The One Thing All Kids Should Have for Breakfast

Guest Post: Dr. Cameron McIntyre ND, Naturopathic Doctor.

Did you know what your child eats for breakfast sets their brains and body for the day. I’m sure you have all heard the saying “breakfast is the most important meal of the day”.  Well it most certainly is true and particularly for children! Breakfast is the meal that sets the metabolic (energy) rate and the blood sugar for the day.  It is very important that your child receive a source of protein for breakfast in order to stabilize the blood sugar but also fuel the body and brain for a day of learning.  

When your child eats white toast and jam or fruit loops for breakfast, the blood sugar spikes and crashes very quickly. As such, kids are hyper to start the day and have their heads on their desk before recess.   Protein encourages an even distribution of blood sugar to the brain and will allow for balanced energy to sit, focus and concentrate on the tasks at hand.

Good protein suggestions for breakfast include (barring any allergies of course):

Yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, almond milk, almond butter, peanut butter, turkey sausage or perhaps a fruit smoothie with a protein powder of choice.  My daughter does not like “traditional” breakfast and would rather have soup or leftovers from dinner for breakfast.  No problem as long as they contain a good source of protein. There is no rule that says breakfast has to be certain foods only. So try this out with your kids and watch their energy, mood and academics rise to new heights.  It really makes a big difference!

Awesome “Day Starter” Smoothie:

1 cup frozen berries of choice

1/2 cup yogurt

1/2 scoop protein powder

water

Blend and enjoy – great for on-the-go breakfast for the whole family!

Speak to Dr. McIntyre online at our Facebook Q&A September 12th

 

What's in Your Lunch Box? The Link Between Nutrition and Learning

When I am speaking to parents about nutrition for their children, I always ask if their food choices pass two basic tests. The first test I call the “grandmother test”. This means would their grandmother recognize the food they are serving? Is it something simple and wholesome that would have been around when she was a child? If yes, this is likely a good food choice. The second test I call the “chemistry test”. If you purchase pre-packaged snack or lunch foods where the ingredients list requires that you need a PhD in chemistry to understand what is inside, it is again not a good food choice. All of these chemicals are not food and have no nutritional value whatsoever. While the packaged food industry has certainly tried to make packing lunches easier, it doesn’t mean the box of snacks from Costco is the best for our kids!

Here are my top food ideas to consider placing in your child’s lunch box.

RECESS – has to be “grab and go”, right? It’s just too exciting to get out there.
 
Whole fruit:  take advantage of the gorgeous new crop of Okanagan apples, plums or nectarines available at your local fruit stand – no prep required!
Home-Baked goods: make a batch of oatmeal cookies or their favourite muffins, and toss in 1/4 cup of ground flax seeds while you are making them!  They will never taste the difference and you’ve just added fibre and omega-3 brain food. Toss extras in the freezer – they will easily defrost by recess time.  Send them in a reusable snack bag – just be sure to check their pockets at the end of the day!

LUNCH – take advantage of the creative lunch containers available – they promote a waste-free lunch and will save you lots in the long run! Pop in a cool pack when sending yogurt or eggs.

·      The “Classic” Sandwich: with whole grain bread and organic chicken or turkey – the key here is a source of protein which fuels the body and the brain. Whole grains contain B vitamins and minerals while the white gluey breads have little nutritional value and convert to sugar in the body very quickly, causing a spike and then crash in blood sugar.  Organic chicken is a great source of protein and free of chemicals from regular poultry products. For a twist, swap out the bread for a whole grain tortilla wrap.

      Hummus with veggies, whole grain crackers and turkey “roll-ups” – About the 3^rd week back to school, kids get really tired of sandwiches. Try this – the kids love the variety and dipping anything – so this option is packed with protein and a little more interesting.

·      Leftovers – don’t discount that pasta or soup from last night’s dinner. Invest in a great thermos and send them to school with something warm for their tummy (especially in the cool days ahead).

·      Omega 3 eggs – taken hard boiled to school, these pack a protein punch and have the benefit of also having the omega 3 source at a rate over 5 times higher than a regular egg. Eggs have taken a bad rap in the media for cholesterol, but they needn’t be cautioned for children unless there is an allergy on board. A wonderful brain food. Peel them in advance for the little ones!

·      Yogurt – one of the best sources of protein and calcium in addition to that good bacteria known as “probiotic” which aids in healthy digestive and immune systems. Look for Greek yogurt (even higher in protein) and if sending yogurt “tubes”, choose those with no artificial sweeteners or colours.

Also try involving your kids by asking them what they like.  They may just surprise you with some creative, healthy options they have seen at school that you haven’t thought of.

Guest Post: Dr. Cameron McIntyre ND, Naturopathic Doctor 

Tax-Free Back to School Vancouver Shopping Event

Shop our waste-free lunch gear collection tax-free in Vancouver at our Back to School Bash on Labour Day Monday, September 3rd. Join us from 12pm to 4pm for an afternoon of back to school shopping, live music, organic soda sampling – all in the gorgeous relaxed setting of North Vancouver's own Ethical Kitchen (1600 Mackay Avenue, just off Marine Drive near Capilano Mall). Browse the latest lunch gear on the market, both cute and cool, and we'll pay the HST on any purchase you make. Cash only. Hope you can make it – we'd love to see you there!

5 Reasons You Should Pack a Waste-Free Lunch

Back to school means back to a routine, back to being extra busy and back to packing lunches. Aside from the daily content question of what to pack, have you given much thought to how you're packing your lunches? A waste-free lunch by definition is one that contains no throwaway packaging or food leftovers. In terms of lunch gear products, re-usability is the number one factor when packing a waste-free lunch. A second factor, critical for your child's health, is non-toxicity and a final factor to consider is durability. If you're going to invest in reusable lunch gear, it makes sense to ensure it's made to last. It also makes sense to encourage your child's input on colours and patterns to encourage them to pack up their re-usables for taking home.

With just a little planning, packing waste-free lunches is easy – and important. Here are five reasons why you should pack a waste-free lunch for school.

1. It's good for the environment. The average student’s lunch generates a total of 30 kg of waste per school year, or an average of 8500 kg (18,700 lbs) of waste per school per year, according to the Recycling Council of Ontario. Waste-free lunches reduce the amount of garbage going into our landfills, including plastic bags that actually never go away. Pack only what you think your child will eat and keep it cold with a freezable lunch bag or eco-friendly ice pack to ensure minimal food waste at the end of the day.
2. It's good for your child's health. Packing lunch into re-usables means your child will most likely end up with a healthier lunch as you'll be avoiding prepackaged and heavily processed foods loaded with sugars and additives. You'll also be able to control the materials your child's food comes into contact with, ie. choosing non-leaching glass or stainless steel food containers over plastics that may contain endocrine disrupting chemicals which affect hormone levels.
3. It's environmental stewardship by example. If your kids see you making the effort to reduce the amount of waste you're packing for them on a daily basis, they'll begin to understand the importance of reducing our footprint on the earth. Then there's the knock-on effect of their friends seeing how little waste they're generating, and so on, and so on.
4. It can save you money. It is estimated that packing a disposable lunch complete with plastic baggies, plastic spoon, juice bag costs $4.02 per day compared to a waste-free lunch packed with reusables at $2.65 per day. That's $20.10 per week versus $13.25 per week and a saving of $1.37 a day or $6.85 a week. Clearly, the cost of a throwaway lunch adds up – and quickly. Waste-free lunches mean buying larger package sizes, even bulk and can actually become money savers for families.
5. It can help you prepare for the inevitable. If your child's school hasn't already introduced a 'waste-free lunch challenge' or 'litterless lunch day', it likely will – and soon. More and more schools are introducing the concept of environmental responsibility to students and lunch waste is an ideal way to demonstrate it.

Tips for packing a waste-free lunch

• Avoid boxes of individually prepackaged snacks and instead buy regular size boxes of cookies, crackers, tubs of yoghurt and simply transfer small amounts into reusable snack containers and pouches. 
• Flexible and reusable fabric snack pouches (with either a zipper or velcro closure) are ideal for recess as they can be rolled up and stored in a pocket when empty.
• In the rush to get out to the playground, juice tetra packs and drinking boxes you think will make it into the recycling box, often don't. Non-leaching, double wall insulated and highly durable BPA-free stainless steel water bottles that can stand up to the occasional knock or fall off a desk are a smart option.
• Don't forget reusable cutlery with your packed lunches – and on hot lunch days too. Otherwise your child will more than likely be provided with a one-use disposable plastic fork or spoon.

Stainless Steel Stackers are Sick

Some people say their food doesn't taste the same in stainless steel. We say, if you're looking for durability without toxicity, stainless steel is a great option for food storage on the go or in the fridge. American company Kids Konserve have introduced two new colourways for their leak proof stainless steel nesting trio containers and we couldn't be happier. Now in addition to the Moss three-pack with BPA-free lids in neutral orange and green, you can choose more feminine-coloured Sky lids of pastel pink, yellow and blue or a more boy-themed Ocean pack featuring red, blue-grey and green lids. These new colours are great for kids keen on 'cool' -- or as we've been told by our eight year-old, 'sick' -- colours with shall we say, discerning taste. Made of high quality 304 grade stainless steel, the containers themselves are fantastic not only because they fit inside one another for easy storage but because the lids, while easy enough to get off and on, are leak proof. For more details, click here.

Even Halle Has a Bird Bag

We love our Brown Bird Lunch Cooler Bag from Canadian company So Young Mother. Apparently, so do many of you - we have a hard time keeping it in stock. Now we find out it's a favourite of the Hollywood set too. Oscar winning actress Halle Berry was spotted carrying this same Birds Cooler Bag with her daughter Nahla in tow. It's no wonder. Not only is this bag free of nasties like PVC, lead and phthalates, but it's insulated, easy to clean and made with natural linen. The carry handle is adjustable so you can strap it to a stroller or another bag and it comes with detachable shoulder straps so you can always sling it over one or both shoulders and carry it on your back. The bird graphics are gorgeous and the zipper opens on three sides for easy packing plus there's an ID card inside and an exterior mesh pocket on back. Above all else, our absolute favourite thing about this cooler lunch bag is its upright style that allows for stacking containers or standing bottles upright. It's a great option for back to school or work lunches. For more details, click here.

Back to School Warehouse Evening Event

Whether you're wrapping up your back to school shopping or just starting out, don't forget to include the coolest, safest waste-free lunch gear on the market - and we can help. Stop by our Lavish & Lime Back to School Warehouse Evening Event on Tuesday, August 30th, 6:30-8pm at 272 East 1st Street in North Vancouver's trendy Lower Lonsdale area (Lolo). We'll have all the latest lunch gear on the market available for you check out, plus a selection of top backpacks and some green school supplies too. Hope you can join us - we'd love to meet you!

*DISCOUNT SHOPPING * FREE GIFT WITH PURCHASE * DOOR PRIZES

Cool Canvas Bags for Kids

Kids don't necessarily care what a lunch bag is made of -- it's what's on the outside that counts. That's why we're so excited about our new line of insulated cotton canvas lunch bags for kids. The fantastic graphics are colourful and kid-friendly yet being made of cotton, these reusable lunch bags are free of PVC (the poison plastic) and tested lead safe. Parents can like them too, knowing they're safe for kids to use daily. The insulated bags keep food cool until lunch time. Other features include a cushioned handle, outside pocket, interior mesh pocket, ID tag and a sturdy three-sided zip for full opening and easy packing. The exterior of these funky lunch totes is treated with a non-toxic waterproof and stain resistant coating, the inside is easy to wipe clean on a daily basis. The good news is they're also machine washable on delicate with a line dry for a more thorough clean. Take your pick from butterflies, owl, peace skulls, monsters and robots. For more details, click here.

Win a $100+ Waste-Free Lunch Kit

Start the year off right and beat those back to school blues with your choice of lunch kit - all shiny and new. Enter our Cool Back to School Giveaway and you could be sending your child off to school this fall in eco style - for free! In conjunction with The North Shore News we're giving away a reusable lunch bag filled with the season's latest waste-free lunch gear valued at more than $100. Simply answer the question below and you'll be entered to win. The winner will be able to choose a PVC-free cotton canvas lunch bag from six different designs plus a set of girl or boy-themed lunch gear from Kids Konserve, including a sweat-free, non-toxic ice pack, an insulated food jar for keeping pastas, soups and stews warm plus a trio of stainless steel food containers with coloured lids.

WIN IT!
Answer the following question and our $100+ waste-free lunch kit could be yours!
Why is packing a waste-free lunch important to you?
Leave your answer in a comment below, email it to us at customerservice@lavishandlime.com with 'Lunch Kit Giveaway' in the subject line or feel free to drop it by our warehouse: 272 East 1st Street, North Vancouver V7L 1B3. Please be sure to include your name, email address and telephone number so we can contact you if you win.

EXTRA ENTRIES:
Do any of the following and be sure to tell us you did!
- Like us on our Lavish & Lime Facebook Page and post a comment about this giveaway with this link: http://bit.ly/nCQlJE
- Sign up to receive our email newsletter
- Follow us on Twitter

One entry per person. The winner will be chosen in a random draw by Lavish & Lime. Deadline for entries is midnight PST Wednesday, August 31st. The winner will be notified by Friday, September 2nd. Open to Canadian residents only. Good luck!

Our Cool Back to School Warehouse Event

Aside from new clothes and shoes, back to school shopping these days includes hunting high and low for the coolest, safest waste-free lunch gear. If you're in Vancouver, stop by our Lavish & Lime Back to School Warehouse Event on Tuesday, August 16th, 10am-12pm at 272 East 1st Street in North Vancouver's trendy Lower Lonsdale area (Lolo), just minutes from the seabus. We'll have all the latest lunch gear on the market on display for you and your kids to check out. Enjoy discount shopping and a free gift with purchase, naturally. Plus we'll have art activities to keep the little ones busy while you chat with the product specialists we'll have on hand. Bring along your school queries/concerns too - an elementary school teacher will be available to answer any questions you might have. Hope you can join us!

Cotton Cartoons for Lunch

For the absolute coolest in waste-free lunch products, look no further than our new snack flap snack pouches - in anime blue. What better way to ensure all that expensive lunch gear comes home than to make it so cool they want to keep it. Kids love cartoons and they'll love our new Japanese anime design. Peace signs, grumpy stars with shades, gladiator bears licking popsicles, karate chopping monkeys - quirky, fun and so much more! Each time you look at these snack pouches, you see something new. Ideal snack pouches for girls and boys in the brightest of bright colours on cool blue. The 100% cotton exterior fabric is lined with a waterproof, machine washable interior that is free of phthalates, BPA, PVC and lead. Choose from our single snack flap with a wide bottom panel, ideal for muffins, buns, apples, etc. or our snack flap duo that keeps two different snacks separate. Made in British Columbia. For more details, click here.



For more green living ideas, visit our eco boutique Lavish & Lime where you'll find hundreds of everyday eco finds and unusual gift ideas that are good for you, your family and the planet too.

10 Back to School Tips from Inside the Classroom

We sat down with Vancouver elementary school teacher and school recycling program manager, Paula Stevens, and asked her if she had any advice for parents preparing their kids to go back to school. She came up with 10 great back to school suggestions covering everything from pencils to germs.

Here's one of our favourites: remember cutlery.

"Even on hot lunch days, be sure to send reusable cutlery with your child to avoid the unnecessary use of the non-biodegradable plastic utensils that most school kitchens have," says Stevens.

Read all 10 tips from our expert inside the classroom here.

Join us for a Live Back to School Facebook Forum tomorrow night, Wednesday, August 18, 7-8pm PST where you'll be able to ask questions directly to teacher Paula Stevens. There will also be loads of prizes to be won. RSVP now and you could win a reusable sandwich wrap.

Visit eco boutique Lavish & Lime for a great selection of the latest in eco school gear, including litterless lunch bags, containers and bottles plus recycled pencils and notebooks. If you have any thoughts or ideas about back to school in general, please leave a comment below. We'd love to hear from you!

Create your Own Back-to-School Labels

Why buy when you can create your own? With a little creativity, a computer and printer you can create your own personalized labels for school supplies your kids will love - thanks to the queen of crafting, Martha Stewart.

We think this is a great idea. Download and make your own labels here.

Another great tip from Martha is her make-it-yourself Magnetic Lunch Chart. Here at Lavish & Lime, we have loads of great lunch gear like insulated neoprene lunch bags, stainless steel containers, water bottles, etc. but what about all the good stuff that goes inside? Instead of a daily struggle, make lunch planning easier by getting the kids involved in the process with this movable chart.

Just a couple more ideas to help make going back to school a little bit easier - and more fun!

Don't forget our Reusable Sandwich Wrap facebook giveaway to one lucky fan. Become a fan, leave a comment on our discussion board on the ENTER TO WIN topic and you could win a wrap!

Eco-Friendly Tip: Why Stainless Steel Gets an A+

There's plastic, glass and all kinds of food containers out there, but why does stainless steel get top marks when it comes to packing snacks and lunches?

Eco-Tip #5: Choose food containers made of stainless steel.

1. It's safer:
Stainless steel doesn't leach nasty chemicals, like bisphenol-A (BPA) or lead into your food. There's no contamination of the food or liquids that come into contact with it because there's no coating that can break down or dissolve.

2. It's better for the environment:
Stainless steel is 100% recyclable and in fact, according to wikipedia:
“...an average stainless steel object is composed of about 60% recycled material, 25% originating from end-of-life products and 35% coming from manufacturing processes.”

3. It's easy to clean: Stainless steel is a snap to wash by hand, but it's also dishwasher safe.

4. It's easy for kids: Stainless steel is unbreakable and lightweight, especially compared to glass. Glass containers can be quite heavy for little ones and not ideal for being tossed around in a backpack.

5. It looks good: Stainless has a cool, minimalistic look. Besides, shiny objects always look great and now they come with brightly coloured lids too!

Check out these Lunchbot stainless steel containers featuring orange, blue, yellow and green lids (colour coated on top side of lid ONLY) plus our assortment of handy round steel containers, including minis, compact two-in-one sets and large containers with inner trays.

This eco-tip is for those of us who are definitely not litterbugs, but we're not tree huggers either. It's simply an idea or suggestion about taking easy, little - do-able - steps towards living life a little greener. If you have any thoughts or comments on stainless steel containers, we'd love to hear from you!

Is it an Eco-Friendly Back-to-School for You?

All aboard the big green school bus! In a recent Angus Reid survey, 80 per cent of Canadian parents said they're thinking about the environment when doing their back-to-school shopping this fall.

Are you? Take the poll in our sidebar to the left - we'd love to hear from you.

Eco-friendly thinking for back-to-school means seeking out school gear with less PVC and lead and more that are made of recycled, non-toxic and sustainable materials.

Here are some of our favourite environmentally-smart picks that will help send your eco-savvy scholar to the top of the class! This insulated lunch bag is made of the wetsuit material neoprene, which is also free of nasty chemicals like PVC and lead. In fact, neoprene is recommended by the Center for Environmental Health as a good alternative to PVC-loaded vinyl lunch bags. Then there's the copious amounts of plastic baggies for sandwiches - no need to overload the landfill with these when you can get a reusable sandwich wrap. One wrap can last a whole school year. And for pencils, why not save the forests and buy pencils made of recycled newspapers?

There are loads of alternatives out there that healthier for the kids and the planet too - you just have to look.

Browse our Back to School collection at Lavish & Lime now for a great selection of eco-friendly must-have products.

Save Time + $25 at Spud!

Let's face it, for most parents back to school means back to rushing about on a hectic schedule.

For those of you living in Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco or Los Angeles, we've got a solution: Spud!

Spud is an online organic home grocer delivering fresh, local and organic produce and groceries to your home. They feature weekly specials, discounts by the case and multiply offers. Total convenience - and a great healthy start to the school year.

We really like what Spud is all about, not just because they're yummy but also because they:

• protect the environment by buying local, organic, minimally packaged and eco-friendly products
• build community by creating direct connections between our food suppliers and customers;
• reduce the impacts of climate change by delivering groceries to each neighbourhood on a set route once a week;
• educate our customers about important food issues through our weekly newsletter;
• give back by supporting local charities and donating leftover food to food outreach groups.

To help kick off the back to school season, our friends at Spud are giving us a special offer to pass on to you. Sign up at www.spud.com and use promo code LIME to receive $25 off over your first 4 deliveries - $5 off your each of your first 3 orders, $10 off your 4th. Offer expires Sept 30, 2009. Enjoy!

Do you have any thoughts or opinions about eating organic, online grocers or Spud? We'd love to hear from you - leave a comment below!

Visit Lavish & Lime for a great selection of eco-friendly back to school ideas like reusable sandwich and snack wraps, stainless steel food containers and PVC-free lunch bags.

Eco-Friendly Tip: Make it a PVC-Free Lunch for Back-to-School

Back to school also means back to packing lunches on a daily basis. While you may have ideas on what to put inside the lunch box, have you thought about the actual lunch box itself?

In this case, it may be what's on the outside that counts.

Eco-Tip #3 - Choose a PVC-Free Lunch Bag

Many lunch bags and boxes on the market are actually made of toxic plastic, most commonly polyvinyl chloride (PVC or vinyl). PVC contains harmful chemicals, including phthalates, lead and cadmium which can be toxic to a child's health. Phthalates and other toxic additives can leach out or evaporate into the air over time causing potential danger to children. That's why PVC is called the poison plastic.

PVC has even been linked to autism. A recent Swedish study published in Scientific American found that infants or toddlers who lived in a bedroom with vinyl or PVC flooring were twice as likely to have autism five years later than those with wood or linoleum floors.

There are lots of great looking, fun and funky PVC-free options on the market now so our tip for you is: choose one of them. It's your child's health at stake - why take the risk?

Check out the vibrant graphic bags with simple, eye-catching neoprene designs from Seattle-based Dabbawalla or the sleek and stylish new brown bags from New York's Milkdot. And what about you? For adults there's a great range of four funky neoprene gourmet getaway lunch bags from Built NY.

This eco-tip is for those of us who are definitely not litterbugs, but we're not tree huggers either. It's simply an idea or suggestion about taking easy, little - do-able - steps towards living life a little greener. If you have any thoughts or comments on PVC, we'd love to hear from you!

Visit our online boutique at Lavish & Lime for a great selection of back to school products that are good for you and for the planet.

Brown Bagging Turns Green

Back to school means back to brown bagging it, but this autumn the brown bag comes in a variety of eco-friendly options.

Green foodies, or groodies – and any of us who perpetually intend to take our lunch rather than buy it - can choose from an array of colourful, stylish reusable bags and totes to transport their gourmet lunch goodies to school or work.

Try our new Munchlers – insulated, soft-sided lunch boxes that unzip into a placemat, all in the shape of a zoo animal. Choose from Benny the tiger, Boo the pink panda or Meadow, the green rabbit. Great for ages 3+ through elementary school.

Older kids – and adults too – will love our Gourmet Getaway lunch totes that have just arrived. Made of neoprene, the wetsuit material, these bags have a sturdy zip, insulate hot or cold food and drink for up to four hours and stretch to fit any combination of stacked containers and food items.

The options are out there. Now, it’s up to us. Think about buying green bags rather than brown.

View our complete selection of eco-friendly lunch carriers and 100% recyclable water bottles at Lavish & Lime.