are a parent of little kids you know this is life changing. They pour the water into the cup, microwave it for one minute, let it set for two minutes, then it’s ready to eat.

There are a lot of things I love about these oatmeal cups:

  • Delicious flavors
  • Healthy Ingredients
  • Easy to prepare (even my kids can do it)
  • Fast
  • Easy clean up
  • Vegan and Gluten-Free

We will still make oatmeal the old fashioned way or in my Instant Pot but these oatmeal cups are a great option, especially during those hectic first days back to school.

Bob’s Red Mill is happy to sponsor a giveaway for an assortment of oatmeal cups! One lucky winner in the continental U.S. will win a selection of oatmeal cups.

Giveaway

Update: Congrats to our winner Donna K!

Bobs Red Mill Oatmeal Cups Giveaway

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If you don’t win the giveaway you can find these oatmeal cups at local retailers (I found them at Target), or order them from Bob’s Red Mill or Amazon.

This post was sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill. The opinions and thoughts are my own. This page contains affiliate links. 

Instant Pot Giveaway

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There are two kinds of people:

People who love their Instant Pot…

and people who want an Instant Pot.

Today I’m excited to make one of you a little closer to owning your own Instant Pot!

Instant Pot Giveaway

When I went to work full-time a little over a year ago the first thing I did was buy an Instant Pot. I knew that my time would be limited and I wouldn’t be able to watch a soup simmer all day or keep an eye on my Crock Pot.

Instant Pot was a huge help for my family. We most frequently use it to “bake” potatoes, or to cook beans, rice and oatmeal.

I wrote a post called 10 Reasons I Bought an Instant Pot and I’ve come up with more reasons since then.

What You Need to Know

I get a lot of email about Instant Pots. Here is what you need to know:

  • Instant Pots are safe.
  • You can cook things quickly, but it’s not magic, it takes a little time to come to pressure and release pressure.
  • You can use it as a slow cooker, but you’ll want this lid. I just bought it.
  • You don’t have to use all of the buttons, I cook many things on manual.
  • When you first unbox your Instant Pot you will be overwhelmed but it’s a lot easier than it looks.
  • You can find recipes made for the Instant Pot so you don’t have to figure out conversions.
  • When it is done cooking, it will keep the food warm until you are ready.
  • It comes with a trivet that is used inside the Instant Pot, we set potatoes on it to steam

The Instant Pot Club

Ok, there isn’t a real “club” but there are a ton of people who use and love their Instant Pot, it’s kind of like an unofficial sisterhood (society is another alternative) (or brotherhood if you prefer) of people who love to talk about cooking with their Instant Pot. You can connect with them on Facebook or Twitter but this Facebook Group is one of my favorite resources.

There are also several great books like New Fast Food Kitchen and Vegan Pressure Cooking that have a lot of great plant-based recipes that are made in the Instant Pot. Vegan Pressure Cooking for Kindle is only $2.99 right now!

Get Your Instant Pot

Instant Pot is available on Amazon. This is how I buy almost everything except perishable groceries. I love Amazon! The price on the Instant Pot is great right now, barely over $100 but it changes all the time so buy it quickly. Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial to get free shipping!

Instant Pot is also available on Walmart.com with an in-store pick-up option.

Giveaway

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Instant Pot is making this giveaway exclusively North America, the continental US and Canada (sorry Hawaii and Alaska) due to shipping: We cannot ship to Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico or Internationally. The UK site is a separate business entity, not sponsoring the Giveaway.

This page contains affiliate links. I was not compensated for this giveaway. All opinions are my own.

The Last Back to School Giveaway

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I’ve really enjoyed the last two months of Back to School Giveaways but all good things must come to an end. Today will start our last week of giveaways but I’m actually giving away 3 separate prizes! I’ve still got some back to school tips I’ll continue to share this month!

Prize #1 Fresh & Fit Bento Lunch Kit

bento kit 1

One lucky winner will receive a Fresh & Fit Bento Lunch Kit.

The thing that really sets this lunch box apart is on the inside. The lid has built-in sections for ice packs. The ice pack are removable which make for easy cleaning and freezing.

bento kit 2

I think these are great for anyone who needs to keep a lunch cool until lunch time. The ice packs sit right up against the food which work better than ice packs that may be in your lunch bag but not necessarily near your food. We’ve been using the ice packs for years, even before we knew about the lunch kits.

bento kit 3

We’ve used these for sandwiches, salads and just snacks. The 3 compartment design keeps foods separated.

Prize #2 FLYJOY Bars

flyjoy 1

These may be my favorite bars! I love them!

I’ve loved every flavor I’ve tried. These energy bars, yes they are considered energy bars, they are made from quinoa, oats and flax. FLYJOY Bars are all natural, gluten-free, non-gmo and vegan. They contain nuts so these wouldn’t be suitable for someone with nut-allergies. (I have news about my sons oral challenge I’ll share later this month.)

flyjoy 2

Read the story about how FLYJOY bars came to be. You’ll be inspired!

Another great thing about FLYJOY is that every FLYJOY purchase donates 10% of the profit to HOPE International, making it possible for women, men and families to break the cycle of poverty and pursue their dreams through self-sustaining businesses and education.

One winner will receive a package with all six flavors. Trust me, you’ll have a hard time picking a favorite. These filling bars are perfect for breakfast or snack. I’ve taken them hiking for energy and eaten them on the way to church when I didn’t have time for breakfast at home.

Flavors include Cashew Cookie Dough, Peanut Cacao Nib, Cranberry Almond, Cherry Coconut, Coconut Almond, and Blue Berry Almond.

Prize #3 Product Assortment

I’ve given away a lot of great products over the last two month. This week I’m choosing some of my favorites to send to one lucky winner.

The package will contain an assortment of full and sample sizes of products like SunButter, Enjoy Life Food Soft Baked Cookies and Plentils, SoyNut Butter and more. I’ll have to see what all I can fit in the box.

Enter below and you’ll be entered in all 3 giveaways!

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giveaway

Plentils Giveaway

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I am always on the lookout for allergy-friendly foods to put in my kids lunch. As much as I’d like to be able to make their lunches from scratch everyday that isn’t a reality for us. Instead I search for allergy-safe snacks that my kids will love.

plentils giveaway

I can’t compromise on quality. My son has food allergies and Plentils are free from the top 8 most common food allergens. It is really important that my son avoid wheat/gluten.

NOTE: Enjoy Life Foods recently had a voluntary recall on their 10 oz semi-sweet mini chocolate chips for undeclared ingredients. Other products were not affected. See more details.

I love the crunch and texture. They aren’t drowning in oil like potato chips, instead they are light and crisp. Oh, and they taste great! There are several flavors but I prefer the light sea salt.

Plentils help him feel like he can eat the same kind of food that other kids in his class eat. I’ve had some people tell me that it isn’t important for kids to eat “regular” food. Eating plant-based and having food allergies is already restrictive enough in my opinion, especially for a 4 year old (in a class room full of kids eating unsafe foods).  These are safe for my little guy, he doesn’t feel like he is missing out.  

We usually reserve these for lunches. I put them into one of the smaller areas of our EasyLunchBoxes containers for smaller portions (it helps them last longer). Plentil Giveaway  

Plentils Giveaway

You can enter to win 4 bags of Plentils from Enjoy Life Foods! Giveaway open to US only. a Rafflecopter giveaway By the way,  Enjoy Life Foods has a coupon in the Whole Deal magazine at Whole Foods for $1.50 off any 2 Enjoy Life Products over $3.00 (includes the Baking Mixes).

Bob’s Red Mill Giveaway

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I haven’t talked much about Plant-Based breakfasts ideas since I started all of this Back to School excitement. Today I’m excited to share the latest giveaway! It’s perfect for all of you in a breakfast rut, but we will get to that in a minute!

On Monday’s Meal Plan I admitted that I have a bad habit of skipping breakfast. I know I need to eat but I get busy and half way through my morning I start feeling it. You know the feeling, the “I’m completely depleted and I can’t go on” feeling. Please tell me I’m not the only one!

I’ve found an easy solution. On the weekend I’ll cook a large pot of oatmeal, usually in the Instant Pot and we will eat it for several days. I cook it up plain, without any seasonings then each morning everyone can choose their own toppings to mix in.

Take a look at a few of our favorites.

Oatmeal Giveaway

All three of these are made with steel-cut oats. The first is apple and raisin oatmeal with cinnamon and hemp seeds. The second has blueberries and raw pepitas. The third is simply banana slices and chia seeds.

You know I’m partial to Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free oats. We use them every week. I cook steel-cut oats in my Instant Pot or if I’m in a bigger hurry I’ll use Quick Cooking Oats and cook them in the microwave.

Of course you don’t have to stick to breakfasts, oats are great in desserts too. I’ll let you in  on a little secret, we eat oatmeal for dinner too! It’s so easy and my family loves it.

Bob’s Red Mill Giveaway

Today you get a chance to try some of my favorite oats for FREE! One lucky winner will win this prize pack from Bob’s Red Mill plus a $25 gift card to be used on the Bob’s Red Mill website!

Bobs Red Mill giveaway

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Hurry and enter this giveaway won’t last long!

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