Pizza!

After a trip to Trader Joe's, we've got plenty of inspiration for some fun festive lunches, including pizza!

Our main entree is pepperoni pizza.  We used Trader Joe's Middle Eastern Flat Bread for our crust, added Trader Joe's tomato paste, pizza cheese and turkey pepperoni that we cut into tree and snowman shapes with mini cookie cutters.

Our vegetable side is cucumber slices.

Our fruit side is kiwi slices.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is Trader Joe's Strawberry Greek Yogurt.

Make Your Own Pizza "Lunchables"

The "lunchable" lunches were so popular with the girls that I decided to take it a step further with a cue from my good friend, Chef Corey, over at Family Fresh Meals.  The kids don't always ask for the crackers, cheese and lunch meat.  They ask for the pizza version a lot so I figured, why not?

 Molly's Lunch

Bean's Lunch

Our main entree is a make your own pepperoni pizza.  We used Trader Joe's Middle Eastern Flat Bread as the crust, some pizza sauce (in the small containers with the rainbows on them), pizza cheese blend and turkey pepperoni.

Our vegetable side is a green salad with Ranch dressing on the side.  When I was in school, salad was ALWAYS served with pizza.  Luckily for my girls, their salad is completely separate so it won't get the pizza soggy.  That was one of my biggest pet peeves about the pizza at school. 

Our fruit side is red grapes.  The local grocery store had these on sale for 99¢ a pound.  WIN!

Finally, our dairy/dessert is Chobani Champions Vanilla Chocolate Chunk.  This will round out the meal with a boost of protein and probiotics.

ps - Bean is bringing her own snack to Kindergarten starting this week and since tomorrow is red day, this is what we came up with.  Apple chunks.  Yum!

Pizza Time!

After a fun weekend, we're ready to get back to a full week of school.  We are taking a cue from the school lunch menu again and made some pizza for Molly's Monday lunch.

Our main entree is cheese pizza.  We used a Trader Joe's Middle Eastern Flatbread as our crust, added sauce and cheese, then baked it off.  Molly said that she really likes having this pizza because it tastes like home.

Our vegetable side is a green salad.  When we were in school, salad was always served with pizza.  This is accompanied by some light ranch dressing.

Our fruit side is Granny Smith apple slices.  Our family goes through a lot of apples because all of the kids like  them, especially Molly's little brother.  He's the only person we know that would eat an apple at every meal.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is vanilla yogurt.  It's still Molly's favorite.

Fun Fruity Froggies!

Whoa, what a crazy night here.  We have been super busy but we keep on going.  Tomorrow, Molly's little sister is the snack person at preschool.  It is the letter "F,f" day so we decided to make fruity frogs.  We were right in the middle of making them when we realized that there would be no way to bring them to school all in one piece.  So, now we are doing fruity frog faces.  The feet just didn't fit.  But, Molly is the lucky recipient of two fruity frogs since she has a perfect container for them.

Our main entree is a Trader Joe's pimento cheese sandwich.  Yes, the return of one of Molly's favorite lunches of all time!  We used Trader Joe's flat bread, spread some Trader Joe's Pimento Cheese Spread on it and cut it into triangles.  Molly's Daddy was nice enough to make this for us since we were still working on the preschool treat.

Our vegetable side is carrot sticks.  Daddy chopped these up for us too.  He's so awesome to help out and put extra love in Molly's lunch.

Our fruit side is the fruity frogs. They are quartered Granny Smith apples (core removed) with a slit cut out for the mouth.  Then we halved green grapes, notched out toes, and set them in front.  Next, we rolled a few little cream cheese balls and put mini chocolate chips in the center for the eyes and pushed them onto the faces.  Finally, we cut a little bit of a fruit by the foot fruit roll up into a long tongue.  Never know when there might be a fly hanging around at lunch time.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is low fat strawberry yogurt.  This will be a nice creamy end to a super fun lunch.

Pizza Lunch

This summer, Molly's Grammy and Papa had a pool put in their back yard.  It is gorgeous!  The weather today was so nice that Grammy called up to see if we wanted to visit her for a swim after school...and that's exactly what we did.  All three kids were in their glory and enjoyed every minute of it.  Also, all three of them ate huge dinners afterward since they had been swimming so hard.  By the time we got home, they were all ready for bed and now it's time for Mommy and Daddy to get things ready for tomorrow.

Our main entree is a pepperoni pizza.  We usually do this on a Monday but since we had the leftovers that Molly liked, we put it off till Tuesday.  We used our favorite Trader Joe's Middle Eastern Flat Bread as our crust, added sauce, mozzarella made from 2% milk and turkey pepperoni, baked it up and sliced it into pieces that would fit into Molly's lunch box.

Our vegetable side is a rainbow of bell peppers.  We talked about these in yesterday's post.  We got them from Joe at the new produce stand down the road from us.  They are very crunchy and sweet.

Our fruit side is a prune plum, also purchased from Joe.  These things are huge.  Their flavor is sweet and tart with tons of juiciness.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is Chobani Champions Honey 'Nana.  Molly requested this because she enjoyed the other one so much today. We think it might keep her fuller as well.

Fan Favorite

Molly is always very happy when we go to Trader Joe's to get some yummy things.  She always asks for the same things and usually they end up in her lunch box.  Tomorrow's lunch is no exception.  A few favorites and something new.  All delicious!

Our main entrée is a pimento cheese sandwich.  Yes, Molly's favorite is back.  Thank you, Trader Joe's!  We spread Trader Joe's pimento cheese spread on a Middle Eastern Flatbread, folded, sliced and there you have it.

Our vegetable side is baby carrots.  We haven't had these for a while.  Also, something happened and our cucumbers and they weren't too good anymore.

Our fruit side is a good old fashioned apple.  We left the skin on and just cut these into slices.

Finally, our dessert is Trader Joe's mini oatmeal raisin cookies.  These have a great crunch and a super sweet taste.  These are new to us and we absolutely love them.

We Have Pizza!!!

Most of you know that we usually have pizza on Mondays because that is the day that the school has pizza for lunch.  Well, we changed it up a little bit today and gave Molly chicken nuggets instead of pizza.  She really enjoyed it but asked immediately if she could have pizza for lunch tomorrow.  ☺  Lesson learned, ask and you shall receive.

Our main entrée is homemade pizza.  We used our favorite Trader Joe's Middle Eastern Flat Bread at our crust. We added some sauce, mozzarella and turkey pepperoni, then baked it in the toaster oven until it was looking really yummy.  We cooled it, cut it and voilà...pizza for lunch!

Our vegetable side is mini dill pickles again.  Not sure how much we'd like this combination but Molly insisted.  They both have garlic???  Maybe that's the connection?

Our fruit side is kiwi.  These are very tart kiwi but we think that Molly will like them, hopefully.

Finally, we're mixing it up a little bit and giving Molly a real dessert on a Tuesday.  She has been working so hard and doing very well with her school work.  She has been helping around the house and trying to be the best big sister ever.  (note: her little sister can be a little hard to deal with at times so no matter how hard Molly tries, there is always going to be some sort of issue.)  Molly's Daddy made a special chocolate pound cake for Mother's Day.  The recipe calls for 1 1/2 sticks of butter but we noticed a healthier version that used yogurt instead.  It is SUPER delicious the healthy way.  Thanks Tastefully Simple!

PIZZA!

We had a very busy weekend with lots of fun adventures.  Molly did her first 1K run on Saturday morning and rocked it!  The run was for a wonderful foundation called The Superhero Foundation.  The Superhero Foundation helps children suffering from abuse and has done an amazing job helping countless kids who need a hero to help them.  We all dressed up like superheroes, with capes and everything.  It was such a fun event and we had an absolute blast!  Now, back to reality and school on Monday!

Our main entrée is our typical Monday lunch...pizza.  We used Trader Joe's flat bread for our crust, added sauce, a string cheese that had been pulled apart and turkey pepperoni.  Molly really likes these pizzas and they will probably be a staple on our summer menu, only cooked on the grill...yummy!

Our vegetable side is a plain romaine salad, as per Molly's request.  We have a light Italian salad dressing on the side, also per Molly's request.

Our fruit side is sliced strawberries.  After all, it is the "Merry Berry Month of May!"

Finally, our dairy/dessert is Dannon Light and Fit vanilla yogurt.  The perfect end to a great lunch!!!

Spring is Here!

Spring is finally here!  At least it finally feels like spring in Western PA since the winter lasted for what felt like an eternity.  It has been warm for the past few days, the flowers are in full bloom and we have been cooking on the grill just about every night.  The other things that spring promises are fresh fruits and vegetables from local farms and back yard gardens.  We were lucky enough to find some great fresh produce recently and enjoy the taste of spring via strawberries and peppers.  YUM!

Our main entrée is a pimento cheese sandwich "quesadilla".  We used Trader Joe's Middle Eastern Flat Bread and spread Trader Joe's pimento cheese spread on it.  Then we folded it and sliced it.  This is Molly's favorite sandwich.

Our vegetable side is a romaine lettuce salad with yellow and red peppers.  We added a small container of light Italian dressing at Molly's request.

Our fruit side is strawberries and blueberries.  The blueberries are a little bit tart and the strawberries are very sweet.  A great combination.

Finally, our dessert is vanilla wafers.  Molly requested these too.  I think we'll be seeing our favorite yogurt soon though.

Flatbread Pizza

Since there was no school today, because of the Easter holiday, our normal pizza Monday has been moved to Tuesday.  At first, we weren't supposed to have school tomorrow but it is a make up day for one of our snow days.  So, it's pizza Monday on Tuesday.

P.S. - We had a fantastic Easter and we hope that all of you did as well!

Our main entrée is cold pizza!  We made this pizza using Molly's favorite middle eastern flat bread from Trader Joe's as our crust.  We added sauce, cheese and turkey pepperoni and baked it in the toaster oven.  YUM!

Our vegetable side is cucumbers slices.  Molly requested these since she hadn't had them for a while.

Our fruit side is applesauce.  Molly and her siblings really enjoy applesauce.  We usually try to have fresh fruit but every once in a while applesauce will do the trick, and does it ever.

Our dessert is a 100 calorie pack of Oreo Crisps.  After getting their sugar high from Easter, (courtesy of all of the grandparents...thank you to Grammy, Papa, Nana and Grandpa! ☺) we are taming it down little by little.

Requested Lunch

Since this week is shorter, we've gone with our all request lunch for tomorrow.  As I stated yesterday, Molly really is a creature of habit.  When I asked her what she wanted, I could've guessed before she even opened her mouth.  Of course she asked for a pimento cheese sandwich "quesadilla" as her main entrée and a few other favorites for her sides.  I was surprised, however, that she asked for a special treat on a Tuesday.  Not that I'm not flexible about these things, but she usually doesn't stray from our normal routine.  I had to decline her request though, since tomorrow's lunch will definitely have a treat in it.

Our main entrée is a pimento cheese sandwich "quesadilla" made with Trader Joe's pimento cheese spread and middle eastern flat bread.  If Molly had her way, she'd probably eat one of these every day of the week.

Our vegetable side is sugar snap peas.  We figured that she'd request cucumbers but when she saw these in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator, her eyes lit up.

Our fruit side is sliced strawberries.  Her choices were kind of slim on fruit because we need to go to the grocery store; but she was very happy to have strawberries as an option.

Finally, we have our dairy/dessert staple, Dannon Light and Fit vanilla yogurt.  Molly must have probiotic proficiency because of the amount of yogurt that she consumes.  But, it tastes really good so we don't blame her for wanting it all of the time.

Whatever the Weather

I posted on Facebook today, that I felt like I was just going through the motions but I wasn't really there.  I think that the weather had a lot to do with my mood today.  We were very spoiled with two days of gorgeous sunshine and warmth.  Then, today we have nothing but gray skies, rain and cold chills in the air.  It has made me very sleepy and very unmotivated.  Luckily, I have three very active children who are constantly coming up to me and asking me to play or dance or sing and it quickly gets me out of my rut.  There is sunshine beaming through my kids and that can make my mood brighten in an instant.  They may drive me nuts sometimes but they also can put a smile on my face no matter what else is going on in my life.

Our main entrée may look familiar because it is a frequent request of Molly's.  A pimento cheese sandwich or as we call it, a quesadilla.  She just loves it and every time I go to Trader Joe's she requests that I get the pimento cheese spread and flat bread.

Our vegetable side is sliced cucumbers.  Molly enjoyed the sugar snap peas today but requested the cucumbers for tomorrow's lunch.  She says that she really likes the crunch and the juiciness.

Our fruit side is a sliced plum.  This batch has a great tartness that Molly really enjoys.  She and her siblings really like tart and sour things, like lemons and limes...and tart plums.

Our dairy/dessert side is the ever popular Dannon Light and Fit Vanilla yogurt.  The perfect end to a delicious and nutritious lunch.

Busy Week!

I, like most parents, keep a calendar in the house with everything written on it so that I don't forget an important event.  This week, we have NO empty spaces.  There is something going on every single day.  April has a lot of things on the calendar and May is filling up at a fast pace.  I can only imagine how much more full it will become when Molly's sister and brother get older.  Even though we are busy, we still have to make time for family time.  We had a great time walking to school today because the weather was so nice.  Then we had some cuddle time after we got home this evening.  Maybe tomorrow we'll have a dance party after school?  We might be busy and we might be tired but we always have fun.

Our main entrée is Molly's favorite quesadilla.  We spread Trader Joe's pimento cheese spread on Trader Joe's Middle Eastern flat bread, folded it in half and cut it into quarters.

Our vegetable side is sugar snap peas.  They are coming back into season and we couldn't be happier.  These taste great fresh out of the bag or steamed and even stir fried.

Our fruit side is sliced strawberries.  Molly's Grammy brought these over for us.  The smell so sweet and have such a deep red color, just the way a yummy strawberry should be.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is Dannon Light and Fit vanilla yogurt.  Molly said that sometimes she adds some of her berries to it because it tastes so good.

Wednesday Already!

This week is going by pretty quickly.  We've been keeping ourselves busy with errands, cleaning, paperwork and everyday life.  Molly's little sister is feeling much better, she's driving us crazy so she's definitely getting back to normal.  Molly's little brother is a drool monster with his teeth but he's in much better spirits.  Molly is just her happy old self and working hard on her school work and some other fun projects like a writing contest through our local PBS affiliate.  This is the second year that she has entered.  She and her Daddy work very hard on this project and have a lot of fun being creative together.  I am still a little tired from the crazy week I had last week but I've managed to be pretty productive.  I straightened out the lunch ticket situation.  It was my fault because I was using tickets from last year and they don't take them anymore.  Now, her account is up to date and she can buy lunch whenever she wants.  But, she's packing tomorrow.

Our main entrée is a quesadilla of sorts made with Trader Joe's Middle Eastern Flat Bread and Pimento Cheese Spread.  Molly saw that we had this in the fridge and begged for it!

Our vegetable side is edamame.  Some people have told us that they've tried it and didn't like it.  We suggested that they try it both cold and hot to see if it might be a temperature thing.  All we know is that our whole family enjoys edamame whether it be hot or cold.

Our fruit side is an apple.  Molly requested this after she saw us give a nice cold apple to her brother to help his teething along.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is none other than our trusty Dannon Light and Fit Vanilla Yogurt.  Molly asked for a cookie but we said to wait until Friday for her treat.  She enjoys this yogurt so much that she didn't argue at all.

Do Over With Help

Molly has recently expressed an interest in helping to make her lunches.  I've changed my schedule a bit lately and I'm home more often in the evening.  So, I figured that the more involved she is in the process, the more likely she'll eat it or try new things.  (Note: She doesn't eat all of her lunch all of the time and will sometimes turn her nose up to trying something new or very odd to her.)  Molly enjoyed her lunch so much today that we are repeating a few of the same things, and she helped to make them!

Our main entrée is Molly's favorite "quesadilla."  She spread Trader Joe's Pimento Cheese Spread on a Trader Joe's Middle Eastern Flat Bread, folded it in half and we cut it into quarters.

Our vegetable side is the same as yesterday's lunch as well.  We sliced up a few cucumbers and added a pinch of Trader Joe's Shredded Carrots for sweetness.

Our fruit side is a clementine with a handful of blueberries.  Molly peeled and divided the clementine and added the blueberries.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is Dannon Light and Fit Vanilla Yogurt with a special little twist for our helpful little chef.  We tossed a bit of teddy bear sprinkles on top for a splash of color and fun.

Trader Joe's Tuesday

We had our monthly trek to Trader Joe's today and purchased some awesome food.  In preparation for St. Patrick's Day, we got our baby cabbage, buttermilk, Irish cheeses and some Irish bangers.  (Our corned beef, potatoes, Irish butter, etc has already been purchased.)  We also purchased a lot of great produce, baked goods and some regular pantry staples.  This lunch was inspired by several of our purchases today.

Our main entrée is a unique take on a quesadilla.  We are using Trader Joe's Middle Eastern Flat Bread for our "tortilla."  Then our cheese is Trader Joe's Pimento Cheese Spread.  Molly goes GAGA over this cheese spread.  Although we aren't in the south, we do have some southern roots so it's not a surprise to us how much she likes this cheese.

Our vegetable side is seedless cucumbers and Trader Joe's shredded carrots.  The carrots make for a sweet and crunchy compliment to the cool and juicy cucumbers.

Our fruit side is Trader Joe's dried figs.  Kind of like the Newton, but without the cake around it.  We also added some Trader Joe's Vacuum Fried Banana Chips.  These taste so bananaie (is that a real word?) and the crunch is awesome.

Finally, Molly requested her favorite Dannon Light and Fit Vanilla Yogurt.  This was not purchased at Trader Joe's but they do have a lot of yummy yogurt varieties available.