Pizza Time!

After a fun weekend, we're ready to get back to a full week of school.  We are taking a cue from the school lunch menu again and made some pizza for Molly's Monday lunch.

Our main entree is cheese pizza.  We used a Trader Joe's Middle Eastern Flatbread as our crust, added sauce and cheese, then baked it off.  Molly said that she really likes having this pizza because it tastes like home.

Our vegetable side is a green salad.  When we were in school, salad was always served with pizza.  This is accompanied by some light ranch dressing.

Our fruit side is Granny Smith apple slices.  Our family goes through a lot of apples because all of the kids like  them, especially Molly's little brother.  He's the only person we know that would eat an apple at every meal.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is vanilla yogurt.  It's still Molly's favorite.

Happy Parade Day!

As I said yesterday, we have a fantastic parade in our little town for Halloween.  All the kids get dressed up, parade down the main street for all to see, go to the judging area, then get a big bag of goodies.  This is the beauty of living in a small town...tradition.
Our whole family had a fantastic time dressing up as the characters from the Wizard of Oz and hopefully (fingers crossed) we'll win a prize!  Here's a picture from the festivities...

*You may notice the the Cowardly Lion is missing.  The dog had a wardrobe malfunction.  He just didn't want to keep his costume on so we were fine with letting him sit out the parade.

Our main entree is a Trader Joe's Pimento Cheese Sandwich.  Molly requested this and we were so pleased because it was nice and easy for us.  We used Trader Joe's pimento cheese spread on a Trader Joe's middle eastern flat bread and cut it into triangles.  This is always a hit!

Our fruit side is a Granny Smith apple.  We sliced most of these up and then cut out a jack o'lantern face on a quarter of it just to keep with the Halloween theme.

Our vegetable side is mini peppers.  Again, we sliced up most of these.  We used a yellow and an orange pepper.  Then, we cut out a jack o'lantern face in half of one of the orange ones.

Our dairy side is strawberry yogurt.  Molly lights up every time we tell her that this is in her lunch.

Finally, we added a little something from the goody bag.  Yes, we usually wait until Friday for a fun treat, but we decided that since she was a real trooper for the long parade, she deserved a mini Kit Kat. ☺

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.

1st Day of School Lunch!

Tomorrow marks the 1st day of second grade for our girl, Molly.  She is excited and nervous all at the same time.  I remember not being able to sleep the night before the first day of school.  The adrenaline was enough to make me sick.  Molly can't wait to see her friends and meet her teacher even if there is some resistance on her part since she's such a homebody.  We are very excited to hear all of the stories that the day will bring.

We had a fantastic and busy summer but we are ready to get back at it.  We are ready for our scheduled days and the fun that weekends hold.  We are looking forward to an incredible year with lots of new adventures.

Our main entree is tortellini pasta salad.  Molly chose this for her first lunch because she wanted something that reminded her of the fun summer meals that we had.  The salad includes Trader Joe's Cheese Tortellini, turkey pepperoni, light pepper jack cheese, sliced olives and light Italian salad dressing.  This should keep her nice and full for the rest of the school day.

Our vegetable side may seem a little different.  They are called ground cherries.  They are actually tomatoes and a member of the tomatillo family, which is why they have a "wrapper" around them.  You just peel the wrapper off and pop the sweet little cherries out.  Ground cherries are very sweet and have an almost pineapple-like flavor.  We found these at a local farmers' market and we can't get enough of them.

Our fruit side is a sliced Granny Smith apple and blueberries.  Molly chose these and actually helped clean them and put them in her lunch box.  They are both tart in flavor and will offset the sweetness of the ground cherries.  It's kind of like opposite day. ☺

Finally, Molly chose Dannon Light and Fit vanilla yogurt for her dessert.  She said that she wanted to put a few blueberries in it and maybe even dip her apples in it.  After Molly left to get her backpack and outfit ready, we added a single Hershey's Kiss.  A simple reminder of the love that waits for her when she gets home. ♥

Have a blast in the 2nd Grade, Molly!  It's going to be an awesome year!

We purchased Molly's actual lunch box from www.laptoplunches.com

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.