1st Day of School Lunch!

Tomorrow marks the 1st day of second grade for our girl, Molly.  She is excited and nervous all at the same time.  I remember not being able to sleep the night before the first day of school.  The adrenaline was enough to make me sick.  Molly can't wait to see her friends and meet her teacher even if there is some resistance on her part since she's such a homebody.  We are very excited to hear all of the stories that the day will bring.

We had a fantastic and busy summer but we are ready to get back at it.  We are ready for our scheduled days and the fun that weekends hold.  We are looking forward to an incredible year with lots of new adventures.

Our main entree is tortellini pasta salad.  Molly chose this for her first lunch because she wanted something that reminded her of the fun summer meals that we had.  The salad includes Trader Joe's Cheese Tortellini, turkey pepperoni, light pepper jack cheese, sliced olives and light Italian salad dressing.  This should keep her nice and full for the rest of the school day.

Our vegetable side may seem a little different.  They are called ground cherries.  They are actually tomatoes and a member of the tomatillo family, which is why they have a "wrapper" around them.  You just peel the wrapper off and pop the sweet little cherries out.  Ground cherries are very sweet and have an almost pineapple-like flavor.  We found these at a local farmers' market and we can't get enough of them.

Our fruit side is a sliced Granny Smith apple and blueberries.  Molly chose these and actually helped clean them and put them in her lunch box.  They are both tart in flavor and will offset the sweetness of the ground cherries.  It's kind of like opposite day. ☺

Finally, Molly chose Dannon Light and Fit vanilla yogurt for her dessert.  She said that she wanted to put a few blueberries in it and maybe even dip her apples in it.  After Molly left to get her backpack and outfit ready, we added a single Hershey's Kiss.  A simple reminder of the love that waits for her when she gets home. ♥

Have a blast in the 2nd Grade, Molly!  It's going to be an awesome year!

We purchased Molly's actual lunch box from www.laptoplunches.com