Whole Paycheck? Whole-heartedly!

Photo of my local Whole Foods courtesy of: ayustety

You've heard it before. Whole Wallet. Whole Paycheck. The various nicknames for Whole Foods Market. I used to be on that bandwagon too until I really gave it a chance. There isn't one near my home so I would only go on occasion to the one near my work. The parking lot was always crowded and somehow I always seemed to spend too much money. The store is stocked with healthy organic produce which I love, as well as a lot of options for meatless and vegan meals, but didn't think I could afford to shop there for all of my groceries.

I guess you could say I'm a convert!

 Several months ago our office moved so that we are right.next.door. to Whole Foods. So, the appeal to me now is that I don't have to drive there or deal with their clusterf--- parking lot. I can just walk there! And the variety of things I can have for lunch is endless. Not to mention, I typically run out at lunch time to pick up groceries  here and there for home, and now I don't have to make a separate trip for groceries AND lunch. NICE.

Green goodness

The groceries there didn't get any cheaper, but I am looking at the big picture here. I am not using gas to get there, and I am not spending money on going out for lunch. At least not technically. What I have been doing is going there and buying the makings for my healthy organic lunches (typically salads) and assembling my meals at work. I realize this may not be easy/convenient for everyone to do, but it totally works for me. I have picked up lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, avocados, shelled sunflower seeds, packets of tuna or canned chicken and salad dressing and other items like yogurt and raw almonds from the bulk bins for snacks. And on days when I need some variety I have either picked out items from their salad bar, or from the various hot meal choices in their buffet area. Overall, I am still saving money at Whole Foods. Who woulda thunk it?

I'm always open to new ideas to make incorporating fresh and organic foods into my life easier. How do you do it? Go green and have a great day!

Packing a Healthy Lunch for School

Typical lunch packed for school

One of the things that made me nervous about my son starting kindergarten was that he would have to bring a lunch. He's not terribly hard to please, but I was worried about being able to keep it exciting. And like every child he gets super crabby when he's hungry, so I wanted to make sure he'd have enough to eat. Without us there to remind him to "keep eating" I was also worried that he'd be too concerned with playing and not eat.

So far things are going ok. My Monkey does not care too much about his lunch being exciting. He is more concerned with playing, so his goal is to get his food down so he can play. Sure takes a lot of pressure off me!

His typical lunch consists of a fruit item (sometimes), some veggies (carrot sticks, tomatoes, maybe celery), a quarter of a sandwich...usually peanut butter, salame or turkey, and some Goldfish crackers for snack time. A juice box is thrown in to keep him hydrated.  He is an active 5 year old, but his school day is from 7:45 to noon, so  they eat lunch at 10:45. It's early for him, and it has taken him some time to adjust. In his previous life, 10:30 was a snack time! I learned early on I cannot put a sweet of any kind in his lunch, or he will eat only that and leave the rest. I figure he can have a cookie or something when he gets home if he's been a good boy and has eaten his whole lunch.

Sometimes I run out of time to make myself a lunch, so I rely on Amy's. YUM.

Or, when I've got a spare $10, I splurge at Whole Foods which is next to my office!

I asked him if the teachers have the class wash their hands before lunch. Afterall, the sink is right in their classroom. Apparently in kindergarten they don't. In preschool the teachers had the kids wash their hands even after they came inside to play!  I got an idea from another mom to put a small bottle of sanitizer in his lunch bag so he can clean his hands before he eats.

Monkey also let me know that the yard duty repeatedly reminds the kids to keep eating...I asked curiously the other night at dinner why he kept saying "Let's keep eating!" I am happy about that. The first week or so he would come home and say he didn't have enough time to eat his sandwich but I think he is starting to understand now that he's got to eat and not dawdle around the way he does at home. He is now eating everything! In due time I'm sure I will have to start coming up with more variety but this is working for us for the time being.

What do you pack in your kids lunch for school? Do you find it challenging to keep things interesting AND healthy?

Kinder Success!

Cool first-day duds

Well, here we are, finishing up our 3rd week of kindergarten. What? This is the first time I have mentioned kindergarten? It has been so smooth and so far without incident but I have a lot to report! I am so very proud of my Monkey. He was not nervous about starting kinder in the slightest. He was excited. I guess it was more or less my fears that I was trying to project on him. Here he went from this tiny preschool, where he was fortunate enough to have the same teachers for two years in a row - to a big school that goes all the way to 5th grade. Almost twice as many students in his class, and 2 teachers who share the teaching duties. Additionally, the early birds and late birds overlap for a while in the middle of the day. Sounds like utter chaos to me! This would also be the first time he would need to bring a lunch.What would I pack? Would he eat it? Would he make friends?

Turns out, there are 2 kids in his class he went to preschool with (win!). A neighbor boy from across the court is also in his class. He got the "good" teachers that everyone raves about. And lunch? Its at 10:45 a.m. It's like a freakin' snack. Who eats lunch at 10:45? I keep it pretty basic. Celery, carrots and cherry tomatoes - seriously - my kid likes this stuff. Some baked Goldfish crackers. A Juicy Juice box. And 1/4 of a sandwich...which is really teeny but as it is it nearly goes to waste since he eats the other stuff first and wants to play and again, who wants to eat lunch at 10:45?!

Locating his name tag so everyone can start to learn his name

Lining up to go into his classroom. Not a tear in sight!

I am starting to volunteer in his classroom every other week for an hour. I get to spy on visit with my son, see who these friends are that he is talking about, and see how these teachers are in the class room. And I love seeing him make new friends. The first couple days he told me there was a boy who did not want to play with him. I told him, "Move on and play with other kids. Don't get hung up on someone who doesn't want to play with you." He told me, "No, I am going to keep trying until he plays with me." The next day he was very excited, because this boy DID play with him! And they are now bosom buddies. He's going to be just fine!

I get to drop him off every morning, so I get to spend alone time with him in the car, plus I often run into some of my Mom friends for brief chit-chat before I head off to work. His class starts at 7:45, and I wake him up at 6:15 or so. I am mostly ready by the time I wake him up but occasionally stop home to finish my make up before I head off to work. I can't say I love this new schedule. I am so tired in the morning, and I am not a big fan of mornings or of having to go to bed so early!  Additionally its been a struggle to find time to work out but I am slowly falling into a routine with school and hope soon everything will be settled so I can figure things out. Whew.

Has your school year started yet? How has it been going so far? Any big transitions/hurdles?