Theme Week Lunch 4 - 3rd Grade!

We were going to save this lunch for the last day of school but Molly will be celebrating her un-birthday at school on Friday so we decided to switch up the last two days.  We can't believe that the 2nd grade is almost over and our big girl will be a 3rd grader in a few short months.  It is so exciting to think about all of the fun things that she has to look forward to next year.

Our main entree is a cheese quesadilla.  We melted cheese between two flour tortillas, cooled it down and then used a number 3 cookie cutter to cut out lots of 3s for our favorite soon to be third grader.  There is a side of Trader Joe's salsa verde for dipping because it is one of Molly's favorites.

Our vegetable side is cucumbers.  We have a small number 3 cookie cutter that we used to cut these out.

Our fruit side is green grapes, blueberries and apricots.  We used the same small number 3 cookie cutter to cut out the apricot to keep up with our theme.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is a Chobani Champions Chocolate Chunk Greek yogurt.  This is Molly's favorite yogurt so we had to include it.  We used some small Post-Its on the lid that say, "Look Out 3rd Grade, Here Comes Molly!"

One more lunch before summer vacation!!! ☺

Busy Week, Yummy Lunch

Our busy week continues.  Well, Mom's busy week, that is.  Between training for the half marathon, cross training and the consignment sale, this week is flying by.  Molly's lunch was thrown together quickly so that Mom can get to sleep.

Our main entree is a pasta salad.  We figured that this would be a nice cool lunch for a warm day.  We added turkey pepperoni, a little mozzarella and some light Italian dressing to precooked radiator pasta.

Our vegetable side is baby carrots.  We added a small container of roasted red pepper hummus so that Molly could dip her carrots into it.

Our fruit side is green grapes.  We picked up a bunch of produce at Aldi today and these were part of it.  They are firm, juicy and were inexpensive.  Win/Win!

Our dairy side is a string cheese.  There isn't a lot of protein in Molly's lunch so we added this so that she won't be starving by the time she gets home.

Finally, our dessert is plain vanilla yogurt.  A simple and sweet way to end a yummy lunch.

Fall Fun

We've been having so much fun getting into fall this year.  Our annual visits to our favorite pumpkin patch, state park and candy store are all done.  Our Halloween parade, costumes and decorations are all done and there are only a few more things to do before the big day.  We can't wait for pumpkin carving, school parties and trick or treat with the annual screening of "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."

Tomorrow's lunch has a few Halloween touches to it too, just to keep Molly in the spirit.

Our main entree is peanut butter and nutella sandwiches.  It was such a hit today that there was a request for it again in tomorrow's lunch.  We cut these out with pumpkin shaped cookie cutters and put faces on them with food safe markers.  We added a small witch hat to the smaller pumpkin for fun.

Our vegetable side is carrots and hummus.  Molly said that it was so delicious today that, again, she requested it for tomorrow's lunch.

Our fruit side is green grapes.  We were tempted to peel them like zombie eyeballs but decided against it just in case they shriveled up over night.

Our dairy side is a Babybel cheese.  We carved out a fun jack o'lantern face on it for Molly.

Finally, our dessert is peach yogurt.  We buy a large variety pack of yogurt for Molly's Daddy and he was nice enough to share one with Molly. ☺

Hello, Tooth Fairy!!!

Today was a very exciting day in our house.  Molly's little sister was the snack person and had a blast sharing her fruity froggie face snack at preschool.  (See Below)  Then, we had dance class for both of the girls.  Finally, Molly had a dentist appointment.  She had a fantastic report, no cavities, plus her smile is perfect.  The dentist said that Molly's tooth was really loose but we could leave it and let it fall out on it's own, which Molly seemed happy with.  But, when we got to the car, she started crying a little bit.  She said that she was having trouble eating and that her tooth hurt in school.  So, back into the dentist office we went and had the dentist take it out.  Now, we are pleased to report that the Tooth Fairy, herself, will be visiting our house.  A full report will be included in tomorrow's post.

Our main entree is peanut butter and jelly.  We cut these into fall fun shapes, including leaves and acorns. (The acorns look a little like bells to us)  We figured that these would be easy to eat for Molly with her missing tooth.

Our vegetable side is sliced cucumbers.  We used our crinkle knife to make Molly's favorite shapes.  She said that they taste better when they are cut like this.

Our fruit side is green grapes.  We added a few plastic cupcake picks in the shape of leaves to match our sandwiches.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is the return of Molly's favorite Chobani Champions Verry Berry.  She doesn't know that we picked these up at the store.  We think that she'll be very excited to see this.  Almost as excited as she will be with her visit from the Tooth Fairy!

*These are the Fruity Froggy Faces that we sent in for the Preschool Snack today for "F,f" day.  We try to keep our snacks healthy and fun.  These are apples, with cream cheese balls with an added mini-chocolate chip for eyes and a piece of fruit roll up for a tongue.  They were a big hit!  Nothing was sent home but the container. ☺

Though.....we did have one flattened frog........ Whoops!!!  No worries, we fixed it!  HAHA!

Breakfast!

As a family on a budget, we often turn to breakfast for dinner.  It is simple, inexpensive, healthy and the kids just love it.  We make pancakes or waffles with some sort of turkey bacon or turkey sausage.  Then we add eggs on the side and a fruit smoothie or fresh fruit.  Molly's little brother could a plate pancakes and he's only two years old.  The other thing about breakfast is that it is usually pretty fast when you're limited on time.  This lunch was done in no time at all.

Our main entree is a waffle sandwich.  We toasted two toaster waffles until they were extra crisp and then let them cool completely.  We added Trader Joe's Organic Maple Agave Syrup to some light cream cheese, stirred it together and then spread it on both waffles.  We then thinly sliced several strawberries, spread them out on the waffles, sandwiched them together and there you have it!

Our vegetable side is, well, non-existent.  When we add vegetables to our "breakfast for dinner" it usually consists of something like spinach, zucchini and peppers added to our scrambled eggs or fritata.  Since we know that Molly does not like cold eggs, we don't have them in this lunch.  So, we'll make sure that Molly gets extra veggies in her dinner.

Our fruit side is green grapes and of course the strawberries in the sandwich.  These grapes are very large and extra sweet.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is Molly's new favorite, Chobani Champions Greek yogurt in the Very Berry variety.  Molly told us that it definitely keeps her more full and that she's requesting it for every lunch from now on.  Funny how she says that now.  But then again, she was a big fan of Dannon Light and Fit Vanilla last year. ☺

Leftover Lunch

We have an awesome new produce stand within walking distance to our house and we couldn't be happier.  Joe has a great variety of products and his prices are incredible.  I purchased a 3 pound bag of green grapes, 3 cucumbers, 4 large multi-colored peppers, a 2 pound bag of onions, 6 peaches, 4 large prune plums and a large eggplant, all for $12.  He even threw in a different type of red pepper so that we could try it.  We have been enjoying this new place for the past several weeks and we are very thankful that we can walk down the street, 7 days a week, and get fresh fruits and vegetables at a very reasonable cost.

After saying good-bye to Joe, I ran to Sam's Club to get the rest of the week's shopping finished.  When I arrived home, I started cleaning my fruits and vegetables, chopped them up and then put them in containers in the refrigerator.  This will make it so much easier when preparing meals or when the kids want a snack.  It made making dinner this evening much easier.  Which brings us to Molly's lunch...leftovers.

Our main entree is Curry Chicken Salad.  I put the recipe below in case anyone wants to try it.  (The photo doesn't do it justice) This is a very flavorful and nutritious alternative to a regular chicken salad.  It is loaded with fruit, protein and dairy so it keeps you full much longer than you might expect.  We are serving this with round butter crackers.  We offered Molly some smaller multi-grain crackers that she normally loves, but she chose these instead.

Our vegetable is a pickling cucumber sliced into spears.  This was the last one of these left because our refrigerator got a little too cold and froze two others.  We were still very happy to have this one though.  They are so crunchy and the flavor is very mild.  The skin is even less firm than a regular cucumber so it is easier for a child to bite through.

Our fruit, well, is in our chicken salad.  It's loaded with green grapes and honey gold apples.  It gives a great sweet but not too sweet taste, nice texture and fills the salad so that it feels like you are eating a lot.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is Chobani Greek yogurt.  We found these Chobani Champions in our run to Sam's Club today.  They are tailored to kids so they are a little smaller and they are premixed so that the kids can just dig right in.  This was our dessert with dinner tonight and all three kids really enjoyed them.  The flavors available to us were Very Berry and Honey-Nana.  Molly chose the Honey-Nana tonight and wanted the Very Berry for her lunch.

Curry Chicken Salad

4 c. shredded chicken (we used a rotisserie chicken and chunked it up but we've also used chicken breasts)
1 c. chopped apples
1 c. grapes (halved)
1/4 c. chopped celery
1/4 c. slivered almonds

Mix together in a large bowl.

In a small bowl, combine...
1 c. plain greek yogurt (we used Chobani)
1/4 c. light mayonnaise
2 TBSP curry powder
salt and pepper to taste

Mix chicken salad with dressing and serve on a bed of lettuce, with crackers or on flatbread.  Tasted great the next day if you have any leftovers.

Back to Normal

The consignment sale was a huge success and now life is getting back to normal, well at least our normal.  The week was busy and so was the weekend.  We had the consignment sale on Friday night and Saturday morning, then a birthday party on Saturday and another on Sunday and they were both a blast.  It's been quite a week.  Time to get back at it.

Our main entrée is a turkey pastrami and pepper jack cheese sandwich on multi grain bread.  We added mustard per Molly's request.  This box also contains a few pretzels for some extra crunch.

Our vegetable side is cucumber slices.  A cool and refreshing addition to Molly's lunch.

Our fruit side is green grapes and strawberry slices.  Molly requested the grapes but didn't know that we had strawberries so we added them as a nice surprise.

Finally, our dairy/dessert side is none other than Molly's favorite, Dannon Light and Fit Vanilla Yogurt.

Crazy Week - Lunch 2

Still working hard at the consignment sale and there are three days left to work.  I'm tired just thinking about it.  But the sale will be great and the preschool will benefit so much from it.  Luckily, Molly's Daddy is so incredible and really helps me keep the ball rolling at home too.  He helped me with Molly's lunch again tonight so, thanks again, Daddy!

Our main entrée is spaghetti salad.  Molly requested some type of pasta salad and we had leftover whole wheat spaghetti from dinner last night, so that made the request much easier to fulfill.  We added turkey pepperoni, Monterey Jack cheese and light Italian dressing.

Our vegetable side is cucumber slices.  Another request from Molly.  These cool and refreshing veggies are always a nice addition to Molly's lunch.

Our fruit side is a Clementine and some green grapes.  Molly really likes both of these fruits so we figured that we'd add two of her favorites.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is Dannon Light and Fit Strawberry yogurt.  We usually buy a large container of vanilla yogurt and several small yogurts in fruit flavors.  Today, Molly chose strawberry just to mix things up a little bit.