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.

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

Tuesday lunchbox

We are back at school today after a nice 3 day weekend. We made an impromptu trip south to get Joplin some decent sneakers, so I stopped in Aldi and got a few extra goodies for the girls' lunches.

They will both be enjoying honey roasted peanuts and unsweetened apple sauce, about half a diced fresh tomato, and organic cheese cracker bunnies. The spoon is doing double duty as the skewer for kabobs with colby jack cheese and preservative-free turkey dog slices. There was just a bit of cheese left in the block, so i chunked it and added it alongside the kabob. l'll also toss in a fruitables juice box, which i got 10 for $2.24 at Aldi - score!