Dance Recital Lunch

Molly and her sister will be performing tomorrow night in their dance recital.  They are both very excited.  Molly will be in a ballet number and a tap number.  She loves her tap costume (black and blue with little black sparkles) and her ballet costume looks like a beautiful pink and yellow flowing flower.  They both get to wear make-up...REAL make-up and Molly's little sister just loves make-up.  (Daddy's not a fan of the make-up but he agrees that they look beautiful.)

We've made a very special dance themed lunch for the special day, along with a very special Fun Friday treat.

Our main entree is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  We used our ballerina cookie cutter to cut it out and our food safe markers to decorate it.  (Not my best effort.  It's quite an odd shape.)

Our vegetable side is star shaped cucumbers.  We know that Molly will be a star tomorrow night!  We used our micro cookie cutter to cut these little stars out.

Our fruit side is strawberries.  We used a larger star cookie cutter to cut these out.  We also added a ballet slipper ring to this container.  Molly will be so excited because she is giddy about rings every single time we put one in her lunch.  (We have one for her sister too!)

Our dairy side is a Babybel cheese.  We used the same micro cookie cutter that we used for the cucumbers to cut out a tiny star from the wax.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is ballet slipper cookies.  We dipped nutter butter cookies in pink chocolate, let them set and then added some white chocolate embellishments.  Cute and delicious!

Dog Days of Summer

This past weekend, we went to Grammy and Papa's house for some fun in the sun and lots of swimming.  Thing 2 is done with school but Molly still has a few more weeks.  As we were getting ready to leave this evening, Molly was very jealous of Thing 2 because she got to stay another night and Molly had to come home because of school tomorrow.  But, the dog days of summer are right around the corner.

Our main entree is a doggie shaped sandwich.  We made a salami and colby jack cheese sandwich then used a dog shaped cookie cutter, a tiny bone cookie cutter and a small paw print cookie cutter to cut it out.  Then, we used our food safe markers to make it more fun.

Our vegetable side is mini peppers.  We sliced an orange and a red mini pepper into rings.  We think that they will taste great with the sandwich.

Our fruit side is fresh strawberries.  Grammy's friend got these for us.  They are fresh picked from a local farm and their flavor is incredible.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is vanilla yogurt.  Molly asked for plain vanilla yogurt because she like to put some of her strawberries in it.

Classic Lunch!

I was out for a run tonight, thanks to the gorgeous weather, and I was wondering what to make for Molly's lunch.  As I was running around my town, I was breathing in such great fresh air and reminiscing about fun picnics when I was a kid.  Even if we just threw a blanket on the lawn in the back yard and made a picnic there, it was always so much fun.  My Mom was always a fan of doing things outside so picnics were quite a regular occurrence.  She always made them fun too with little extra goodies or something different like a cool napkin.  My kids like to have picnics too, especially with my Mom.  What is their favorite picnic lunch?  Peanut butter and jelly of course.  They really like to help make it too.  We use little plastic spreaders and let them go to town and most of the time, they'll eat all of it.  So, I'm going to pay homage to a classic lunch, great memories and my incredible Mom.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

And Happy Mother's Day to all of the Moms, Grandmas, Aunts, Sisters, Friends, Helpers and those special Dads who have to be a Mom as well as being a Dad!

Our main entrée is a classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  No, Molly didn't help, but she would have if she would've been awake when I made it.  She just adores making her own things to eat.  We used a butterfly cookie cutter and a heart micro cookie cutter to cut these sandwiches out.

Our vegetable side is baby carrots.  This is such a simple and easy vegetable side that requires no prep work. Just open the bag, pull a handful out and put into the container.  A great way to get some veggies in without dirtying a knife and cutting board.

Our fruit side is Empire Apple slices.  Molly likes it when we leave the apple skin on.  She likens it to eating a whole apple.

Finally, our FUN Friday treat is exactly that...a treat, a Rice Krispie Treat!  Molly is the lucky recipient of a few leftovers.  Molly's Daddy had a few extra Rice Krispie Treats left over from his meeting last night and there were a few beach babe Teddy Grahams left over from Molly's sister's preschool treat.  A little bit of each makes for a super fun treat!

Easter Lunch

I was looking for some neat things to make for Molly's lunch tomorrow since it is the last full day of school before Easter break.  I couldn't find too many examples besides desserts.  So, my brain was in full on creative mode.  I used a few ideas that I had found with the desserts and tweaked them a little bit.

Happy Easter one and all!  Christ is Risen Indeed!

Our main entrée is bunny biscuits.  We took refrigerated biscuits and added shredded cheddar cheese to them for flavor.  We then used a circular cookie cutter to cut out the face and then using the same cutter, cut the ears off of the corners of the biscuit.  After attaching the ears to the head, we added turkey pepperoni noses, whiskers and inner ears.  Then, we added black olive ends for eyes and small section of the olive for a smile.

Our vegetable side is a cucumber bird's nest with three small mozzarella balls inside to represent eggs.  We have a vegetable peeler that makes "spaghetti" noodles out of the vegetables and we used it to make the nest.

Our fruit side is watermelon and cantaloupe.  We used a small bunny cookie cutter to cut these out into adorable Easter shapes.  These fruits are extremely sweet and juicy.

Finally, our "fun Friday" on a Wednesday treat is a chocolate dipped Peeps marshmallow treat.  Molly really likes regular Peeps so we figured that she'd really like one that was dipped in chocolate.

Again, Happy Easter.  May God Bless You!

Typical Tuesday

Molly went GAGA over the sushi today.  The thing I love about her is that she knows how much time it takes to make the sushi and she is so appreciative.  She is also pretty logical and knows that she can't get sushi everyday so she requested peanut butter and jelly for Tuesday's lunch.

Our main entrée is a classic peanut butter and jelly.  We used Jif peanut butter and Trader Joe's strawberry jam and spread them on whole wheat bread.  We used a large flower cookie cutter for the main sandwich and a micro triangle cookie cutter for the smaller sandwiches.

Our vegetable side is cucumbers.  We sliced these and then notched out a few triangles around the sides to make them look like little flowers.

Our fruit side is some fresh strawberries.  Molly really likes just about any type of berry and we are very lucky to have them available to us.

Finally, our dessert/dairy side is Dannon Light and Fit strawberry yogurt.  Just a little something different from our normal vanilla to change things up a bit.

Regular Lunch

Not really much to say tonight.  So, on to lunch!

Our main entrée is a turkey and pepper jack cheese sandwich on whole wheat.  We added a little mustard and then we cut the sandwiches with Molly's favorite butterfly cookie cutter and micro heart cookie cutter.

Our vegetable side is canned mixed vegetables.  We had these with our dinner tonight and Molly raved about how they tasted like stuffed peppers and requested that they go into her lunch.  Well, we're not sure about them tasting like stuffed peppers but if she likes them, then we're more than happy to give them to her.

Our fruit side is the same as the last lunch.  Kiwi and blueberries.  Molly requested these also...with a huge smile on her face.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is our standard Dannon Light & Fit vanilla yogurt.  YUM!

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.

A little SPOOKY!

Tonight I had a PTA meeting and I was in charge of refreshments.  When I went to the first PTA meeting this year, Kelly, the head of hospitality, did an entire back to school themed snack.  She made a school bus shaped cake, pencils made of string cheese and Bugles for the tip, plus some other really adorable things.  I felt like I had to keep up with this stellar display of refreshments so, I made my theme Halloween and went a little nuts.  First, I had a veggie tray with hummus, real scary right?  BUT, I peeled carrots and made them look like fingers by notching out knuckles and putting a sliced almond on the tip to make it look like a finger nail.  I put these fingers in the hummus and it looked like a hand was coming out of it.  Next I mixed some Tastefully Simple Spinach and Herb Dip Mix with one brick of cream cheese and the Fiesta Dip Mix with another brick of cream cheese.  After letting them sit in the fridge for a while, I scooped out small portions and rolled them into small balls.  I put slices of olives on them and they looked like eyeballs!  These were served with crackers.  I made vampire apples by quartering some Jonagold apples and cutting out a mouth, then I pushed slivered almonds into the mouth to make the teeth.  Finally I made some brownies, frosted them with cream cheese frosting, and piped spiderwebs and spiders on top with milk chocolate.  I think everything was a hit because there were only a few veggies and a couple of apples for me to bring home.  You'll see a few of the left overs in Molly's lunch.

Our main entrée is a Castlewood Honey Ham and Castlewood Pepper Jack Cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread with a little mustard for extra flavor.  We've cut this sandwich into a ghost and pumpkin to get us in the mood for Halloween.  Headless Horseman anyone?

The vegetable side is carrots and sugar snap peas.  The carrots were cut with a crinkle knife for texture and to make it easier to bite into.  The sugar snap peas are alway a favorite and go well with the carrots because they are both sweet.

For our fruit side, we are using some of the left over vampire apples.  We chose the Jonagold apples because of their bright red color, good for lips, and their firm yet sweet texture.  The slivered almonds do become a little soft and sometimes break but that's a great way to show your kids what happens when they eat too much candy.  ☺

Finally we have Annie's Homegrown Bunny Graham Friends for dessert.  This is a great blend of chocolate, vanilla and chocolate chip graham crackers.  It's just enough sweetness to get Molly through the second half of the day.

TGIF Lunch

This has been quite a hectic week in our house.  We have had something on the calendar for every night, sometimes even more than one thing.  Tomorrow is FRIDAY!  Even though Molly has ballet and a birthday party and I have my kickboxing class, those are the fun activities we've been looking forward to all week and they symbolize the start of the weekend.

Molly has been very good this week.  She did all of her homework, studied her spelling words and even read on her own without a complaint.  She's been very nice to her brother and sister and has helped out Mom and Dad on many occasions.  She is definitely deserving of a "Fun Friday" treat!

We start Fun Friday's lunch off with a unique sandwich.  It is whole wheat bread spread with light cream cheese.  We then spread on a thin layer of strawberry jam and topped it with very thinly sliced Granny Smith apples.  We used what looked like an apple shaped cookie cutter and a micro cookie cutter that looks a bit like a cross between a shamrock, Mickey Mouse and a water molecule to cut it out.  (I inherited most of these cookie cutters from my Grandmother.  She was a star at cookie making but now we get to make them for her.  I hope I do her justice!)

Our fruit is pineapple and strawberry kabobs.  Molly raved about the pineapple and how it tasted so refreshing.  She's also a big fan of strawberries and we need to eat them while they are still sort of in season.  These may be the last until next summer.

Sugar snap peas are the vegetable du jour.  If you've never tried them, they have a nice crispy texture that is similar to a potato chip.  They are sweet and have a very mild flavor.

Now the big fun for Fun Friday...dessert!  Molly has been so good that we're giving her 2 treats.  First are some York Peppermint Bites.  They look like M&Ms but have the peppermint and dark chocolate flavor and are a great sweet treat.  The second treat is a packet of Yogos bits by Kellogg's.  They are yogurt covered, fruit flavored snacks and a big favorite of Molly's.  She probably won't get two treats all that often but it is much deserved this week.

Have a great weekend everyone!

The Request Lunch

Tonight, I got a request for tomorrow's lunch.  Molly was in the mood for a good old fashioned peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  I can't say that I blame her.  There is something almost serendipitous about the old standby lunch.  Do you remember getting to lunch and seeing the pb&j that your Mom or Dad packed for you?  First, the smell when you opened the lunch box, the smell of stale bread and apple cores.  Then the visual, there was usually a little bit of the jelly escaping from one of the sides and a spot on the top, that can only be classified as a bruise, where the sandwich had been squished.  Sometimes the crust was cut, sometimes it wasn't.  There was usually a faint hint of banana on the bread because that was the fruit that always seemed to accompany a pb&j, at least at my house.  But, the taste was always awesome...always.  No matter what had happened that day or what was going to happen after lunch, there was an element of comfort in that sandwich that could get you through anything.  Spelling test be darned, I've got my peanut butter and jelly!

We start with the old standby Peanut Butter and Jelly.  Nothing fancy, plain old creamy peanut butter and some strawberry jam from the store all spread on whole wheat bread.  We did fancy it up a little bit with the shapes because the heart shape sandwich today was a big hit.  Also, Molly is not a fan of crust so this cookie cutter thing only takes a few seconds more than actually cutting the crust off.

Our veggies include the other half of the crazy red/orange/green pepper from our garden.  We used the crinkle cut knife on those to bring out a more playful aspect.  Our other selection is a seedless cucumber that was cut with the same knife.  We turned the cucumber a little after every cut to make a "waffle" look.

Orange wedges are the selection for our fruit.  This orange is very sweet and juicy, plus the citrus will cut the oils of the peanut butter.  Molly's favorite thing about orange wedges is to take a bite, leave the peel in her mouth and smile so that her teeth look funny.  She an her sister crack each other up every time they do it.  A timeless trick, indeed.

A "Wheat Krispie Treat" rounds out our meal as dessert.  Molly was so thrilled with it today that she requested that one to be included in tomorrow's lunch box.  No matter how little time she has for lunch, she always has time for dessert.  That's my girl!