Does the A2 thing or raw milk thing matter more? It depends. LEARN MORE HERE.

Inspiration for packing yummy and healthy lunches

written by

Marie Reedell

posted on

August 23, 2019

It’s that time of year - back to school! And, for me, that means thinking about being prepared. 

One of the most important things you can prepare for yourself and your family is lunch.


Food is what gives you energy. It raises your blood sugar and helps you feel refreshed. Lunch allows you to focus through the rest of the day.

Lunch is ⅓ of your nutritional intake. Make it count. Make it nourishing and nutrient-dense.

I try to pack a well balanced lunch. For me, that means incorporating protein, dairy, grains, fruits, veggies... and a small special treat. 

Lunch can be one composed dish, a few simple dishes, or a bunch of precut ingredients.

Try packing a bunch of small simple dishes and ingredients. Keeping variety in lunch makes sure even the pickiest eater can enjoy something and gain energy for the rest of their busy day.

Here are some great packed lunch ideas:


Leftovers:
Make enough dinner for lunch the next day, too.

Eggs:
Hard boiled - shell on, peeled quartered, or sliced. With a sprinkle of salt on top.

Beef stix:
Sweet, mild, or hot. I chop them in quarters to make 2-bite pieces.

Cheese:
So many options here, but I’ve found my kids like the milder cheeses like farmers or colby. Cubed, sliced, or cut into sticks.

Granola bars:
The farmer sells a couple kinds. You could also make your own.

Popcorn:
Pop enough chemical free popcorn kernels for a few days. Top with the classic butter and salt, some ghee and nutritional yeast, or a generous amount of ready made popcorn seasoning.

Vanilla maple pudding:
Need I say more.

Pickles:
Fermented, of course. Try a sour dill pickle or a sweet bread and butter pickle.

Muffins:
Miller’s has gluten-free muffins or make homemade muffins with einkorn flour.

Philly Cheesesteak:
The meat sautes in a couple minutes. Put on bread or not. While hot, top with cheese.

Sandwiches:
With einkorn bread, homemade mayonnaise, bologna, and cheese.

Fruits and Veggies:
All kinds, whole or chopped. You may even want to give a side of peanut butter or yogurt for dipping. In season now or soon are blueberries, raspberries, apples, carrots, celery, potatoes, brussel sprouts, beets, green beans, and winter squash.

Kefir or drinkable yogurt:
Pour into smaller single-serve containers. Buy flavored, or buy plain and mix in your own syrups.

Oatmeal:
Soothing and filling. Make with milk and butter. Top with butter or cream, maple syrup, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt.

Nuts and Seeds:
Soaked almonds, sunflower seeds, cashews, or pumpkin seeds.

To make packing lunch a bit easier and a lot more exciting, the farmer is introducing a Packed Lunch Sampler Bundle.


Save 10% by buying in bulk. At the same time, your family gets to try out some healthy lunch options. I’m sure you’ll find a few items that you’ll love and will become family staples.

To make this so much easier, we made a special collection of ready-to-eat or easy-to-make favorites for packed lunches. 

View the Packed Lunch Collection


Now, let’s talk containers. How should you package all these yummy foods?


I’ve tried many, many different containers. No one paid the farm to say any of this. These are recommendations based on use over and over and over again.

The hands down best lunchbox is the Planetbox Rover. The stainless steel container flips open to reveal five compartments. You can pack almost anything, and it will look appetizing. It’s dishwasher safe. Yes, compared to other options it’s a bit heavy, but it’s unbreakable (believe me, my boys abuse it). It comes with two small waterproof containers, and you can buy a perfectly sized insulated bag and stainless water bottle with it, too. 

And, for those that prefer a more freeform lunch, there’s always individual containers. 

I love stainless containers with silicone leak proof lids. There’s no need to worry about leaching chemicals. You may want to try these nesting containers or this rectangular container.

I also like silicone bags, even though they can be a bit tricky to clean and dry. You may want to check out these bags.

For soup or heated leftovers, I use a Thermos insulated food jar. It comes with a foldable spoon!

And then there’s drinks. Water is a must. I really like the Pura stainless sports bottle. You can also get straw, sippy, or bottle caps for them. And, for packing drinkable yogurt, kefir, or other flavored drinks, I like these reusable 8 oz BPA-free plastic containers.

Enjoy the food!

Cooking

More from the blog

Does the A2 thing or raw milk thing matter more? It depends.

What's up with soooo many people not being able to tolerate dairy these days? Could it be how conventional milk is being altered? Sure, switching to conventional "certified organic" milk that you can find in nearly any supermarket might help. You're eliminating some of the modern milk alterations. With organic, you're getting rid of the antibiotics. Antibiotics are routinely given to conventional cows to help keep them disease-free, even when in unsanitary or unnatural living environments (like indoors on concrete all the time). With organic, you're getting rid of hormones, which are given to conventional cows to make them produce more milk. More milk + the same amount of feed = more profit.With organic, you're removing some weird, unnatural stuff in the feed. This includes GMO fragments that might make their way into the milk as well as the awful chemicals like glyphosate used to grow GMO crops. But, keep in mind that "organic" does NOT mean chemical free. It simply means that any chemicals used are "approved for organic". Switching to organic is a great step in the right direction. But... what if you already did that and are still experiencing dairy issues? There are so many symptoms of dairy allergies or intolerances. They range from bloating to tummy troubles to nausea to brain fog. In this scenario, it's most likely one of two things, the lactose or the casein protein. There's a different solution for each: Lactose Intolerance → Can be solved with raw or cultured dairy Some people are "born to dance", some are "born to lead", and some are "born to rock"... but all humans are born to drink milk! I mean, breast milk is our first food after all! Babies are naturally designed to digest lactose (milk sugar). That means that, as a baby, you naturally produce tons and tons of lactase, the enzyme required to digest lactose, in your gut. But, over time, a human naturally produces less and less lactase. This is especially true if a human stops eating dairy or foods with the living microbiology present in raw dairy like lactic acid bacteria. After all, why would your body continue producing something if it's useless? Here's the good news. It can be reversed! You may be able to produce lactase again, you may be able to drink milk again, and may be able to eat cheese again. At least, this is true for many, many people. The living dairy microbiology in raw and fermented dairy (even yogurt or kefir made from pasteurized milk as long as it has live cultures in it) can jumpstart your body into producing more and more lactase. Pretty neat! A1 Protein Intolerance → Can be solved with A2/A2 dairy The A1 beta-casein protein is relatively new. A few thousand years ago, humans made cows in Europe pretty stressed. They moved them indoors in cities and started feeding them grain (the byproduct of making whisky and other stuff). And what do organisms tend to do under stress? Mutate! Unlike any other mammal, those European cows had a genetic mutation that makes them produce a new type of protein - the A1 beta-casein protein. Those cows made their way to the US. And now, basically all American milk has a mix of A1 and A2 beta casein proteins. Some people, especially those from eastern countries like India (where cows didn't mutate) or who drink pasteurized or boiled milk, might have an issue with A1 but can handle the A2 beta-casein protein just fine. Switching to A2/A2 milk is all they need to handle dairy again. It's important to note that the only way to know what kind of milk a cow produces is via a genetic test. We test all of our cows, and that's how we're sure our milk contains 100% A2 beta-casein protein. It's A2/A2! Do you have issues with dairy? Did raw or A2/A2 help? What solved your problem, or are you still looking for a solution?  I'd love to hear from you. Comment below to share your thoughts with our amazing community (no account required), or keep it private and contact us 😊

100% grass fed and finished beef different from grain fed beef? Yes, it is!

Why grass fed beef? And, I'm not talking about that silly "grass fed" label in the supermarket, which doesn't necessarily mean what you think (read more on that here). I'm talking about truly pastured, 100% grass fed and finished beef. Feeding beef cattle 100% grass is the most natural way. Beef cattle are ruminants. That means they have 4 stomachs are are designed to graze and eat and digest plants... not fully grown seeds like corn and soy and canola or their oils. Eating 100% grass, ideally fresh from the pasture, is how cattle stay in their best health. When beef are fed grain, it creates a lot of acid in their stomach, lowering the pH. It creates an imbalance in gut microbiology, which can result in some pretty awful health outcomes for the cow (sometimes even death).  And of course, the healthier the animal, the healthier and more nutrient-dense the food it produces. 100% grass fed and finished beef is more nutritious than grain fed beef! Compared to conventional grain-fed beef, 100% grass fed and finished beef has: 3x more Vitamin E2.5x more Vitamin C2-3x more B Vitamins9x more Vitamin B310x more EPA3x more DHA10x more linolenic acid (alpha/gamma)2-4x more Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) And, grass fed beef has a much better omega 6/3 ratio, usually less than 3:1. Compare that to conventional beef, which has a ratio more than a 15:1. Wow! For some reference, humans should be eating a 4:1 omega 6/3 ratio for optimal health. But, the conventional American diet typically provides a 20:1 ratio. Ugh, no wonder Americans are so sick! Truly pastured, grass fed beef is more flavorful and has a better bite compared to conventional beef. When beef cattle aren't fed a bland diet of corn and soy and instead eat biodiverse, regenerately managed pasture, the meat has more flavor. When beef cattle have plenty of room to roam and exercise those muscles, the meat has texture to it. It has a bite.  When some people start eating grass fed beef, they're sometimes put off by the flavor and texture. They might describe it as gamey and tough. But, now that I've been eating grass fed beef for years, it's quite the opposite. Conventional beef is tasteless and boring and mushy. Do you choose grass fed and finished beef? Why? Is it because it's more humane, more nutritious, better tasting, or a combo of them all? I'd love to hear from you. Comment below (no account required) or keep it private and contact us 😊 ----- Sources Nutritional Comparisons Between Grass-Fed Beef and Conventional Grain-Fed Beef

Food web vs food chain. I'll use the crazy egg recall as an example.

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