Crochet Creations from ABChic Designs

I've been a stay at home mom since May of 2006 when I was laid off from my telephone customer service job. My position (along with over 100 others') was outsourced to the Philippines. Thankfully, my husband was one of just 5 lower level employees who remained with the company. Since then he has been juggled between campaigns, departments, and positions, leaving our financial standing at the mercy of the call center industry.
     After that I worked part time cleaning houses and a few offices for extra cash, and we always made ends meet. In 2009 I gave birth to my second daughter via c-section, and was forced to stop working. My husband graciously picked up the slack at the office where I was on the payroll, but I had to drop my independently contracted jobs. In December of 2010 that company moved 90 miles south to Dallas, Texas, and I was left with no extra income.
That's when I started selling some of my crafts to make money. At first I made bows. This was the logical thing to do since I had two beautiful little models right in my own home! Soon though, the flood of online and local bow makers saturated the market, and I wasn't able to bring in enough money to warrant all the time spent making bows.
I had learned to crochet at an early age and was fairly good at it. I had made a blanket and some hats for my girls. When friends and family saw my handiwork, they began to ask me to make hats for their little (and big) ones. Soon orders were coming in faster than I could make them! I've been at it for nearly 3 years and am getting better at creating all kinds of accessories.
Here are a few of my recent orders:

A simple mouse hat was the finishing touch to a Halloween costume.

This graphed cupcake potholder was part of a cupcake themed basket auctioned at a fundraiser for my daughters' school. 

Matching hats for two cute sisters.

I make a lot of hair accessories and crochet sandals as well.

You can find more photos and contact me through my facebook page at www.facebook.com/abchicdesigns

Lunchbox Round Up

Today is the first day of our school week this week, and the girls have a lunch box packed with nachos consisting of corn tortilla chips, salsa, shredded cheddar cheese, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and sour cream. They each have an apple juice box and Joplin chose fresh plums while Isis has orange slices as her fruit choice.

I have written posts about most of our staple lunch box meals, an will not be posting a daily lunchbox post in an effort to expand my blog. I will continue to post when we have special themed lunches or new ideas, and please feel free to contact me or comment with your ideas and suggestions! I'd love to get the input of other moms and dads!

Just as a refresher I'll list the lunch box meals I refer to time and again to fill my girls' bellies with healthy, yummy food. I always start with the main dish, and add sides that fill in the gaps in the meal. My goal is to have at least 1 protein, whole grain and dairy item, two fruits and two veggies. Sometimes I don't get all of them in, but I make up for it at dinner time. 

To start, here is the meal they are having today...
1. Nachos 

2. Cheese, meat, and crackers

3. Peanut better and jelly or honey

4. Cream cheese pinwheels or flour tortillas

5. Salad

6. Cheese wrap/roll ups

7. Peanut butter crackers

8. Hot Dogs (preservative free turkey dogs)

9. Sandwich with turkey/ham and cheese

10. Breakfast food

Friday Lunchbox

It's a lovely cool Friday morning here in the south. I watched my oldest daughter receive an award for running over 10 miles in PE this month! She is a smart, sweet, mature, 7 year old, but isn't too interested in athletics. So this is quite an accomplishment in an area where she really has to work hard to excel. I'm so proud of her!

The girls have the same lunch packed in two different containers today. They will each eat all natural deli turkey and Monterey Jack cheese off picks adorned with jack o lanterns.
A small side salad with no dressing actually consists mostly of cherry tomatoes, which are always a hit with the girls. They have some cinnamon applesauce (and I forgot the spoons!), a mini fruit roll up, a granola bar, and pretzels shaped like bats and pumpkins.

The girls have Monday off school, and we have LOTS of activities planned for next week including a small fall festival Monday morning, which should be fun!

Have a great weekend!

Thursday Lunchbox

I'll be brief today since I have to take the baby in for a vaccination in about 10 minutes. Isis has whole wheat crackers with peanut butter for spreading, some raisins, cherry tomatoes, and peeled celery in the lower half of our one piece container. The top holds a mini rice crispy treat and a bag with five fruit swirl marshmallows. She is also drinking water from home today. I'm picking Joplin up at lunch time to take her out for a special lunch at Braum's, and ice cream for dessert (for her at least)!
Have a great day!

Wednesday Lunchbox

The week is already half way over (almost), and I am still running behind on just about everything. I'm not going to sweat it too much in my normal control freak fashion because I might drive myself crazy if I did! October is always a busy month at our house. It kicks off most of the fall events in our community, is full of family birthdays, and is the start of a crafting frenzy for this stay at home momma.
So, once again I didn't get a picture of the girls' lunches, and it's a shame. Today they had mini turkey and cheese sandwiches on a pick. I used a small round cookie cutter to make circles out of whole wheat bread, then i stacked preservative free turkey, Monterey jack cheese, and more bread until the pick was full. They each got 5 cherry tomatoes, a whole apple, and cheese flavored multigrain chips. There is also some all natural vanilla yogurt with heart sprinkles in the air tight bowl on their plastic container, and I stuck a mini strawberry fruit roll up in there for dessert.
Now I'm off to work on a few of the many projects I have going that need to be done ASAP! Laundry, cleaning, crochet hat orders, and Halloween costume sewing are first on the list.

Monday Lunchbox

We had a decent break from the normal routine, but today it's back to business. I packed the girls some baked mozzarella rolls (in flour tortillas) with some marinara for dipping. They have a silicone cup filled with baby carrots and a pick with romaine lettuce strips rolled up for easy dipping in a separate container of ranch dressing. Isis has a bunch of red grapes on the vine wrapped up in a paper towel and tied with a pink ribbon, a rice crispy treat (sent home with them by Nana), and a mini fruit roll up. Joplin has a green apple tied up in some gingham ribbon and a pack of oreos (also a treat from Nana). I tossed a bag of pretzels into each box at the last minute, and they will both choose a drink in the cafeteria.
Tomorrow I am tagging along for the Pre K trip to the pumpkin patch, and may be accompanied by my husband. I'll be packing lunches for my daughter and us to eat instead of spending $3-$5 each on hot dogs, chips, and soda from the concession area.

Tuesday Lunchbox

Today I had planned to take Subway sandwiches to eat with my oldest at school, and pack a lunch for my pre k daughter. However, she woke up with an upset tummy, so I ended up packing for my oldest and keeping Isis home just in case she's got a bug. Joplin will have a turkey and cheddar sandwich on whole wheat bread cut into the shape of a large butterfly with whole grain, cheese flavored snacks called 'Skinny Straws.' She also has some baby carrots, a few fresh strawberries, a mini rice crispy treat, and a mini fruit roll up. I made lunch on the fly before sending her off to ride to school with my husband, and didn't have time to snap a picture.

Monday Lunchbox

The girls have a short week at school with fall break starting on Wednesday. So today they wanted to pack breakfast for lunch because it's one of their favorites. My oldest informed me that cold bacon is gross, and she doesn't want me to pack bacon in her lunch again. To get a little protein and iron in I packed a peanut butter and blackberry creamed honey sandwich on whole wheat. This isn't our normal breakfast fare, but it works. They also have a bag of dry cereal, a granola bar, some all natural vanilla yogurt with heart shaped sprinkles, and a banana. I added some fun stickers to the outside of the banana to make it a little more appealing. Joplin has a bag of organic trail mix including pumpkin and sunflower seeds, soy nuts, and dried cranberries, while Isis gets a mini box of raisins. 

Friday Lunchbox

We had a really busy Thursday between a trip to the pumpkin patch with my oldest and the fall festival so I wasn't able to fit in a lunch box post. I packed 3 lunches including mine, all with celery, cauliflower, snap peas, and grape tomatoes. The girls had ranch for dipping, and I used a mixture of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic salt, and Italian herbs. We also had deli turkey and wheat crackers with mozzarella cheese for the girls. They ate some orange slices and granola bars as well. Joplin and I also shared some pomegranate.
Today I packed a pumpkin themed lunch in the one piece containers. Flour tortillas filled with cream cheese are cut with a cookie cutter in the shape of pumpkins. A jack-o-lantern adorned cupcake liner is filled with party mix, and the matching picks have grape tomatoes on them. A cutie orange has a fun face drawn on with permanent marker. They also get a pumpkin iced brownie and some candy corn and mallow pumpkins.
Sorry this post is coming so late in the day, but I spent this morning at the Just Between Friends Sale stocking up on winter clothes for my three girls. We also got a few books, a vanity mirror for my oldest, a lap desk for the car for my pre k middle daughter, and a fine motor skill building toy for the baby.

Wednesday Lunchbox

Today I am having lunch with my 4 year old. So instead of having her take the lunch box to school, I'll bring it when I come to her school at 10:25am (yes, that's lunch time for the pre-k students at their school). My 2nd grader is eating chicken nuggets in the cafeteria.
I made a turkey roll in a flour tortilla for her, and added some apple coleslaw to mine for a healthy wrap. She will have Pringles on the side and we will share apple and orange slices. We will both have grape juice boxes, a rice cake with peanut butter and creamed blackberry honey, and Mott's fruit snacks.
I decided to bring the entire jar of peanut butter because frankly, I just don't want to wash it out of a reusable container if I don't have to. Since I'll be there to supervise and take it home after lunch I don't see any reason not to, especially since none of the kids in her class have peanut allergies.

Tuesday Lunchbox

I hope everyone had a nice start to their week! Today is the last day I'll be packing a plain lunch for the girls this week. Tomorrow is chicken nugget day, so I will only pack for my 4 year old, Isis. Thursday I am packing a box for myself since I am tagging along on the my oldest's field trip to the pumpkin patch. Isis's class also starts learning about pumpkins this week, so Friday I will do a pumpkin themed lunchbox.

Today I packed preservative free turkey dogs, sliced and cooked to look like an octopus along with some cheddar crackers shaped like whales and guppies. They have 2 skewers, one with grape tomatoes, the other with peanut butter celery. We found some new small lidded containers that claim to be leak proof, so I packed vanilla yogurt in those. Hopefully they work better than the last set I got. They will have a grape juice box to drink today since I got them on sale, and I've learned that the cups of juice the school offers are tiny, so they have only been drinking milk.

Monday Lunchbox

Today the girls are having a turkey and cheddar slider on a homemade whole wheat bun. They chose Cheese It Party Mix in leau of chips. There is a veggie assortment with baby carrots, grape tomatoes, and fresh spinach leaves in the last compartment on the bottom of the two tiered, one piece containers.  

Joplin has a snack sized zipper bag with organic trail mix. The mix has sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, soy nuts, and dried cranberries. I had her taste the mix before packing it to ensure she would eat it. She didn't like the raisins or dried dates that were included in the package, so I spent an extra minute or two picking out (and eating) those things so she wouldn't have to waste time picking through it during her short lunch period. This may seem silly, but I think it will make a huge impact on whether she actually eats it or not. We'll see. 

Isis didn't show any interest in the trail mix, so I packed honey roasted peanuts for her. She also has a small bunch of red grapes, and a fruit roll up. My dad caught us at the store yesterday and bought the roll ups as a treat for the girls. I removed the raisins from Isis's box because it seemed redundant since she has fresh grapes. Joplin gets a green apple since she doesn't like grapes, and a fruit roll up for her as well.

I started taking "after"pictures of the lunch boxes on Friday, so I'll have a post about the aftermath, and how much (or little) they are eating this Friday. I also have to pack lunches for a field trip for my 7 year old and me on Thursday, so that will include some nice grownup lunchbox tips. 

Now I'm off to spend my 30th birthday with my husband and baby before picking up my bigs from school. Have a great day everyone!

Friday Lunchbox

I am ready for the weekend! How about you? According to my husband, my sleep talking has been waking the baby up throughout the night all week. She's been waking 6-8 times each night, and it has me worn out! I am also looking forward to a few hours away from the kids, hubby, and house having dinner with friends! I have not been out of the house without baby in tow since she was born!
In light of my groggy state, I made lunch easy today. The girls have baby carrots, grape tomatoes, and broccoli with ranch dressing for dipping. I put marble jack cheese slices in the bottom of a silicone cup, then layered plastic wrap to separate the turkey slices on top. They have whole wheat round crackers, a granola bar, and a whole apple as well. As a treat they each get a snack sized candy from their bag of candy gathered at the homecoming parade last week. Both girls will choose milk and juice from the cafeteria.

Thursday Lunchbox

I tried a little something new today. The girls love peanut butter and jelly, and lately I've been substituting local creamed blackberry honey for the jelly. This gives them a natural sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup, and since it's local, it can help with allergies. The only problem I've run into is that the honey (even though it's creamed) runs out of the edges of the sandwich. I've seen nifty little tools that trim the crust and seal the edges of the sandwich at the same time, and even found one for just $1.50! I figured I could do this myself without a little plastic tool. After making the sandwiches (one with a single piece of bread folded, one with two pieces) I peeled off the crusts and used the tip of a butter knife laid flat against the edge of the bread to press it closed. It worked like a charm!  Along with their sandwiches the girls have a bag of dry Life cereal, a Cutie orange, strawberry yogurt tubes and Mott's fruit snacks with hidden veggie juice. They both have water bottles packed today in an effort to get them to eat more. I think they drink their milk to quench their thirst, but it fills their bellies for the moment so they don't feel hungry anymore. They haven't been finishing their lunches well this week, and I hope this helps.

Wednesday Lunchbox

Today you'll all have to use your imaginations a bit. I didn't have time to snap a picture of the girls' lunch boxes. I packed each one a pick with all natural deli turkey and cheddar cheese. They have 4 baby carrots, a Cutie orange, and organic bunny grahams. As a special treat they have half a bagel to use for making a "sweet pizza" topped with peanut butter chocolate/white chocolate chips and mini marshmallows.

Some of you may wonder if the meals I pack ACTUALLY get eaten by my girls, or if they get full on the seemingly sparse portions, so I am going to take photos of the boxes after school for about a week to show you. I ALWAYS ask them how they liked lunch, and if they got full - everyday. I make adjustments to their meals according to the feedback I get from them. Everyday is different. Sometimes they don't enjoy what I pack, and some they just don't have time to eat it. That's why I think communication is the most important thing when packing a lunch box (or parenting in general) for a kid. I hope that our lunch banter will help them learn to make good choices when they are old enough to choose or pack lunch for themselves. More on that to come! Happy humpday friends :)

Tuesday Lunchbox

It's the first day of October, and I decided to add a few festive touches to the girls' lunches today. I got a set of jackolantern cupcake liners and picks for a dollar at the dollar store, and there are enough to use in lunches all month long. Today I made cream cheese and turkey pinwheels to stick on the picks along with a couple of grape tomatoes. The liners have pretzel balls in them, and I covered them with another liner to keep them contained in the compartment of the one-piece lunch kit. In a zipper bag I mixed the last of the kettle corn (honey roasted for Isis and cinnamon pumpkin for Joplin) with the remaining cinnamon rosted pecans for some tasty homemade cracker jack mix. They will each get their favorite colored whole apple and a blueberry yogurt tube. 

Monday Lunchbox

Today my girls both made me a proud mama! As usual, I gave them the option to eat what is being served in the cafeteria or a packed lunch. After hearing that hot dogs are on the menu at school, they both chose a lunch packed by me stating that "the hot dogs at school are gross." Even after I told them I would be packing salads they still scoffed at the processed, preservative-filled hot dogs offered in the lunch room. My heart swells with pride from the fact that my kids will choose a salad over a hot dog. It may not happen everytime, but I'll take it today!

So for lunch the girls will have a salad with spinach leaves, carrots, broccoli, and grape tomatoes. I've included some real bacon bits and shredded cheddar cheese for topping the salad. They have ranch dressing in the lidded part of the reusable container. There are grapes in Isis's box,and Joplin has kiwi berries. These little green grape-sized fruit taste just like a tart kiwi. They even look like a kiwi on the inside. 

I packed some whole wheat crackers on the side, along with honey roasted peanuts in the white containers, and each kid's favorite granola bar.  

Friday Lunchbox

Whoo hoo! It's Friday! I can't believe I actually made it through the week without a single trip to the grocery store, but I did have to get creative with today's lunch since we are out of bread, rolls, and bagels.
The girls usually love cream cheese on bagels or spread on saltines. In order to pack in the nutrition (and flavor) I am packing triscuit-style woven wheat crackers (the Aldi brand) along with a small lidded bowl with cream cheese and a pink plastic knife (leftovers from a birthday party) for spreading. I included a sturdy birthday napkin because the cream cheese can be messy and sticky. A thin napkin will just rip apart if you wipe sticky hands with it.
They will also get two picks with black olives, a Cutie orange, and a granola bar. As a special Friday treat they get two cookies from the fall harvest cookie pack we bought this weekend.
Everything is packed in plastic bags today because we had a really busy Thursday. Between a fall picture session and the high school homecoming parade I didn't have time to wash up the reusable containers.

The girls got new lunch boxes too! We found these at Dollar General on clearance for $3 each. What what?! It's always nice to have a backup lunch box because sometimes they need to be soaked or aired out from having things spilled in them. Joplin's regular box is smelling a little funky, and I'm pretty sure the yogurt she spilled in it last week is festering in the lining so I'm about to give it a good soak in some vinegar and baking soda. I'll do the same to Isis's box just for good measure. 

Thursday Lunchbox

Today they are serving chicken nuggets in the school cafeteria. That is Joplin's favorite, but Isis refuses to eat them (I can't blame her!), so I only have one meal to pack today.
She will be eating hot dog cheese kabobs with a side salad, and cinnamon applesauce. I also included some animal crackers and a mini box of raisins.

Meal Plan - Dinners - week of Sept. 22-28

I'm a little behind getting my menu together this week thanks to having a 3 day weekend with my girls.
I did most of my shopping this week at Aldi and Sam's, but didn't get any meat because we had to stop at a few other stores before driving home. I took advantage of the local grocery store deal, and got 5 packages of fresh meat for $25.
Sunday we used our center cut pork chops and made marinated kabobs. I have to say this balsamic rosemary marinade was amazing! I also roasted some yellow squash and brussel sprouts, made a yummy sweet apple coleslaw, and some macaroni and cheese for hubs an the kids.
We had the leftovers from Sunday for lunch on Monday. For dinner we ate out at the home style buffet where kids eat free on Mondays. We only spent $15.xx for all 4 of us to eat salad, main course, and dessert.
Tuesday we had leftover beans I froze the last time I cooked pintos with tomatoes, and a yummy dairy free corn bread. My menu says we had meatless nachos because that was my plan for the beans, but once I opened the fridge I realized we were out of sour cream, my cilantro was wilted, and the avacados were riddled with black spots, so plans changed. 
Today I am cooking a beef roast with onions and celery. Sides for this meal will be green beans, homemade wheat rolls, and fried squash.
Thursday the leftover roast will be chunked and added to a beef stew with a combination of fresh and frozen veggies. 
Friday I'm taking it easy and cooking breakfast food. Saturday we will have basil chili pork chops with coleslaw, corn on the cob, and butter herb rice. 

Wednesday Lunchbox

Happy hump day everyone! The girls will have a nice variety in their lunch boxes today. I got a great deal on whole wheat round crackers at Aldi ($1.69 per box), and the girls can build them up with all natural, preservative free smoked turkey and marble jack cheese, which is on a pick with a couple of dill pickle slices. They have half a banana each, and I've hidden the veggies in these great Mott's fruit snacks made with fruit and vegetable juice. They also get another treat from our weekend trip. The snack sized zipper bag has cinnamon roasted pecans.
Joplin gets a chocolate pudding pack, and Isis gets a rainbow chip granola bar gboth Aldi brand).

Tuesday Lunchbox

Today is the start of our week since the girls were out of school yesterday. We spent our Monday at home. I cleaned while the girls played. They did wipe the dining room chairs down before using them as a train while I mopped. Over the weekend we went to the local Trade Days event and got some yummy treats that I've included in today's lunchbox.
I made mini sandwiches with creamy peanut butter and blackberry creamed (local) honey on whole wheat bread. The creamed honey was a little pricey, but there is a lot of it, a little goes a long way, and it tastes DIVINE! They both have a rainbow of veggies to dip in ranch dressing including grape tomatoes, baby carrots, and peeled celery. I've found that peeling the strings from the outside of the celery, not only ensures that the kids will eat it, but also makes it crisper and juicier.
They have a Cutie (orange), and a blueberry yogurt tube. I scored and peeled back the rind at the top of Isis's orange to make it easier to peel, because, at 4 years old, she can peel it, but it takes a while for her to get it started.
For dessert they get another treat from the weekend. Joplin has cinnamon pumpkin kettle corn, and Isis has the honey roasted variety. They will both choose milk and juice from the cafeteria.

On a different note, I have mentioned before that I live on the edge of town, and enjoy a taste of city and country life. Today is a testament to that, be it good or bad. On my way home from taking the girls to school I saw a big beautiful doe run across the road about 1/4 mile from my house. When I got home I opened all the windows to get some fresh air, sat my baby girl in her highchair, and while enjoying this gorgeous view of the backyard I heard the highschool band practicing very loudly, and NOT altogether in an organized manner. 

The highschool was built about 1/2 mile from my house shortly after we moved in, so I am now sandwiched between it and the state university. This is a definite drawback because we hear every football game in town. I also think we must be in some kind of sound vortex because I hear the happenings at both schools, highway noises at the end of the road, music from the bar up the highway, the train behind the bar, and even the bells from the Catholic church across town! Perhaps I'll search for a house in a bubble if we move, or at least thicker walls. 

Friday lunchbox - September 20, 2013

Here's a quick summary of the girls' lunch boxes today. I didn't get a picture for you, but they're honestly nothing special.
They will have turkey and colby jack on whole wheat bread with 2 extra chunks of cheese on the side. I also added a package of cheese crackers with peanut butter, celery sticks, and a large helping of unsweetened apple sauce.
We have a 3 day weekend coming  up, and have some serious shopping to do. A trip to the bulk store for diapers and wipes, a stop at Bed, Bath, & Beyond to find a sturdy reusable water bottle, and hunting for yet another pair of shoes for my 4 year old will take up our entire Saturday.
I'll try to write up a good post about the crafts I've been working on, and my little side business. The next lunchbox post will be Tuesday the 24th.

Thursday Lunchbox - September 19, 2013

I had a question from a reader yesterday about packing leftovers from a taco dinner. So this one is for you, Kim.
Instead of trying to fit a taco shell in the lunch box, I opted for tortilla chips. These are the kind shaped like bowls. This should make it easy for the girls to pile on their toppings. You could also use soft tortillas and fold it up to fit in the compartment.

They will build each nacho like a mini taco salad. The small lidded bowls have salsa. I usually buy the lime and garlic or black bean and corn varieties because they are not spicy. Each girl has shredded cheese, orange cherry tomatoes, a few sprigs of fresh cilantro, and spinach leaves. Joplin loves avocados, so I added some to her box. I'm not sure how well they will hold up in there, but maybe the bag will keep them from getting soft and brown. I added some raisins for Isis for an extra fruit. They will be packing their travel bottles with water to drink today.

Wednesday Lunchbox - September 18, 2013

My dinner menu has been tossed around this week, so I had some extra bacon on hand and decided to make breakfast for lunch!
I cooked up a batch of applesauce pancakes while the girls were at school Tuesday. I wrapped 4 of the smaller ones and put them in the fridge to stick in their lunches today, and froze the rest for quick breakfasts. I threw 2 pieces of bacon in a pan, then all I had left to do was wash and cut up fruit for fruit kabobs and spoon some yogurt into the cups, then top with sprinkles. I wrapped up two pancakes for each kid in plastic wrap so they didn't get soggy, and just laid the bacon on top. Isis's kabobs have green grapes, peaches, and pears, and Joplin's are the same minus grapes. I'm skipping the messy syrup, and hoping they eat the pancakes without fussing. They will both, get plastic spoons, and choose milk and juice from the cafeteria.

Mess-free Fun with Paint

As usual, my 4 year old came home from school ready to be fed and entertained. I also have a 7 year old, 6 month old and house to care for, so I try to keep extra messes to a minimum without constantly saying "no" to every request. After nixing the play dough and being scoffed at for suggesting a coloring book, we landed at the paint debate. She wanted paper, paints, water, and brushes to create the traditional masterpiece that would leave the inevitable mess and need substantial counter space to dry. I was filled with dread until I remembered a pin I saw about teaching handwriting using a colored liquid in a Ziploc bag. I grabbed my phone and quickly searched Pinterest for "paint in a bag." My impatient daughter was hounding me for paints by this point, so I quickly glanced at the picture and did my best to recreate what I saw.
I took a quart sized zipper bag and added about 2 tablespoons of washable paint then zipped it closed. She loved it! Soon my 7 year old was intrigued so I made one for her. They squished it, drew on it with their fingers, and made hand prints. This actually entertained them for over an hour, and was so much easier than getting out supplies and cleaning up after a normal painting session.

I highly recommend this activity next time your kiddos start chanting "I'm bored!" I did instate the rule that it had to stay at the table. Wiping a burst paint bag mess off the table wouldn't be half as bad as finding it in the floor (especially carpet) or on the furniture! It was still just as fun with a little limitation, and even my rough middle child didn't break it.

Isis (my 4 year old) is standing at the table, not sitting in the booster seat like the picture makes it seem, and she never wears clothes at home, so forgive me for the half-naked baby photo!

Tuesday Lunchbox -September 17, 2013

The main course of Tuesday's lunch is bite-sized cream cheese tortilla sandwiches in the shape of hearts. They will have pretzel balls on the side and a spinach salad on a stick that can be easily dipped into the container of ranch. I used our new plastic picks for the salad and layered a snap pea, spinach, tomatoes,and a carrot at the end to hold it in place.  I got the small containers at the dollar store and, honestly, they aren't great. Some of the lids don't fit tightly, so they fall off. I tried to match them up with good lids, but opted for a small rubber band around each one as an added security measure. The other container holds a cinnamon and sugar mixture for dipping the fresh apples cut into the shape of fries. I used a french fry cutter, which is going to take some practice to perfect, so one kid got mini fries, and one got full length. Thankfully,everything fit perfectly into our one-piece boxes, so they will have room for a large ice pack to keep it all cool and fresh.

Monday Lunchbox - September 16, 2013

Today the girls lunch boxes are packed with a fun new lunch that requires no ice pack! They will be assembling their own sweets pizza using a plain rice cake for the crust, peanut butter to spread as sauce, shredded coconut acts as the cheese and each kid has a few of their favorite toppings. White chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, and raisins for Isis and mini marshmallows and milk chocolate chips for Joplin.

They will also have unsweetened apple sauce and grape tomatoes on the side.  Joplin will get the last juice box and Isis is choosing milk and juice from the ccafeteria (I found out they can get BOTH if they want, yay!). I packed a plastic spoon and butter knife for the applesauce and peanut butter.

Meal Plan -Dinners September 15-21

This week my meal plan will end on Friday because we are planning a shopping trip for Saturday, and I'll be planning the meals after that around the ads that go into effect on Wednesday. 
This Sunday we are trying out something new and fun! I have hot dog buns, but no hot dogs so I'm trying out a grilled hamburger patty in the shape of a hot dog. Hopefully the kids will think this is cool, and decide to eat since they rarely finish a regular hamburger (weird, right?).

Last week we skipped our last pork chop meal, and ate out because I was exhausted from being up all night with the baby, so i still have those chops. I'll be cooking them sweet an sour style on Monday with carrots and green beans.

Tuesday we will have meatless nachos with homemade guacamole. I got avacados at 3 for $1 this weekend, so that makes for a healthy and cheap side. I will also use leftover beans from tonight with a little chili and cumin added for mexican flavor (so technically they will have some meat).

I have just enough natural bacon left to make breakfast for dinner on Wednesday - always a big hit with the kids. 

Thursday we will use the pork chops I bought this weekend on sale for 40% off. The sides will be roasted brussel sprouts, spinach pear salad, and corn on the cob. 

We get paid on Friday so we will treat ourselves to a meal out!

Plant Prints Craft

This morning the girls and I took a little nature walk behind our house. We live on the edge of town, down a culdesac, and have a large pasture directly behind our privacy fence. It's kind of the best of city and country living, which was a huge reason we decided to buy this house. I even brought my almost 6 month old along in the jogging stroller.
We gathered leave, flowers, and plants that looked interesting to us, and stuck them in the storage compartment on the stroller so they didn't get crushed or blow away.

We are saving the leaves to try out some leaf stamping later. For now we are working on making some beautiful plant prints. We got two sheets of white paper and layed our flowers and stems between them, then placed them on a foam mat and started pounding them with a small hammer. This is what we ended up with -

These are fun, pretty, and not messy at all! Its A great way to create ornate cards and invitations or add decoration to envelopes when sending letters. 

Thursday Lunchbox - Tools of the Trade

I didn't manage to get a picture of the girls' lunchboxes this morning,  so I decided to give you a peek at a few of the essential tools I use to make their meals fun and portable.

This container is great for packing salads or fruits and veggies for dipping. It has an airtight built in cup that has yet to leak. I bought these at the Dollar Tree last year, and thought I'd try them out. They have become one of the best containers we have! I had 4 of them originally, but threw one out after it was left in the lunchbox over the weekend with broccoli inside :P

I'm not so frugal that I won't throw out a stinky container, and that one was STINKY! Another one got left at my grandmother's house and I haven't dug through her cabinets to find it. So we are left with two, which motivates me to wash them as soon as we get home so I can repack them for the next day. 

These silicone baking cups are great for separating dry and moist foods. I put them inside large compartments to hold snack crackers, raisins, and my favorte - side salads. They have become very popular thanks to the growing popularity of bento lunch bloggers and pinners, so they are easy to find in a variety of sizes. I recently got a 2 pack of larger ones in the bargain dollar section at Target. 

I have a variety of other plastic box containers that only have one compartment, so I use small plastic lidded bowls to hold sauce or other small items like chopped tomatoes or peanuts. The silicone bowls are actually baby food storage containers, and the lids are more secure than the others, but stain easily. I made the mistake of putting pizza sauce in 2 of them, and they are now orange and still smell like pizza after 3 washes.

Now for the fun stuff! These are mini cookie cutters that I got on spring clearance at Hobby Lobby. They work great for cutting cheese and fruit into fun bite sized shapes. 

The butterfly cutter is sandwich sized, and makes an adorable crustless sandwich. I purchased it at Dollar Tree.The round cutters cut circles on one side and are scalloped on the other side. I found this pack of 6 in tapering sizes on the cake decorating isle in Walmart for around $3. They work well for cutting tortillas and sandwiches, and the small one is perfect for cutting lunch meat into those perfect lunchable-esque rounds. They would also be great molds for shaping granola bars, crispy rice treats, or even a serving of cooked rice.

Up until now, I have had to get really creative when making kabobs for my girls (using toothpicks, chop sticks, and even plastic spoon handles), but I stopped in the Dollar Tree yesterday for a few organizational items, and found these great plastic picks. They will be used for meat, cheese, pickles, olives, and fruit, and I may even get out the glue gun to add some fun decorations to the top for an added surprse. 

I keep a variety of plastc bags in the pantry, and use them mainly for wet items like cut fruit, or to keep sandwiches fresh and soft. It's also nice to have them as a backup in case I dont  get the reusable containers washed. 

The ice packs, drink bottles, lunchboxes, and our one piece containers are with the girls at school, so I'll have to show you those later. The girls have 3 mini turkey and cheese sandwiches, pretzel sticks with peanut butter, and side salads today. Joplin picked a pear for her fruit, and Isis wanted raisins.

It may seem like a lot of stuff, but we have accumulated all of this over time. Just always be on the lookout for useful items at good prices, and eventually you'll have a nice little stockpile of tools.