Friday, February 1, 2008

Little Veggie Packets

Every day I pack lunches for the family to take to school, work, or daycare. I think providing these packed lunches every day is one of the healthiest things I do in terms of our nutrition, but are they ever a lot of work! Worth it, yes, but I frequently feel grumbly about the whole thing. One of the things I do consistently is make up these little veggie packets. Recently I've made the wonderful change from buying bagged veggies at the supermarket (for the carrots and the snap peas) to buying all fresh organic veggies from our Sunday Farmer's Market. I typically walk to Farmer's Market Sunday mornings with the babies anyway, but I just wasn't buying these veggies; they take a bit more preparation, but oh what a difference in the taste!
On Sundays I buy and cut up the veggies . . .
and bag them up like this for lunches during the week. I have to do this ahead; I would not have the patience to make up these little bags every night. They keep well in the fridge and from what I read the vitamin content stays stable.

I'd love to hear what others do to get more veggies into their daily lunches. I admit I'm in a rut here. I send fruit too, of course, but how else to include more veggies?

10 comments:

Suzanne said...

You can shred the veggies and put them in sandwiches:-) I will throw some shredded carrots in with chicken or tuna salad. Also shred veggies and use in wraps.

Florence Knapp (Flossie Teacakes) said...

They look scrumptious - in my family we would also have a small tub of hummous for dipping (chickpeas & tahini are meant to be healthy and you can even do it homemade...if feeling very virtuous...I buy mine though!). Hope you have a lovely weekend. x

jessica said...

How great are these! My husband would love it if we had some of these around to slip into his lunch and I would love to have them around for beating the munchies during the day.

Sarah said...

You can add them to smoothies. I make smoothies with frozen fruit, yogurt, and OJ, and I always put in a veggie of some sort that doesn't even get noticed. Carrots, spinach, peas, etc. We can go through a bunch of kale in a week just by using it in smoothies!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
periwinkle said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
periwinkle said...

Sorry I tried to leave a post and got in a right mess...You are so lucky to have a Farmers Market-- I don't think that anyone where I live would even know what one was!! I think the wraps and hummus idea is the best one...
Reading your last post about nappies I tried cloth but they just didnt suit me ( there are websites where you could sell these) I use 100% biodegradeable disposable nappies,wipes and bags called Nature Babycare and would definately recommend them x

esusan94 said...

I make a green salad almost every night to go with our dinner and put tons of stuff in it like carrots, celery, red onion, bell peppers & olives. I drizzle fresh squeezed lemon juice, olive oil & sea salt. The boys love it and get tons of veggies that way. For lunch I would have carrot sticks (they like to eat it even without dip), bowl of grape tomatoes, and celery with cream cheese. I think it's a great idea how you wash and pack them out ahead of time so it's easy to grab. I don't do that now but will use that idea if when I have to grab and go.

Oh last but not least, I love cooking soups and thankfully my sons love soup and so I put tons of stuff in those like spinach or kale, potatoes, and chicken. I make escarole soup (with the little meatballs) and that is chock full of nutrition from the broth and green escarole.

Jonah Lisa said...

I do baby spinach instead of lettuce on sandwiches. I also so chopped spinach inside grilled cheese sandwiches, sprinkled on open face english muffin with hummus, and in any egg dish--scrambled, frittata, mini quiche. My toddler also loves anything on a skewer so I make mini kabobs with grape tomatoes & avocado. None of this is perfect for packed lunches unfortunately.

Carrie said...

I have to admit that one of THE BEST cook books I have ever read is Deceptively Delicious, by Jessica Seinfield. It's WONDERFUL in how to sneak in those veggies to little unsuspecting munchkins. Yes, it will take a bit more time, but worth every minute of effort.

**I've just found your blog, and am having a great time reading**