Revolution Foods Lunch Bundles plus Giveaway

I can't believe the school year is almost here! Where did summer go? Lucas will be in second grade, Theo will be starting kindergarten, and we will all (hopefully) be getting back into a nice routine. Today, I've partnered with Revolution Foods to give away a month's supply of their healthy, easy-to-make meals and Lunch Bundles for the whole family. Enter the giveaway and check out the details here. I love Revolution Foods' philosophy that everyone deserves access to high quality food made with carefully considered ingredients and their commitment to quality and nurturing healthier food habits. Plus, they make it super easy for busy parents to get the kids out the door for school with their Lunch Bundles, and easy weeknight dinners with their Dinner Hero meals.

Lucas and Theo loved these Lunch Bundles and they each had their favorites. I was able to mix and match them to make sure they were happy. With four classic bundle options (including Decker, Powerfood, Superfood and Sundipper), Revolution Foods Lunch Bundles have no artificial flavors, and include a rich variety of healthy options loaded with protein, whole grains, and real fruits and veggies. So fun to snack, nibble, dip and go!

I usually make lunches for the kids but sometimes I just need a break. Seriously, these Lunch Bundles are so easy to grab and pop into the kids' backpacks. I'm all about saving time this back to school year!

Who remembers Hamburger Helper back in the day? My mom used to make those skillet dinners for us every once in a while as a time saving quick weeknight meal. I don't even want to know what the ingredients were in those! In comes Dinner Hero meals that you can make in 30 minutes with whole grains and custom spice blends.

There are four flavors--Coconut Curry, Sesame Garlic, Smoky Tomato and Fiesta Taco--we tried the Fiesta Taco. It was a little spicy for the kids, but we just added more rice than meat and they ate the whole thing. Also, we opted to use ground turkey instead of beef, and added avocado and fresh cilantro.

I would love to know, "How do you Hero?" Share your tips, tricks, and parenting moments with me. Don't forget to enter this amazing giveaway to win a month's supply of Revolution Foods!

+ This post was sponsored by Revolution Foods, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.
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Recipe: Easy Butternut Squash Soup + Clover Giveaway

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year and for the past seven years (since I was pregnant with Lucas) I have hosted it at my house. Today, I've partnered with local family farm Clover to bring you this Easy Butternut Squash Soup recipe that has been on my holiday menu every year. When it comes to dairy, I always buy organic--local is even better, and Clover is in the north coast (where Nick is from!).

Clover is also giving away $100 in Clover Cash. Details below after the recipe.

Clover giveaway details:

• Follow me on Instagram and share your favorite holiday meals with hashtag #CloverCooks for a chance to win $100 in coupons for Clover dairy products
• This giveaway is only open to people who live in California.
• Winner will be chosen at random on Monday, November 14th. Good luck!

This giveaway is now closed. The winner is @jessamynit.

+ Full recipe for Easy Butternut Squash Soup
+ Make these DIY Dessert Toppers for Thanksgiving!
+ Find me on Instagram (@good_on_paper), Twitter (@good_on_paper),
Pinterest (@goodonpaperdes) and Tumblr (hellogoodonpaper)
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Instagram Giveaway!

I'm so excited to announce an Instagram GIVEAWAY today for three of my current favorites: (1) a signed copy of the new book Alternative Baker by blogger/photographer/pastry chef/author Alanna Taylor-Tobin of The Bojon Gourmet (check out the amazing pie I made!), (2) a beautiful and sustainably designed culinary tote from Aplat (I use these all the time for transporting food for potlucks and picnics), and (3) a brown midi bonded leather playmat from Gathre (so awesome for picnics at the park or movie nights in our backyard).

Head over to my Instagram feed to find the original post and simply follow me, comment and tag 2 friends. That's it! I'll announce the winner chosen by random number generator on Monday, October 17th.

This giveaway is now CLOSED. Congrats to @makingitwithmeleyna!

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Pinterest (@goodonpaperdes) and Tumblr (hellogoodonpaper)
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An Instagram GIVEAWAY with Veestro

While organizing the annual Earth Fair event at work a few months ago, I discovered a company called Veestro. They deliver 100% plant-based, chef prepared, non-GMO, ready-to-eat gourmet meals straight to your door anywhere in the U.S. I'm a big fan (the Red Curry with Tofu and Vegetables is my absolute fave, the kids loved the Chick'n Nuggets), so today I've partnered with Veestro to give away a $100 gift card to spend in their online shop. You could order juice cleanses, meal packs, or a la carte. To enter, simply follow the instructions at the end of this post.

This Red Curry with Tofu and Vegetables was SO good. It came with two scoops of brown rice and a good sized portion of curry with just the right amount of heat. Yum, yum, yum!

When Nick and I first met 12 years ago, he was a vegetarian and I was a big time carnivore. Growing up in a Chinese household, we ate some kind of meat or poultry every day (followed by a bowl of ice cream of course!). Nick has the soul of a vegetarian and he's rubbed off on me over the years. I don't know how to label what we are now, but we met somewhere in the middle -- eating mostly vegetables, fish, chicken, and turkey, with the occasional beef and ever so rare pepperoni pizza. Flexitarians? Occasional meat eaters? Either way, we try and buy mostly organic and consider the environmental impact of our purchases. We have been trying to eat even more plant-based foods because of the drought. It's not always easy, but Veestro makes healthy eating easy and delicious.

This was the Eggplant Casserole which was also saucy and delicious. I'm a little intimidated by eggplant so this was a nice treat.

The kids loved these Chick'n Nuggets without the Chipotle Sauce -- just plain. They devoured them in minutes and asked for more.

This Thai Chick'n Stew was comfort in a bowl. As much as I love tomatoes, I was hoping it had more of a coconut milk base rather than a slightly sweet tomato one. I'm usually not a huge fan of fake meat but was surprised at how much I liked this.

This Enchilada Casserole was a nice change from the Asian dishes I ordered. It had a lot of good flavor but could have been slightly less sweet. Still devoured it though!

My eating habits are a bit tricky. I'm not gluten free but love to experiment with gluten free cooking and baking. I'm not vegan nor vegetarian but try and go meatless when I can. I love salty and I love sweet, but love salty more than sweet even though I love baking more than cooking. Tricky, right?

Luckily, Veestro makes it super easy to eat healthy whether you are trying to lose weight, don't have time to cook, trying to make the switch to vegan, or just love (mostly) healthy eating like me. I'd love to try their juices next!

To enter the giveaway for a $100 Veestro gift card:

• Follow @good_on_paper and @VeestroFood on Instagram, leave a comment and tag a friend who would love this service.

• If you don't have Instagram you can leave your email in the comments below

• Please comment by Friday, June 26th, 12pm PST

• This giveaway is for U.S. residents only

• I will announce a winner selected by random number generator by Monday, June 29th

Best of luck!

Also, Veestro is offering a special 20% off discount site-wide for Good on Paper readers. Enter code GOODONPAPER20 at checkout through July 3, 2015.

UPDATE: Congratulations to Reichel Broussard (@copycatchic) for winning the gift card!

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Giveaway: The 52 New Foods Challenge Book

When I met Jennifer Tyler Lee a couple of weeks ago at her book party and dinner event at Williams-Sonoma (thanks again for the invite Jeanne!), I was really inspired by her dedication to healthy eating and making it fun for kids to try new foods. Lucas eats a variety of foods and will try many new things, but he doesn't eat much and would rather play than eat. I lucked out with Theo, on the other hand, who eats like a champ most of the time. No stranger to mealtime battles, I was really inspired by Jennifer and her latest book, The 52 New Foods Challenge which is full of fun tips and simple recipes.

Check out the giveaway details at the end of the post.

One tip that really resonated with me was to cook with your kids, not for them. I know it's easier said than done, but I love how Jennifer suggested trying it out just once a week. From simply going to the grocery store/farmer's market and having your kid choose one new vegetable to getting their hands dirty in the kitchen, once a week sounded pretty doable. She also said it wasn't about getting the kids to eat the end product but inspiring curiosity and building confidence.

To my surprise, I EASILY got Lucas and Theo to help me peel leaves off brussels sprouts to make her simple and delicious Brussels Sprouts Chips recipe. When they were done, Lucas complained that he didn't get his own bowl of chips. Yeah, these were amazing and inhaled in a flash. And we've made them several times already so this one's a winner.

We even roasted some asparagus the following week and I asked Lucas if he wanted to snap them apart for me and he couldn't have been more excited. And all I had to do was ask!

Another tip from Jennifer was to go to the grocery store or farmers market and have your kid pick out anything from the vegetable aisle -- bonus points for something new. I headed to Whole Foods and told Lucas to pick out anything he wanted from the vegetable aisle. His eyes lit up and he seemed so empowered by this. He immediately chose carrots and I said, "That's awesome, I know you love carrots." As I put them in the cart, he said, "Okay, I'm going to try something else. How about that? What's that?" He pointed to the prettiest bunch of radishes and we both got super excited to try them out. He carried them on his lap on the car ride home. Side note: he instantly forgot about them when we got home but that's not the point, right?

In hopes of inspiring curiosity, building confidence, reducing dinnertime battles and spending more time with my kids, I'm definitely going to try getting them in the kitchen with me more often. I know it won't always work but it's worth a try!

I was so inspired by Jennifer that I would love to give away one of her books!

Here's how to enter:

• Follow @good_on_paper and @crunchacolor on Instagram, leave a comment and tag a friend with a kid(s).

• If you don't have Instagram you can leave your email in the comments below

• Please comment by Friday, April 3rd, 12pm PST

• This giveaway is for U.S. residents only

• I will announce a winner selected by random number generator by Monday, April 6th

Best of luck!

+ You can also buy the book here
+ Find me on Instagram (@good_on_paper)
+ Subscribe to receive the latest posts updates delivered to your inbox. Just click here. You could also use Blog Lovin' or Feedly to follow along.

CONGRATS to Michele of @cakewalkbaking for being the randomly selected winner!
This giveaway is now CLOSED.

My Cheese Platter and a Giveaway with 34 Degrees Crisps

Is it weird that putting together a really nice cheese platter was on my list of things to do in life? Yes, I know. Well, I had the perfect opportunity to make that happen when I had my good friend Lisa and her lovely family over for dinner. They are a foodie family so I wanted to make something a little extra special -- I didn't want to just whip up my weekly tofu-dipped-in-egg-and-pan-fried-over-rice entree (though I know they would love that too!).

Anyway, I went to the new Whole Foods on Gilman Street and headed straight to the cheese counter. When I went on the preview tour of the store, one of the highlights was the cut-to-order cheese section. Mental note! Luckily, the cheese lady Julia was there to help me answer questions and provide samples of all kinds of tasty cheeses and olives. After making my final cheese selections, she also recommended 34 Degrees Crisps. Oh man, I thought the fancy cheeses would be the stars on the platter, but turns out I also fell in love with these thin and delicate crisps. They each had their own flavors that really complemented the different cheeses. I'm pretty proud at how my platter turned out.

In case you're wondering what was on my platter, here's a list:

• Cheeses: Brillat Savarin Delin (soft cheese, 6-year old Zoya's fave), Abbaye de Bel'loc (hard sheep's milk), Bay Blue Point Reyes (the perfect blue cheese) and Murcia Curado - Naked Goat (mild tasting, firm goat cheese)
• 34 Degrees Crisps: Toasted Onion, Rosemary, Cracked Pepper, Poppy Seed and Natural
• Olives: Whole Foods mixed olives with Parmesan rind that I baked in the oven, as well as Castleveltrano, my favorite olives ever
• Nuts: Rosemary Marcona Almonds from Trader Joe's
• Fruit: Organic D'Anjou Pears
• Next time I think I'll include these Spanish Olive Oil Tortas and maybe a fig spread
• Gold cheese knives from West Elm, Rustic oak pie slab from Food 52

I even dotted some creme fraiche on the cracked pepper crisps and topped it with smoked salmon and capers. Delicious! Look, I'm all fancy now!

The awesome crew over at 34 Degree Crisps is giving away a set of their limited edition flavors, Toasted Onion (my personal fave!) and Poppy Seed, along with their Natural and Rosemary flavors, including pairing and recipe cards.

Here's how to enter:

• Follow @good_on_paper and @34Degrees_ on Instagram, comment with your favorite cheese and cracker pairing, and tag a cheese loving friend

• Please comment by Friday, January 23rd, 12pm PST

• This giveaway is for U.S. residents only

• I will announce a winner selected by random number generator by Monday, January 26th

Best of luck!