Pumpkin Patch

Tomorrow little chic is visiting a pumpkin patch! Well, technically the pumpkin patch is coming to preschool, but still... so, the theme for the day is orange. When I saw some orange globe carrots at the store this weekend, I knew I had to buy them for her orange lunch.

Ghost marshmallows, Cheese skewers (yes, it's American cheese...don't judge!), Orange globe carrots, Fruit leather and Trail mix cookie.

Big chic eats too...

This is one of big chic's lunches this week. She's on an anti-bread kick lately. I don't know why, but she came home from school last week with a seemingly uneaten peanut butter and jelly. When I asked her why she didn't eat her sandwich, she said that she didn't like bread so she just licked the peanut butter and jelly off of the bread. Okay... so sandwiches are out. Not sure how long the no-bread kick will last. We'll see.

Cucumber chain, Ham cheese and carrot flowers, Fruit dip with strawberries and pineapple, bagel chips.

FIRE!!!

On Monday, after a very long day of activities, we finally returned home after 7:30pm. Here we were, already a half hour past bedtime and I had two chics that needed baths, one chic that needed to work on her homework packet and do her daily reading, and another chic that thinks she's the Lady Gaga of preschool fashion that had not yet picked out her outfit for the next day (believe me...this is NOT a simple decision for her!). Did I mention that I hadn't even packed lunches for the next day? Well, exhausted and in a hurry, I tell big chic that she can buy lunch the next day (YAY for the dining hall!) and ask the little chic if she will just take a normal lunch (meaning undecorated) cause mommy is tired and it's late. "Mommy, no!" she says, "I want a fire lunch cause we're having a fireman for preschool." UGH!!! The hubs just laughs and says, "You created this!' and I know he's right. Sooooooo while he gets the big chic ready for bed, I try to create the quickest, fastest and easiest fire themed lunch I can. Here it is...

PB&J house with baby bell pepper fire, Crust tree trunk with parsley leaves, Carrot sticks with Twizzler fire hoses (I was desperate, okay?), Grapes

Today's lunch brought to you by the letter E

This week's preschool letter is E. Not many E foods out there except eggs and I just wasn't feeling an all egg lunch. So, I decided that E would stand for eclectic cause these lunches are kind of a mish mosh of several different things we had around the house this weekend. We had some leftover sticky rice, some blue cheese and pecan dip, some granola bars...none of it really goes together but we're gonna make it work. E is for Eclectic, remember?

Little chic's lunch

Rice balls with nori "E"s on a bed of carrots, Grape and blue cheese salad, Granola bar, snack mix with popcorn, puffed corn and chocolate Cheerios.

Big chic's lunch

Celery sticks, Granola bars, Grape and blue cheese salad, Ham and cheese sushi

I started out making "sushi" with ham, cheese, spinach, and carrots. Big chic loved it but Little chic wanted me to make hers into rice balls, so the ham and cheese and veggies are on the inside.


After a party this weekend, we had some leftover blue cheese and pecan dip. I mixed it with some halved grapes to make one of the hubs favorite salads. I was making it for his lunch, but the chics wanted to taste it and then insisted it go into their lunches as well.




The granola bars are the beloved Smitten Kitchen Thick and Chewy Granola Bars. So yummy!

"B" happy!

In preschool, the letter of the week is "B" so we did a lunch of all "B" foods...

"Brooke" made with Bread, Berries, Baby chick made with a Boiled egg, Blue cheese dip with Baby carrots

I know that my posts seem to focus only on the little chic's lunches, but I promise that big chic still takes her lunch! She pretty much takes the same lunch as the little chic on Tues and Thursdays and takes leftovers the rest of the time. It works out well and gives me a break from an entire week of fancy lunches. Here's one of her leftover lunches:

Wild Mushroom Quinoa Risotto, Blue jello (leftover from "blue day"), Applesauce, Purple carrots, Cheese stick

See...I'm feeding the big chic lunch...I swear!!

A whole lot of packaging!

Tomorrow's lunch was requested by the little chic. She remembers the banana hot dog that I made for her sister's lunch last year and has asked for it a few times since then. For some reason she thinks it's SO funny to have a banana in place of a hot dog. Fortunately for me, it's super easy to do. I take a whole wheat hot dog bun and spread peanut butter and honey on the inside. I leave the banana in the peel so that it stays fresh and she puts the banana in the bun when it's lunchtime. Here's what it looks like as a finished product (this one was on a regular white hot dog bun):

The rest of her lunch is leftover items from big chic's class. Big chic's class does community snack where parents trade off weeks when they provide snacks for the class. The verdict is still out on whether or not we will continue doing community snack. It really all depends on what other families will send when it is their turn. I'm hoping that other families will send healthy snacks and that we don't get PopTarts and "fruit" snacks. I volunteered to bring snack the first week so that I could kinda set an example and so that if I decided to opt out, I didn't feel like I owed anyone snacks. Anyway, we have to send the stuff ready to serve, so we bought lots of prepackaged snacks. I am tired of seeing the leftovers in the fridge so the chics are going to be taking some of it in their lunches.

Banana hot dog, Cheesestick, Fruit Leather, Baby Carrots

Blue Food

Warning: if the sight of unnaturally colored food makes you queasy, look away now!

Tomorrow is "blue day" at preschool. Gotta say, not the easiest color to achieve naturally. This lunch is more of a purpley blue combo, but it was as close as I could get. The only thing that I added color to was the cottage cheese. I thought it looked gross, but little chic thought it was awesome. Go figure!

Purple baby carrots, Cottage cheese(with a dot of blue icing color), Frozen blackberries, Blue jello.

"O" yeah!!

Sometimes I find myself struggling to come up with a new idea for the chic's lunches, and we all know that the little chic has seriously high expectations for her lunches this year. My lack of creativity and her demand for pizazz is a recipe for disaster. In the past, on a day where I'm just not feelin' it, I can tell big chic to buy her lunch in the dining hall. But, preschool has no dining hall to turn to in moments of weakness. Needless to say, I've been a little worried about disappointing her with the uninspired lunch. So imagine my delight when she comes home last week with a calendar listing all of the themes for the month. It's like the lunches can just plan themselves! WOOHOO! This week the theme is "O is for Ocean". She had already asked for this salad in her lunch so I decided to focus on the "O" rather than the "Ocean".

Spinach salad with apple O's and pistachiOs with pistachiO dressing, O sandwich with turkey and cheese, Carrot chips, Cherry fruit leather.

Big chic is buying her lunch tomorrow so little chic got to pick whichever containers she wanted to take and she chose the blue with the big container.

The salad is another Aarti Party recipe called The Ugly Duckling Salad. Little chic devoured it and asked if she could take it in her lunch this week. Aarti is my new favorite for finding new recipes. We've made almost all of her recipes so far, and we have loved every one of them. Nothing has even been mediocre, like "meh it was okay". It has all been so good, we are fighting over the little bits left in the bowl or pan. Seriously yummy! Tonight we are making her tumeric rubbed shrimp stuffed with cilantro and garlic with her apple lime peanut slaw and the whole family is excited about another Aarti menu!

Double Trouble

As I write this post today, my little chic is sitting in a preschool class...her FIRST preschool class...EVER! She was so excited about it this morning that she was literally telling me to leave. I think the exact words were, "Can I go color now? You can go ahead and leave." Although I am so glad that my little darlings are confident enough to meet new challenges head on, another part of me is kinda sad that my baby pretty much kicked me out of her class this morning. I have to say, though, that I was a tad excited too. I haven't had a day alone with no children, and no husband, and no appointments in years. So, I'm sitting here typing, listening to the sounds of the dishwasher and air conditioner instead of whining for snacks or the sweet sweet sounds of Nickelodeon (raise your hand if you wanna scream every time you hear a Big Time Rush song).

Because big sister's lunches were such a big deal last year, little chic has been thinking about her first day of school lunch for quite a while. When I originally asked her what she wanted in her lunch, she told me to make a Tinkerbell sandwich. I told her that might be a little hard and she said, "Nuh uh. Just make the sandwich shaped like Tinkerbell and her eyes can be blueberries and her dress can be lettuce leaves." Ooooookay... Maybe she should start making the lunches? I finally convinced her to go with something a little less time consuming and she decided to help me make them. While big chic goes more for the surprise aspect of the cool lunch, little chic wants to have a bit more control (and by control I mean BOSSY!) She told me every thing that would be in her lunch and how to make it (again, BOSSY!) Did I mention that she stood over me, umm, I mean helped, the entire time? Both chics took pretty much the same lunch today with a few variations..

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Big chic's...Lite turkey bologna butterfly sandwich, Peach flower filled with goat cheese and almonds, Sugar snap peas inside mini pepper rings, Cranberry white chocolate chip cookie and dried cranberries

Little chic's...Cranberry white chocolate chip cookie and dried cranberries, Celery sticks inside mini pepper rings, Peach star filled with goat cheese and almonds, Lite turkey bologna butterfly sandwich.

Beet and Orange Salad

This is the lunch that big chic was supposed to take earlier in the week (before the awesome Sloppy Bombay Joes). We've had our back and forth with beets. Big chic loves them, then hates them, then loves them again. One thing she always loves, though, is goat cheese. So, when I made beet and orange salad (with goat cheese) with our dinner last weekend, she loved beets again. She asked me to pack this salad for her lunch this week.

Beet and orange salad with orange vinaigrette, Plum, Carrots with red pepper heart

Sloppy Bombay Joes

We made a new recipe last night that was a huge hit with the family. It's an Indian twist on sloppy joes from Aarti Party, the new show on Food Network. The recipe (Sloppy Bombay Joes) sounds a bit odd (raisins, pistachios, garam masala) but the end result was phenomenal. Everyone devoured their dinner and both the big chic and the hubs asked me pack up leftovers for their lunch. We served ours on whole wheat sandwich rolls and topped them with sliced mango. DELISH!

Sloppy Bombay Joe with sliced mango on top of saffron rice, Half of a cowgirl cookie, Cucumber slices, Greek yogurt with strawberries.

1st grade, here we come!!

Today's the big day! YAY!!! And I'm not even going to try to pretend that I was a teary eyed mommy walking my sweet little angel in to the school this morning. No, no...I was the one that slowed down just long enough for the big chic to jump out and then peeled out of the school parking lot screaming, "WOOOOHOOOO!". I'm just kidding! I walked her in, took her picture, the whole thing, BUT I admit that as I drove out of the parking lot, I might have said, in a very soft yet excited voice, "woohoo!"

Let's be real, these last few weeks of summer have been a killer. The big chic and little chic are beyond tired of being together and could be a psychological study in mood swings. One minute they are hugging each other and playing nicely together, the next minute someones crayon "accidentally" marks on someone else's paper and the screaming, crying, and whining begins. Last year, at the end of summer, I was a sobbing crying mess because my first child was starting kindergarten. This year, at the end of summer, I was a sobbing crying mess because I couldn't take one more "I'm telling mommy!" or "Then I'm not playing!". I will miss the big chic while she's in school today, but I sure as heck am not going to miss the fighting!

Back to school means back to lunches. This year will be a bit different. I'm probably going to let her buy lunch a little more. The school is keeping the same lunch provider as last year so we know enough about the menu options now to let her eat there a little more. AND the little chic will be starting preschool next week, so I'll be making two lunches a couple times a week. We are sticking with the tried and true Laptop Lunchboxes, but we've added a few pieces to the collection to make my life a little easier. Another difference is that, this year, I'm not going to promise to post every single day. I have so much going on this year that I'm a little nervous about how it's all going to work out. But, the healthy lunch issue is important to me so I'm continuing on with the blog hoping that someone somewhere is getting some inspiration.

So, after all that, here's our first lunch of first grade...

Yogurt dip with cucumber and carrots, Clementine and blueberries, Cranberry white chocolate cookies, Peanut butter and jelly flower cut outs.

Baked Lemon Pasta

Yesterday, I came across a recipe that I had never seen before. I thought that I knew all of Pioneer Woman's recipes, but I was mistaken. I was trying to find a recipe that I could add a random 1/2 pound of sea scallops left in the freezer. Some sort of pasta seemed like a good option and I thought that Pioneer Woman had a scampi recipe. Well, it turns out that she didn't have a scampi recipe, but she did have a recipe for Baked Lemon Pasta. Lemon...scallops...pasta...sounded like a winner to me! I've gotten pretty fast at making homemade pasta so I made a batch of fettuccine to go with the sauce. Her recipe doesn't use scallops (or any other meat) but I thought it would be a good pairing. I seared the scallops and then quartered them but I didn't add them until I baked the pasta (I had a sneaking suspicion that the big chic would want to take it in her lunch and didn't want her to worry about having a stinky seafood lunch!) Although the recipe sounds a little weird (sour cream?), it was really good...kinda like a lemony fettuccine alfredo. It was so popular with the chics and the hubs that we only had about 1/2 cup leftover! Just enough for big chic's lunch...

Lemon pasta, Watermelon, Cookie, Caesar salad

We are currently overhauling the chics' playroom and went to Ikea this weekend to get some storage ideas. We always leave Ikea not with boxes of furniture, but with bags of food. These cookies are from our last visit. They're called Kakor Chokladflarn. They're like the Swedish version of a Peppridge Farm Brussels cookie. But better...much, MUCH better!

Big chic gets to buy her lunch for the rest of the week. Because I don't want to leave a balance in her lunch account over the summer, I figured out that she needs to buy lunch two times a week for the next three weeks to use up the balance on her lunch account. After looking at the lunch calendar, she chose Thursday and Friday of this week. So I'm off of lunch duty for the week! Everyone enjoy your weekend!

Greek Yogurt....mmm!

Greek yogurt is awesome! Even the hubs, who's normally not a lover of yogurt, likes Greek yogurt. (likes it - still doesn't love it, but we're working on him!) It's thicker, creamier, and a lot less tangy than your usual yogurts. I like to make my own yogurt but can never get it as thick (or even close) as Greek yogurt. I used to spend way too much money on it at a specialty store, until finally the wonderful and most awesome Costco started selling it in a huge container at a great price! LOVE that Costco! Big chic loves her Greek yogurt two ways - 1. with a drizzle of honey or agave nectar and walnuts 2. with strawberries and granola. Tomorrow she's getting variety #2.

Natural Peanut Butter with Celery Sticks, Bakerella's Congo Bar, Granola, Greek Yogurt with Strawberries.

Summer's getting closer!

This is the time of year when I love going grocery shopping! All the summer fruits and veggies are starting to show up in the stores and we start focusing on eating more salads and grilled proteins. (It also helps to know that we will be having to put swimsuits on at any moment!) You can pretty much buy any food any time of year now, but the quality is usually poor and the price is usually high. We are finally starting to see some of the "in season" fruits at "in season" prices. YAY!! Tomorrow's lunch is include the first of our REAL summer berries.




Bagel Thin with strawberry yogurt spread, strawberries and blackberries, Jicama and sliced cucumbers, Babybel cheese

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions on my Laptop Lunchbox carrier issue. A few hours after I posted my review, the wonderful people at Obentec contacted me and offered to replace my carrier. YAY! There are so many companies that don't stand behind their products once it's out of their hands and I'm glad to know that they AREN'T one of them! It's that kind of customer service that makes me stick with a company!

The Laptop Lunchbox - My almost end of the year review

There are only three weeks of school left. WOW! Really?? Where did this year go? It seems like such a short time ago I was preparing the big chic's first lunch for her first day. Now our schedule is full of all of the "end of_____" events - graduations, recitals, parties, etc... And while it seems to me that the time has gone so quickly, many of our school items are starting to show that they have indeed seen the inside of a school for the past 9 months. Chic's burgandy and navy uniforms are fading, white uniforms are stained beyond hope, the backpack is scuffed and dirty, and our Laptop Lunchbox carrier is on it's last legs. When I discovered the tear on the carrier, I remembered that when we bought the lunchbox, the hubs and I both wondered how durable it would be. I decided that I'd write a little "year in review" for anyone that is considering the purchase and wonders the same thing.

When we first bought the Laptop Lunchbox, our main concern was that the chic would lose it. I mean, let's be honest...they are not the cheapest lunchbox option out there. And the hubs is notoriously "thrifty" and was, therefore, very hesitant about spending that much money. But I stood firm that the chic would take care of it and that we would be saving money in the long run because we wouldn't be buying all those plastic baggies. I can be very convincing (or annoying depending on whose version of the story you hear) so we bought it.

Looking back over the year, I have been very pleased with our purchase. The containers have been dishwashered, microwaved, and refrigerated and the lids are still leak proof. The water bottle, which I had reservations about, has never leaked, and the container keeps everything amazingly cold even hours later.

There are a few unadvertised benefits of the Laptop Lunchbox as well. It really stands out. Big chic was the only one with that lunchbox in Kindergarten and the teachers were interested in it so naturally everyone is looking out for it and recognizes it as the chic's. And because it was so unique, she was really proud of it and took great care of it. She never lost it or forgot it in the dining hall and our only "incident" was a day when she forgot to put it in her backpack and left it in her locker. THAT I can live with. Now before you think my chic must be some unusually responsible kindergartner, let me assure you that she is just as forgetful as the rest. We've lost a uniform sweater and a fleece jacket this year as well as other assorted hair bows and headbands. But the Laptop Lunchbox? Never forgets it!

So this brings me to the only somewhat disappointing aspect of the lunchbox - the carrier. I have loved the carrier for it's thermal properties. With a thin ice pack in the pocket, the food stays very cool. The lunchbox is still cold when I open it up to clean it out after school. And it seemed very durable. I really expected to be replacing containers before the carrier, but when she came home last week, I discovered a tear in the seam of the bag.

Granted, she's carried the thing to school all year, but it's in her backpack until lunch. Then she carries it to the dining hall, eats lunch, and carries it back to her backpack. The thing is only out of her backpack or locker to actually eat lunch. I don't know...I just expected it to be a bit more durable. I mean, her $10 backpack has been thrown in the car, on the pavement, in her room, in a locker, in the gym, in a dance studio, and dragged on the ground while she complained that it was too heavy and other than a few scuffs and stains, it's still perfectly fine. A replacement carrier is $19 or so and we'll end up having to buy another before next year, but then I gotta justify the fact that we are again spending more than we normally would on a lunchbox. I'm hoping that our next carrier will last longer, that maybe this was just a fluke. We'll see. If not, I may end up having to find another way to carry her container. I'm just not sure how many years I can convince the hubs that we need to spend more money.

So, would I buy the Laptop Lunchbox again? Yes. Overall we have loved the Laptop Lunchbox. We've had an unending variety of food to send to lunch and she has really enjoyed her lunches this year. We'll be taking out lunches in the Laptop Lunchbox again next year. And her sister, who will be starting Pre-K has already requested one.

Here's her lunch from yesterday:

Tomatoes (to put on her wrap), Baby cucumber, BLT wrap, Strawberries, Fruit Leather

I didn't take a pic of today's lunch. She was supposed to have a field trip, but it was canceled, but she went ahead and took the field trip friendly lunch. Didn't take pics of it though cause it was just too boring!

Nothing special

Big chic has been buying lunch more lately. Honestly, the dining hall has had some pretty healthy meals. Last week, I stopped in to eat lunch with her and they had roast beef and broccoli. Not even pressed, prepacked roast beef. Like REAL roast beef slices. I was impressed. So, anyway, she IS taking lunch tomorrow and told me what she wanted. Nothing special, but here it is...

PB&J on homemade white whole wheat bread, Frozen blackberries, Granola bar, Frozen green beans

I made the white whole wheat bread from King Arthur's website in my awesome pullman pan. It came out a little disappointing, but it was still good. I have to admit, though, that I didn't have any potato flakes for the recipe, and I'm a little disturbed by the thought of potato flakes anyway. So I'll live with my bread the way it is!

Three Amigos

This lunch didn't start out being faces, but when I put the ham and cheese in the container, they were just begging for a face. I'm gonna tell the big chic that the ham and cheese people are she and her two besties (one's a boy and one's a girl). She'll love that!

Natural applesauce, Whole grain sandwich thin, Frozen green beans, Ham, turkey, and cheese amigos.

Mushroom Risotto...hold the mushrooms

Yesterday I was really hungry for risotto. I knew that I had a bunch of mushrooms in the fridge, so I was planning to make it with mushrooms. I normally prep everything before I even turn to range on, but I was in a hurry last night and decided to chop as I went. Well, by the time I got to the "slice mushrooms" part, I found that my mushrooms had gotten all slimy and gross. Since I was already mid-risotto, I had to wing it. I cooked up some chicken and a few slices of bacon, caramelized some onions, and chopped up some frozen grilled eggplant and voila! - smoky balsamic chicken and eggplant risotto. At least that's what I'm calling it and if the hubs asks, it was totally intentional and no I did not waste the $5 container of mushrooms that he told me I would forget about!

The chics call it "the cheesy rice". Whatever. Big chic was thrilled that it was in her thermos, I mean Lunch Jar, today. I didn't take a photo of the thermos, cause, really, it wasn't that exciting. But, here it is in a bowl ready to eat.

She took a slice of French bread, and some white grape juice with her Lunch Jar AND she's buying a yogurt from the dining hall.

Salad and Ricotta Stuffed Peppers

It seems like sometime around Winter Break the big chic's lunch turned away from the "cute" and towards the leftovers. Even when I try to send a decorated lunch, she ends up asking if she can take "some of this" while we're sitting at the dinner table. We are very lucky that she is able to heat things in the microwave in the dining hall. Otherwise, we'd probably be a lot more limited with the leftovers. Tonight's dinner was Italian salad with ricotta stuffed mini peppers.

Italian salad, red grapes, ricotta stuffed mini peppers

The mini peppers recipe came from my new Giada cookbook (it's also on Food Network) and the salad is the Olive Garden copycat salad dressing with banana peppers, Parmesan, and black olives. (Big chic LOVES banana peppers!)