We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ewa Muniz. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ewa below.

Ewa, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

When my son started school I couldn’t believe the “food” that was being served to children. Coming from Eastern Europe, we always had fresh lunch available. Highly processed foods were still quite a novelty. After brewing on the idea for a few years an opportunity popped up locally to start my business of catering fresh, scratch-made, non-highly processed kids lunches. While I’m not in place yet to fight for access to serve my lunches at public schools, I offered my services to kids in smaller private schools. We feature fresh fruits and vegetables, freshly prepared meats, scratch-made breads baked daily, and all the favorites, like Mac & Cheese, Pancakes, Crepes, Enchiladas and more. We prioritize local and organic growers and farmers when available. Every ingredients list is fully vetted – if it includes ingredients not widely available for residential use, or ones we can’t pronounce, we won’t use it. There’s a lot to keep to standard, but in this way we have been able to achieve fresh and natural home-style lunches every day!

The feedback has been so positive that we’ve started responding to requests for weekly family dinners! We are excited to begin rolling that our this year, Autumn 2023!

Ewa, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I consider myself lucky to grow up going to farmers markets to pick up fresh produce for dinner and not knowing what ‘Fast Food’ is. We always had homemade fresh food, soups, stews, broths and much more. I believe homemade foods are crucial for a healthy life and healthy growth.

Currently, in the United States and many other developed countries, highly processed foods and fast foods make up on average about a third of the foods consumed each day. This is even more highly visible in public schools, where food is never made fresh. On the contrary, it comes from a giant factory where it was prepared and then preserved weeks in advance.

I decided to go against that trend! I offer foods that are made fresh – no preservatives. Our kiddos can choose from 3 different offerings every day, so there’s plenty of options. We always have protein add-ons available for older kids, finger foods for younger ones and classics for those of us that like to play it safe. And to toss in a bit of fun, each Wednesday we feature a Brunch Style menu! Think; Crepes, French Toast, Pancakes, etc. All made fresh from scratch that same day using fresh milled flour from our friends over at Barton Springs Mill. At Loaf Me Tender we don’t know what store-bought pancake mixes are!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Serving foods to kids is challenging. What makes it even more challenging is the culture of processed foods! It is widely accepted and often preferred. It’s difficult to introduce children to foods that they typically don’t find at home. You have to get creative. Making veggie sauce? You better make sure there’s no piece of vegetable visible – your blender is your best friend. Want to offer raw, fresh cut veggies? Dipping sauce is a must, house-made ranch it is! Everything just takes more time when you insist on high quality fresh food. It was so challenging, there were so many times I wanted to give up. I had to take a step back and talk it out with someone who understands what I’m going through, a fellow business owner or a friend who also believes in home-made healthy meals. I had to take a look at my offerings and ask myself, is there a way I can get more creative? Is there a way I can adjust without sacrificing what I believe in? There always is a way out!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I started Loaf me Tender with a strong belief that so many parents want the same as I do when it comes to feeding their kids. It was a shocker to learn that the majority prefer the easier route – whatever the kids get, they will eat. The health aspect was not a primary concern. I was shocked! That was quite an initial let down.

Considering the amount of stress families are under nowadays, I can certainly sympathize with the sentiment . When I first started, my offerings were far too ambitious and geared too highly on the “healthy” side. I started receiving requests for those very highly-processed meals that I was trying to steer away from. So, I had to go back to the drawing board and really examine the menu in order to transform them into more natural and healthier versions.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.loafmetender.com
• Instagram: @loaf.at1st.bite
• Facebook: loafat1stsight
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/loaf-me-tender-leander

Image Credits
All myself!