Lunches, lunches

Lunch 69

Lunch: cream cheese and jelly pinwheels on whole wheat. Chocolate orange section. Apple half, prunes and black olives. 

Drinks: Juice and chocolate milk.

Friend: bear with a fish in it's mouth.

Wild Wednesday

Today was different. Today I was required to pack and send a non bento lunch. I have never done that before and I was completely lost for a moment. 

My daughter had a field trip and needed a lunch that was disposable. Nothing to carry around after they finished eating. A day of no containers! I was stumped by this until some caffeine hit my brain. 

Sandwich baggies! Duh. Non perishable stuff due to the lack of ice pack. Minimal food so that there was less anguish over tossed snacks. Easy, quick and mess free foods that I'll pack in. . . uhhhh. . . hmmmm. Brown paper lunch bags are not usually something we keep on hand. A paper gift bag! No, kiddo would never throw that out 'cause they're too pretty. A grocery bag? No, too flimsy. . .

I finally settled on a reusable little fabric bag, had the kiddo practice folding it and stuff it in her jacket pocket. She was happy, so I was happy. 

I made the lunch and sent her on her merry way. No picture. My brain was fried from all the extra thinking I did! Oh well, it was just a jumble of shiny plastic bags anyway.

Lunch: Nutella on whole wheat cowgirl boot (girl still needs a little style). Green grapes, carrot sticks, two mini pumpkin muffins, small chocolate chip cookie and a mini Clif bar.

For some reason I decided recently that cornrows were the thing to do that day. I have never been good at those tiny braids. How do people do that? I have tried. My fingers feel like I imagine anyone's would feel at a teeny tiny tea party. Too big. So I settled for this. It's kind of cute. By far the smallest french braids I have ever done in rows. Too big to be official cornrows?

Ignore the clutter that is life, which continues and intensifies when I concentrate on anything other than whether or not the baby is throwing toys and other random things. In this case there were many great gifts presented to her majesty as she was having her hair done. 

Combo Post ~ Three Lunches

Lunch 65

Lunch: Pumpkin pancakes and cantaloupe. Small bottle of maple syrup. Cheese stick. 

Snacks: Granola bar, mixed dry cereal.

Drinks: Juice from home, chocolate milk from school

This particular breakfast for lunch was an attempt to get this kid to eat some food! She has been bringing home more than she eats. I even precut the pancakes to make it really easy. It worked! Almost all the food was gone. Two chunks of melon and 1/3 of the cheese stick were all that was left after school. 

Lunch 66

Lunch: Whole wheat and cream cheese hearts. Two prunes. Apple, grapes and carrot sticks.

Snacks: Pumpkin muffin, granola bar

Drinks: Iced tea and chocolate milk

Lunch at Home. . .

Grilled cheese strips, kiwi and cucumber slices. Green pepper and green grapes. Star fruit slices. Ketchup in the center of one plate.

It never fails to amaze me, when the food is put in a pattern, it vanishes much faster. It doesn't need to be cute. It just needs to be interesting.

Lucky Stars

Lunch 64

Lunch: Cucumber and green pepper stars. Small bottle of ranch dressing tucked behind them. Ham, cheddar and lettuce roll ups. Kiwi stars, green grapes and star fruit. 

Snacks: Banana and granola bar.

Drinks: Juice box and chocolate milk.

Friend: Sea turtle.

The "lucky" color around here is green. So when the bento challenge this week was green, lucky stars were my first thought. My daughter said it looked like a leprechaun's lunch! 

Very cool thing about this lunch, she had never tried star fruit before. She LOVES it. She's begging me to buy more. Love it when that happens.

Thursday. . . thursday

Lunch 63

Lunch: Cowgirl nutella sandwiches on whole wheat. Tiny fairy toy peeking out. Ranch crackers, cheese stick and almonds. Pear fruit cup.

Snacks: Granola bar and a banana.

Drinks: Juice box and chocolate milk from school.

An entirely veggie free lunch due to a fresh veggie free fridge. Had to restock! I could have given her some frozen corn, but I didn't think about it until it was too late.

So thursdays have been kinda dull. I've been kinda dull lately. Next thursday WILL have something creative. 

Since it's been so cold, I thought I'd share a pic of last night dinner!

Home made split pea soup with ham, carrots and potatoes. My favorite! Served it up with toasted and buttered mini bagels. The girls were strongly opposed to the color, but this time (the very first time ever) they ate it! We challenged them to eat with their eyes closed. A bit messy, but it got the job done! Baby boy devoured his. He is not opposed to much in the food department. He's very anti pear, somewhat anti chocolate, but that's all I can think of. Well, whole peas are more fun to smash than eat, but I don't think he really dislikes them.

Two for Tuesday

So, the holiday messed up my schedule a little, so I'll do a regular lunch and something that makes my life easier. Still two posts! Plus I haven't made a grand home lunch, unless you count cookie cutter sandwiches. We've been snacking instead of eating meals for the last couple of days. Everyone is in a funk and hungry at different times. So. . . without further ado:

Lunch 62

 Lunch: Provolone and turkey roll ups, red grapes, pretzels, apple, two prunes and two spice drop candies.

Snacks: Granola bar, cheese stick and oatmeal squares dry cereal.

Drinks: Chocolate milk from school and lemonade from home.

Now, the good stuff!

Meet Charlie! 

He's my laundry buddy! 

Seriously though, I love this stuff. First and foremost, it usually costs me $12 for this size. That's right folks, $12 for 80 loads of laundry. 80 loads of HE laundry. But wait, there's more, Charlie's does not require fabric softener. In fact it's preferred that you don't use any.

Oh, the savings. 

It is scent free, dye free, fuss free, cloth diaper friendly, good stuff. 

No more sneezing. No more itching. No more worry about whether it'll bother the wee one's skin. 

It won't. 

I use it for everything, even hand washing those dance clothes. Our clothes smell clean, not perfume-y. They are soft and they seem to be lasting longer. The towels soak up more water. Did I mention no more sneezing?

I am in love. It makes my life easier. It's cheap and I trust it.

I do keep a bottle or two of stain remover on hand though, because no soap is a good match for three kids on spaghetti night!

Fancy Friday

Lunch 60

Lunch: Teddy bear grilled cheese on whole wheat bread with raisin eyes, craisin mouth and cherry "puff" buttons donated by the baby brother. Kid sized granola bar. Chocolate chip cookie cut into wedges, raisins, carrot sticks and a little piggy bottle of ranch dressing.

Snacks: A banana and cheddar popcorn.

Drinks: Juice box, mini bottle of water and chocolate milk from school.

So, while cute, this one was done in a hurry. There is a magical time warp in my house. It goes from 6:20 am to 6:50 in barely a blink of the eye almost everyday. During that time I can be found staring at nothing and randomly demanding my kid actually eat the untouched breakfast that has been sitting in front of her for 20 minutes. Maybe we are all actually still asleep at that point. Being awake is only an illusion.