Meet Your Lunchtime Kitchen Assistant (& a Recipe for Berry Good Wraps)

How often have you said to yourself, “I need more time!” or “I just can’t get ahead on the food thing,” or maybe “How can I make real food when life keeps moving so fast?”

(Katie raises hand.)

In fact, the new mantra I’m trying to knock (back) into my own head is this:

“I won’t be more motivated or have more ideas for dinner tomorrow, I’ll just have less time to prepare.”

I’ve been SO unmotivated to meal plan and feel like I never know what I want to make for dinner lately, which has resulted in some “panic” meals and lots of thawing in the sink and punting on dinner. It’s annoying, and I only have myself to blame.

I’m hoping that the start of the new school year on Tuesday will kick into gear many of the routines I know we need, including meal planning for a whole week at a time.

It’s kind of funny that I’ve been feeling this way – rare for me – because I’m always saying I don’t like using other people’s meal plans. I may have to reconsider at some point if I can’t shake this lack of inspiration problem!

A Kindred Spirit or a Kitchen Assistant?

After almost a year of being on MOMables‘ email list and loving every subject line that came through, I finally got a chance to have a phone conversation with Laura, the chief MOM over there, and discuss our various entrepreneurial ventures.

It’s not often I get to bump into someone who is so clearly and quickly a kindred spirit. Let’s just say I regret not connecting with Laura earlier!

She’s been a KS reader for a few years, and she started the MOMables program because she has a talent for creating awesome, real food school lunches. She said on the phone: “Everyone has their own way of ministering to other moms, and kids’ food is mine.”

Through prayer and discernment, she and her husband decided that channeling her energies into this new business (two years ago) was the right thing to do, and she’s been super successful ever since. She wrote to me: “It is my purpose to help other parents feed their children uncomplicated good food at school.”

Besides wholly enjoying talking about being Mom-preneurs and running online businesses, we gabbed away about real food and parenting (she has 3 kids too) and all sorts of things.

Tell me you don’t already love her too!

Laura can’t be everyone’s best friend (sorry) but she HAS volunteered to help you get past some of those frustrated phrases I listed at the beginning of this post. MOMables is like having a kitchen assistant who will save you time and streamline everything you do for lunches.

From Laura:

MOMables is designed to provide parents with a healthier alternative to school lunches and pre-packaged foods. I am not brand sponsored, so I won’t be suggesting Kraft or other major brands because they are paying me — I refuse.

All of our lunches are pictured with a serving of fruits and vegetables to indicate to the parent that a wholesome lunch should include just that: fresh produce, fresh vitamins, wholesome nutrients.

Our main ingredient is a sandwich, a pasta salad, a dish made with left overs (and on the MOMtip we also suggest dinner solutions for the week that will yield leftovers for that lunch) and many others. While I can’t control the quality of the ingredients a parent chooses to use in their child’s lunch,  I can suggest much healthier options than a daily peanut butter and jelly or bologna sandwich (the latter, we never will have on our menu).

Everyone can afford to make healthy lunches: whether one shops with a Walmart budget or a Whole Foods budget.

MOMables has a weekly school lunch meal plan with 5 lunch ideas, a prep-ahead sheet and a shopping list. She gives out all sorts of freebies and also has a full-length paid weekly plan that’s just barely over $1/week. Compared the high nutritional cost of buying school lunch…that’s a heck of a deal.

Here’s a bit more from Laura about the program:

Packing lunch every day can be very stressful for most of us. Mornings can get hectic getting our kids dressed, our own teeth brushed and there never seems to be enough coffee to get us out the door quick enough!

As a mom of three kids under seven, I understand these struggles. In order to help us busy moms feed our kids fresh food, MOMables helps with a simple plan each week.

You can get a sample week from MOMables –yup, 5 lunch ideas, prep-ahead tips and a shopping list– for FREE! When you sign up for the weekly newsletter – it’s loaded with free recipes, tips and much, much more.

If you are ready to let MOMables help you get out of your lunch packing rut, come up with new lunch ideas, and simplify your lunch packing routine… check out our plans and get ready to start making school lunches your kids will love.

MOMables is like a hiring a kitchen assistant to come up with school lunches your kids will actually eat, for only $6 per month! If you are looking to get the school year to a good start, get help with picky eaters, and feel less overwhelmed with kids food in general; signing up is your first step!

MOMables has two recipes from their weekly menu plans featured in the new eBook at Kitchen Stewardship, The Healthy Lunch Box, and we’re sharing one with you today:

Berry Good Wraps Recipe

Yields 1 wrap

Ingredients:

• 1 – 8” whole-wheat tortilla
• 2 tablespoons whipped cream cheese
• Small handful baby spinach
• 2-3 strawberries, sliced
• 1 tablespoon raspberry vinaigrette dressing
• 1 slice nitrate free bacon, cooked & crumbled

Directions:

• Spread whipped cream cheese over tortilla.
• Layer spinach, sliced strawberries and top with crumbled bacon.

Roll tightly, cut wrap in half.

MOMTip: Lightly dress spinach-strawberry salad right before packing, or put dressing in a side container for dipping.

Even the recipes come with packing tips so the food doesn’t go bad! Oh, and in case you were wondering, just like a good cookbook, all of the recipes are pictured so you know exactly what the food should look like.

Head on over and check out the weekly plan, find MOMables on Facebook, or sign up for their free newsletter for weekly complimentary recipes.