The Green Lunch Bag

Get a Grip on Mealtime

Teaching little barbarians the art and skill of civilized eating is a tiring, messy and sometimes dangerous process - a skill so hard to grasp that it may take years and in some known cases, decades to perfect. Luckily, the folks at SkipHop have just released "Mate", a stay-put mat & plate system that brings civility and perhaps a bit of safety to family mealtime with a toddler.

The SkipHop Mate is a fork, spoon and plate that attach to a skid resistant rubber place mat. Mate is painfully adorable and thoughtfully designed by top designer Scott Henderson, a classmate and friend of mine from Philadelphia's UArts '88.

I put SkipHop's Mate to the test with my two year old Zane, a novice eater that currently enjoys throwing food and plates.  First off - the large rubber place mat with the hidden smiley face really is skid-resistant – no flying plates! Secondly, the interior food plate is manufactured out of polypropylene, a food safe material and is divided into 3 sections so fussy eaters won't freak if their peas touch their cheese chunks. Lastly - Zane's favorite feature - the little fork & spoon each have their own docking stations! While using the Mate at mealtime Zane used his utensils, sat still longer, ate more food and minimized the need for air traffic control. Little barbarians - your days are numbered.

Kids' Vote Declares Best Apple of 2008

A first graders lesson on apples - from seed to taste test. Part biology, part cooking, part food critique and a little math. 

My son's teacher, Ms. Smith, gave a wonderful lesson to her first grade class on apples. The children learned about the biology of a fruit tree, the path from harvest to market, varietal differences, cooking (they made applesauce) and my favorite, the blind taste test. Ms Smith's class favorite... the Golden Delicious by a landslide!

Eco-Cute Cutlery

I don't do cute. Basket full of kittens. I feel nothing. This adorable organically grown bamboo kids fork and spoon set by bambu. I'm in love. The stumpy tines, undersized proportions and simple curves of these little cuties puts a smile on my face.

Bamboo is the perfect material of choice for kids’ cutlery. Bamboo is strong yet lightweight, it doesn’t conduct heat like metal, the edges are always guaranteed to be soft and of course it’s a sustainable material. The perfect choice for any Green Lunch Bag.

Healthy, Cheap and Ugly. The Best Air Popped Organic Popcorn.

Popcorn! The original American snack-food- dried corn kernels that are heated until they explode. It's  transforming, magical, exploding high fiber, whole grain fun food. Popcorn is also one of the easiest, least expensive snacks and if you air pop it, a healthy snack to make with kids. In contrast, microwaved popcorn is nasty stuff, it's loaded with saturated fats, chemicals, preservatives, over salted and smelly. If you are microwaving popcorn, buy an air popper instead and use organic popcorn kernels which are readily available even Jolly Time sells organic popcorn, and by adding your own butter and seasoning you know what you're eating. Unseasoned air popped popcorn is only 31 calories a cup

Air popped popcorn will also save you money over time which is why I recently purchased the sinfully ugly and utilitarian 70's era Presto Pop-Lite. With 199 reviews a 4.5 star rating and costing only $17.95 on Amazon the Presto Pop-Lite is hands down the best and ugliest air-popped popcorn maker out there. I'm an Industrial Designer, not stupid so this was a seriously hard purchase for me. I'm pretty sure that the Presto Pop-Lite is the ugliest appliance I've ever purchased. With it's amber polycarbonate duckbill spout mounted onto a conical foot with a 90's style details at the base it's just looks wrong and out of balance. The one thing I do like is the removable butter melting dish at the top, but that isn't enough to save it. This is one appliance that will be hidden in the pantry, it's a seriously ugly machine which has been so cost reduced over the years that it now doesn't even have a cord wrap or an on/of switch, it's plug and pop and it's a good thing it works so well.