Wishing you had the superpower to make healthy meals magically appear on your dining room table? Kick up your heels because Nurture Life delivers nutritious, ready-to-eat meals for babies, toddlers and kids straight to your door (read no more grocery shopping, meal prep or planning!). With Nurture Life, now you can serve your kids their favorite foods at lightning speed… no cape (or apron) required. Read on for how you can save the day by having meals ready when they are.
Why Choose Nurture Life?
Nurture Life takes the guesswork out of dishing up well-balanced meals to your babies and kids. No more web-surfing for recipes, label-decoding or head-scratching in the supermarket aisle over what’s for dinner. Pediatric dietitians and professional chefs teamed up to create the Nurture Life menu so that each complete meal offers the right balance of proteins, vegetables and whole grains.
Meal plans cover kids of all ages from four months to 14 years old––including options that will satisfy both picky eaters and those with more adventurous palates. Meals are shipped freshly prepared and cold, never frozen, but it’s good to know they can be frozen for up to 90 days to use at your convenience. The best part: they’re ready in three minutes or less! All you have to do is reheat the meal in the oven or microwave and serve!
What’s on the Menu?
A meal is only a success if your kiddo actually eats it, right? Nurture Life offers an appealing range of kid-friendly, pleasing food choices using organic ingredients whenever possible. Babies can munch on Braised Chicken, Garnet Yam and Carrot or spoon up Blackberry, Apple and Chia purees; toddlers can explore Harissa Chicken or Minestrone Stew; and kids can sink their teeth into Teriyaki Salmon with Brown Rice and Veggies or Turkey Stroganoff with Cheesy Polenta (to name just a few).
The Nurture Life website is a cinch to navigate. Simply subscribe to the best meal plan for your child and then choose the dishes you’d like to receive from the menu of “favorite” and “seasonal” selections in their stage of development category: babies, toddlers or kids. Nurture Life delivers the meals to your door in an insulated box that will keep the food fresh all day, even if you’re not home to receive them. There’s no commitment––you can skip weeks or cancel your service anytime. Meal plans are also flexible, letting you swap in different meals or add on any extras for playdates (or yourself!).
”Absolutely fantastic! I’ve been looking for a service like Nurture Life for a long time and never found anything that would meet my expectations. Nurture Life is everything I hoped for: food for different ages and healthy, great quality products. This company saves me so much time and that’s time I get to spend playing with kids instead of in the kitchen. Thank you for given me more time with my family!”
“Best decision ever! The food is really delicious. So convenient and healthy. Takes the worry out of making sure my child is eating something real and nutritious. Takes the hassle out of meal prepping (for a working mother) and the pressure off eating for him–if he doesn’t like it or won’t eat it, my feelings aren’t hurt and I don’t feel like I wasted my time making the meal.”
“Great products, great customer service and overall great experience thus far with it! My baby loves the food and I find comfort in knowing it’s super fresh, healthy and the right food for every stage. The site is very easy to use, straightforward and user-friendly. I would recommend it to all my mom friends!”
Spook your little goblin the fun and healthy way this Halloween with this recipe from Veggies Don’t Bite! The combination of crispy polenta, salsa, beans and dairy free cheese will get them into the eating spirit.
Makes: 15 Mummy bites
Ingredients:
1 sleeve of polenta (18 ounces)
6 slices white dairy free cheese
½ cup fresh salsa, or jarred
1 can (15 ounces) black beans (you will have extra to serve on the side)
Guacamole (optional as a side)
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Slice polenta into ¼ inch rounds (should make 15 slices), place on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 35 minutes, flipping at 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile cut cheese slices into ¼ inch strips, then cut those strips in half so they are about 2 inches long. Rinse black beans.
4. When polenta slices are done, take out of the oven. Top with about ½ tablespoon salsa, place black beans for the eyes. Then cover with cheese slices back and forth to form mummy strips.
5. Place back in the oven and bake for another 10 minutes. Serve and watch little faces light up with excitement! For a complete meal, serve with the extra black beans and guacamole or diced avocado on the side.
Notes from the Chef:
I used Follow Your Heart dairy free cheese on these, it melted great. You can use any salsa and beans you like, but I had good success with my fresh salsa recipe and black beans.
Tips to prep ahead: Make salsa and guacamole.
Baby/kid food idea: Great for toddlers and kids as is! Can cut polenta in small pieces after baking and serve to older baby with black beans. For younger baby blend black beans with avocado.
What do you think of this recipe? Do your kids love Halloween-themed food?
Sophia DeSantis is the author of Veggies Don’t Bite, a vegan, gluten free and refined sugar free food blog targeted to all types of eaters. She is the mom of two beautiful boys and wife to an amazing husband. Her and her family live a vegan, gluten free and refined sugar free life 90% of the time because she believes that the stress of having to be perfect shouldn’t overpower the benefits that their healthy lifestyle brings. Through her website, she hopes to reach anybody interested in making a positive health change in their life.
When life gets a little too hectic, dialing for delivery can be a real sanity saver. But if pizza (again!) is more than your locavore-loving soul can handle, consider adding Garnish & Gather’s meal delivery service to your regular routine. Aimed at connecting more folks with locally grown foods, G&G makes whipping up a wholesome meal easy.
Shop their online selection of seasonal, ready-to-cook meals like chorizo stuffed portabella mushrooms with creamy polenta, lemony shrimp with spring veggie sauté and potato hash, or asian chicken over cabbage and carrot slaw. G&G always considers the small set with tips to please picky palates (i.e. spices to skip and alternate serving suggestions). Deliveries are made on Mondays when all of your perfectly portioned ingredients arrive with easy-to-follow instructions for quick prep.
No time to hit the farmer’s market this week? Don’t miss the local market section of the site where you can load up on H&F muffins and breads, Carlton Farm fresh eggs, Pine Street bacon, Riverview Farms pork chops and Little Tart Bakeshop’s chocolate chip cookies.
Too tired to make that 8 p.m. rezzie at that cool, culinary hotspot? G&G’s latest twist is having Hotlanta’s hottest chefs curate menus for the site. May showcased St. Cecilia’s Chef De Cuisine, Craig Richards, while June will feature Gunshow’s Kevin Gillespie.
Because there is only one Top Chef around here.
Red Tricycle readers can enjoy 20% off their first meal at Garnish & Gather. Enter code REDTRI at checkout.
Looking for other ways to bring home the bacon? Click here for our list of ATL-based grocery delivery services.
For many of us, it’s not a tough trade: swapping a reliable cell signal and ubiquitous wi-fi for a sweet slice of small town heaven. Tucked away in all corners of the Northwest are tiny backwater hamlets, perched seaside, on idyllic bays or in mountain clefts, brimming with character, friendly locals and a peaceful main street to stroll. Slow your pace a while and explore these 14 tiny towns; the city, and all its cares, will be here when you get back.
Bow Edison
Be hungry. That’s the first rule of any visit to darling Bow Edison, a pair of tiny twin towns about a half-hour north of La Conner and a quick detour off farmland-scenic Chuckanut Drive. Bow is actually marked just by the turnoff to Edison; you’ll see the Rhododendron Cafe and the Bow Post Office at the Bow Hill Road intersection. Make your way into Edison.
Your first stop should be at Farm to Market Bakery (Bow, 14003 Gilmore Ave.; 360.766.6240), where you can pick up a lime-soaked polenta cake or two for breakfast or a snack. But if you’re lucky enough to be visiting on a weekend, save room for the gorgeous farm-to-table lunches awaiting in the town of Edison at Tweets(Edison, 5800 Cains Court; 360.820.9912; open Friday–Sunday only). Chef David Blakesley creates ever-changing menus that showcase the area’s sensational produce.
Browse through town and stop in at the Edison Eye Gallery (Bow, 5800 Cains Court; 360.766.6276) and the Lucky Dumpster (14044 MacTaggart Ave.; 360.766.4049), where recycled materials become gifts and reclaimed wood becomes gorgeous furniture.
Next, pop over to the Breadfarm (Edison, 5766 Cains Court; 360.766.4065; pictured left, photo by Gabriel Rodriguez) to pick up a loaf of the sensational bread (black olive baguette, Tonasket rye or multigrain) and then head back toward Bow to the Samish Bay Cheese shop (Bow, 15115 Bow Hill Road; 360.766.6707), where splendid cheeses await (the Ladysmith and Port Edison are standouts).
Bread and cheese in hand, it’s time for a scenic drive and an impromptu picnic on your way to The Wild Iris in La Conner. (There’s no in-town lodging in Bow Edison, though there are several house rentals in the area, some of them waterfront. Check vrbo.com for those listings.) It’s a pleasant trip, especially if you take Farm to Market Road or the longer (but worth it!) trek via Bayview Edison Road, which winds through farmland and offers sensational views of hidden inlets and wetlands.
Summertime visitors, don’t miss the Mount Vernon Farmers Market on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., where both Samish Bay and the Breadfarm sell their wares. —ALLISON AUSTIN SCHEFF
GETTING THERE: About 90 minutes north of Seattle via Interstate 5. See map.
This is our weekly guest post from our friends at Seattle Magazine, which keeps readers on the pulse of restaurants, personalities, arts, entertainment and culture that reflect the tapestry of our dynamic landscape. We’ve teamed up for an exciting partnership to bring you a weekly dose of fantastic Date Night ideas throughout greater Seattle.
For a camping trip that combines NorCal roughing it with a dose of Bay Area-style indulgence, we’re big fans of the Anderson Valley. Located northwest of Healdsburg, and east of Mendocino (about a 2.5-to-3-hour drive from the Bay Area), this wine-growing region along the Navarro River provides a respite from the fog found at the socked-in coast, but mornings amongst big the trees are still cool and shaded.
WHERE TO STAY:
There are a few popular places to camp in these parts, but the biggest sites, least road noise and best facilities are found at Hendy Woods State Park. There are tent sites, RV sites, even rustic cabins (great if you go during the rainier months). You wouldn’t want to miss out on visiting this park anyway, with its groves of magnificent redwoods. The trails through these groves are flat and windy, perfect for wearing out little legs, and you can take the kids down for some wading in the mellow Navarro River (bring good water shoes, as the bottom is rocky).
There are also campsites at Paul M. Dimmick campground (part of Navarro River Redwoods State Park), located further west on Hwy 128, and at Indian Creek County Park, located in the town of Philo, just east of Hendy Woods. Dimmick provides access to the river for those interested in swimming, and there are also swimming holes at Indian Wells, along the creek that runs through the campground. There are also hikes that extend from the trails at Indian Creek, though locals caution against any off-trail hiking–you don’t want to end up on someone’s “farm” (grapes aren’t the only cash crop grown around these parts).
WHAT TO DO:
A must-stop for those with kids is the Philo Apple Farm, located just before the entrance to Hendy Woods. Even if there’s no one manning the stand in front, feel free to wander the grounds, visiting with the resident hens, roosters, ponies and more, and meandering along the orchard’s rows. Year-round you can pick up delicious apple juice, jams, and chutneys, and in the fall you can stock up on varieties of heirloom apples that’ll ruin you on Red Delicious forever. You may also want to inquire about the cabins for rent available at the farm for your next getaway: the stylish A-frames boast big bathrooms, queen beds, and expansive orchard and valley views.
Parentals, we know that a good glass of wine in front of the campfire at the end of a long day of hiking can be the best muscle relaxant, so we recommend you make a stop at one of the local wineries for a tour, tasting, and to pick up a bottle of grapey goodness for yourselves (leave the apple juice for the kiddies). Though this region is most famed for its pinot noirs, there are also some great gewurtzraminer and muscat grapes grown up here as well. Toulouse winery is kid- and dog-friendly, and offers up a sampling of interesting wines, including muscat, vin gris, and of course the pinots. Husch and Navarro also offer room for kids to roam and a family-friendly atmosphere while you sip, and Goldeneye has a more formal, sit-down pinot tasting, with nibbles for pairing (Just keep your littles out of the tempting fountain).
WHAT TO EAT: Stop in the town of Boonville on the way up north. This former one-horse town is still teeny and quaint, but recent changes include downtown tasting rooms, a spiffed-up hotel (with a family suite), and several places to grab good grub.
If you’re looking for a sit-down meal, the Boonville Hotel’s restaurant offers up fresh and seasonal choices on a family-style, prix fixe menu. Check the website for the daily specials like local rabbit with creamy polenta, or roast Fulton Farms chicken.’
The tiny Mosswood Market offers up satisfying café fare, like soups and sandwiches, in a casual setting. Either eat in, or grab stuff for a picnic in one of the parks or the nearby Anderson Valley Brewing Company.
For camping supplies, sandwiches and more, Boonville General Store has a tempting deli case and plenty of Anderson Valley beers by the bottle.
