Bacon and Eggs

Molly's Daddy and I had a fantastic date night tonight.  We had some great food and drinks at Olive or Twist and then went to the Benedum Center to see Wicked.  It was incredible.  I would highly recommend it to anyone!
Now that we are home, it's time to get cooking.  But, I prepared ahead of time so that all of the cooking was done and it would be easy to put together.  You may be asking...bacon and eggs for lunch?  We thing that this lunch is a "grand slam" of a lunch!

Our main entree is pancakes.  We cooked these up for lunch today for Molly's siblings and saved a few for her.  We cut them out with a small flower shaped cookie cutter.  They are being served with with maple flavored cream cheese (we included a small spreader to help with this) with a little extra maple syrup on top for good measure.

Our fruit side is no sugar added applesauce.  We figured that if Molly isn't too excited about the maple cream cheese, she can dip her pancakes in this.

Our protein side is bacon and eggs.  It is a hard boiled egg that has been cut into quarters with a crinkle knife.  Then, we tore two slices of turkey bacon into manageable pieces.  We'll see how this goes over and it may be something that is added again.

Finally, our dairy/dessert side is Chobani Champions Verry Berry.  A great end to a yummy lunch.

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.

Reluctant Lunch

It was a rough day today.  We went to pick Molly up at school and when she hopped into the van I knew that she wasn't in a good mood.  She proceeded to lecture me on the importance of looking at her folder every night because, somehow we missed a paper last night.  She was mortified because it was something that had to be signed by a parent.  Then she told me that her stomach was hurting at lunch, so she didn't eat much.  Well, when we got home, I looked at the paper and it wasn't due until tomorrow so that was no big deal.  The teacher didn't even say anything to Molly but Molly noticed it.  Then I looked at her lunch and she took one bite of an apple wedge and ate one of the small roll-ups.  That's all.  I was so ticked because of the time, effort and love that I put into that lunch.  She uses the tummy ache any time that she doesn't want to do something.  My theory is that she was probably too busy talking to one of her friends and didn't have time to eat because she was ravenous when she got home.  I reluctantly packed this lunch and hopefully it will be eaten.

Our main entrée is 2 chicken strips.  Not the most nutritious but something that we're hopeful will be eaten.  These are all white meat, which make us feel a little bit better about sending something fried in her lunch.

Our vegetable side is just a few green beans.  These were steamed and cooled.  Molly usually likes these so we're keeping our fingers crossed.

Our fruit side is Trader Joe's No Sugar Added Applesauce.  This is always a hit at our house with all three of the kids.

Finally we put two cookies in that we baked this evening.  Aldi has some fun and delicious refrigerated cookie doughs that are great for a special treat.  Plus, these have some cute Halloween decorations on them.

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!

This lunch is a mix of Molly's favorites.  I took inspiration from my grandmother, Nana.  She was the one that got me interested in cookie cutters and because of her, I have quite a collection.  Nana has always been very particular about the way that she presents her food.  She had 8 kids and always made sure that they had beautiful meals every day.  Her traditions are something that I strive to emulate.  

Our main entrée is a Castle Wood Thinly Sliced Honey Ham and Castle Wood Pepper Jack Cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread with a little mustard.  We cut this sandwich with a large heart cookie cutter and several micro cookie cutters, just for fun.  Molly raved about this ham and requested a ham sandwich.  We all agree, the ham is pretty darn yummy and has only 60 calories for 2 oz.  

The vegetable side is a pretty unconventional "vegetable" but they are both favorites of Molly's.  We have mini dill pickles and black olives.  Every time we go to my grandmother's house for lunch she serves pickles and olives on a relish tray to go with sandwiches.  So, we are taking Nana's lead and and serving them as a compliment to Molly's sandwich.  

We have Trader Joe's no sugar added applesauce for our fruit.  We topped it with a little dash of cinnamon, just like Nana does.  We find that it enhances the flavor of the applesauce, especially since there is no sugar added.

Finally we have a special dessert.  We made a Cinnamon Muffin Melt by Tastefully Simple.  This is like a cross between a cupcake, a doughnut and a muffin.  We HIGHLY recommend these because not only are they absolutely scrumptious, they are incredibly easy to make.