Dots, Cheeseburgers and Pirates - Oh My!!

What a busy week!  We had lots of specialty lunches and fun times.

Monday Sept 15 was International Dot Day.  Why, you ask, is there a International Dot Day?  Well, I'll tell you.  International Dot Day celebrates Creativity, Courage and Collaboration.  The kids came home on the Friday before and educated me about this.  They had read a book in school called "The Dot" and it was all about how a girl who thought she couldn't draw, so the teacher told her to make a mark and see where it took her.  The girl made a dot and the teacher said "Sign It!!".  Then the girl made lots of dots and at the art show the walls were covered with her dot art.  A boy came and said he loved her drawing but he couldn't even draw a line with a ruler.  The girl said "show me" and the boy drew a squiggle and the girl said "Sign It!!" So we had to honor and celebrate this special day!

Ham and Pepperoni "Dot" sandwich; dot bread pieces

Green grapes with dot picks

Snap peas, "dot" rainbow carrots, cucumber with pepper dots

Tuesday we had simple lunches:

Snap peas, baby carrots, cherry tomatoes from the garden

Rainbow pasta with sauce in the orange lidded container

Green and red grapes

Wednesday we had breakfast for lunch.  Not the healthiest with all the convenience foods but I was not feeling creative on this day.

Maya carried her new Frozen lunch box with banana and ham/turkey skewers in the bottom section and Cinnamon bread in the top section.  She also had a fruit sauce pouch and a fruit juice box.  

Max and the other kids had Cinnamon bread, hard boiled egg, banana, applesauce pouch and fruit juice box.

Thursday Sept 18 was National Cheeseburger Day!  Yum!  We had a huge party not too long ago so we had a lot of burgers left over.

Max's cheeseburger with Ketchup and Mustard in little squeeze bottles and pickles in the green small container

Grapes with a bear pick (Max doesn't like cantaloupe)

Baby carrots, yellow pepper rounds, cherry tomatoes from the garden and cucumber "burger" rounds

I wrapped the burgers in tin foil to keep them warm and Maya along with the other kids had cantaloupe instead of grapes

Friday Sept 19 was International Talk Like a Pirate Day.  ARGH!  

 PB&J sandwich maps with X marking the spot below the treasure of cookies (Max got graham crackers because he doesn't like chocolate - crazy kid!)

Multi colored carrot and cucumber coins for treasure

Pirate booty

Grapes

Everyone else got mini chocolate chip cookies and cantaloupe.  Maya got Veggie booty since she can't eat cheese.

Hope you enjoyed the treasure hunt!

Thanks for Reading!

Deb

Grown Up Lunches Take 2

Here are some of the lunches Tim and I enjoyed this last week.

Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs; V8; Greek yogurt

Lunch: Veggie strips (cucumber, snap peas, carrots, pepper); Red pepper hummus; Chicken salad wraps with mozzarella and roma tomato from the garden; Homemade applesauce from our garden

Snack: Babybel cheese and almonds

 Morning snack: Greek yogurt and V8

Lunch: Ham and cheese lettuce wraps; caprese salad; veggie strips and hummus

Afternoon snack: peanuts and Babybel cheese

 Breakfast: hard boiled eggs, Greek yogurt

Lunch: Rotisserie chicken sandwich on Challah roll; celery and cucumber with Laughing Cow cheese wedge; pudding cup

Snack: Apple and cheddar cheese slices; peanuts

 Breakfast: homemade steel cut oats, almonds and craisins to sprinkle on top; V8

Morning snack: Greek yogurt

Lunch: Beef stew; salad

Afternoon snack: string cheese

This lunch is packed in my Planetbox, which I really only use when I am going to be able to eat at a table rather than in my lap in the car due to the space it takes up when open.

 Rotisserie chicken sandwich; celery, cucumber and carrot sticks; Laughing Cow cheese wedge; peanuts; a mini chocolate

I hope you enjoy seeing some of our grown up lunches.  We are trying to eat healthier and exercise more (so occasionally I get a treat!).  Overall I think we are doing well with it.  And Tim says he likes his lunches.

Thanks for Reading!

Deb

Lunches Week of Sept 8th

Another week of lunches!   I usually pack the kids' lunches in their Laptop Lunchboxes.  These boxes have lasted since Maya started Kindergarten, so 4 years.  This year I had to buy a new outer box for both kids because the lids were starting to come off.  I wanted to get something different as their primary boxes but my kids, like me, are creatures of habit.  

Until, of course, Maya saw this:

So on Monday I used Maya's new Frozen lunchbox and Max's Lego box that he likes to use occasionally.

 Chicken salad pockets

Snap peas and baby carrots

Grapes with my new eye picks

Tuesday we were back to our usual Laptop Lunchboxes.  They hold more food and are so easy to pack.  I just wish they didn't have so many parts to wash!

Tuesday was Teddy Bear Day!  So fun to theme our lunches!  And look!  My bread stamp came out so much better!

Ham and cheese bear sandwich

Apple chunks with bear pick

Baby carrots, snap peas and grape tomatoes with bear ears

Wednesday was fun because I bought some Challah rolls.  I don't usually buy them because a) they taste too good to resist so only last a day! and b) I have to go to a completely different store than I usually go to get them, and I already go to several different stores every week!  But occasionally I'll make the trip.

 Maya had ham on Challah roll

Triscuits

Grapes

Baby carrots and cucumber flowers (the relief of the flowers is tucked underneath so they get the whole slice of cucumber)

The other kids had PB&J on Challah roll

Grapes

Pirate's Booty

Baby carrots and cucumber flowers

Thursday was a special day!  I made homemade applesauce!  From the apples from our tree!  I am so excited!  It turned out really good!  

 Homemade mini banana muffins

Homemade applesauce with cinnamon sprinkled on top

Ham, cheese and tomato skewers

Veggie sticks: Carrot, jicama, yellow pepper, cucumber, white carrot

Laughing cow cheese wedge

Maya's lunch was the same except no cheese products, but I included her picture because I think it is clearer.

Friday was Roald Dahl Day!  This is another theme that Bento lunch makers celebrate.  I am never prepared enough to make my lunches ahead of time in order to join the hops they do, but maybe someday.  In the meantime, I make fun lunches that my kids and their friends enjoy.  At least, I hope they do.

For Roald Dahl Day I decided to honor Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory since we saw that movie this summer at one of the outdoor movie events.  And, chocolate...

 Bean burrito Golden Ticket

Nerds

Cucumber balls and snap pea insides to represent the bubbles from the fizzy drink that Charlie and his grandfather drink and they float (Maya got it right away!)

An orange pseudo Umpaa Loompa with green hair/hat (spinach leaves)

And I wrapped the Golden Ticket in foil to make it a Wonka Bar!

That wraps up another week of lunches.

Thanks for Reading!

Deb

Grown Up lunches

I have been making my own lunches for years.  The work I do has me in the car all day driving between clients and I rarely have a "lunch hour", or even a minute.  Usually I pull over and eat in the car, or sometimes I even eat while driving.  Not the safest thing, I know.

This school year I have been making lunches for Tim, my husband, as well.  I'm not sure how that began, other than when he started back at school (he teaches high school) we were following a diet/exercise regime and he didn't think he would maintain it making his own lunches or buying.   I have actually been enjoying it so I'll keep it up for a while at least.  It forces me to make lunches the night before, which makes the mornings quite a bit easier.

So I thought I would make a blog post on some of our lunches.  I am usually in the car from 8 until 4-5 and so I need lunch and snacks.  Tim usually leaves the house around 6 and gets home around 4 so he take breakfast, snacks and lunch.  I generally make his lunch and my lunch the same, adding in breakfast for him.

Here is one of my lunches.  I use EasyLunchboxes every day for Tim and my lunches.  I love how much their carry bag holds for me! 

 Morning snack: Greek vanilla yogurt and V8 juice

Lunch: Salad with bibb and red leaf lettuces, cucumber, carrot, jicama, grape tomatoes fresh from our garden, mozzarella cheese rounds, ham; dressing is in the blue topped container; sugar free pudding in the other tupperware for a treat.

Afternoon snack: cheese stick and peanuts

This is a photo of all the above food in my EasyLunchboxes carry bag with plenty of room for more.  There is an ice pack under all the food and I put two on top as well.  Like I said, I'm in the car all day and the sun beats down so I want the food to stay cold. 

Here is another one of my lunches.  This is a day I didn't have time to make breakfast for myself trying to deal with getting the kids out of the house fed and clothed and to school on time.  So I added breakfast.  This makes my lunch exactly like Tim's that day.

 Breakfast: two hard boiled eggs and V8 juice

Morning snack: yogurt

Lunch: Wraps - ham, pickle, mustard and provolone cheese wrapped in a romaine lettuce leaf; Carrots and cucumbers; pita chips and hummus; Sugar free pudding

Afternoon snack: String cheese and peanuts (didn't actually eat this because I wasn't hungry)

Here is one of Tim's lunches:

  Romaine lettuce and a handful of spinach, mini pepper rings, cucumber, multicolored carrot rounds, tomato fresh from our garden, mozzarella cheese rounds, leftover pork loin; dressing in the green topped container; Almonds and Babybel Gouda cheese; Egyptian plum prune

He also took two hard boiled eggs, V8, and yogurt to round out his day.

Thanks for Reading!

Deb

Second Week of School

The second week of school has come and gone.  Time is just flying!

Maya reports that 4th grade is HARD!  Of course, everything is hard right now.

I hope that her lunches bring a smile to her face every day.

Monday was Labor Day so no lunches, except for me because I still worked!  I didn't take a picture though.

Tuesday lunches:

Bean burrito with "Happy Tuesday" written on it

Snap peas, baby carrot, pepper strips and jicama strips

Watermelon cubes with happy face pick

Tortilla chips with Salsa in the orange container

Wednesday lunches:

Penne pasta with homemade meat sauce

Baby carrots and cucumber hearts

Banana

Thursday lunches:

Maya's lunch

CuteZCute ham and pepperoni sandwich, Celery and snap peas, multicolored carrot coins

Watermelon cubes with koala pick

Dried snap peas and a couple of crisps for some crunch 

I've mentioned that I make lunches for some of my kids' friends so I here's a picture:

Everyone else's sandwich/veggie trays

Max is the only boy I make lunches for so he wanted a different face on his sandwich - the tiger.  These lunches have tomato wedges fresh from our garden and the yellow box has extra jicama because this child LOVES jicama.  Wish my kids did!

Friday lunches:

Saturday was Read A Book Day so I made some special lunches.

Pizza made on a sandwich thin with pepperoni letters

Grapes

Baby carrots, snap peas and cherry tomatoes fresh from our garden

For Maya's pizza I used Daiya, which is a non-dairy cheese, pictured before cooking in the top photo here.  She was not impressed and prefers to eat her pizza without cheese.  

Thanks for Reading!

Deb

Back To School

Well, it's Back To School time for the 2014-2015 year.  

So that mean's it's back to lunch packing and back to blogging for this girl!  This year I am making more lunches each day so I am trying my hand at making them the night before.  So far so good, but we'll see how it goes with my procrastination tendency.  

The first day of Maya's 4th grade year and Max's 2nd grade year:

First day lunches:

 Maya's had a ham and pepperoni sandwich using my new Cuddle Palz cutter set reading a book; a vegan brownie; baby carrots, snap peas, and a cucumber with a  yellow pepper 4; raspberries and blackberries with a purple crayon pick.

Max's had ham, pepperoni and cheese sandwich; Annie's bunny cookies (because he doesn't like chocolate - crazy kid!); baby carrots, snap peas, and a cucumber with a yellow pepper 2; raspberries and blackberries with a blue crayon pick.

Tuesday lunches:

 Tricolor pasta with homemade meat sauce; Toast with "Have A Great Day" stamped in it; Snap peas, cucumbers and carrot "fingers" with a cucumber flower ring; Strawberries with a leaf pick.

Wednesday lunches:

 Breakfast for lunch!  Maya had hash browns with turkey in the hot thermos to attempt to keep it warm for lunch time.  In my Planetbox Shuttle lunchbox I packed her grapes, a waffle, a piece of bacon and syrup.  They also got a juice box.

 Max had scrambled cheesy eggs in his hot thermos.  In his Lego lunchbox he got his waffles, syrup, bacon and grapes.

 The other lunches I packed got waffles, grapes, bacon and a hard boiled egg.  This one is shaped like a tulip but my lighting in the kitchen wasn't the best.

Thursday lunches:

 Today I used my new CuteZCute Animal Palz cutter to make pocket sandwiches.  My bread isn't the best so the cutter didn't work as well as I had hoped.  They are supposed to look like a sheep and a bear.  They are filled with PB&J (Maya has Wowbutter - a non-peanut alternative).  They also have baby carrots, snap peas, yellow pepper strips and grape tomatoes from our garden; Raspberries and blackberries with a  pretty hat pick.

Friday lunches:

 The first Bronco's Friday of the year!!  (To learn more about Bronco Friday read here.  Today Max pear chunks and a couple of strawberries underneath with blue and orange crayon picks (Bronco colors); baby carrots, snap peas and grape tomatoes from our garden with a Bronco helmet; Ham, turkey and cheese with a  football pick and crackers to make little sandwiches.

Maya is not as into the football thing, although she did wear her Bronco's shirt to get candy from the Kindergarten teacher.  Her lunch was strawberries, cantaloupe, and honeydew melon with her name written in picks; Snap peas and baby carrots; Ham, turkey and salami with crackers.

Here's hoping everyone had a great week back at school!  

Thanks for reading!

Deb