Healthy Lunchbox Ideas

Does the idea of packing lunches overwhelm you or just plain bore you? Well here are some ideas of lunches my kids and I have come up with lately that made the 'remake-able meal' category and will hopefully help inspire you to launch your lunchtime in a healthy way! 

We take a picture of what we pack and tweek (that's tweek, not twerk, lol) to our liking, then print the pictures, hole punch and keep on a ring to refer to for ideas and planning. Hope this makes packing a healthy lunch much more appealing- both for your waistline as well as your finances! 

The key is to BE PREPARED:

• Take a little time each time you grocery shop or designate a specific day to bag up snacks. We have them for both the refrigerator and the pantry- quick and easy to grab is what we are shooting for here.
• You are more likely to eat healthy and save money when you can grab a healthy, conveniently packed snack to go- so keep this in mind when it seems to be a headache to set up. Also- get those kids to help. Mine actually enjoy measuring out a serving size and bagging! Good family time to prep and teaches the importance of planning and making healthy choices. 
• Separate snack bags in organizer baskets in the fridge and pantry

We 'Snack/Lunch Prep' once a week to save time through the week- grab and go has never been so do-able! 

Easy snack ideas to pre-package/prep include: 

• Celery with cream cheese, peanut butter or hummus (use the 2 oz mini cups with lids- pic below)
• Cheese sticks with almonds 
• Carrots with ranch or hummus (carrot chips work well too if you want to mix it up a bit)
• Cucumbers cut length wise with ranch or hummus
• Trail mix (we make different kinds every week or two)
• Almonds in serving size bags
• Cliff bars
• Fiber one bars
• Red grapes
• Green grapes
• Any fresh fruit (we love the little cutie clementines right now) 
• Greek yogurt tubes (freeze them too and they stay cold until afternoon snack)

Here are the 2oz cups with lids that I purchase- Line them up and fill several at a time and then throw them in the zip lock baggie with the item being paired

Fresh greens with feta and sunflower seeds with italian dressing in 2 oz cup, clementine, apple, Simply Nature brand (comparable to the Cliff Brand) bar and almonds

Chicken chunks to dip in yummy Chik-Fil-A sauce (use up those left over sauces), celery with organic peanut butter, carrots with hummus, greek yogurt, cheese stick, orange wedge-sliced, and apple
NOTE: This was a lunch, school snack and after school snack

Ham and cheese wrap (we use the Boar's head lunch meat for no preservatives or nitrates), Greek yogurt tube, carrots with ranch, celery with cream cheese, and blueberries

Grilled chicken chunks, celery with cream cheese, carrots with ranch, cheese stick, clementine, apple and edemame- shelled (you can buy these in the freezer section already shelled and they make a GREAT snack and loaded with protein) 

Hope this helps inspire you to think about lunch- and planning lunch in a new way! What other healthy ideas has your family tried? Comment below! Feel free to share on Facebook, Twitter and as always, pin away! I love Pinterest for this type of stuff!

New Year- New You... With a New Planner- FREE Printable for you! ***now with TWO versions***

Starting a New Year always excites me! I have to admit I am like an little kid in a candy store when it comes to planning and setting up a fresh start! (I even suffer from 'New Year Insomnia' and create these crazy planner pages, ha!) I took some time this past year to design a daily planner page to help in productivity, goal setting and execution to see some of my lofty plans actually happen. I am sharing a FREE DOWNLOAD ***now with TWO versions*** of this Planner Page for you to try as well. I would love your feedback as you use it! There are multiple areas to help in your 2014 success: 

• Agenda Section- allows you to plan each day in 30 min increments beginning at 5am and ending at 10pm
• Menu Plan- map out all three meals and assign a child to help in planning, preparing, cooking and possibly even clean up for the day. This is a great bonding time as well as helping your children learn the basics of cooking and all that goes into planning it too!
• Main Focus- assign a general task to each day
• Example: 
• Monday:  Bathrooms
• Tuesday:  Bedrooms (or pick another area)
• Wednesday:  Shopping/Errands
• Thursday:  Kitchen
• Friday:  Living Areas
• Saturday:  Planning/Goal-Setting for the next week
• Sunday:  Sorting + filing any paperwork, bills, etc. 
• Must Do Today- an easy checklist to jot all 'to-do' items down. Take this one step further and assign an action step with it. (even if you only have 10 min somewhere along the day you can easily find a task to check off) Use the short line next to each task to assign the action step: 
• G= Go- An errand to run outside/away the home
• D= Do- An errand to do inside/at home
• B= Buy- An item that has to be purchased 
• C= Contact- An email to send or a call to be made
• Self-Care- workout, planning and quiet time are as important as getting your daily recommended water. Practicing good self-care is important to optimizing your productivity and overall success. Just check each off as you go throughout the day as a reminder that YOU are important and must take steps to live a healthy lifestyle!
• Notes- open area for brainstorming, blog ideas, reflection, verses, thoughts or anything your little heart desires :-)

Here's to the best YOU in 2014! 

Daily Planner- General by Vickie Desemone Minnella

CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD and start 2014 off with a bang... an organized bang! Print as many as you would like. I printed enough for 6 months and took it to my local office store and had them spiral-bound to carry with me and use everyday.

Daily Planner- General 2.0 by Vickie Desemone Minnella

You may also need some help with goal planning or menu planning/grocery shopping- Check out my other FREE RESOURCES to help you get organized and create a Rockstar Life!

***If have trouble printing you may access a copy here***
Planner Page 1.0
Planner Page 2.0

Helping Children Cope When A Tragedy Occurs

Watching any kind of tragedy unfold is hard on adults, but take a moment and consider a child's perspective. Adults know there is evil in the world and bad things do happen to good people, but a child's views are being shaped every day from playtime to the harsh reality of the world we live in.

My 8 year old daughter got into the car after school today and said
"Mommy we talked about the bombing today in school and they said an 8 year old boy died while waiting for his dad run. That is scary- I am 8 and you are a runner!"

She connected the dots of this horrific Boston Marathon Tragedy with the innocent age of someone her own age. She also brought up the shooting in CT and the talk we had about that tragedy just a few months ago. All three of my children had their views on these incidents, but as I listen to them share their perspectives and fears I am reminded as a parent that I can shape their outlook and attempt to calm their fears. There are a few simple things we can do to help the many questions and fears that develop in our little people, as well as our teenagers that seem to know it all:

• Assure them they are loved and comfort them. Do not brush off their feelings but rather allow them to express their thoughts in a secure place with the circle of love to absorb emotions attributed to the natural feelings they are experiencing.
• Control your own reaction to the situation. It is easy for us to tell them to do something a certain way, but it is more important that our reactions as parents/adults reflect the advice we give. Be careful not to jump to conclusions or offer initial motives for a cause of the tragedy. Also be careful not to judge or stereotype a certain type of person/people verbally. (They really do hear everything we say, and pick up on so much that we do not say) Model calm behavior but do not underestimate the affect evil has on innocent lives.
• Limit their exposure to pictures and news coverage based on age. We live in a day and age where pictures from a crime scene and tragedy spread at a viral rate through social media like never before, but monitor closely what is being viewed by little eyes. Just because a picture is released through Twitter, Facebook or other news source does NOT mean an 8 year old needs to see the graphic details. It is our job as parents to carefully expose our children to the realities of the world, but not all has to be done before the appropriate age.I am big on keeping it real with my own kids, but there are healthy boundaries of exposure too.
• Have them focus on the brave help of the emergency responders. When my kids do come across a picture or news coverage of an event that is less than favorable, I have them search out the emergency workers: Fireman, Police Officers, Military, etc. This offers a fresh approach to see the good in people and those willing to help at all costs. It also takes some of the negative weight off the crime scene/tragedy that is typically reported by new media. This is not to take away from the awful events but just adjusting perspective in the eyes of a child.
• Lead them to pray for the victims and their families. Offering up fears and sadness through prayer is a powerful way to release anxiety, especially when taught to do so at a young age. This has been my 'go to' way of helping my children in times like these. We always pray for the people affected and open our hearts to ways to help. If you listen closely to them, you may be surprised at their ideas on helping others. It definitely keeps me in check every time. 

I love the innocence of  children all ages possess and try to foster their sweet, kind hearts as much as possible, even though tragedy and evil occurrences. After all- isn't about the generation we are raising and what we CAN DO to create a different place to live in?

Sock Monster- BE GONE!

Mesh Laundry/Sweater Bags

If you hate pairing socks as much as I do, or wonder where the sock monster hides until your socks enter the washer, then this is the perfect Simplify Saturday Tip for you! 

Keep a mesh laundry bag on the back of each bedroom/bathroom door knob and place socks in every night. Then collect the mesh bags at laundry time, zip and throw the whole thing in to wash and dry. Easily pair upon drying. Be sure to have a large enough bag to allow socks to move around while washing to ensure cleanliness. 

A laundry dryer sheet can be placed in the bag to ward against any odors while on the door knob, just be sure to remove before washing. 

A colored ribbon or string can also be threaded through or knotted on to deciefer which family member's bag if following The Color-Coded Family approach. This also makes it easy to get younger kids involved as it breaks down the task. They can just focus on one bag at a time knowing they are all the same size and owner. 

Happy Simplify Saturday!

Meal Planning and Pre-Printed Grocery List

Here is a helpful way to plan meals and groceries. A Pre-Printed Grocery list. 

Download for FREE and make a few copies while you are at it... pin one up close to the fridge or pantry. (I keep mine posted on the inside of a cabinet door between the fridge and stove so I can easily mark what I am running low on as I see it.) If everyone in the house marks what they have used the last of, or see running low, there will be a whole new light shed on grocery shopping and cooking as well!

Plan your meals to the right and Keep It Simple. List the main dish for dinners and a side item. Have several veggies on hand to pick one.

Also try to use themes to simplify the planning. For example: Mondays are Chicken nights, Tuesdays are Mexican, Wednesdays are crockpot cooking, Thursdays are vegetarian, etc. Get kid involved too and have them pick a meal each week to help plan, prep and cook. 

By planning your meals and shopping weekly for them you will save time- by planning, save money- by shopping only for what you need, and eat healthier- by having meals ready and less temptation to eat out as much.

Also be sure to check back weekly or subscribe to the blog for the weekly menu I post for my own family with a grocery list ready for you to take to the store or pull up from your smartphone. You can find that on the Menu Page of this blog.

Hope this helps make your meal planning a little easier!  Grocery List 2012