Tinsel Tuesday

Our family has become obsessed with Disney's Prep and Landing, to the point that it is #3 on our all time favorite Christmas television specials.  We think that the story of Wayne and Lanny's attempt to save Christmas for Timmy Terwelp is so fun, hysterical and heartwarming.  One of Lanny's favorite phrases is, "this is SO Tinsel!"  Now our family is calling really neat or cool things, tinsel.  We received a very pretty Christmas card in the mail today and Molly's little sister said, "that's SO tinsel, Mom."  So, tomorrow will be Tinsel Tuesday because it's going to be a fun day at school and at home.  There are still a few more Christmas specials to watch and a few more cookies to bake.  This truly is the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Our main entrée is a croissant sandwich with Castle Wood Honey Ham and Castle Wood Pepper Jack Cheese.  We added a little bit of mustard at Molly's request.  We also added pea shoots for a great veggie flavor and not the normal lettuce.  The croissant is a special and delicious Christmastime treat.

Our veggie side is carrot sticks dressed with a few extra pea shoots to fancy it up.  We feel that the crunch of the carrots will be an excellent pairing with the softness of the sandwich.

Our fruit side is a Clementine with a few pomegranate seeds to dress it up.  Molly absolutely loved the pomegranate seeds from yesterday's lunch so this may be a recurring fruit in her lunch.

Finally, we added two Hershey's kisses for her dessert.  Just a little something sweet to end her lunch.

ps - in case you are wondering what our top two picks for Christmas television specials are, here goes:
#1 - Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas
#2 - A Charlie Brown Christmas

New and Interesting Foods

Yesterday, I lamented about how we didn't have very much in the fresh fruit or vegetable category in our house.  Well, we remedied that today.  Sam's Club has an incredible selection of fresh produce and we took full advantage of it.  I find it important to introduce new or different things to my kids.  Even if they don't like it at first or have not liked it in the past, we always try it again.  We have a two bite rule at our house.  If after two bites, they still don't like it, then they don't have to eat anymore of it.  This works pretty well for us, usually.  We'll see how the star fruit goes over in tomorrow's lunch.

Our main entrée is Castle Wood Honey Ham and Kraft 2% Cheddar Cheese.  We rolled up the ham and sliced it in half for a fun new twist.  Molly's Daddy was nice enough to chunk up the cheese and he did an excellent job!

Our veggie side is a baby spinach salad.  This will be a nice contrast the the salty and creamy flavors of the main entrée.

Our fruit side is a combination of kiwi, raspberries and star fruit.  The kiwi is sweet and tart at the same time.  The raspberries are incredibly flavorful.  And the star fruit, if you never tasted it, could be described as a cross between a green grape and a lime.  This combination is absolutely delicious!

Finally, the dessert is Mini Honey Teddy Grahams.  Molly really likes these.  They aren't too sweet and have a nice crunch.

What happened to Fall?

Where in the world did fall go?  It was in the 80's for weeks in September and October.  Then we had about a week or two of some nice 60-70 degree days.  Now its in the 30's and they are threatening snow!  I'm not a happy camper.  I love the fall and I feel like we got ripped off because it was so brief.  Plus, everyone in my house has some sort of cold so we are going through tissues at a rapid pace.  Hopefully we will have a nice long spring this year.  These extreme temperature changes are NOT fun.  No matter what, there is still school, which means that there is still lunch.  So, without further ado, here's tomorrow's lunch.

Our main entrée is a Castle Wood Honey Ham and Castle Wood Pepper Jack Cheese sandwich on white with mustard.  We used a large heart shaped cookie cutter for the main sandwich and a star micro cookie cutter for the tiny sandwiches.  

Our vegetable side is mini dill pickles.  Molly just loves these crunchy, salty and vinegary goodies.  They are a great accompaniment to a ham sandwich.  My grandmother always had a big array of pickles and olives on her relish trays that were always set out with sandwiches.  We think that her traditions are awesome so we keep them going, even in a packed lunch.

Our fruit side is a small apple cut into slices.  We've added a little dessert element to today's fruit with some Tastefully Simple Creamy Caramel Sauce on the side as a dip.  We all really like this sauce.  It tastes great, even just on a spoon.

Finally we are serving a dairy side since we've hit dessert in our fruit side.  We have some Dannon Light and Fit Strawberry Yogurt as our dairy side.  Its a nice creamy sweet flavor to balance out the whole meal.  

Post Parade Lunch

The Halloween Parade was so much fun tonight.  Molly was a kitchen fairy.  We painted some wooden spoons and sewed them on to fairy wings.  We had her wear an apron and put a big fluffy tutu on top of it.  Finally we glitzed out a whisk with some ribbons for her wand and then adorned a chef's hat with a tiara to add some sparkle.  She looked adorable and loved being part of the annual parade.  After cleaning up and a snack, we put the kids to bed and now its time to make tomorrow's lunch.

Our main entrée is a Castlewood Honey Ham roll up.  We spread some whipped cream cheese on a soft flour tortilla, layered some ham and spinach on top, rolled it up and sliced it.  It's not your ordinary sandwich and has some great flavors.

Our vegetable side is steamed green beans.  These fresh green beans are still crunchy after being steamed and are loaded with great vitamins and minerals.

Our fruit side is a few apple chunks.  This Granny Smith apple is sweet and tart with a great firm and crunchy texture.

Our dessert is Tastefully Simple Twisty Grahams.  Sweet, crunchy and a great finish to our meal.

It's Friday!

And another Friday rolls around.  FINALLY!  I am so happy that we made it through the week.  It's a big week for us next week with all of the Halloween festivities so I'm very glad that the calm before the storm is here to gear us up for another awesome week.  Happy Friday Everyone!

Our main entrée is a Castlewood Honey Ham and Castlewood Pepper Jack Cheese sandwich.  We used a ballerina cookie cutter for this because Molly has ballet after school.  She will be so excited because we've never used this cookie cutter before.

The vegetable of the day is carrot sticks.  Molly enjoyed the crinkle cut carrots but is also a fan of the sticks, so we decided to mix it up a little bit since she's already had carrots this week.

We've decided on mandarin oranges for the fruit side.  Sweet, juicy and so delicious.  These oranges are almost dessert-like because they are so sweet.

Finally, we have our Fun Friday treat.  We purchased a few more Little Debbie Pumpkin Delights before the season is over and we've decided that it would be a great Fun Friday treat for our Molly.

Have a great weekend!

A little SPOOKY!

Tonight I had a PTA meeting and I was in charge of refreshments.  When I went to the first PTA meeting this year, Kelly, the head of hospitality, did an entire back to school themed snack.  She made a school bus shaped cake, pencils made of string cheese and Bugles for the tip, plus some other really adorable things.  I felt like I had to keep up with this stellar display of refreshments so, I made my theme Halloween and went a little nuts.  First, I had a veggie tray with hummus, real scary right?  BUT, I peeled carrots and made them look like fingers by notching out knuckles and putting a sliced almond on the tip to make it look like a finger nail.  I put these fingers in the hummus and it looked like a hand was coming out of it.  Next I mixed some Tastefully Simple Spinach and Herb Dip Mix with one brick of cream cheese and the Fiesta Dip Mix with another brick of cream cheese.  After letting them sit in the fridge for a while, I scooped out small portions and rolled them into small balls.  I put slices of olives on them and they looked like eyeballs!  These were served with crackers.  I made vampire apples by quartering some Jonagold apples and cutting out a mouth, then I pushed slivered almonds into the mouth to make the teeth.  Finally I made some brownies, frosted them with cream cheese frosting, and piped spiderwebs and spiders on top with milk chocolate.  I think everything was a hit because there were only a few veggies and a couple of apples for me to bring home.  You'll see a few of the left overs in Molly's lunch.

Our main entrée is a Castlewood Honey Ham and Castlewood Pepper Jack Cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread with a little mustard for extra flavor.  We've cut this sandwich into a ghost and pumpkin to get us in the mood for Halloween.  Headless Horseman anyone?

The vegetable side is carrots and sugar snap peas.  The carrots were cut with a crinkle knife for texture and to make it easier to bite into.  The sugar snap peas are alway a favorite and go well with the carrots because they are both sweet.

For our fruit side, we are using some of the left over vampire apples.  We chose the Jonagold apples because of their bright red color, good for lips, and their firm yet sweet texture.  The slivered almonds do become a little soft and sometimes break but that's a great way to show your kids what happens when they eat too much candy.  ☺

Finally we have Annie's Homegrown Bunny Graham Friends for dessert.  This is a great blend of chocolate, vanilla and chocolate chip graham crackers.  It's just enough sweetness to get Molly through the second half of the day.

Sleep, Weekends and Oh Yeah, Lunch!

The countdown has been on all week.  Molly keeps saying, "we're getting closer to the weekend" or "is it the weekend yet?"  She keeps asking because she can't wait to sleep in on Saturday.  Mind you, I wake her up at 7:45 on school mornings and can barely drag her out of bed.  Then, Saturday morning comes around and she's up before 7:00.  I don't understand the logic of this.  If she is so tired during the week, then why doesn't she sleep in on the weekend?  Every morning, I go up to her room, reach over the top bunk and very quietly say, "Molly, honey, it's time to get up."  Then she proceeds to moan and groan like I am asking her to clean up every toy within a 5 mile radius.  So why, on Saturday morning when she has full advantage of sleeping until every last curl on her head has puffed out into whatever crazy shape the endless movement she does while sleeping causes it to do, does she wake up even earlier than the days when she's practically crying because it's too early?  But I must not complain because my incredible husband lets me sleep in on Saturdays so he is the one that has to deal with it.  Thanks Honey, you're the best!  Oh, yeah...one more day of school until the weekend, so on to lunch.

Our main entrée is a Castle Wood Honey Ham with Castle Wood Pepper Jack Cheese sandwich.  We've cut these into two different leaf patterns because WE LOVE FALL!  We also added a little bit of mustard for extra flavor and because Molly is a big fan of mustard.

The fruit selection is a sugar pear.  We like how the colors on it vary.  The taste is so sweet and mild and the texture is a lot more smooth than most pears.  Plus, its very small so it makes a nice addition for a Friday lunch.

We grew lots of peppers in our garden this year and they keep on coming so we're serving slices of red pepper for our vegetable side.  We were amazed at the amount of vegetables that we are still getting and this beauty was perfectly ripe for the picking today.  The red color is amazing and it is so crisp and crunchy yet still has a subtle sweet flavor.

Fun Friday would not be complete without a special Friday treat.  We've placed some Junior Mints in a heart shaped silicone cupcake mold.  It's just our way of telling Molly how much we love her and what a great job she is doing in school and at home.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Autumn Lunch

This whole weekend was awesome.  We had no other huge plans and declared it Family Fun Weekend!  (note: I had a meeting this afternoon but it was during nap time.)  We enjoyed the cool weather, the crisp autumn air and the gorgeous colors that the fall brings to Western Pennsylvania every year.  After an incredible autumn filled weekend, we're sticking with the theme for Molly's lunch.

Our main entrée is pumpkin pancakes.  These were made by using canned pumpkin in the place of eggs for a boxed pancake mix.  We also added some extra cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla for spice and a little bit of Agave Nectar to make them sweeter and easier to eat while cold.  We cut these pancakes with leaf and pumpkin cookie cutters so there aren't 3 huge pancakes to eat, plus they go with our theme.  They are served with a side of light cream cheese that is flavored with a generous amount of Trader Joe's Pumpkin Butter.  Molly can spread this on her pancakes or just use it as a dip.


We have some Castle Wood Honey Ham as a protein side since the main entrée is carbohydrate based.  We cut the ham with a pumpkin shaped cookie cutter.  (Cook's note: It is very hard to make ham look appetizing by itself.  We tried skewering it, it looked like intestines and we're not going for a gory Halloween theme...yet.  Then we tried rolling it; very wormy looking.  So, we stuck with cookie cutters in the hopes that Molly will find it fun and delicious at the same time.)


Our fruit side is an Empire apple that is peeled and cut into slices.  We added a little bit of orange juice to help keep them from browning.  This was a request of Molly's.  She loves apples, especially crunchy ones.


The vegetable side for our Autumn Lunch is carrots because they represent one of the most gorgeous fall colors, orange.  We fancied them up a little bit to keep lunch interesting.


We've decided not to do a dessert.  This weekend included a trip to our favorite candy store on the planet, Baldinger's.  We feel that Molly has ingested enough sugar from her scrumptious selections that she can go without it in this Autumn Lunch.

Special Saturday Picnic Lunch

A few days ago I had mentioned that my family has a tradition of going to McConnell's Mill State Park every fall.  Well, today was the day!  We had an official "Family Fun Day" with a trip to McConnell's Mill, a picnic lunch, running in the field, a snack at Brown's Country Kitchen, a trip to Baldinger's Candy Store and a great car ride with the windows down, enjoying the incredible autumn air.  The trees are turning gorgeous colors and the weather has chilled to a perfect playing outside temperature.  We had one of our best days EVER!

Our main entrée was pinwheel sandwiches.  We spread Laughing Cow Light Mozzarella Sun-Dried Tomato and Basil cheese on a tortilla.  We then layered Castle Wood Honey Ham or Castle Wood Turkey Pastrami on top.  Next we put a layer of spinach on top of the meat and rolled the tortilla like a jelly roll.  We sliced the roll into pieces and they were ready to eat.  We didn't think that Molly's 1 year old brother would be too keen with this entrée so we made him a good old pb&j cut into quarters.  He loved the pb&j but also enjoyed the pinwheels.  Guess we don't have to make something different for him next time.

The vegetables of the day were mini sweet peppers, cut into strips, and sugar snap peas.  The kids really love the crunch of these vegetables.  Molly and her sister actually ate more veggies than chips.  It was pretty incredible.

An easy fruit for a picnic is apples.  Whole apples are great but when a few family members don't have all of their teeth yet, we opted to peel and cut our Empire Apples.  We added a little bit of orange juice to keep them from browning.

Since it was a picnic, potato chips were definitely in order.  We purchased some baked potato crisps from Giant Eagle, our local grocery chain.  We opted for the Cheddar and Sour Cream flavor and man, were they good!  Its products like this that make healthy eating a little easier.

Our outrageously awesome dessert was a cupcake tasting provided by Babee Cakes Bakery!  (Click to see the incredible menu.)  April sent a box of goodies to us that included 3 different flavors.  Since cupcakes are temperamental during shipping, April sent these incredible treats in individual containers which made them into cupcake parfaits, almost like a shot glass dessert.  YUM!  We received the Pucker Up, a Lemon and Ginger cupcake, the Little Punkin, enough said, and the Snow White, a white chocolate wonder with a lightly minted and the most delicious frosting that we've ever eaten.  April my dear, you have quite a gift!

Throw in a few bottles of water and some Honest Kids Super Fruit Punch for the kids and we were set!

As I mentioned, after running around and working up an appetite again, we headed to Brown's Country Kitchen in Portersville.  They have such great food but its the pie that brings us back every time.  This place is like an old fashioned diner meets Grandma's kitchen.  Its a little off of the beaten path but the locals know it well and visit it often.

After we sufficiently stuffed ourselves, we headed to Baldinger's Candy Store.  This place has been around forever.  Well, the old place was around forever.  But, they've opened a newer store and it is still wonderful.  There is a distinct candy smell when you open the door.  Everything is laid out so nicely on old tables with signs that read, "Every item on this table is 10 Cents" or "Penny Candy".  Yes, they still have candy for a penny.  It is a rite of passage for just about every kid who has ever lived in the northern suburbs of Pittsburgh.

Our ride was so serene.  The leaves are all changing but they haven't really started to fall yet.  The trees were vibrant and full.  The colors are unmatched by any crayon I've ever seen.  Autumn is definitely my favorite season and this tradition makes it even better.

Finally Friday!

Goodbye September...Hello October!  This week seems to have dragged on, and I'm so happy that Friday is finally here.  Molly really enjoyed her lunch today and asked for a repeat performance tomorrow.  I am glad to oblige since its a pretty easy meal to prepare.  Also, its Friday and she has been really good this week, so we are going to have a Fun Friday treat.

Our main entrée is a Castle Wood thinly sliced honey ham and Castle Wood pepper jack cheese sandwich on whole wheat.  We added mustard because it is Molly's condiment of choice.  We used some fun cookie cutters again.  Molly especially likes the little sandwiches cut with the micro cookie cutters.

We're paying homage to Nana's traditions again by adding black olives and mini dill pickles.  All of our kids love pickles and olives.  A lot of kids frown at the sour taste but not ours, they would eat them with every meal if we allowed it.

The fruit selection is Trader Joe's no sugar added applesauce with cinnamon sprinkled on top.  We were going to use prune plums but when we looked at the few that we had, they had gone bad.  Its a shame because we only get fresh fruit for so long and then in the winter months it gets very expensive.  But since Molly enjoys applesauce so much, it will be a great alternative to something fresh.

Now for our Fun Friday treat!  Trader Joe's has some new cookies called Peanut Butter Goodies.  They are similar to a Girl Scout Tagalong cookie but there is more shortbread cookie inside of it.  Also, there are chopped peanuts on top.  Goodies describe them quite well.  They are absolutely delicious.

Have a great weekend!

This lunch is a mix of Molly's favorites.  I took inspiration from my grandmother, Nana.  She was the one that got me interested in cookie cutters and because of her, I have quite a collection.  Nana has always been very particular about the way that she presents her food.  She had 8 kids and always made sure that they had beautiful meals every day.  Her traditions are something that I strive to emulate.  

Our main entrée is a Castle Wood Thinly Sliced Honey Ham and Castle Wood Pepper Jack Cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread with a little mustard.  We cut this sandwich with a large heart cookie cutter and several micro cookie cutters, just for fun.  Molly raved about this ham and requested a ham sandwich.  We all agree, the ham is pretty darn yummy and has only 60 calories for 2 oz.  

The vegetable side is a pretty unconventional "vegetable" but they are both favorites of Molly's.  We have mini dill pickles and black olives.  Every time we go to my grandmother's house for lunch she serves pickles and olives on a relish tray to go with sandwiches.  So, we are taking Nana's lead and and serving them as a compliment to Molly's sandwich.  

We have Trader Joe's no sugar added applesauce for our fruit.  We topped it with a little dash of cinnamon, just like Nana does.  We find that it enhances the flavor of the applesauce, especially since there is no sugar added.

Finally we have a special dessert.  We made a Cinnamon Muffin Melt by Tastefully Simple.  This is like a cross between a cupcake, a doughnut and a muffin.  We HIGHLY recommend these because not only are they absolutely scrumptious, they are incredibly easy to make.

Half Way Wednesday

Half way through the week tomorrow!  We're planning some family time this weekend, and I can't wait.  Every year we drive up to a place called McConnell's Mill State Park, which is about 40 minutes north of where we live.  We pack up a big picnic lunch, a blanket or two to spread out, and we're on our way.  It is gorgeous in the fall.  The cool crisp weather lends itself nicely to running around the huge open grounds of the park and collecting the colorful leaves that have fallen from the thousands of trees.  It's a wonderful place full of many memories for our family and a tradition that we hope will be passed down to generations after us.

I went to the store today and purchased a few things for the picnic.  I've decided to use a some of them for Molly's lunches.  Although, part of me thinks that I may have to make another trip to the store because my husband got a taste of a few things, and he really liked them.

Our main entrée is a pinwheel sandwich.  We flavored some light cream cheese with sun dried tomatoes packed in olive oil.  A little goes a long way with sun dried tomatoes because of the concentrated flavor, so be sure to taste as you go.  We spread the cream cheese mixture all over a whole grain tortilla from Trader Joe's.  Next, we added a couple of slices of Castle Wood Honey Ham and a some baby spinach before rolling our tortilla up like a sushi roll.  We sliced the roll into pieces, making sure to keep the roll in tact so that it won't fall apart when Molly eats it.

The vegetable side is canned, no salt added, cut green beans.  This was a request of Molly's after she ate some left over green beans directly from refrigerator.  We never would have thought of giving this to her because she is a little picky with her vegetables.  We're delighted that she came up with it though.  We eat green beans very frequently and the left overs will make lunch packing much easier.

Our choice of fruit is a sugar pear.  Molly requested one of these as well after seeing them in the refrigerator.  She said that they are small, sweet and perfect for a lunch box meal.  

Molly's dessert is Ginger Cat cookies from Trader Joe's.  These cookies have such a great flavor.  They are a little bit spicy without causing your tongue to sting.  The kids like them a little more than the Trader Joe's Triple Ginger cookies which have a very strong ginger flavor that can kind of attack the palate.  The grown ups in the house really like the Triple Ginger cookies though.

ps - Picture day was a success.  From her perfectly purple outfit to the tamed ringlets in her hair, she was picture perfect, at least when she left my van.  ☺