As a busy parent, it is difficult at times to prepare a healthy but also nutritious snack all at the same time. You might be tempted to reach for those high calorie, sugar packed, and fat filled “quick” snacks. Keep in mind most of those items are considered “junk” food that can slow down your child’s metabolism, cause digestion problems, and making your students sluggish and inactive. This is why eMom is devoted to providing healthy, fresh, and tasty lunches to students in the Orange County area.

Here at eMom we have put together 4 quick and easy snacks that you can prepare for your students. These are great ideas to throw into their lunches, serve at your upcoming holiday party, or simply provide after the holidays are all complete.

Party Cheese Ball Pops for the Holidays

Holiday party cheese ball pops are similar to the classic cheese ball. However, you can kick this cheeseball up a notch with adding the flavors of cranberries and toasted pecans that make it sweet but healthy. It is a perfect treat for the students during the holiday parties or just as a snack.

Bagel Buddies

Most students despise veggies, you may even go as far as to say “hate”, simply because of the “earthy” taste, and that is why some skip their veggies or meals altogether. Bagel Buddies come with a happy smiling face to lure students into eating their much needed veggies. For a homemade bagel buddy, spread a half piece of bagel with cream cheese (who doesn’t love cream cheese?) and trim the other half of the bagel to form a hat and fit it to the first piece you have cream cheese on. Decorate the edge of the hat with broccoli florets and press two halves of black olives to form eyes. Attach two halves of a grape tomato to the bagel to form the cheeks and complete your masterpiece with a chive smile and a bell pepper scarf.

Herb Topped Sesame Crackers

This is a very simple recipe we love here at eMom. On your next grocery store visit, pick up some whole wheat sesame crackers, or you may also be able find gluten free ones depending on where you like to shop. Apply a thin layer of cream cheese to your sesame crackers. Then sprinkle your or your students favorite dried herbs right on top. Change it up with some dried basil, or some dried chives. You can also find no salt dried herb mixes at the grocery store, which can result in an explosion of flavor your students will love! Play around with different herb options until you find the ones your students like.

Healthy Version of a Gingerbread House

What child doesn’t love building a gingerbread house and then of course eating it right after? How about a healthy spin on a holiday kid favorite? To make this Holiday healthy version, first take some graham crackers, these will form the walls, doors, and the roof. Normally you would be reaching for the icing to bind everything together, but remember we are going for healthy here. Grab your peanut butter, or for those with a nut allergy, hummus (as long as it’s thick enough) or cheese can also be used. You can add your peanut butter or hummus and put a few scoops into a ziplock bag and seal it up. Work the peanut butter down to one corner of the bag where you will then snip off a small amount of the bags edge to create a “icing” tool. This keeps your hands clean while you are able to control where the peanut butter gets applied. To decorate, be creative! Use some healthy snacks items such as dried fruits, nuts, healthy cereals and whole wheat pretzels.

It’s important to remember a few things while trying these fun but healthy snack ideas for your students. Be sure to get them involved. This is a great way to use these simple snacks as “teachable moments” with your students. Helping them understand that healthy snacks not only provide fuel for their growing bodies, but also the vitamins and nutrients that their “super” minds need to grow and learn. Not only does this become a “teachable moment” but it also allows you to have some fun time with your students. With our hectic schedules and technology that our students often have to compete with in order to get our attention, these are the moments your students will remember for years to come. You can also add this to or make it part of your holiday tradition moving forward.

Here at eMom, we understand especially at this time of year things get hectic, it’s our goal to relieve some of that daily pressure from your schedule by providing healthy and nutritious meals that your students will love and thank you for.  

Original article and photo’s from Parents.com

eMom is pleased to announce that we are now serving Honest students drinks with each of our lunches! We are excited to be serving drinks from the Honest students company, a company that aligns with the same values that eMom strives for every day. The Honest students company shares our same passion of providing children with healthy alternatives without sacrificing taste. Serving up less calories (from 120 to 35), and a lot less sugar (from 29g to 8g), from our previous juice drinks, Honest students drinks are the perfect companion to our more than 60 unique, healthy school lunch options. In 2013, they removed the organic cane sugar from all Honest students varieties. They found a way to deliver the same great taste by sweetening the juice drinks only with fruit juice.

With a variety of flavors from “Tropical Tango Punch” to “Appley Ever After,” Honest students shares the same spirit in bringing fun and interactivity to lunch time. We’re excited to now serve Honest students juice with your children’s lunches!

Ask any kid what their favorite subject in school is and they will grin ear to ear and tell you it’s lunch. While we grown-ups understand that lunch isn’t technically a subject, it’s the only thing on our children’s minds after about 9:30 a.m.

I remember growing up and feeling like lunch was the most important time of the day. It was the one thing in school other than the Book Mobile that I looked forward to. My friends and I swapped apples for raisins, PB&J for tuna salad, and chips for pretzels like it was our job. Lunch was a childhood phenomenon all on its own. From the characters on your lunchbox to whether you bought chocolate milk or had a juice box, lunch was life.

A lot has changed since the good old days when my BeeGees flip-top thermos were the talk of the town. Nowadays school lunches are overseen and scrutinized by The First Lady herself. Unfortunately, her attempt to make school lunches healthier, tastier, and more appealing to the masses was an epic failure. While Michelle Obama had good intentions, the students weren’t buying it and started posting pictures of their “less than edible-looking” school lunches on Twitter with the hashtag #ThanksMichelleObama .

There is, however, a really cool Dad who runs a blog called Lunchbox Dad who knows just how to make lunch the event students spend all morning looking forward to. Inspired by his kid’s latest interests, this dad made packing lunches into an art form. He creates movie characters out of food and packs it in lunches for his students. He has made banana minions, unicorn sandwiches, and even has movie themed lunches. He says all of the extra work is more than worth it to make memories for his students and provide them with a nutritious lunch.

Most parents I talk to, however, say that their students buy lunches at the school because they simply don’t have the time to pack lunches during the hectic morning rush much less throw in a cast of characters made from carrots and hummus. We sympathize with parents and know ourselves how difficult it is trying to find time to get it all done.

Along with time constraints, parents I have spoken with voice concerns over the types of food being offered in their children’s cafeterias. I’ve eaten lunch at my children’s schools and have experienced first-hand what is being offered in cafeterias across the country. I have also seen how much food gets wasted because students simply don’t like it. Imagine sending your child to school and trusting that they were going to be provided with a healthy, delicious, affordable lunch that they would thoroughly enjoy.

This is where eMom comes into play. We are a unique company that works with area schools to help provide exceptionally healthy meals for students. eMom meals are freshly prepared every day and can range anywhere from your child’s favorite of PB&J to a soup and salad combination. With over 60 menu items to choose from, there is definitely something for everyone. Let us do the grocery shopping, planning, cooking, cleaning up, and delivery while all you have to do is place your order. Imagine how much better you would feel knowing your children were receiving proper nutrition during their busy day.

If this sounds like something you would be interested in incorporating into your school, please don’t hesitate to contact us today. We would be happy to go over our menu options, pricing, and any questions you may have. Don’t allow your children to settle for being served another meal that will end up in the garbage. Call eMom today.

Photo’s of the cool lunches from LunchBoxDad.com

McDowell Private Preschool-Elementary School, one of Southern California’s premier private schools located in the beautiful city of Laguna Niguel, is eMom’s latest school, customer, and partner!

We are honored to have the opportunity to work with a school that values excellence and partnerships as much as we do. One of the things that sets McDowell School apart is the way their community of parents, staff and students partner to create a culture which inspires academic excellence while instilling character traits necessary for our future leaders in an ever-changing world.

Our approach to an innovative healthy school lunch service is one in the same. eMom seeks to empower parents, students, and schools to foster a healthier lifestyle. It’s hard to find a partner that can provide meals that you, your students, and their parents can trust. We offer a selection of high quality, made-from-scratch, nutritious meals that you can be proud of.

With more than 60+ unique menu items, we’re absolutely sure that your students will find something they’ll love! From our scrumptious entrees to our savory soups; from our hearty sandwiches to our refreshingly cool salads, there’s something for everybody. We offer your students’ favorites, but we also strive to always introduce new items because we believe that students’ willingness to try new and different foods can empower a lifelong virtue of open-mindedness.

We handle it all for you. From ordering, cooking, cleaning, billing, and delivery, we make the entire process of providing a meal easy and seamless. Our food is freshly prepared in a commercial kitchen and carried in proper warming/cooling units ensuring freshness at arrival. And every meal also comes with a choice of cold drink, a serving of fresh fruit or vegetable, and snack.

The founding principle of eMom is to foster healthier eating for our students. And so, we will do whatever we can to empower schools to follow the same. For every meal that is purchased, eMom will donate 5 cents to the school. The more meals are purchased, the more we give back.

And much like the spirit of McDowell School, we are passionate about empowering children to learn and grow at their own pace. We bring back fun and interactivity to lunch time. Our cheerful characters of eMom have unique stories about food that students can relate with. And along with our board certified nutritionist, we can educate and empower you and your students about healthy eating and help them develop habits that can last for a lifetime.

We are happy to be working with the school to provide quality and nutritious meals for students as well as their excellent faculty and staff. Would you like to try out our healthy lunch alternatives for either your children or their school? Contact us,  we would love to talk with you about all we have to offer and keeping your children healthy and happy.

eMom characters, Maya, Orlando, and Bali, enjoy a new twist on Thanksgiving dinner, healthy alternatives to some of their favorites that they ended up loving! We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and stay tuned for more adventures with eMom characters!

Yesterday we brought you the word puzzle and coloring page, today we have an all new coloring page to keep your kiddos busy.

Download this fun Thanksgiving-themed coloring page. Be sure to print this page out, have your students bring out their inner Michelangelo, and share with us the finished piece of art. Use #TheLunchMOB when posting to Facebook or any other social media network.

Download the PDF here!

It’s Thanksgiving break for a lot of students this week. Are you looking for some great ways to keep them busy?

Download this fun Thanksgiving-themed word search puzzle and coloring page. While it won’t keep the students busy all week, it may help with a few hours. Check back tomorrow for another fun eMom activity for the students to do.

Download the PDF here!

eMom is pleased to announce their latest school partner and customer, Sunflower Montessori School in Mission Viejo!

With a mission as unique and child-focused as the Montessori method, we are looking forward to partnering with a school that teaches many of the same principles and values we have built our school lunch program on.

It’s hard to find a partner that can provide meals that faculty, students, and their parents can trust. We offer a selection of high quality, made-from-scratch, nutritious meals that you can be proud of.

We handle it all for you. From ordering, cooking, cleaning, billing, and delivery, we make the entire process of providing a meal easy and seamless. Our food is freshly prepared in a commercial kitchen and carried in proper warming/cooling units ensuring freshness at arrival. And every meal also comes with a choice of cold drink, a serving of fresh fruit or vegetable, and snack.

And much like the spirit of Sunflower Montessori School, we are passionate about empowering children to learn and grow at their own pace. We bring back fun and interactivity to lunch time. Our cheerful characters of eMom have unique stories about food that students can relate with. And along with our board certified nutritionist, we can educate and empower you and your students about healthy eating and help them develop habits that can last for a lifetime.

We are also committed to giving back. The founding principle of eMom is to foster healthier eating for our students. And so, we will do whatever we can to encourage schools to follow the same. For every meal that is purchased, eMom will donate 5 cents to the school. The more meals are purchased, the more we give back.

With more than 60+ unique menu items, we’re absolutely sure that your students will find something they’ll love! We offer your students’ favorites, but we also strive to always introduce new items because we believe that students’ willingness to try new and different foods can empower a lifelong virtue of open-mindedness, a virtue that also closely aligns with the vision of Montessori schools.

With an unwillingness to compromise, much like the “Montessori Difference,” eMom is revolutionizing the world of school lunches, one meal at a time. Every parent has the desire to provide their students with the most nutritious meals possible while also giving them meals that they are happy to eat, yet they often lack the time to do so with the demands of their schedules.

Fortunately, the crew at eMom has created a solution to keep students healthy and happy, while also taking out the hassle for busy parents and we’ve now brought our healthy school lunch service to Orange County.

We are honored to partner with Sunflower Montessori School! Would you like to try out our healthy lunch alternatives for either your children or their school? Contact us,  we would love to talk with you about all we have to offer.