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

"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..

.

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.

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!

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!

Field Trip #6

Another week and another field trip! This time I'm chaperoning and am bringing lunch for the beloved Kindergarten teacher as well, so I've got three lunches to prepare. Fortunately, they are all going to be the same.

We are having a picnic and tomato mozzarella sandwiches make great picnic food. They just get better the longer they sit. Okay, so eventually they would get moldy and gross, but an overnight rest makes them awesome!

Tomato mozzarella sandwich, Kettle bbq chips, Homemade granola bars, Green grapes

I try to make lunch for our teacher occasionally and you should too! When I was teaching, I felt so unappreciated about 90 percent of the time and small gestures from parents went a LONG way. As far as I'm concerned they could erect a statue of the beloved kindergarten teacher and throw a parade for her and it STILL wouldn't be enough. She's awesome!

Banana Hot Dog

I still haven't been to the grocery store and as I was complaining about our lack of food, the hubs opens the freezer and says, "do you even know what's in here?" I swear that I do, but I have to admit that between our three freezers, we have a lot of food. He swears that I come up with our best meals when I go into it without a plan, but I think he just wants me to clean out the freezers. Whatever the case, I agree to "be creative" and use the food we already have. Of course, this includes the chic's lunches. She is one tough customer, but I do love a challenge!

Little chic's banana hot dog

I know I'm probably not the first person to ever turn a banana into a hot dog, but I thought it was a pretty neat idea. I tested it on the little chic and she loved it! I left the banana whole so that it doesn't get brown and gross before tomorrow. The big chic can add it to the bun when she gets ready to eat.

Peanut butter and honey on a hot dog bun, Babybel cheese and green beans, Granola bar, Banana

Now...what can I make for dinner with frozen green beans, an Amish bread starter, and chipotle chilis...hmmm...this could be an interesting week!

Flowers and Granola

The rainbow lunch from yesterday was not such a big hit. The second that the chic got in the car she told me that she didn't like her lunch. She said that she doesn't like the veggies cut up so small. Apparently I'm supposed to make "fancy" lunches WITHOUT cutting the veggies too much. Lotsa rules involved with the whole lunch making process :)

SO, tomorrow, we get back to the types of lunches she loves...with lots of flowers and minimal cutting!

PB&J sandwiches with homemade blueberry jam, Cantaloupe flowers, Chocolate chip granola square, Cucumber and carrot cut outs

A few days ago, the chic asked me to make chocolate chip granola bars. It was perfect timing cause Smitten Kitchen has just posted a new granola bar recipe that looked awesome! I decided to try it and see how it compared to my usual recipe. The only change I made to the recipe was that I used agave nectar instead of honey or corn syrup. For my dried fruits and nuts, I used coconut, pecans, walnuts, flaxseeds, sesame seeds, dried cranberries, raisins, wheat germ, and, of course, chocolate chips. I doubled the recipe and baked them in a 9x13 pan. I had to bake them for a few minutes more...maybe 15 minutes.

These were hands down, the best granola bars I've ever made! Not too sweet, not too dry...just a bit sticky. The only drawback to them is that I've eaten a ton of them. I ended up freezing some cause I was afraid that I would completely finish them off. I'm going to make them again and plan out my fruit/nuts mix a little more. This time I just threw in a bunch of stuff I had on hand. You should definitely try the recipe!

The VERY postponed birthday lunch

It seems like it's been forever since I've made a lunch. In the past week, we've had a snow day, a half day, a hot lunch day, and a field trip day where lunch was provided. I've enjoyed my break, but now it's time to get back to the routine.

As I said in my last post, Friday was the chic's birthday and this is the lunch I had planned to make her that day. It may be a few days late, but I think she will still love it, cause really

she would celebrate her birthday for a month!

Six carrots with ranch dip, Strawberries, Six cucumber "6"s, Ham and cheese "6" sandwich on whole wheat

"That Sandwich I Like"

For some reason, when the family wants something "light", this is what we go with. This sandwich always impresses me because of it's simplicity...just a few ingredients for such an amazing flavor. The hubs and I call them "Tomato Mozzarella Sandwiches" but the oldest chic can never seem to remember that so she started calling them "That Sandwich I Like". She has called them that so many times that now I know exactly what she's talking about.

Because there are only a few ingredients, it is REALLY important to use the best ingredients. This is the time to bust out the special olive oil and the aged balsamic. They make a huge difference in flavor!

Tomato Mozzarella Sandwich, Chocolate fudge cupcake from The Cakery, Cheez-Its, Red pepper strips, Clementine.

Tomato Mozzarella Sandwiches

1 Vine Ripe Tomato (sliced thick)

2 thick slices buffalo mozzarella

2 slices Ciabatta

A few fresh basil leaves

Aged Balsamic Vinegar

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (La Espanola is our fave)

Salt and Pepper

Drizzle both slices of ciabatta with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and chiffonade the basil. Layer the sandwich...Mozzarella on bottom, then basil, tomatoes and then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top with second slice of ciabatta.

I think the sandwich is best when it's had a bit to sit and let all the flavors meld together. By the time the chic eats this for lunch tomorrow, it should be perfect!

Goldilocks and The Three Bears

I can't believe I only made three lunches last week! Between a "Bad Weather Day" and Chinese food in the dining hall, I ended up with a pretty short week of lunches. Talk about easing myself back from Winter Break!

The chic is getting back into the swing of things at school, though. Her class is learning about fairy tales and she has become particularly fond of "Goldilocks and The Three Bears". She has told us this story at the dinner table almost every night this week. And it's not the short version...it's the long, detailed, every last event retold in excrutiating...ahem...I mean, glorious detail. I have to admit, though, that she's a pretty darn good story teller...even the fifth retelling! Anyway, her lunch for tomorrow is based on this story.

Three Bears on ham and cheese flowers, Cucumber and cheese Goldilocks with Cucumber slices, Fruit Bites topped with Gummy Bears.

The bears were whole wheat bread, Carrot ears, Mozzarella and Nori eyes, Red pepper mouths (I guess you can call them mouths??) and Raisin noses. Momma bear has a Red pepper bow.

Goldilocks was made with cucumber, Red pepper smile, Nori eyes, Gouda cheese hair, and a Carrot bow. (I wish I would've had some yellow pepper for the hair!)

I must admit that this took me an hour and made a huge mess. I ain't gonna lie! I had this vision in my head when I started, but it didn't all come together exactly like I imagined it (or as quickly) but once I started it, there was no turning back!

Winter Break is OVER!

We are halfway through Kindergarten! I can't believe that in such a short time, dropping my precious child off at school every day has become the norm. Winter Break really DID feel like a break. And it really DID feel odd the first couple days when we slept in instead of jumping up to get ready for school. The first couple of days were blissful...the chics enjoyed playing together like they did before school started, I enjoyed having the big chic around all day, and we got to do things on our schedule and not the school's. BUT, after two weeks, the chics are arguing about everything, the oldest is whining about being bored, and I'm ready to get back to our "normal" lives. It's time to get the Spring semester started! With this "back to school" day in mind, the chic's lunch is a school theme.

Clementine with shape punches, Blackberry skewer, Red pepper shapes, School girl rice mold, PB&J chalkboard with cheese letters and chalk.

If you notice something different with our Laptop Lunchbox, you are correct! My friend Amanda at Lunchbox Limbo had some drama with her son's lunchbox and ended up with more lunchboxes than kids. She knew that I wanted the 2.0 and the large inner container and she offered her extra pieces to me! (Thanks Amanda!!!)

I've always wondered about the difference in height from the original and the 2.0. Amanda and I have tried to compare them, but inevitably, the day we think about comparing, one of the kids has their lunchboxes at school. We've never really been able to do a comparison. So, for those of you that wonder about the same thing, here is a photo of the difference in the original and the 2.0.



The 2.0 containers are just a tad too tall to fit in the original container, but the 2.0 container WILL fit in the original lunchbag. I'm excited about the possibilities that the bigger container gives me. I was worried that the big chic wouldn't want to take the blue container to school, but she actually asked me if she could use her "new blue lunch" for Monday.

Two for One

As you are all aware, the week before Winter Break is a crazy one, filled with concerts, parties, dinners, gift exchanges, etc...On top of this, our beloved dog is having some serious medical problems. All these things have kept me away from the computer and away from my blog. I finally had a bit of time today to sit down and update, so I've got two lunches to post.

First is tomorrow's lunch... I have to make sugar cookies for the chic's class to decorate and looked everywhere for a huge snowflake cookie cutter. I couldn't find one. I've been complaining about it at the little chic's dance class and yesterday one of the mom's (Hi Jill!) comes walking in the dance studio with a gorgeous gigantic snowflake cookie cutter. I couldn't resist using it to make something for lunch with it, but the thing is too big for anything but a tortilla. I know I posted a quesadilla last week, but I HAD to use the cookie cutter while it's on loan!

Snowflake quesadilla on dried cranberries (the little heart is a Junior Mint), Cucumber holly leaves and bell pepper holly berries, Triscuits

The second lunch was Monday's lunch and it was a disappointment. This was supposed to be more like a reindeer (ya know those cute reindeer cookies you make with pretzels?), but it ended up looking more like a bear. Plus, I really wish I had the Laptop Lunchbox 2.0 cause it's got the bigger container option. The original Laptop Lunchbox doesn't have a larger container so sometimes I feel like I'm squishing my stuff in there (thus the funky bear ears...I mean reindeer antlers).

PB&J Reindeer/Bear, Reindeer food, Carrots, Cheese stick, Fruit Leather, Rice Krispie Angel

The Retro Lunch

For some reason, the chic has been really interested in what my life was like when I was her age. I thought it would be fun to send her with a "retro" lunch to show her what I ate for lunch when I was at school. I had to go to the store anyway, so I was able to pick up the ingredients for tomorrow's lunch.

Kettle BBQ Potato Chips, Strawberry Shortcake rolls, Celery filled with peanut butter, Ham and cheese sandwich

I loved the Little Debbie Strawberry Shortcake rolls when I was little, and found some that were from the bakery instead of Little Debbie. Honestly, though, they tasted the same as the Little Debbie ones that I remember and the Little Debbies are way way cheaper.

Potato chips are a particular problem at my house. The hubs loves them, saying that he needs something "crunchy" with his lunches or snacks or whatever. And after fighting this habit for years and years, I finally realized that I wasn't going to change his habit. So, I will buy chips, but we try to find healthier varieties...flaxseed, baked, whole grain, whatever. The only concession I make to the healthier chip rule is for these bbq chips. I'm not normally a potato chip eater OR a bbq person, but these chips are TO DIE FOR. I have been known to hide in the kitchen eating them so no one will ask for any. Fortunately, they come in a small-ish bag and are on the expensive side for chips, so we only buy them occasionally.

You might notice that my picture quality is a bit better today. THAT'S CAUSE I FINALLY GOT A NEW CAMERA!!! I have been begging, seriously begging, in the anticipation of Christmas. The hubs has been acting nonchalant about it so I thought it was a lost cause. BUT yesterday while we were out Christmas shopping, he dragged me to a few camera stores to look at them. At first, I just thought it was cruel and unusual punishment. I'm NOT a window shopper. It's torture to look at stuff that I want but can't buy. But, I found out that he had been looking at them all along and wanted me to play with them and talk to some people before deciding on one. And as much as I hate to admit it, he was right. I was so so sure about which one I wanted, but completely changed my mind once I was able to shop and do some more research. Apparently, the food blog is a common use cause the camera I got has a "food" setting on it! In the end, he bought me a nicer camera than I was expecting and an awesome zoom lens for my "posting stuff". Now I have to figure out how to use it all! I guess my lesson for the weekend is that I shoulda just trusted that he would come through in the end. (Just don't tell him that!)

Croque Monsieur

Weekend lunches are particularly difficult meals for us. We are usually running around here and there and and we seem to end up at a restaurant for lunch. This drives me crazy. As much as I love to eat out, I find it frustrating that we have all of this perfectly good food at home but my family is too spoiled to eat "just a sandwich" for lunch. The only way I can convince my family to eat lunch at home on the weekends is to make something they love. This weekend, it was Croque Monsieur sandwiches. You never know whether the big chic will eat a whole sandwich or a half, so I always make extra. She ended up eating a half, so the remaining sandwich is her lunch for tomorrow.

Croque Monsieur sandwich, Wallaby Organic Yogurt, Roasted beets, Tomato slices, Radish, Vanilla Almond Granola, Cucumber slices

The beets are experimental. A year or so ago, I made beets and the chic hated them. It's the only food I've ever heard her declare to "hate". I love beets, though, and last night as I was getting ready to stick some in the oven, the chic walks in. She asks what they were. Knowing that if I told her they were beets she would never have tried them again, I lied and said that they were red potatoes. She tried one and she loved it! She kept grabbing them off of the baking sheet and ended up eating a handful before I could get them in the oven. I'm hoping that maybe she's changed her mind. So, the leftover beets are going in her lunch just to see what happens. She may bring them home untouched, but she might not!

Croque Monsieurs are soooo good! Basically they're just a ham and cheese with the addition of a cheese sauce. When La Madeline restaurants became popular years ago, it was the hubs favorite thing on the menu. I decided then that I'd better learn to make them. It's hard to vary on them much. We've made turkey versions also but the rest of it always remains the same. Here's how I make them:

Croque Monsieur Sandwiches
Makes 4

8 slices of whole wheat bread, lightly toasted

8 slices of Swiss or Gruyere cheese

8 slices of ham

Dijon mustard to taste

2 Tbsp butter

2Tbsp flour

1 1/2 c Milk

1/4 cup Shredded Parmesan

1/2 cup Shredded Swiss or Gruyere, divided

pinch freshly grated nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in saucepan and stir in flour until smooth. Slowly add milk and continue stirring until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in nutmeg, salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese, and 1/4 cup Swiss. Stir until cheese is melted.

Spread Dijon mustard on four slices of toast. Place mustard side up on a baking sheet and top with two slices of ham and a slice of cheese per sandwich. Spread thin layer of cheese sauce on the remaining toast slices. Place them cheese sauce side down on the sandwiches. Ladle remaining cheese sauce on the top of the sandwiches. It will be a pretty thick layer of sauce. I usually let it cool a bit to make it thicker so it doesn't run off the sandwiches. Sprinkle the remaining Swiss cheese on the top. Bake 400 degrees until brown and bubbly on top.

The More Girly Lunch

By now, I've gotten used to the routine of making lunches. Maybe a little too used to it! Yesterday I started making the chic's lunch and got about halfway finished before it dawned on me that today was an early release day and she would not be taking a lunch. Oh well...that's what three year olds are for. The little chic ate what I didn't want to keep and I saved the rest.

If you read my blog regularly, you know that my big chic hasn't been too crazy about all the freaky scary Halloween stuff so tomorrow's lunch will be more girly.

Celery and carrots, Stroopwaffel cookie, Swiss and cheddar flowers, Pretzel sticks with honey mustard dip, Raspberry "beehives" with nori bees, Swiss and cheddar cheese flowers, Yellow cherry tomatoes with carrot hearts

The butterfly sandwich was turkey (she loves turkey), swiss, and sprouts. It was probably a good thing that I made the sandwich early because I used Susan Yuen's stencil idea with food color spray on the butterfly bread. She always has really creative ways to handle lunches. Her bentos are always beautiful and fun at the same time. Anyway, I had some purple color spray leftover from a birthday cake, so that's what I went with. The extra time let the color dry completely on the bread. I will have to play around with the color spray a little more. I think the purple was a bit dark for bread but it seems that there are lots of possibilities with other colors.

While I was taking pics of the lunch, the chic walked in and saw it. She clutched her heart and said, "Oh my gosh! It's so cute I could marry somebody." I think that means she liked it??

How We Handle Halloween Candy and a Star Lunch...

Halloween - there's candy everywhere! Grocery stores, restaurants, even at the doctor's office! And although I'd like to think that I could keep my kids (and myself) away from all the candy, it's just not realistic. We live in a great neighborhood for trick-or-treating. It reminds me of Halloween when I was little and kids were everywhere, people sat out on their porches, and it was relatively safe. But, there are pros and cons to living in a Halloween friendly neighborhood. The pros - everyone passes out candy and the girls LOVE trick-or-treating. The cons - everyone passes out candy and the girls LOVE trick-or-treating. We do something, a little bit different, though, that allows the kids to trick-or-treat and makes me feel better about the candy - The Pumpkin Fairy.

Here's how our Pumpkin Fairy works...when we get home from trick-or-treating, we dump out all of the candy on the table. The chics are able to keep any toys, stickers, and Play-doh, but the candy they must sort through. They are allowed to choose a certain amount of candy depending on their age. This year we said twenty pieces but after all the negotiation and grandparent persuasion, it was more like thirty. Then, they put the remaining candy in a bag and leave it out on the table (I weighed it this year - it was over 5 lbs!). While they are sleeping, the Pumpkin Fairy comes and takes the candy and replaces it with a toy. We usually don't spend a ton on the toy. This year it was Tinkerbell and High School Musical make-up sets.

The girls love it and don't have a problem giving up their candy at all. We've done it from the very first Halloween so now they just expect it. We told them that the Halloween Fairy must be invited to visit your house and that not everyone asks her to come. This was really just a way to explain that their friends would probably have no idea what a Pumpkin Fairy was. Honestly, I have no idea where this idea came from. Maybe I read about it in a magazine or on a website somewhere...I really don't remember. But, it's worked really well for us and thought I'd share. If your family does something like this, I would LOVE to hear about it. I've never met anyone else that does a fairy for Halloween, but I know we can't be the only ones.

So after all the Halloween festivities, I decided to clean out the Halloween bento supplies and the chic walks in and asks if I would make her a "star" lunch for Monday. She wasn't crazy about all the Halloween stuff, so I think she's ready to go back to the "pretty" lunches. What can I say? She's a girly girl!

Almond butter and raspberry jam star sandwiches, Carrot star cutouts, Havarti and cheddar star, Banana with red pepper stars

Sand"witch"

Well, I've waited and waited to do some Halloween lunches, and the week is finally here. I'm starting off slowly with a Sand"witch".

Watermelon cubes, Cottage cheese and blueberries, Hummus and carrots, Sand"witch", Martha's pumpkin cupcake with cream cheese frosting.

Sand"witch" is sandwich topped with ham. She has a nori hat and eye, Cucumber hair, carrot mouth, and sugar snap pea mole on her chin.

The cupcake is going to school in this cool little cupcake holder that I found at Williams-Sonoma this summer. The little spikes grip the cupcake so that the frosting remains in tact. Love it!

I get asked all the time how I get the chic's lunches to stay in place. After all Kindergartners are not exactly gentle with their lunchboxes. The answer - Press N Seal. I LOVE this stuff! The Laptop Lunchbox's outer container does a great job keeping the food in it's container, but when I make something like the witch sandwich or the apple tree from last week, I have to do something extra to make sure everything stays where I placed it. Here's what I do:

Tear off a piece of Press N Seal and place it directly on the food. Press the food down slightly while running your finger around the outer edge of the food to kinda shrink wrap it in there. The container had to be clean and dry in order for the Press N Seal to stick. (pardon the Zebra nails - Halloween party)

Continue pressing the Press N Seal to the container until it's completely covered. Here's what it looks like when it's finished:

The method is the same when I do something like the Quinoa Garden. I just attach the Press N Seal to the sides of the container instead of the bottom while pressing in on the quinoa. Next time I do one of those, I'll take pics! I hope this makes sense and helps those of you wondering how to get the stuff to stay in place!

Apple Orchard

I am so glad to be feeling better today and the chic seemed pleased with her lunch even though it wasn't tricked out with cuteness. She knew I wasn't feeling well, so I think she's giving me a sympathy pass. And she ate all of it except a few veggies. Guess we're sticking with the super-size! Tomorrow, she has a field trip to an apple orchard, so I did an apple theme. They are also learning about bees so I used honey in her peanut butter roll-up. They are coming back to the school for a picnic lunch so she's able to take her usual lunchbox. YAY!

Apple Tree, Cheese Flowers, Freeze dried Apples, "Apples" made from cherry tomatoes with cucumber stems, Pirate's Booty

For the apple tree:

Leaves - Mini cucumber cut into coins

Apples - Red bell pepper cut into dots

Grass - Cucumber peel

Trunk - Peanut butter and honey roll-up on a Sandwich Thin

Basket - Sandwich Thin


I found a new fruit snack option this weekend at Costco and wanted to share. We are always on the lookout for fruit snacks cause ya know the kids love them but it's hard to find ones that are made with only fruit (or with any fruit at all for that matter!). Stretch Island Fruit Co Fruit Leathers are our usual favorite, but it's hit or miss whether Costco will have them. I can get them at some of the stores around here, but they are much cheaper when I can get them at Costco. Anyway, we found these Fruit Source Mini Bites and decided to give them a try. They are made with ONLY fruit and are shaped like little square fruit snacks (see yesterday's lunch photo). The girls loved them and 14 pieces are equal to two servings of fruit! WOW! The fruit leathers are only equal to about half a serving. I haven't seen them anywhere else yet so I hope Costco keeps carrying them!

The Ultimate Chocolate Brownie (and a lunch, too!)

First the lunch, then the brownies...

Snail Sandwich Roll-ups, Babybel Cheese, Baby Carrots, Ultimate Chocolate Brownie, Apple chunks topped with Feed Coconut Cranberry Granola

Snail Roll Ups are just sandwich rolls (in this case goat cheese, red bell pepper, and spinach) stuck onto a pickle spear. I used green toothpicks for the antennae. The chic walked in while I was making them and said, "awwww, how cute" before she said, "Oh, I'm not supposed to see it" and ran out. They ARE cuter in person than in the picture.

Now for the brownies...

Brownies are my weakness. I cannot resist that slightly crunchy crust atop a chewy fudgy center. Mmmmm! I saw a brownie recipe a long while ago that caught my attention just by the mere outrageousness of it. I swore that the next time I was having a serious chocolate craving, I would make them. Time passed and I forgot about the recipe...until last week when I was cleaning up my Internet bookmarks and it came up. I'm supposed to be on a diet which just makes my sweet tooth go into overdrive. I decided that I just had to try them before I forgot about them again.

I have to admit that occasionally I make things that I'm just embarrassed about because they are so blatantly unhealthy. These brownies are one of those things! The hubs came home and asked what kind of brownies they were and I said, "Just eat one and then I'll tell you". Well, around our house you can never tell exactly what that means. I've made the brownies with spinach puree, applesauce, peppermint candies, whole wheat pastry flour, etc...so he was a little apprehensive. He finally made me admit what was in them before he would try one and I had to confess...TWO GIANT MOVIE SIZED SYMPHONY BARS. That's right, movie sized. Symphony bars are those chocolate bars with toffee pieces and nuts. Kinda like a poor man's version of a Toberlone (my other weakness).

So you mix up a box of brownie mix and put it in the pan. Lay the two GIANT sized candy bars on top and then mix up another box of brownie mix. Pour it over the top and bake. I seriously read the directions about ten times cause I was absolutely sure that there was no way THAT much chocolate was supposed to be used. But it was...and ya know what? It was fabulous! You're supposed to wait to cut them till they're cool, but I thought that the hot brownie with the melted chocolate center was just about the most heavenly thing ever. The hubs and I decided that they were so so wrong, yet so so right!

Supposedly you can make them with any GIANT sized candy bars, so I'm thinking Carmello's are next! AFTER my diet!