Back to School 2013

I cannot seem to wrap my head around the fact that summer is really over. Where did it go? Back in June, the summer seemed to stretch far out ahead of us - almost like it would never end. We had so many exciting plans - and yet summer always seems to go by so fast that we never get to half of them. But enough reminiscing about summer. It is time to move my thoughts onto the school year ahead.

Brother #1 and #2 - 4th grade and 1st grade. How did I get so old?!

The Princess is not in school yet, so I just have to focus on The Brothers. Both boys started at a new school this year. While not pleasant, some change is good and I am hoping this change will be beneficial. Brother #2 will be eating lunch at school this year. Since I am not a fan of school lunch, I have been wracking my brain to come up with new and fun lunch ideas that The Brothers will eat.

Brother #1 is uber picky and only wants what everyone else is getting (namely a sandwich, chips and a cookie). We don't really do chips, so I spent most of last year trying new things to fill his lunch container. Brother #2 is a bit more adventurous (and doesn't care about what others think of his lunch) so we will be trying out some different things with him.

Last year, we tried out Ziploc containers with divided compartments. They worked so great for us (and saved on plastic baggies) that we will be using them again this year. I have a thermos for hot foods (which Brother #1 would never use since you don't need a thermos if you are taking sandwiches every day). I am also planning on picking up some Ball Plastic Freezer jars - we may attempt to send smoothies for school lunch.

I have put together a list of different websites with some great school lunch ideas. No matter what type of allergy your child has or if you prefer vegan, gluten free or clean-eating lunches, there will be something in this list for you!

Keeley McGuire: Lunch Made Easy: 20 Non-Sandwhich School Lunch Ideas for Kids!

New Nostalgia: 14 Healthy School Lunch Recipes Your Kids Will Love

Healthy Kitchen Guide: Simply Healthy School Lunch Ideas

Super Healthy Kids: Sticky Stacky Sandwiches

Have a great school year!!

Jana

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Bowls

I'M BACK!! Despite my long absence, we are all still alive and kicking. Which, if you follow me on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, you might have noticed since there was continued activity on those sites. Summer is crazy with vacations, swimming, friends and the flu thrown in there for good measure (really - who gets the flu in July?). I figured I would just take a short break... which turned into a really looooooong break. Ha!

I must confess that I really don't enjoy the "writing" part of blogging. Yeah, I do realize that writing is the biggest part of blogging. What I really like is cooking and baking and sharing my recipes with people. So, I put up with writing (and taking pictures of my recipes - which I don't particularly enjoy either. You might have noticed since they aren't the best photos) to be able to get them out there for you to enjoy. Why am I telling you this? Because it most likely means I will take more breaks (short or long) when I just don't feel like writing. Or when I don't have time to bake - which happened this summer as well. It was just too hot and I was either too tired, too sick or too busy.

I finally have a new recipe idea to share. I saw this on Facebook and thought I should try it out. The Princess and The Brother's loved them! It was super easy and made chocolate chip cookies a little more exciting.

Simply make a batch of Egg-less Chocolate Chip Cookies. I have read that using an all butter cookie recipe will cause your dough to spread too much and create a big mess. I used all coconut oil in my recipe, but it made the dough a bit stiff and hard to work with. I would suggest using half butter and half coconut oil.

Once your dough is made, instead of baking them as you normally would, take a muffin tin and turn it over. Smash the cookie dough all over the muffin "bumps". You can put tinfoil over the bumps if you want, but I just greased them down a bit with some coconut oil and smashed the dough on.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-15 minutes or until your bowls are a nice, golden brown. Let cool completely before removing bowls from muffin tin. I made 5 bowls and we ate the rest of the dough raw (yum!!).

Fill with ice cream right before serving.

Enjoy!!

Jana

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