Just a little note about the cafeteria lunches. . .

Our school seems to do a great job of keeping the kids well fed on a variety of fairly healthy foods. We are very far from perfect, diet wise, but we do try hard to provide the best food possible to our kids. I am not opposed to buying the school lunch at all. It just isn't a great fit for us most days. We do go over the menu and notice when something sounds especially appetizing and let our daughter choose whether or not she wants it.

She has eaten school lunch twice. Once because she really wanted what they were offering ( home made mac n cheese with cornbread, both favorites) and the other time was because I woke up too late to make her lunch. I woke up too late to even get her to school on time. School lunch saved the day! The possibility of her trying things she normally wouldn't is also there. If she sees her friends eating it, she's more likely to try it too.

I don't think that my girl is ready to take on lunch choices full time yet though. She came home the other day disappointed that she had said no to the salad, only to realize later that it was her favorite kind. The other issues are time and consumption. They have so little time to eat, I want her to be able to get right down to business. She's pokey, so every minute counts. I also get to see her leftovers come home daily. I know how much she ate. If she is wild and cranky after school, a quick peek in the lunch box can tell me a lot!

I will continue to keep her school account filled with enough money to buy milk every morning and a few lunches here and there, but probably will be making the majority of the lunches for a few more years at least!

Lunch 35

Rather Blah

Lunch: Strawberry jelly on whole wheat cowgirl boot sandwiches. Prunes and craisins. Apple, cheese cubes and a Hersey's Kiss. A pony to make her smile.

Snacks: Banana and container of dry cereal.

So the little lady has been very tired and a little grumpy lately. She wants the easy, comforting familiarity of her favorite foods. So, I'm giving them to her. I'd rather she eat and kick whatever is dragging her down rather than spend lunch staring blankly at food she doesn't want. I hope her sense of adventure returns soon or this food blog and her diet will be pretty boring!

Lunch 34

Ideas, ideas. . .

Lunch: Home made cinnamon swirl bread. Mini pumpkin muffins. Little doggy. Cucumber and carrots. Cheese. Chocolate cake just for fun. Grapes.

Snacks: Banana and a granola bar.

I am always coming up with great ideas for lunch, at midnight. Then by the time I get to the store, I have forgotten my great idea. . . until midnight again. I need to resurrect the lunch board and start filling it out early. It has sort of faded into the background of my to do lists.

Lunch 33

Triple Play

Lunch(es!): Half an apple for the big kids and cut up grapes. Hard boiled egg. Pumpkin muffins. The friends were a small puppy for the little lady and a cougar for the big girl.

Snacks: Cheese sticks (and cubes for the baby). Peanut free trail mix. Pretzels and goldfish crackers for everyone.

This was a crazy morning! We all had to be ready, out the door and prepped to be gone for hours by 7:20. That meant food ready for all three kids. It's nice to know that I can actually pull it off, but I'm glad I don't have to do that again for a long time!

My hat's off to all the parents out there that do this every day!

Lunch 32

I love pancake days!

Lunch: Heart shaped, tie dyed hard boiled egg. Grapes. Whole wheat pumpkin pancakes with cinnamon butter lightly spread on them. Bunny friend. Real maple syrup, about two teaspoons in a separate container, not shown.

Snacks: Banana and a granola bar

I love pancake days because this is what comes home after school. It's a very good feeling knowing that I packed something that she enjoys. Something that she EATS! Something that is good for her and keeps her full.

Special thanks goes out to Chandra for the photography tips I've started playing with.

Lunch 31

BOOooooOOOOOOOoooooooo!

Lunch: Golden delicious apple, red pepper pieces in the top. Nutella on whole wheat sandwiches with fruit leather details. Monkey friend rode along. String cheese, not shown. Yogurt covered fruit snacks linger in the background. They went in after I fit everything together.

Snacks: Banana and a homemade pumpkin muffin.

Drinks: chocolate milk from school and watered down juice from home.

Lunch 30

Almost Halloween!

Lunch: Grapes and pumpkin carrots with half a honeycrisp apple. Cream cheese cat, pumpkin hard boiled egg, roasted almonds and a hippo friend.

Snacks: Mini pumpkin muffins, banana

Not really liking the egg drawing (food coloring and a toothpick), but I was in a hurry, so into the lunch it went!

Lunch 29

Long Day, Late Post

Lunch: Tuna "fishy" sandwich. Nutella "hook" sandwich. Hershey's milk chocolate kiss, the bubbly kind! Penguin. Cheese. Half an apple, smooth side down to prevent browning. Frozen peas.

Snacks: Chocolate chip granola bar. Goldfish crackers.

Lunch 28

Breakfast and Lunch

Lunch: Grilled cheese stars, craisins and chocolate nuggets in one half of the bento with a little rat/mouse friend nibbling away. Half a pear and red grapes in the other half.

Snacks: Granola bar bites and pretzels.

Juice and chocolate milk as usual.

I could not resist letting the pancakes into the photo this morning. They were so good! They are banana and totally home made. I rarely use a mix since I found a good recipe. Half of these have add ins. The chocolate chip ones vanished. I barely grabbed one for myself. The blueberry went next. The plain banana ones are almost gone, but are going to make awesome pb and j's later!

Lunch 27

Time Saver Lunch

Lunch: Cinnamon buttered whole wheat bread "sandwich". Cheese cubes/circles. Craisins. Sugar cookie hearts. Horse friend to keep her company. In the top section is grape halves and a mini pumpkin pie, without crust.

Snacks: Granola bites and pretzels. Banana.

Chocolate milk and juice for drinks.

I am on the constant quest to make lunch as easy to eat as possible. I notch banana skin for easy peeling. I open and cut up granola bars and cheese sticks. The grapes are cut in half and the seeds removed. These things make everything more perishable, but also make it much more likely that she'll eat it, or at least eat more!

She is a very slow eater and anything I can do to help her eat more efficiently, I will do it in a heartbeat. I don't want her sloth like eating habits to cause her to be hungry all the time at school.

I do need to find a way to get dinner into her faster though, before we go crazy. Perhaps the blender?

Lunch 26

All Rolled Up

Lunch: Turkey and cheese roll ups. Craisins. Dill pickle slices. Apple, grapes and carrot flowers. Chocolate chip cookie.

Snacks: Granola bar with vanilla chips, her fave! Smartfood cheddar popcorn.

Juice and chocolate milk

Stingray

No school today!

WoooooooHooooo!

Instead of packing a lunch at 5:30 am, I was asleep.

It's the little things in life that make me so happy!

Lunch 25

Hot Lunch Experiment

Lunch: Whole wheat pasta with home made turkey meatballs and parmesan cheese.

Garlic buttered bread. Stitch toy for company. Juice.

Snacks: Mini pumpkin muffins and a banana.

Chocolate milk from school.

Our first attempt at packing a hot lunch went pretty well. It was crazy cold even for this area this morning. The grass and car had a layer of frost. I ditched my plans for a cold lunch and put on a pot of pasta at 5:30 am. This smelled amazing. Garlicky with a touch of butter to keep it from feeling dry. I pulled the meat balls from the freezer, chopped them up and tossed them in with the seasonings and made sure they got nice and hot. I packed it all up in a pre-warmed, pink trimmed thermos and sent her on her way. She said it was still pretty hot at lunch. "Almost had to blow on it" hot. Yay.

Lunch 24

Breakfast for lunch, again!

Lunch: Pumpkin pancakes with cinnamon butter, a pumpkin candy and a tiny bighorn sheep fill the bottom half of the bento. Organic, unsweetened applesauce with frozen blueberries in the top. Small orange topped container of real, local, maple syrup.

Snacks: Shelf stable banana yogurt (strange stuff, yet so easy to pack), colby jack cheese stick, three mini home made pumpkin muffins (still frozen in the picture).

Juice pouch and chocolate milk from school for the drinks.

This girl of mine would eat pancakes everyday if I let her! These ones turned out really good. They are made with white whole wheat flour and a hefty dose of pumpkin puree and spices. She said they tasted like pie. There were no leftovers, at all, this day.

Lunch 23

Packed Mac

Lunch: Buttered whole wheat cowGIRL hat. Craisins, M&M's. Glow in the dark frog. Annie's mac and cheese. This is the stuff that comes with the cheese pouch. It tastes awesome cold!

Hmm, serious lack of fruit and veggies in the photo.

Snacks: Banana to go with her school milk, always chocolate. Granola bar cut into bites for the afternoon.

Lunch 22

Food Mug Shot Number 22!

Lunch: Nutella, again (it's yummy, cheap and guarantees that the super healthy bread we pay too much for will get eaten), on whole wheat, prunes, candy corn, carrots and a pony friend. Top of bento holds applesauce and frozen blueberries.

Snacks: graham crackers and Nilla wafers

Drinks: chocolate milk and a "juice bag" of lemonade. So elegant are we.

Lunch 21

Return of the Infamous Cream Cheese and Jelly. . .

Lunch: Cream cheese and jelly hearts on whole wheat. A double chocolate chip cookie. My Little Pony. Top of bento contains cheese pieces, Craisins, carrot sticks and a little apple oatmeal muffin.

Snacks: Cinnamon applesauce for the morning, granola bar for the afternoon.

Chocolate milk and cranberry juice.

Happy to report that the little fight over jelly seems to have ended. The hearts were all gone and she promises that she ate them!

Lunch 20

Under the Sea Theme.

Gotta do it at least once!

Lunch: Craisins, pickles green pepper and pear in the top tier. The bottom holds a tuna "fish" sandwich with cheese, goldfish crackers and a dolphin buddy.

Snacks: Kid Clif bar, banana.

Juice packed and chocolate milk from school as usual.

Lunch 19

Lunch: Pumpkin pancakes (hearts too) with cinnamon butter. Cheese. Carrot hearts, strawberries and a white horse.

Snacks: Granola bar bites, shelf stable yogurt.

Chocolate milk, juice.

Lunch 18

A Good Day , No Leftovers.

Lunch: Nutella and whole wheat stars. Cheese circles. M&M's. Plastic turtle. Apple. Carrots.

Snacks: Cereal bar. Mini pumpkin muffins.

Juice. Chocolate milk.