Trader Joe's Inspired Lunch

We made a run out to Trader Joe's yesterday to pick up a few essentials and some other goodies.  We just love Trader Joe's and heard a rumor that there might be one opening much closer to where we live.  It's about a 20 minute drive from where we are right now, but totally worth it!

Our main entree is a Trader Joe's mini Cinnamon Raisin bagel sandwich.  What's better with a bagel than cream cheese?  We added some whipped cream cheese and sandwiched it together.  We also added a little bow pick for fun.

Our vegetable side is Snap Peas Crisps.  These are a fantastic alternative to potato chips.  They are crispy, crunchy and salty.  The best part is that they are made with peas and baked so they are very healthy.  We added a pink flower pick to this container for a reminder of spring.

Our fruit side is strawberries.  These are still from the fresh picked batch of strawberries that Grammy got for us.  All four quarts are almost gone.  To say that we like strawberries at our house would be an understatement.  We added a small dragonfly ring to this container because Molly really likes when we put rings in her lunch.

Our dairy side is a cheddar and mozzarella cheese stick.  We think that Molly might be a little hungry (she didn't eat a lot at dinner tonight) so this is the perfect add on.

Finally, our dessert is peach yogurt.  Molly really likes to put her strawberries into her yogurt and peaches and strawberries are a great pairing.

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.

Fun Halloween Friday!

It's almost here!  Halloween!!!!  We are having so much fun getting everything all finished.  The girls and I will be filling the treat bags for school and a few other goodies for home and Molly's lunch box for Monday.

Our main entree is a salami and cheese sandwich.  We purchased these super delicious little asiago rolls at Sam's Club today to go with our homemade chicken noodle soup.  There weren't many left but we used one for Molly's lunch.  We added hard salami, provolone and mustard...plus a little friend to keep it company.

Our vegetable side is sweet peas.  These were from a frozen packet and taste just as good cold as they do warm.  We added a jack o'lantern pick to these for fun.

Our fruit side is a sliced orange.  We re-arranged half of the orange to create a rounded circle.  Then, we used a food safe marker to make a jack o'lantern face on it.

Our dairy side is peach yogurt.  Molly really enjoyed this variety today so we were happy to give it to her again for tomorrow.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is a mini Hershey bar.  Something about Hershey bars just screams Halloween fun!  Molly will be so excited to have one of her favorite things in the whole world!

Fall Fun

We've been having so much fun getting into fall this year.  Our annual visits to our favorite pumpkin patch, state park and candy store are all done.  Our Halloween parade, costumes and decorations are all done and there are only a few more things to do before the big day.  We can't wait for pumpkin carving, school parties and trick or treat with the annual screening of "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."

Tomorrow's lunch has a few Halloween touches to it too, just to keep Molly in the spirit.

Our main entree is peanut butter and nutella sandwiches.  It was such a hit today that there was a request for it again in tomorrow's lunch.  We cut these out with pumpkin shaped cookie cutters and put faces on them with food safe markers.  We added a small witch hat to the smaller pumpkin for fun.

Our vegetable side is carrots and hummus.  Molly said that it was so delicious today that, again, she requested it for tomorrow's lunch.

Our fruit side is green grapes.  We were tempted to peel them like zombie eyeballs but decided against it just in case they shriveled up over night.

Our dairy side is a Babybel cheese.  We carved out a fun jack o'lantern face on it for Molly.

Finally, our dessert is peach yogurt.  We buy a large variety pack of yogurt for Molly's Daddy and he was nice enough to share one with Molly. ☺