Back To School The Easy Way

      How is summer vacation done, Labor Day passed and lazy days lolling in the sun gone for another nine months?!  Don't get me wrong, I love a schedule and a routine.  But more than that I love being with my girls.  Sending them back to school is always a little bittersweet.  That being said, I'm a firm believer in being organized, not reinventing the wheel and doing every thing the easiest way possible; including packing lunches. 
      I've been perusing all the other fabulous lunch blogs; darling, perfect, so stinkin' cute!  My girls are getting bigger and I've been told not to make too many cute lunches because it's just not cool in the Jr. High set.  It's a sad day at our house, at least for me!   I'll still be making cute lunches, but mostly now they'll be practical, yummy and filled with healthy options.

       I hope all of you Mama's are finding the start of this school year filled with new adventures, a break and hopefully lots of kiddos trying new and whole foods!

Lunch for the first day of school is full of fuel!  Turkey roses (just roll up slices of organic turkey breast), green grapes, cheddar cheese, stretch island strawberry fruit leather, pretzel crisps, carrots, rainbow tomatoes, a plum and a couple of Oreo type cookies.  They both also have an organic chocolate milk to add a little protein.

 

 

 

Lazy Daisy

It all started with an egg, an egg that was supposed to be a star.  When I took it out of the mold I realized that the egg was too small, and I had a daisy on my hands!

So it became a lazy lunch with a daisy theme.  The whole lunch from start to finish took about 3 (5 at the most) minutes to prepare.   I hard boiled the eggs the day before and put them in molds to get them ready for lunches.

 

This lunch is for Lili who loves all things pink and girly.  She has a mini bagel and cream cheese, hard boiled egg (decorated with food safe pens), grape tomatoes, carrot carnations, watermelon posies and some pretzels dipped in pink white chocolate and sprinkled with a little sugar....to keep em' sweet.

 

 

Dipping pretzels in chocolate is easy, melt the chocolate; tint it if you want a specific color;  cover in chocolate...I throw mine in the freezer for just a few minutes are they're ready to go!

 

I used easylunchboxes and silicone holders.

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!

 

School of Fish

Life at our house just got even more exciting! I got the call last night that there was room at the charter school for Lili.  I just had to decide if I was ready for her to swim in the big pond and leave the safety of our sea urchin (wait that sounds a lot like Finding Nemo), and if she was ready, and if it was the best choice for our family. 
Turns out, the kid makes friends really fast.  Like in the time it took to drop Gigi off.  And she was all set to go!  So we headed to the mall, bought a bunch of uniform stuff, got everything on her supply list and stopped for sushi.   

We bought way to much, and Lili asked if she could have it for lunch tomorrow.   And so our School of Fish lunch was born. 

She has 4 pieces of California Roll, a baby bell star fish cheese, starfish watermelon, sea grass cucumbers and carrot coral, and of course some Swedish Fish because you can't have a fishy lunch with out Swedish Fish,   (I threw in a little apple just case she needed something more)

For snack she gets a banana and some caramel rice cakes.  And I'll throw in an apple juice too!

We used our easylunchbox containers, they're the best!

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!

Bigger Breakfast for Little Tummy's

We've been eating well this morning, the girls had breakfast for breakfast and breakfast for lunch!  The name Breakfast literally means to break the fast, the period of time through the night that you don't eat.  Guess that means you had better make it good!  Fill your body up with healthy, protein  and fiber full food to set the tone for your day.  It's even more important for our kid's to be filled up, it helps their brains and bodies work hard and meet their full potentials.

I love baking breakfast breads, I can make them the day before and slice them up and slather them with cream cheese, butter, jam, nutella or peanut butter.  Since we're entering into fall I made a really yummy pumpkin bread and topped it with cream cheese, grabbed a jar of applesauce and topped it with a little cinnamon...lots of fiber and protein.  (Cinnamon helps to stabilize blood sugar, so no crashes!)

I make quick cook oats, it takes about 5 minutes and I always use milk...I just like the creaminess and extra protein.  And then the girls mix in whatever sounds yummy that morning.  Here I've added a little brown sugar, raisins and pecans.  Now there's a breakfast with staying power!  Add jam, peanut butter, any dried fruit, maple syrup, honey, yogurt, fresh fruit...the options are endless!  For a special treat we have oatmeal with brown sugar and vanilla ice cream, seriously the yummiest thing ever!

Just for fun, oatmeal with ice cream.

This is a quick and easy breakfast, two scrambled eggs, one slice of bacon and some cinnamon swirl toast.  You could make the bread from scratch, but I buy it from a local bakery.

Egg in the Hole, looks sort of fancy, but it's not...it's easy and you can change it up!  I just put a little butter in the pan, cut whatever shape you want out of the center of your bread, lay your bread in the pan, crack an egg in to the hole.  Cook on one side the entire time, or if you'd like the egg more done (my kids don't like runny yolk) just flip and cook a little longer on the other side.   Serve with a little fresh fruit and a slice of bacon.

Yogurt Parfaits take very little time, a little prep and then you've got a fancy little breakfast!  This is my Peach Melba Parfait; I've layered peaches, plain greek yogurt, raspberry jelly and granola.  Both of my girls love creating these, mostly because every time they make one they get to create new flavors! 

Someone wise once said, "Eat like a King at Breakfast, a Prince at Noon and a Pauper at Supper."  I know how difficult adding one more thing into a crazed morning routine can be, but it might also be an amazing quiet time for you and your kids to connect in before the insanity of daily life takes over.  Give yourself an extra 15 minutes in the morning (yes I'm suggesting setting the alarm a little earlier) and see if you don't like what that sacrifice does for the health of your family!