The Return of a Favorite

We did a special MOMables week a few months ago and made little strawberry waffle sandwiches per MOMables suggested menu.  We've made them before but it's nice to be reminded of some old favorites.

Our main entree is a waffle sandwich.  We toasted two whole grain waffles, spread whipped cream cheese on them, put sliced strawberries on it and then sandwiched it together.

Our fruit side is clementines and pomegranate arils.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is peach yogurt.

Fall Fun Lunch

The girls both requested peanut butter and jelly.  I love days like this!

Our main entree is peanut butter and jelly that we cut with leaf shaped cookie cutters. Fall is almost over here in western PA.  There are only a couple of leaves left on the trees.

Our vegetable side is cucumber slices.

Our fruit side is clementines, pomegranate arils and starfruit.

Finally, our dairy dessert is vanilla yogurt.  There is a little cinnamon sprinkled on top.

 

Fun Fall Lunch

We had a very full weekend with lots of fall traditions.  We did our annual trek up to McConnell's Mill State Park and had a blast running around and piling up leaves, then jumping in the leaves.  We got some great photos for our memory book.  Then, we went to Brown's Country Kitchen (a little hole in the wall joint with awesome food) for some lunch and homemade pie.  Finally, we stopped at Baldinger's Candy store on the way home.  We let the kids each pick out 10 pieces of candy since Halloween is right around the corner.  If you are interested in checking these places out, I have more details about them in this post.

Our main entree is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that has been cut into leaf shapes to reminisce about our fun weekend.

Our vegetable side is cucumbers and carrots.

Our fruit side is strawberries and pomegranate arils.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is Very Berry Chobani Champions Greek yogurt.

Lots of Veggies

Molly had two requests today.  1. To use one of the "cool new lunch boxes" that Bean used today and 2. To have some veggies with hummus.  That was our jumping off point.

The girls' lunches are exactly the same but in two different containers.

Our main entree is lots of veggies with Trader Joe's 3 Layer Hummus.  Bean's hummus looks a bit nicer since it was scooped out first.  It's cilantro, regular and red pepper hummus all layered so nicely in the container but not so pretty scooped into a smaller container...but still delicious.  Our veggies are zucchini, carrots, cucumbers and red peppers.

Our fruit side is apples slices and pomegranate arils.

We added some crackers and a cheese stick to round out our meal.

Finally, our diary/dessert is Chobani Champions Very Berry.

 

All Request Lunch

Usually when I suggest something the girls are quick to agree with a "sure, sounds good Mom" but tonight they both wanted different things.  Luckily, their requests were an easy fix or Mama might have tried to sway their choices.

Bean's lunch is leftover pasta with a little bit of butter and Parmesan.  We will heat it up in the morning before school.
Her veggies are cucumber slices, pepper rings and shredded carrots.  Her fruits are strawberries, fresh figs, kiwi and pomegranate arils. These are in a Lunchbots Duo.
Finally, her dairy/dessert is Chobani Champions Vanilla Chocolate Chunk Greek yogurt. (we love their new design!)

Molly's main entree is a super cinnamon raisin sandwich.  Trader Joe's makes this amazing cinnamon roll bread and we spread Peanut Butter and Company Cinnamon Raisin Swirl peanut butter.
Her veggies and fruit are the same as Bean's.We also put Chobani Champions Vanilla Chocolate Chunk in Molly's lunch.

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.

Last Day Before Thanksgiving

Our house is filled with the flurry and excitement of the holidays.  Molly's little sister having her preschool feast tomorrow and she can't wait.  Molly can't wait to have a few days off and neither can her Daddy.  We are all ready for some extra time together as a family. ☺

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone!

Our main entree is Chickarina soup.  It is similar to Wedding soup but has a different, larger, pasta.  Molly has been requesting this for a while after we had it for dinner with some sandwiches.

Our vegetable side is carrot chunks.  We used our crinkle knife to chop up the carrot stick.  Its a fun different way to serve carrots.

Our fruit side is a D'Anjou pear and some pomegranate arils.  These are a huge hit in our house.

Our dairy side is a Babybel cheese and it is being served with some Triscuit thins in Chili flavor.  We figured that this would be a nice addition to Molly's lunch.

Finally, our special Thanksgiving treat is M&Ms.  We had a few of these left in our special treat jar and thought that Molly would really enjoy them.

Finally Friday?

I usually lament on how the weeks seem to drag on but this was one of those weeks that flew by for me.  It really feels like Tuesday, maybe.  We've been doing our normal routine this week but it has been moving at lightning speed.  I think that the thrill of Thanksgiving may be pushing time.  Next week, there are only two days of school but they will be filled with feasts and fun.  Then, Molly's Dad, some friends and I are going to run in a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning.  After that, we will be hosting Thanksgiving dinner for our family.  We have so much to be thankful for this year and it's nice to have one day dedicated to giving thanks.

Our main entree is a turkey sandwich.  We are paying homage to one of our favorite holidays of the year.  We have an asiago roll from Sam's Club with turkey breast, pepper cheese and mustard.

Our vegetable side is peppers.  We used our crinkle knife to cut these peppers into fun shapes.

Our fruit side is a replay of today's fruit, pears and pomegranate arils.  Molly said that the pear was super sweet and requested them again.

Our dairy side is a colby jack cheese stick.  Molly hasn't have one of these in a while so we decided that it would be a good way to bulk up her lunch a little bit.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is peanut M&Ms.  This is the last of the Halloween candy.  We tossed a lot of it and divided a lot out.  It was nice that only one of the three kids actually went Trick or Treating and that it was one of the little ones, so we didn't end up with a lot of candy.

Classic PB&J

I had an incredible run tonight with the peeps at Mojo Running and Multisport, as usual.  My asthma was beating me up a little bit because the temperature dropped suddenly and it was very damp outside, but I kept on trucking as well as I could.

To reward myself, I went out with the crew afterward to have a beer and to try an anomaly called the "Gobblerito" at Mad Mex.  My girl, Jenn, has been raving about this concoction for weeks.  It is basically Thanksgiving dinner wrapped up in a flour tortilla, covered in gravy and served with a side of cranberry sauce.  It was phenomenal!  Seriously!  If you are anywhere near a Mad Mex restaurant, you must try it.  It's only around for a little while longer, then comes the Feast Navidad Burrito that just so happens to include roast beast.

Our main entree is a classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  We were inspired by the gobblerito when choosing which cookie cutters to use.  Thanksgiving is only a week away so we broke out the turkey cookie cutter and a leaf cookie cutter.

Our vegetable side is cucumber slices.  These will be a nice palate cleanser after the peanut butter.

Our fruit side is brought to you by the letter "P".  Pears and pomegranates.  These compliment each other very nicely because the pear is a bit on the mild side and the pomegranate arils are more vibrant in flavor.

Finally, our dairy/dessert it Chobani Champions Honey-Nana Greek yogurt.  Molly said that she really enjoyed this variety the other day and decided that she'd like to try it again.

Monday in the Middle

Molly didn't have school last Monday and Tuesday because of parent/teacher conferences.  Next week, there is no school on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday because of Thanksgiving.  This means that there were exactly ten school days between these vacation periods.  Molly's teacher is taking advantage of this by doing the normal weekly plans during theses two "weeks".  This also means that tomorrow will be like a normal Thursday for Molly with a spelling pretest, extra math and reading reviews.  This week and the few days next week will be a little confusing but I give Molly's teacher credit for actually getting these lessons in before the holiday.  I remember a lot of pre-holiday days at school being mostly wasted because the teachers didn't want to start something new.  Molly's teacher is on the ball and now she won't have to push through a lesson in a shorter amount of time.

Our main entree is a salami, pepper cheese and mustard sandwich on whole grain white bread.  Molly requested that we cut it into fun shapes.  We found this cool puzzle piece cookie cutter a few weeks ago and we added little moons to it because Molly is studying the moon in school right now.

Our vegetable side is sliced cucumbers.  We used the crinkle knife again and tried to cut them a little thinner.  When we turn the cucumber after one cut and then turn it again after the next cut, etc, the veggies look like waffles.

Our fruit side is a tangerine and pomegranate arils.  The tangerine has seeds in it so we need to remember to remind Molly of that, but then again, the grapes in Friday's lunch had seeds and she did fine with those.  She even brought them home to show us.  The pomegranate may be a little laborious in preparation but it is very worth it.  These arils are so sweet and they are a nutritional powerhouses.

Our dairy/dessert is Chobani Champions Verry Berry Greek Yogurt.  This has enough protein that no extra dairy is needed.  Also, Molly really enjoys it. ☺

Full Friday

This Friday is going to be a little hectic, actually this whole weekend is.  We have plans for just about every day. Tomorrow after school, Molly has ballet.  Then we will be headed to the High School for a basketball game that Molly and her BFF's (along with several other girls) will be able to cheer at as part of his past summer's Rah Rah Camp.  After that, we (the BFF's and their families) are going to go out for an ice cream or some sort of other snack.  Molly can't wait.  She actually went to bed early tonight so that she will be energized for tomorrow.  Saturday, we are going to see Mary Poppins on stage!  I'm REALLY excited about this one because Mary Poppins has always been a personal favorite.  After that, we will come home and cheer on our favorite Pittsburgh Steelers as they play in a playoff game.  HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO!!

Our main entrée is a good old pb&j.  Molly requested this classic lunch staple.  We spread peanut butter and strawberry jam on whole wheat bread and then used a large flower cookie cutter and a small star cookie cutter to cut it.

Our vegetable side is a baby spinach salad.  We added a few shredded carrots for sweetness and crunch.  This is accompanied by Trader Joe's Balsamic Vinaigrette.

Our fruit side is a kiwi and some pomegranate seeds.  Both pretty and delicious.

Our dairy side is a string cheese stick.  This provides a little extra protein to round out our lunch.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is two Aldi Milk Chocolate Covered Gingerbread Hearts.  Molly will be so excited to have this special yummy treat, and she truly deserves it. ☺

Nothing Green Lunch

As so many times before, Molly has requested breakfast for lunch.  And as so many times before, we are having an issue with fitting in a vegetable.  The cucumber worked fine last week but the more and more I thought about it, the more I would've omitted it.  I think that the veggies go great with a savory breakfast but we are doing a sweeter breakfast so the veggies just don't fit.  Guess we will be having  a few extra veggies with our dinner tomorrow night.  As long as she gets them somewhere.

Our main entrée is a whole grain waffle sandwich.  We flavored some whipped cream cheese with maple syrup, spread it on each side of the extra crispy waffle and layered thin slices of apple in the middle of our sandwich.

Our fruit side is a clementine and some pomegranate seeds.  This will help boost Molly's vitamin C level.

Our final side is a great combination of multi grain Cheerios, peanuts and dried cherries.  The main part of this mix is the peanuts to add protein to Molly's lunch.

Same as the School Lunch

One of my secret weapons is looking at the school lunch menu.  What kid wants to eat cold peanut butter and jelly when everyone else is sitting there with a nice hot piece of pizza?  If there is something that Molly likes to eat and it's on the school lunch menu, I try to incorporate it into her lunch if possible.  For example, Molly's school is serving Papa John's pizza tomorrow and luckily for us, Molly's Grammy invited us for pizza dinner tonight and had left overs. ☺  Left over pizza is a HUGE favorite of Molly's so we are in luck.  The big difference between the school lunch and Molly's lunch is that we can control the portion size, add healthier sides and we know that she will eat the things that we serve but we aren't so sure about the school lunch.

Our main entrée is left over pepperoni pizza.  This is from our favorite pizza place near us, Sir Pizza. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's not the best crust, sauce or cheese but the combination of whatever it is that they use is just spot on.  Plus, the pepperoni is the best!

Our vegetable side is a plain baby spinach salad, by request.  This is served with Trader Joe's Balsamic Vinaigrette.

Our fruit side is kiwi and pomegranate.  This too is by request.  I purchased a big papaya from the store the other day and balled it up with a melon baller, but Molly wasn't interested in it.  Here's another tip, if they won't eat it, don't send it.  Try little bits at home and see if they change their mind, if not, it's not worth the headache.  Don't sweat the small stuff.

Finally, our dessert/dairy side is Dannon Light & Fit vanilla yogurt.  We added some fresh raspberries for flavor, texture and color.

TGIF!

Our whole house has been fighting illnesses this week and we are really ready for the weekend to be here.  Why did this surplus of sickness wait until the kids were back at school and Daddy back at work?  Oh well, we are all on the mend and the weekend is very close.  It's time to have a chill out, no plans, just hang around and do nothing weekend.

But, before we can do nothing, we've gotta get through Friday, so on to lunch!

Our main entrée is a Nutella and Strawberry Jam sandwich.  This combination is sweet and delicious.  We used a heart shaped cookie cutter for the big sandwich and a heart shaped micro cookie cutter for the mini sandwiches.

Our vegetable side is sliced cucumbers.  We used our crinkle cutter knife to make it more fun.

Our fruit side is a clementine, kiwi and pomegranate seeds.  Molly really loves fruit so the more the better in her eyes.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is Snowball Soup!  We made this for Molly's little sister to bring in for her preschool snack.  They were reading a book called Snowball Soup so we decided to make our own for a special treat.  We combined Multi-Grain Cheerios with raisins and mini marshmallows as our snowballs.  It's a really nice combination and pretty healthy too.

Welcome Wednesday!

Yes, we are welcoming Wednesday with open arms this week.  It is the final full day of school before Christmas break.  That means that Christmas is almost here and we couldn't be more excited.  We are ready to celebrate the birth of Christ with our friends and family and even strangers as we greet them with a hearty "Merry Christmas!"  This time of year is amazing to watch when you have children.  The Christmas lights sparkling in their eager eyes and the incredible smiles that stream across their faces are unmatched by even their birthdays.

We would like to wish each and every one of you a Very Merry Christmas and a Joyous and Prosperous New Year!  See you next year in 2011!

The Final Lunch of the Year is a by request only lunch.  Molly and I sat down and she decided what she would like and I said that she could have anything.  This is what she decided on...

Our main entrée is pepperoni, cheese and crackers.  Molly thinks that this "party food" is one of the coolest things to have for lunch.  We used Keebler Town House Toppers Crackers in their holiday variety.  If you look closely, you can see a tree and a snowman embossed on the center of the crackers.  The cheese is Colby Jack and it and the pepperoni were loving prepared by Molly's Daddy.  (Thanks Daddy!)

Our vegetable side is a baby spinach salad with pea shoots.  It is served with Trader Joe's Balsamic Vinaigrette.

Our fruit side is a combination of Clementine segments, raspberries and pomegranate seeds.  Molly said that she really likes it when she gets a combination of fruits because she has so much to choose from.

Finally, our Christmas dessert is one of Molly's Daddy's Famous Pizzelles that has been broken in to bit sized pieces and a Brown Eyed Susan cookie.  These two are some of our absolute favorite holiday cookies and Molly definitely deserves a very special treat for her final school lunch of 2010.

Again, Merry Christmas to One and ALL!

Tinsel Tuesday

Our family has become obsessed with Disney's Prep and Landing, to the point that it is #3 on our all time favorite Christmas television specials.  We think that the story of Wayne and Lanny's attempt to save Christmas for Timmy Terwelp is so fun, hysterical and heartwarming.  One of Lanny's favorite phrases is, "this is SO Tinsel!"  Now our family is calling really neat or cool things, tinsel.  We received a very pretty Christmas card in the mail today and Molly's little sister said, "that's SO tinsel, Mom."  So, tomorrow will be Tinsel Tuesday because it's going to be a fun day at school and at home.  There are still a few more Christmas specials to watch and a few more cookies to bake.  This truly is the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Our main entrée is a croissant sandwich with Castle Wood Honey Ham and Castle Wood Pepper Jack Cheese.  We added a little bit of mustard at Molly's request.  We also added pea shoots for a great veggie flavor and not the normal lettuce.  The croissant is a special and delicious Christmastime treat.

Our veggie side is carrot sticks dressed with a few extra pea shoots to fancy it up.  We feel that the crunch of the carrots will be an excellent pairing with the softness of the sandwich.

Our fruit side is a Clementine with a few pomegranate seeds to dress it up.  Molly absolutely loved the pomegranate seeds from yesterday's lunch so this may be a recurring fruit in her lunch.

Finally, we added two Hershey's kisses for her dessert.  Just a little something sweet to end her lunch.

ps - in case you are wondering what our top two picks for Christmas television specials are, here goes:
#1 - Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas
#2 - A Charlie Brown Christmas

Merry Monday

We are in the thick of it people!  Christmas is less than a week away and the excitement is hardly containable.  We have wrapped a plethora of presents, baked dozens of dozens of cookies and decorated to our heart's content.

We have a tradition at our house when it comes to presents that we started with Molly's 1st Christmas.  Santa brings only three gifts for each child plus a few stocking stuffers.  Why, you might ask?  Because that is the amount of presents Baby Jesus got for Christmas.  This tradition has proven to be a tremendous help to us.  First, our house doesn't have a thousand plastic toys sitting and collecting dust a week after Christmas.  Second, friends and family members that wish to purchase a gift for our children can do so and we have ideas for them because Santa hasn't used all of them.  Third, it really saves a lot of money.  Fourth, the children seem to appreciate their gifts even more because there aren't too many of them.  Fifth and the most important thing, it teaches the story of Christ's birth and how people from all over the land followed a star to come to see this amazing babe and bring him gifts.

We have only three full days of school this week before the kids have their Christmas vacation.  We will be doing our best to make this week's lunches as fun as possible for Molly.

Our main entrée is a cold tortellini pasta salad.  These are Trader Joe's Fresh Cheese Tortellini.  We've added light Italian dressing to coat.  (Notice the red and green flecks of color that keep with our Christmas theme.)

Our vegetable side is canned green beans with no salt added.  These are an all time favorite of Molly's.  She's just like her Mother. ☺

Our fruit side is pomegranate arils or seeds.  These are sweet and mildly bitter with a juicy pop to them.  The health benefits of this "super fruit" are too numerous to list.
*We removed the seeds from the pomegranate by slicing a cone around the top at about 1/2 inch down.  We then scored the pom with 1/4 inch deep slices going from top to bottom in four sections.  We then submerged the pomegranate in a bowl of water and started to tear it apart.  (This keeps your hands and kitchen counter from turning pink.) The seeds sink to the bottom of the bowl while the pulp floats to the top.  We removed the pulp then strained the contents of the bowl, and were left with the seeds...YUM!

Finally, our dessert is Chewy Egg Nog Cookies from Trader Joe's that according to Trader Joe himself, "exude egg nogginess from the moment you open the box."  They are INCREDIBLE!  Plus, they are a nice way to finish up a festive lunch.