Lunchbox Tuesdays

Hello there. :)
If you have been keeping track, you probably noticed that we missed Lunchbox Tuesdays last week. Reason being, the crazyrediculousnasty snowstorm knocked out power to 85% of the state....so no power=no school=no lunchbox Tuesday. But we are back on the grid now (hooray!!) and back to business as usual.

So for this week's Lunchbox Tuesday, I wanted to try something different. A Facebook friend introduced me to a new concept (new to me, at least) for school lunches. I was hesitant at first, when I googled "Bento lunch" I got pictures and descriptions of these Asian dishes that I knew my kids would not even CONSIDER eating. Then she referred me to one of her favorite websites...http://www.bentolunch.net/, and I was hooked!  So here is my first attempt at a Bento-style lunch. :)

This lunch contains:

• A taco corn muffin. This is my semi-homemade version of this. I used Jiffy corn muffin mix, prepared the batter as directed. I made taco meat as I normally would, except I used hot Italian sausage instead of hamburger meat. (My family LOVES hot, spicy food. ) I mixed the taco meat in with the corn muffin mix, added some shredded cheese, and cooked as directed on the Jiffy box. This covered the grain and protein portion of a healthy lunch. :)
• Sliced apples and organic baby carrots. Ideally, half of your child's lunch should consist of fruits and vegetables.
• Goldfish crackers. The Princess has snack time at school, and she ate them then.
• Yogurt. With bento-lunches, all of the food ideally would be in the same container, but The Princess loves her Yoplait, and that is a luxury I don't mind allowing her. (dairy:check!)
• Not shown:bottle of water.

I love the idea of Bento-lunches, its a fun way to stray away from the ordinary brown bag lunch, and it gives us a reason to play with our food. :) I would encourage you all to check out this website if you are looking for ways to make lunchtime a little different for your little ones.

We all know that a healthy diet is essential to healthy hair. A diet that is lacking in essential vitamins and minerals can lead to dry, brittle hair; it can slow the growth of hair, and cause flaking of the skin and scalp. Every week I am going to give one simple way to make your lunchboxes healthier.

This week's tip: Substitute sugary drinks, and juices, with plain ol' water. Even 100% juices contain a lot of sugar, and a lot less nutrients than you would get from just eating the fruit itself. In an apple, for example, the healthiest part is the peel, which is not included in the juice. Find out more about that on Livestrong.com. Substituting water for other drinks will lower calories, provide better hydration, and encourage better eating habits down the line. Try it, I double dare you! :)

So I have shared with you a banana hotdog, and now a taco corn muffin. If you have a cool lunch that you would like to share, send me an email at differentkindsofcurls@gmail.com.