100th Day of School

Tomorrow is the 100th day of school for Molly.  It is such a milestone for these kids because even though school seems to drag on at this time of year because it's a reminder that summer is just around the corner.  They really don't celebrate it much as the kids get older but I've heard some fun things that some of the teachers are doing. My friend told me that her daughter's kindergarten class is dressing up like they are 100 years old.  I begged for pictures.  Molly had to bring in 100 of something when she was in Kindergarten.  She chose fun little glow in the dark beads because she was very into making bracelets with them at that point in time. 

Happy 100th Day of School, Everyone!

Our main entree is a pita pocket sandwich.  We used a new whole wheat half pita and stuffed it with salami and provolone.  We then used one of our food safe markers and wrote a little message for Molly on it.

Our vegetable side is green pepper.  We cut out several 100's with a small cookie cutter.  Molly just loves peppers and we thought it would be a nice compliment to her sandwich.

Our fruit side is natural (no sugar added) applesauce.  Molly has a loose tooth so she asked to have things that wouldn't hurt her tooth.  We added a 100 that we cut out of a whole fruit leather.  We're not sure if this will be swimming in the applesauce by the time Molly gets to lunch, but that might be fun to find too. 

Our dairy side is a cheese stick.  Just in case Molly is still hungry after eating the rest of her lunch.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat and 100th day of School treat is strawberry Jell-O Jigglers cut into a 100 with our trusty cookie cutters. ☺

New Fun Friday Treat!

The weekend is finally here and we can't wait! Our Christmas traditions are in full swing.  We've gone to see the lights at Hartwood Acres and the whole family ooh-ed and aaawww-ed.  It was awesome.  Next comes the cookie baking, card making and more decorating.  It truly is the most wonderful time of the year.

Our main entree is turkey and cheese skewers.  We had the most delicious deep fried turkey breast at Thanksgiving so we had to get another one for this week.  Deep fried seems like it wouldn't be a healthy option but it is 98% fat free, all white meat turkey and again, delicious.  We cut the turkey into cubes and skewered it with plastic lollipop sticks along with a colby jack cheese stick that had been cut into cubes as well.  We have a little bit of honey mustard on the side for dipping.  We also added some Cheez-It crackers so that Molly can have a few carbs to burn off quickly.

Our vegetable side is green pepper strips.  This was by request again.  Sometimes kids get stuck on one particular food and the pepper is it for Molly these days.

Our fruit side is a tangerine.  We segmented it for Molly so that she wouldn't have to waste any time at lunch. Something about orange-like citrus screams Christmas.  We used to always stud oranges with whole cloves and leave them out in several rooms of the house to make it smell good.

Finally, our NEW Fun Friday treat is Cinnamon M&Ms.  We reluctantly purchased these when the kids asked because they didn't sound all that appetizing.  They really enjoyed them though.  The cinnamon is not a hot cinnamon, it's more like the powdered stuff in the pantry.  It is a mild hint of it with a good chocolate flavor.  If you like cinnamon, give them a try but I wouldn't recommend eating them on a regular basis, just a special occasion.

New Mac and Cheese

Molly's little brother and I did some shopping today and found the Kraft Macaroni and Cheese had a holiday box of mac and cheese.  It says 'tis the Cheese'n on the box.  Pretty punny!  We made them for lunch today and Molly saw the leftovers and asked for it to go into her lunch tomorrow.  I was so happy to hear this because I have run club on Wednesday nights so the prep for Molly's lunch would be minimal.  Yay for happy coincidences!

Our main entree is Kraft Winter Shapes Mac and Cheese.  The noodles are in the shapes of snowflakes, snowmen, candy canes and stockings.  They are really cute and quite delicious.  Cook's note: this particular variety requires more time during cooking and  less milk and butter than the normal blue box.

Our vegetable side is green pepper strips.  Molly asked for these because "they taste stronger than the mac and cheese so I think they'd be a good thing to add."  Can't argue with that logic.

Our fruit side is a red bosc pear and pomegranate arils.  These look so festive together and also have very complimentary flavors.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is peach yogurt.  We like to mix up the flavors now and then and this one seems to go over very well with all of the kids.  A little taste of summer in the winter.

Back to School!

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving and a great time over the break.  Our house is now in full on Christmas mode.  The tree is up, the lights are twinkling outside and the smell of Christmas trees is filling our house...care of a candle as our tree is artificial.  Before you know it, the jolly old man in red will be coming down the chimney with presents for all.  That is, if the kids start behaving.  I think that they are really excited and the excitement is taking over the part in their brain that tells them the proper way to act.  Or, maybe they are just ready to get back to school after a nice break.  Back to school and back to lunch.  Here is Molly's lunch for tomorrow.

Our main entree is provolone cheese, salami and crackers.  Molly asked for salami and cheese, but not in a sandwich and without any bread.  We improvised and added cheese crackers instead.  We used a fluted cookie cutter to make the meat and cheese into fun little shapes.

Our vegetable side is green pepper slices.  We had the choice of carrots or peppers and Molly chose the peppers because they are "softer" than carrots.  She lost another tooth over the break so now she is really cautious about what she eats so that the Tooth Fairy doesn't have to visit too often.  She'd rather have it spread out over time...and we're just fine with that.

Our fruit side is sliced strawberries.  Molly's brother picked these out on a recent trip to the store.  He would eat two or three bowls of these every day if he could.  They are a great source of nutrition and we are really lucky that they are available to us at this time of year.

Our dairy/dessert is strawberry yogurt.  We had to spell it out to Molly when we were talking about her lunch because if her brother gets wind of the word yogurt, all action stops and he wants some right then and there.  She requested that it be strawberry and lucky for her, we had some.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Lenten Lunch 3

This whole time, I'm thinking that a Lenten lunch is going to be hard thing to figure out.  Then, as I look back at Molly's Lunch Box, most of her lunches are vegetarian.  Very rarely is there any meat in her lunch at all.  So, if you are looking for a kid friendly Lenten meal idea, just look at just about any lunch on this blog and you'll be set through Easter.

Our main entrée is our take on a peanut butter and banana sandwich.  We split a banana in half and filled it with Nutella hazelnut spread.  Then we spread peanut butter on one slice of bread.  We then put the banana on the bread, wrapped it up, and cut it in half.

Our vegetable side is small slices of green pepper.  Molly has liked peppers since she was very young.  Plus, it gives her a nice crunch.

Our fruit side is a plum.  We found these at Sam's Club and they have a great sweet/tart flavor.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is candy.  There are two mini Kit Kats and two mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  This is not a regular treat but we decided to go a little crazy since Molly has been doing very well in her school work and hasn't complained much at all about her homework this week.

Lenten Lunch 2

For as much as Molly would love a leftover corned beef sandwich for lunch, it's a Friday during Lent which means that there is no meat.  We'll save our St. Paddy's Day leftovers for Saturday.  So, we've decided to take advantage of some other leftovers.  We served a variety of Irish Cheeses with crackers as an appetizer to our Irish dinners and we have some left.  They will make a delicious Lenten lunch.

Our main entrée is an assortment of Irish cheeses with pita crackers.  Molly really likes these sharp and creamy cheeses that can be compared to cheddar and gouda in flavor but they are still very unique.

Our vegetable side is green pepper slices.  We had a bit of green pepper leftover from Molly's St. Patrick's Day lunch and she likes them, so might as well chop it up and pack it for lunch.

Our fruit side is a clementine and some blueberries.  There is a distinct tart and sweet flavor that goes along with both of these fruits to they compliment each other very nicely.

Finally, Molly requested yogurt for her dairy/dessert side.  (Shocker!)  So we have her favorite Dannon Light and Fit vanilla yogurt all set for her.

But....it's Fun Friday so we added a special treat on the side.  We found a few Nestles Chocolate hearts for Molly's treat.