Cold Pizza Monday

After a long and tiresome week, we are going to rely on a standard Monday lunch, cold pizza.  Why not?  The kids at school are having pizza too and we have some leftover from the weekend.

Our main entree is leftover cold cheese pizza from this weekend.  We cut it into "pizza sticks" to make them easier for the girls to eat.

Our vegetable side is a green salad with a small dressing on the side.

Our fruit side is red grapes.

Our dairy/dessert is strawberry yogurt.

Don't forget to enter our MOMables giveaway.

If you are wondering what MOMables is all about, look at our lunches from last week or check this out.

Want to try a free week?  Click here and click on Get access to a Free week, just below the

 MOMables icon.  

MOMables Week - GIVEAWAY and Lunch 4 and 5

Our MOMables week continues.  Our Thursday lunch is being posted with our Friday lunch because Mama was just plain too tired to blog last night.  Thursday's lunch is a Thermos Thursday lunch with soup.  Friday's lunch was not on the MOMables menu this week but it's a favorite from our MOMables collection.  If you liked this week's lunches and want to give it a try, you can have a free trial week and enter our giveaway for a three month subscription. (see below)

Our main entree is Italian vegetable soup for Molly and chicken and dumpling soup for Bean.

Our vegetable is a salad.  We have our dressing in the Easy Lunch Boxes Mini Dippers.

Our fruit side is strawberries and raspberries.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is Chobani Champions vanilla orange Greek yogurt.

This is a screenshot of Thursday's menu on MOMables.

Our Friday lunch is a favorite with a Fun Friday Treat!

Our main entree is a waffle sandwich with whipped cream cheese and sliced strawberries.

Our fruit side is a GoGo SqueeZ apple cinnamon applesauce on the go.  The girls say that it tastes just like Apple Pie.

Our dairy side is peach yogurt.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is Lindor Vanilla White Chocolate Truffles and a couple of pretzels.  

ps - if you like the little notes, look at the back.  So fun!  They are available at SayPlease.com.  You can get 15% off by using the code MOLLY.

Now....our MOMables giveaway!!!

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MOMables Week, Lunch 3

Tomorrow's lunch is similar to a few things that we've tried before but different too.  The trick is to flatten your bread with a rolling pin.  Thanks to MOMables for coming up with such fun things to make for lunch.    ps - tomorrow is Johnny Appleseed's birthday so we threw a few references in for that too.

Our main entree is Italian Sushi.  It is salami with cream cheese on whole grain white bread.  I think that these may become a regular request.

Our vegetable side is purple cauliflower for Bean and cucumbers for Molly.  Bean's has a small container of ranch dressing for dipping.

Our vegetable side is a checkered apple in honor of Johnny Appleseed's birthday.  We learned this skill from our friend Jenn at Bento for Kidlet.

Our dairy side is a Babybel Mozzarella cheese.  We cut an apple shape out of some of the red wax for Johnny Appleseed.

Finally, our dessert is Chobani Champions Vanilla Chocolate Chunk Greek yogurt.  YUM!

*This is a screen shot of the MOMables menu for today. 

MOMables Week Lunch 2 The Airport Sandwich

The next lunch in this week's MOMables menu is called The Airport Sandwich.  Laura, of MOMables, explains how she was stuck at the airport with her kids and this ended up being the mix of odds and ends available to her in a pinch.  *note - The original recipe called for cheese to be added to the sandwich but my girls weren't sure about it.  A tip, don't send in a main entree that the kids might not eat.  Save something new for when they are home and have the option of something else.  You don't want them to not eat and have a cloudy brain for the rest of the school day.

Our main entree is The Airport Sandwich.  This is a peanut butter and apple sandwich on whole grain white bread.  We used Peanut Butter and Company's Cinnamon Raisin Swirl (OMGOODNESS!) and very thinly sliced apples.  It's like fall inside of a sandwich.  We used our Wonder Bread Sandwich press to make our own "uncrustable" sandwich.

Our vegetable side is red and yellow bell peppers slices and purple cauliflower.  The girls were very excited to try this new vegetable tonight (I think the purple sold them) and said it would be great in their lunches.  We added a small container of ranch salad dressing for dipping.

Our fruit side is the apples in the sandwich and De Anjou pear slices.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is Chobani Champions orange vanilla Greek yogurt.  We added some mini chocolate chips.  This is Molly's favorite way to eat this flavor.  Orange and chocolate = yum!

This is what the MOMables menu for today looked like.

ps - Easy Lunchboxes are available again!  They are great for the WHOLE family.  Proof: here's Daddy's lunch for tomorrow.  Pork steak, sweet potato, edamame and grilled peppers.

MOMables Week!

I've talked about MOMables (the meal planning website) before and I have the ad for it on the left side of the screen.  MOMables makes an entire week of menus for you to follow for lunches and includes recipes, shopping lists and plans.  The beauty of it is, you can follow it to a T or switch things out so that to use things that you know your kids will like.  You can get 3 months of menus for $18 ($6 a month) and that way you don't have to worry about not having an answer to "Mom, what's for lunch?"

This week starts with MOMables Monday Italian Swords.

Our main entree is Italian Swords.  For Bean, it is marinated mozzarella balls, salami and grape tomatoes.  Since Molly isn't a big fan of tomatoes, her is pepper jack cheese, pastrami and cucumbers.  We used long picks but MOMables suggested that if you can't find picks, try the stirrers at Starbucks.

Our vegetable side is carrot stick and the vegetables on the skewers themselves.

Our fruit side is sliced strawberries.  California is having a great season because these are really sweet.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is Chobani Champions Vanilla Chocolate Chunk Greek Yogurt.

Stay tuned through the week for more MOMables inspired lunches.  There will be a fun giveaway at the end of the week.  

Cooking with Trader Joe's Cookbook: Easy Lunch Boxes Review

If you followed the Talk Like A Pirate Day Blog Hop that we were part of two days ago, you have met a bunch of my friends.  We are part of a Facebook group called Bento Bloggers and Friends.  Through this group, I have met the most awesome people.  Kelly Lester is one of these friends.  She is the CEO of Easy Lunch Boxes and she called on some of our friends to help her write an incredible cookbook.  They use some products from Trader Joe's (we ♥ Trader Joe's) but you can use things from a regular grocery store if you don't have a TJ's near you.  I received a virtual copy of the cookbook a week ago and my hard copy yesterday.

I was so excited to be able to look through the book and pick out a few of the great ideas to try for the girls' lunches tomorrow.  This is what we chose....

Our main entree is the Waffle Pizzaaah! on page 152 by Corey Valley.  This is a simple yet delicious alternative to regular pizza.  We added some light Ranch dressing for dipping in a Mini Dipper by Easy Lunch Boxes.

Our vegetable side is cucumber slices.  Our pattern was inspired by Bobbi Jo Fleischman for her contribution on page 90.

Our fruit side is sliced strawberries.  I don't know how these strawberries are so sweet and delicious but they are, even at this late in the season.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is Speedy Chocolate PB & Oat Snacker Whackers by Averie Sunshine on page 52.  Talk about a great treat.  It works to satisfy your chocolate and peanut butter cravings!

There are recipes for everyone from the kids to Mom and Dad.  (there are even contributions from guys!)  There are vegetarian recipes and vegan recipes plus great little tid bits that give tips and information.

Now that we've piqued your curiosity, you too can be part of the Easy Lunch Boxes craze.  Below are links to Amazon.com for the cookbook as well as the Easy Lunch Boxes that all of these recipes fit so perfectly in.  Also, the Easy Lunchboxes themselves are AVAILABLE!!  WOO HOO!!!

   

Hello Kitty Breakfast for Lunch

Daddy made his famous pancakes for dinner and there were enough leftovers for the girls' lunches tomorrow.  Hello Kitty is a favorite around here and yes, I bought the pancake maker....and I'm SO glad that I did!

Our main entree is Hello Kitty pancakes.  Daddy even put a couple of mini chocolate chips in them for extra fun!  We used our food safe markers to embellish them a little bit.

We don't have a vegetable side but we did add some turkey bacon to go with the pancakes.

Our fruit side is strawberries, grapes and a Hello Kitty kiwi.  We used a stamp to press the face into the kiwi.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is Chobani Champions Verry Berry.

Talk Like A Pirate Day Blog Hop

Ahoy, Mateys!!!  Today, September 19th is International Talk Like A Pirate Day!  Do you want to win the Pirate Booty??  See below and hop along like a peg leg pirate to find ye treasure!

Our main entree is an open quesadilla treasure map.  We used flour tortillas, Mexican cheese blend and olives and peppers to create our map including a palm tree and the notorious X that marks the spot of the buried treasure.  We rolled up one end and used a skull and crossbones flag to keep it rolled.

Our vegetable is a carrot cannon and black olive cannon balls.

Our fruit side is a kiwi pirate.  We used chocolate chips and sprinkles to create his eyes, patch and beard.  We also used a strawberry for his bandanna.

Finally, our dessert is a little treasure pouch full of goodies! (a/k/a Rolos)

ps - C.J. is the snack person at preschool tomorrow so we made little pirate ships (blue jell-o with apple slices and a pirate flag) for him to bring and share with his friends.  

  

Every Blogger Buccaneer in this here Hop has a piece o' the treasure map!  You'll need to "collect" each piece and put them together in the right order to find the treasure!  You'll want some parchment and a quill to keep a log with each clue and each number, because there are 39 scurvy pirates running amok with 30 pieces o' the map to collect!  37 pieces will guide you to the hidden treasure (by spelling out the URL where you can enter to win!) and there are 2 bonus pieces with the "secret passwords" to get two chances to win some pirate booty sponsored by All Things for Sale/BentoUSA.com!

This here's my piece o' the map!  Good luck, Mateys!

Here's a guild to help ye along the way.

Now take ye to the next lunch by First Mate, Kat at Obento Mama to get the next piece o' the map!  Ahoy!

Butterfly Lunch

We were inspired by our friend Michelle at Creative Food.  She made an awesome butterfly lunch, two of them actually, and we realized that we had the same pasta that she used.  The wheels started turning and now we have a fun lunch for the girls.

Our main entree is a buggy pasta salad.  We cooked the pasta from a box of Back to Nature Crazy Bugs Macaroni and Cheese, drained it and cooled it.  (We are saving the cheese packet for our next movie night to jazz up our popcorn.)  Next, we added marinated mozzarella balls, tomatoes and some light Italian dressing.  YUM!

Our vegetable side is crinkle cut cucumbers.  (say that three times fast!)

Our fruit side is apple slices.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is Chobani Champions.  Molly chose Honey-Nana and Bean chose Vanilla Chocolate Chunk.

Cold Pizza Monday

The girls' school always has pizza on the first day of the week.  Tonight, we went out to dinner to celebrate the girls' homecoming (they LOVED Disney!) and they ordered pizza.  Because of all of this, we decided that leftover cold pizza would be a perfect lunch for them tomorrow.

Our main entree is cold leftover pizza from Bravo! restaurant.  The girls really liked this idea when we were sitting at dinner this evening.

Our vegetable side is red and orange peppers.

Our fruit side is blackberries and peaches.

Our dairy/dessert is Chobani Champions Honey-Nana Greek yogurt.

 

Fifty Shades of Grey

*Disclaimer #1 - This lunch is NOT for Molly or any other child.  It is for my friend, Chris, a grown up.  She is a huge fan of the Fifty Shades of Grey Trilogy and requested that I make her a fun lunch with it in mind.
*Disclaimer #2 - I have not read the books but did some research for this lunch.  I didn't think that the foods that Christian wants Ana to eat would be all that great in a packed lunch so I just went with the covers of the trilogy for my inspiration.

Our main entree is a mix of brown rice, steamed broccoli and Golden Tiger Seasoned Chicken (and veggies) for Lettuce Wraps.  We cut out mozzarella cheese and decorated it with our food safe markers to represent the Fifty Shades of Grey book cover.

Our vegetable side is carrot sticks.  We carved handcuffs out of a carrot and colored them, again with our food safe markers.  We put a few black olive slices under the cuffs to make them stand out.  This represents the book cover of Fifty Shades Freed.

Our fruit side is an apple.  We carved half of an apple to look like the mask on the cover of Fifty Shades Darker.  We added some iridescent sugar sprinkles to fancy it up.

Finally, we added a container of yogurt (with granola), a bottle of water and a napkin that held utensils.

We hope that Chris really enjoyed this healthy and fun lunch by request. ;)

In case you are wondering about the Chicken in the main entree, here it is.  We got it at Sam's Club and it is REALLY delicious and healthy.

Surprise!!!+

We didn't make a lunch or post last night because, the girls didn't go to school today.  We surprised them with a trip to Disney World with Grammy and Papa!  Papa had a business trip to Orlando and he and Grammy generously offered to take Molly and Bean with them.  They jumped, screamed, danced, cried and giggled a whole lot when we told them.  It was AWESOME!!!  I made little hints (yesterday's lunch) but they were still completely surprised.

Tomorrow, we'll be posting another grown-up lunch.  I received a request from a friend to make her a special lunch so I was happy to oblige.  I'd post it tonight but I want her to be surprised. ☺  I'll give you a hint.  It sounds like it, but it has nothing to do with color.

Disney Lunch

The girls have loved the themed lunches lately and we figured that a great theme is Disney and who better than the mouse himself...and Minnie of course.

Our main entree is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  We used a Mickey shaped pancake mold that we got a few years ago at Disney World.  We then cut a piece of provolone cheese and used our food safe markers to make Mickey's face.

Our vegetable side is cucumbers and carrots.  We used a Mickey Mouse shaped press for the face on the cucumbers and a micro cookie cutter to cut the carrots.

Our fruit side is strawberries and cantaloupes.  We used cutters with presses to make Mickey and Minnie's faces on the cantaloupe.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is vanilla yogurt with Mickey sprinkles on top.

Tomorrow is the color brown day in Bean's Kindergarten class.  We have a cherry Nutri Grain bar and some red grapes.  Brown was kind of hard to do for a kid that doesn't care for pretzels.