Back-To-School Lunch Ideas

If you’re anything like me, you’re just about ready to do the back-to-school happy dance. I love the structure and routine of back to school - and truthfully, so do my girls. The one thing I hate - I mean hate with a passion - is making lunches. I have two very picky eaters, both allergic to nuts. They hate sandwiches, don’t eat cheese and turn up their noses at most veggies. So needless to say that making lunches for me really sucks.

This year, though, I'm trying to be proactive. I've been scouring the Internet, searching on Pinterest and asking lots of readers about their favorite recipes. Here are a few I've come up with.

Nut Free Oat Bars

High Fiber Oat Bar

These nut free oat bars are packed with fibre (shh....) and lots of other good stuff. The seeds make them crunchy (throw some chia seeds in there too!) and the honey and cinnamon give them a sweet and spicy flavor.

Banana Crunch Wraps

Banana-Crunch-Wraps

I found this one on Pinterest and showed it to my youngest (the one who may eat a sandwich if the feeling hits her). She gave it the thumbs up. It’s made with Wow Butter for those with nut allergies or for nut-sensitive schools but you could really make it with any type of nut butter. When it’s all rolled up, it reminds me of sushi and it’s easy to eat with your hands. I’m keeping this recipe close.

Mini Taco Pockets

Mini-Taco Pockets

I saw this on a site called Recipe by Photo and thought it was a great idea. My kids don’t eat sandwiches but they would eat these (I think) if they were warm and in a thermos. They’re made with crescent roll dough but I bet they could be made with homemade whole wheat dough for those of us who have the inkling to do so. They could be filled with just about anything but this mini taco idea sounds yummy to me. And I may be able to hide a vegetable inside!

Bento Box

Veggie Bento options

The idea of a Bento Box may be just wild enough for my girls to try. Basically, a bento box is a lunch that is packed bento-box style containing a variety of different types of foods: carbs, protein, fruits, veggies and even a treat. Sort of like a lunchable - but healthy. The best part is that you can put bits and pieces of whatever your kids will eat in it. I think if I packed it with enough variety, in a really cool Bento box (and no cheese), we may be good to go. Here are some ideas of what to pack.

Well, that’s it. If you have any suggestion on lunch ideas, I’m all ears. Good luck to you as the kids head back to school.

Question of the Month: Preparing Your Child for Back to School

As exciting as the first day of school is, lots of kids don't always take change in stride, and that means that getting back into the school routine can cause little people (and their parents), lots of stress. For my kids, there are always lots of sources of back-to-school stress, including adjustment to new teachers and classmates, an increase in homework, or just the transition to a different daily routine.

To help my kids (who really don’t like change) get ready for school, we always start about a week or two before by making sure everything from clothes, shoes and books are organized, bed time routines are set, as are wake up times.

The Question of the Month is how do you help your child prepare for back to school and what are your best tips for making sure it goes smoothly?

The Colour Run is Coming to Ottawa

On August 25^th, the Color Run is coming to Ottawa. The Color Run, also known as the ‘Happiest 5k on the Planet’, is a weird and wild paint race that celebrates healthiness, happiness and individuality. From it’s debut in January 2012, it has focused on fitness and fun rather than who wins. In fact, there’s no winner at all. Or hundreds of winners. Depending on how you look at it. With only two rules, the concept of the Color Run is easy to follow:

1. Wear white at the starting line
2. Finish plastered in colour

I know it sounds a bit daunting – a 5K run – but don’t worry. This run is for everyone – kids and families – at all levels of fitness. Remember, there are no winners. The whole point of the run is FUN!

So get your whites on and head down to the Canadian Tire Centre on August 25^th. It's $50 for individuals to register and $45/person for teams of 4. Kids under 5 are free.  The fun starts at 9 am.

Stay tuned for more about the Color Run. We’re sending Andrea Lie and her daughter down to the event so we’ll have a first hand account of the color mayhem. 

Welcome sponsor: Anna Belanger

by Lara I am the kind of person who holds all of my tension in my neck.  When I'm really stressed out... I can't turn my head, usually to the left.  It makes driving fairly risky and it's all round pretty inconvenient.

Enter Anna, who I was lucky enough to meet almost two years ago.  She and her staff at the Bank street clinic have not only kept my neck rotating for that whole time, but they are friendly and make me supremely comfortable.  Because I am also the kind of person who doesn't relax well and needs someone to talk me into relaxing ;)

This is an exciting time for Anna Belanger & Associates!  September 1 celebrates their 4th year in business but it is also the date they launch their second location, this one located 804 Greenbank in Barrhaven! As a special bonus, you can get $10 off your first massage at this new location if you book online by August 28 with code grow2013.) Fine print: only valid on one-hour massages.  One time use per client.

The Bank Street location is a women's only clinic, specializing in treating women of all ages and stages of life (pre and post natal massage... how I wish I'd known her then) and the Barrhaven location will be a family clinic so Dad, hubby, and grandpa can get a great massage too :)

To celebrate their 4th birthday they are having a great giveaway.  Anyone getting a treatment in the month of September can enter a draw for one of two prize packages:

Bank Street prize package

• a photography session from Sara McConnell Photography*
• a 1-hour massage**
• a prenatal yoga session from Little Lotus Yoga

Barrhaven prize package

• a photography session from Sara McConnell Photography*
• a 1-hour massage**
• an essential oils bundle

*Photography session is Appropriate for family (immediate), babies & children, couples, maternity, and cake smashes. 40 minutes long, includes 12 edited & retouched digital files of your choice. Outdoors or in studio, expires March 1, 2014 ** Massage vouchers expire March 1, 2014 **Prenatal Yoga voucher expires February 1, 2014**

Get Over It And Say Cheese

If you’re anything like me, you often cringe when you see pictures of yourself. For me, I always think twice before getting into a photo. I prefer to be behind the camera, not in front, and since my girls are wonderful subjects, I take tons of pictures. I have pictures of them all over the house. Last month, my kids went off to camp. As part of her “going away” preparations, my youngest daughter wanted to take a small photo album of her city friends, her cousins and her family. All of us. Even me. This did pose a problem since I have very few pictures of me with my girls. As I said, I’m the one mostly behind the camera.

When I tried to explain this to my daughter, she said, “But Mom, I want to have lots of pictures of you and me.”

It makes sense, of course, to have pictures of my girls and I for posterity. So why is it so hard? I know that when she’s older, or even when she has kids, it will be so wonderful to pull out pictures of us when we were younger. I know my kids (or grandkids) won’t be care about extra baby weight, a bad hair day or if I'm in sweats or covered in paint. All the reasons I give for not being in pictures will be irrelevant. My kids will (hopefully) only look at the pictures and remember the good times, the hugs and the smiles and the love. So, from now on, I am now going to make an effort to say yes to pictures. I mean, don’t you love looking (and laughing) at pictures of your parents when they were young?

How do you feel about being in pictures?