We're so excited that Cool Mom Picks editor Liz Gumbinner will be joining The Today Show tomorrow to talk about some of the cool back to school picks in our Back to School Shopping Guide. The best part might be that Liz gets to share the…
It's 104 degrees outside, and you know what that means: back to school and our annual Back to School Shopping Guide ! We know-- it doesn't make much sense. But we also know that the next few ultra-sunny weeks will require new clothes, sh…
We're lunch packers around my house, but when there's no microwave to heat up anything, it makes it challenging to pack the hot lunch my daughter would beg for. Too bad we didn't have new Crocodile Creek insulated food jars , now at mom-…
I can't believe I'm already looking at back to school items for my kids, but that I am. So I checked in to see if last year's CMP find, Dabbawalla Bags , was doing anything new for 2010. And that they are. Good stuff too! I adore this Un…
I'll never be the eco-mama who reuses plastic wrap or gives up the soft toilet paper for the stuff that feels like newspaper. Mostly I look for small changes I can live with , and one of those has been cutting down on my reliance on disp…
Back when I used to pack my own lunches for work, I can't tell you the number of times I lost or tossed (oops!) perfectly good silverware. And now that I'm in charge of my daughter's noontime meals, I'm afraid the apple doesn't fall far …
Well, call me a sucker for a cute dad with a British accent who knows his way around a chef's knife, but Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution has singlehandedly changed my Friday nights. And much much more. Oliver is best known for his previou…
I still use the soft cooler that I bought 10 years ago to lug around bottles and baby food for things like fruit, yogurt and juice pouches. But there is no doubt that if I were buying one now I would look no further than the Cooler Bags …
I'm a huge fan of Greek yogurt, and apparently I'm not alone. It has a creamier texture and the perfect hint of tang, and it also happens to have a ton of calcium and protein making it a staple in my fridge for a healthy meal on the go .…
I once packed the same apple in my son's lunch for an entire week. Every afternoon it was still there, and he'd promise to eat it the next day, and then he'd bring it home again. And it's not even that he doesn't like apples, but as he s…
Next month Congress is going to be revisiting school meal program guidelines, and the more parents and kids they hear from before they do so, the greater the chance that our schools will have real food (what a concept) to offer our child…
The older our kids get, the more we're focused on the what, why, when and how of feeding them. It's been exciting discovering the growing number of products and resources to help steer our kids away from the McWhatever and onto food that…
There are all sorts of good reasons to pack a lunch instead of grabbing one on the go. The downside, of course, is the packaging; paper bags are wasteful but most reusable lunch bags are, well, ugly. Or designed for third graders. Or bot…
I may be little late on the drinkable/pureed/food in a pouch thing, but I think I am like most moms in that I'm left scratching my head and staring at the pantry when trying to think of what to give my toddler as a healthy, delicious sna…
Before I had kids, I vowed that I would force them to eat the crusts on their sandwiches.. And then I had children who hated crusts. Now I'm eating their crusts and my words. With the Lunch Punch , you kill two birds with one stone -- cu…
Since the recent revelation that SIGG bottle liners contain BPA, we've been on the look out for more alternatives made of stainless steel and not aluminum, which requires a liner in the first place. There's the Safe Sporter which we've f…
I know every week lately, one of us shows up here saying OMG I found the cutest lunchbox EVER, but I think I may have just topped them all with the Shinzi Katoh Japanese bento boxes for kids. Spotted at the adorable e-boutique My Sweet M…
I pack school lunches for my kids every day. I don't mind actually making the lunches; it's the packaging that gets me, all those little plastic bags bound for the trash, stored in a garish character tie-in lunchbox. That part is depress…
I do not have six million free hours in my day but if I did, I just might consider turning my kids' sandwich into a giraffe. Or a caterpillar. Or Sponge Bob. Just because I could. And if I were to do that kind of a thing, I would have to…
Thank goodness for peanut butter (and yogurt and cheese) for without it, I'm not entirely sure how my practically vegetarian girls would get any protein in them. And thank goodness for Justin's Organic nut butters , which make me feel a …
When my daughter turned five last month, we decided to be completely done with any cups with a top. That's all fine and dandy when we're home, but it does make life a little difficult when we're on the road . So instead of buying stock i…
I have to admit that the drinkable foods sort of freak me out. Applesauce with no spoon? Oh, the horror. But wouldn't you know it, my kids can suck down the GoGo Squeez resealable applesauce in one huge gulp. Even I find myself getting o…
Who knew, back when we were kids that there would be a lunchbox alternative besides those little metal numbers with the latch, the wobbly handle, and, if you were me, an illustration of the Partridge Family on the front. The contemporary…
With my daughter entering kindergarten in the fall, I must now add " pack a lunch " to my list of duties--something that is clearly not my fort?. So at least I know that in a pinch, I've got the GoPicnic kids Mighty Munch meals to turn t…