Hat Day Lunch

Molly's school is having another Funky Friday$ day tomorrow.  They are collecting money for a new playground.  Each student that participates pays $1 to do what ever that funky thing is.  Tomorrow is hat day and every student is allowed to wear a hat, which is normally not allowed.  Molly is very excited to wear her Hello Kitty fedora.  She laid out her special matching Hello Kitty outfit and can't wait till morning for hat day.

Our main entree is a hat sandwich.  We cut out or whole grain white bread into the shape of a hat and used our food safe markers to decorate it.  Then, we filled it with salami and colby jack cheese, per Molly's request.

Our vegetable side is orange mini peppers.  We cut these peppers into rings and put a cute little purple hat on top of them.  We found these hats (this and the one on the fruit) at a local bake shop.  It's so much fun to find great little treasures, even if we don't quite know what we are going to do with them.

Our fruit side is a kiwi.  We cut the kiwi in half and then into slices so that it's easier to eat.  We also added a fun little pink hat on the top to keep with our theme.

Our dairy side is a cheddar and mozzarella cheese stick.  Since there is no yogurt, we're confident that Molly will be needing a little bit extra to eat.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is dessert hats.  We used fudge stripe cookies for the base, added a mini Reese's peanut butter cup and attached them with some melted red chocolate.  Then we added a little decoration to them because hats are more fun with embellishments.

The Return of an Old Favorite

When we went to Trader Joe's the other day, we picked up a bunch of things and a few old favorites made it into the cart.  Molly used to request pimento cheese sandwiches all of the time.  I introduced pimento cheese spread to my kids one day on the way home from the zoo.  Trader Joe's is very close to the Pittsburgh Zoo so on our way home, we stopped for a snack.  I bought mini whole wheat pitas and the pimento cheese spread as a way to introduce it in a small way, just in case they didn't like it.  Well, they are truly my kids and it showed with their new found love of pimento cheese spread.  We haven't had it for a while so Molly's eyes lit up when she saw it.

Our main entree is mini pimento cheese sandwiches.  We split 5 (there are 6 in a serving according to the nutritional information) Trader Joe's mini whole wheat pitas and filled them with Trader Joe's pimento cheese spread.  Molly is going to go crazy over this blast from the past.

Our vegetable side is mini cucumbers.  We used our crinkle knife to cut these up to make them look more like a pickle.  They are really crunchy and refreshing.

Our fruit side is a peach and some raspberries.  We found these peaches very inexpensively at a huge sale at  a local super market.  We like the combination for both aesthetic appeal and flavor.  

Finally, our dairy/dessert is plain vanilla yogurt.  Molly will more than likely add her raspberries to this yogurt.  She has been loving this combination of vanilla yogurt and fresh berries.

Trader Joe's Inspired Lunch

We made a run out to Trader Joe's yesterday to pick up a few essentials and some other goodies.  We just love Trader Joe's and heard a rumor that there might be one opening much closer to where we live.  It's about a 20 minute drive from where we are right now, but totally worth it!

Our main entree is a Trader Joe's mini Cinnamon Raisin bagel sandwich.  What's better with a bagel than cream cheese?  We added some whipped cream cheese and sandwiched it together.  We also added a little bow pick for fun.

Our vegetable side is Snap Peas Crisps.  These are a fantastic alternative to potato chips.  They are crispy, crunchy and salty.  The best part is that they are made with peas and baked so they are very healthy.  We added a pink flower pick to this container for a reminder of spring.

Our fruit side is strawberries.  These are still from the fresh picked batch of strawberries that Grammy got for us.  All four quarts are almost gone.  To say that we like strawberries at our house would be an understatement.  We added a small dragonfly ring to this container because Molly really likes when we put rings in her lunch.

Our dairy side is a cheddar and mozzarella cheese stick.  We think that Molly might be a little hungry (she didn't eat a lot at dinner tonight) so this is the perfect add on.

Finally, our dessert is peach yogurt.  Molly really likes to put her strawberries into her yogurt and peaches and strawberries are a great pairing.

School Lunch

The temptation of the school lunch strikes again. Chicken Fryz. Ugh! But, we have an agreement and it isn't the worst lunch being served this week. We may be changing our agreement next year from once a week to once a month to buy school lunch. These things that they are feeding the kids are so gross. The nutritional information provided just makes my blood boil. 838 calories for a lunch at school. Might as well feed them Big Macs! I digress. Plus there are only a few more weeks of school and then any "buying" options will be up to us.

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.

Pizza Friday!

Thing 2 graduated from preschool today and it was awesome.  The four of us, along with Grammy and Papa, watched as she sang her songs and received her diploma on the stage.  (sniff...sniff...)  She will be joining the ranks at the Elementary School in Kindergarten next year!  That also means that she will be the lucky recipient of a new Laptop Lunchbox of her own and get fun lunches just like Molly.

For now, we're still sticking with lunch just for Molly.  A Fun Friday of yumminess!

Our main entree is cheese pizza.  We picked up a "take and bake" pizza at the grocery store today after graduation so that we'd have an easy dinner.  There were plenty of leftovers so Molly is getting a slice in her lunch tomorrow.

Our vegetable side is a mini cucumber.  We sliced these into little nickle slices so that Molly can just pop them in her mouth.  They are SUPER crunchy and delicious.

Our fruit side is sliced strawberries.  It's the merry berry month of May here in Pittsburgh so the strawberries are plentiful and amazingly scrumptious!

Our dairy side is a mozzarella and cheddar cheese stick.  We wanted to add a little extra protein so that Molly wasn't starving at the end of the day.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is a soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie.  We picked these up as a special treat for Thing 2's special day.  The kids went gaga over them.

Sister's Graduation

Tomorrow, Molly's little sister will graduate from preschool!  We are allowing Molly to miss a few hours of school tomorrow to attend the ceremony.  This means that she will get to school just before lunch.  I had a hard time trying to decide what to do.  Do we let her buy lunch or do we pack something small?  See, there is going to be a "luncheon" at the graduation ceremony.  We don't want to waste food and we aren't sure how much Molly will eat at the preschool.  So, we decided that we are going to bring a brown paper bag with a few ziploc bags so that Molly can eat a little bit at the luncheon and bring some of her leftovers in for lunch.

I am also going to pack a few peanut butter crackers and an apple, just in case there aren't a lot of options for Molly.  Our last resort is to just let her buy lunch at school if she doesn't eat much at all.

I can't believe that Thing 2 is old enough to be graduating from preschool and heading to Kindergarten in the fall.  She is completely ready for the big step but my heart is a little bit sad knowing that she's no longer a baby. Yet, I'm so excited for all of the fun adventures that await her.

Congratulations to the Preschool Class of 2012!!!

Something New

We are trying something new in Molly's lunch tomorrow.  We purchased some chicken burgers a few weeks ago on a trip to Sam's Club.  They are really delicious plus, they aren't breaded and fried like the average chicken nugget.  We've ended up buying a lot more of them.  I've been eating them like a regular piece of grilled chicken during a meal or on a salad...YUM!  I've also had them cold and I think that they are so good that way too.  I'm hoping that Molly feels the same because she gobbles them up at dinner.

Our main entree is an Old World Kitchen Caramelized Onion and Swiss Chicken Burger.  We cut it into strips, like we do for dinner.  There is so much flavor in these that they don't need any kind of dip or spread.

Our vegetable side is sugar snap peas.  Molly went through a period of time when she wasn't a fan of these but luckily, she's gotten over it.  They are juicy and crunchy with such a yummy flavor.

Our fruit side is a MacIntosh apple.  We sliced it up to make it faster to eat.  Elementary kids don't have a lot of time at lunch so anything to help make it easier is great.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is vanilla yogurt with a few Trader Joe's Elegant Cocoa Pearls.  They are a little crunchy and sweet.

May Flowers Lunch

We have breakfast for dinner quite often at our house.  The kids just love it.  Last time I made breakfast for Molly's lunch, I had some fun with a squeeze bottle.  I recalled it tonight when I was making dinner.  I made more Hello Kitty pancakes, smiley faces, a few rocket ships for my son and a whole bunch of flowers.  Those flowers were the inspiration for Molly's lunch tomorrow.

Our main entree is pancakes.  These are honey wheat Krusteaz that we put into a squeeze bottle and created fun flowers with.  We added a side of Biscoff Spread for Molly to dip into.  (That stuff is so delicious that it would make even a plain rice cake taste spectacular!)

Our vegetable side is baby carrots.  Molly has said that they are the best option for a vegetable when breakfast is on the menu.

Our fruit side is a mix of fresh berries.  Raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries that have been cut into flower shapes to match our theme.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is vanilla yogurt.  We added a few berries to liven it up and add more fun flowers to Molly's lunch.

Mommy's Night Off

Happy Mother's Day to all of the Mommies, Grandmas, Great-Grandmas, Aunts, Sisters, Friends and Dads that are Dad and Mom.  Being a Mommy is the most special gift that I have ever been given.  I am truly blessed by the three little miracles that daily call me Mom.

In honor of this special day, Molly's Daddy was nice enough to make Molly's lunch for me.  Mommy got a night off!  Thanks so much Daddy! ♥

Our main entree is chili.  Molly and her siblings requested Wendy's for dinner (while Mom and Dad got take out from a different restaurant) and this chili was left over.  Molly asked for it to be in her lunch tomorrow...easy peasy!

Our vegetable side is a romaine lettuce salad.  We added a side of French dressing.

Our fruit side is strawberries and raspberries.  Molly has been all about berries lately and we are happy to fulfill her request.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is a Chobani Champions Vanilla Chocolate Chunk Greek yogurt.  Molly's favorite. 

Fun Friday Lunch

Molly had an absolute blast at "Yo Vikings!" today.  She loved how the book came to life and the fact that the main character had such a vivid imagination, kind of like our Molly.  I'm so happy that we live in a city where a short bus ride can offer awesome theater, music and world class museums plus an incredible zoo.  The "burgh" sure is a great place to live.

Our main entree is turkey pepperoni, crackers and cheese.  Molly requested this just before bed tonight.  Sometimes, she's all about the finger food.

Our vegetable side is sugar snap peas.  These looked so yummy at the store yesterday, that we had to pick them up.  They are sweet, crunchy and juicy.

Our fruit side is a mix of berries.  One of our local grocery stores has raspberries 2/$3 so we loaded up.  We added a few blueberries and blackberries too.

Our dairy is plain old vanilla yogurt....but we added some fun sprinkles to liven it up a bit.  The weekend is almost here so we're ready to celebrate!

Finally, our fun Friday treat is an Archer Farms Organic blueberry fruit strip.  We purchase these at Target all of the time and they usually serve as an after school snack or an accompaniment to yogurt at breakfast, which means that there aren't any left for lunch.  We held on to one just for Friday.

*Happy Mother's Day to all of you Mommies out there!  My plan is to sleep in and that is enough for me.  ☺

Field Trip Lunch!

Molly is going on a field trip tomorrow.  She and several other children in GATE/High-Achieving Students are heading to the Pittsburgh Playhouse to see, "Yo Vikings!"  Molly can't wait because she gets to dress up, ride a school bus (we live on the same street as the school so we walk) and seeing a fun play.  Yo Vikings! is about a girl named Emma who's world is transformed into an epic Viking adventure.  We used the flyer that came home as our inspiration for Molly's packed "brown bag" lunch.

Our main entree is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  We cut out a Viking shape and used our food safe markers to create a Viking.  We put this sandwich in a recyclable blueberry container so that it won't be squished.  We got this idea from our friend Keeley McGuire, who also blogs about her daughter's lunch.  Click here for the post that we got the idea from.

Our vegetable side is baby carrots.  Molly requested these because they tasted good to her today.

Our fruit side is an apple/strawberry squeeze applesauce on the go.  No bruising of the fruit and lots of yummy flavor.

We added pretzels, Annie's Snickerdoodle Bunnies and Annie's Organic Fruit Snacks and a mini bottle of water to round out Molly's lunch.

Molly's lunch bag is our take on the cover art for the book "Yo Vikings!", but we made Molly the main character, Emma.  We also changed the title to Yo Molly! so that she has her name on her lunch, as requested.  ☺

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!

Restaurant Leftovers

After our amazing half marathon, Daddy and I had a nice snack at the Hard Rock Cafe then went home, showered off and both fell asleep from shear exhaustion.  We woke up to a phone call from Molly asking us to join her, her siblings and her grandparents for dinner at Bravo! for dinner.  What runner could resist a pasta dinner after running 13.1 miles?

We had some great leftovers and Molly was able sneak some for her lunch tomorrow.

Our main entree is Bravo Mac and Cheese.  They use campanelle pasta and an amazing amount of cream and cheese to make a decadent and delicious entree.  The nice thing is that their portion is so big that it can serve as several meals.

Our vegetable side is a green salad.  Just some romaine lettuce with a side of light Italian dressing.

Our fruit side is a clementine.  We peeled and sectioned it for Molly to make it a little easier to eat.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is a Chobani Champions Verry Berry Greek yogurt.  Molly requested this variety since it is one of her favorites.

Post Marathon Lunch

Well, WE DID IT!!!  The 2012 Pittsburgh Half Marathon is now history!

The 3 H's were HORRIBLE but we persisted and made it to the finish line.
*Heat
*Humidity
*Hills

This was a tough race and it was amazing to be running along with 25,000 other people in the City of Bridges.  I am now a Runner of Steel!!!!

If you have ever done a half marathon, you know how tiring it is.  Because of this, I am going to let Molly buy her pizza lunch tomorrow.  I think that I've earned a night off. ☺

Congratulations to all who ran today.  What an amazing experience!  Thanks to my family and friends who helped me to accomplish this amazing goal!

Marathon Lunch

If you follow this blog, you may know that Molly's Daddy and I will be running the Pittsburgh Half Marathon this Sunday.  This is Daddy's second half marathon and Mommy's 1st.  I'm excited and terrified at the same time.  I trust in my training and the shape that my body is in so I'm confident that it will be an absolute blast.

In honor of this massively amazing event, we decided to theme Molly's lunch with fun little bits from our training as "Runners of Steel" in our awesome city.

Our main entree is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  We used whole grain white bread, spread on some natural peanut butter and low sugar strawberry jam.  Then, we used our food safe markers to create a running shoe.

Our vegetable side is frozen peas.  These will thaw down and be a great cool addition.  The peas remind us of the little sport jelly beans that we use to fuel during long runs.  They are also a great source natural carbohydrate, something that runners are always looking for.

Our fruit side is a banana with some Nutella inside of it.  Runners love bananas for potassium and a quick sugar boost with carbohydrate.  We also added the word RUN using a strawberry fruit leather and our alphabet micro cookie cutters.

Our dairy side is a cheddar and mozzarella cheese stick.  This is a great source of protein.  A runner needs a certain amount of protein to fuel their muscles and keep their appetite satisfied long after the carbohydrates have burned off.

Finally, our dessert is Mommy's favorite post race snack.  Pretzels with a few dark chocolate chips.  The salt helps to keep electrolytes in check and the chocolate, well, it's dark chocolate...enough said.

Best of luck to our fellow Runners of Steel as we all tackle the City of Bridges!

Leftover Breakfast!

There was a lot on the schedule again for tonight.  Mom had her final weigh in (and I was down another 2.3 pounds!  WOOT WOOT!), plus a final run before the weekend races.  Then there was an impromptu meeting that I attended.   I knew that the night was going to be busy so breakfast for dinner was on the menu.  Everyone loves it and and it's easy to make and clean up after.

Our main entree is mini pancakes.  We tried a new mix called Honey Wheat Krusteaz.  It got two thumbs up from all of us.  You don't need any syrup because the honey makes them sweet already.  YUM!

Our protein side is bacon and eggs.  Well, bacon and an egg.  There are 3 strips of turkey bacon ripped into smaller pieces and a hard boiled egg.  The shell did not want to be removed so it's not too pretty, but it will still taste great.

Our fruit side is pineapple and cantaloupe pieces.  Mom made fruit bouquets for her weight loss coaches and these are the yummy bits leftover.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is a Chobani Champions Verry Berry Greek yogurt.  Molly loves her Cho!

Pizzadilla!

This week has been and will be beyond crazy.  Monday night included a sneak preview of the new Whole Foods store that will be opening near us tomorrow (I am overly excited about this!) and a great dinner with friends.  Tonight was dance for both girls and a run for Daddy plus cross training for Mommy.  Tomorrow is the end of Mommy's weight loss challenge with the final weigh in, which makes me feel like I gained 5 pounds over the last week.  haha!  Tomorrow is also my final run before the Pittsburgh Marathon 5K on Saturday and Half Marathon on Sunday.  We have several other things lined up too and God willing, it will all go off swimmingly.  We are all so excited and next week may feel like the day after the prom but the excitement of this week is something to behold.

Part of my strategy was to plan ahead with a menu and schedule so that nothing is forgotten.  Hopefully this will really help with Molly's lunches.

Our main entree is a pizzadilla, a/k/a a pizza quesadilla.  We spread a small amount of pizza sauce on two flour tortillas, added turkey pepperoni and shredded mozzarella cheese on one, topped it with the other, then heated it on the stove until it was all melted and yummy.  We then cut it into "pizza slices" to make it more manageable for Molly.

Our vegetable side is a green salad.  We added a small container of light Ranch dressing and filled it a little fuller than normal because we know that Molly sometimes likes to dip her pizza in Ranch.

Our fruit side is a sliced apple.  These a very small Empire apples that are the perfect side for kids.  They are crunchy and sweet.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is Chobani Champions Vanilla Chocolate Chunk Greek Yogurt.  This is Molly's favorite variety and we can't blame her.  Chocolate is so yummy!

Odd Request

3 words.... Beef Teriyaki Nuggets

Um, yeah, I really don't know what to say about this one.  We give her the option to choose one lunch a week from the calendar and this is what she chose.  It doesn't sound all that appetizing to me but if I think of it as a stir fry with beef, vegetables and rice...it's much better.  It also comes with an egg roll, fruit and a fortune cookie.  Chinese food is one of Molly's favorites so I really shouldn't be all that surprised.

I honestly hope that it is super delicious and that Molly really enjoys it. ☺

Post Party Lunch

Today, we celebrated Molly's 1st Holy Communion.  She was aglow in her beautiful white dress and veil and had a smile about a mile wide.  She was so proud to be receiving this sacrament and sharing it with her family and friends.

After mass, we had a whole slew of people at our house for a party with lots of yummy food and great conversation.  Luckily, there were a couple of leftovers and that made Molly's lunch very easy for us.  The other great thing about having a party at home, my house is still relatively clean.  Bonus!

Our main entree is linguini salad.  Molly's Nana makes the yummiest linguini salad and we were very excited when she offered to bring some to the party.  Molly requested that there be only olives and cucumbers and not any of the tomatoes or onions that were in the salad.  That was not a problem since Nana put in whole grape tomatoes and larger chunks of onion.  Thanks, Nana!

Our vegetable side is ants on a log.  We used some of the leftover celery from our veggie tray and added natural peanut butter and some dried currants that we got from our NatureBox.  Such a delicious and wonderful way to enjoy new and healthy snacks delivered to your door every month.  Enter the code NATURE to get 25% off of your first order.

Our fruit side is a clementine.  We were going to give Molly some leftover pineapple and strawberries but she asked for this instead.  It works for us!

Our dairy side is a Babybel cheese.  We weren't sure if there was quite enough protein in Molly's lunch and one of these is always a great source.

Finally, our dessert is a Chobani Champions Verry Berry Greek yogurt, by request.  Molly just loves her Cho!

PJ Day!

Molly's school has been having these "Funky Friday$" to raise money for their new playground.  On these days, the students can wear something funky on the specified Friday for a $1 donation.  Molly wore her Cat in the Hat outfit for the Dr. Seuss day.  She had very poofy and tall hair for crazy hair day.

Tomorrow is PJ day.  Molly will be wearing her favorite fuzzy pink Hello Kitty pajama pants and a fun pink top.  Plus, we will be putting a few pink foam rollers in her hair just for fun.  PJ Day calls for breakfast for lunch.  We decided to go a little crazy with this one.  Pancakes can be very versatile. ☺

Our main entree is pancakes.  We put the batter into a squeeze bottle and created fun shapes.  We attempted to make some Hello Kitty pancakes (to match her PJs) and wrote Molly's name too.  Writing in cursive backwards with a squeeze bottle is more complicated than it seems.  We added a small container of Biscoff Spread (after we took the picture) in case Molly wants to spread it on any of the pancakes.

Our fruit side is cantaloupe and strawberries.  These are a nice accompaniment to the pancakes.

Our dairy/dessert is a Chobani Verry Berry Greek yogurt.  These were on sale at the store yesterday so we scarfed some up.  This will serve as a great source of protein too.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is two mini candy bars from Easter.  One is a Krackle Bar and one is a Mr. Goodbar.  Nothing like a little chocolate to complete a yummy lunch.

Bring Your Child To Work Day

Molly is overjoyed with anticipation for a fantastic day tomorrow because her Daddy is bringing her to work with him.  She has waited patiently for the last few years to be old enough to go to work with him and finally, tomorrow is her day.

Daddy's company has an entire day planned with fun activities, a special lunch and even an ice cream social at the end of the work day.  Molly has no idea about any of the fun things planned but I'm sure her imagination is going wild with anticipation.  She even went to bed early tonight so that she can get up early with Daddy.

I can't wait to hear how incredible her day went.  It's days like these that make being a parent so exciting!

Orange-you Glad It's Wednesday?

Our crazy day went really well.  All things on the "to-do" list were checked off and completed nicely.  Molly had a great visit at the dentist and we all had a lot of fun today.

We were inspired by our lunch today when making our lunch for tomorrow.  Our orange inspired lunch.

Our main entree is a yummy pasta salad.  The pasta is Barilla Piccolini Mini Farfalle with tomatoes and carrots.  We had this for lunch today and it was a huge hit.  The flavors of the vegetables comes through but it isn't too overpowering.  We added a bit of light Italian dressing and some freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Our vegetable side is baby carrots.  Molly and her sister had these with their lunch today (along with a few other vegetables) and both really enjoyed them.

Our fruit side is chunks of cantaloupe.  We were going to give Molly oranges but decided that they would be too obvious.  We added a cute little orange pic of a starfish to this container too.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is Chobani Champions Vanilla Orange Greek yogurt.  Here's our orange!  We flipped the container over so that you can see the orange ring to keep with our theme.

Election Day

Tomorrow is the primary election in Pennsylvania, thus, there is no school. We use a lot of the schools as polling arenas so there would be mass chaos, not to mention security issues, if there were classes going on at the same time. We have grand plans of staying in our pajamas and watching movies for the first part if the day. Then we will begin a big cleaning of the house because Molly will be celebrating her 1st Holy Communion this weekend and we will be having guests here. Next, we will be signing little sister up for Kindergarten (gasp!) and finally, Molly has a dentist appointment in the evening. A pretty busy day to say the least. Oh, and Mom and Dad have to go vote and both get a training run in there somewhere. Sigh, someday these will be the good old days!

Brother's Birthday!!!

Monday is Molly's little brother's 3rd birthday!!!  We are so excited to watch him hit this milestone.  The year that he starts preschool on his own.  The year that he really becomes a little boy in his actions and looks.  (Yes, I had a hard time typing that since he's my baby.)

We have a lot of fun things planned for the day from homemade doughnuts (baked with our Babycakes doughnut maker) to plans for breakfast for dinner.  He LOVES breakfast.

Molly can't wait for the school day to be over so that she can participate in the celebration.  She and her sister made some beautiful birthday cards and are giddy with anticipation to give them to their little brother.  School first, then the party!

Our main entree is a turkey and smoked Gouda sandwich on 12 Grain bread.  We used some fun cookie cutters to make these shapes, then put smiley faces on the circles and a heart on the diamond with our food safe markers.
*We recently won a contest by Chef Corey at Family Fresh Meals and will be trying FunBites with one of our sandwiches in the very near future.  Thanks Chef Corey!!!  (Be sure to click on the link to check out her blog.  She has some incredible recipes and ideas.  Lots of inspiration!)

Our vegetable side is sliced cucumbers and small golden tomatoes.  Molly had some cucumbers today and requested them in her lunch.  We decided to add the tomatoes because they looked so yummy.

Our fruit side is sliced strawberries.  The smell of these strawberries just reminds us of summer and all of the wonderful flavors that await us.  (After we get 6 inches of snow overnight.  Yep, the northeast is supposed to be blasted with a winter storm tonight.  booo!)

Our dairy side is a cheddar/mozzarella cheese stick.  This will hopefully help to keep Molly full.

Finally, our dessert is a Chobani Champions Chocolate Chunk Greek yogurt.  Some things are always perfect!

Pantry Raid Lunch

It was a late night for us so we did a sweep of the refrigerator for Molly's lunch tomorrow.  Sometimes, leftovers and those pantry/fridge staples are all you need to make a yummy lunch.

Our main entree is pasta salad.  We used some leftover whole grain thin spaghetti, turkey pepperoni, black olives, mozzarella cheese and some light Italian dressing to make one of Molly's favorite lunches.

Our vegetable side is a green salad with a couple of small yellow tomatoes.  We added a small side of light Italian dressing to keep with the flavors of the spaghetti salad.

Our fruit side is a clementine.  We like to keep these on hand at our house since they are such a big hit with all five of us.

Our dairy side is a cheddar/mozzarella cheese stick.  Since there isn't a lot of protein in the spaghetti salad, we added this so that Molly won't get too hungry by the time the final bell rings.

Finally, our dessert is a Chobani Champions Chocolate Chunk Greek Yogurt.  Another favorite because it tastes SO good!

Chicken...again

Yep, they are having a breaded chicken lunch tomorrow so Molly was quick to pick that one for her buy-lunch this week.  Chicken fries are on the menu and even though we don't find it to be the most nutritious, we're pretty sure that they are better than some of the other options that are given during the rest of the week...maybe?  We don't really consider corn to be a vegetable but the school does so we need to make sure that we have something with lots of vegetables for dinner. ☺

New Breakfast

We like to have breakfast for dinner about once a week.  It's one of the easier meals to make yet usually creates the most dishes since several pans are involved.  We also like to have breakfast for one of Molly's lunches because it's easy for us and she loves it.

Our main entree is a whole grain waffle sandwich.  We used freshly ground peanut butter on one side and Biscoff Spread (this is the new thing) on the other.  Holy delicious, Batman!  We added a few crayon picks in Molly's favorite colors for fun.

Our fruit side is fresh kiwi slices.  We think that the tangy taste will be a nice contrast to the peanut butter.

Our fun side is a little homemade trail mix.  We combined lightly salted mixed nuts with Plum Amazins.  

Finally, our dairy/dessert is vanilla yogurt with Trader Joe's Elegant Cocoa Pears.

Spring-like Monday

We're finally having nice weather again here in Pittsburgh.  The sun was shining and the temperature actually reached 80 degrees today.  I think that the flowers and the grass were very happy to be warm again after surviving a decent number of frosts last week.  We hope that it this beautiful weather stays for a while.  Playing outside is so much more fun than being stuck indoors.

Our main entree is turkey pepperoni, cheese and crackers.  Molly requested this as we were finishing our dinner tonight since she "hasn't had it in a really long time."  We cut a small flower out of a piece of pepperoni and put it on the cheese to match the cracker.  (It's kind of hard to see from the photo but there is a flower on the cracker.)  The crackers are Ritz spring crackers and each of them have a flower or butterfly on them.  So cute!

Our vegetable side is a few baby carrots.  Molly said that she'd be fine with them but not too many since she is missing a some teeth and it's hard to bite them.  We were just fine with keeping it to a small portion for her. ☺

Our fruit side is strawberries.  We sliced a few of them and then made a couple of mice with two others.  Just a couple of sliced almonds for ears, Trader Joe's cocoa pearls for the eyes and nose and a small piece of licorice for the tail.  Gotta keep Monday fun!

Finally, our dairy/dessert is a Chobani Champions Chocolate Chunk Greek yogurt.  Molly requested this as well.  She just loves the fact that she gets chocolate and it's good for her.

Pizza Friday!

When I was growing up, one of our traditions was to have pizza on Friday for dinner.  I don't know if it was payday or if it was just the easiest thing to do at the end of a long week, but we really enjoyed it.  We figured, why not give it a try for Molly's lunch?  Here you go...

Our main entree is turkey pepperoni pizza.  We purchased a pre-made crust and added sauce, cheese and turkey pepperoni.  We're so excited to hear Molly's reaction.

Our vegetable side is a garden salad.  Another one of our traditions was to have a big salad with our pizza nights.  It makes sense because that way, there was always a vegetable on the table.  We also added a side of light Italian dressing.  It looks like a lot from this angle, but it is less than a tablespoon.

Our fruit side is sliced strawberries.  They are on sale at the store right now and the sweetness and flavor keep getting better and better.  We can't wait to go pick our own this summer!

Our dairy side is a Babybel cheese.  We figured that Molly might need a little something extra and this is a perfect fit.

Finally, our Fun Friday Treat is a small package of M&M's and some Smarties.  Molly's Nana was the candy giver this year for Easter.  We were happy add some of these sweet confections for a special treat.

Chicken Sandwich

What is it with kids and breaded chicken?  My kids just love most any type of breaded chicken.  They go crazy for the chicken nuggets that we make or put on a salad, even a sandwich.  All three of them are funny about it though.  They don't really like fried fast food chicken but when it's baked, they're all about it.

Molly is keeping with her lunch buying trend and going for the breaded chicken meal of the week.  Not popcorn chicken, not chicken nuggets but the baked chicken patty on a whole grain bun.  I give the school props for trying to make it more nutritious.  Compared to what we were served when I was a kid, this is leaps and bounds better.

Back After Break

We had a fantastic Easter break.  Great traditions with our families and fun with friends.  We did our best to instill the real reason for Easter in our children.  They know that Jesus died for us.  They know that He Is Risen on Easter and that is why we celebrate.

All of the fun and celebrating has now become another chapter in our memory books and we are getting back to our routine.  This means we're heading back to school for the first time in five days.  YAHOO!

Our main entree is an alphabet pasta salad.  We figured that after five days off, a great reminder of Molly's ABC's would be alphabet pasta.  We added mini turkey pepperoni, black olives, mozzarella cheese and some light Italian dressing.

Our vegetable side is grape tomatoes.  Molly was never big on tomatoes but recently, she's starting to ask for them.  We're thrilled that her palate is changing enough to enjoy new things.

Our fruit side is cantaloupe chunks.  Molly keeps requesting this yummy melon.  We can't blame her.  The cantaloupes have been very sweet and delicious recently.

Our dairy/dessert is Chobani Champions Vanilla Orange Greek Yogurt.  This will also help to add protein to round out Molly's meal.

Easter Week Lunch 3

Tomorrow is the last day of school before Easter vacation.  Molly is so excited to have a few days off and enjoy some family time and traditions.  We have a lot of plans to celebrate the sacrifice that God made for us and the miracle of Jesus' resurrection.

We'll be back next Tuesday night for another installment of Molly's Lunch Box.  We're pretty sure that the rest of the year is going to fly from then on.

Happy Easter, Indeed He is Risen!!!

Our main entree is a salami and cheese basket.  We used our mini cookie cutters to cut out eggs and a "Peep" chick out of provolone and salami.  We also used our food safe markers to make our basket more fun.

Our fruit side is strawberry flowers.  We used more cookie cutters to cut out these cute flowers and added a few plastic stems.  We also have a few bunnies hiding in this container too.

Our fun side is Annie's Organic Pizza Snack Mix (shaped like bunnies).  We usually add crackers to any meat and cheese entree but this mix will work just fine.  Plus, it's really yummy!

Finally, our Easter dessert is a bed of Annie's Homegrown Bunny Graham Friends topped with a chocolate covered marshmallow Peep.  Molly remembered the Peep from last year and requested one this year too.  How could we not?  They are so cute and delicious!

Easter Week Lunch 2

We've cooked up something fun for lunch tomorrow.  We were reminiscing about last year's Easter lunch and decided to use it for our inspiration.

Our main entree is a bunny pizza.  We used Pillsbury Simply Biscuits for our crust.  It is a very simple biscuit recipe without any added anything.  We like that idea.  We added a mozzarella/provolone shredded mix, olives for eyes and turkey pepperoni for a nose and mouth.

Our vegetable side is a cucumber that we cut with a flower cookie cutter.  We think that Molly will really enjoy the new shape.

Our fruit side is sliced strawberries.  We added an Easter Bunny pick to keep with our theme.

Our dairy side is a Babybel cheese.  We used our star shaped micro cookie cutter to cut a star shape out of the wax.

Finally, our dessert is vanilla yogurt with some Easter egg sprinkles on top.

Taco Tuesday

I mentioned yesterday that Molly will be buying lunch tomorrow. We can't blame her. Tacos are a big favorite at our house. Speaking of Taco Tuesday, we are considering trying something like that at our house, creating a theme for our dinners each night. Meatless or meatloaf Monday, Taco or turkey Tuesday, Wildcard Wednesday, etc. Does anyone else do this? I think it would really help with our menu planning and keep us from hitting the drive thru due to lack of ideas. It would also be helpful when the summer starts and we are in the pool all day and don't want to think about dinner. Thoughts and suggestions are welcome. Thanks!

Easter Week Lunch 1

This is a short week at Molly's school because of the Easter break coming up.  Also, she has already decided that she would like to buy lunch on Tuesday (Taco Tuesday) so that only gives us three lunches for the week.  We like to go a little bit theme-y (word?) here at Molly's Lunch Box so this will be the first of three Easter lunches.

Our main entree is a salami and smoked pepper jack cheese sandwich on 12 grain bread.  We used some fun little cookie cutters to cut the sandwich into Easter themed shapes.  Then, we used our food safe markers to make them come to life.  (ps - the red one in the right upper corner is a tulip....looks kind of like Darth Maul to us though.  LOL!)

Our vegetable side is cucumber slices.  Molly requested these after having a few on her salad at dinner this evening.

Our fruit side is cantaloupe pieces.  Molly asked us to get a cantaloupe last week and we picked a winner.  This is so sweet and juicy.  We also added a cross pick so that she doesn't forget what we will be celebrating this weekend, the fact that Jesus gave his life for us.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is a Chobani Champions Vanilla Orange Greek yogurt.  This flavor reminds us of creamsicles.  Molly usually likes to put mini chocolate chips in it but we just didn't have room for them today.  She likes it just he way it is too.

Lenten Lunch

This will be the last Friday lunch at school in this Lenten season.  As Catholics, we don't eat meat on Fridays in lent and this can cause some creative thinking for our meal planning.  Tonight was definitely one of those times.  After a great workout, Mom was very tired and my brain wasn't wanting to cooperate with any creative thought process.  Luckily, there was just enough creativity left to crank something out for Molly's lunch.

Our main entree is a cheesy pretzel sandwich.  We sliced a pretzel roll (it was kind of thin) in half and added some spicy/sweet deli mustard to it.  Then, we added a slice of smoked Gouda just to make it taste that much better.

Our fruit side is baby bananas.  You may see these in the grocery store and wonder about them.  We can tell you, they are delicious.  They are much sweeter than a regular banana but the flavor is wonderful, not like a mushy banana.  Molly couldn't wait to have these in her lunch.

Our dairy side is a Babybel Cheese (for extra protein) and a Chocolate Chunk Chobani Champions Greek yogurt.  Molly asked for the chocolate chunk variety so we went right ahead and gave her what she wanted.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is Biscoff Biscuits and Biscoff Spread.  They are all natural and taste sweet and incredible. We figured that Molly could either dip her biscuits in the spread or use her spoon to spread it on.

Breakfast Lunch

Last night, Molly's Daddy made breakfast for dinner.  The kids were so hungry that there weren't any pancakes left for Molly's lunch today, so we decided to make a run to the store tonight to grab a few things for a breakfast lunch tomorrow.

Our main entree is a whole wheat waffle sandwich.  We spread natural peanut butter on one waffle and Nutella on the other, then sandwiched them together.  This combination is a huge hit in our house.

Our vegetable side is baby carrots.  We usually don't have a veggie with our breakfast lunches but these looked like they would fit in just perfectly.

Our fruit side is half of a banana.  We used a knife to lightly pierce a message to Molly on it.  It had a chance to oxidize while we were toasting the waffles.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is a Chocolate Chunk Chobani Champions Greek yogurt.  (Say that three times fast!) Molly requested this one because she thought it would go nicely with the Nutella.  Smart girl.  ☺

Half Way Wednesday

Alright, we're approaching the half way mark of the week.  Our busy family days of the week are done and now Mommy's and Daddy's busy days are ahead.

We're gearing up for a fun Easter.  We get to spend lots of time with our families.  We get to share special meals and gifts.  Finally we get to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  It is an amazing time of the year.

Until then, we have a few more days of school and that means a few more lunches.

Our main entree is a turkey pastrami and smoked Gouda cheese sandwich on a whole wheat bagel thin.  This is a new combination for Molly but we're pretty confident that she will enjoy it.

Our vegetable side is grape tomatoes.  We managed to toss a few of these in the container with the sandwich.

Our fruit side is strawberry slices.  We picked up these gorgeous and gigantic strawberries at Sam's Club yesterday and they are so sweet and delicious.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is Chobani Champions Vanilla Orange Greek yogurt.  Molly requested this variety for her lunch tomorrow.

Is it Friday Yet?

We were so busy last week and the time just flew by.  This week is already dragging on and it's only Monday night.  Hopefully the rest of the week will go a little faster.  Although, Molly's day seemed to go pretty quickly.  She said that she's all caught up on the few things that she missed on Friday.  ☺

Our main entree is a salami and smoked Gouda sandwich on 12 grain bread.  We picked up some salami at the end of last week.  Molly was very excited to request one of her favorite sandwiches for lunch.

Our vegetable side is red and yellow peppers with a side of roasted red pepper hummus.  We asked Molly what she would like for her vegetable and this was her exact answer.  (so much for cucumbers and carrots. haha!)

Our fruit side is cantaloupe chunks.  We picked this up last week as well and were pleasantly surprised at how sweet this particular melon was.  It didn't last long after it was cut up.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is Chocolate Chunk Chobani Champions Greek yogurt.  We were so happy to see that Chobani Champions is a sponsor of the USA Summer Olympic team.  Way to go Chobani Champions!

Educational Trip

If you are a regular reader of Molly's Lunch Box, you may have noticed that we didn't have a lunch post last Friday.  Well, it was because we decided to let Molly join us on an educational trip instead of going to school.  (GASP!)  I won tickets to the Farm to Table convention that was going on in Pittsburgh this past Friday and Saturday.  Our tickets were for Friday so Molly's Daddy decided to take the day off and we were going to take Molly's siblings with us while Molly was in school.  Then, we were doing a little research into what to expect and decided that Molly would benefit greatly from this experience....and we were right. ☺

We learned so much about organic gardening, raw dairy, cheeses, things to do with bee's wax, healthy eating, co-ops, CSAs, rain water, recycling, conservation and many other things.  We were very excited to try samples of several yummy treats including raw milk, pasteurized milk, cheeses, health drinks, honey, a banana dessert, health bars and much more.

We met farmers and artisans that were eager to share their craft with us and explain why the way that animals were raised help to make a better product.  It was such a delight to hear the questions that were answered and to see the eagerness of Molly and her sister as they were just soaking in the information.  (Their brother was just happy to be enjoying a honey stick.)

It was a fantastic experience for our whole family, not to mention the great exercise we got walking to and from the parking lot to the convention center and walking around the convention itself.

We don't usually advocate "skipping" school, but this was definitely a wonderful educational experience and we now have so many more ideas for field trips this summer to continue the education.  Special thanks to Whirl Magazine for creating a contest that helped us win our tickets!

On to Monday's lunch.  Easy enough, Molly is buying pizza.  It is the only good looking option for the week so we were fine with her choice.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! ☺

Busy Week, Yummy Lunch

Our busy week continues.  Well, Mom's busy week, that is.  Between training for the half marathon, cross training and the consignment sale, this week is flying by.  Molly's lunch was thrown together quickly so that Mom can get to sleep.

Our main entree is a pasta salad.  We figured that this would be a nice cool lunch for a warm day.  We added turkey pepperoni, a little mozzarella and some light Italian dressing to precooked radiator pasta.

Our vegetable side is baby carrots.  We added a small container of roasted red pepper hummus so that Molly could dip her carrots into it.

Our fruit side is green grapes.  We picked up a bunch of produce at Aldi today and these were part of it.  They are firm, juicy and were inexpensive.  Win/Win!

Our dairy side is a string cheese.  There isn't a lot of protein in Molly's lunch so we added this so that she won't be starving by the time she gets home.

Finally, our dessert is plain vanilla yogurt.  A simple and sweet way to end a yummy lunch.

Buying Lunch

Molly has decided to buy her chicken sandwich lunch tomorrow.  Mom is pretty happy about that because it is that busy time when we are preparing for the children's consignment sale at the preschool that Molly's siblings attend.  Mom isn't home a few nights this week so any extra help from the cafeteria helpers is welcome, especially when they are doing their best to make these lunches a bit more nutritious.

Repeat!

Molly was so happy with her lunch today that she requested the sandwich in her lunch tomorrow.  Luckily, we had enough left over that we were able to fulfill her wishes.

Our main entree is an Irish Soda Bread sandwich with whipped cream cheese.  This bread is a generations old recipe and we've added our own little touches to it to make it our own.  As I've said before, this generation is making it whole wheat.  Grammy's generation added golden raisins and Nana's generation added regular raisins instead of just currents.  No matter what generation, it's delicious!

Our vegetable side is a romaine lettuce salad with a small amount of light Italian dressing on the side.  We also added a Babybel Cheese as per Molly's request.  We cut a small heart out to show her how much we love her.

Our fruit side is a sliced kiwi.  Molly said that the Kiwi Leprechaun tasted so yummy that she was craving a kiwi again.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is vanilla yogurt with a sprinkle of Trader Joe's Elegant Cocoa Pearls for a special touch.

Irish Soda Bread Sandwiches

One of the best parts about having St. Patrick's Day on a weekend is the opportunity to celebrate it with family.  We celebrated Nana's birthday on St. Patrick's Day (Happy Birthday, Nana) and we were so happy to have Grammy and Papa out for our traditional Irish dinner tonight.  The girls stayed at their house this weekend so that Daddy could run his first half marathon (WAY TO GO, DADDY!) and Mommy could go to her athletic training on Saturday morning.

Grammy and Papa contributed dessert (chocolate Guinness cake...YUM!), some smoked salmon and Irish Soda Bread that the girls helped to make.  We contributed the corned beef and cabbage, carrots and potatoes.  It was quite a feast.  We were lucky enough to even have some leftovers.

Our main entree is an Irish Soda Bread and cream cheese sandwich.  Molly and her sister did a fantastic job making this.  I had suggested that they use whole wheat flour and we all agreed that it turned out better than the original white flour that the recipe called for.

Our vegetable side is canned green beans.  Molly has been asking for these so we were happy to add them.  Also, our other option was carrots and with a few missing teeth in the front, we were confident that the green beans would work much better.

Our fruit side is fresh strawberries.  This pack had some gigantic strawberries in it.  Molly's little brother had one today that was bigger than his hand.  He was loving it!

Finally, our dairy/dessert is plain old vanilla yogurt.  It will be a nice compliment to the rest of Molly's lunch.

♣Irish You A Happy St. Patrick's Day!!♣

Our favorite time of year!!!  St. Patrick's Day!!!  We have a great Irish heritage and are proud to celebrate it.  We read stories about how St. Patrick taught the Irish about the holy trinity with a shamrock, we do the traditional corned beef and cabbage, we bake Irish soda bread, we wear our green and watch out for sneaky leprechauns.  We just love it!

Our main entree is green pasta.  It's actually mini shells with pesto on them.  We topped it with some Gouda cheese cut into shamrocks and embellished them with our food safe markers.

Our fruit/veggie side is a Kiwi Leprechaun.  Yep, we thought back to the Frankenkiwi and the Kiwi Elf and went a little wild.  His hair is all shredded carrots, his eyes are mini chocolate chips, his mouth and nose are sprinkles and his hat is plastic from our favorite cake decorating store.  

Our dairy side is Irish emerald moss.  Vanilla yogurt with green food coloring and some mini shamrock sprinkles.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is a few Irish Soda Bread Scones.  Molly goes nuts over these.  Its a great combination of whole wheat flour, dried currants and just a sprinkle of sugar.  YUM!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! ♣

Beannachtam na Femle Padraig!

Lunch?

Molly asked if she could buy her lunch tomorrow.  I don't know what it is about popcorn chicken that makes our girl outrageously happy.  (Her Daddy had the same reaction to Chicken Patty sandwiches.)  Since I chose to have her buy lunch on Tuesday (in case she didn't go to school), we decided that her choice of buying tomorrow would be fine.

Tomorrow is the last day of preschool for the week for Molly's little sister.  This means that they will have their "wearing of the green" and St. Patrick's Day celebration.  Since we are a bit Irish (well, a bit more than a bit), we are sending in a special little something for the teachers.

Green tea and Irish Soda Bread Scones!  The recipe came from my great-grandmother and has been a favorite of our family forever.  I decided to switch it up a little bit and use a healthier whole wheat flour instead of white flour.  I must say, they are pretty tasty and I might just have to make it a permanent switch.

We will do the same for Molly's teacher on Friday.  Just a little something to let the teachers know how much we appreciate the work that they do. ☺

All Better!

Molly is feeling much better.  She made it to school today, had a great day and lived to tell about it.  No call from the school nurse made me a very happy Mom.  Molly was pretty happy too and even had a fantastic night because she finally lost one of her top teeth.  We've been waiting on it for weeks and finally, the tooth fairy will be stopping at our house. ☺

Our main entree is a peanut butter and Nutella sandwich on whole grain bread.  Our cupboards are a bit bare because Mom hasn't had time to run to the store with two sick kids.  This is a great standby sandwich when there isn't much left in the pantry.

Our vegetable side is canned green beans.  Again, not much left on the fresh vegetable front aside from salad.  Besides, canned green beans are so yummy.

Our fruit side is a Macintosh apple that has been sectioned and sliced.  We've had several questions about how to keep the apples from browning.  The long and short of it is the type of apple.  We usually choose Macintosh and Empire apples because they naturally don't brown as much.  There may be a small bit of browning but nothing like a Red Delicious.  If you aren't a fan of these types, try fresh squeezed orange or lemon juice to prevent browning.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is plain vanilla yogurt.  We have no Cho!  We definitely have to make it to the store very soon to stock back up on Chobani Champions.

Plan B

Well, Molly ended up staying home again today. Her belly still hurts and she is hacking up a lung. My poor girl! We have decided that if Molly feels MUCH better in the morning, she will buy lunch at school. She will actually buy the alternative lunch of peanut butter and jelly. If she is still icky, then off to the doctor we will go. She just looks and sounds horrible. My heart breaks for her. Also, Molly's little brother seems to have caught it. We're hoping that their sister and we, parents, don't get it. Keep your fingers crossed.

Giving it a Try

Molly still isn't quite 100% but she is MUCH better than she was last week.  Thank you all for the well wishes. ☺

She has decided that she only wants a few things and they are pretty bland.  We are just happy to see that she is eating again and actually requesting certain things.  Here's hoping that it is enjoyable for her.

Our main entree is baked macaroni and cheese.  We made some choo choo wheels a few days ago and Mommy used the leftovers to make baked mac and cheese.  Molly requested this because it tasted really good to her when she first started to feel better.

Our fruit side is a ToGo Squeeze in Apple Strawberry.  These are basically an applesauce blend put into a tube so that it is less messy for the kids to eat.  They are very healthy and very tasty.  We picked up a large box of them at Target.

Our simple side is a few pretzel Goldfish Crackers.  We figured that if the mac and cheese isn't appealing, the Goldfish Crackers might do the trick.

Our dairy is a small amount of plain vanilla yogurt.  We're hoping that it would be a gentle protein for Molly's upset tummy.

Finally, our dessert is a couple of cookies and cream Goldfish Crackers.  Again, something nice and simple to keep our girl happy.

Sick Day

Poor Molly stayed home from school today because she has some sort of stomach bug.  She looked sick from the moment she woke up and we knew right away that school was not an option today.  She is still not feeling well this evening so we are keeping her home tomorrow too.  It just breaks my heart when any of the kids are sick. Hopefully, this will be short lived and not shared with her siblings or us.  ☺

On the bright side.  Molly's little sister was the lucky recipient of Molly's Lunch Box lunch today.  She was like the Queen of Sheba sitting there and eating from the Laptop Lunch Box.  She's getting ready because next year, she'll be using her very own at Kindergarten. YAY!

Leftover Lunch

We are utilizing little leftovers for Molly's lunch.  We made the tortellini yesterday for her brother and sister's lunch.  The carrots were the very last in the container in the fridge and the strawberries were the final ones in their container.  Our refrigerator looks so much cleaner, which makes Mommy very happy.

Our main entree is a tortellini salad.  We added mini turkey pepperoni and light Italian dressing to Trader Joe's fresh cheese tortellini.

Our vegetable side is carrot sticks.  We keep carrots and celery sticks in a container filled with water in the refrigerator.  It keeps them so fresh and crispy.

Our fruit side is sliced strawberries.  Molly's Daddy was nice enough to cut these into perfect little pieces for our girl.

Finally, our dairy side is a string cheese.  There wasn't a lot of room for a dessert so we decided that a little extra protein would work just fine.  We'll make sure that she gets something sweet at dinner. ☺

School Lunch

Molly has not bought lunch in two weeks but saw the meatball hoagie on the menu and her mind was made up. We are glad to let her choose the things that she would like to eat, but we may be swaying her toward other things in the very near future.

I recently posted a few links on our Molly's Lunch Box Facebook page about the "pink slime" that was used in fast food hamburgers.  Unfortunately, this slime has been sold to schools for school lunches.  We may or may not be one of the schools that uses it but it sure does make me reconsider the lunches that my kids will be allowed to purchase at school.

Just a little food for thought.

A Fishy Sandwich

Sometimes something as simple as switching up the bread of a sandwich will get the kids giddy with excitement.  We found the Pepperidge Farm goldfish bread last year but we are trying the soft whole wheat variety for the first time.  Molly's siblings were the lucky recipients of the new bread in their lunch today and they both really enjoyed it.  Here's hoping that Molly feels the same.

Our main entree is an herbed turkey and smoked Gouda sandwich.  We are using the Pepperidge Farm whole wheat goldfish bread, Castle Wood herb roasted turkey breast, Castle Wood smoked Gouda and a few pea shoots to make a fun, yummy and nutritious lunch.

Our vegetable side is canned green beans.  We rinse these so that they don't have the salty flavor that the can usually gives.  Molly really likes these and would probably eat the whole can of them, just like her Mom.

Our fruit side is a red pear.  We found a great sale on pears the other day and stocked up on a few different varieties.  They are really delicious and juicy.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is a Horizon Organic Tuberz Yogurt in the strawberry variety.  We picked these up at Panera Bread as part of a lunch but the kids were too full to eat them.  Leftovers win again!

Cold Pizza!

If you follow our blog, you know that Molly's school always serves pizza on the first day of the week.  What kid would want anything but pizza on pizza day?  We've found the easy way around that.  Cold pizza.  As we continue through the Lenten season and keep our Lenten promise (no fast food), we had homemade pizzas for dinner on Saturday night.  Molly and her siblings enjoyed a mini turkey pepperoni pizza with light cheese while Mommy and Daddy had fresh peppers, turkey pepperoni and light cheese on a whole wheat crust.  The whole family was very pleased.  We were also very lucky to have leftovers that Molly can have in her lunch.

Our main entree is leftover homemade pizza.  We bought the crust at the store, added Trader Joe's pizza sauce, some light cheese and mini turkey pepperoni.

Our vegetable side is a spinach salad.  We tossed in a few matchstick carrots and added a small container of light Italian dressing.

Our fruit side is a kiwi.  We skinned it, cut it in half and sliced it so that Molly can manage those slippery but yummy little bites.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is Chobani Champions orange vanilla Greek yogurt.  We are running low on our Chobani so we'll have to pick up more soon.  We might even create our own mixes with the plain Chobani that Mommy eats.  hmmmm....

*Molly's actual lunch box is a Laptop Lunch Box.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

There was a big build up to tomorrow all week.  Molly's little sister's school was celebrating Dr. Seuss this week and we had lots of fun dressing up, reading the books and talking about how fun Dr. Seuss is.  Tomorrow, Molly gets to dress up as her favorite Dr. Seuss character at school.  She chose The Cat in the Hat.  We had a blast making her costume.  (See below)

Lunch is no exception in the theme.  We did our best to represent some of our favorite Dr. Seuss books.  We had to keep our food functional so please use your imagination.  After all, that's what Dr. Seuss did. ☺

Our main entree is a peanut butter and Nutella sandwich on 12 Grain bread.  We used our food safe markers to draw Horton from "Horton Hears a Who" on the front of it.

Our vegetable side is orange and yellow peppers.  We created the Lorax by cutting the peppers like a face, a mustache and eye brows.  We then added two small slices from a cheese stick for eyes and used our food safe marker to create pupils and a nose.

Our fruit side is apples and strawberries.  This is supposed to look like the Cat in the Hat's hat.  We did our best to keep it looking authentic but it was a little bit hard.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is from "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish".  These are just some Sweedish Fish that we picked up and plan to use for dessert sushi. (A Rice Krispie treat rolled around a Sweedish Fish and then wrapped with a fruit roll up, very fun!)

We found some fun stickers and added them to Molly's Lunch Box so that she knows what books we are representing.

If you are looking for some easy costumes for Dr. Seuss Day, here are The Cat in the Hat and Thing 2.  Just t-shirts with felt.  The hat is felt with a barrette on the bottom and the Thing's hair is yarn tied around a hair elastic.