Purse Lunch

This is the last week of school this year and we've decided to make a theme lunch every day this week.  This is not an easy task but we're up for it and have the whole week planned out.  Hopefully it will all go off without a hitch. ☺
Monday is the purse theme.  We found some really cute picks at a local bake shop and decided to just go with it.  Plus, one of Molly's favorite entrees is purses.

Our main entree is Trader Joe's Perline Pasta and Prosciutto.  These are little purses of pasta hold yummy bits of prosciutto and cheese.  We added a little bit of light Italian dressing to keep the pasta from drying out.

Our vegetable side is carrot chunks.  These are manageable little pieces that Molly will be able eat easily and quickly during her short lunch period.  We added a little purple purse to this container.

Our fruit side is strawberries and blueberries.  The berries are in full bloom here in PA and taste so delicious this year.  We added a little blue purse to this container.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is vanilla yogurt.  A sweet and creamy end to a yummy lunch.  We added a little pink purse to this container.

Swimming and Sea Creatures

Molly's Grammy and Papa have a beautiful pool in their back yard and we are so lucky to have access to it.  We've spent most of the past two weekends swimming and enjoying family time.  Molly has become quite a little fish.  Her swimming has gotten better and better over the past few summers.  Her new thing is a snorkel.  She just swims around looking underwater at all of the things that "coming up for air" wouldn't let her see before.  Only a few more days of school left before this becomes our full time activity.

Our main entree is a mini cinnamon raisin bagel sandwich.  We split it in half and added whipped cream cheese.  Molly had this last week and loved it.  We added a little sea turtle pick to represent great swimmer, just like Molly.

Our vegetable side is carrot chunks.  This will be a great crunchy addition to lunch.  We added a little shell pick to this container.

Our fruit side is strawberries.  So sweet and juicy with a delicious fragrance and flavor.  We added an octopus pick to this container because it is one of Molly's favorite sea creatures.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is blueberry yogurt.  Molly hasn't had this variety in a while so we figured that it would be a nice change.

Short Week

There was no school today so we stayed in our pajamas, danced around, watched movies and made some crafts.  A great day off.  Now, we're back to the grind.

Our main entree is a salami and smoked Gouda sandwich by request.  Molly has planned out her entire lunch and can't wait to have it tomorrow.

Our vegetable side is carrot and celery sticks.  We added a small container of peanut butter on the side for Molly to dip them in.

Our fruit side is sliced strawberries.  Molly said that these are so sweet and really wants them to be part of her lunch.

Finally, our diary/dessert is Chobani Champions vanilla chocolate chunk yogurt.  At first, Molly wanted the vanilla orange variety but changed her mind last minute.  We were happy to oblige.  

Last Day Before Thanksgiving

Our house is filled with the flurry and excitement of the holidays.  Molly's little sister having her preschool feast tomorrow and she can't wait.  Molly can't wait to have a few days off and neither can her Daddy.  We are all ready for some extra time together as a family. ☺

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone!

Our main entree is Chickarina soup.  It is similar to Wedding soup but has a different, larger, pasta.  Molly has been requesting this for a while after we had it for dinner with some sandwiches.

Our vegetable side is carrot chunks.  We used our crinkle knife to chop up the carrot stick.  Its a fun different way to serve carrots.

Our fruit side is a D'Anjou pear and some pomegranate arils.  These are a huge hit in our house.

Our dairy side is a Babybel cheese and it is being served with some Triscuit thins in Chili flavor.  We figured that this would be a nice addition to Molly's lunch.

Finally, our special Thanksgiving treat is M&Ms.  We had a few of these left in our special treat jar and thought that Molly would really enjoy them.

Fun Fruity Froggies!

Whoa, what a crazy night here.  We have been super busy but we keep on going.  Tomorrow, Molly's little sister is the snack person at preschool.  It is the letter "F,f" day so we decided to make fruity frogs.  We were right in the middle of making them when we realized that there would be no way to bring them to school all in one piece.  So, now we are doing fruity frog faces.  The feet just didn't fit.  But, Molly is the lucky recipient of two fruity frogs since she has a perfect container for them.

Our main entree is a Trader Joe's pimento cheese sandwich.  Yes, the return of one of Molly's favorite lunches of all time!  We used Trader Joe's flat bread, spread some Trader Joe's Pimento Cheese Spread on it and cut it into triangles.  Molly's Daddy was nice enough to make this for us since we were still working on the preschool treat.

Our vegetable side is carrot sticks.  Daddy chopped these up for us too.  He's so awesome to help out and put extra love in Molly's lunch.

Our fruit side is the fruity frogs. They are quartered Granny Smith apples (core removed) with a slit cut out for the mouth.  Then we halved green grapes, notched out toes, and set them in front.  Next, we rolled a few little cream cheese balls and put mini chocolate chips in the center for the eyes and pushed them onto the faces.  Finally, we cut a little bit of a fruit by the foot fruit roll up into a long tongue.  Never know when there might be a fly hanging around at lunch time.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is low fat strawberry yogurt.  This will be a nice creamy end to a super fun lunch.

There Are Mice In My Lunchbox!

Molly has been having a few issues at school with the other kids.  She's the kind of kid that worries about everyone else.  She gets worried that if someone copies off of her paper, they might get the answer wrong on their page if she gets it wrong.  Molly worries if someone else in her class gets in trouble.  It's to the point that she is confusing small and simple things at school because she's so worried.  We had a long talk about focusing on the plethora of positive instead of dwelling on a few negatives.  Hopefully she will find a few positive things in her lunch tomorrow.   

Our main entree is a pumpkin bread sandwich.  Autumn is in full bloom here in Western PA.  The leaves are changing and the weather is cooling down.  Everyone has their scarecrows on display and the apple cider is filling the shelves of the local grocery store.  We made this pumpkin bread for breakfast this morning and the kids got to have a warm slice with a little butter.  We had three very big smiles this morning.  Molly requested that she have this bread made into a sandwich with cream cheese and we were happy to oblige.

Our vegetable side is sliced carrots.  Molly isn't a huge carrot fan but every once in a while, she enjoys them.  We sliced these up and keep them in a container with water in the fridge.  This keeps them nice and crisp and makes them very accessible to anyone walking past the fridge.

Our fruit side is our Strawberry Mice!  We cut the hull end off of the strawberry so that the mice can face up. We added sliced almonds for ears and mini white chocolate chips for the eyes and a nose.  The tiny strawberry mouse came from our very own strawberry plant in the front yard.  Homegrown strawberries are very sweet and they never grow to be that big but the flavor is deliciously intense.  Hopefully, these will put a smile on our Molly's face.  There is one to represent each person in our family. ♥

We added a Colby Jack cheese stick for some extra protein and in case the mice need a little snack because we all know how much mice like cheese.  ☺

Finally, our dairy/dessert is a Chobani Champions in Verry Berry.  We figured that it would be a good compliment to the rest of Molly's lunch.

Another Request!

Since Blogger wasn't working last night, I am going to blog about Molly's lunch a little late so it will be short. This whole lunch was by request.  It all stemmed from our mini ravioli dinner and blossomed from there.

Our main entrée is a pasta salad.  Trader Joe's sells these yummy little packages of deliciousness and calls them mini ravioli.  Our whole family really likes them, even the pickier eaters.  We made these dry pastas for dinner last night and used the left overs for Molly's lunch.  We added some light Italian dressing and small pieces of pepperoni for spice.

Our vegetable side is a baby spinach salad with cucumbers, shredded carrots and fennel.  We served some of the light Italian dressing on the side to compliment the pasta salad.

Our fruit side is a kiwi sliced into spears.  Just a little different than the normal round slices.

Finally our dairy/dessert side is Dannon Light & Fit Vanilla yogurt with fresh raspberries.