Quinoa, Zucchini, and Carrots... Oh My!

So it has come to my attention, and I am sure I am not the only one who has noticed this, that us here at the Goodbyn Girls seem to LOVE meatballs.  One of the reasons they are a favorite in my house is because they are one of those handy little foods that happen to be a great hiding place for healthy little bits and bites - and my suddenly picky toddler is none the wiser.  The meatballs featured in my lunch today hide such delectable items such as Quinoa, Zucchini, and Carrots... oh my!  (Check out the recipe on my blog here)

Going along with the green lunch theme, Everything in my lunch is either organic, locally sourced, or both!  Talk about going the extra mile!  I have some delicious mini carrots and cucumbers, gingersnap cookies (don't worry all, I didn't actually send 3 cookies with my DH to work - it just looked better that way for the photo!  lol.  Come on, I can't spoil him THAT much!)  A lovely spinach salad with sundried tomatoes and bean sprouts, and a homemade cranberry and almond popcorn mix.

My husband takes a giant thermos of water to work, so I rarely have to send a drink besides that, which always leaves me a bit of extra space.  I like this meal because it is healthy and fun.  The popcorn mix helps satiate those with a sweet tooth (which may just keep them away from the vending machine longer), while providing them with the nutrients of cranberries and the protein of almonds.  While pairing some healthy, fibre-rich salad with a tangy homemade dressing gives a little added interest.

Thanks for stopping by everybody.  And remember to check out our March contest.  The folks over at Goodbyn are giving us one of their awesome new Byntos to give to one lucky reader!

Thinking outside of the box,

It's GIVEAWAY time!!

So...if you are a fan of the Goodbyn lunch box, you may have already heard the news!  The Goodbyn now has a little brother called the Bynto!  It is a perfect size for smaller bellies, snacks and light lunches.  The wonderful people at Goodbyn have generously offered us an itty bitty Bynto to give away on our blog!  So...what do you have to do to get a chance to win you ask?

Well, since Goodbyn is advocate of the environment and recycling AND St Patrick's Day is coming up, we are having a GREEN theme!  Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to create a lunch that is fully GREEN.  Now for the catch.  Your lunch has to be fully litterless with no packaging in the container that is non recyclable AND you have to use the colour green somewhere in your lunch.  You can go all out and make your WHOLE lunch green if you wish.  Have fun with it!! 

You will have until the end of March to complete your lunch, take a photo and post a link to your photo here in the comments section.  We will then randomly choose a winner from the people who have successfully complied with the requirements of the contest.  The winner will win their very own cute little Bynto in their choice of colour.  Winner will be announced the first week of April.  Make sure that you leave us a way to contact you if you are the winner.  Post the link to your blog an email address so that if you are the winner, we have a way to let you know. 

Good Luck Everyone!!!

This just in....

To say we're excited is an understatement!

 Goodbyn now has a little brother! The Bynto. Oh. Isn't he adorable!?

30% smaller than the Goodbyn original, with 3 compartments instead of 5 plus stickers and another bottle!

Check them out here.

We can't wait to try them out! 

Valentines Day Revisited

If you read this blog regularly, you know I am a big advocate of using leftovers for lunches.  It just makes my life so much easier. The bonus is that everyone eats much better too!  Today's post is about two different lunches I prepared for my boys. 

For my son's Valentines Day lunch, I decided to go with the red theme.  He would kill me if I got too lovey and put hearts in his lunch, so that left me with few options.  lol  In his Goodbyn we have the colour red; leftover spaghetti in tomato sauce, a strawberry yogurt tube, red jello, strawberries.  We also have sliced cucumbers, goldfish crackers, green grapes, a cheese string and granola bar (under the yogurt tube).

Now for the husband's lunch.  He doesn't have a Goodbyn so we make do with containers.  A tradition with us is for me to cook him his favourite meal on Valentines Day.  So Indian Butter Chicken it was!  I also pan fried up some red pepper and garlic parathas to go with his chicken and rice.  I send the chicken and sauce separate from the rice so that the rice doesn't get mushy.  The bonus to this dish is that it tastes even better the second day. 

Do you have any special Valentines or special occasion recipes that you like to prepare?  Share with us!!  We would love to hear about fun new recipes that can double as lunches. 

Leftovers Times Two

Today's lunch was pretty simple.  Jamie made delicious spaghetti and meat balls for dinner last night, so in the bento they went for today's lunch.  I'm not sure what he did different, but they were exceptional, and the aroma fill the apartment for hours.



Also included in the bento:  garlic bread, mini-salad and dressing, Capri Sun Roaring Waters, grapes, and vanilla cookies.

We had about two cups of plain spaghetti left over, which I just couldn't see tossing, so it was my responsibility tonight to come up with something to do with them.  It was the least I could do since Jamie was standing out in the cold while Emy was at softball practice.

I have to tell you, I wish I had taken a picture of dinner because it was delish!  And, I literally just threw it together . . . impressive for me, because I just don't "throw dinner together".  I'll jot down my little recipe so you can give it a try if you like.

• 1 boneless/skinless chicken breast, cubed
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups prepared pasta of your choice
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 teaspoon rosemary
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil

Scramble the eggs and set aside.  Sauté cubed chicken breast and rosemary in olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste.  When the chicken is cooked through, add the prepared pasta and frozen peas to the pan and mix until everything is heated through.  Add scrambed eggs and toss until mixed thoroughly.  Add more salt and pepper to taste.

That's it.  Simple and delicious.  It took about 30 minutes and served 4 to 5 people.

Be Prepared

Your best defense is a good offense.  Meaning preparing things ahead of time will get you through your busy week without as much stress.  We all have busy schedules and find it hard to pack healthful lunches for our families.  It is just too easy in today's chaotic life to just hit a fast food joint instead of planning ahead for lunches.

I have some easy steps to help eliminate the lunch packing stress.

1.  Prep veggies and fruit ahead of time.  On Sunday, I grocery shop.  This means that when I come home, I spend some time washing, peeling and cutting fruit and veggies.  I keep a big container of cut veggies in my fridge at hand so I can just grab a hand full and throw it into the Goodbyn.  Wash your apples, grapes etc ahead of time.  There are some fruits that will not hold up to prep such as strawberries.  Use your own judgement, but a lot of veggie and fruit prep can be done ahead. 

2.  Meal Plan.  If you know what you are having for supper, you can plan for leftovers in your lunch.  Say you have chicken fajitas for supper...this would make awesome chicken wraps for lunch the next day.  No stress at 6am to figure out what the heck you are going to put in your lunch for the day.  This not only saves you time but it saves you money.   Here is a printable planner you can use http://www.your-printable-planner.com/7-day-meal-planner.html

3.  If you can, pack most of your lunch the night before and keep it in the fridge.  This also helps to eliminate that feeling of panic at 6am.  Nobody likes to have to deal with lunch before you have even had a cup of coffee.  If your kids are old enough, get them to help.

4.  Your freezer is your friend.  If you have leftovers that you did not plan for...freeze them for later.  If you bake cookies one week, do a double batch and freeze the second batch for later.  I do this a lot with banana muffins.  They hold up in the freezer very well and it is a treat that both my husband and kids love. 

I think that the less we stress about lunch, the more likely we are to keep packing better lunches and making better food choices for our family. 

Here is my recipe share for the week courtesy of my friend Patti H. 

Banana Bread (yeilds approx 2 loaves or 24 muffins)

1 1/4 C white sugar
1/2 C margarine
2 Eggs
1 1/2 C mashed over ripe bananas
1/2 C Buttermilk (or regular milk minus 1 1/2 tsp...add 1 1/2 tsp of white vinegar to the milk to sour it)
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 C flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1C of blueberries or walnuts (you can omit if you like)

Preheat your oven to 350.  Cream your sugar and margarine.  Add the 2 eggs and beat until the mixture lightens a bit.  Add your bananas, buttermilk and vanilla.  Combine your dry ingredients and add to the wet.  Mix until combined.  Fold in your blueberries or nuts.  I use a silicone loaf pan for this but if you are using a regular loaf pan, grease it before adding your batter.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour for a loaf...approx 26 minutes for muffins. 

Super Bowl Inspiration

This is NOT a healthy lunch.  My inspiration was Super Bowl snacks.  :shrug:  At least, I figured, the kids would like it.  Actually, for our Super Bowl snack 'dinner' we had nachos and bruschetta topped with a delectable tomato salad . . . but, since we didn't have any of that yummy stuff left over, the kids got this stuff for lunch instead.  HA!



Yeah, I'm not to crazy about how it looks, but I'm pretty certain a good bit of it was happily consumed.

Included in the bento:  Capri Sun Roaring Waters, peanut butter/marshmallow quesadilla bites, orange slices, cucumber/carrots/celery with ranch dip, chips, baked ham cup, and barbecue beef slider.

Oh, and a few Red Hots that Emy begged me for.

WTG packers!