2/3 cup quinoa

1 1/3 cups water

4 eggs

1/3 cup milk (can substitute almond or rice or coconut milk)

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 cup coconut oil

1 1/2 c. organic cane sugar

1 cup cocoa

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

Cook the quinoa in the water. Set aside and let cool.Combine the quinoa, milk, eggs, coconut oil and vanilla in a blender (if the coconut oil is solid then melt and cool first).

Puree the ingredients in the blender.  Mix all the dry ingredients together and then add the wet to the dry and combine until mixed.

 Bake in 9×13 inch pan at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.  Top will looked cracked when done.  While it is still hot sprinkle the top with chocolate chips and when the heat melts them spread around with a spatula for the icing.

 Cool and enjoy!  You will never know there is no flour in these!

by

1 cup brown rice

1 cup quinoa

1  3/4 cups   H20

2 tsp. honey/agave/or maple syrpup

2 tsp. apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup ground flax seed

2 tsp.  b. powder

Place the brown rice and quinoa in a bowl and cover them with water.

 Soak overnight.  For additional benefit, add 2 tbsp. of apple cider vinegar to the soaking grains.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Put two 10″ cast iron pans into the oven while it is preheating.

 Rinse and drain the grains in a strainer, then place them into a high powered blender with the rest of the ingredients, except the baking powder, once blended add the baking powder and blend again.

If  you don’t have a high powered blender process the grains very thoroughly.

 Remove the preheated pans from oven and lightly oil them with olive or coconut oil. Slowly pour the batter into a thin layer in the hot pans, using a back and forth motion.  Bake for 15-20 min.

Cut and enjoy!

by

I knew at an early age that being a mom would be my passion. I have enjoyed a successful career as a hairdresser,but having my children has been the icing on my life’s cake.

I thought this motherhood thing was going to be a breeze until my oldest son had his first grand mal seizure at 11 weeks old. Then I was again totally shocked when my youngest son developed anaphylaxis to peanuts! The reality that he could actually die if he ingested them rocked my quiet, contented world.

I then realized that what I did now could affect them later in life. Reading food labels, often with unpronounceable ingredients, looking for anything that might indicate a trace of peanuts became the norm. Learning about food cross-contamination was frightening to say t

he least and I soon realized that my creativity would take on a new direction – that of preparing healthy and safe food for my family.

The more I read, the more I realized that my new passion included not only avoiding peanuts but also a host of other dangerous chemicals. This new focus in my life has been tremendously rewarding and I hope your family will benefit from what I have learned about keeping our precious children healthy.

When my oldest son Brady started school I saw what the other kids were bringing for lunches and I was shocked at what was being sent. I started reading a lot of books and really became a food detective. I realized that not just because of Tyson’s peanut allergy should I be making everything from home, but also that all those other nasty ingredients that cannot be pronounced were even worse and the only way to ensure my kids stayed healthy was to make everything myself from scratch.

I started looking for healthy cookbooks and there was lots, but everything tasted like a ‘bale of hay’ and the kids did not want it. I realized that healthy serves no purpose if the kids would not eat it. I started making my own recipes with kid appeal.

I started to get phone calls from teachers and other mothers about what I was putting in Brady’s lunch. I knew that there was a lot of need for this as coming up with lunch ideas is hard enough but to have them be healthy was virtually impossible. I knew then that I had to write Lunchbox Love.

Things have progressed quite alot from those early days of Lunchbox Love, we have added a new member to our family through adoption, a little girl named Serenity.  The boys have cut their hair, Murray has had a diagnosis and we now know why he had a heart attack and it had nothing to do with our lifestyle.   I have now figured Facebook out and hopefully Twitter soon.  Tyson is my my new web guy, thank goodness as he is cheap, we pay him in food.  The boys are growing and thriving and Serenity is our new joy who makes us all laugh on a regular basis. and once again I am being reminded how busy 2 year olds are.  Homeschooling has taken on a whole new focus but still really great!

My passion is still “whole foods from scratch, nothing from a package” but we are currently on a wheat free challenge and this has spurred many more recipes to share from my repertoire!    So come on and check us out we have a lot to say and a lot to share!

Lunchbox Love was just the beginning… enjoy

by

So I am starting to see a trend forming and I must comment, because for those of you who know me, I can’t help myself.  As you all know I am a homeschooler and on Facebook I follow many homeschool forums and blogs.  Now as much as I enjoy those I feel the need to say something and beg people to cease and desist!

Please do not make it sound as if everyday is pure perfection and you wake up in the morning and have family prayer time together, have a lovely breakfast and then your loving children jump happily to their homeschool studies with exuberance and glee.  If that is the case tell me what I am doing wrong.

Here is how my mornings go.  I am usually awoken by the baby who is up to her eyeballs in a wet diaper and extremely unhappy about it.  Once she is changed then I wake up my youngest son.  I go downstairs and try to figure out what to make for breakfast and then go to the basement to make sure my older son is up  (thankfully he usually is), and then it is back up to see if my other son is getting out of bed, (he usually isn’t) .  At this point the baby has gone walkabout and is no doubt into something she shouldn’t be.

I quickly start breakfast, get the kids fed and then and only then we start homeschool.  There is a whole bunch of other stuff in there that I don’t mention as they are too boring to mention. There is usually a discussion about what to start with.  Brady my oldest would rather cut off his left arm then do language arts and Tyson feels that way about math.

All the cajoling and coercing done they dig in. I could then go throw a load of laundry in or whatever domestic fun I am embarking on that day, only to be 20 minutes into it and hear giggling coming from the homeschool area.  I go investigate and they are playing with the baby,

I reprimand and tell them to “get busy” and they say, “But Mom she is so cute!”  I know but get busy and ignore her so she will play on her own, something she is not good at as she always has the boys attention.  Frankly she thinks they were put on this earth to serve and entertain her.

The domestic chores continue to get interrupted with “Mum I need help”, or “Mum I can’t find my calculator”, or whatever the case may be.  I go help and spend half an hour sitting and going over whatever lesson they have deemed pointless., some days there are tears, some days there are proclamations of this is stupid and “I will never need this  again”.  Sound familiar?  The best part of my day is breaking up fights or arguments, because someone touched someone’s work or computer or I need that pencil because I am left handed or those are my scissors or…. Name the day and that will be the issue.

Do you see a theme forming here?  So no people, homeschooling is not perfect, it not always even fun.  Some days it is frustrating and maddening and I feel like crying and wonder why in the heck I thought this was a good idea.  But this is what I will tell you and this is why I still do it and will continue to do it, flaws and fights and all.

It allows me to truly watch my children grow up and become men.  It allows my husband and I to be the main influence on their life and it allows us to guide them and shape them and teach them about God, about life and about hardships without outside influence from people who do not share the same core values as us.  It allows us to get frustrated and fight together and find a way to work it out.  And yes, some days it does allow us to pray together.

With all its frustrations and pitfalls, it is still one of the best decisions my husband and I ever made and I would not change anything for the world, but “PERFECT” never comes into a homeschool day, but forgiveness and understanding and sometimes fun definitely does.

So for all of you out there thinking I have it all figured out, let me assure you I certainly do not and don’t expect to anytime soon.

So my advice is relax, let it flow how it flows and know that the reasons you started this are still there and still valid and you are doing the right thing for your family!  Enjoy it as much as possible because they grow up so fast and soon in a blink this will be a memory and I just know it will be a good one.  Until next time.

by

So here is something that I would like you to think about. This journey down the path to health and vibrancy is just that; a journey. It is a choice, one which we are allowed to make on our own time and our own volition. No one is forcing anyone to do anything.

I bring this up because typically when I go out and do my many speaking engagements I am usually met with one or two people who meet me with opposition to absolutely everything I say. We all have choices to make and we can choose whatever we want. No one is forcing anyone to do anything that they do not want to do. It really is a free country.

My husband and I have made our goals in life to always be growing and learning and when we know better we do better. Now granted it is not always easy or fun but it is what we do and it comes down to what your priority is. Ours is to be well and vibrant. There has been so many times in this journey when I have cried out, “No, I did not want to know that!” Unfortunately we can not go back.

So here is where the choices comes in, we can move forward and choose to acknowledge it and act differently or not to do anything at all. It’s up to you. No matter what you choose, be okay with it and follow your gut. Everyone does the best they can.

Here is my challenge for you. Do not do anything unless you have thought about it and weighed both sides. Do not just do something because that is the way it always been done or that is how your mother did it. Do it because you have thought about it and weighed both sides and you are basing your choice from a place of knowledge. Do not allow someone to guilt or scare you into something. Doctors, nurses, the media usually have their own opinions and often that is all it is, an opinion. Often one-sided. Only you know what is best. Follow your gut. Do not act out of fear. Act out of confidence that you have thought it through. There is a wealth of information out there so take advantage it.

Contrary to popular belief, I am not opposed to mainstream western medicine. If it were not for western medicine my husband would have died in February and I will be forever grateful for what they did to save him. Having said that, we try to do as little as possible with drug intervention, rather choosing to keep our immune systems strong through prevention and eating well in order to ward off disease.

So my advice (not that you asked) is to think things through completely and choose what is best for you and your family. Please remember that awareness is a journey and it is not something that you flip a switch and suddenly you are “organic and Zen”.

So for today pick one thing that you know you should and could change and do it today. When you overcome it, it becomes incredibly empowering and may spur you on to do more. But for today, do just one thing. No matter what it is just do it. Do not overwhelm yourself with too much at once. Remember it is “baby steps”. Oh and by the way, enjoy the journey and never bow down to fear.

Until next time!!

by

So here is the thing…at my kid’s last school I was known as the “Hotdog Nazi”. Why? Because I was trying to get the hotdog program stopped.

Apparently in that town when your want kids to be well nourished, you want to deny kids any fun. I was actually told that by a teacher. My response (with extreme sarcasm ) “No, I want them to grow up first and foremost, and I want them to grow up healthy and not qualify to be a circus side show exhibit.”

We have such a huge problem with children being over fed and under nourished. Children getting Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure… and that apparently is okay for some people, because, hey, I am trying to deny kids fun, right (insert sarcasm here)?

There is absolutely nothing good in a hotdog, and there is a whole lot wrong and bad for you, starting with nitrates and nitrites, one is a preservative and one is a color keeper. Both of these chemicals are known carcinogens. Technically, what they do is form carcinogens in your body. NICE.

Hotdogs are usually extremely poor quality by-product meat (the crap off the floor). Not to mention all the fillers and taste enhancers because it turns out “crap off the floor” is not that tasty. Then they are on a white bread bun, usually ladled with ketchup. Incidentally, 1 tbsp of ketchup has 1 tsp of sugar in it. This combination converts immediately to sugar in the body, which puts them in an immediate spike followed by a crash. Aren’t these children trying to learn? And when trying to learn, one should not be in a sugar coma.

We send our kids such a double message. I will never forget going to a performance at our kid’s last school. The performance was all about eating well and being active and on the way out, we were handed a flyer promoting that the next Wednesday was “Donut Day”. Are they kidding? Why does this not compute for anyone else but me? But hey, for now, this “hotdog Nazi” will continue to fight the good fight, because frankly my kids are worth it and so are yours!

Until next time!

by

I would like to start out by introducing myself!

My name is Sally J King and I have written a cookbook on healthy eating for kids called Lunchbox Love, but most importantly I am a mom. I am a mom with two growing boys I am no different to you. I do not have a cook or a live in maid or nanny (frankly, that would be me). This ‘soapbox’ is where I can let loose on my passions about food and feeding our kids well and exposing the truth about food. So this is how my story began.

I went into this “motherhood” thing very naively

I, frankly, had delusions of grandeur of 2 am feedings where I would gaze lovingly down at my child at my breast and cherish every moment… NOT! I was not prepared for breastfeeding to be so hard and I sure was not prepared for a child who was allergic to everything I put in his mouth. He had eczema so bad he was a “scab” from head to toe. At night he would dig divets in his chest from the itch. Then came the peanut allergy discovery at 18 months. I had to be obsessive about reading labels and checking out ingredients. I soon discovered that all these ingredients with unpronounceable names were a problem. I just knew that they could not be good. I soon became very informed on what they were and what they were not, and good for you was not part of the equation!

When my oldest son started school I saw what was being sent for lunches and I was shocked

The teachers would call me and marvel at what he would eat and what I was sending. Armed with my knowledge that I had gained and seeing what kids were eating I knew I had to do something, thus, “Lunchbox Love” was born. I soon began really researching what was in food, and what all these unpronounceable ingredients were and what their purpose was. I learned very quickly that the only purpose they served was that of the so- called “food” companies (I use the term “food” loosely). They were cheap fillers, dyes and nasty preservatives.

Actually, my friends they do not serve us at all. They harm us and what is more they harm our kids because they market them straight to kids. That made me mad! It is all about money and absolutely nothing to do with the health or well being of our children. There were days when I would just scream, “aaah, I did not want to know that!” I knew that I could not take it back, so I plugged on forward and adopted the mantra which is “With knowledge comes responsibility”. With the growing number of children suffering from obesity and being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes I knew that these companies needed to be outed and I was “Mom” enough to do it.

What are all these ingredients?

I will get into some of these unpronounceable additives and hopefully offer you some alternatives and some time saving advice on how to make it all happen. So I would say to all you moms out there lets together and “Be the change we want to see in the world”, because our kids and their healthy futures are so worth it.

by