LaForce Baker, an African-American chef, knew there was a market for healthy food for workers on the go. Through his hard work and diligence, what started out as a small service, is now available in 187 grocery stores in the Midwest.

In 2012, the savvy businessman came up with “Moon Meals” to offer “healthy meals under the moon.” But like any new venture, it came with a price. Baker admits he came to the brink of homelessness three times just to cover the day to day expenses of his new business. At first, Moon Meals was just a small delivery service, but the ball was rolling.

Baker eventually managed to get his delicious product onto the shelves of Bridgeport Coffee in Chicago. Soon after 12 other coffee shops in the area started to stock Baker’s product. By 2015, Moon Meals became available in select Jewel-Osco’s, Mariano’s and Whole Foods Market. It was Baker’s joy to make vegan food accessible to everyone in a healthy, affordable and convenient way.

Baker’s “Fiesta Wrap” is available in 187 Jewel-Osco supermarkets, mostly in Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa. The scrumptious meal consists of vegan taco meat, vegan nacho cheese sauce, organic black beans, short grain rice, sweet corn kernels and jalapeno peppers – all wrapped in a delicious spinach wrap.

As his plant based business grows, Baker says his tough experiences have made him and his business even stronger.  “I have learned to go with what performs instead of what just feels good,” Baker told Black Enterprise. “I learned that no one else will believe in you until you believe in yourself.”

View the original article here.

How do you prep your kids’ lunches to keep them wholesome and healthy?

The back-to-school season is full of preparation: buying school supplies, getting organized for classes, and the ever stressful process of packing lunches for your children. While fruit snacks, candy bars and other packaged, processed snacks are convenient to throw in the lunch bag, there are easy ways to make healthy substitutions and ensure that your kids are growing up healthy and strong.

Here are some of our tips on how to pack healthy lunches and snacks just in time for the back-to-school season:

 

• Focus on the natural.   It’s safe to say that avoiding processed foods as much as you can is a good start to eating healthy – same goes for packing lunches. Processed foods can lead to blood sugar spikes, which can lead to sleepiness and drowsiness (not ideal for the all the exciting activities of the back-to-school season!). Focus instead on the whole, natural foods – fruits and vegetables are always a good start. Try packing some baby carrots, celery, grapes, apples, or clementines. If your kid is finicky with vegetables, sneak them in: think a pre-packaged veggie smoothie, for example.

 

• Buy what you can easily grab and throw in a bag.   The easier, the better. While grocery shopping, make sure you’re buying foods that are not only healthy, but easy for you to pack. In the rush of the back-to-school season, no one wants to spend hours preparing and packaging meals before the kids run off to school. Focus on fruits that require no packaging (apples, bananas, and kiwis, for example) and pantry items that you can prepare in little to no time at all (sandwiches, trail mix, etc.).

 

• Keep balance in mind.   Include the basic formula of lean protein, vegetables, fruits, and healthy fats in your kids’ lunches. Not only will the formula help you stay organized and keep you from buying unnecessary items at the grocery store, but it will also keep your kids full and healthy throughout the day!

 

• Don’t run to the food “for kids.”   Without doing the proper research, that is. Always read the nutrition labels of a packaged snack item before you purchase. Just because it says that it’s good for your kids doesn’t necessarily mean it will be. Hidden beneath the “for kid” label may very well be a lot of preservatives, added sugars, or saturated fats. Do the research!

Let us know how these tips helped you, and stay tuned for LaForce’s forthcoming meal prep tips!

Moon Meals’ Zesty Salsa Recipe ft. Fiesta Wrap

Ingredients

4  Tomatoes on the vine, diced

2 jalapeno peppers, deseeded & minced

1 bunch of fresh Cilantro, minced

½  red onion, minced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 can of tomato paste

1 lime, juiced

1 lemon, juiced

Sea salt, chili powder, and pepper to taste

Directions

Mix together, in a large bowl, your prepped vine ripened tomatoes, fresh cilantro, zesty onion, tangy garlic, jalapeño peppers, lime and lemon juice.
Mix in your can of tomato paste.
Season to taste.
Best paired with your Moon Meals’ Fiesta Wrap, as a dip.

To sample this tasty salsa dish for FREE along with our Moon Meals’ Fiesta Wrap, RSVP on our facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/events/276977379564743/ ) for #MeatlessMonday at Jewel-Osco West Loop on Monday, 8/27 from 6pm-7pm.

Learn more about the Moon Meals’ Fiesta wrap, available in all of our delis, and enjoy other free recipes from Executive Chef LaForce Baker at (/meals/fiesta-wrap/ ).

You want to be healthy, not broke — Read on for 5 tasty tips on how…

We have all been there right? You’ve got the gym membership, but are trying to get the diet right to slim down your body and not your wallet. The only problem is that it seems that you are spending a lot of money on groceries that go bad, before you can use them. This topic is very important to me because although, now I am the chef & owner behind the company: Moon Meals, that makes the prepared meat, vegan and gluten-free meals approved by a nutritionist for your lunch that goes in Whole Foods. I grew up fat and poor on the Southside of Chicago and had to teach myself how to shop & cook to drop the weight so I could fulfill my goal of running marathons.

These are the 5 tips I use to eat healthy on a budget:

Buy generic, frozen veggies and fruit

I buy most of my fruits and veggies frozen, in bulk and organic and save a ton! I found out the veggies and fruits in the freezer aisle at Costco and Sam’s Club were my best friend because I could throw the fruit in smoothies and I could sauté or steam the veggies for a variety of meals. Furthermore, a little known fact is that frozen veggies and fruit can be fresher for you, because they are flash frozen from the time they are picked– which prevents the nutrients from decaying as fast as supposed to them just being refrigerated or at room temperature.

Focus on nutrient dense foods

When putting together your basket, try to grab items that pack a lot of nutrients and fiber per bite instead of calories. For instance you can grab a can of dry steel cut oats which is packed with fiber/ low in calories and cook it overnight. You then just top it how ever you want, like this 

Buy small packs of pre-washed/cut veggies that can be used in a week

If you are going to buy fresh vegetables, please stop trying to convince yourself that you are going to eat that whole family size or “value size” pack of lettuce you bought from the store before it goes bad. If you can only use 1/2 of the pack before it goes bad, then it might be best to just buy the smaller container that you can actually go through in a week.

Buy ingredients you can use in multiple dishes like low sodium beans

One way to do a lot with a little is to buy base ingredients that can be used in a lot types of dishes. For instance, if you buy rice or black beans, you could make anything from stir fries to chili to a taco salad! (For extra credit you can use that lettuce I mentioned before in the taco salad)

Buy healthy prepared foods, like Moon Meals, from grocery stores instead of meals from gas stations or restaurants 

Restaurants, airports or gas stations charge a lot of money for their meals because they have you there as a captive audience and they know you won’t be paying as much attention to the bill or the calories, but the experience. Try just going the bare bones approach and buying a prepared meal item from your local grocery store. Look for items that don’t have preservatives and use healthy ingredients. For example, my company Moon Meals provides some great meals for vegans, meat eaters and gluten-free folks for all under $7 and can even be bought on SNAP at select Whole Foods Markets, Jewel-Oscos (Albertsons) and Mariano’s (Kroger) in the Chicagoland area. Check out what the deli area of a grocery store looks like here and read more about @moonmeals or me @laforcebaker if you are are curious here.