Back After Vacation

The girls had a great time on their Thanksgiving vacation.  We had Thanksgiving dinner at our house with our family and it was wonderful.  Both Molly and Bean also got sick on vacation but everyone is better now.  We're all ready for the Christmas season at our house.  The tree is up and the whole house is decorated.  I know that time will fly between now and the next vacation time for Christmas.

Our main entree is a Banana Bread with whipped cream cheese sandwich for Molly and a peanut butter and Nutella sandwich for Bean.

Our vegetable side is cucumber slices.

Our fruit side is fresh pineapple for Molly and pears for Bean.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is vanilla yogurt.

1st Fun Friday

In our house, like many, we are trying to cut back on sugar.  We have yogurt or fruit for dessert.  (Grilled peaches were a huge hit this summer.)  We are trying to make our own recipes with less sugar and encouraging healthier snacks.  So far, we've been pretty successful.  That being said, we are realistic and understand that a special treat once in a while is a good thing...a really good thing.  So, we are carrying on our tradition of giving Molly a special "Fun Friday" treat.

Our main entree is a banana bread sandwich.  We tweaked our original healthy banana bread recipe by removing the brown sugar and using 2/3 cup of quick oats instead of the 2/3 cup whole wheat flour. (We kept 1 cup of whole wheat flour)  It isn't very sweet at all but the flavor is delicious.  It is much more dense and will keep Molly satisfied longer.  We spread light cream cheese and peanut butter (by request) on the banana bread then cut it into smaller sandwiches.

Our vegetable side is a pickling cucumber that has been cut with a crinkle knife.  These are incredibly crunchy and have such a fresh and clean flavor.

Our fruit side is two clementines.  These are much smaller than the varieties that we are used to, but the flavor is much sweeter.  Molly had some of these with her dinner tonight and requested them for her lunch tomorrow. We also added some dried cherries (in the tiny container) just to give her a little extra food.  She said that she ate her lunch today and was still a little hungry so we were happy to add a bit more for her.

Our dairy side is a colby-jack cheese stick.  We figured that Molly could use the extra protein to help fill her up and get her through the day.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is a Little Debbie Fall Tree Cake.  Molly's Daddy loves the Christmas Tree Cakes by Little Debbie so he was very excited to see this new product. He even convinced me to purchase them by saying that they would make a great Fun Friday treat.  Daddy's a tricky one. ☺

Let It Snow!

December 1st came and so did the snow.  I knew that there was a possibility of snow today but I did not expect to look out the window this morning and see my van covered in the white stuff.  The chill in the air and the beautiful snowflakes falling are just another reminder of the Christmas season that is upon us.  This is my kind of winter.  Just enough snow to cover everything in a beautiful shimmer of white but still warm enough that you can stand outside and not freeze completely.  I did not care for "snowmageddon" last year with several feet of snow.  I'll take a little more so that we can make a snowman and that will do it for me.

Our main entrée is banana bread sandwiches with whipped cream cheese.  These are something that you might find at a tea party.  Molly has always loved to play tea party so we decided to pay homage to one of her favorite things during this lunch.

Our veggie side is sugar snap peas.  We are giving the salads a break for the day.  Molly really enjoys these sweet and crispy veggies.

Our fruit side is apple slices.  These will be a nice accompaniment to the banana bread sandwiches.

We also added a string cheese to add some protein and calcium.

Finally, we have Aldi Pfeffernusse Cookies for Molly's dessert.  These cookies are like gingerbread but lighter in texture and flavor.  They are chewy and yet have that little crunch from the white icing.  YUM!

Special Treat Lunch

This week seems to have dragged on a bit.  I think because we had a 4 day week last week, it makes this week seem so much longer.  I keep thinking that tomorrow should be Friday but it's only Thursday.  I think the kids feel the same way because Molly asked if she should put her library book in her bag for tomorrow but she doesn't have library until Friday.  Even though she doesn't have library she always has lunch, so on to the tasty vittles for tomorrow.

Our main entrée is banana bread with peanut butter sandwiches.  We made our healthy banana bread a few weeks ago and froze several of the small loaves.  We thawed one out and now we have the start to an awesome lunch.

The dairy side is cottage cheese.  It is a really good source of protein, calcium and vitamin D.  Molly really likes cottage cheese because she likes how creamy it is.

We've decided that edamame would be a yummy compliment to this lunch.  This veggie is a super food.  Its loaded with vitamins and omega-3s.

A fresh orchard apple will be the fruit of the day.  We've sliced it into pieces and kept the skin on since the skin holds a lot of nutritional value.

Finally, we've tossed in a small pack of Pez for dessert.  We've kind of left out dessert for the past few days so a little sweet treat is definitely in order.

Requested Repeat Lunch

Molly came home and raved about her lunch and requested that we repeat it.  I love when kids really enjoy something different.  Most kids wouldn't even try peanut butter on banana bread.  You'd get the, "eeewww, MOM are you kidding me?  I'm not eating that.", reaction if you even mentioned it.  But now it is so popular at our house that not just one, but two kids requested it for tomorrow.  The third may want it as well but he doesn't quite have the verbal skills needed to express that yet.

Our main entrée is again homemade banana bread spread with Whole Foods honey roasted peanut butter and made into sandwiches.  If you are looking for this yummy and healthy (two words that are rarely put in the same sentence) recipe, check our post about yesterday's lunch.

The strawberries were a big hit too, so we are going to oblige Molly's request for them to again grace her lunch box.  We can't blame her, they are really delicious and the smell is very comforting.

We switched up the vegetable a little bit.  Our vegetable du jour is edamame.  Yes, those cute little soy beans that almost look like lima beans but taste a little different.  We had all three kids eating them at dinner tonight.  #2, Molly's sister, usually doesn't like them but tonight she ate them like they were going out of style.

We also added a Frigo Cheesehead String Cheese for some added protein and a little salty flavor.  We all are big fans of cheese in our house and this is one of our favorites.  The kids and adults really enjoy this easy and convenient snack.

For dessert, we've decided on old fashioned vanilla wafers.  Yes, most of the time these little lovelies are found in banana pudding or as the base of a tiramisu when lady fingers aren't available, but they are a nice and sweet little treat all by themselves.  Plus, they aren't a heavy cookie that sits at the bottom of your stomach for the rest of the afternoon.

Banana Bread

Mom is pretty tired tonight.  My trainer upped my cardio like crazy tonight.  I'm ready for bed.  But, alas, I am going to make Molly a great lunch because she deserves it.  Plus, I don't have to make anything too outrageous for her because she is pretty happy with whatever ends up in her lunch box.  This is another reason that I am dedicated to her lunches, she's a great kid and would appreciate a simple pb&j every day.

Our main entrée is homemade banana bread spread with Whole Food's honey roasted peanut butter and made into sandwiches.  Banana bread and peanut butter are a great combination.  Molly's Daddy made this very yummy and healthy bread.  The flavor is so delicious that it seems like its not the healthier version.  *See recipe below

We've decided that our fruit will be sliced strawberries.  We found some really nice looking strawberries at the store today so we decided to give them a try.  They aren't as sweet as the early summer variety but they are still delicious nonetheless.

The vegetable for today's lunch is sugar snap peas with a few shredded carrots added in for color.  We can't get enough of these little green goodies in our house.

Dessert is courtesy of Molly's little sister.  It's her turn to bring a snack in for preschool so Molly reaps the rewards of the extras.  We made orange and black cherry Jell-o Jigglers and cut them with leaf shaped cookie cutters for the preschoolers and used a micro cookie cutter to make the scraps look like little jewels for Molly.

Healthy Banana Bread
1/3 c. natural applesauce
3/4 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
2-3 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 c. water
1 2/3 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix applesauce and brown sugar.
Stir in eggs then bananas then water.
Stir in dry ingredients.
Pour mixture into a loaf plan and bake 55-60 minutes or until knife comes out clean.
Cool and enjoy!