Free Valentine's Day Printables from Little Green Pouch!
Looking for a great Valentine idea? Look no further! Gift a Little Green Pouch with one of our adorable Valentine's Day Cards and a super LGP recipe.
All you need is a few items (all of which are available on Amazon Prime so you can get them ASAP).
-Baker's twine to attach the card to the pouch but any cute string would work: Red Baker's Twine
-Heavy cardstock (you can use any cardstock that will work with your printer - the heavier the weight the better): Neenah Premium Cardstock
-And, of course, our reusable food pouches: Little Green Pouch, 4-pack (PS, we are running a 25% off promotion right now to make this idea even sweeter (use sweetonyou at checkout))
Easy as 1, 2, 3 (4, 5, 6):
1. Print your cards using the free downloads below (both Valentine's cards as well as coordinating recipes). They're four per page so print as many as you need. Make sure you select the "scale to fit" option so that none of the cards gets cut off in printing. If you want to print double-sided, simply print the valentines first and then feed the printed page back into your printer so that the recipes will print on the back.
2. Trim your cards.
3. Fill out the to & from section (or have your little one do this if they are old enough).
4. Use a hole punch to make a hole in the upper left corner of the card.
5. Cut your baker's twine in approximate 5 inch lengths.
6. Place your card on top of a pouch. Push a piece of twine through the hole and wrap around the spout (just below the cap) and feed twine back through hole. Tie a knot and then a pretty bow.
Done! Fun!
xoxo
Real Foodie Jessica from Real Food & Fitness
Our awesome Real Foodie for today is Jessica from Real Food & Fitness. Jessica loves both food and fitness, and “believes that one is not without the other.” As a registered dietitian (RD), certified specialist in sports dietetics (CSSD), food lover, group fitness instructor, and certified-personal trainer, her belief is that wellness is both mental and physical.
When we asked Real Foodie Jessica why she felt that a Real Food lifestyle was important for athletes such as herself, she had the following to say:
“A real food focus is essential for athletes because so often their on-the-go lifestyles leave them greatly dependent on convenience foods that poorly fuel the body and lack many of the nutrients found in real, whole foods. Remember that real foods, including a diet rich in colorful fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains, provides nutrients that work synergistically to repair and nourish the body. A solid foundation in real foods makes an incredible difference when it comes to energy levels, staying well, and feeling our best, no matter what each day brings."
Jessica was kind enough to share a pouch-friendly real food recipe that she says is “more specific to healthy living in general.” (FYI, she explains it is not ideal just before or during high-intensity or intermittent workouts, if that was your plan today). It’s her Lean Green Smoothie, and here it goes!
When to introduce: 12 months (check with your pediatrician)
Stars: Chia seeds are an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acid, high in fiber, and a good source of iron, calcium, and other minerals. Apples are high in fiber, potassium & Vitamin B6 and also contain calcium. Spinach is another great source of Calcium and contains Vitamin A, Iron and Selenium. Oranges are not just a great source of vitamin C, they have a myriad of vitamins and other nutrients that make them tops for a refreshing and healthy snack.
Servings: Fills about 3-4 Pouches
Check out the link above for a printable recipe card.
Lean Green Smoothie
Just Who Are Real Foodies?
As we continue to explore this whole new world that is Real Food, we’ve made some pretty interesting discoveries as to just who eats Real Food. There is a wide spectrum of Real Foodies out there – individuals from all types of professions, and with all types of interests. From doctors to environmentalists, athletes to nutritionists and dieticians, bloggers to cookbook authors, people from all walks of life seem to be embracing this fantastic movement that is Real Food. That’s a pretty good sign, no?
This week we are excited to introduce you to a few of these people, each eating Real Food for their own real reasons. We’ll share with you new Real Foodie recipes, pouch friendly or not (for credibility’s sake), and these Real Foodies’ thoughts on why choosing a Real Food lifestyle is important.
We hope you’ll try some of these awesome Real Foodie recipes, which of course will be posted on our site (check out our Real Food Hub) and our growing Pinterest board of Real Food Recipes. And please, please, please, share your own. If YOU are a Real Foodie too, we’d love to know about you and your interests, and why you choose a Real Food lifestyle.
Enough of the intro already, right? (You must be just dying with anticipation.) We’ll see you tomorrow with our first Real Foodie post!
‘Til then,
- Maggie & MelissaReal Food Resource: Wholesome Mommy
Here at Little Green Pouch, we are loving learning about Real Food. There are so many fantastic resources out there for those of us trying to better understand the Real Food movement, and incorporate it into our lifestyle.
We were excited to recently discover a great Real Food resource in Wholesome Mommy. Wholesome Mommy is a blog for busy moms trying to feed their family Real Food. Denise Sawyer, author of the blog, keeps it “REAL SIMPLE for those of us who don’t have all day to spend in the kitchen or don't have time to hunt exotic ingredients.” She has fantastic recipes and provides great tips and tricks (like how to purchase chicken) to make wholesome living easy and affordable (check out her Real Food on a Food Stamp Budget meal plans).
Wholesome Mommy has been kind enough to create a great Real Food Pouch Recipe for Little Green Pouch that is perfect for pouches and also great for Valentine's Day — Apple Beet Sauce. How pretty is that color? You can find the full recipe HERE.
We hope you’ll give this Real Food Pouch Recipe a try, and let us know your thoughts. And don’t forget to send over Real Food Pouch Recipes of your own. If we love them (which we’re certain we will), we’ll include them on our Real Food Recipes hub, our general Recipes Page and our Real Food Pinterest Board. I mean, you’ll practically be famous!
We’ll check in with you next week to let you know how other Real Foodies are filling their Little Green Pouches, and of course, what’s in Parker’s Pouch this week.
‘Til next time,
Maggie & Melissa
What's In Parker's Pouch? Homemade Cereal Edition
There are two things I feel like almost all moms have in common: 1) they want the best for their kids, and 2) they have very little time. I fall firmly in that camp with my work at LGP (Melissa here – one of the co-founders), the interior design firm I run and, most importantly, my amazing little girls Bailey (2) and Parker (7 months). Also, my addiction to Pinterest doesn’t help.
So a month ago, when Parker turned 6 months and was ready for real food, I found myself wondering how I was going to find the time to make all of her baby food like I had done with Bailey (isn't it amazing how much easier things are when there is just one baby?). I realized I’d forgotten all of the rules, which foods were best to introduce when and the easiest way to make everything. And it occurred to me that I'm probably not alone. So in an attempt to make all of your lives a little easier, I've decided to start a regular post called “What’s in Parker’s Pouch” where I plan to share what I’m doing to make sure Parker is getting the best, real food, I can make.
Our current pouches hold 7 oz., which is a great size but a little more than a new eater needs in one sitting. So, the very first thing I stored in Parker's Pouches was my homemade rice, oatmeal and barley cereal. I 'm including each of the 3 recipes (super easy as long as you have a strong blender or food processor) below. I never made Bailey’s rice cereal, mostly because I didn’t know I could. But after I started following 100 days of real food and the food babe (bad name, great blog), I decided I'd try to make absolutely everything for my girls. So far, so good :).
Anyhow - here are my tips for these cereals:
1. GRIND GRIND GRIND: Grind them longer than you think, especially for new eaters. Any time Parker got a chunk of anything she spit it out. They're so used to having a liquid diet that “chunks” don’t go over well at first.
2. USE BREAST MILK AS YOUR LIQUID: Adding breast milk (or formula) instead of water was a huge success after a few failed tries with just water. Parker wanted something familiar! Plus, it made the mealtime that much healthier.
3. DON’T TRY INTRODUCING SOLIDS TO A HUNGRY BABY: Breast (or bottle) feed your baby first. Wait about 30 minutes and then try feeding them the solids. This is good for two reasons – you want to make sure you don’t skip the breast milk feeding (for milk supply and nutrition reasons) and 2 – a happy (i.e. not starving) baby is much more open to trying new things.
4. ALLERGY 3 DAY RULE: When introducing new foods, try only one new food every 3 days. If after 3 days no allergies (skin rashes, crankier than normal baby, or more extreme symptoms) appear, you can safely introduce the next new food. I kept worrying that Parker would get really bored of the same thing over and over, but I quickly had enough items in the repertoire that she could eat to mix things up a bit.
5. OATMEAL IS THE NEW BLACK: If you only choose one cereal to make, go with Oatmeal. Though rice cereal is the most common it actually has the least amount of nutrients and oatmeal will help keep your little one nice and regular (vs. rice cereal which can do the opposite!). Plus - from a flavor perspective it was by far the yummiest!
I look forward to sharing this journey with you, and if you have any topics you want to read about, let me know in the comments. Next time I will be covering shopping in bulk for babies and prepping ahead of time.
XOXO,
Melissa
Printable recipes:
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