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.

I Love You A Bushel and A Peck

My sweet girls are loving school, but they still tell me everyday that it's really different from homeschooling.  The part they miss most; ME!!!! In some sick way this makes me really sort of happy, because I miss them so much too!  This last week and a half has had me sort of floundering in my roll, my identity is a little lost...not to worry, I'll figure it all out, and I have loads of little lunch dates set up for myself.

Hope they love this little lunch as much as I love them!.

The girls love Biscoff Sandwiches, and to kick it up a little I added a smear of cream cheese.  They also has some strawberries and kiwi, carrot sticks and cucumbers.  I threw in a heart shaped hard boiled egg to make sure they'd get enough protein.  An 100% fruit leather and a little meringue cup with some chocolate sauce and strawberries. 

Hope they are sweetly surprised by this lunch filled with all sorts of love.

I've packed lunch in my favorite, Easylunchbox containers!

Tea for Two

Any excuse for a tea party! That's our motto.  I spent this afternoon baking a little apple treat and it seemed fitting to make some little sandwiches to go with it.

This little lunch has 2 tea pot shaped cucumber sandwiches (I used homemade white bread...it has to be soft enough to cut), used a cookie cutter to score a flower out of a babybell cheese (made me think of so many of my pretty tea cups), a few butterfly crackers, some snap peas, yellow tomatoes, and a few tiny carrot flowers.  They also got juice, a banana and some apple pie bars.

 

Here's a link to the Apple Pie Bar recipe (it's time consuming, but worth it!)

http://glitterenjoycharm.blogspot.com/2012/09/apple-pie-bars.html

 

For snack they got a tiny pear (Have I mentioned how much I love Trader Joe's for the just right sized fruit!?)  and some pretzel sticks. 

 

Our lunches were packed in our easylunchbox containers.

 

Pinkies up!

 

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!

Bistro Lunch Anyone?

I've got to get these girls eating the same lunch every day...not sure about you, but I'm pretty sure no one really wants to make two totally different lunches (or 3, or more).   They basically have the same lunch today and I based it loosely on what you might pick up in a bistro, or buy in a farmers market in France for a lovely picnic on the Eiffel Tower lawns (minus the wine, for them at least!).

They have some dry Italian salami, crackers, a babybell cheese, some little tiny pickles, orange bell pepper slices, an apple, a few cookies and organic apple juice.  For snack they each have some caramel rice cakes and a fruit leather.   I would have loved to throw in some olives, but I didn't have any! 

I packed their lunches in our easylunchbox containers, they hold tons of food! And I used flower shaped silicone liners to keep everything from touching.

Thursday's Lunch

Gigi is still not allowing me to have much fun with her lunches, it stinks.  I'm hoping that by next week she gives me free rein.  Anyhoo...today's lunch is full of low fat, high protein foods, which are great for a growing, active girl.

We filled her lunch bag with some honey ham, string cheese and whole wheat crackers, watermelon and cantaloupe, a small container of grape tomatoes, some Swedish Fish (because they were left over from her sisters lunch) and rice cakes, and a small apple.  She'll take an apple grape juice for her drink. 

The dish of almonds and dried apricots are for snack. 

 

The school requires each child to bring a water bottle each day; which I'm thankful for; and so far it's come home almost empty each day! 

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!

Princess and The Pea

Long ago, in a village far, far away lived two little Princesses, and in another village; even farther away lived another little Princess...this lunch is for these three Darling, Perfectly, Perfect Princesses!  This little Princess had a Mom who loved her so much she wanted to give her the most perfect lunch filled with lots of yummy fruits and all the things she loved.  I hope the Royal Chef has gotten it just right!

This lunch has a yummy Unicorn sandwich filled with cream cheese, strawberry jam and sliced strawberries.  A pink, sparkly, tiara apple hand pie, a clementine, a cheese with the star cut out; because every Princess knows to wish upon a star! (You can't really see it, but the star has gold luster dust to make it nice and shiny.)  It also has star shaped kiwi, heart shaped pineapple and strawberry slices.   Heart shaped carrots and cucumbers help a Princess find her hearts true desire...plus every one knows that the true test of a Princess is if she can feel a pea hidden under her mattress when she sleeps, so I threw in some snap peas for good measure!