Week Three

So, not only did I not manage to do a daily blog, but this one's late.

Really late.

We got hit with the back-to-school plague. It seems to hit families everywhere just as they settle in to the second week of school and knock down family members one by one. It is the reason there are only four lunches. We have already racked up an absence!

Day 8: Leftover pizza{ previously frozen ;-) }, cucumbers, carrots, cherry halves and a raccoon in this lunch.

Snacks: Yogurt smoothie, mini muffins and a cereal bar

Day 9: Mini bagel with cream cheese, cheese cubes and cheese crackers. A small piece of white chocolate and a pink elephant round out the bottom. The top contains black grapes, kiwi and tiny tomatoes.

Snacks: Yogurt in the morning, full size muffin in the afternoon.

This little beauty is my latest masterpiece. I take an almost empty Nutella jar, add 1 cup of hot milk and shake it up. It doesn't seal very well and sprays, but it's totally worth it. I then use that milk in my regular muffin recipe. This version had white and dark chocolate chips. Usually when the kiddo gets a muffin or two they are whole wheat banana or pumpkin or something else relatively good for you. Not this week. mmmmmm.

Day 10: Tie dyed hard boiled egg heart, banana bread, cantaloupe and cherries. Very small pig. Not shown is a container of cheddar popcorn.

Snacks: Smoothie with granola bites, fruit strip and dry cereal.

Day 11: Cantaloupe and cherries, cheese snack mix, birdie and an "A" sugar cookie. Not shown: Big fresh bagel with cream cheese brought home by Daddy for a special lunch.

Snacks: Mini muffins and a fruit strip. Shelf stable ( I got curious) yogurt for the afternoon.

So, the photos are a little less boring this time. I'll warn you, I'm slipping again. . . so far though I have not forgotten to take one. Hopefully I will keep that pattern at least. Starting monday the little lady started getting milk at school with her morning snack. She's happy because she can get chocolate and have the same as her friends. I'm happy because I don't have to worry about a protein drop that causes her attention to bottom out. Also happy because it's one less thing to keep cold. Added bonus, it's only 35 cents a day. Saving money is always a good thing.

Week Two

So we have survived week two, and four more lunches! I'm pretty impressed with the success so far. It is getting easier. I'm actually able to put a little thought towards the pictures the last couple of days. I haven't made any real improvements, but at least I thought about it! Next week I will attempt to go beyond a ten second photo shoot before I stuff everything into the backpack.

Day 4: Tomatoes from Grandma's garden and cherry halves in the top section. Mini bagel with cream cheese, trail mix and a cookie in the bottom. Friend: a panda that she has treasured for years.

Snacks: Smoothie and granola bar bites, cinnamon buttered bread and a fruit strip. Diluted juice for the drink.

Day 5: Heart shaped hard boiled egg and whole wheat pancakes with rainbow sprinkles in the bottom. Cantaloupe and grapes in the lid, which I noticed only after I tried to put everything together. Had to rearrange in a hurry.

Cheer Bear was today's friend. (Apparently her friends are starting to notice the lunch box visitors. They thought the bear was edible and all passed it around.)

Dip container has applesauce mixed with maple syrup and cinnamon, aka Maple-Apple-Dippers, our solution to the constant wanting of more syrup. It was MAD good idea, they end up with less syrup, but they don't know that!

Snacks: Yogurt for the morning, mini muffins and a fruit strip for the afternoon. Diluted juice. At least she gets a variety of juices.

Day 6: Pumpkin and cranberry-lemon mini muffins, more tomatoes, cheddar hearts and mozzarella circles. Fruit salad in the top. Yogurt smoothie (snack drink) and a fancy pants spoon. Look closely for the little otter hiding behind a tomato.

Not shown is the little container of carefully arranged crackers. It was cute, I took a picture, picture has vanished. Oh well.

Snacks: Smoothie, above, with granola bar bites for morning. Cereal bar for the afternoon. Juice, diluted, for the drink, again.

A little extra fun:

The finished product!

The red bag holds the morning snack and an ice pack made from corn syrup and water and two balloons. Under the cereal bar, the missing crackers! Proof of their existence, but not of their cool pattern. Notice the baby monitor appears in two of this day's photos. I really must try to put in some effort.

Day 7: Grilled cheese on whole wheat hearts, pretzel bites and a maple frosted cookie in the bottom. Cherry and grape halves, cucumber and carrot flowers. A black and white bunny went for a ride today.

Snacks: Smoothie and granola bar bites, mini muffins and a fruit cup. Today she took lemonade for a change.

Another week bites the dust and I am so happy it's over! I miss the lazy, crazy, hazy days of summer already! So next weeks goal is better pictures and maybe, just maybe, individual day posts.

Week One

It's becoming very clear that I don't have time for pretty lunches that won't be a crazy mess by the time she gets to them. So, I am aiming for tasty, easy to eat and somewhat stable. So far so good.

Day One: cherry halves, carrot sticks with ranch dip, flower shaped hard boiled egg, cream cheese pinwheels on whole wheat, carrot flowers and a cookie. I included a little plastic horse "friend" and an "I love you" note.

Snacks: mini muffins, fruit strip, cheese stick and crackers. Watered down juice to drink.

Day Two: Two Nutella and whole wheat ducky sandwiches, two small cups of cheese cubes, red bell pepper hearts and peanut free trail mix. Not pictured is a small cup of cinnamon applesauce and the little Hello Kitty friend.

Snacks: smoothie and granola bar cubes, mini muffins and grapes. Watered down juice.

Day Three: Nutella on whole wheat Hello Kitty (made one handed while holding a cranky baby), Honey Nut Cheerios, trail mix, red pepper squares, sliced apple from our tree. Friend of the day: cow

Snacks: yogurt and buttered bread with a fruit strip. Usual watered down juice.

Not bad for a last minute change. There was a cookout at school and I didn't know if she even needed a lunch, so I went for non perishable- ish. Sorry for the sideways view!

So far the only stuff to make it back home is a few pieces of pepper, two carrot sticks, the "icky" golden raisins from the trail mix and a little juice. Not bad at all!!!

Lunch at home

Peanut butter and jelly on whole wheat butterfly. Black grapes, carrots and celery. Chocolate (barely) milk not shown.

So, seeing as this is a lunch blog and I'm not packing the lunches yet, I figured I'd include one of our typical lunches around here. I don't do the fancy stuff every day, maybe 50/50. This was from earlier this week.

This day way a major victory. All that was left was a single 1" section of celery! Out of two identical plates, served to two non celery fans, 90 % ish gone! I was very excited. That old rule of offering it over and over, actually does work. Had I just given them sticks and not flower stems though, I'm betting it would have gone untouched.

The Sun, the Stars and the Moon

The Sun:

My oldest. The brightest light my world has ever seen. She is pure sunshine. Pure joy. Purely sweet. She has an innocence to her, a gentle soul. My big girl. My school girl. Tall with a waterfall of blond hair and deep hazel eyes. I am dreading losing so much time with her this fall.

The Stars:

My passionate middle child with whom there is no middle ground. This little lady doesn't do anything half way. You are her greatest friend or her worst enemy. She is strong, determined and brave. She gives the tightest hugs I have ever had. They make your heart pound and your eyes close. Wonderful. She has the most amazing will power I've ever seen. She keeps me on my toes.

The Moon:

My boy. Mr. Baby. He brings happiness and a sense of completeness to our crazy chaos. He is the one in the center of it all, soaking up the love and kisses. He is smiles and laughter. Sweet snuggles. Squeals of glee. I can not wait to hear what he has to say, but I do not want him to get any bigger, ever.

The new tools

My brand new collection of bento stuff. It's all so shiny and fun still. I hope it stays that way. I must admit that I'm a little bit addicted to the "stuff". Already planning on expanding the collection, a lot. I think I'll get into it first and see what I actually need.

I won't include pictures of my cookie cutters. That would take way too long.

The kids are really excited about their new boxes.

That's a standard 12" ruler there, lined up very poorly, to show just how small they are. The blue one is mine. The top two are for the girls. The froggy (baby boy's) will probably only house puffs and finger foods for awhile.

And of course I should show what's inside those neat little boxes:

That's a lot of pieces to keep track of! I might do an official count, just to see what survives the whole year.

Prep Work

Here we go.

Another school year approaches. Only about 18 more to go. Yay.

So, in order to make the idea of up 8200 packed lunches looming in my future more bearable, I looked for something to make it fun. Enter the bento box. A small plastic container with deceptive qualities. It is the clown car of lunch boxes. It can hold more than my kid can eat. That's a good thing. There's room for an ice pack or two.

I have been collecting various things to start this adventure where I weave fancy, tiny, filling, healthy lunches into my already crazy day. I'll add this to my plate, make it pretty and hopefully keep my sanity.

Maybe my culinary skills will improve. Hopefully my photography skills will improve. Probably just my ability to amuse short people (with food they'd rather trade for a pudding cup) will improve.

We shall see. . .