Odd Request

3 words.... Beef Teriyaki Nuggets

Um, yeah, I really don't know what to say about this one.  We give her the option to choose one lunch a week from the calendar and this is what she chose.  It doesn't sound all that appetizing to me but if I think of it as a stir fry with beef, vegetables and rice...it's much better.  It also comes with an egg roll, fruit and a fortune cookie.  Chinese food is one of Molly's favorites so I really shouldn't be all that surprised.

I honestly hope that it is super delicious and that Molly really enjoys it. ☺

Post Party Lunch

Today, we celebrated Molly's 1st Holy Communion.  She was aglow in her beautiful white dress and veil and had a smile about a mile wide.  She was so proud to be receiving this sacrament and sharing it with her family and friends.

After mass, we had a whole slew of people at our house for a party with lots of yummy food and great conversation.  Luckily, there were a couple of leftovers and that made Molly's lunch very easy for us.  The other great thing about having a party at home, my house is still relatively clean.  Bonus!

Our main entree is linguini salad.  Molly's Nana makes the yummiest linguini salad and we were very excited when she offered to bring some to the party.  Molly requested that there be only olives and cucumbers and not any of the tomatoes or onions that were in the salad.  That was not a problem since Nana put in whole grape tomatoes and larger chunks of onion.  Thanks, Nana!

Our vegetable side is ants on a log.  We used some of the leftover celery from our veggie tray and added natural peanut butter and some dried currants that we got from our NatureBox.  Such a delicious and wonderful way to enjoy new and healthy snacks delivered to your door every month.  Enter the code NATURE to get 25% off of your first order.

Our fruit side is a clementine.  We were going to give Molly some leftover pineapple and strawberries but she asked for this instead.  It works for us!

Our dairy side is a Babybel cheese.  We weren't sure if there was quite enough protein in Molly's lunch and one of these is always a great source.

Finally, our dessert is a Chobani Champions Verry Berry Greek yogurt, by request.  Molly just loves her Cho!

PJ Day!

Molly's school has been having these "Funky Friday$" to raise money for their new playground.  On these days, the students can wear something funky on the specified Friday for a $1 donation.  Molly wore her Cat in the Hat outfit for the Dr. Seuss day.  She had very poofy and tall hair for crazy hair day.

Tomorrow is PJ day.  Molly will be wearing her favorite fuzzy pink Hello Kitty pajama pants and a fun pink top.  Plus, we will be putting a few pink foam rollers in her hair just for fun.  PJ Day calls for breakfast for lunch.  We decided to go a little crazy with this one.  Pancakes can be very versatile. ☺

Our main entree is pancakes.  We put the batter into a squeeze bottle and created fun shapes.  We attempted to make some Hello Kitty pancakes (to match her PJs) and wrote Molly's name too.  Writing in cursive backwards with a squeeze bottle is more complicated than it seems.  We added a small container of Biscoff Spread (after we took the picture) in case Molly wants to spread it on any of the pancakes.

Our fruit side is cantaloupe and strawberries.  These are a nice accompaniment to the pancakes.

Our dairy/dessert is a Chobani Verry Berry Greek yogurt.  These were on sale at the store yesterday so we scarfed some up.  This will serve as a great source of protein too.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is two mini candy bars from Easter.  One is a Krackle Bar and one is a Mr. Goodbar.  Nothing like a little chocolate to complete a yummy lunch.

Bring Your Child To Work Day

Molly is overjoyed with anticipation for a fantastic day tomorrow because her Daddy is bringing her to work with him.  She has waited patiently for the last few years to be old enough to go to work with him and finally, tomorrow is her day.

Daddy's company has an entire day planned with fun activities, a special lunch and even an ice cream social at the end of the work day.  Molly has no idea about any of the fun things planned but I'm sure her imagination is going wild with anticipation.  She even went to bed early tonight so that she can get up early with Daddy.

I can't wait to hear how incredible her day went.  It's days like these that make being a parent so exciting!

Orange-you Glad It's Wednesday?

Our crazy day went really well.  All things on the "to-do" list were checked off and completed nicely.  Molly had a great visit at the dentist and we all had a lot of fun today.

We were inspired by our lunch today when making our lunch for tomorrow.  Our orange inspired lunch.

Our main entree is a yummy pasta salad.  The pasta is Barilla Piccolini Mini Farfalle with tomatoes and carrots.  We had this for lunch today and it was a huge hit.  The flavors of the vegetables comes through but it isn't too overpowering.  We added a bit of light Italian dressing and some freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Our vegetable side is baby carrots.  Molly and her sister had these with their lunch today (along with a few other vegetables) and both really enjoyed them.

Our fruit side is chunks of cantaloupe.  We were going to give Molly oranges but decided that they would be too obvious.  We added a cute little orange pic of a starfish to this container too.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is Chobani Champions Vanilla Orange Greek yogurt.  Here's our orange!  We flipped the container over so that you can see the orange ring to keep with our theme.

Election Day

Tomorrow is the primary election in Pennsylvania, thus, there is no school. We use a lot of the schools as polling arenas so there would be mass chaos, not to mention security issues, if there were classes going on at the same time. We have grand plans of staying in our pajamas and watching movies for the first part if the day. Then we will begin a big cleaning of the house because Molly will be celebrating her 1st Holy Communion this weekend and we will be having guests here. Next, we will be signing little sister up for Kindergarten (gasp!) and finally, Molly has a dentist appointment in the evening. A pretty busy day to say the least. Oh, and Mom and Dad have to go vote and both get a training run in there somewhere. Sigh, someday these will be the good old days!

Brother's Birthday!!!

Monday is Molly's little brother's 3rd birthday!!!  We are so excited to watch him hit this milestone.  The year that he starts preschool on his own.  The year that he really becomes a little boy in his actions and looks.  (Yes, I had a hard time typing that since he's my baby.)

We have a lot of fun things planned for the day from homemade doughnuts (baked with our Babycakes doughnut maker) to plans for breakfast for dinner.  He LOVES breakfast.

Molly can't wait for the school day to be over so that she can participate in the celebration.  She and her sister made some beautiful birthday cards and are giddy with anticipation to give them to their little brother.  School first, then the party!

Our main entree is a turkey and smoked Gouda sandwich on 12 Grain bread.  We used some fun cookie cutters to make these shapes, then put smiley faces on the circles and a heart on the diamond with our food safe markers.
*We recently won a contest by Chef Corey at Family Fresh Meals and will be trying FunBites with one of our sandwiches in the very near future.  Thanks Chef Corey!!!  (Be sure to click on the link to check out her blog.  She has some incredible recipes and ideas.  Lots of inspiration!)

Our vegetable side is sliced cucumbers and small golden tomatoes.  Molly had some cucumbers today and requested them in her lunch.  We decided to add the tomatoes because they looked so yummy.

Our fruit side is sliced strawberries.  The smell of these strawberries just reminds us of summer and all of the wonderful flavors that await us.  (After we get 6 inches of snow overnight.  Yep, the northeast is supposed to be blasted with a winter storm tonight.  booo!)

Our dairy side is a cheddar/mozzarella cheese stick.  This will hopefully help to keep Molly full.

Finally, our dessert is a Chobani Champions Chocolate Chunk Greek yogurt.  Some things are always perfect!

Pantry Raid Lunch

It was a late night for us so we did a sweep of the refrigerator for Molly's lunch tomorrow.  Sometimes, leftovers and those pantry/fridge staples are all you need to make a yummy lunch.

Our main entree is pasta salad.  We used some leftover whole grain thin spaghetti, turkey pepperoni, black olives, mozzarella cheese and some light Italian dressing to make one of Molly's favorite lunches.

Our vegetable side is a green salad with a couple of small yellow tomatoes.  We added a small side of light Italian dressing to keep with the flavors of the spaghetti salad.

Our fruit side is a clementine.  We like to keep these on hand at our house since they are such a big hit with all five of us.

Our dairy side is a cheddar/mozzarella cheese stick.  Since there isn't a lot of protein in the spaghetti salad, we added this so that Molly won't get too hungry by the time the final bell rings.

Finally, our dessert is a Chobani Champions Chocolate Chunk Greek Yogurt.  Another favorite because it tastes SO good!

Chicken...again

Yep, they are having a breaded chicken lunch tomorrow so Molly was quick to pick that one for her buy-lunch this week.  Chicken fries are on the menu and even though we don't find it to be the most nutritious, we're pretty sure that they are better than some of the other options that are given during the rest of the week...maybe?  We don't really consider corn to be a vegetable but the school does so we need to make sure that we have something with lots of vegetables for dinner. ☺

New Breakfast

We like to have breakfast for dinner about once a week.  It's one of the easier meals to make yet usually creates the most dishes since several pans are involved.  We also like to have breakfast for one of Molly's lunches because it's easy for us and she loves it.

Our main entree is a whole grain waffle sandwich.  We used freshly ground peanut butter on one side and Biscoff Spread (this is the new thing) on the other.  Holy delicious, Batman!  We added a few crayon picks in Molly's favorite colors for fun.

Our fruit side is fresh kiwi slices.  We think that the tangy taste will be a nice contrast to the peanut butter.

Our fun side is a little homemade trail mix.  We combined lightly salted mixed nuts with Plum Amazins.  

Finally, our dairy/dessert is vanilla yogurt with Trader Joe's Elegant Cocoa Pears.

Spring-like Monday

We're finally having nice weather again here in Pittsburgh.  The sun was shining and the temperature actually reached 80 degrees today.  I think that the flowers and the grass were very happy to be warm again after surviving a decent number of frosts last week.  We hope that it this beautiful weather stays for a while.  Playing outside is so much more fun than being stuck indoors.

Our main entree is turkey pepperoni, cheese and crackers.  Molly requested this as we were finishing our dinner tonight since she "hasn't had it in a really long time."  We cut a small flower out of a piece of pepperoni and put it on the cheese to match the cracker.  (It's kind of hard to see from the photo but there is a flower on the cracker.)  The crackers are Ritz spring crackers and each of them have a flower or butterfly on them.  So cute!

Our vegetable side is a few baby carrots.  Molly said that she'd be fine with them but not too many since she is missing a some teeth and it's hard to bite them.  We were just fine with keeping it to a small portion for her. ☺

Our fruit side is strawberries.  We sliced a few of them and then made a couple of mice with two others.  Just a couple of sliced almonds for ears, Trader Joe's cocoa pearls for the eyes and nose and a small piece of licorice for the tail.  Gotta keep Monday fun!

Finally, our dairy/dessert is a Chobani Champions Chocolate Chunk Greek yogurt.  Molly requested this as well.  She just loves the fact that she gets chocolate and it's good for her.

Pizza Friday!

When I was growing up, one of our traditions was to have pizza on Friday for dinner.  I don't know if it was payday or if it was just the easiest thing to do at the end of a long week, but we really enjoyed it.  We figured, why not give it a try for Molly's lunch?  Here you go...

Our main entree is turkey pepperoni pizza.  We purchased a pre-made crust and added sauce, cheese and turkey pepperoni.  We're so excited to hear Molly's reaction.

Our vegetable side is a garden salad.  Another one of our traditions was to have a big salad with our pizza nights.  It makes sense because that way, there was always a vegetable on the table.  We also added a side of light Italian dressing.  It looks like a lot from this angle, but it is less than a tablespoon.

Our fruit side is sliced strawberries.  They are on sale at the store right now and the sweetness and flavor keep getting better and better.  We can't wait to go pick our own this summer!

Our dairy side is a Babybel cheese.  We figured that Molly might need a little something extra and this is a perfect fit.

Finally, our Fun Friday Treat is a small package of M&M's and some Smarties.  Molly's Nana was the candy giver this year for Easter.  We were happy add some of these sweet confections for a special treat.

Chicken Sandwich

What is it with kids and breaded chicken?  My kids just love most any type of breaded chicken.  They go crazy for the chicken nuggets that we make or put on a salad, even a sandwich.  All three of them are funny about it though.  They don't really like fried fast food chicken but when it's baked, they're all about it.

Molly is keeping with her lunch buying trend and going for the breaded chicken meal of the week.  Not popcorn chicken, not chicken nuggets but the baked chicken patty on a whole grain bun.  I give the school props for trying to make it more nutritious.  Compared to what we were served when I was a kid, this is leaps and bounds better.

Back After Break

We had a fantastic Easter break.  Great traditions with our families and fun with friends.  We did our best to instill the real reason for Easter in our children.  They know that Jesus died for us.  They know that He Is Risen on Easter and that is why we celebrate.

All of the fun and celebrating has now become another chapter in our memory books and we are getting back to our routine.  This means we're heading back to school for the first time in five days.  YAHOO!

Our main entree is an alphabet pasta salad.  We figured that after five days off, a great reminder of Molly's ABC's would be alphabet pasta.  We added mini turkey pepperoni, black olives, mozzarella cheese and some light Italian dressing.

Our vegetable side is grape tomatoes.  Molly was never big on tomatoes but recently, she's starting to ask for them.  We're thrilled that her palate is changing enough to enjoy new things.

Our fruit side is cantaloupe chunks.  Molly keeps requesting this yummy melon.  We can't blame her.  The cantaloupes have been very sweet and delicious recently.

Our dairy/dessert is Chobani Champions Vanilla Orange Greek Yogurt.  This will also help to add protein to round out Molly's meal.

Easter Week Lunch 3

Tomorrow is the last day of school before Easter vacation.  Molly is so excited to have a few days off and enjoy some family time and traditions.  We have a lot of plans to celebrate the sacrifice that God made for us and the miracle of Jesus' resurrection.

We'll be back next Tuesday night for another installment of Molly's Lunch Box.  We're pretty sure that the rest of the year is going to fly from then on.

Happy Easter, Indeed He is Risen!!!

Our main entree is a salami and cheese basket.  We used our mini cookie cutters to cut out eggs and a "Peep" chick out of provolone and salami.  We also used our food safe markers to make our basket more fun.

Our fruit side is strawberry flowers.  We used more cookie cutters to cut out these cute flowers and added a few plastic stems.  We also have a few bunnies hiding in this container too.

Our fun side is Annie's Organic Pizza Snack Mix (shaped like bunnies).  We usually add crackers to any meat and cheese entree but this mix will work just fine.  Plus, it's really yummy!

Finally, our Easter dessert is a bed of Annie's Homegrown Bunny Graham Friends topped with a chocolate covered marshmallow Peep.  Molly remembered the Peep from last year and requested one this year too.  How could we not?  They are so cute and delicious!

Easter Week Lunch 2

We've cooked up something fun for lunch tomorrow.  We were reminiscing about last year's Easter lunch and decided to use it for our inspiration.

Our main entree is a bunny pizza.  We used Pillsbury Simply Biscuits for our crust.  It is a very simple biscuit recipe without any added anything.  We like that idea.  We added a mozzarella/provolone shredded mix, olives for eyes and turkey pepperoni for a nose and mouth.

Our vegetable side is a cucumber that we cut with a flower cookie cutter.  We think that Molly will really enjoy the new shape.

Our fruit side is sliced strawberries.  We added an Easter Bunny pick to keep with our theme.

Our dairy side is a Babybel cheese.  We used our star shaped micro cookie cutter to cut a star shape out of the wax.

Finally, our dessert is vanilla yogurt with some Easter egg sprinkles on top.

Taco Tuesday

I mentioned yesterday that Molly will be buying lunch tomorrow. We can't blame her. Tacos are a big favorite at our house. Speaking of Taco Tuesday, we are considering trying something like that at our house, creating a theme for our dinners each night. Meatless or meatloaf Monday, Taco or turkey Tuesday, Wildcard Wednesday, etc. Does anyone else do this? I think it would really help with our menu planning and keep us from hitting the drive thru due to lack of ideas. It would also be helpful when the summer starts and we are in the pool all day and don't want to think about dinner. Thoughts and suggestions are welcome. Thanks!

Easter Week Lunch 1

This is a short week at Molly's school because of the Easter break coming up.  Also, she has already decided that she would like to buy lunch on Tuesday (Taco Tuesday) so that only gives us three lunches for the week.  We like to go a little bit theme-y (word?) here at Molly's Lunch Box so this will be the first of three Easter lunches.

Our main entree is a salami and smoked pepper jack cheese sandwich on 12 grain bread.  We used some fun little cookie cutters to cut the sandwich into Easter themed shapes.  Then, we used our food safe markers to make them come to life.  (ps - the red one in the right upper corner is a tulip....looks kind of like Darth Maul to us though.  LOL!)

Our vegetable side is cucumber slices.  Molly requested these after having a few on her salad at dinner this evening.

Our fruit side is cantaloupe pieces.  Molly asked us to get a cantaloupe last week and we picked a winner.  This is so sweet and juicy.  We also added a cross pick so that she doesn't forget what we will be celebrating this weekend, the fact that Jesus gave his life for us.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is a Chobani Champions Vanilla Orange Greek yogurt.  This flavor reminds us of creamsicles.  Molly usually likes to put mini chocolate chips in it but we just didn't have room for them today.  She likes it just he way it is too.