What Kids Love: Blissful Cream Cheese and Jam Rollups
In today’s What Kids Love From Blissful Bites we have Jennifer from Mommy’s ER tell us how I helped saved the lunch box with my kid-friendly recipes. Last month Carissa shared her love for my heavenly raw chocolate mousse. If you are a parent who’s kids love recipes from Blissful Bites and would like to be featured please contact me!
I had a revelation today. It happens — particularly when my husband goes out of town, and Iʼm left to do the things that I rely on him to do so thoroughly that when theyʼre done, itʼs as though a fairy godmother swept through the house… the same fairy godmother who forgets to come when heʼs away. I know itʼs often the other way around for a nursing mother, but in this case, his absence makes me wonder — what exactly do I do again when heʼs around? Case in point, the bath routine: turns out, toenails donʼt actually cut themselves, and eight year olds (or my eight year old at any rate) are like cats when it comes to hair-washing. Brian always does this while Iʼm putting baby to bed. How quickly Iʼve forgotten!
Another wake-up call: the lunch box. Husband extraordinaire packs it while he makes his morning coffee. NOT the bath and nail-cutting fairy godmother. And while he may have it down to an art form — the lunch box generally returns empty, save a couple dehydrated-looking baby carrots — I, on the other hand, do not. Apparently in the months since my infant son was born, my older son no longer cares for my almond butter and jam sandwiches — itʼs sunflower butter and honey now. Another absolute no-no, last nightʼs leftovers, however much he liked them the first time around. Brianʼs gone for a week. Iʼve got to get creative fast — oh Fairy Godmother of child and home maintenance, what am I going to do?
Enter The Blissful Chef, Christy Morgan to the rescue. The chewy trail mix bars from her cookbook, “Blissful Bites” have been a healthy snacking godsend for us – although I rarely get more than one by the time my son, his friends and my husband get through with them. I figure, if she can work that kind of kitchen magic on homemade trailmix bars, what can she do for my lunchbox conundrum?
I turn desperately to The Blissful Chef recipe section, and decide to try the cream cheese and jam roll-ups: with a toasted tortilla, theTofutti cream cheese she recommends, raspberry jam and four Tofurky slices. I roll it all up like a jam burrito, cut it into pinwheel-size rounds, and voila — it fits perfectly in his lunchbox. I include flax- corn-chips and skip the aforementioned baby carrots in favor of steamed green beans and sea salt, along with dipping hummus and Annie Chunʼs dried sesame seaweed in the other lunchbox compartments. The real test is still to come… does the lunch get eaten? Stay with me as I elapse time…
For today (and maybe today only), I am the lunchtime fairy godmother. My son Aidan has eaten it all – I have to look twice, thereʼs not a crumb of pinwheel left. Heʼs so excited for tomorrowʼs lunch that he asks me to “make it another surprise”. Chef Christy, you may be my new favorite lunchbox resource. Iʼm on to raw nut-meat tacos, and blackened tempeh caesar wrap. Next time Iʼll even be bold and try the adult version of the roll-ups – with blanched greens and sprouts. If I can get him to eat his greens at lunchtime with jam, I think Iʼll take over making lunch permanently. Just kidding, honey. Canʼt wait to have you home.
Jennifer Crain is a holistic pediatrics specialist, licensed acupuncturist and herbalist, and founder of Mommyʼs ER, a natural everyday remedies resource for parents. She has appeared on regional Fox News “Health Edge”, morning shows, in a special episode of “Dadlabs”, & in Natural Health, Glamour, & Natural Solutions. Mommy’s ER is a resource for parents that provides safe, easy, at-home remedies to improve kids health naturally – empowering parent & child, & giving families peace of mind.
You can find Jennifer on Twitter and Facebook.
Click here to watch the video of Cream Cheese and Jam Roll-ups. The adult version is with greens and sprouts but maybe your kids will eat that too!