Real food Archives - Page 2 of 2

Eggplant Lasagna Stacks

July 20, 2023October 14, 2016 by Kristi

My son LOVES eggplant and every year eagerly waits for it to be in season at the farm and start appearing at the farmers market. He loves Eggplant Parmesan, and I try to make my gluten and dairy free version for him once every season. But it is so time and labor intensive I don’t usually make it more than once. This year (after his Eggplant Parmesan) we are still enjoying an abundance of eggplant and he asked for eggplant lasagna. I couldn’t find a recipe I liked that met our dietary needs (half of us are gluten and dairy free) so I made up my own and it turned out to be a hit with the whole family.

This sauce is one of our favorite tricks for dairy free cooking. Adding coconut milk or cream to tomato sauce makes it amazingly creamy and delicious and mimics the flavor you would get from ricotta cheese in a traditional lasagna or baked Italian dish.

I added the sausage because, well, my kids will eat just about anything with sausage in it. We use the Salt and Pepper ground pork sausage from Fischer Farms. With all meat, we focus on quality and enjoy it in moderation. Fisher Farms’ sausage is hormone and antibiotic free, from pastured pigs and completely nitrate and preservative free. And it adds amazing flavor. For me, its a good trade off for my kids enjoying eggplant, kale and all of the other goodness in this dish. If you prefer a vegetarian dish, just leave out the sausage and instead, add more kale and a few cloves of fresh chopped garlic to the caramelized onion and season generously with salt and pepper. It will still be delicious!

I still have fresh herbs growing in pots on my patio. I highly recommend growing your own herbs! It is so easy and such a huge help in making real food delicious, easy and affordable. Fresh herbs are too expensive in the grocery, don’t last long and I don’t always plan ahead enough to know what I’ll need. But I spend $10 to $20 on herbs in April or early May and I’m still picking from them now in early October. I love that I can just run outside and grab whatever I need, whenever I need it.

I also used kale from my Tower Garden in this recipe. This is something else I cannot recommend highly enough! It makes it so easy to grow my own greens, herbs and other vegetables (all year around if you invest in grow lights!) and I can pick whatever I need, anytime. I pick kale or chard for my green smoothie almost every morning. You can’t get any easier, fresher or healthier than that! You can learn more about the Tower Garden here, or if you are local and want to see mine you are welcome any time.

I’ve been experimenting with goat cheese for myself and my other dairy free family members. The proteins in goat cheese are much easier to digest than cow’s milk and much less inflammatory. So it is a good, more healthful alternative for some with dairy intolerance. Its totally optional here, but I sprinkled just a bit of goat cheese on half of our pan. We love it either way.

Find time to make these Eggplant Lasagna Stacks and enjoy with a big green salad!

And please comment below and let me know if you try it. I’d love to hear what you think!

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Eggplant Lasagna Stacks (Gluten & Dairy Free, Paleo)

My take on eggplant lasagna is gluten and dairy free but so full of flavor and nutrition you won't miss the noodles or the cheese! (vegan/vegetarian option)

Prep Time30

Cook Time30

Total Time1

Ingredients

1 c. full fat canned coconut milk
1 25 oz jar pasta sauce 2-1/2 cups (I used Aldi's organic brand)
3-4 medium sized fresh eggplant choose eggplant that are firm and smooth with bright shiny skin
2-3 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and pepper
1 lb ground sausage
1 onion diced
5-6 kale leaves or spinach or chard
20-25 Fresh basil leaves
Goat cheese optional

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
Trim the top stem end off of your eggplant and cut into 1/4" slices with a mandolin or sharp knife. (I recommend a good mandolin for this, as it makes it so much quicker and easier and ensures your slices are the same thickness. I have this OXO Mandolin and love it! You will need 44-48 slices. In my casserole dish, I can fit 11-12 "stacks" with 4 slices of eggplant in each stack.) Rub the eggplant slices with olive oil, lay them in a single layer on baking sheets and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast eggplant for about 5 minutes and then remove from oven.
While eggplant is roasting, combine coconut milk and pasta sauce in a small saucepan and warm it over low heat.
Combine onion and sausage in a skillet and cook over medium high heat until the sausage is browned and the onion is caramelized. While its cooking, chop the kale. Slice the leaves into thin ribbons and then cut up the ribbons into small bits. Add the kale to the sausage and onion mixture and stir until the kale is wilted. Remove from heat.
Spread a very thin layer (about 1/2 cup) of sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 pan or a comparable size casserole dish (I use a 2 qt. Pampered Chef stoneware casserole dish and can fit 11-12 stacks, depending on the size of my eggplants).
Choose 11-12 of the largest eggplant slices and lay them in a single layer in on top of the sauce. (You want to start with the largest slices and with each layer, use the next largest so that you end up with the smallest slices on top of your stacks.)
Divide the sausage mixture into four parts and use one quarter of the mixture for each layer. Place a spoonful of the sausage mixture in the center of each eggplant slice. Tear 5-6 basil leaves into pieces and sprinkle on top of the eggplant and sausage mixture. Pour 1/2 to 3/4 cup of sauce over each stack. The stacks will not be completely covered with sauce.
Repeat this layering two more times: Top each stack with another slice of eggplant (using the largest slices of eggplant first) then top with the sausage mixture, torn basil leaves and 1/2 c. of sauce. Reserve 5-6 basil leaves to add as a garnish, just before serving.
After the fourth and final layer of eggplant, spoon the remaining sauce over the stacks. Then top with the last portion of the sausage mixture, spooning some on top of each stack.
Top with crumbled goat cheese, if desired.
Cover the casserole dish with foil and bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Alternatively the dish can be refrigerated at this point and put back in the over before you're ready to serve.
Stack the remaining basil leaves and slice them into a thin julienne. When your Eggplant Lasagna Stacks are done, sprinkle them with fresh basil just before serving.
Enjoy!!

Notes

For a vegan/vegetarian option, simply omit the sausage and instead, to the caramelized onion add 12-15 leaves finely chopped kale, 3 cloves minced garlic and salt and pepper. Layer as instructed above.

Garlicky Roasted Sweet Potatoes

July 22, 2023October 4, 2016 by Kristi

One of our favorite places is our local CSA, Seton Harvest, otherwise known as “the farm”. Of course we get amazing, locally grown, chemical free produce, usually harvested the day we pick it up. But its more than that. Going to the farm to pick up our weekly share, we get to escape our normal routine and stresses and breathe in the fresh country air; visit with friends; pet the dogs; feed the chickens; pick strawberries, fresh herbs, arugula, sungold tomatoes or whatever is in season and available for u-pick; hunt for caterpillars; chase butterflies; climb piles of mulch and make mazes out of bales of hale (yes that was us, sorry Joe and Julie!)

My big kids have practically grown up at the farm and it makes me so happy to see my youngest experiencing her first year running around the farm and loving it just as much as the rest of us do. Perhaps most of all, I LOVE that my kids know who grows their food and where it comes from (not just the supermarket!) and that they love things like eggplant and eagerly ask Farmer Joe when it will be in season and that they love to pick greens like arugula and sorrell and eat them on the drive home.

One of our favorite events at the farm is the annual sweet potato harvest, when we enjoy a beautiful fall evening of fellowship and digging sweet potatoes. Sadly, kid schedules haven’t allowed us to participate the last couple of years, so these pictures are a few years old, but we have been enjoying the labors of our fellow shareholders this week. When was the last time you dug up a sweet potato and then took it home and roasted it with fresh garlic (also fresh from the farm)? If you haven’t been so lucky, put it on your bucket list and find a time and place to experience this!

Even if you can’t harvest your own sweet potatoes, you can still make these sweet potatoes! This recipe is very loosely based on a recipe I found in Victoria magazine many years ago. I can’t tell you what issue or who the original author was but I do know it was a Thanksgiving recipe and it had crispy sage leaves on top. We’ve kept it simple, just sweet potatoes and fresh garlic, maybe a pinch of sea salt at the end if you think you need it. That’s it. And they are so good.

Whether you need a new sweet potato recipe for your Thanksgiving dinner or just a nutrient dense side dish for the next time you grill — these will hit the spot. In a pinch, you can make them without the marinating time, but that is truly the secret to this recipe. Skip it and you will have perfectly fine roasted sweet potatoes. Plan ahead a bit and you will be rewarded with amazingly delicious, crispy potatoes infused with garlicky goodness.

One quick equipment note: I highly recommend a good mandoline for this recipe and any others involving sliced vegetables. It makes quick work of the sweet potatoes here, and ensures that they are all the same thickness so they cook evenly and at the same speed. I have this OXO Mandoline and love it!

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Garlicky Roasted Sweet Potatoes

These sweet potatoes are marinated in garlic and extra virgin olive oil and roasted to crispy golden perfection. So simple and yet so delicious!

Prep Time2 15

Cook Time30

Total Time2 45

Ingredients

5-7 medium Sweet Potatoes (approx. 3 lbs.)
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1/2 to 3/4 cup Extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

Peel and slice the sweet potatoes into 1/4 inch thick slices. Use a mandoline to make this much easier and ensure your slices will be the same size and cook evenly.
Mince the garlic.
Put the sliced potatoes and garlic in a gallon size zip lock freezer bag. Add the olive oil. Zip the bag and then turn and massage the bag until the garlic and olive oil is distributed well. You want every slice of potato to be well coated, with some oil accumulating in the bottom of the bag. Lay the bag on one side and let it sit on the counter for at least 2 hours or in the refrigerator up to 24 hours. Turn the bag over a few times. This allows the olive oil to become infused with garlic flavor and gives the potatoes plenty of time to marinate in the garlic infused olive oil. The longer they marinate, the more flavor you will have.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Remove the potato slices from the bag and lay evenly in a single layer on 2 or 3 baking sheets. The slices can overlap a bit, but you don't want to pile them up or the potatoes will steam, rather than roast, and will be mushy not crispy.
Roast for about 30 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom of your oven part way through. At 20 minutes, start checking the potatoes. There is a very fine line between crispy potatoes and burnt potatoes. We like ours just this side of burnt. So it may seem a bit fussy, but I check them, remove any slices that are dark enough, and then put the pans back into the oven, checking every 2-3 minutes and repeating this procedure until they are all done perfectly. If you prefer not to fuss over your potatoes this much, just take them out when the first few are browned but not yet burned and the others are just beginning to turn golden brown around the edges or on the underside when you flip one over. They will be delicious either way!

Cousin Claudio’s Authentic Italian Pasta Sauce

January 5, 2025September 14, 2016 by Kristi

It’s beginning to feel like fall here, which is putting me in the mood for soups, stews and heartier pasta dishes that I don’t usually make in the summer. So today seemed like a good day to share one of our favorites. I know this isn’t my usual heavy-on-the-fruits-and-vegetables kind of recipe but, while we don’t eat pasta every day, we do love it and this dish is nourishing to the soul as well as the body.

Nick’s Cousin Claudio is a chef in Italy. When we got married there in 2004, one of the incredibly special things about our trip was meeting some of our Italian relatives. We were married in Ripa Teatina, a tiny hilltop town overlooking the Adriatic, in the church where Nick’s great-grandparents were married before they emigrated to the United States, and where some of his cousins still live.

A few days before our wedding, family members we had never met welcomed us into their home for a meal and Claudio cooked pasta for us. This pasta. We didn’t get his recipe, but he gave us basic instructions and when we got home I experimented and made it over and over until we felt like we had finally achieved it. Of course, we call it Cousin Claudio’s Sauce.

(This picture is in front of the little grocery store the family runs.)

One day last year on a hectic school and soccer night, I gave the kids pasta with jarred sauce (which for the record, we do eat). On that night though, my daughter declined to eat her dinner, and when I inquired as to why she wasn’t eating she said sweetly, “Mommy, I just really prefer Cousin Claudio’s Sauce.” Don’t we all, my dear. I’m still not sure whether I should have felt pleased or embarrassed or annoyed. I may have created a monster. I’ve definitely raised a foodie.

Those of you who know us well have probably had Cousin Claudio’s Sauce, as it is one of our favorite meals to share with family and friends. And to this day it takes me back to that simple but incredible meal in a beautiful place with very special people. We are still overwhelmed by and so thankful for their warmth and hospitality.

This sauce is so simple but it is really important not to rush it. Take your time and allow the flavors to develop at each step. The carrots and onions basically melt into the sauce and you will have to look closely to even know they are there. Use a flat or angled wooden spoon and break the meat up into really tiny bits as it cooks. Allow the onions, carrots and meat to all three to simmer together, and then give the wine plenty of time to cook down. If you prefer not to use wine, you can substitute an equal amount of chicken or vegetable broth with lemon juice. You just need the acidity to brighten the flavors. Finishing the sauce with butter adds just the right bit of creaminess, flavor and mouth feel to the sauce. A drizzle of olive oil or ghee and a tiny pinch of salt is a good dairy free substitute.

This sauce is best served with linguine. It won’t be the same with a shorter pasta shape or capelinni. We used to love DeCecco brand linguine, which is made in Chieti, Italy, very near where we were married and first had this sauce. Now that we are gluten free, the only pasta that measures up for us is Jovial, which is a whole grain brown rice pasta made in Tuscany with traditional methods. Now I use Jovial’s Organic Brown Rice Spaghetti for this sauce now (until they start making linguine!) and it is delicious. Even if you aren’t gluten free, I highly recommend it as a healthier, whole grain option. You can’t even tell the difference. And we’re pretty picky about our pasta!

I’m feeding a family of six and I love to get 2 meals from anything that takes a bit of time to prepare. So this recipe will sauce 4, 12 oz. boxes of Jovial spaghetti. It can easily be cut in half, if you aren’t feeding a small hungry army like I am.

A few other important tips to make this a truly authenitc Italian pasta experience:

1. Salt your pasta cooking water liberally to season the pasta. Do not add oil to your cooking water. This prevents the pasta from absorbing the sauce.

2. Cook your pasta to almost but not quite al dente, the point where it still has just a bit of bite. This usually means undercooking it by two or three minutes from the package directions so check it often towards the end of the cooking time.

3. Do NOT rinse your cooked pasta. Drain the pasta in a colander and then put it straight into your warm sauce. Toss it well with a pair of tongs and let it sit in the sauce on very low heat for just a few minutes. This allows the pasta to absorb all of the flavors of the sauce while it finishes cooking.

4.Italians do not over-sauce their pasta. The sauce is a delicious condiment to showcase the pasta. So after you let your pasta sit in the sauce for a few minutes, pull it out, put it in a serving bowl, top it with just a bit more sauce if you feel like you need to and then save the remaining sauce for another meal.

I hope you love Cousin Claudio’s Sauce as much as we do. And I hope Claudio will think we are doing his sauce (and his name) justice.

Serve with an arugula salad and enjoy with your loved ones!

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Cousin Claudio’s Authentic Italian Pasta Sauce

Ingredients

2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 sweet onion finely minced
8-10 large full size carrots, finely minced (approx. 3 cups, minced)
1 lb ground beef please use organic, grass fed beef if possible
1 c. Dry white wine can substitute 2/3 c broth with juice of one lemon
2, 28 oz cans crushed or puréed tomatoes
2-4 cups water
2 T butter optional (use olive oil, coconut oil or ghee with a tiny pinch of salt ffor a dairy free version)
2, 12 oz boxes
Jovial Organic Brown Rice Spaghetti
Parmigiano reggiano for serving optional

Instructions

Coat a large skillet or cast iron pant with the olive oil and warm over medium heat.
Place carrots In a food processor and pulse until they are minced finely, but not puréed, then add to your skillet. Repeat with the onions.
Cook the carrots and onions over medium heat, stirring often, until they are softened but,not yet starting to brown or caramelize.
Move the carrots and onions to one side of the skillet and add the ground beef in the open space. Use a flat or angled wooden or bamboo spoon and break the meat up into really tiny bits as it cooks. When the beef is browned, stir it into the vegetables. Allow the onions, carrots and meat to all three to simmer together until the meat is cooked through and any liquid has evaporated.
Add the white wine or broth and cook, stirring often, until the liquid is mostly absorbed.
Add the tomatoes and stir to combine. Add one cup of water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Allow the sauce to simmer for at least 2 hours, stirring often, scraping down the sides of your skillet and incorporating the bits of sauce from the edges of the pan. Add water, 1 cup at a time, as needed to keep the sauce the same consistency. The color will deepen and turn more orange as it cooks. The longer you allow the sauce to simmer, the deeper the flavor will be. Just keep adding a bit more water as it cooks down.
Just before serving, stir in 2 T butter or one of the dairy free alternatives.
Bring 6-8 quarts of water to a boil in a large stock pot. When the water has come to a boil, add approx 1 T sea salt to the water. Do not add any oil. Cook the pasta according to your package instructions, but check it a few minutes early and remove it from the water just before it is al dente.
Drain pasta in a colander and add it to your sauce. Use tongs to combine the pasta and sauce, making sure all of the pasta is coated. Let it sit over low heat for just a few minutes to allow the pasta to absorb all of the flavors from the sauce as it finishes cooking. Use your tongs to lift the pasta out of the sauce and into a serving bowl. You should have half of the sauce remaining, set it aside for another meal.
Serve with grated parmigiano reggiano, if you wish, and enjoy with your loved ones!

Salted Caramel Almond Clusters

July 22, 2023August 30, 2016 by Kristi

I love chocolate. I blame my mom (sorry, mom). And the days when she or one of my sisters or I would make a pan of brownies and my family would inhale the entire pan in record time. I am blessed to have a mom who loves to bake and our home always smelled of homemade bread, cookies and brownies.

Now as a health coach and mom who works hard to feed my family nourishing foods that promote health, I still have absolutely no problem with a treat once in a while. But these days I try to choose my treats wisely. I try to choose treats that are delicious (never waste a treat on something mediocre!) and that completely satisfy my chocolate cravings or sweet tooth with healthful, real food ingredients and without harmful ingredients that sabotage our health like sugar, white flour, artificial flavors or colors, high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, trans fats, processed oils and chemical preservatives.

These Salted Caramel Almond Clusters fit the bill perfectly.

My family all loves these salty sweet treats but lets be honest:

I make them for me.

Salted caramel, almonds and chocolate. Three of my favorite things all in one delicious little bite.

And the best part?

It’s all real food with just a very small amount of sugar in the chocolate chips. So you can enjoy them completely guilt free. As long as you don’t eat 10 or 12 at once. But I have to warn you they are pretty addicting so that is not out of the realm of possibility.

Almonds contain lots of healthy fats, fiber, protein, magnesium and vitamin E. The health benefits of almonds include lower blood sugar levels, reduced blood pressure and lower cholesterol levels. You don’t need to fear the fat content of almonds, as they actually reduce hunger and promote weight loss.

Raw honey is a far healthier sweetener than processed white sugar. It doesn’t cause the same blood sugar spike or increase in insulin levels, and the glycemic effect is moderated even more when it’s paired with a healthy protein like in these little treats. According to Dr. Josh Axe, raw honey contains 22 amino acids, 27 minerals and 5,000 enzymes. Raw honey contains vitamins B6, thiamin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid and niacin. The bee pollen in raw honey helps improve immune function, fight infections and ward off seasonal allergies. Raw honey promotes antioxidant activity and a bit of raw honey at bedtime even improves sleep. You never want to heat raw honey as this destroys most of the health benefits.

Dr. William Sears and Dr. Josh Axe both list dark chocolate as one of the top 10 highest antioxidant foods. Dark chocolate has an ORAC Score (Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity) of 21,000, and Dr. Axe places it third on his list of highest antioxidant foods behind only Goji berries and wild blueberries. Hooray!! We can enjoy a small piece of dark chocolate or a few dark chocolate chips as a healthful treat every single day. Milk chocolate obviously has more sugar added and fewer health benefits, which means we need to eat it in moderation and as a once in a while treat.

If you love your chocolate like I do, its also important to choose the purest and best quality chocolate you can. I personally love Enjoy Life chocolate chips, chunks and baking chocolate. Enjoy Life products are free of gluten, dairy, soy, peanuts and fillers. Perfect for those of us with food allergies. But even if we suddenly didn’t have food allergies, this chocolate is so good I doubt I would ever be able to switch back to anything else!

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Salted Caramel Almond Clusters

These healthy little treats are amazing and satisfy your sweet tooth and chocolate cravings without any harmful ingredients! Enjoy completely guilt free!!

Prep Time10

Cook Time5

Total Time15

Servings: 36 Clusters

Author: Kristi Cirignano

Ingredients

1/4 c raw honey
1/4 c almond butter (make sure you use pure 100% almond butter with no sugar or other added ingredients. I prefer the fresh ground almond butter available locally at Fresh Market or at many natural grocery stores. I also sometimes order Kirkland Almond Butter from Amazon)
1/2 tsp unprocessed sea salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1-1/2 c whole almonds (I usually use roasted and salted almonds from Aldi in this recipe, if you use raw or unsalted Almonds I would increase the sea salt to 1 tsp.)
1/2 c Enjoy Life chocolate chips

Instructions

In a small bowl, stir together the honey, almond butter, sea salt and vanilla.
Add almonds and stir until they are all coated.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using two spoons, drop spoonfuls of the caramel almond mixture into the parchment paper. I usually get about 36 clusters.
Put your baking sheet in the freezer while you melt the chocolate for the topping.
In a small saucepan over VERY low heat, slowly melt the chocolate chips until the chocolate is smooth and will spread easily. Stir often to prevent burning. If your heat is too high, your chocolate will become thick so its important to use very low heat and be patient. As soon as your chocolate is melted, remove it from the heat.
Use a spoon to spread a bit of the melted chocolate onto each cluster.
Return the baking sheet to the freezer for 1-2 hours to let the clusters harden. Store Salted Caramel Almond Clusters in the freezer until you are ready to enjoy, as they will get soft and gooey at room temperature.
Try not to eat them all at once!

Notes

This recipe is adapted from Elana's Pantry . I have probably made these a hundred times since I found Elana's delicious Macadamia Caramel Clusters and have tried a dozen variations and methods. This is by far my favorite and the only way I make these delicious little treats now! Thank you for the inspiration, Elana!

Sources:

draxe.com/the-many-health-benefits-of-raw-honey

https://authoritynutrition.com/9-proven-benefits-of-almonds/

Sears, W., & Sears, M. (2010). Prime-time health: A scientifically proven plan for feeling young and living longer. New York: Little, Brown and Co.

http://draxe.com/top-10-high-antioxidant-foods/

Healthy School Lunches in Ten Minutes a Day

July 22, 2023August 24, 2016 by Kristi

I recently read about a 2014 study that found home packed school lunches, as a whole, included more sugar, calories and unhealthy fats had lower nutritional value than school lunches. Wow! If this is true, we have some serious work to do, fellow lunch packing parents! I’ll admit packing school lunches is not my favorite activity. But it’s really important to me to feed my family foods that nourish their bodies and minds and we also have multiple food allergies, so its a necessity for us.

Our school lunches aren’t fancy, but they are filled with real whole foods that I feel good about feeding my kids. I’ve given you a quick reference list of the things on the rotation for my kids’ lunches. Read on below for my tips for getting this done quickly and easily. With a little planning ahead it really is possible to pack healthy, real food lunches in ten minutes a day!

I make most of our school lunches the night before. If I’m packing leftovers, I make lunches while I’m cleaning up from dinner so I only have to put food away once and I’m getting lunches packed at the same time. Then in the morning all I have to do is put the lunch containers in insulated lunch bags with a few ice packs. The biggest exception to this is soup–I heat it up and put it in thermoses in the morning while the kids are eating breakfast and it is still warm at lunch time.

I might have a bit of a problem with lunchbox containers. We have so many! But it helps keep the lunch packing process a bit more fun for me and I hope it keeps the kids from getting bored with their lunch options, too. We use the three compartment plastic EasyLunchBoxes and our Pottery Barn Kids bento boxes the most, but I also have several different Sistema containers. I really like their Lunch Cubes and Salad to Go containers and we use the Small Split for their morning snack.

I generally follow the same basic formula: Main course (meat or another healthy protein/fat/whole grain), at least one fruit and at least one vegetable. Then I may add another side or two, depending on which lunch containers I’m using and whether I feel like they need more food.

I stock my freezer with things I can easily pull out and pop in a lunch container and they are thawed and ready to eat by lunchtime the next day.

When I make hamburgers, meatballs, or chicken for dinner I always make extra to freeze for lunches. I cut up chicken breasts into strips, grill them on a grill pan and freeze them for lunches. I always keep turkey meatballs and leftover hamburger patties in the freezer. My kids will happily eat any of these cold. I used to cut rounds of bread with a biscuit cutter and make cute little hamburger sliders with lettuce and cheese, but they prefer just the plain patty, which doesn’t seem quite as fun but I won’t complain because it makes my job easier. If possible, buy hormone and antibiotic free meat from grass fed/pastured animals. In addition to avoiding the hormones and antibiotics, pastured meat is much higher in omega-3 fatty acids and you get the benefit of the nutrition from all of the greens the animals eat. We buy our meat directly from Fischer Farms, a wonderful local family farm. I love knowing where my meat comes from and that it was raised humanely and healthfully.
Protein Muffins — I love to freeze these super healthy and delicious Grain Free Banana Protein Muffins from One Lovely Life for breakfasts and lunches. I make the recipe exactly as written except that I make 18 standard size muffins. These Flourless Chocolate Muffins were also on my list this week. Like the banana muffins, they are high in protein, have no flour, sugar or refined oils and they are so good. You will never know they are made of chickpeas. My kids think they’re getting a chocolate cupcake in their lunches.
This week I also made and froze 24 Mini Pizzas. I use Food for Life sprouted grain hamburger buns or English muffins (for my gluten eaters) and for my gluten free kiddos either Food for Life gluten free English muffins or Udi’s whole grain gluten free hamburger buns. I lay the bun or muffin halves face up on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven, top with organic pasta sauce and cheese (or Diaya non-dairy cheese shreds for my dairy free kids), pop them back in the oven until the cheese melts, then let them cool and freeze them in a zip top bag. I’ll add a piece of fruit and a small salad or sprouts to their lunch and they will be set.

Other Main Courses —

Tacos — We have tacos for dinner several times a month and I always make extra so we can have tacos for lunches at least one day. I make 3 extra tacos before I clean up from dinner, put each one in a snack size zip top baggie so the toppings don’t fall out, and then put them in their lunch container with a piece of fruit and another side or two (sometimes a few organic blue corn chips and salsa or guacamole). The tacos are cold and I’m pretty sure the shells are soggy by lunch time but my kids still love them.
Canned tuna — My daughter likes tuna plain straight from the can on a sandwich, on a salad or with whole grain crackers.
Almond butter or sunbutter sandwiches are quick and easy. Make sure you buy 100% pure, no sugar added Almond butter and use sprouted, whole grain or gluten free bread with the fewest and best ingredients possible.
Lettuce and cheese sandwiches — I use Diaya cheddar style slices for my dairy free kiddos and put lettuce and cheese on sprouted wheat, whole grain or gluten free bread. My daughter likes a slice of tomato too. Once in a great while I give them BLTs.
Chili or soup is good for variety in the fall and winter and makes a great, healthy lunch when paired with a real food muffin and a piece of fruit.
Hard boiled eggs — Make a dozen hard boiled eggs at a time and have enough for several days lunches. Buy local, organic or omega-3 eggs from pastured chickens, if possible.
Organic yogurt — My preference is plain yogurt with just a bit of honey and some fruit or granola added, so I can control the amount of sugar.

Sides — Every lunch I pack has at least one vegetable and one fruit. I may add a second fruit or one or two of the other options listed here:

Veggies with hummus or guacamole for dipping— carrots, celery, bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, grape or cherry tomatoes, cucumber, or sugar snap peas, depending on which child and what they will eat.
Lettuce or spinach salad — this is really just a few bites of salad, sometimes it gets eaten and sometimes it doesn’t!
Pea, sunflower or radish sprouts — This is new for us this year. At our farmers market this summer we discovered Sprout Farms, a farmer who grows and sells micro greens and my kids love them! The amazing thing is that the sprouts really do taste just like the vegetable or seed they are grown from. The Pea Shoots really taste like peas and the Sunflower Shoots really taste like sunflower seeds. I’m thrilled to have another leafy green my crew will eat in their lunches. If you’re local, you can purchase them at the Downtown Evansville or Newburgh Farmer’s Markets or through their website. Or if you’re really ambitious you can grow sprouts in your own sprouting trays.
Fresh Fruit — apple slices, berries, bananas, clementines and grapes are the most common lunchbox fruits for us
Unsweetened applesauce — look for 100% applesauce with no added sugar (I’ve been known to pack apple slices and applesauce a few times when lunch supplies were very low.)
Individual size fruit cups in 100% juice — I always have a few on hand for emergencies when we are out of fresh fruit
Olives — My kiddos love olives and they are an easy and healthy fruit full of good healthy fats! Our favorites are Castelvetrano Olives.
Nuts and dates — I often fill one space in their bento boxes with nuts or a mix of dates and nuts for a healthy treat
Cheese — buy organic where possible, local grass fed cheese is the best option if its available and fits your budget
Protein muffins — see above for two of my favorites for my freezer stash
Popcorn — a healthy whole grain treat as long as it isn’t popped in hydrogenated oils or loaded up with artificial flavoring
Pretzels or whole grain or gluten free crackers — not really real food, but make it into my kids’ lunches once in a while
Organic blue corn chips — also not really real food but I still use them once in a while on taco day

I hope this gives you some inspiration for your lunch boxes. It really is worth the effort to feed our kids real foods that nourish and heal their bodies and minds. I would love to hear if you have other real food lunch box ideas that your kids enjoy. Please share in the comments!