Fighting Boredom with Healthy Food + Creative Living
At this year’s San Diego Bay Food + Wine event, there were several new standouts who brought their ‘A game’. I’ll cover these over the next week, but I simply must tell you all about one company in particular because I know everyone will be…
This is my most favorite craft because it means there was wine involved at some point! So after collecting a giant container full of corks, I could either start making some cute cork crafts or build a cork boat. I have THAT many. I’ll be…
Bolthouse Carrot Snack Bags
These snack-size packs of carrots (pictured above) come with an insulated section of flavoring spices that can be released when the bag is pulled apart in that one section. The spices all down and then shake the bag to coat the carrots. My daughter brought a bag to school in her lunch and the kids at her table were literally freaking out. You mean you get to shake the bag for flavoring and then eat it? All of the kids wanted to ‘help shake the bag’ and then of course try some. Note to self – pack more of these next time.
Grapple
The Grapple is an apple, that tastes like a grape. What? Yep. They take Washington apples and then put them through a grape bath (concentrated grape flavor and pure water). The apple takes on no additional sugars or calories. They are not genetically altered in any way. The apple is as healthy as ever but now has the new exciting grape flavor. A fun party game – put a bunch of apples in a big bowl and then one or two Grapples. Have the kids find the ‘grape scented one’. It’s very obvious! It’s definitely a fun new twist on apples.
I had it in my head that apples only come from Washington. The folks in Michigan ALSO grow delicious beautiful apples, so look for the Grown in Michigan stickers on displays. Is it me, or is EVERYONE from Michigan just super nice?
Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia!
I was going to put this one in my ‘Healthy Finds’ write-up because Chia is ALL the rage right now, and I’m not talking about It has Omega 3,6 and 9 fatty acids. Although it’s the new wonderfood on the block, getting kids to eat chia can be a challenge. These fruit squeezes have chia in them and they taste delicious. The chia seeds are swollen with juice and have a ‘Boba’ type texture in the fruit mixture. Kids will enjoy the texture and also reap the health benefits of chia.
Trick or Treat!
Packaging also seems to be as important as the actual snack in produce marketing. These Hobgoblin ‘ Pretty Lady’ grapes will be re-branded to Holiday packaging in December. Same great grapes, different bags, but kids are drawn to seasonal art (as well as parents!), so if this helps our kiddos eat more fruits and vegetables, bring on the creativity!
Watch out Kale, there are some new kids on the block! Most of these ‘trendy’ foods are not new per se, but they are finally coming onto the foodie scene as they reach a larger distribution and chefs are having a culinary field day. Unicorns…
I’m getting up early tomorrow morning to drive up to the Fresh Summit Convention in Anaheim to blog my little heart out. This event is the epic gathering of produce growers both local and international. As a blogger, I’ll be looking for creative, unusual and…
I love make-up and must have at least a little mascara on when I leave the house! I have a huge assortment of facial cleansers, toners and scrubs, but they are intended for adding balance to my skin type – not necessarily removing make-up. In…
I eat a heavy plant based diet and will have a freak-out session if I encounter a new vegetable I have not yet tried. I must preface this by saying I am an adventurous eater. I enjoy a wide variety of flavors, textures and if…
Today’s crafty diversion – a Fall felt ball garland. These are easy to make and fun to decorate with for any season. I quickly strung together about 30 felt balls or so with a thick needle and embroidery thread. As to not impale my hand, I used a piece of cardboard to push the needle through on a table. They are not attached in place on the thread, so I can manually space them out as I’d like. This is not a great project if you’re OCD because you’ll spend way too much time trying to evenly space the balls apart (like I did). When done displaying, simply snip the thread and remove all of the felt balls to reuse in another fun combo later on.
These are great for parties, holiday trees, gift wrap toppers, hang on banquet tables, etc.
The felted balls are available from sites like Etsy or Ebay. Here’s a Google link for inspiration.
We stopped at the Rogue Creamery in Central Point, Oregon over the summer to sample some of their delicious blue cheese. There were these very cool vintage cheese sinks in front of the cheese factory building that were repurposed into planter boxes. I believe the…
So my eleven year old daughter was celebrating the beginning of summer with a friend at a pool. In the midst of some enthusiastic dancing, my daughter accidentally launched her foot into one of the many decorative poolside boulders. I was at least 50 feet…
