Pizza Monday is BACK!

What a weekend!  Weekends like this make me wish that there were no Mondays so that we could keep having fun without having to go to school or work.  We had a fantastic time with great friends and family.  My brother, sister-in-law and niece (who will be one year old next month) came for a visit from New Jersey.  A bunch of us met at Soergel's Orchard for pumpkin picking and hayrides. We head to Soergel's every year as part of our fall routine and it is always a wonderful time.

Next, everyone headed back to our house for snacks and dinner so that we could all sit down and catch up while the kids played.  My husband and I really enjoy hosting gatherings and this was no exception.  Granted, we did have to clean like crazy people but the bonus is that our house is still clean.  It was so nice to learn new things about old friends and to watch my family interact with each other.  My niece is growing by leaps and bounds and it is so awesome to see the milestones that she is reaching.  She sure is a gorgeous little girl!  ♥ you, Em!

Today, we all met for brunch and said our good-byes.  It was sad but we know that we'll see them in just over a month.  We can't wait!

Now, back at it.  We are bring back pizza Mondays.  Our dinner was pizza when everyone came over and we had some left so there we have it.

Our main entree is Little Caesar's pepperoni pizza.  Cold pizza has to be one of the best lunches ever.  Molly's school always serves pizza on Mondays so we like keeping her similar with this choice.

Our vegetable side is a green salad with light ranch dressing.  Molly really likes the pizza and salad combo.  She also likes to dip her pizza in the ranch so it is a great catalyst for one of her other favorite combinations.

Our fruit side is red grapes.  These are very firm and juicy with a nice sweet taste.  Grapes are really delicious frozen for a snack if the weather happens to be on the warmer side.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is vanilla yogurt.  We haven't gotten a chance to run to Sam's club over the past week or so and that means that we don't have anymore of Molly's new favorite yogurt, the Chobani Champions.  She likes regular old vanilla yogurt though, so she'll be fine until we can get to Sam's.

Pizza Again

It was a very busy day at our house today.  Mommy was a baking fool, the kids had lots of things going on and Daddy had his last meeting at church for the RCIA program with Uncle Greg.  (Congrats again, Greg!)  Mommy made Rice Krispie Treats for Daddy's meeting and cupcakes for Molly's little sister's preschool snack.  Molly's little brother had his 2 year check up today and he's a very healthy little boy.  Tomorrow is Molly's little sister's un-Birthday at school. Molly is big time into reading and now we know more about elephants and sharks that we ever did.  So, with all of the chaos, we decided to get some Little Caesar's Pizza for dinner.

ps - I'm also including a picture (see below) of the cupcakes for Beach Day at Molly's little sister's preschool tomorrow.  They were really fun!

Our main entrée is left over pepperoni pizza from Little Caesars.  Molly is going to be very excited to have pizza twice in one week.

Our vegetable side is sugar snap peas.  We found a very large bag of these at Sam's Club and they are so delicious.

Our fruit side is red grapes.  A re-play of some of the fruit from today's lunch.  They are very juicy and sweet.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is Molly's favorite Dannon Light and Fit Vanilla yogurt.  But, we've added a spoonful of strawberry rhubarb compote.  We grow the rhubarb in our back yard and make this compote to go with anything from pancakes to yogurt.

As promised, here is a photo of the Beach Day cupcakes.  They are yellow cake with cream cheese frosting. The "sand" is crushed graham crackers.  The beach towels are Fruit By The Foot.  We did a little frosting accessorizing on some Teddy Grahams for some fun in the sun style.  Finally, we added a drink umbrella for extra SPF protection.

Typical Monday

This weekend was incredible.  Molly had such a blast cheering with her BFFs at the High School Basketball game on Friday night.  We all went out for an ice cream afterward and really enjoyed a great time with our amazing friends.  Saturday, we went to see Mary Poppins live at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh with Molly's Grammy and our friend Marie.  It was such a tremendous show.  The music, the dancing, the costumes and the special effects were just astonishing.

In the midst of all of the fun, there was little time to prepare dinner on Friday so we grabbed a pizza.  Luckily for Molly, there are still some leftovers.  So, she will have the typical Monday cold pizza lunch.

Our main entrée is leftover cold pepperoni pizza from Little Caesars.  Molly is like any other kid, she would eat pizza for breakfast, lunch and dinner just about every day.

Our veggie side is cucumbers that have been cut with our crinkle knife.  They still taste the same but they are a little extra special.

Our fruit side sliced strawberries.  We still have a few of these little gems left from Molly's Grammy.

Finally, our dessert/dairy side is Yoplait Slim 50 strawberry yogurt.  Molly requested this as her dessert.  We think that it really helps to get her through the day.

Pizza Monday

I've mentioned before that Molly's school serves pizza on Mondays so I've decided to jump on that trend this Monday.  We have some left-over pizza from Daddy's Birthday Dinner tonight and I figured that Molly will fit right in with everyone else by having pizza too.  The biggest difference between Molly's lunch and the school cafeteria lunch is that Molly's is portioned for a child, it includes vegetables that are not dripping in fatty dressing, fruit that is not sitting in heavy syrup and a dessert that isn't as big as her head.  At school, they serve Papa John's pizza with government cheese added to it, salad that is soaked in dressing, fruit in sugar laden heavy syrup and a large hot pretzel. Then, they have cookies for sale that are bigger than a salad plate.
I understand that kids like rewards and fun foods but it's all about portion control.  I'm not the Mom that will only give her children ultra healthy food at all times.  Yes, I do try to give my kids a variety of healthy foods but I too like pizza and cookies now and then.

Our main entrée is cheese pizza from Little Caesars.  Today is Molly's Daddy's Birthday and as part of our celebrations, we picked up some pizza.  Cold leftover pizza is really delicious, as noted in our previous post called Cold Pizza.

Our vegetable side is cucumbers.  We sliced these kind of thick so that they give Molly a nice crunch.  Plus, they have a lot of water in them that will help combat the saltiness of the pizza.

Our fruit side is a Clementine.  One of those little Christmastime gems that are a huge favorite in our house.  Just the smell of them can perk you up!

Finally, our dessert is an anise pizzelle that Molly's Daddy made.  These are light and crispy with a delicate sweet flavor.  Definitely a cookie that most anyone will enjoy.

Movie Day!

Tomorrow is Friday and Molly is SO excited to go to school.  Her teacher has a giant gum ball machine on her wall and if all of the students do well they get to put a gum ball in it.  When the machine is full, they get to have a movie day.  Well, tomorrow they get to watch a movie.  Each student can bring in a G rated movie and they all vote on the one that they want to watch.  Molly is bringing in "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."  I'm so excited for her.  This is one of those fun school things that she will probably remember for the rest of her life.  I'm hoping that her lunch will be another highlight of her day.

Our main entrée is a slice of left over Little Caesars pepperoni pizza.  There is just something about cold pizza for lunch.  We know that this may not be the most nutritious lunch but it is Fun Friday and Molly really deserves a special lunch.

The vegetable side is edamame.  The nutritional value of edamame is awesome.  It also provides a little extra protein that will keep Molly going through the rest of the day and on through ballet.

We've chosen applesauce for our fruit.  We really like Trader Joe's No Sugar Added Applesauce, it has a great flavor and a perfect texture.  Not too runny, not too chunky, just yummy.

It's Fun Friday!  Molly has had a great week and really deserves a special treat.  We've added a Twizzler to her lunch box for a nice dessert/treat.  Molly has loved these since she was very little.  When she would ask for them, she would always add an extra "a" in the middle.  Twizz-a-ler.  Actually, she may still do that.

Have a great weekend everyone!