Pizza Pasta Salad

Molly's school serves pizza every Monday.  Usually, we try to make some sort of pizza over the weekend and the leftovers are part of Monday's lunch.  That didn't happen this weekend.  Molly and her sister were treated to a fantastic weekend, courtesy of their Grammy and Papa.  They did their nails, got all dressed up and went to see Beauty and the Beast at our (Mommy and Daddy's) high school alma mater.  The reviews were spectacular.  Gaston, in particular, was a huge hit.  Though, the girls chose the roles of Belle and Mrs. Potts as future characters that they'd like to play.  Thank you, Grammy and Papa, the girls had a blast.

Now, on to Molly's lunch and our pizza alternative.

Our main entree is pizza pasta salad.  We mixed together some extra whole grain rotini, mozzarella cheese and mini turkey pepperoni.  We then added some light Italian dressing to make everything taste extra good.

Our vegetable side is slices of pepper.  Molly's little sister and little brother went to a birthday party today and they had a huge veggie tray.  We were asked if we wanted to take any of the leftovers (there weren't many, good choices Johnson family!) and we were happy to take some of the small peppers to put in Molly's lunch.

Our fruit side is a small "kid sized" Macintosh apple.  We picked these up at Sam's Club and they are the delicious.  Molly's Daddy and I will grab one before or after a run and they are the perfect size.  Also, they really are great for the kids.  No half eaten apples in our fridge anymore.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is a Chobani Champions orange vanilla Greek yogurt.  Molly again requested that we put a few (maybe a Tablespoon at best) mini chocolate chips in a small container so that she can add them to the yogurt.  We can't blame her.  Orange and chocolate are so delicious together.

Twos Day

Have you ever eaten something and craved it for every meal afterward?  Molly has eaten homemade pizza for 3 of her last 4 meals.  After dinner, she asked to have it again for lunch tomorrow...if there was any left.  Lucky for her, there were three pieces of a mini pizza left.

I really don't blame her for wanting the same thing over and over.  I remember being a peanut butter and jelly junkie when I was young and would eat it for every meal without deviation.  It just makes me wonder what the favorite foods will be for her brother and sister.

Our main entrée is homemade pizza...again.  This is the last little bit left over from our Super Bowl party on Sunday.  The mini pepperoni makes it extra fun.

Our vegetable side is cucumber slices.  This cucumber is extra crunchy.  It will be a great addition to this lunch.

Our fruit side is strawberries and kiwi.  This combination is great whether as whole fruits or juice.  Trader Joe's makes a delicious strawberry kiwi juice that our family really enjoys.

Finally, our dessert is some Annie's Homegrown Bunny Grahams in honey flavor.  A nice little change from the normal yogurt and an added sweetness and crunch.

Monday After a Super Bowl Loss

Our beloved Steelers fought a good fight but in the end, we lost the Super Bowl.  It was an awesome game and the better team won because they had less turnovers and scored a lot of points.  Great job black and gold, we are still SO proud to be members of the Steelers nation.

Some of the local schools have a delay in the morning so that everyone can recover from the game but unfortunately, Molly doesn't.  Just another Monday in Pittsburgh, which means that we have our Monday lunch.

Our main entrée is the typical Monday, pepperoni pizza.  Only, we made this pizza ourselves.  Trader Joe's makes some really yummy pizza dough and sells it in the refrigerated section.  We used this to make some mini pizzas.  We also used Trader Joe's pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese and mini pepperoni.

Our veggie side is a few slices of red pepper.  Crunchy and flavorful, these vegetables are loaded with vitamin C and beta carotene.

Our fruit side is strawberries and a clementine.  Strawberries and citrus complement each other so nicely because of the sweet/tart factor.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is Dannon Light and Fit vanilla yogurt.  Hopefully this will be enough sweetness after so many goodies from our super bowl party.  ☺