Frequently Asked Questions
+ How much are Combination Cards?
Combination Cards sell for $20 each physical deck or $10 for the digital download of each deck. You can bundle and save to get all three decks for $50, or get the digital downloads of all three sets for $25.
+ What can I expect with the breakfast deck of Combination Cards?
The breakfast deck of Combination Cards gives you ten staples to have on standby each morning. If you are currently offering the same few breakfast items on repeat, these cards will help you work through the Love it, Like it, Learning it ® framework to help you gain more variety in your family's diet. By offering options of breakfast foods that your child "loves," "likes," or is "still learning," these cards help you to exercise the habit of ongoing exposure to new foods alongside known favorites. These cards provide you with different variations of common breakfast foods, so that you can expand your child's lists of preferred foods to include more whole grains, fruits, vegetables, protein, and healthy fats both at breakfast time and beyond.
+ What can I expect with the lunch deck of Combination Cards?
The lunch deck of combination cards gives you ten staples to have on standby. While this is far from an exhaustive list of lunch options for your family, it offers ten nourishing, simple combinations that you can effortlessly rotate through without the overwhelm of too many options (or excess food that ends up wasted!). You are encouraged to try the lunch ideas shown at home or on the go/in a packed lunchbox. Both will include the same base meal and then on the back of every card will give you additional ideas for how to make other variations of the meal shown.
+ What can I expect with the snack deck of Combination Cards?
The snack deck of combination cards gives you ten staples to have on standby whenever snack time rolls around. Intended to make what to offer easier on you or a more independent task for your growing child, these cards offer a continuum of snack ideas. On the front of each card are snack variations ranging from those you prepare from start to finish (requiring more planning and prep) to ones you can purchase premade and enjoy as is (plus some options in between). On the back, you will find satisfying combinations for how to better fill nutritional gaps through snack time. While this is far from an exhaustive list of snack options, each card offers a range of economical to easy snack ideas plus enough combinations to ensure your child's diet stays diverse and nutrient-dense day after day!
+ How do I use combination cards?
Bored of the basics? Add some variety to the breakfast, lunch, and snack options you offer by pairing well-rounded combinations of fruits, vegetables, starches, protein, and healthy fats. If you want more inspiration outside of the original idea shown, flip the card over for several other variations. By rotating through different cards, you will keep your family from getting in a rut with the same foods - further expanding what nutrition your child gets to enjoy at the beginning or in the middle of each day!
Combination Cards are ideal to offer to kids to help get their ideas and promote interest around what's on the menu for the week. Give them options from the card ideas to help come up with new ideas they may be most interested in.
+ Will my child accept the variations?
Ideally, you want to make variations that are big enough for a child to notice and yet small enough they will still eat them. These variations are ideas that add range to the diet, but may need to be modified into smaller, more subtle changes for some children. For children who already love a given option, keep branching out with other variations to help them learn to like these lunch time options in as many ways as possible!
If your family has historically always offered items one way or bought a particular type of product, Combination Cards give several ideas that you can start to incorporate. While most kids don't do well with big, sudden changes, slowly starting to include new breakfast, lunch, and snack ideas into your family's rotation can help promote variety over time as more "new items" become accepted as everyday staples.
+ Where can I find more recipe ideas and inspiration like those shown on my Combination Cards?
You can search for Veggies & Virtue on Pinterest to find a folder that was created for each of the main menu items included on these Combination Cards. While not all of the recipe ideas pinned have been sampled or screened for nutritional balance, the recipes chosen may give ideas for healthy variety.
To connect on Pinterest, go to: www.pinterest.com/veggiesnvirtue/
+ What age are Combination Cards intended for?
Children of all ages can benefit from the ideas and inspiration shown on these Combination Cards. Each child's appetite and calorie needs are unique and vary, however, so you may notice that the amounts shown seem like "a lot" or "not enough" for your child based on how much your own child eats. That's perfectly normal. You are encouraged to adjust what "small," "regular," and "large" servings mean to your child. Additionally, each deck of Combination Cards comes with a food portion size guide for children ages 1-10.
+ What if my child has a food allergy or special dietary need?
Combination Cards are intended to provide inspiration and may be easily adapted for a variety of dietary needs. By having these sample cards available, you will be able to easily insert in or substitute out whatever food options best fit for your family in the given menu idea. However, the cards do not fit any special dietary needs and will need to be adapted to ensure safety and compliance with your family's dietary needs.
See what this mom, Catherine, said about her experience with them, "I thought the suggestions were super doable, even for moms like me who aren’t super creative with food. We have food allergies so sometimes it can feel daunting to provide variety when not all foods are safe, so I loved the ideas/perspective of how to implement variety."
+ Do you include grocery lists for these ideas?
Yes, the lunch deck of combination cards gives suggested shopping lists for each lunch shown. The snack deck gives up to date visuals of what the snack items are so that you can easily identify recommended snack options in store. You can also buy a tear-off grocery pad separately, which works as a great compliment since it has the meal planner on the back of each grocery list.