Happy National Puzzle Day!

Oy!  I am so behind on my posts!  I have several really great lunches that I want to blog about, but just haven't had time.  And don't really have time right now since I am procrastinating on some seriously important stuff.

So, just today's lunch for now.  But stay tuned!

Did you know that nearly every day of the year is a holiday?  Crazy right?  There is something, someone, somewhere is celebrating every day!  Most days have several different holidays.

Some holidays are a little more conducive to creative lunch making than others.  Like, for example, how do you make a lunch for Curmudgeons Day (also Jan 29)?

However, if I had know before this minute that it was also National Cornchip day I would have tossed some Fritos into the box.  Oh, well.  You win some, you lose some.

I also missed, in my ignorance, National Chocolate Cake Day.  Seriously am bummed about that!

There is always next year!

Anyway, puzzles are a big thing in my house.  We all love to do puzzles.  Jigsaw puzzles, word finds, crosswords, Sudoku, .. the list goes on.  In fact, one of the most used apps on the iPad is a jigsaw puzzle.  So I had to make a lunch for today that honored this fun pastime.

PB&J puzzle sandwich; root vegetable chips; baby carrots, red pepper and cucumber cut into puzzle pieces; apple wedge with puzzle piece cut out.

Here's a close up of the apple with the puzzle piece cut out.  Cute right?

No more procrastinating!  

Thanks for reading!

Deb

Broncos to the Superbowl!!

For the first time in 15 years the Broncos are going to the Superbowl!

Needless to say, Denver is very excited.

I made breakfast for lunch to honor them.

Strawberries and blackberries with orange dot pick; Banana muffin with football pick; Scrambled eggs with tomatoes, snow peas and cheese and "Go Broncos" in ham cut outs (Maya had hash browns instead of the eggs)

Scrambled eggs with tomatoes, snow peas and cheese in orange silicone cup; "Go Broncos" in relief in ham steak; Banana muffin with football pick; Strawberries and blackberries with orange dot pick

I'm not sure how well the scrambled eggs went over as Max said the snow peas made it smell funny.  They could have heated it up in microwave at school, but I don't know if they have time.  

Thanks for reading!

Deb

Simple and Quick Lunch

Another go-to lunch when I'm having trouble figuring out what to send is pasta.  Who doesn't like pasta!

I always send the sauce separately so that they can put on as much or as little as they like.  I warm it up before packing but I don't know how warm it stays.

Tricolor rotini, shredded parmesan cheese in small container; baby carrots, orange pepper strips, cucumber hearts and stars; apple wedges and Tangelo orange segments; pasta sauce in white lidded container

Thanks for reading!

Deb

Happy Tu Bishvat!

Tu Bishvat is a Jewish celebration of trees and is used for the purpose of calculating the age of trees for tithing.  The Torah states that fruit from trees may not be eating during the first three years; the forth year's fruit is for God and after that you may eat it.

Traditionally children will collect money and send it to plant trees in Israel.  Or maybe they will plant trees in their own community.  Another custom is to eat olives and fruit, including "new" fruit.

For a "new" to us fruit I found some mini organic apples and dried mango.

Mini organic apples and dried mango; grape tomatoes, carrots and snow peas; PB&J tree shaped sandwiches, Tu Bishvat in fruit leather; Wheat Thins

I also made lunch for my husband that day!  I think this is the second time he's let me make his lunch.  I was telling him what I was making the kids and he thought it sounded good so I offered to make his too.  In my new EasyLunchboxes!

Mini organic apples; salad dressing; salad with orange pepper chunks, tree shaped cucumbers, grape tomatoes, olives, feta cheese, turkey roll ups, Tu Bishvat written in carrot pieces

He said it was delicious and it was a good amount of food!  I was worried that it wouldn't be enough so I tossed a couple hard boiled eggs in his lunch bag too. :)  

Thanks for reading!

Deb

Musical Roll Ups

My roll ups from the other week were a hit so I tried again.  Of course this time they didn't go over as well.  What can you do?

I used music note picks because Wednesdays is piano and violin practice.

Multigrain tortillas with hummus, chicken strips, orange peppers, lettuce

Carrots and snow peas

Mango chunks and blackberries

Seasoned oyster crackers

Right now I have a student shadowing during my "real" job (physical therapy).  He is a great student, but also is extremely nice to my kids.  He taught my son to make these seasoned oyster crackers the other day and helped him do all the steps.  It was really sweet and Max LOVES these crackers.  

Unfortunately Maya cannot eat them due to some of the ingredients so her lunch had Veggie Booty instead.

Thanks for reading!

Deb

Breakfast for Lunch! And New Toys!

Whenever I am having a hard time thinking of a lunch and don't want to make sandwiches (or have run out of bread)  I do breakfast for lunch.  It's easy, fast and always a hit.

Blackberries; Mini pancakes, syrup in bottle; Juice box; Hardboiled egg, cheese stick wrapped in ham

Here's Maya's version:

Juice box; Blackberries; Mini pancakes, syrup in bottle, grapes; Ham roll ups

I also received new toys this week!  I won a giveaway over at Olives and Pickles and received a set of EasyLunchboxes and a carrier.  

I LOVE them!

I love the colors, although it was hard to choose between original and the Brights.  I decided on original because I like the green color.  I also got a carrier in Olive green.  It has replaced my old lunchbox completely.  In fact, I just threw the old one away!  It was nasty!  I love that this one has tons of room and I can fit several snacks on top of the lunchbox for my longer days.

Here is my first lunch in my new EasyLunchboxes.  Of course I used the green lid the first day!  But I've used every other color since!

Grapes; Salad dressing in a Laptop Lunches small container; Salad greens, cucumber wedges, carrot coins, ham roll ups

I think I need to get some of the mini dippers now!

Thanks again to Patty at Olives and Pickles and Kelly Lester at EasyLunchboxes!

Thanks for reading!

Deb

Flower Garden

I found this great mini pie maker on sale at my grocery store:

I decided to make some savory pies for lunch one day when we had a ton of leftover BBQ beef.  I also had some leftover pie crust that I had made for Thanksgiving but only used half the recipe because I decided to make a crumble topping instead of crust.  It had kept very well in the freezer and just had to thaw and was perfect for this!

First you use the bottom to cut out circles from pie crust.

Then you place the round dough into the open pie maker.  I put in about 3/4 teaspoon of filling and then laid a second dough round on top.

Then you push the lid side of the pie maker down very hard.  Open up and there you are!  Mini pies!

I placed them on a cookie sheet and baked at 350 for a total of about 25-30 minutes.  I started at 18 minutes and keep having to add 2 minutes at a time because they weren't browning.  I'm not sure if it was the altitude, the temperature, or the ingredients.  I will have to fiddle with it.

Anyway,  I then assembled what I thought to be a very cute flower garden lunch:

BBQ beef pies, radish flowers, carrot and cucumber stems, cabbage grass

Orange wedges

Pretzel crisps

Maya said it was good but it didn't look like that when she opened it at school.  Everything had fallen to one side.  This is especially a bummer for the other kids that I make lunches for because they don't see it before I pack it up and send it to school.

So here is my question to all you bloggers: How do you get your lunches to stay put until lunch time?

Thanks for reading!
Deb

First Week 2014 Lunches

I know I am a little late to the Happy New Year game, but I hope everyone had a happy and healthy holiday break!

School started for my husband on Monday but the kiddos didn't start until Tuesday so they went to a local day camp.  I still provide lunches and Maya requested something to remind her of the "big ball that falls on New Year's".  I was feeling a little less than creative so here is what I came up with for their first lunches back.  A little sad, but....

PB & J "ball" sandwich with "2014" written in edible markers

A few gummy treats

A few blackberries

Baby carrots, grape tomatoes and cucumber stars

Pear chunks

Thank goodness kids are forgiving!  They said it was great.

For the first day back to actual school I performed a little bit better.

Blackberries/grapes with a bow pick

Veggie Booty (the other lunches had mixture of Pirate and Veggie Booty's)

A "book" sandwich with turkey, pepperoni and spinach held together with a dot pick

Grape tomatoes under A,B, C's and 1, 2, 3's made of cucumber and carrot

When I was cutting out the C's it ended up making a pop up heart in the cucumber so I tucked that in

Wednesday was a very difficult day with trying to get up on time so it was a simple lunch

Veggie pasta and some parmesan cheese shreds

Grape tomatoes, broccoli stems, cucumber stars, some baby carrots hiding underneath

Apple chunks and grapes with a tree trunk pick (isn't it adorable!)

Pasta sauce in the covered container

Thursday I wanted to be creative, but I was so tired.  It's amazing how having the kids and husband back at school tires ME out!  This is a terrible picture but it's the best of the bunch I took.  Not sure why these ones turned out so bad.

Sandwich cut with a Lunch Punch cupcake cutter (I think it was ham but might have been PB & J)

Grape tomatoes, baby carrots and cucumber hearts

Pile of grapes with a kitty pick

After taking this picture I realized the lunch looked pretty sparse and was worried they would be hungry so I added a handful of pita chips under the sandwich but didn't have time for another picture.  Maybe I should have taken the time and the picture might have turned out better.  Oh well.

I think my Friday lunch was the best one all week.  Unfortunately the kids didn't take their Laptop Lunchboxes out of their backpacks and I was very sick on Thursday (tummy bug or food poisoning, I'm not sure.  Short lived but AWFUL!) so they didn't get washed.  So I dug out the Bynto's and used those.

Clementine sections and blackberries

Special K Brown Sugar Crisp bar

Roll up - tortilla rolled around laughing cow herb and garlic cheese spread, turkey, pepperoni, spinach (of course Maya didn't have the cheese)

Cucumber/carrot flowers and grape tomatoes

I also made this lunch for a friend and her Laptop Lunchbox was clean so this is what hers looked like!

Thanks for reading!

Deb

Last lunches of 2013 #2

Here are the lunches from the last week of school before break!  This week had somewhat of a Christmas theme.

Make you own pizza lunchable!

Pita bread

Cheese and pepperoni

Sauce

Clementine

Carrots and cucumber Xmas trees

Christmas wreath bagel sandwich

Snowman sandwich

Red and Green decorations (cucumber and tomato)

Applesauce with candy cane sprinkles

Ham sandwich with Christmas tree drawn with food safe marker and trunk is a piece of crust

Wheat thins to represent presents under the tree

Carrots and grape tomatoes with a green pepper Xmas tree

Pear chunks and grapes

Lunchables

Triscuit triangles with lunch meat and candy cane cheese

Apple chunks with angel cutout

Grape tomatoes, carrots and cucumber candy canes

Gummy snacks (in small container)

Maya's version:

Instead of cheese she got some pepperoni slices and she got a gingerbread man cut out instead of an angel

  

Noodles and veggies

Mango chunks and pomegranate seeds

Grapes

Sugar cookie decorated by Maya

I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing holiday break and are ready for the New Year!  

Thanks for reading!

Deb

Last lunches of 2013 #1

Hi all!!

You know how you put off doing something for a few days, and that turns into a week, and then it turns into two weeks, and then....

As I am preparing for return to school next week, and lunch making, I realized that I never posted my lunches from the last two weeks before break!

Well, one of my many New Year's Resolutions is to be sure to blog at least once a week so I don't get caught up in my procrastination cycle again.  Keep your fingers crossed!

These lunches are from the second to last week of school.  I'm doing to do another post with the last week.

PB & J sandwich with Justin's chocolate spread snowflake sandwich cutout

Marshmallow snowman

Pear chunks

Carrots

Yellow cherub tomatoes with snowman pick

Fall Harvest shaped pasta

Roasted broccoli and cauliflower florets

Apple chunks with smiley face pick

Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on pasta

Pasta sauce

Cheese Quesadilla and Bean Burrito

Cucumber slices, grape tomatoes, carrots

Half a banana

Salsa

Ham & Cheese sandwich with dog cutout

Tomato and Cucumber bow ties

Pear chunks

Hardboiled egg (egg mold failed miserably)

Pancakes with syrup

Greek yogurt with yogurt stars (Max said the stars melted before lunch :( )

Apple wedge with stars imprinted

Maya is allergic to dairy and eggs (although we are going for an egg challenge at the allergists in Feb!!)

Pancakes with syrup

Hashbrowns with Canadian bacon

Apple chunks with stars

Thanks for reading!
Deb