First Day of Kindergarten!

Today I dropped my 5 1/2 year old daughter to her first day of kindergarten. I'm excited and melancholy at the same time. Being a natural foods chef and holistic health counselor, I wanted to make something fun and different for her. Alas, she insisted on a sandwich, boring for me but exciting for her. She has gluten sensitivity so we rarely make sandwiches. Luckily there are a lot of gluten free breads on the market. We like the Trader Joe's brand multi-grain, gluten free bread but it is a little firmer/dryer than regular bread.

The school instructed us to pack a snack that is separate from her lunch and easy for her to get to. Snack time is at 10 am.

For her snack, she wanted yogurt and fruit. So I used the smallest container from the nesting food containers. The night before, I put some plain yogurt in the container and popped it in the freezer. In the morning I put chopped strawberries and  drizzled grade b maple syrup on top. I'm assuming it will be nicely chilled but thawed when she is ready to eat it. I really love these bamboo sporks!

You can see the frozen yogurt below the maple syrup:

For lunch (11:30 am) she requested 1/2 a cheese sandwich and 1/2 a peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich. In her cheese sandwich, I used shredded raw cheddar cheese, grapeseed veganaise and arugula on gluten-free bread. I used a two-tier tiffin. 

I packed the other half sandwiches in my 3 year old's tiffin while we are out and about today. 

On the lower container, I put white peaches, celery sticks, red grapes and half of a cheese string. Again, this was all her idea. 

I made these cloth baggies, similar to the fold over sandwich baggies in the 70's, remember them? I put some some cashews and rice crackers it it. Something a little more crunchy and savory for her. 

I froze 1/2 cup of water in her kleen kanteen overnight and filled up the rest with water so it stays cold when she's ready to drink. One of her (too small for her) pink socks work really well to absorb condensation on the water bottle.


Here is her lunch with snack before I packed it in her tiffin bag. Her nesting container fits perfectly on top of her tiffin and I'm still able to tighten the drawstrings. 

Hopefully she'll let me get more creative with her lunches as she gets used to going to school! 

*not shown is the weelife lunch note I added to her tiffin bag that says: Have a good day! I <3 U!

The Kitchn review by Emily Ho

Excited about a review by Apartment Therapy's, The Kitchn section by Emily Ho. Check it out!

Plastic-Free Lunch Containers (and More!) from OM Goods

Gluten free lunch!

I've been gluten free and vegan for about a year now and loving it! My daughter's digestion has improved and no longer complains of tummy issues.

Here is a gluten free lunch that we had at the zoo.

My 3 year old is carrying her pink OM Goods bag with a 2 tier tiffin, utensils, cloth napkin and drink!

Shown below is the 2 tier tiffin with: 1st tier: hummus, apple slices, rice crackers and guacamole. I used the apple slices and to keep the rice crackers from getting soggy from the hummus and guac. I must say it held up nicely! 2nd tier: a clementine and almond butter and fruit preserve roll ups using blue corn tortillas. Really nice combo. The girls loved it! 

Mineral rich salad!

My family's favorite mineral rich salad. Baby greens, chopped kale, dulse flakes,  sprouts, tomatoes, avocado, toasted pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and a homemade dressing with braggs apple cider vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, a dash of maple syrup (try grade B, it's got a high mineral content) and a pinch of celtic sea salt.

Perfect meal on the go in an OM Goods tiffin or food container too!

Cute lunch ideas for Kids

 Jackie at Weelife just posted two adorable lunch ideas for the tiffin.

See her blog post for more pictures!
Wee Life - 2 Tiered Tiffin

I Love You Notes For Your Tiffin!

These little notes are too cute for back-to-school. They would fit perfect in your little ones tiffins, tiffin bag or lunchbox!  Let them know that you are thinking of them! Make your notes re-useable and laminate them so you can write on them with a dry-erase pen.

Jackie has them available for free download on her Wee Life blog!

Jackie has even has made a second page has blanks spots for a personalized message.

OM Goods Photoshoot - by Julie Prichard

Some beautiful pictures of our OM Goods tiffins and bags done by artist and professional photographer, Julie Prichard of the Land of Lost Luggage. Thanks again Julie!

Here are the 3 sizes we carry, 2 tier, 3 tier and 4 tier tiffins

A shot of my 2 year old with her almond butter and raw honey sandwich, crusted of course!

My 4 year old, loves her fruits and veggies!

 

 The tulips remind me of spring!

The 2 sizes we carry, Small for the 2 and 3 tier and Large for the 3 and 4 tier. Not shown is the large tiffin bag in Parrot Green

 A 3 tier tiffin with a small Parrot Green tiffin bag

 3 tier tiffin closed with the small tiffin bag in Parrot Green

Tiffin Wallah!

I came across this blog and loved the artwork! I like Nidhi's use of soft muted colors. Reminds me of watching them when I was younger visiting India.

What's in your tiffin?

Veggie Spring Rolls

Inspired by my good friend, I made these veggie spring rolls. They are perfect for tiffin lunches and just as easy as making a sandwich and delicious! Shown is OM Goods small tiffin bag with our 2-tier tiffin.

How to make veggie spring rolls.

Rice paper (you can pick them up in a Thai Asian food market)
Any vegetables you want!
I used:
Anoki mushrooms as is, they are long and thin
Carrots shredded
Cucumbers shredded
Daikon shredded
Tofu thinly sliced
Avocado thinly sliced
Spring onions chopped
Any nut/seed butter you like.
I used Sunflower seed butter

I used a food processor to shred the carrots, cucumbers and diakon. I shredded them each separately.

Dip the rice paper in warm water for 2-3 seconds and lay out on a flat surface. Arrange veggies and tofu on one side of the rice paper. Drizzle nut/seed butter. Roll like a burrito tucking in both sides. Voila spring rolls! If you make these let me know what you think!

OM Tiffin Bag in Black

Our black OM tiffin bag is a sleek way to tote your lunch. Here it is shown with our 4 tier tiffin carrier and 2 large navel oranges which would fit nicely on top. The shoulder straps are adjustable to you can carry it long across your back. Carry your food with attitude!

OM Cloth Napkins are Here!

Everyone needs a fresh cloth napkin to put in their lunchboxes everyday. Now OM Goods has them available to you! They come in a set of 4 for only $10. They are smaller so they are more portable than traditional sized cloth napkins. 100% cotton and 13"x13" square. An OM symbol is embroidered on each one. Available in "OM White" or "Parrot Green".

OM White Cloth Napkins:

 

Parrot Green Cloth Napkins:

Want more ideas on how to create less waste when eating lunch? Check out my "Zero-Waste Lunch Pledge" Get tips on how you can help the earth one meal at a time!

Our New Large Tiffin Bag!

Maybe it needs to be called an OM Goods Tiffin "Cozy". Everything fits in this bag so beautifully! Shown is the large tiffin bag for the 3-tier or 4 -tier tiffins. There is plenty of room on top for an extra food container or a couple of whole fruit.


Here is my Klean Kanteen, 4-tier tiffin and a small stainless steel food container. Not shown is the cloth napkin that all our bags come with!


For snacks turned into lunch, we had raw cheese cubes, farmer's market free-range hard boiled eggs, avocado and Trader Joe's Woven Wheat Wafers. In the small nested food container I have goji berries and raw cacao.

Get Ready for Back to School!

They have been selling like hot cakes at the Hillcrest Farmer's Market. Introducing our newest addition, 100% cotton quilted tiffin bags. Shown is the tiffin bag that fits the 2-tier or 3-tier tiffin. Using the 2-tier in the bag leaves enough room on the top for a whole apple, orange, pear, nectarine etc. The pocket is perfect for you child's Klean Kanteen or Sigg waterbottle. They all come with a matching cloth napkin to lessen the use of paper napkins! The bag colors come in Parrot Green or Hot Pink. We also have shoulder strap bags for our 3 or 4 tier tiffins...more to come!

The lunch shown below has rajma and chawal (kidney beans and rice), an apple and my daughter's klean kanteen.

Sharing is caring...

sharing with friends...our favorite way to eat lunch. Here I used the 4 tier tiffin and 2 stainless steel food storage containers. The storage containers have almond crackers, almond butter sandwiches and hard boiled eggs. The 4 tier tiffin has hummus, carrots, strawberries, and alphabet cookies with chocolate raisins.

Power Packed Snacks

Clementine cuties, raw cheese, apple slices, blueberries, cashews, and tofurky roll-ups...all in a 2 tier tiffin! Some chocolate covered sunflower seeds and animal crackers for the sweet tooth afterward.

Aloo Matar

Leftovers from the night before, I heated aloo muttar, a simple Indian dish of potatoes (aloo) and peas (muttar) with some rice for lunch. Also packed, free-range hard boiled eggs, strawberries, kalamata olives, fresh mozzarella, and tofurky & vegenaise roll-ups. A lunch that left us full for a while!

Victoria's Garden

If you are ever in the San Diego area, you must make a trip to Victoria's Garden. We had went with some good friends for some strawberry picking and petting farm animals. The kids loved it! My girlfriend, Marla, used the strawberries her kids picked to make a vegan strawberry pie with a graham cracker crust and soy whipped cream!

We packed a lunch using OM Goods stainless steel food storage containers. PB&J sandwiches hummus, carrots, pasta salad, steamed broccoli and cauliflower and clementines.

Cinnamon Toasty...

We headed to the zoo and packed a breakfast so we could get a head start on the day.

Here we have the 3-tier tiffin with bio-dynamic (organic is such an over used word isn't it?) raspberries and strawberries, 3 range free eggs, and squares of cinnamon toast with butter, turbinado sugar and cinnamon.

caprese salad alternative...

Fresh mozzarella, organic tomatoes and chopped up greek olives...drizzle some olive oil with some sea salt..yum yum!
we had went to the coffeehouse for breakfast and I used the 3 tier tiffin. Organic strawberries, half and avocado and mozzarella salad. I caved in and had to buy a blueberry scone at Rebecca's.

Murukku & Mithai

Indian snacks are the best...Murukku is a popular spicy South Indian snack. Mithai is a sweet dessert.

A friend brought this amazing tiffin to share with me and our friends. I made some sweet chai to go with the spicy Murukku....YUM!