Day 5, FUN FRIDAY!!!

We've made it!!!!  We have survived the first week of school!!!

We've always had a tradition of having a dessert or something fun on Fridays as a way to celebrate making it through the week.  Well, this week is our first Fun Friday of the year in Laptop Lunch Boxes.  Link below.

 

Our main entree is a pepperoni roll from an awesome little bake shop near our new house.  We added a small container of Ranch for dipping.

Our vegetable side is baby carrots.

Our fruit is grapes and clementine segments.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is two heart shaped cookies from the bakery.

Fun Friday Christmas Lunch

We had a fun night tonight filled with traditions.  C. J. had open house at his preschool (which both of the girls attended when they were younger).  We had a great time looking at all of his crafts and meeting his little friends.  Afterward, as we do every year, we drove all around and looked at everyone's Christmas lights.  There were brightly colored twinkling lights and big blow up snowmen, Santas and Snoopys.  We saw some big beautiful displays and some simple displays.  It was awesome!

Our main entree is a salami and cheese sandwich.  We used a Christmas stocking cookie cutter to cut it out and then used our food safe markers to color them in.  I wrote their names on them but they are kind of hard to see.

Our vegetable side is....well corn, maybe.  We added Xochitl tortilla chips in their red and green Christmas variety.

Our fruit side is strawberries.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is a Trader Joe's Pfeffernusse cookie and a few Christmas themed gummies.

There is also a little note from Lunch Box Love.  They have really cute sayings on the front and then fun trivia on the back.  Use the code: MOLLY to receive 15% off.

PJ Day!

Molly's school has been having these "Funky Friday$" to raise money for their new playground.  On these days, the students can wear something funky on the specified Friday for a $1 donation.  Molly wore her Cat in the Hat outfit for the Dr. Seuss day.  She had very poofy and tall hair for crazy hair day.

Tomorrow is PJ day.  Molly will be wearing her favorite fuzzy pink Hello Kitty pajama pants and a fun pink top.  Plus, we will be putting a few pink foam rollers in her hair just for fun.  PJ Day calls for breakfast for lunch.  We decided to go a little crazy with this one.  Pancakes can be very versatile. ☺

Our main entree is pancakes.  We put the batter into a squeeze bottle and created fun shapes.  We attempted to make some Hello Kitty pancakes (to match her PJs) and wrote Molly's name too.  Writing in cursive backwards with a squeeze bottle is more complicated than it seems.  We added a small container of Biscoff Spread (after we took the picture) in case Molly wants to spread it on any of the pancakes.

Our fruit side is cantaloupe and strawberries.  These are a nice accompaniment to the pancakes.

Our dairy/dessert is a Chobani Verry Berry Greek yogurt.  These were on sale at the store yesterday so we scarfed some up.  This will serve as a great source of protein too.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is two mini candy bars from Easter.  One is a Krackle Bar and one is a Mr. Goodbar.  Nothing like a little chocolate to complete a yummy lunch.

Fun Friday

We have had a fun week this week.  Valentine's Day was awesome with special treats for the whole family.  Today was silly day at Molly's little sister's preschool so we were all acting silly all day.  Now, we're ready for our long weekend to be here.  We're hoping to get in some play time with the neighbors and maybe make some crafts.  Who knows?  We try to make the most of any extra days off of school, even if it just becomes a pajama day and we veg out and watch movies all day.  Family time is always fun.

Our main entree is a Buffalo chicken sandwich.  We stacked our Castle Wood Buffalo style chicken breast on our bread and added a slice of smoked Gouda cheese.  YUMMY!

Our vegetable side is cucumber slices.  We used a star shaped micro cookie cutter to take the seeds out of the center.  Molly will get a kick out of that.

Our fruit side is sliced strawberries.  Our kids can't seem to get enough of these lately.  They are very sweet and absolutely huge.  There are only two strawberries in that container.  Crazy!

Our dairy side is Chobani Champions orange vanilla Greek yogurt.  We put a small container of mini chocolate chips in the strawberry container for Molly to add to her yogurt.  She loved it when we did that last time.

Finally, our fun Friday treat is a Lindt white chocolate truffle.  We got all of the kids their favorite chocolates for Valentine's Day and this is Molly's.  

F-R-I-D-A-Y!

Final school day of the crazy week.  Molly is very excited to go to school tomorrow because she is so confident about her spelling test tomorrow.  She's been practicing all week and even the hard words aren't intimidating her.  Plus, it's Fun Friday!

Our main entree is a salami sandwich.  We used the new Sara Lee Iron Kids bread.  It has extra iron and calcium that are important for a kid's diet.  We added, salami, pepper-jack cheese and mustard then used a large heart cookie cutter and a micro heart cookie cutter to show our love for our girl.

Our vegetable side is a tossed salad.  Molly's Daddy helped out and made this for her.  There are black olives and light Italian dressing accompanying it.

Our fruit side is sliced strawberries.  We bought these today and the smell incredibly sweet and delicious.  Molly's Daddy also helped out with these by slicing them up just for his little girl.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is a Little Debbie Pumpkin Delight cookie.  These are only around once a year so we have to take advantage of that awesome fall flavor.

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. ☺

Full Friday

This Friday is going to be a little hectic, actually this whole weekend is.  We have plans for just about every day. Tomorrow after school, Molly has ballet.  Then we will be headed to the High School for a basketball game that Molly and her BFF's (along with several other girls) will be able to cheer at as part of his past summer's Rah Rah Camp.  After that, we (the BFF's and their families) are going to go out for an ice cream or some sort of other snack.  Molly can't wait.  She actually went to bed early tonight so that she will be energized for tomorrow.  Saturday, we are going to see Mary Poppins on stage!  I'm REALLY excited about this one because Mary Poppins has always been a personal favorite.  After that, we will come home and cheer on our favorite Pittsburgh Steelers as they play in a playoff game.  HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO!!

Our main entrée is a good old pb&j.  Molly requested this classic lunch staple.  We spread peanut butter and strawberry jam on whole wheat bread and then used a large flower cookie cutter and a small star cookie cutter to cut it.

Our vegetable side is a baby spinach salad.  We added a few shredded carrots for sweetness and crunch.  This is accompanied by Trader Joe's Balsamic Vinaigrette.

Our fruit side is a kiwi and some pomegranate seeds.  Both pretty and delicious.

Our dairy side is a string cheese stick.  This provides a little extra protein to round out our lunch.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is two Aldi Milk Chocolate Covered Gingerbread Hearts.  Molly will be so excited to have this special yummy treat, and she truly deserves it. ☺

Final Friday!

It's the final Friday of school for this calendar year.  The last "Fun Friday" until 2011.  We are almost done with 2010 and as I look back, I can't believe how much my Molly has grown up.  Physically, I'd say that she's grown at least 4 or 5 inches taller in 2010.  Mentally, she is doing so much better with every subject in school and her intellectual growth is astonishing.  Spiritually, I can see an incredible relationship with God blossoming.  She is asking a million questions and learning how to pray. She has a better understanding and appreciation for the Bible and why and how things happened so that she can live life the way that she does.  This is such a fun age!

Now it's time for lunch that Molly's Daddy was AWESOME enough to help me with.  You Rock Daddy!

Our main entrée is a peanut butter and jelly on white bread.  After all, they are cut out like snowmen so they needed to be white. ☺ We used Trader Joe's Cranberry Apple Butter as our jelly on these.  It's tartness and sweetness are such a great compliment to just about anything.

Our vegetable side is organic carrots cut into sticks.  We have these on hand almost all of the time in our house.  They are one of those great things to have around for a quick snack because they satisfy that crunch craving, and they are very good for you.

Our fruit side is a Clementine.  Molly really likes these.  Oranges of any type always remind me of the holidays because when I was young, we used to stud oranges with whole cloves to make the house smell good.  And boy did it ever!

Finally, our Final Fun Friday treat is S'More Pops!  We stuck a lollipop stick in a marshmallow, dipped it in melted milk chocolate and set them on crushed graham crackers.  We then sprinkled some Christmas-like sprinkles or Jimmies (if you are from the Pittsburgh area) on them to make them more festive.  We make these every year for teachers, neighbors and friends.  We then attach a note saying, "Have a Merry Christmas and many S'More!"

Fun Friday Plus a Reward Lunch

Despite it being a shortened school week, it seems to have dragged on.  I think that Daylight Savings time is really catching up to us.  See, having a 3 year old basically cancels out that extra hour of sleep.  We still put her to bed at the same time but she keeps waking an hour early.  This has caused said 3 year old to get quite grumpy and defiant today which makes us even more exhausted.  Here's hoping that everything gets caught up this weekend!  At least Molly is pretty much back on schedule.  I guess that's the difference between 3 year olds and 6 year olds.

Now on to Fun Friday!  Molly just loves Fun Friday.  We are actually giving her some money in her lunch box for the school store.  She's been working so hard on her reading and sight words and she deserves a reward.  The school PTA has a store in the cafeteria on Friday where the kids can buy fun little things like pencils, notebooks and stickers.  I think it's a great way to help the kids understand how money works and the importance of rewards.

Our main entrée is a peanut butter and jelly with extra jelly, by request.  We were informed that the last few sandwiches were a little peanut butter heavy and more jelly would make them taste better.  Kids!  So, we have fulfilled this request.

Our fruit side is a honey crisp apple.  These apples taste so much like apple cider.  There is an extra sweetness and you can almost taste a little cinnamon.  Very delicious.

Our veggie side is sugar snap peas.  We're not sure how much longer these will be available so we are taking advantage of them while we can.

Finally, we have a special Fun Friday dessert.  We picked up some Oreo Cakesters earlier this week and we've been saving them for this lunch.  These are the peanut butter creme filled Oreo Cakesters.  A very yummy Fun Friday treat indeed!