Life, Gluten Free

Homemade Gummy Bears Without the Junk!

My daughter loves these and can pretty much make them herself now. It's fun to experiment with different flavors of juice. 

Ingredients:

1 cup organic juice

4 tablespoons grass-fed gelatin

2 tablespoons maple syrup (optional)*

Silicone molds like gummy bears or ice cube trays

*I usually don't add maple syrup but certain juices need a little extra sweetness. You can use your judgement!

Directions:

Warm juice on the stove in a sauce pan. Slowly mix in the gelatin until well dissolved. Add maple syrup. If the juice we are using is really pale, sometimes we'll add a few drops of vegetable coloring just to give it a nice color pop! Once everything is mixed well and gelatin is dissolved, you can add these to your molds. I found that silicone molds work best. If you are using small molds like gummy bears, use a dropper to help you get the juice into the molds.

You can place the trays in the refrigerator or freezer until the gelatin is set. Once you remove the gummies from the molds, store in an air tight container in the refrigerator. Enjoy! They don't last long in my house before everyone eats them up. 

These would be perfect to snack on through the day, school lunches and more!

 

Yumbox Bento Lunch System Review

My daughter is homeschooled but she attends summer camps and a waldorf homeschool enrichment program. I pack a lot of to-go lunches for her. Through the years, I've used LunchBots, Goodbyn and others.

While I still use a combination of different ones, our most frequent choice is Yumbox! We bought one last year and love it.

It is easy to clean, easy to pack and it seals well. We have not had any leaks at all.

Absolutely none of the food gets mixed together because it does not leak between compartments. 

It is also easy to open when it comes to snacking and lunch time, which is important because I've tried ones in the past where my daughter could hardly get into them. 

I ordered ours directly from Yumbox but you can also order them on Amazon.

They come in so many awesome colors! Check them out.

We have the 7 compartment Yumbox, but they also have a 4 compartment Panino and a MiniSnack 3 compartment.

I also ordered the Yumbox Insulated Lunch Bag, which nicely fits the Yumbox plus extras.

I love packing my daughter's lunch because I know I am feeding her food that nourishes her body. 

There's so many different things that you can pack and food allergies don't have to limit you!

Do you have a favorite lunch system that you use? Or does your child have a favorite food that you pack them?

Share in the comments below! And don't forget to follow my blog on Facebook.
 

And don't forget to check out Yumbox :)

 

Allergy-Friendly Lunch Series Pt 2

I last posted about some of the allergy-friendly lunches that I send my husband with during the work week. But Sophie also has her own snack containers for when we go out. We pack a snack when we go to tennis, gymnastics, when we are gardening, going on a bike ride -- and so on. 

Leaving the house? Pack a snack! That's pretty much how it goes. 

Above is Sophie's pink LunchBots duo. I packed pear, banana and apricot fig bars.

Every week Sophie helps me make dried fruit bars, or balls. We make so many different variations I couldn't post them all. Sometimes we use coconut flour to make it more like cake.

This particular batch below didn't have coconut flour, but instead we put dried fruit in the food processor with some coconut oil. We rolled them in shredded coconut sprinkles that we make (we dye them pink with beet juice)

On activity days I pack a larger snack in the Goodbyn container. 

Sophie helped me pack her Goodbyn for tennis & gymnastics class. She cut the carrot sticks and cucumber slices. We also put in dried fruit balls, apple chunks and beans.

Sophie uses kid-safe knives. We like the wavy chopper and the vegetable chopper.

More to come! We love packing snacks :)

Allergy-Friendly Lunch Series

One question I get asked a lot is

"what kind of snacks and lunches do you pack on the go?"

So to answer those questions, I'm starting a snack & lunches series to share with you. To kick it off, I am going to share some lunches that I pack my husband during the week.

We use LunchBots because they are durable, easily cleaned and convient to pack for on the go.

I bought my husband a LunchBots Uno and a LunchBots Trio.

For the Uno, I pack a salad with various toppings. Below is a photo of a salad with beans, olives and homemade kimchi.

The Trio is devoted to dessert.

This one has chocolate chips, raisins, tangelos and apple slices.

On the weekends, I put the LunchBots containers in the dishwasher for a thorough clean.

During the week, I wash them by hand.

Next up!

Uno: Salad with homemade coleslaw, avocado, diced scallions and dressing

Trio: Kiwi slices, banana slices, tangerines

I love to get creative and I think the LunchBots lets you do that!

For utensils, I pack him the Light My Fire Spork

I bought the fun food picks (pictured above) at Bento USA.

*Please note: this is not a paid promotional post for LunchBots. We are just huge fans, and love their products! 

My daughter is homeschooled, but we go on a lot of hikes, bike rides, play dates and homechool outings so next up I will share some of the snacks and lunches that I pack her.

Do you pack lunches and snacks? What are some of your favorites?