Dear Mom in Survival Mode...

Dear mom in survival mode,
When did life make you feel like it was competition? That being a mom was a competition?
When did you start putting other people down in order to make yourself feel better?
Yes mom, who's name I have decided to hide in the below photo, I am writing this letter to you. 
Because I am you. I'm a mother. In survival mode.

Lunch Made Easy: #GFCF Adult Work Lunches ~ Gluten, Dairy, & Nut Free

I told you I had some catching up to do this week. ;)  I realized I had a pretty little backlog of my own work lunches to share!
I've been completely gluten and now dairy free (we are always nut free) for almost 2 months. It's helped immensely with my MG and, overall, I feel so much better!
I've always made a point to pack my own lunches, as well as, Little Miss'. (Check out my past Adult Work Lunch Round-ups by Clicking Here, Here, & Here.) It's helped me be healthier and, in the long run, save money!
Here are 10 of my most recent lunches packed for work:

Lunch Made Easy: Healthy Adult Work Lunches

With the school year ending, for most families, this week seemed like a good one to focus on Healthy Adult Work Lunches. (Mom & Dad need to eat too!)
I don't just pack for Little Miss - I pack for myself, as well. Whether I'm at the office or traveling for work, it's important I have a healthy lunch to fuel me for the day!
My lunches are also now gluten free, nut free, and dairy free (& more). Here are some ideas + links to other adult work lunch round-ups I've posted to give you tons of inspiration!

Lunch Made Easy: Mommy & Me @CrunchAColor Lunches

I was honored to be asked again to participate in the Crunch A Color™ Healthy Lunch Challenge! 
Little Miss really enjoyed it the last time around, after we put ourselves to the challenge for a weeks worth of school lunches. 
Our Chicken Salad Stuffed Brussels Sprouts earned us one of the winning spots and a feature in the Huffington Post and on Jaime Oliver's Food Revolution website! How cool is that!? 
I always reiterate the importance of packing healthy lunches for Mom & Dad, not just the kids. So this week, I decided to get involved in the challenge right along with Little Miss. Packing a weeks worth of school and work lunches, trying to follow the Crunch A Color formula: At least 3 Colors, Healthy Grain, and Protein. 

Just because you're trying to keep up with food allergies or avoiding gluten, doesn't mean you can't still pack fresh & healthy school lunches!

Today I choose HOPE. I want to live in a world of LOVE.

Just today a friend sent her daughter to school with a heavy heart, after there were threats made against the schools in her county fearing their safety.

People after training for months, even years, conquering personal goals and battles ran today... family members stood by cheering them on... not knowing that their lives would change forever in a few short moments. Left with unanswered questions and serious injury to many.

There is a problem with the world we are living in.

We may not all agree - worship the same God, fight for the same laws... look the same, talk the same, have as much money or education as another, and so on and so on...

It’s time to end this. Now.

Lunch Made Easy: Healthy Work Lunches for Mom {or Dad}

I often post photos and details of my own healthy work lunches on my Instagram feed, but it's been a while since I've done a round-up on the blog itself. Today seemed like a good day to share! 
Let's kick off Monday and spring with some yummy ideas on how to pack a healthy lunch for work {i.e. Adult Bentos}!

What are you {thankful} for?

What are you {thankful} for?

 

When I first started to think of this question, all the funny things came to mind. For Little Miss it would probably be bacon, beef jerky, barbies, "girl legos", and junior mints. lol

 

What about me? Well, at first, I chuckle thinking of Starbucks, sleep, my iPhone, and Shamrock Shakes. You know the necessities. ;)

 

As I started thinking of how to translate those things I am {thankful} for into a lunch, my mind kept coming back to one in particular I made for Little Miss last year. It pretty much sums up the real thankfulness in my heart.



 

 

Random Thoughts from a Food Allergy Mama

This isn't a normal post for me, but I started this blog as a creative outlet and a place to share. So, that's what I'm going to do.

Many of you are fellow food allergy parents, so I'm sure you can relate to what I'm about to share. It's not meant for sympathy. I just selfishly need to get it out.

Photo Source

 

Lunch Made Easy: Mama's Work Lunchbox

Bonus post ;) sharing my "Mama lunch" I packed for my day in the office today:

Lunch Made Easy: Back to School - What about Mom & Dad?

We all know "Back to School" season is upon us. That means early mornings, homework, after school sports/ clubs, and packing lunches.

As parents, we are so caught up in our kids lives and focusing on them... but what about us? What about lunches for Mom and Dad too?

While you're adjusting to the new school routines, go ahead and plan for yourself. If you start at the same time as back-to-school, it won't feel like "extra" work but an every day routine.

Lunch Made Easy: Orange you glad it's Thursday?

Little Miss was super excited when I showed her her brand new LunchBots Duo! She loves new bento goodies just as much as I do. :)
She loved it so much so she insisted I pack my lunch with my orange EasyLunchBoxes lid, so that we could match. I happily obliged!

Lunch Made Easy: Back to Basics

After two over the top bentos Monday & Tuesday, getting back to basics seemed appropriate for Wednesday's lunches. :)

Lunch Made Easy: Little Miss & Mama Bentos

Today was the fellas birthday ~ We had a great dinner out as a lil' fam but that also meant getting home late and then squeezing in bed time stories, teeth brushing, etc for Little Miss so she wouldn't be up too much later than normal bed time (an hour past normal isn't that bad, right!?) :) Then Mama went to work on lunches.

Lunch Made Easy: Miss & Mama Bentos

Here are Monday's bentos for Little Miss and for Mama :)

Lunch Made Easy: On the road again...

On the road again, just can't wait to get on the road again... NOT. ;)

Today Little Miss is all over the place with me - I'm on the road for work and have a meeting later today so I packed us up some lunches early this AM and snacks so I wouldn't be forced to stop for a Happy Meal instead. (*Points for Mama!* lol)

Lunch Made Easy: One for me and one for you!

Time to get back on the bandwagon... Little Miss and I have been eating way too  many sweets over the holidays. I still make sure her meals are balanced, but this Mama hasn't been doing a good job of sticking to my own regimen.

Lunch Made Easy: Dora Spaghetti-O's & Another Mama Bento

So lunch today is pretty basic and was done on the fly - It all started with Dora Spaghetti-O's...

(Sorry for the poor picture, it was really dark and the lighting was too dim)

Lunch Made Easy: Mama's Bento

Little Miss is off school today and tomorrow for conferences, so I get a break for making her lunch!
Mama still needs to eat though. ;)

I'm in a group on FB with a lot of the other Bento Bloggers. We were discussing how long it takes us, on average, to put the lunches together and I mentioned that I usually make mine the same time as I'm putting together lunch for Little Miss. So today, I figured, why not highlight a typical "Mama Bento".