Comfort Food at it's Finest

My girls love comfort food; warm, cheesy, buttery goodness.  Actually, so do I.  Really, who doesn't?!
When I got up this morning I had to pack lunches (mostly because I was a slacker last night and didn't plan very well), it was cold and the forecast called for rain; another big surprise for Oregon; and thought, "these girls need something that'll warm them from the inside out!".  I had a big bag of potatoes, lots of cheese (a staple in our house) and butter...perfect! Baked potatoes, filled with butter, cheese and sour cream on the side.   Throw in some fruit, a hard boiled egg for some extra protein and a granola bar for something extra, some organic apple juice...and viola lunch. 

This was an easy lunch to pack, but it did take a little longer to prep then a normal lunch.  I baked the potatoes in the microwave while I fed the girls breakfast, split them and topped them, the girls can heat them up at school for the perfect, filling meal.

 

For snack they both have an applesauce squeezer and a caramel rice cake.

Tell Me That You Love Me....

It's here, that controversial day where those in luuuuuvvvvvvv are so excited for roses, dinner, romance and those not in love are ready to punch couples in the throat.  I'm kind of indifferent. I'm totally in love with my Husband, but I'd rather he show me he loves me 365 days a year rather than just one.
However, he is romantic and fun and our girls LOVE anything "romantic" so the three have been celebrating since the First of February.  (I'm not even sort of joking about this.) They made Valentine's Envelopes (think 2nd Grade) and every day they have been giving one another little tokens of affection...I was included too, but truthfully I was sort of bah humbug about it.   It's always been our tradition that "The Love Bugs" bring little treats on the 14th, and we have a big, fancy dinner at home, as a family. 

Anyhow, you don't really care about my issues with Valentine's Day, right?  So here are our festive lunches, sort of festive lunches, I worked yesterday then rushed to finish the Valentine's for school and all the family chore stuff.  I had big plans.  None of which worked out just as I'd planned.

Like weddings, the girls have no idea what ideas I was picking from, they are only seeing the final project and they will feel totally and completely LUUUUUUUVVVVVVVD  ;)

LiLi is suddenly becoming picky with fruits, she's decided she doesn't like any of them.  Fabulous news.  So she has two egg salad sandwiches, heart shaped carrots and cucumbers, a kiwi, a slice of cheese, chocolate covered heart shaped pretzels, and a chocolate treat. 

GiGi has a heart shaped hard boiled egg, heart shaped cheese slices, crackers, strawberries, heart shaped carrots and cucumbers, plus the chocolate treats.  They both have apple juice.

 

For snack they have a mix of dried fruits, a rice cake and they will be getting loads of treats at parties.

 

We used our fave easylunchboxes!

Basic Lunches

Holy Smokes, bring back Thanksgiving Break!  I need a break from our week off...boy, did I let things slide.  Including all planning, routine and practical stuff.  I went to the grocery store this morning and I swear I walked around for an hour and left with 2 mangos, some berries, milk, a reading light, some flavored seltzer water and a pack of gum.    It never even occurred to me that I should be thinking about dinner or getting some real food to feed the people that call me Mom.

So dinner was blah and lunches tomorrow will be a little bit too.  But thank goodness I got those berries!  ;)

Gigi has a mixture of fresh berries (I knew those would come in handy), baby carrots, a cup of cream cheese and a bagel (because she only likes it if she can spread the cream cheese herself) some yellow tomatoes, a nutrigrain bar and some Junior Mints (totally Peanut Free! They rock!)...Lili has an orange instead of berries because she'll only eat berries from our garden (I have no idea why, it's the strangest food rule ever!)

They both have organic apple juice too!

For snack they have a bag of popcorn and some Stretch Island fruit leather.

Black Cat and Pumpkins

It's official, we go to school in the dark and come home just in time for sunset.  I'm tired.  All of the time.  I forgot how Fall in the North West takes some adjusting too.  (Every year)   I'm loving the Autumn colors, the cozy sweaters and the warm roasts (I seem to be roasting something every day).  
Being cozy seems to also be making me forgetful...I need to remember to see if there is some study about the correlation.   I forgot lunches, until I was in bed and just about to fall asleep.   I knew my brain would never shut off so out of bed I climbed, down to the kitchen...I made lunch by the light of the fridge, it was sort of romantic. 

Both girls got ham roll ups, scary cat carrots, a mandarin orange, school days apple granola bar (these are made in a peanut free facility!), Stretch Island apple fruit leather, whole wheat crackers, scary cat colby jack cheese slices, and some Halloween marshmallows.  They both have organic vanilla milk.

For snack they have dried strawberries and a caramel rice cake.

Make Dinner Work Twice as Hard

I'll admit it.  This might have been the easiest (laziest) lunch I've ever packed!  It took me roughly 1 minute (and that's only because I had to cut the pizza so it would fit in the container).   Oh. My. Goodness.  I live for days like this. 
We're all busy, we all have lists that never stop growing.  Why not make dinner do double duty?  Especially when it's a dinner your kiddos really dig!  (I know, this is the second appearance of pizzaish stuff this week)  My kids would eat loads of stuff left over.  Spaghetti, chicken, pizza, stir fry, salmon...the list goes on and on and it makes your life a lot easier!

Left over pizza, salad (I literally used my hands and grabbed a handful, no shame.), a pear, apple juice and a couple chocolate chip cookies. 

For snack they have apple slices and 2 raspberry Newtons.   It's 6:30 and my list is basically done (well the stuff that I can't put off at least)...looks like I get to sit on the couch and catch up on the DVR! 

A Lunch so Easy It's Scary

The girls lunch was packed in a rush last night, total surprise, right?!  Thank Heavens I keep loads of healthy options in the fridge.  The girls have a hard boiled egg; I made the spooky faces with food safe pens; a little mandarin orange, some veggie crackers, sharp cheddar pumpkins, carrot pumpkins and some grape tomatoes, and a few pumpkin peeps.  They also have a frozen yogurt tube that I threw in at the last minute (I'm obsessed with them having enough protein, but it's truly what fuels their bodies) and a box of apple juice.

 

I packed it all in my very favorite easylunchbox containers. 

For snack they both have kettle corn and fruit leather.

 

Ooooooooooh, What a Yummy Lunch!

Thank Heavens for Awanas! I had the house to myself and was able to really put some time and thought into lunch.  Hope the girls are surprised and a little spooked by their lunches, it was sure fun to make and pack them.  I don't know about you, but I worry more about what their getting then what it looks like, but it's such a pleasure when both come together and make it really special. 

The girls have 4 cheese Ghost quesadillas, homemade guac, sour cream, orange and black chips, ghostly cucumbers, a banana (I couldn't make it work in the whole ghost thing, but again, nutrition comes first!), a ghost peep (how cute are they?!), and vanilla organic milk.

 

They each have a bag of popcorn and a pear for snack.

Hearty Lunch for a Cool Day

We've had a ridiculously beautiful summer and start of fall in Oregon.  I have said before (and I'll say again) "Oregon is proof that God loves us!"  If your not from here, I'm sorry and you really must visit.   The start of fall brings sunshine, red leaves, blue skies, cool nights, and lovely autumn produce.  
Today, when we left for school my car said, "Low temps"...we hadn't left the garage yet so I had no idea that it wasn't joking.  It was 36 degrees and I had sent the girls to school in nothing but a sweater and a good hearty lunch! Thank Heavens we're all in the mood for comfort foods, my lunch worked out wonderfully with this new chilly weather were having; the promise of rain by the end of the week couldn't dampen my spirits one bit!

Today's lunch has chili and cheese (they can microwave it at lunch to heat it up again), mini bell peppers, snap peas, a pear, and some oatmeal cookies. They both have organic vanilla milk to drink.

 

For snack they have homemade trail mix.  Lili may or may not be happy with this choice.

Taste Like Desperation

Last night I sat down on the couch to rest my eyes and watch "Ghost Hunters" (my other guilty pleasure) and when I stopped resting my eyes it was about 3 in the morning.  Ugh.  So I crawled into bed, never once thinking, "I haven't packed lunches, laid out clothes, added snacks, checked homework...". 
I actually didn't think about it until 7ish, when we finally headed downstairs to grab breakfast and I noticed the absence of lunches in the fridge.  That's when the sheer panic hit.  I mean, it seemed strange that I hadn't laid out clothes, but they wear uniforms so getting dressed is easy, I just overlooked it.  I started barking orders, "GiGi, your in charge of breakfast", "LiLi grab snacks for you and sis", "Brush your teeth, get shoes, grab jackets...Go, Go, Go!".  I swear that strange mix of adrenaline and stress really takes it out of a person.  We just started car pool this week, and I refuse to be the Mom who's late.  It's a problem I have, the need to always be on time (my Husband would argue that I need to be 15 minutes early), but clearly I am a person who plans (including for any traffic issues that might arise).

Thank goodness I cook for an army, and I have lunch plans for today; otherwise I'd be bummed to be sharing my lunch; so I threw left over beef stir fry into containers.  Also thankfully I keep some shelf stable snacks on hand for these sorts of emergencies so they both got premade rice krispie treats (we ate all the homemade ones last night!).  I grabbed a mandarin orange and some mini bell peppers and a bag of pretzels.  It's not really a cohesive lunch, but they love stir fry, and they love bell peppers...so hopefully they'll be happy come lunch time.

Even the picture was taken in a rush, on my cell phone....just before I tossed it into lunch bags.  Don't ask what they have for snacks, I have no idea.  Probably candy and cookies.  Where's my coffee?!

GiGi's Post

Well I had a meeting tonight, and when I came home the kitchen was covered with cookie cutters, silicon cups, scraps of food...and two totally packed lunches.  GiGi took it upon herself to pack lunches for me since I shared some of my nice stationary with her.  Love that girl!  Love that at 10 she will make her sister breakfast, will offer to help with all sorts of chores and thinks about her Mama's busy schedule.  I'm not sure what I did to be blessed with this amazing girl, but I thank God for her every day.
This lunch is pretty well rounded given she had no supervision.  She picked a theme and then planned around it. 

GiGi is taking over this post now.  I'm going to back totally out (except to upload the picture, which she took too!), and let her take over.

My Mom is really busy and takes care of all of us.  She sells houses and has to leave to help people so she has to stay up late to pack lunches for us.  I was looking for a snack and saw that there was stuff she uses to make lunches, so I thought I could surprise her by making lunch for tomorrow.   I tried to remember her healthy rules and kept thinking that sometimes I just want not healthy lunch but made it healthy because she would have changed it.

I picked a shooting for the stars theme because I like that saying.  It makes me try hard at school and sports.  I cut food into star shapes and used star shape holders.   I packed cheddar cheese, sausage, mini crackers, star fruit, cucumber and carrots and tomatoes.  I cut the carrots and cucumbers into stars too.  And then I gave us dessert.  An oreo and a rice krispie treat cut like a star.  I put two lemonaides in the fridge so they would be cold tomorrow. 

 

Ok, Mom back....I went from cracking up (I would have totally repacked lunch if it wasn't sort of healthy) and crying....see why I love this girl!?  I didn't change anything she wrote or change punctuation on her portion....I wanted it just the way it is.  I also didn't take a clearer picture, she was so proud of her work, all of it....and so am I!

 

Job well done Baby Girl!

October 2nd...Bring on the Hauntingly Good Lunches!

Is your house in full mail watch?  Everyday a new catalog with fabulous costumes to pick from, the endless discussions of what to be, the bargaining that comes with sisters; should we match, should we have a theme...  Halloween is officially in full swing at Chez Peterson.    Not to worry, I celebrate only one holiday at a time.  There will be no Christmas lunches until December 1st! 

I will however, spend all of this month focusing mostly on ghoulishly good lunches.  It will probably be frightening, the amount of different Halloween cutters I have.  These lunches could possibly haunt your every waking hour with their cuteness.  I'll stop, I know your probably all groaning anyway.  Yes, I am that corny; candy corny that is!

This little lunch is just a kick off.  I've experimented with making my own "jello jigglers", LiLi has already informed me they are "bisgusting" and she will only allow me to pack her one because her friends will think it's cool.  GiGi is not as picky with the "shivering" food and is enthusiastic about them.

Lunch includes; Brains and Blood (spaghetti and sauce), Monster Finger chicken strips, Jacks and Bats pretzels, Jack-O-Lantern bell peppers and some Goblin Eye grapes...grape juice jigglers and ghostly marshmallows round out lunch.  They'll each have Blood red 100% juice fruit punch.    The beauty of Halloween lunches is that they tell their own story, your kiddos will have as much fun eating them as they do deciding what each item is!

For snack they took Pirates Booty and Cliff Kids fruit snacks.

午餐

My family is obsessed with Chinese Food.  OBSESSED.  We just can't always go out to eat it because it's often made with peanut products, so I've sort of become good at making it at home.  It's not authentic, my Chinese American friends would probably laugh at the finished product, but my kiddos LOVE it .  Fortunately, I cook for a family of 30 rather then 4 (I've never been good at judging how much I'm making and I like to wing it rather then follow a recipe).

Anyhoo, the upside.  Leftovers!  Lunch becomes really easy to pack and I know the girls will gobble it up.  (They have access to microwaves at their school, so they can heat up stuff.)   I used a little creative licence on this one and really stretched the Asian food to cover a little Japanese too.

Both girls have beef and broccoli with rice, cucumber and carrot rolls, bell pepper slices, mandarin oranges, an Asian pear, rice crispy sushi and fig newtons (they are clearly not Asian).  And a box of apple juice.

 

 

Rice Crispy Treat sushi is totally easy to make.  I make homemade rice crispy treats to control the ingredients, then I cut and roll them in to a thin 2 inch by 3 inch strip.  Then you can layer fruit leather, swedish fish...what ever gummy, sticky stuff you have on hand.  I used just swedish fish.  What a fun treat, right?! 

 

For snack they have Cheese It crackers and apple slices.

Tuna Tuesdays

I guess it's really supposed to be Fish Fridays but this was what was requested and frankly, the cupboards are looking a little bare.  I gotta get to the store!   It's good to stretch and challenge yourself and your kiddos to use what's available, and to make lunches without spending extra money.  Leftovers are great for this!

Share your favorite money saving or budget stretching tips, especially if they apply to feeding your kiddos!

This little lunch has tuna salad (I get lots of veggies chopped into this like celery, onion and green bell pepper), two different types of crackers (one has loads of seeds),  orange bell pepper strips, cucumber slices, mini oreo type cookies.  They also have a pear and apple juice.

For snack they have freeze dried strawberries and pretzels.

LiLi Loves Lunch

My little LiLi is missing having lunch at home; a full, proper lunch around the table with Mom and GiGi.  She LOVES school more though (thank goodness!), so she just voices the complaint once a day...when I hand her her lunch bag.

I hope she's pleasantly surprised when she opens her lunch tomorrow; it is so far from a tradition, well rounded lunch she wouldn't recognize it as being packed in this house; it's filled with all of her very favorite things. 

LiLi has a mini cucumber, some summer sausage, green grapes, an apple nutragrain bar, an apple fruit leather with "LiLi Bird" cut out of it (her nickname from Uncle J), feta cheese, and swedish fish.   It's random.  It'll probably stink (compliments of the cheese).  And I she'll love every single bit of it! 
I also threw in an organic chocolate milk box and a mandarin orange just in case she needs a little more.

For snack she has a cinnamon muffin and banana chips.


GiGi has a similar lunch, but she hates feta, so she got a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese, which she inexplicably loves.  She also got wheat thins, because she likes to make little sandwiches with crackers.  (Her nickname is Goose, she really doesn't like it...so I didn't cut her name out of her fruit leather.)

GiGi asked for plain milk (weird, right?!) and celery sticks with cream cheese as her extras.   And true to form, she needed a totally different snack.  She took pretzels and a mini pear.

The Gateway Sandwich

My kiddos don't like sandwiches very much...but this one seems sort of fancy and special.  I call it the gateway sandwich for a reason.  This sandwich has gotten my girls to try tuna salad, egg salad, tuna melts and cucumber sandwiches.  That's it, that's the long list of sandwiches my kiddos will eat.

We go back to this one over and over again.  Maybe because it's made with simple, good ingredients.  Probably because it really does feel like you've been strolling through a Farmer's Market in Nice, and you've just grabbed this sandwich before walking down to the beach.

Today's little lunches have a turkey and cheese sandwich, a few little pickles, a mandarin orange, some snap peas and tomatoes, and a couple of oreo type cookies.  Both girls have organic chocolate milk, and a cup of strawberries too.

For snack they took Pirate Booty and apple slices.

As always we packed our lunches in our easylunchboxes.


Oh, the most important part! The sandwich.  You need good french baguette, Kerrigold Irish Butter (it's spendy, but worth it!), turkey and provolone cheese.  That's it.  That simple. And oh, so good!

Mary Mary Quite Contrary

My little LiLi was being a little less then sweet last night, which prompted me to sing song this little rhyme to her...she wasn't impressed.  But then that little light bulb in my head went off!  We have all these lovely garden items (compliments of our never ending summer) and I could make a whole lunch with fresh garden items!

Not only is this lunch peanut and tree nut free, I believe it fits into the vegetarian category too.

This little lunch has a salad made with Bib lettuce (Boston if your on the East Coast), cucumber tulips, red bell pepper flowers, orange tomato halves, and cheese marigolds. (Under all those toppings are some strips of turkey too)  A few just picked strawberries and a plum from our tree.  I added a small cup of dressing, and some croutons on the side.  Both girls have organic vanilla milk to kick up the protein levels. 

 

For snack today they each have a Cutie (little Mandarin orange) and a nutragrain bar.

 

As always lunch is packed in our favorite easylunchbox containers.

Neapolitan

I kept looking at these cute liners I got at IKEA (the picture does them no justice...they have a sweet scalloped edge) and thinking "this reminds me of all those lovely Neapolitan bedrooms and ice cream!"  I know I can't very well pack ice cream for school lunch, but I knew I could find foods that would fit the color scheme.

I've been imagining this lunch for a while now, and have been thinking in terms of brown, pink and white...and a lunch for Gigi, so it's not too little kiddish.   I still think I'll do an ice cream themed lunch soon, but for today this will have to do.

The girls both got a white babybell cheese, pinkish brown ham roll ups, a little pink lady apple, (some not very pink tomatoes), a strawberry fruit leather and raspberry nutragrain bar (sort of brown), whole wheat crackers, and some wafer cookies in brown, pink and white.  I also threw in some freeze dried strawberries and an 100% juicebox.

For snack they have a homemade granola bar and dried cherries.

Little Lunches, Monday

We had a busy weekend, so I'm looking forward to the quiet of today to do some housework and baking...tomorrows lunch should be much cuter!  Today's lunch ticks all the boxes though, good nutrition, simple foods, kids favorites and for our family; no nuts!

 

 

 

The lunches have some ham roll ups, a piece of cheddar cheese, whole wheat crackers, cucumber slices, yellow tomatoes, snap peas, an apple, 100% juice, and some mini oreo like cookies for a treat.  For snack the girls have apple cinnamon rice cakes and 100% fruit leather. 

Pretty basic, but this shows that in a matter of minutes you can throw together a healthy, well balanced meal that your kids will enjoy and most importantly eat!  I know being back in traditional school my girls are being really active; they have 2 recesses and pe daily...so it's important for me to really provide good fuel to keep them going!

Gigi Packed Her Own Lunch

My girl is growing up, first day of school and she's ready to break out on her own.  At least, she wants to try packing her own lunch...I'm turning over the supplies and letting her have a go at it.  She had three rules:
1. It must be healthy
2. There must be 3 fruits and veggies
3. There must be a variety of color

 

Given the rules she did a pretty good job.  She packed herself some turkey, raisins, cucumber slices, carrot sticks, WOWButter with organic apple slices and a little dish of cookies.  She packed a bag of trail mix for snack and she has a granola bar and Stretch Island fruit leather in the pocket of her lunch bag in case she needs a little more food. 

 

WOWButter is a thing of beauty.  We have a peanut allergy kiddo and Gigi misses pb&j dearly.  WOWButter (a soy product) has quenched her desire for all things peanut.  Thank Heavens!

Celebrate!!! It's Our First Drawing!

Who'd have thought that my desire to create healthy, cute and fun lunches for my littles would have led to this?  Certainly not me!  And to celebrate all this fun I think a fun Back To School Package is in order.  I've filled it with all sorts of my favorite things; silicon cups from Cost Plus World Market, reusable silverware, Wilton Cookie Cutters,  2 reusable bags from  Hustle Mama ( http://www.etsy.com/people/HustleMama ), two large Perserve BPA free containers, some small little lidded cups and a salt/pepper shaker; plus an apple cookie cutter, because what Back To School kit would be complete without an apple.

I've been brainstorming all sorts of lunch ideas this summer and can't wait to start blogging, creating, posting and sharing.  And I hope this school year many of you will share what your kiddo's are loving for lunch.  Here's to more exciting milestones, lunches and giveaways!

How do you win?  There are a number of ways and you can enter more then once!

1.  Share Two Little Lunches on your Face Book page, then post a comment on TLL's page!

2.  Become a follower on Two Little Lunches Blog page, and leave a comment there.

3.  If your new to Two Little Lunches, like our page, follow our blog and share TLL's with your friends!

4.  Share one of your favorite lunches to pack on Two Little Lunches FB page or the Blog.

This giveaway is only available to our fan's in the US.  Hopefully the next giveaway I'll be able to open it up to our friends overseas and in Canada.    Winner will be selected randomly.  Giveaway ends Friday, August 12, 2011 at 12pm PST.