Wearable Art Project

Entertain your child's creative side with this easy wearable art project!
Materials needed:

• plain white T-shirt (new or on-it's-way-out)
• age-appropriate needle
• spools of colored thread

For any child old enough to use a needle and thread, set them up with a plain white T-shirt (new or on-it's-way-out), an age-appropriate needle, and a bunch of colorful spools of thread. Let them go at it however they like, creating an impressionistic piece of wearable art. 

Do they start working on one of the tee's shoulders and stay there? Do they start smack in the middle, dart all over the place and back again? You will even want your own version of their signature creation! 

We'd love to see what your child does with this kind of artistic freedom. Please post their wearable art (preferably with them in it) to our facebook wall and we will send you a coupon redeemable for our products!


Words of caution:
How soon you can begin teaching a child to sew depends on the age, maturity, and patience of the child. Be sure to only teach techniques you’re already comfortable doing yourself. If you don’t know how to sew, learn the skills you need first, then teach the child. Always supervise the use of needles, pins and scissors.


Sources:
 * How to Teach a Child to Sew: eHow.com

Changes in School Food, Part 1

The fight against childhood obesity and the struggle to makeover the school lunch program have finally reached a critical tipping point. Our government is proposing and passing laws that are enacting real change to a system that has been in place for decades! Hooray!

We would like to share our stance on some of these powerful changes and what sparked them:

1) Have you seen Jamie Oliver's T.V. show called Food Revolution? Wow, has it really stirred up controversy by exposing the politics behind school lunch. We believe his revealing show accelerated the rate of change happening around this topic. "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution campaign seeks to educate families about food and cooking, and address the quality of the food served in school lunch programs." (jamieoliver.com)

• Peas position: We love to cook, break bread with loved ones, and enjoy swapping useful tips for cooking and feeding kids healthfully, but we recognize that there's not always time to make healthy meals from scratch. We are proud to offer wholesome and convenient food that parents can feel good about feeding their kids (and themselves) on those chaotic days when meals from scratch are not feasible.

2) Lisa Mancino of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees school-meal programs, calls the new approach "stealth health," getting kids to eat healthy without even realizing it. As it turns out, the problem may not be the presence of junk food after all; it's that the good food just isn't appealing enough. ("Stealth Health for Kids" - Newsweek, 2009.)

• Peas position: We're often associated with the concept of "stealth health"...where adults 'sneak' veggies into kids' foods. We take a more transparent approach. We aren't hiding the broccoli in our Broccoli Veggie Wedgies; we are just reinventing the classic French fry by making them healthier. For us, it's not about tricking kids. We hope they like what they are eating and also know that its made from veggies. Maybe after knowingly enjoying Broccoli fries, a broccoli floret in a stir fry won't look so daunting/disgusting.

3) Under a federal law passed last December, the USDA guidelines will limit the number of calories served at every school meal and require programs to offer a broad variety of fruits and vegetables - not just corn and potatoes. The USDA has proposed a ban on potatoes in school lunch programs as an attempt to fight childhood obesity. 

• Peas position: Years ago we tried to work with a few local schools but were told our foods didn't have enough calories required for school lunch. We couldn't believe that schools were wanting more calories instead of more nutrients! As regular french fries are served less frequently in schools (or eliminated from school menus altogether), Veggie Wedgies are bursting onto the scene, replacing the fat- and salt-laden offenders. We couldn't be more proud!

4) The expansion of breakfast served at schools has yielded great results with students and teachers. Many kids who weren't getting breakfast at home are now better able to focus in class from the mid-morning until lunchtime. Even the kids who were used to having breakfast at home are fond of choosing their breakfast (hot or cold) at school. Get the full inside scoop from an observant school teacher on the Fed Up with School Lunch blog.

• Peas position: We think this is a great idea and others in the food industry do too. Major retailers like Walmart are getting involved by funding projects like Breakfast in the Classroom which "aim to increase breakfast consumption among school children and spark the academic and nutritional gains associated with the morning meal." (walmart.com)

Stayed tuned for more thoughts on school lunch in a couple weeks!

Fries for Breakfast!

We're often asked what the best way to eat our Apple fries is. Here at Peas HQ, we like to eat them with salt and ketchup, just like our savory flavors (it must be a sweet/savory thing). But we often hear that people love to eat our Apple Veggie Wedgies for a quick and healthy hot breakfast!

Rather than serving your kids store bought frozen French toast sticks that have 5 to 9 grams of fat per serving and contain ingredients like corn oil, corn syrup, preservatives and more, bake up some crispy Apple Veggie Wedgies instead! The first ingredient in our Apple fries is real apples. They contain 0 grams of fat and no added sugar. Pair our apple fries with this tropical maple syrup reci-pea and feel good about feeding your kids fries for breakfast!

Tropical Maple Syrup

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pineapple juice (optional, to taste)

Mix powdered sugar and coconut mile together in a small bowl. Stir in maple syrup and vanilla extract.

If you like it thinner, stir in pineapple juice until it reaches the desired consistency.

Indoor Herb Garden, More Than We Bargained For.

Excited to get a jump on Spring, we planted an indoor herb garden about a month ago (ah, the urban life!) We buried organic seeds of basil, thyme, chives, and mache, watered about twice a week, and waiting in anticipation as a child-like wonder came over us.

Though a bit delayed, our seeds finally sprouted after a 20 day germination. The herbs bursted with tiny leaves... what a success!

However, as our seedlings continued to sprout and grow, so did an unexpected garden guest, the fruit fly. First one... then a dozen, where did they come from and how do we get rid of them?

I was put on this task and researched several 'green' methods for getting rid of our pest:

• trap them using a dust buster or vacuum with a hose.
• trap them using a bowl. Put a skinless piece of fruit or a splash of balsamic vinegar in a bowl. Cover the bowl with a tight piece of plastic wrap and poke holes in the plastic with a fork. Flies will fly in but be unable to escape.
• kill them using a mixture of 1 teaspoon of cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons of water and 1-2 drops of dish soap in a dark bowl or mug. The cider vinegar will attract them and the soap will reduce the surface tension of the liquid and cause the flies to sink and drown. (If cider vinegar doesn't work, try soy sauce.)

Wish us luck! I will let you know what works for us.

Greener? More Portable? Healthier? New Package Sizes or Less Food for Same Price

" "Whole wheat pasta had gone from 16 onces to 13.25 ounces' she said. 'I bought three boxes and it wasn't enough -- that was a little embarrassing. I bought the same amount I always buy, I just didn't realize it, because who reads the sizes all the time?' "

That's a quote from one of the most hotly retweeted links this week: a link to an eye-opening NY Times exposé on cost cutting techniques that some food companies (not us, we're holding steady!) are taking to maintain their price point at the market with food costs up and continuing to rise.

Here at Peas, our response to the change in the economy was to offer a 2 pack size of our Puffets (instead of the original 4 pack size) at exactly the same price per Puffet. This way, it's  easier for folks new to Peas of Mind products to try one. 

“Consumers are generally more sensitive to changes in prices than to changes in quantity,” John T. Gourville, a marketing professor at Harvard Business School, said. “And companies try to do it in such a way that you don’t notice, maybe keeping the height and width the same, but changing the depth so the silhouette of the package on the shelf looks the same. Or sometimes they add more air to the chips bag or a scoop in the bottom of the peanut butter jar so it looks the same size.”

"The marketing campaigns are coy... the smaller versions are “greener” (packages good for the environment) or more “portable” (little carry bags for the takeout lifestyle) or “healthier” (fewer calories)."

The article is fascinating and controversial, definitely worth a read!