Day 56

For snack D has a coconut chocolate chip granola bar.  M made her own lunch.

Today I found some whole wheat Goldfish Sandwich Thins so that was the jumping off point for today's lunch.  It's a turkey sandwich with cheese and bologna accents, nori eyes and green grape "bubbles".  I was bummed out that the sandwich thin didn't fit into any of my bento boxes...not even the fish one!

Coconut Chocolate Chip Granola bars
3 C rolled oats
1 C unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 C wheat germ
1/2 C kaniwa
2/3 C Agave syrup
2 T brown sugar
3 T coconut oil
1 egg white

Combine all the dry ingredients.  In a seperate bowl mix agave syrup, oil and egg white together, pour into dry mixture.  Stir until all dry ingredients are moistened.  Press into a greased 9 x 13in pan.  Bake in a preheated 350 oven for about 30 minutes, until the edges start to brown.  Remove from oven and cut into bars without removing from pan.  Let cool completely before trying to remove from pan.  Makes 18, 1" x 4" bars.

Day 55

D's snack today is homemade applesauce with Kashi Berry Blossom cereal and a couple rainbow sprinkles.

Bunnies and chicks for lunch!  Clearly my egg carving skills need some practice!  I also need to remember to pick up some nori at the store so I have more options for eyes!  Under the bunny I used the bunny cookie cutter as a mold for some pork fried rice, then we have clementines and the hard boiled egg chicks.

Day 54

D had the strawberries and pineapples from yesterday for snack today.  M made her own lunch.

For lunch I gave D and A, hard boiled egg bunnies and pasta salad.
For the pasta salad I used high protien pasta, olives, marinated roasted red peppers, yellow bell peppers, green beans, some juice from the pepper jar, red wine vinegar, parmesean cheese and a little Garden Salad Seasoning.

Day 53

So I packed M's lunch and D's snack last night.  M has the last of the chinese food and strawberries/pineapples.  I had packed strawberries/pineapples for D also, she was not feeling well this morning and did not go to school.

For lunch D and A had Mushroom mini ravioli with toasted walnuts and sage brown butter sauce, "Spring Flower" salad.  It's a lettuce leaf, 2 sugar snap peas, green bean, yellow and red bell peppers.

Day 52

For snack D has 3 pumpkin chocolate chip donuts and some dried cherries.  M is having white chili for lunch so she has some shredded cheddar cheese and some whole grain/multi grain chips in the black bag.

Cleaning out the cold cut drawer today.  D and A are both having ham, cheese, turkey, salami, cherry tomatoes, black olives and fresh mozzarella.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Donuts
2 C Flour
1/2 C brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
2 eggs
1/4 c milk
1/4 c applesauce (or oil)
1 C mini chocolate chips

Sift the dry ingredients together.  In a seperate bowl combine the sugar and wet ingredients together.  Pour wet mixture into dry mixture and beat till combined.  Fold in chocolate chips.  I put this into a freezer bag and snipped the corner off.  It's a stiff batter so it was easier to fill the donut cups that way.  I baked at 350 for 10 minutes or so until a toothpick inserted came out clean.

Bento4Japan

If you are interested in getting started with Bento or looking for a way to help the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Hapa Bento is having an auction.  Check it out at Bento4Japan

Day 51

I got a new mini donut pan this week and have put it right to work!

D has 2 blueberry jammy bit donuts with raspberry cereal bar stars for snack today.
Blueberry Jammy Bit Donuts

2 C Flour
3/4 C Sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 TBS Applesauce (in place of the 1 TBS melted butter the recipe called for)
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 c milk (I used skim)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 C blueberry jammy bits

Sift dry ingredients together, add in wet ingredients and jammy bits.  Beat until well blended.  Fill each donut hole 2/3 full (or mini muffin cup) bake in a 350 preheated oven for 8-10 minutes until top springs back when lightly touched.

I made M's lunch for today too.  She had left over "chinese food" and some pineapples.

I use a recipe from Hapa Bento for Shoyu Chicken...I make the marinade then put it in a small crock pot with 4 skinless chicken thighs.  I cook on high until the chicken is cooked through.  I take the chicken out and shred it.  I skim any fat off the top of the juices and put the chicken back in till I'm ready to use it.  I serve it with steamed veggies and high protein pasta.

For lunch the littles had a little bit of everything.  The faces are made from biscuit wrapped meatballs, there are sugar snap peas and yellow pepper flowers, chicken salad and cherry tomatoes.

Day 50

For snack today D has the last of the frosting from her birthday and some Honey Wheat cracker sticks.

A was not feeling well so I wanted to give her something a little easy for her tummy.  She has a jelly sandwich and some applesauce with a sugar star.  D has ham and cheese.  I used my Fairy Tale lunch punches for the first time today.  I'll be honest I didn't love them.  D started out with a pb & j sandwich which exploded when I tried to cut it out so I went with plan B...it did work out a little better and perhaps with more practice I'll get a little better at them.  The girls were very happy with their princess and frog sandwiches though so that's really all that matters.

Day 49

For snack I packed D a little cup of banana pudding with some banana slices in it.  Now last night for dessert after dinner she had the same banana pudding but used as dip for strawberries, she ate every last bit of it.  Today 1/2 the container came home...she said she didn't like it....go figure.

Lunch time was easy...with these girls you can't go wrong with bread and meatballs!  LOL  So biscuit wrapped meatball "eyes" with cheese, green olive and black olive accents, cherry tomato nose and sugar snap pea mouth.  They ate every last bite!

Day 48

For snack today D has some chopped fresh strawberries.

Today I tried my hand at bread onigiri.  It is filled will quick turkey chili.  Decorated with carrots, cheese, black olives and black sesame seeds.

Quick Turkey Chili

1lb ground turkey browned
2 T chili powder blend
1/2 c ketchup
2T mustard

Day 47

For snack today D has some Honey Wheat Cracker Sticks and a little tub of chocolate frosting left over from her birthday cake.

We had a bit of a feast for lunch today.  We started with make your own "Italian Sub" kabobs.  Ham/salami/turkey, fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, pickles and olives.  A granola bite and strawberries with pineapple for dessert!  We needed to fuel up so we can get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather while it lasts!!

Day 46

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  D has green applesauce and her "Pot O' Gold" is Cracklin' Oat Bran cereal and a couple yellow mini M&Ms.

D and A had four leaf clover grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and a clementine.

Day 45

I have been feeling uninspired lately.  Could be the weather...I'm trying to get out of my funk!

M made her own lunch today...I have grown weary of the list of complaints she comes home with daily so she can pack her own lunch for a while and learn to appreciate my efforts again...yeah right!  Anyway D has homemade greek yogurt with raspberry sauce and Cracklin' Oat Bran cereal.

D and A's lunch is breakfast empanada angels.  I used frozen empanada dough and filled them with chopped hard boiled egg, ham and cheese.  The head is a mozzarella stick.  Dress is a lettuce leaf and a grape halo.

Raspberry syrup/sauce
1 (16oz) package frozen raspberries
1/4 c water
4 packets Truvia sweetener

Put all ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.  I use my stick blender to puree it then pass it through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds.

Day 44

M has 2 sliders again and some apples.  D has her yogurt and kainwa.

D and A have spaghetti with ground turkey sausage, grapes and clementine.

Day 43

Today is D's 6th birthday so she brought Popsicles to school to share with her class at snack time.  M has 3 cheeseburger sliders, carrot "fries", multigrain chips, banana, nut, oatmeal bread and pickles and jalapenos.

The little ones had the same lunch as M with the addition of a strawberry/orange smoothie.

Day 42

Today M has chicken/broccoli alfredo, ham and cheese.  D has another yogurt cup with kainwa cruchies and sprinkles.



Poor A is still sick today.  D is on a breakfast for lunch kick so I made her turkey sausage sliders again and 1/2 an apple.

Day 41

M has some left over "pina colada" rice, chicken salad in lettuce cups and some pineapple.  D had a yogurt cup, kainwa crunchies with some sprinkles and a chocolate filled cookie.

A didn't come today.  She is under the weather.  D had an early release day from school too so her and I went out for lunch today.

Day 40

M had an early release day from school so she had lunch at home.  D has a homemade pizzelle for snack.

Lunch is pb&j pocket sandwiches with grape tomatoes.

Day 39

I didn't get around to getting the girls' lunch and snacks together last night so in the mad scramble this morning there was not time for pictures.  M had some shepard's pie left overs and some fruit.  D had a trail mix that I threw together it was Kashi berry blossom cereal, vanilla gold fish and some raspberry fruit snacks.

This morning was bright and sunny.  I woke up just knowing today was going to be better than yesterday!  With the sun shining I was ready for some signs of spring.  I made the girls chicken club salad lettuce wraps with watermelon stars and grapes on some fun fruit picks.  It's not the most beautiful watermelon I have ever seen but the girls were happy!

Chicken Club Salad
1 boneless chicken breast, diced or shredded
2 T light mayo
3 strips of cooked bacon, diced
red onion...I had a softball sized onion and I used about an 1/8 of it.  I also put the red onion in ice water after I chop it for a minute...it takes some of the bite out of it.
1T chopped fresh parsley.

Mix it all together...it's yummy!

Day 38

Monday again!! The girls have strawberries, D's with applesauce and M's with orange segments.  For M's lunch she has edamame succotash, roasted broccoli and mac n cheese.

Today did not start out great for me.  I woke up to no electricity.  It was pouring buckets outside and the wind was howling.  Some how between getting out of bed and taking D to the bus stop I lost my wedding band.  I was ready for a little sunshine by lunch time!  So today D and A are having breakfast for lunch again, but it looks bright and sunny and makes me happy!  LOL  I sliced a red pepper crosswise into rings then scrambled some egg and filled the pepper rings in the frying pan.  I cooked them on low for a few minutes then finished them off in a 350 oven.  I put them on top of buttered toast then made a carrot and red pepper flower on top.

Day 37

Today M's class is going on a trip to see the play The Crucible then they are stopping for lunch.  D has homemade yogurt with blueberries and Kaniwa crunch.

Kaniwa is a grain similar to quinoa.  I used the same recipe to make this as I did the quinoa crunch.

Quinoa Crunch

1 C quinoa, rinsed
1/2 tbs honey
1/2 tbs agave syrup
1 tbs coconut oil

This is what it looks like close up...just a little bigger than a poppy seed. 

D requested breakfast for lunch today so I used mini pancakes and cut out some homemade turkey sausage patties to make breakfast "sliders" then I made some heart (strawberry) and flower (banana) salad. 

Day 36

Today D's class celebrated their 100th day of school, so she did not need to bring a snack.  M had a half day of school and had lunch at home.

I saw this idea over at Lunches Fit For A Kid.  I thought it was cute! So we have ham and chees rolled up and slid through a hard boild egg "ring", toast with a fruit leather girl.

The girls and I were alone for dinner tonight so I made a "clean out the fridge quiche" and had some fun making D's plate.

The quiche has onions, red peppers, spinach, shaved steak and cheddar cheese. I cut it into rounds and put it on top of a pan fried polenta round.  Green beans, carrots, american cheese and 2 raisins to decorate.

Day 35

M is having Beef Stew for lunch today so that is not pictured.  Here is D's snack granola bite with a sugar star and M has a clementine, garlic roll and some spicy pub snack mix.

D and A have beef stew, garlic roll and a red pepper/clementine flower.

Garlic Roll
1 batch of  pizza dough
2 Tbs butter
1 large clove garlic minced
1 egg
1 Tbs milk or water

In a small sauce pan melt butter and add garlic, heat for one minute.  Remove from heat and let sit while you prepare the dough.  Roll pizza dough into a rectangle about 1/8" thick.  Brush the pizza dough with butter/garlic mixture leaving a 1/4" border all the way around.  From the long side roll the dough like you would for cinnamon rolls, wetting the edges with a little water and pinching the ends to form a seal.  Slice into 1 to 1 1/2 inch thick slices and put into the buttered cups of a full size muffin tin.  Cover with a towel and let rise for one hour. Beat the egg and milk/water together and brush the tops of the rolls.  Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.

Day 34

For lunch today M had Chicken Mozambique, well our version of chicken mozambique!  LOL  I have made it so many times and from memory so it probably bears very little resemblance to actual chicken mozambique.  Anyway I packed that hot into a thermos this morning so it is not pictured.  Here we have D's snack which is the pineapples with cherries, then M has some pineapples, a granola bite and in the reusable bag is a hamburger bun for her chicken.

Today I went to Whole Foods with out having eaten breakfast.  BAD IDEA!!  I actually didn't spend too much money but I did splurge on the salad bar so today we have a little bit of everything....a tasting menu if you will!  Both plates are the same so top plate, top L purple cup Soybean Succotash, top R cup Tofu with shoyu (sooo yummy, should have gotten more of that!), bottom L pink cup Turkey Club salad, bottom R quinoa salad with chicken, grapes and almonds.  With some Star Fruit on the side.  The girls loved everything but the quinoa salad and really I didn't love that either....tasted like they made it without rinsing the quinoa first.  Other than that it was all very yummy and we were all full and happy!