Homemade Lunchable

One of the girls' favorite lunches is the homemade Lunchable.  They get to play with their food and "help" cook their lunch.  So, our featured lunch this week (we're going back to weekly posts) is the Fun Friday Lunchable in Laptop Lunchboxes.

Our main entree is a homemade Lunchable made with salami, turkey pepperoni, provolone and colby jack cheeses.  We used a small cookie cutter to cut the salami and cheese and added a little froggy pick to the box.  

We also have Ritz crackers for the girls to make sandwiches with.  We added a little ladybug pick to them. 

Our fruit side is a pink lady apple that has been cut into chunks.

Our dairy side is plain Greek yogurt with honey mixed in it and a few sprinkles for fun.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is a small piece of Dove milk chocolate.

Fast and Fun Lunches with Chobani Champions

If you read Molly's Lunch Box often, you know how much we LOVE our Chobani Champions.  We were lucky enough to do a guest post for them with their "Win The Day" theme.  If you want to try Chobani Champions, keep reading.  There is something special at the bottom of this post!

As a Mother of three young kids, I am beyond grateful for every little win of every day.  Whether it is the successful reading of a book, a play date without drama or even a good potty day while potty training, they are all little smiles on my face that I am thankful for. 

I think that it is important to give those little wins back too.  In my blog, Molly’s Lunch Box, I strive to make a fun healthy lunch for my daughter, and soon her sister too.  Molly had a very difficult time with separation anxiety in Kindergarten and making these little boxes of love from home helped her tremendously.  That sprung into an almost daily routine for us.

*pit cherries for young children.

*my kids love their Chobani Champions frozen in silicon molds for fun shapes.

I am often asked how I have the time to make these cute lunches daily.  Many of my readers think that it is beyond time consuming.  Honestly, making the lunches rarely takes a long time.  If you have a plan and the right tools, it usually doesn’t take more than 10 minutes to put a smile on your child’s face and give them a win for the day.

I divide our lunches into a main entrée (sandwich, salad, wrap, etc.), a vegetable, a fruit and a dairy/dessert (that’s where Chobani Champions fits in perfectly!).  I usually have an idea of what to make, based on what is in the refrigerator.  I get out my cookie cutters and cute little cupcake picks to jazz it up a bit and BOOM, fun healthy lunch and a happy kid.  Plus, my kids will eat more if something is cut into a fun shape.  There is something about finger foods and kids that works together so well.

Here is a great “for instance” back to school lunch.  A classic peanut butter (or sunflower seed butter if there are restrictions at your child’s school) and jelly sandwich.  I used a cookie cutter to make a cute shape.  (10 extra seconds)  I chopped a carrot and used a Japanese vegetable cutter to cut that into a fun shape.  (30 extra seconds)  An apple seemed like a great choice for back to school so I used a small cookie cutter to cute a heart out of the skin. (15 extra seconds)  I then added Chobani Champions Verry Berry, which is a great source of protein and calcium.  (I probably saved a few seconds there.J)  Finally, I added a few back to school themed picks just for fun.  (30 extra seconds)  All told, it took just over a minute more than if I were to make just a pb&j, cut up a carrot, halve and core an apple and add some Chobani Champions.  The smiles that come home after school are COMPLETELY worth it.  My kids may have lots of other little wins for the day but I know that even if their day is bad, their lunch is a win. J

If you want to try this and start out small, try making an after school snack.  That too will put a smile on your child’s face.

*There are some lunches on my blog that did take more than 10 minutes but those are mostly for special occasions. 

*I make most of the lunches after the kids go to bed.

Chobani Champions makes making lunches a lot easier.  If you'd like to try them right away, they have coupons on their website.  Or if you want to try them for free, we are giving away a variety pack (all 4 flavors) of Chobani Champions to 3 of our lucky readers.  To enter...

1. Leave a comment and tell me what your favorite lunch was when you were in school. (Mandatory)

2. Like Molly's Lunch Box on Facebook and tell me that you did.

3. Share this blog post on your Facebook page and tell me that you did.

4. Like Chobani Champions on Facebook.

5. Follow Molly's Lunch Box on Pinterest and tell me that you did.

6. Pin this Giveaway on Pinterest and leave the link to the Pin.

Our winners will be chosen at random on Wednesday, August 15th, 2012 at 9am EST.
US residents only, please. 

Thank You and Good Luck!

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED.  THANKS TO ALL THAT ENTERED!

Back to School Lunch Essentials List

It’s that time of year again.  The store shelves are lined with back packs, pencils, crayons, paper and tons of back to school accessories.  Let’s not forget about lunch though.  There are lots of things available to make your child’s (or your) lunch fun and healthy.  *I’ve included several links and some discount codes within this post.*

1.      The Lunch Box

We have been using the Laptop LunchesLunch Box for the last few years.  It is a great system and although it seems a bit pricey, this is our third year using the same one and we’re still going strong.

*I would recommend any of the 2.0 Kits or Systems by Laptop Lunches. 

*I would also recommend getting a set of Bento Buddies so that you would have the option of a large container and a couple of the smaller ones in case one was in use or dirty.

*I would recommend the Laptop Lunches plastic drink bottles.  We’ve never had any leak problems with them.

My Bento Blogger Friends also can’t say enough good things about Easy Lunch Boxes.  They are BPA free, light weight and dishwasher/microwave safe.  We can’t wait to try them.

*They also have a carrier that keeps lunches cold and it is easy to clean.

*There are 4 boxes in each set so you’ll have one ready without having to run the dishwasher every day.  (We pretty much do anyway though. J)

*They are now going to be carrying Mini Dippers so that you can have a leak proof small container to put in your Easy Lunch Box for dips and salad dressings. Plus, we’ve heard a rumor about another leak proof small container to hold things like applesauce, yogurt and cottage cheese.
****UPDATE****  We LOVE our Easy Lunch Boxes and use them so often that they are always in the dishwasher.  They are great for leftovers for grown ups and lunches for kids.

2.      The Drink Container/Thermos

As I mentioned above, we’ve had great luck with the Laptop Lunches plastic drink container and would highly recommend it.

We have a Thermos drink holder with a straw.  Molly takes that to use in the classroom when she has a cough or if it’s really hot.  (With the teacher’s permission, of course.)

We also have a Thermos food jar for warm foods like soups and pastas.  These stay warm from the time we load them in the morning until lunch time. (*note: we fill the Thermos container with hot water while microwaving the food that will go into it.  Then, we dump the water and fill the Thermos with the food.  It seems to help with keeping things warm.)

3.      Keeping It Cool

We’ve been asked by several readers how we keep Molly’s lunch cold during the hot months of school.  It’s pretty easy with the Laptop Lunch Box because there is a small pouch in the carrier that can hold an ice pack.  There is also room in the Easy Lunch Box carrier so that the ice pack is right on top of the lid and keeps the food cold.  We’ve used the blue gel kind and also ones that look like ice cubes.  The biggest thing is to get something that lies rather flat.  Molly is in charge of putting her ice pack in her lunch in the morning and putting it in the freezer when she gets home.

4.      The Fun Stuff

We are lucky enough to have an amazing bake shop very close to our house and they have a great supply of cookie cutters and cupcake picks.  Our kids will eat more of something if it is cut out in cute shapes and decorated.  If you don’t have a place like this near you, check out your local craft store or the internet.  We have purchased a lot of things from AllThings For Sale. 

Here’s a list of our recommendations:

            *Cookie cutters for sandwiches.

            *Mini or micro cookie cutters for fruits, vegetables and other produce or sandwiches.

            *Silicone cupcake liners. They are nice for separating foods.

            *Cupcake picks, food safe rings or bento utensils.

            *Food safe markers

            *Sprinkles (dye free if your child is sensitive)

            *Lunch notes (available at Lunch Box Love or you can hand write them) (ps - use coupon
              code MOLLY to save 15% off Lunch Box Love Notes)

            *Cloth napkins

            *A container to put everything in (it’s important to be organized so that you can make 

              your lunches quickly and easily)

5.      A Plan

We try to write out a weekly menu but sometimes that becomes difficult when we get busy.  We usually look at the grocery store ads and start there so that we know what is on sale and what we have on hand.  If that seems like too much, there is a website called MOMables that does it all for you and even includes recipes and a shopping list.  We’ve used it and have had wonderful results.  They even have sample menus on their site to see if it would suit you.  *Stay tuned for a MOMables giveaway within the next few days!*

Theme lunches can be fun too.  We will look at our cookie cutters or cupcake/bento picks and go from there or look at the school calendar for inspiration. (ie: yellow day or Dr. Seuss’s Birthday)  We also look at the school lunch calendar just to see if we can make something similar but healthier. (ie: pizza or chicken nuggets)

6.      The Food

Like I said, we usually have a plan but there are some staples that are always good to have on hand.

            *Natural peanut butter/Sunflower Seed Butter

            *Low sugar jam/jelly/preserves

            *Whole grain or gluten free bread

            *Hard Boiled Eggs

            *Applesauce

            *Yogurt/Greek Yogurt (We like Chobani Champions)

            *Cheese sticks or Babybel Cheese

            *Cooked whole grain pasta (for pasta salad or to heat up with sauce)

            *Bagged salad

            *Baby carrots

            *Frozen or canned vegetables

            *Apples (we like MacIntosh or Empire because they don’t brown as quickly)

            *Fresh fruits and vegetables that your kids like (we usually have berries, peppers and 

              cucumbers in our refrigerator at all times)


Feel free to ask any questions below and have a great new school year! ☺

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

Final Lunch of the School Year!

WOW!  So, this is it, the final full day of school which means the final lunch of the school year.  What a year it has been.  We are so proud of Molly.  She has transitioned into an avid reader with some mad math skills.  She has grown about three inches in height and probably 5 pounds in weight. She is currently going through yet another growth spurt.  She seems like a different kid.  She has matured by leaps and bounds and doesn't seem so little anymore.

Each of her lunches have been a labor of love.  I've learned so much from her feedback and from suggestions of other Moms and Dads.  I feel so proud to have completed the blog for the year and I can't wait to see the fun and new things that next year hold.  A HUGE shout out to Laptop Lunches for making such an incredible lunch box that has allowed us to create these healthy and delicious lunches every single day.

For our final lunch, we are looking back at the very first lunch of this school year.  This is one of her ultimate favorite foods of all time. We LOVE YOU so much, Molly!  Congratulations on another successful school year!

Our main entrée is vegetable sushi!  Molly loves her sushi and we figured that we'd take Molly's Lunch Box full circle and end with what we started with.  We made some brown sushi rice, spread it on the nori and added light cream cheese, cucumber and carrots.  On the side we have the classic light soy sauce.

Our vegetable side is multi-colored peppers.  Molly would eat peppers everyday and she will as soon as they grow in our garden this summer.  We have little buds and the promise of some yummy goodies all summer long.

Our fruit side is a summer classic...watermelon.  We keep getting the mini watermelons because they are so sweet.  We think that watermelon is the perfect fruit to get Molly in the mood for summer.

Our final side is our dessert.  We found these Heath Chips Ahoy cookies and figured that they would be a fantastic Fun Final Day treat.  Molly really likes Heath toffee so she will be pleasantly surprised.

Finally, we gave Molly a special drink instead of her usual water.  Sushi is great with iced tea so we gave Molly some Snapple Mango and Papaya iced tea.  We think that she will be ecstatic with this choice.

*Thank you all for reading Molly's Lunch Box.  It has been so much fun to share my ideas and Molly's favorite foods with each of you.  Please tune in for some new ideas and delicious healthy lunches coming to your computer in September.

Field Trip!!!

The 1st Grade class is going on a field trip tomorrow.  Normally, Molly would be excited at this, but this particular field trip is to a bug farm.  She is not too enthused with bugs at this age.  Hopefully she will see some butterflies and dragonflies so that it isn't all "icky" to her.

Field trip means that a packed lunch becomes a sack lunch.  Our normal Laptop Lunch Box gets the day off.

Our main entrée is a cheese sandwich, just like today.  Colby Jack cheese with mustard on white bread.  Simple and delicious.

Our vegetable side is baby carrots.  Mostly because we know that they won't be smashed into vegetable puree.

Our fruit side is apple slices.  Again, this choice was for texture purposes.  6 year olds don't like fruit that is baby food consistency.

Our dessert is a 100 calorie pack of Oreo crisps.  We've also added a small chocolate chip granola bar in case Molly is still hungry.  She's been going through a growth spurt so any extra food has been welcomed by a hungry tummy.

Finally, we added a Capri Sun drink pouch.  This is a special treat for a special day.

Sick Day

Molly stayed home from school today.  December 6th and her first sick day.  Not too bad in my opinion considering the plethora of sickness that has already steamrolled through her school.  All 3 of our kids were quite cuddly and clingy today so needless to say, not much was accomplished except lots of TLC from Mom.  (Which was fine with me. ☺)
Tomorrow, Molly will be headed back to her first grade classroom.  She started feeling better after a nap this afternoon and she's ready to get back to it.  You may notice that two of the items are the same as yesterday because she only ate the waffle sandwiches and apples for lunch today.

Our main entrée is peanut butter and jelly on whole wheat.  We've broken out the Christmas cookie cutters and decided to go with a snowman and tree.

Our fruit side is mandarin oranges.  These will be a nice contrast to the peanut butter.

Our dairy side is Dannon Light and Fit strawberry yogurt.  This will help her belly feel better after being sick.

Finally we have our trail mix of peanuts and raisins.  Even if she only eats a little bit of this, it will help keep her appetite satisfied until she gets home.

Tortellini Take Two

Well, Friday's lunch was SUCH a huge hit that Molly requested the cold tortellini salad again for Monday.  She said that it was her favorite lunch but would like a larger portion of the main entrée.  I never thought that she would ever complain about portion size.  I try to keep the portions smaller because I know that she has a limited time for her lunch.  I figured that with smaller portions, she would have enough time to eat a balanced meal with a nice variety of food.  Then, she could have a snack when she came home.  Molly was so funny about it.  "Mom, that tortellini was so awesome but I really could've used more of it.  I mean, I could've eaten a whole lunch box full of it."  I'm guessing that this dish earned her stamp of approval.  ☺

Today's main entrée is a larger portion of Trader Joe's multi colored cheese tortellini with light Italian dressing on it.  We hope that Molly has enough time to eat everything but we're confident that there will be little or none left.  This salad covers our protein, grain and calcium, plus it tastes REALLY good.

Our vegetables are sugar snap peas and shredded carrots.  They both have a crunchy texture that will nicely offset the soft and chewy texture of the tortellini salad.

The fruit choice of the day is a granny smith apple cut into thick slices.  We think that the sweet and tart flavor will be a good change of pace from the tangy Italian dressing.

Since there are only 3 compartments in today's lunch, we decided to give Molly a small dessert of an individually wrapped Pez candy.  Not our normal every day dessert but small enough that she will enjoy the yummy sweet flavors but won't get a sugar high and subsequent drop.

Wheeling Wednesday

Molly requested just a mustard sandwich for lunch tomorrow.  Just mustard, maybe some pepper jack cheese, but just plain yellow mustard.  The sophisticated palate of a 6 year old never ceases to amaze me.  ☺  I said that I would be happy to make a plain yellow mustard sandwich, maybe with some pepper jack cheese, but I also had another suggestion up my sleeve.  I let her know that I had purchased some whole grain tortillas at Trader Joe's today and that I'd be happy to make a pinwheel sandwich for her instead.  This suggestion was greeted by a giant smile and a small amount of jumping.  Hence, "pin"wheeling Wednesday.

Our main entrée is a delicious and colorful pinwheel sandwich.  We flavored some light cream cheese with the Dried Tomato and Garlic Pesto mix from Tastefully Simple.  We spread some of this cream cheese on a Trader Joe's whole grain flour tortilla with flax seeds, then added some baby spinach and thinly sliced turkey.  We rolled up the tortilla and then sliced it into small pinwheels.

The veggie side is sugar snap peas.  This is such a versatile vegetable.  It can be eaten raw or steamed.  There is a very different flavor depending on how it is prepared.  The raw preparation yields a very sweet, crunchy and juicy flavor.  The steamed version makes the sugar snap pea nice and soft with just a little bit of crunch.  It is still sweet but a much more mild flavor.

Molly requested just pineapple for her fruit.  We skewered some fresh pineapple on reusable plastic lollipop sticks so that Molly could have her other "just" request.  (Hey, its yellow like mustard and its "just" pineapple, so I think she'll be pretty happy.)

For dessert, we added a few Cinnamon Schoolbook Cookies from Trader Joe's.  These cookies are not only cute, but very tasty.  We made sure to put the "M" right on top so that Molly could see her favorite letter.

Breakfast for Lunch

It was a LONG day for Mom today.  I think I had something scheduled for just about every minute today, but that made it absolutely fly by.  On my way home from the PTA meeting I was contemplating a nice easy lunch for me to pack and the first thought that popped into my mind was...Breakfast!  I could prepare this pretty quickly and still get some other things done in the process.  Plus, who doesn't like breakfast?

For our main entrée, we have mini waffle sandwiches with a spread of light cream cheese that has been flavored with real maple syrup and a little bit of cinnamon.  We layered in a few thinly sliced apples for crunch, since the "toast" on the waffle will more than likely wear off while sitting in the lunch box.  This is our take on waffles with syrup.

Next we have our tropical fruit kabobs on plastic re-usable lollipop sticks.  We found a very large and yummy looking papaya at the store this weekend and its perfectly ripe and ready for eating.  On this outing, we also found a pineapple for just over $1, so it was a no brainer.  We sprinkled a bit of shredded coconut on top to complete the tropical theme.

We are going to try bringing strawberry yogurt tomorrow.  I'm a little concerned about this because I fear the mess it will make.  Guess we'll just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings and whether we need to completely clean out every nook and cranny of Molly's lunch box.  (Laptop Lunch Box, don't fail me now!)  This is dotted with a few pieces of strawberry cut into heart shapes with a micro cookie cutter.

Finally, we have a hard boiled egg.  Molly really likes them so I'm hoping that this will give her a little extra protein to power through the day.  I cut it with a crinkle cut knife, just to make it cute.

Now, I know what you are going to say...where is the vegetable?  I have no good answer.  I couldn't find anything that would really go with the breakfast theme and taste good cold.  I pondered whipping up some potato pancakes with some zucchini and carrots grated into the mix but I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't taste too good cold.  Then I thought, maybe a cold carrot and raisin salad, but that is pretty acidic when I put the vinegar dressing on it, so that combined with pineapple might be a bit on the tangy side.  So, my question for you is...what kind of vegetable would you serve?  I decided to go for the extra protein instead and make grilled chicken and spinach salads for dinner tomorrow so that she gets her daily allotment of vegetables and all will be right with the universe again.  ☺

The Request Lunch

Tonight, I got a request for tomorrow's lunch.  Molly was in the mood for a good old fashioned peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  I can't say that I blame her.  There is something almost serendipitous about the old standby lunch.  Do you remember getting to lunch and seeing the pb&j that your Mom or Dad packed for you?  First, the smell when you opened the lunch box, the smell of stale bread and apple cores.  Then the visual, there was usually a little bit of the jelly escaping from one of the sides and a spot on the top, that can only be classified as a bruise, where the sandwich had been squished.  Sometimes the crust was cut, sometimes it wasn't.  There was usually a faint hint of banana on the bread because that was the fruit that always seemed to accompany a pb&j, at least at my house.  But, the taste was always awesome...always.  No matter what had happened that day or what was going to happen after lunch, there was an element of comfort in that sandwich that could get you through anything.  Spelling test be darned, I've got my peanut butter and jelly!

We start with the old standby Peanut Butter and Jelly.  Nothing fancy, plain old creamy peanut butter and some strawberry jam from the store all spread on whole wheat bread.  We did fancy it up a little bit with the shapes because the heart shape sandwich today was a big hit.  Also, Molly is not a fan of crust so this cookie cutter thing only takes a few seconds more than actually cutting the crust off.

Our veggies include the other half of the crazy red/orange/green pepper from our garden.  We used the crinkle cut knife on those to bring out a more playful aspect.  Our other selection is a seedless cucumber that was cut with the same knife.  We turned the cucumber a little after every cut to make a "waffle" look.

Orange wedges are the selection for our fruit.  This orange is very sweet and juicy, plus the citrus will cut the oils of the peanut butter.  Molly's favorite thing about orange wedges is to take a bite, leave the peel in her mouth and smile so that her teeth look funny.  She an her sister crack each other up every time they do it.  A timeless trick, indeed.

A "Wheat Krispie Treat" rounds out our meal as dessert.  Molly was so thrilled with it today that she requested that one to be included in tomorrow's lunch box.  No matter how little time she has for lunch, she always has time for dessert.  That's my girl!

Monday Love

The weekend was beautiful and its back to school tomorrow.  I think its important to start the week of on a positive note so that the sentiment carries on through the week.  It dawned on me though, that sometimes even the kids can get a "case of the Mondays" now and then, so I decided to celebrate Monday with a little love.

 We start with a very yummy honey roasted peanut butter and Nutella sandwich on wheat bread that is cut into heart shapes.  This shows the little extra love from her family that Molly might be looking for on a Monday.  There are 2 large hearts that represent Mommy and Daddy and three little hearts that represent Molly, her sister and her brother.

Next we have crudités (or some fresh veggies cut up cutely but crudités sounds fancier!) served with roasted red pepper hummus.  There are cucumbers and baby carrots that are both cut with a crinkle cut knife, celery and a pepper from our garden that was half green and half red.  That's part of the fun of growing vegetables, you never know what they are going to look like until you pluck them off of the vine.

*side note - Not all kids are going to be jazzed about veggies and hummus but most kids that I know will at least try some vegetables if they are cut up in interesting shapes and/or served with a dip.  If you child doesn't like hummus, try ranch dressing or ranch dip made with sour cream and a dry ranch mix or even honey mustard.

For our fruit side, we cut up some strawberries (you have to take advantage of them before they are out of season) and added in a few red grapes that come from a batch that are particularly crunchy.  I like to mix textures to keep the food interesting.

Finally we have our dessert!  We made a healthier rice krispie treat.  We used puffed wheat cereal that we found in the inexpensive bagged cereal section of the grocery store.  We added the normal marshmallows but cut back on the butter just a little bit.  They taste similar to Sugar Smacks cereal only in bar form and the best part is, the nutritional value is MUCH better because you are using a whole grain durum wheat instead of a bleached rice.  ☺ Eating healthier doesn't mean sacrificing all of you favorites.  If there is a way to modify it to be healthier, then try it.

The Left Over Lunch

Another successful lunch in the bag, pun intended! ☺  I understand that most kids are more picky than Molly, but hopefully this will still generate some ideas.

I had to make a quick dinner tonight before my kickboxing class and to my delight it was a huge hit.  So much so that Molly requested the left overs for lunch tomorrow.

Tomorrow's lunch consists of left over home made chicken nuggets.  They are small pieces of chicken breast dipped in whole wheat flour and spices (plus about a teaspoon of sugar, that's the secret), dipped in egg and then coated with Japanese style Panko breadcrumbs and baked.  It is being served with sweet chili sauce from Trader Joe's for dipping.

Next we have some chopped up fresh veggies.  Zucchini sticks, red pepper and baby carrots that are sliced in quarters because sometimes they are hard to chomp down on.  Mom went a little nuts when chopping the veggies so I told Molly that she didn't have to finish all of them.

In the top right corner is quinoa, which has been pretty popular in the new nutritious food category.  Its like a cross between couscous and almost a grain version of caviar and has a little bit of a nutty flavor.  Plus its, as my husband calls it, the SUPER grain.  We put a little bit of chili dressing on it to keep it moist and we're calling it a "not so pasta" salad.

Finally we have a few slices of apple dipped in orange juice so that they don't brown.  This is accompanied by a few Ginger Cat Cookies from Trader Joe's, not to be confused with ThunderCats, the cartoon from years ago.  ThunderCats Ho!  Sorry for the tangent, just getting in touch with my inner child.  ☺  The cookies are in a heart shaped silicone cupcake liner.  They are great for keeping things separated and are also flexible so they will fit in just about any plastic container.

She'll have her normal cold bottle of water to go with it because it gets pretty warm in her school since they have no air conditioning.

On a side note, a lot of the products in this meal were purchased at Trader Joe's.  The panko breadcrumbs, the sweet chili sauce, the quinoa and the ginger cats all are Trader Joe's brand.   I highly recommend ANYTHING and EVERYTHING from there.  I ♥ Trader Joe's.

Helper's Lunch

The first day of school was a HUGE success!  Molly loved the sushi and said that everything tasted great!

She helped make her lunch for tomorrow and was very excited to be a part of it.

Tomorrow's lunch consists of...

A whole wheat pasta salad.  The dry pasta was purchased at ALDI very inexpensively.  We added some light Italian dressing, black olives, carrot matchsticks, edamame and red peppers.

Next we wrapped a pepper jack cheese stick with some thinly sliced ham, sliced it and skewered it on re-usable plastic lollipop sticks.  We added a few extra black olives to that container because they are a favorite of Molly's.

We washed up some sugar snap peas as a nice crunchy side dish.


Finally, for our fruit/dessert we washed up some grapes and dried them thoroughly and added a few Annie's Homegrown Bunny Graham Friends for variety.

Add in a re-usable bottle of water (part of the Laptop Lunch Box) kept in the refrigerator all night so its nice and cold.  Then a cloth napkin, loving made by my Aunt Sis.

No waste, good nutrition and a happy kid helping to do her part in making the environment a little better for her future.

1st Day of School!

As the first day of school was approaching, I did a lot of research on what to make for lunch for my 1st Grader. I wanted to make sure that it was something nutritious, delicious and filling enough that it would last her until she got home.

I found the vessel that would hold all of these incredible meals.  We purchased a laptop lunch box from Amazon.com.  We realized that although it was a bit pricey, we wouldn't be using plastic bags or plastic utensils and we'd actually be saving money in the long run.  Plus, it is the perfect size for portioning and keeps things from being crushed or leaking all over.

Next, I had to think of foods that would taste good after being refrigerated over night and stuck in a backpack with an ice pack for a few hours at school.  I made a list of main entrees, veggie sides, fruit sides, grain sides, dairy sides and special treats.  This has already proven helpful.  While making the first of many lunches this year, I relied on my trusty list to help me figure out what sides to add.

Now, I am just waiting for the big smile on my daughter's face when she gets home from the first day of school.  I can't wait to see her reaction to the lunch that was made with a lot of love and a decent amount of planning.

Happy 1st day of school everyone, especially you, Molly!

Here is Molly's 1st lunch!  Veggie sushi with cream cheese, edamame (which does taste good cold), watermelon balls and grapes on plastic (re-usable) lollipop sticks, and de-constructed s'mores which includes a few graham crackers, 2 Hershey's hugs and a few mini marshmallows.