Flavors of Fall

With the chill in the air and the leaves turning colors, it can only mean one thing. Fall is finally here! Fall is probably my favorite time of year; there are so many good things! The sweatshirts get pulled back out, the smell of falling leaves, the apple cider…it all brings a smile to my face. Not to mention two of my favorite flavors are perfect for fall: apples and pumpkins! Knowing this is the best season to start my baking frenzy before the holidays; my pregnancy has also reminded me of the importance of incorporating fiber (and large amounts of it) into my diet. I thought I was doing a great job at it, we eat whole wheat or grain bread, I eat lots of leafy, green veggies, and lots of fiber rich fruit. All the pasta in the house is whole wheat, and what’s better on a chilly morning than a big bowl of oatmeal? Well, thank you pregnancy symptoms for reminding me that more is better. So now, I’m faced with the dilemma of getting even more fiber into my diet, which means tricking the entire family into eating more fiber rich foods. So, I did some searching and found some perfect ways to combine fiber rich foods with my favorite fall flavors. Thanks to quaker.com, and some interesting pinterest ideas, I’ve listed a couple great recipes for you to try too! Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins (from Quaker) 1 ½ cups flour 1 cup uncooked oats ¾ cup brown sugar ½ cup chopped nuts (I like to use pecans) 1 Tbsp. baking powder 1 ½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice ½ tsp. baking soda ½ tsp. salt 1 cup pumpkin puree ¾ cup milk 1/3 cup vegetable oil 1 egg, lightly beaten Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a muffin tin with liners. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine egg, milk, pumpkin, and oil. Mix together with the dry ingredients. Bake 22-25 minutes or until golden brown. Apple Pie Oatmeal Oatmeal Water 1 tsp. cinnamon 1 tbsp. Brown sugar ½ tsp. nutmeg apples, diced chopped nuts Mix oatmeal and water according to serving size directions. Add spices and apples. Cook for about 10 minutes over med-low heat or until oats and apples are soft. Top with nuts, serve!

Back to School Lunch Ideas

First day back to school…I was excited for a long time about having a few months before the baby comes to get things done around the house without the other two kids running around all day, but then, yesterday, I sent my step-son off to kindergarten and my feelings changed. It was a little bit of a hectic morning, and then the quietness of the day was crazy. I was happy and sad all at the same time.

The morning of the first day of school I couldn’t sleep. I was up at 3a.m. and couldn’t think of anything to do. Then I remembered that the kids would need to take a lunch and I put myself to work. Not having to go anywhere in the morning allowed me to put a little more time and love into the lunch box. In this post, I will give ideas for healthy, fun lunch ideas for kids, as I have found lunches get eating better if it’s kid friendly. One thing to remember is to make sure you pack in kid size portions and use kid approved foods. Even if you think it’s good and it’s healthy, if your kid doesn’t like it, they won’t eat it at school, so try to stick to things you know they like. There are lots of ideas for things like homemade sweet potato chips, banana chips, apple chips, etc. which seem fantastic, but unless you have a food dehydrator or a really good oven (neither of which I currently own) it usually never turns out right, but they are good, healthy alternatives to greasy potato chips. Following is a two week list of everything I’ve put in my kids’ lunch boxes. I've also included link

to the website where I found some of these ideas. Feel fry to use any of the ideas or change them to make them your own, and please, share some ideas you have used! The first Day: Apple ring sandwiches (cut an apple so you can make rings and remove the core, spread the inside with peanut butter, add some raisins, top with another apple ring), circle shaped cucumber slices and cheese pieces (use a small round cutter to make equal size shapes), graham crackers, and a juice box. Day 2: Dolphin shaped tuna sandwiches (put those rarely used cookie cutters to work), goldfish crackers, carrot and celery sticks with ranch, blue Jell-O with orange boats (once Jell-O is set, place a mandarin orange slice in the middle, add a toothpick and a triangle shaped piece of parchment paper to make the boat on top), and juice. Day 3: Cucumber sandwiches (round cucumber slice topped with a round piece of cheese, pepperoni, and another slice of cucumber), baked chips, Ants on a log, applesauce. I sent milk money on this day. Day 4: Bunny shaped PB & J (again with a cookie cutter, it ends up making a sandwich without crust, which kids love), carrots and ranch, apple slices, juice. Day 5: Dino shaped turkey and cheese sandwiches, grapes, yogurt, pretzel sticks, and milk money. Day 6: Homemade lunchables (crackers, cheese slices, pepperoni), applesauce, cucumber sticks, juice. Day 7: Puzzle shaped PB & J sandwiches (cut the bread to look like puzzle pieces), teddy bear cheese pieces, pasta salad, grapes and milk money. Day 8: Ham and cheese rollups (layer a tortilla with cheese and ham, roll it up and slice it), graham crackers, grapes, sweet pepper slices, juice. Day 9: small tossed salad with dressing, pretzel sticks, caramel apple pieces (cut apple into chunks, insert a toothpick, dip in caramel), milk money.