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.

Leftover Breakfast!

There was a lot on the schedule again for tonight.  Mom had her final weigh in (and I was down another 2.3 pounds!  WOOT WOOT!), plus a final run before the weekend races.  Then there was an impromptu meeting that I attended.   I knew that the night was going to be busy so breakfast for dinner was on the menu.  Everyone loves it and and it's easy to make and clean up after.

Our main entree is mini pancakes.  We tried a new mix called Honey Wheat Krusteaz.  It got two thumbs up from all of us.  You don't need any syrup because the honey makes them sweet already.  YUM!

Our protein side is bacon and eggs.  Well, bacon and an egg.  There are 3 strips of turkey bacon ripped into smaller pieces and a hard boiled egg.  The shell did not want to be removed so it's not too pretty, but it will still taste great.

Our fruit side is pineapple and cantaloupe pieces.  Mom made fruit bouquets for her weight loss coaches and these are the yummy bits leftover.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is a Chobani Champions Verry Berry Greek yogurt.  Molly loves her Cho!

New Year!

Happy 2012!!!

One of our resolutions is to eat healthier all of the time.  Molly's lunch is generally on the healthy side but we are trying to get away from some of the other things that we have for breakfast and dinner.  We are just like everyone else and fall victim to convenient food.  Yes, it's easier to grab a pop tart or a bowl of sugar cereal than it is to cook oatmeal or eggs but if you plan ahead and get up five minutes earlier, it can make for a much better day.  We also will grab take out more regularly than we should.  Last year, we gave up fast food for lent and we've decided that it wasn't too terrible so we are cutting our drive thru trips to two times a month at most.

I find that planning a weekly menu, shopping the sales and prepping ahead can make it much easier to stick to the plan.  Hopefully the kids won't rally and scream for pizza every week.  But, if they do, we can make our own.

Our main entree is a faux pizza sandwich.  Since it is the first day back after the holidays, the kids will be served pizza for lunch.  We figured that using a bagel thin with provolone and salami all toasted together would be a nice alternative.

Our vegetable side is yellow bell pepper pieces.  We think that it will taste nice with our faux pizza sandwich.

Our fruit side is fresh pineapple and strawberries.  We found this incredibly sweet and juicy pineapple the other day and the flavor is fantastic.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is vanilla yogurt with Trader Joe's Elegant Cocoa Pearls.  They are sweet and crunchy and make the yogurt extra special.  

Lenten Lunch

Tomorrow is our first Lenten lunch because Molly bought her lunch on Wednesday.  When I was growing up we always had grilled cheese and tomato soup or fried fish on Fridays but now we have to be a little bit more creative since we serve a cold lunch.  Also, our family gave up fast food for Lent so any type of food that we serve is homemade.  If we give Molly her favorite cold pizza on Mondays, it will be made by us and not our favorite Sir Pizza.  Hopefully we will have some good ideas for our Lenten lunches and maybe break some traditions.

Our main entrée is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole grain bread.  Yeah, not the most creative meatless meal but we have high hopes that there will be some more inspired entrées over the next few weeks.

Our vegetable side is cucumbers and baby carrots.  These will provide a nice crunchy texture and help to cleanse her palate from the peanut butter.

Our fruit side is a clementine and some fresh pineapple.  This tropical blend is a very refreshing and juicy.

Finally, our fun Friday dessert is a few Chewy Chips Ahoy cookies.  Molly's little brother hasn't been feeling well and he LOVES cookies so we splurged and got some for him.  But since he isn't quite 2 years old yet, he is more than happy to share his container of cookies since he can't eat them all.  Well, he probably could but Mom won't let him. ☺

Getting Better

Molly isn't 100% back to her normal self but she is doing much much better than she was.  We feel that she is ready to head back to school tomorrow.  She's not too pleased with our decision because she doesn't want to go back to school.  She'd rather stay home and play with her sister, color in her coloring books and do her school work here, with one on one help.  We can't blame her but we know that she needs to get back at it, so we made a yummy lunch to help get her through the day.

Our main entrée is left over cold pepperoni pizza.  Yes, that classic Monday lunch is back.  (You're welcome BFF!)  Molly's Papa imported this most excellent pizza from Buffalo, NY along with some classic wings for our Sunday dinner.  THANK YOU, PAPA!!!  It is such an incredible treat to get authentic pizza and wings from Imperial.

Our vegetable side is baby carrots.  These came with the wings and we decided that they would be a great addition to Molly's lunch.

Our fruit side is fresh pineapple and fresh strawberries.  We found an incredibly juicy pineapple at Sam's Club and the whole family has been devouring it all weekend.  We also added some strawberries for extra sweetness.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is Dannon Light and Fit vanilla yogurt.  This sweet and creamy treat will definitely be a great ending to Molly's lunch.