New Sandwich

During one of my weekly trips to Sam's Club, I purchased a new kind of lunch meat, Castle Wood Applewood Smoked Chicken Breast!  The Castlewood line is fantastic because they use real meat and don't overly process it like most lunch meats.  This particular one is just chicken breast (and you can tell by the way it looks) that has been smoked and seasoned.  Plus, it tastes REALLY good, like bacon...YUM!

Our main entree is a smokey sandwich.  We used the new Caste Wood applewood smoked chicken breast and the Castle Wood smoked Gouda cheese in between two slices of Wonder whole grain white bread.  

Our vegetable side is baby carrots.  Molly has been requesting these lately and they are an easy option because they are already ready for you to toss them right into the lunch box.

Our fruit side is an apple.  We sliced up this little Empire apple because without her two front teeth, biting into an apple is a bit more complicated for Molly. ☺

Finally, our dairy/dessert is a Chobani Champions Vanilla Chocolate Chunk Greek yogurt.  Another request from our girl.  We like it too!

First Full Week Friday

It's finally Friday!  This week seems to have gone slowly because we are just getting back into our routine so there were plenty of  hiccups.  We are looking forward to a great weekend and some time off.  The great thing about Elementary School is that there usually isn't any homework on the weekend.  Happy Friday everyone!

Our main entree is a repeat of today, salami sandwiches.  Molly went nuts over these and asked for them again, plus she wanted more of them, so we added more.  She said that they were so good and that she could have eaten a "whole bunch more" of them.  So, again it is our Wonder Smart White Bread with Genoa Salami, Pepper-Jack Cheese and mustard, cut with a fun cookie cutter.

Our vegetable side is cucumbers.  This was requested by Molly since she hasn't had them in a while.  She always says how great they taste in her lunch.

Our fruit side is a clementine.  We had these for our dessert after dinner tonight and Molly made the request to have them in her lunch tomorrow.  She said that they are extra sweet.

Our dairy side is a Colby-Jack cheese stick.  This is just in case she's still hungry after everything else.  We think that Molly might be going through a little bit of a growth spurt.

Finally, our Fun Friday Treat is ThinAddictives Cranberry Almond Thins.  These are similar to biscotti but much more thin.  They have a wonderful crunch and a great flavor.  Molly's Grammy purchased these and Molly has been begging to have them in her lunch so we've been waiting for Friday and a nice treat.

In a Pinch Lunch

My day started very early this morning.  Molly's brother was up before the sun but that allowed extra snuggle time with him.  Tonight, I went to see The Help with my Mom.  WOW!  It was incredible and I would recommend it to anyone.  I got home late and just made Molly's lunch.  I grabbed the things that I had already prepped and threw it all together.  Now, I'm writing this post and then going straight to bed because I'm sure tomorrow morning will be here before I know it.

Our main entree is a salami sandwich.  We used our Wonder Smart White Bread and added Genoa Salami, Pepper-Jack Cheese and mustard.  Then we used our fluted cookie cutter and Molly has finger sandwiches for lunch.

Our vegetable side is a rainbow of bell peppers.  They were a hit on pizza day so we were excited to have them already prepped so that we could quickly add them.

Our fruit side is a peach.  We cut it in half, removed the pit and then sliced it.  I think Molly might dip it in her yogurt.

Finally our dairy/dessert is another Chobani Champions in the Very Berry variety.  It's still on the favorite list so that's what we're putting in her lunch box.

Snack Lunch

Molly's little sister started preschool today as well and tomorrow she is the snack person.  We had to add some of our extra snacks to Molly' lunch so that she can share in the fun.  Normally, we wait until Friday for a special treat but we feel like the first week of school is pretty special.

Our main entree is a ham and cheese sandwich.  It is in a different compartment than normal but we still managed to fit it all in.  We used Wonder Smart White bread, added some Virginia ham, Pepper Jack cheese and mustard.  Then, we used a new small apple cookie cutter and made four small sandwiches.

Our vegetable side is cucumber boats.  We bought some pickling cucumbers at the farmers' market and decided that they would be perfect to add a little something extra to.  We hollowed the cucumbers by removing the seeds then added some light cream cheese that has dill mixed in it.  Molly and her sister really enjoyed this combination all summer.

Our fruit side is a nectarine.  This one is especially juicy and sweet but still has that great tartness that nectarines always offer.

Finally, our dessert is edible crayons.  We found this recipe at a great blog... http://www.gourmetmomonthego.com/2008/08/runs-with-scissors-and-eats-crayons.html 
We decided to go with Trader Joe's Honey Wheat Pretzels, dipped each end with colored white chocolate and then added the labels available at the Gourmet Mom on the Go website. So fun and mostly healthy.

Winter Wednesday

Mother Nature is really cooking up some wacky weather here in Western Pennsylvania.  We woke up to ice covered sidewalks, streets and cars this morning.  This afternoon, it was very sunny and in the mid 40s.  Now, we are expecting the current rain to turn into snow and possibly more ice.  Luckily for us, there was a 2 hour delay for school this morning and hopefully there will be another one tomorrow if needed.

Unless there is a snow day, here is Molly's lunch.

Our main entrée is a good old pb&j.  We used the new Wonder Smart White bread, a whole grain white bread.  We added peanut butter and then our good old Trader Joe's Cranberry Apple Butter.  YUM!  The star turned out okay but the moon split.  Oh well, it will still taste great!

Our vegetable side is edamame.  Molly and her little brother really enjoy edamame warm or cold.  It's a great snack and full of nutrients.

Our fruit side is cantaloupe.  We found these at the local grocery store for $1.50 each.  To our great surprise, they taste really sweet and flavorful.  Not something that we are used to in January.

Finally, our dairy/dessert side is Dannon Light & Fit Vanilla yogurt.  We added a few mini chocolate chips for sweetness and texture.