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tovlo4801
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| Posted: June 24 2005 at 1:04pm | IP Logged
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It's seems like summer more than any other time of the year for us means taking meals with us. I'm not good at coming up with creative packable food. I pretty much throw in a couple water bottles, slap some peanut butter and jelly together and toss in an apple or some raisins. But this gets REALLY old. I'm also kind of picky about our food. I don't like things with hydrogenated oils, artificial sweeteners or corn syrup (or too much of any other kind of sugar). So most of the pre-packaged convenience foods are out for us.
What do you guys do for packable meals to take to the beach, park dates, swimming lessons, soccer practice, field trips, hikes and all those other fun things that take you away from home in the summer?
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Marybeth
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| Posted: June 24 2005 at 2:57pm | IP Logged
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When we have advanced notice of a picnic/outing I have my husband grill chicken legs. They are messy but taste so great! I have been slicing large dill pickles into chunks which my boys love b/c they seem to hit the spot when they are really hot.
I'm anxious to hear what others have to say!
Richelle, you start some of the best threads! 
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mary
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| Posted: June 24 2005 at 3:01pm | IP Logged
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I find that "fieldtrip" lunches (for my crew) work best when they are snack type items rather than sandwiches. My kids tend to be excited about what we are doing/seeing and not so interested in eating. We also avoid the hydrogenated oils and transfats.
yogurt tubes - these have more sugar than I would like but they are small.
carrots & dip
cheese cubes
juice boxes (apple and eve are wonderful. We just got fruit waters - half fruit juice, half water)
apples, watermelon
pretzels (newman's own are excellent)
fruit leather
lara bars (fruit and nuts in a "candybar")
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amiefriedl
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| Posted: June 24 2005 at 7:46pm | IP Logged
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Richelle,
I know I'll think of more things after I post this message but this is what I can think of now:
Try to de-emphasize salty/dry foods and emphasize the foods w/water content. Also, always take your stuff in a good quality cooler with those refreezable ice packs. I have a close friend who takes her fantastic lunches in a wal-mart bag and all the great food is warm and yucky (not to mention unsafe) by the time she gets to it. (I'm still working on her!)
1)fresh deli meat sandwiches w/all the trimmings (lett, toms, onions, pickles etc) We use sub rolls/pita bread to spice things up once in a while. Always pack extra sandwiches for extra long field trips.
2)almost every kind of fresh veggies/fruit can be great when chppd in bite sized pieces and bagged separately in generous quantities. Our favorites: apples, orange slices, baby carrots, grapes, berries, bell pprs, sliced cucs.
3)dried fruits are excellent for a blood sugar boost after much physical activity, don't stop at raisins; take dates, apricots, prunes, bananas, mangos, pineapples etc.
4)quick protein boosters can be found in a mixture of raw nuts. We get ours at the health food store in the bulk bins. Some favs: cashews, pecans, almonds. Better yet, combine with the dried fruits and make your own blend of trail mix, or separate for your picky eaters.
5)we almost never take any kind of dessert because I STUFF everyone silly with the above mentioned items, thereby avoiding any energy drops.
6)from now on I'm going to start taking a separate large cooler packed with some ice for water bottles, there just never seems to be enough good cold water for us. We were just out today and we ran out of cold water and it was miserable  . Live and learn! 
7)when out for a really long time, like a full day at the zoo, our tummies do benefit from a variety of chips, pretzels, oreos etc, thus breaking my earlier comment, but yummy for long days nonetheless. Oh, and someone on this board posted an AWESOME granola bar recipe not to long ago and we have been using it constantly ever since for our packed lunch treats, thanks to whomever that was!
Finally, I find that having plenty of those ice packs to be very important for a tasty lunch and have a number of coolers to have on hand as well for the length of stay and type of trip (right tool for the right job theory).
Happy feasting!
__________________
In Christ the King through Mary our Mother,
Amie
Blessed with an awesome hubby and Mom of ds10, dd7, dd3 and dd 10months.
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tovlo4801
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| Posted: June 25 2005 at 9:13am | IP Logged
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I love the snack type food idea! I remember being at the zoo with a friend once and wishing we could eat her lunch instead.  Looking back on it, it was cubes of cheese and meat, grapes, and little bags of raisins mixed with cheerios. It was all snacky type food. I think I'll start thinking more along those lines. I do have to remember the cooler option, too. I always shy away from things that need refrigeration, but with proper cooling they can be just fine. Oh, and I'm craving pickle slices now. That's a great idea that I think would go over well here.
I remember the granola bar recipe. I printed it out, but never made it. I don't know where it is anymore. Would you mind posting it here?
Thanks for the wonderful ideas for lunch/snack packing. Keep them coming!
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alicegunther
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| Posted: June 25 2005 at 10:01am | IP Logged
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One of my favorite things to pack for a quick lunch is a wedge of cheddar cheese, whole grain crackers, grape tomatoes, and apples. The kids love it, and I do the slicing right in the picnic area, so there is practically no prep work involved.
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Love, Alice
mother of seven!
    
Cottage Blessings
Brew yourself a cup of tea, and come for a visit!
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amiefriedl
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| Posted: June 25 2005 at 1:24pm | IP Logged
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Oh, I forgot about grape tomatoes, I love grape tomatoes!
Chewy Granola Bars (from earlier msg brd post)
4 1/2 C. rolled oats, old fash
1 C. flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. vanilla
2/3 C. soft butter
1/2 C. honey
1/3 C. brn sugar
1-2 C. mini choc chips
preheat oven to 325
Lightly grease 9 X 13 pan
Cream butter, honey and brown sugar (I found this to be a very important step) then mix in rest of ingredients except choc chips. Once well mixed add choc chips and/or nuts, raisins, coconut flakes, whatever you like...
Lightly press mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 18-22 minutes till golden brown. Cool 10 minutes, THEN cut into bars/squares.
Let bars cool completely in pan before removing or serving. Makes about 3 doz.
Thanks again to whoever originally posted this!
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In Christ the King through Mary our Mother,
Amie
Blessed with an awesome hubby and Mom of ds10, dd7, dd3 and dd 10months.
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: June 26 2005 at 7:37am | IP Logged
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I don't have much to add to the great suggestions above, except maybe in the way of presentation. We call it hiker's lunch because we take them on our Sunday afternoon hikes after church. I had to pack quite a variety of things because my kids are picky! I found that they eat better if things are presented in a fun sort of way (although prep does take a little more time). Some of the things I do are fruit kabobs, thin slices of ham or salami rolled up really tight - a toothpick holds them together and makes a great handle when fingers are still grubby even after the "diaper wipe - wipe down", cheese cubes (also on toothpicks) and little snack cups with peanut butter in them for dipping crackers, celery sticks or, in my dd's case, just eating with a spoon. We also take our traditional trail mix. I used to put yogurt covered pretzels in it as a sweet treat but then they stopped selling them at our grocery store. That was really a bummer, until I switched to M&Ms and then everyone stopped complaining!One time I took a small container of garbanzo beans and the kids ate them using a toothpick as a skewer. They loved them! (Of course, with all these toothpicks you really have to be careful that the little ones don't get hurt and that none are left behind to litter the trail.) My question now is how to do all of this without getting sand in it at the beach?! We are headed to Florida for a much needed vacation!!
Becky
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allforjmj
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| Posted: June 26 2005 at 12:52pm | IP Logged
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Just an idea that we do. Because of the hot weather and asthma in our family we have to do our outdoor activities early in the morning. So we like to do breakfast picnics. We take juice and either I bake muffins or we might stop off at a bakery and buy doughnuts and also take fresh fruit. My kids love doing this. Sometimes I just surprise them and tell them that morning, "Guess what? It's Picnic morning." They can't get dressed fast enough.
jackie
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alicegunther
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| Posted: June 26 2005 at 3:46pm | IP Logged
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allforjmj wrote:
| So we like to do breakfast picnics. We take juice and either I bake muffins or we might stop off at a bakery and buy doughnuts and also take fresh fruit. My kids love doing this. Sometimes I just surprise them and tell them that morning, "Guess what? It's Picnic morning." They can't get dressed fast enough. |
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This is so much fun and makes such sense, especially as the weather gets increasingly sweltering. I often do this during the school year, taking a pleasant breakfast to eat at the local nature center along with a bag of school books. Somehow work is so much more pleasant when done outdoors, especially on the beautiful fall and spring days.
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Love, Alice
mother of seven!
Cottage Blessings
Brew yourself a cup of tea, and come for a visit!
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Erica Sanchez
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| Posted: July 03 2005 at 1:33am | IP Logged
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For the beach, our all time favorite as kids, and now my kids' favorite as well, is cold bean and cheese burritos! Really! Sounds weird, but they taste so good on a hot day. My mom would heat up the tortillas, heat up the beans (if you want low fat instead of the refried variey, just use pinto beans, heated up and mashed with a little pepper, garlic powder, and parmesean cheese), and add cheese. She'd make them thin and they would be all melted and soft and cold - yummy! And no mess! If we're headed to beach with grandma and grandpa, the big question is if grandma is bringing burritos!
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Have a beautiful and fun day!
Erica in San Diego
(dh)Cash, Emily, Grace, Nicholas, Isabella, Annie, Luke, Max, Peter, 2 little souls ++, and sweet Rose who is legally ours!
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: easy, healthy packable meals and snacks
