Valentine's Day Lunch

We had a few fun things in mind when deciding what to make for Molly's Valentine's Day lunch.  A little known fact is that Molly's Daddy makes the best chocolate chip pancakes in the world.  This was our stepping off point.  Molly's Daddy surprised the kids with some chocolate chip pancakes and turkey bacon for breakfast yesterday morning.  It was then and there that breakfast for lunch with a Valentine's Day twist was the way to go.

Our main entree is Daddy's Famous Chocolate Chip Pancakes!  We cut them out with two different sizes of heart shaped cookie cutters.  We also added a few "hugs and kisses" for our valentine.

Our protein is turkey bacon and a heart shaped hard boiled egg.  We found the directions on how to make a heart shaped hard boiled egg on the internet.  Our yolk didn't quite look as nice as the one on the internet but we'll take what when can get on our first shot.  If you are interested in trying it for yourself, click here. We added a heart shaped pick to the bacon because we LOVE bacon at our house. (and we LOVE Molly!)

Our fruit side is strawberries that have been cut out using two small heart shaped cookie cutters.  We added a heart shaped pick to this box too.

Our dairy side is Chobani Champions Chocolate Chunk Greek Yogurt (out of the normal container).  We sprinkled it with a mix of Valentine sprinkles.

Finally, our mini-dessert is two Hershey's kisses because everyone needs kisses on Valentine's Day!  One is pink and one is silver, just perfect for our little valentine, Molly.

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

100th Day of School Lunch!

Tomorrow is the 100th day of school!!!  Molly is so excited because every year the teachers make a big deal about the 100th day.  We had our open house for school tonight and all of the talk was about what was going to happen for tomorrow and how they were going to mark the big day.  Molly wanted to make sure that she would wear something that represented the 100th day so we found the necklace that she made last year that has 100 beads on it.  She also asked for something in her lunch to follow the theme so, here we go!

Our main entrée is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  We do not have number cookie cutters so we freehanded the 100, which was pretty difficult on whole grain bread.  haha!

Our vegetable side is orange bell pepper slices.  These offer a color that is different from the normal green or red that we usually have for Molly's veggies.

Our fruit side is a clementine and some red grapes.  The grapes were a huge hit in today's lunch and she requested that they be part of tomorrows lunch.

Our dessert side is Trader Joe's Ginger Cat cookies.  Molly really likes these and hasn't had these in her lunch box for a while so we decided to add them.

Tomorrow isn't just the 100th day, it's FUN FRIDAY!  So, we added a few Hershey's Kisses as an extra bonus.  Molly has been working really hard and deserves this special little treat.

Fo Friday

Tomorrow is the last day this week for Molly because she has the day off on Friday so that the teachers can get report cards ready.  We are pretty excited to have a 3 day weekend.  We have big plans!  Friday will be a relaxing day at home, Saturday we are going to see The Laurie Berkner Band Live and Sunday Molly's baby cousin is being baptized.  A fun filled weekend indeed!  Then we're on to February.  This year is already flying by.

Our main entrée is our good old turkey with pepper jack cheese on whole grain bread.  We added the normal mustard and used different sized heart cookie cutters to cut it out.

Our vegetable side is edamame.  This super food will add protein and nutrients to help Molly get through the rest of the day.

Our dairy side is Dannon Light and Fit vanilla yogurt.  A nice creamy and cool treat for our girl.

Finally, it's Fo Fun Friday (since there is no school on Friday) so Molly gets her special treat.  We added two Aldi Milk Chocolate Covered Gingerbread Hearts and a Hershey's Kiss to today's lunch because Molly has been such a good and helpful girl all week.

Fruit for Thought

Right now, Molly is on a big fruit kick.  We are trying all kinds of new fruits and some old ones too.  She is asking for fruit with every meal and instead of dessert.  Molly has always been open to trying different types of foods and the more strange, the better.  (That is, if Mom or Dad eat it first.)  So now we are on the look out for new and exotic fruits for her to try.  I'm thinking about persimmons and pomegranates.  Maybe kumquats?  Keep an eye out for whatever I can find around here.

Our main entrée is a sandwich made from Trader Joe's Pumpkin Bread and whipped cream cheese.  This boxed pumpkin bread mix is so flavorful.  We substituted apple sauce for the oil in the recipe to bring down the fat content.  When we baked it, the whole house smelled incredible.  We then sliced a few pieces and spread some whipped cream cheese on them.  

Our vegetable side is a cucumber that has been cut into sticks.  For some reason these particular cucumbers have a very strong cucumber flavor and it's really delicious.

Our fruit side is kiwi, raspberries and star fruit.  Molly requested this combination.  It's funny that even though we are in the beginnings of winter here in Western PA, there is an abundance of amazing fruit that is available to us.  This combination of fruits is the perfect mix of sweet and tart.

Our diary side is Dannon Light and Fit vanilla yogurt.  A sweet and creamy side that boosts the protein and calcium in this meal.  Molly also requested this because she, along with the rest of our family, loves yogurt.

Finally, we put in two Hershey's Kisses as an added treat to get her through Wednesday.  This week seems to be dragging on a bit so why not add a goody to give a little push for the rest of the day.