0 Provolone Moon Sandwich, Ham Cubes with Bats

 October 29 2012

Lunch: Turkey Sandwich with Provolone Cheese Moon. Ham cubes with cute Bat Picks.  Cheese Tortillas hiding under napkin. Tomatoes in halloween cupcake cup.

Snacks:  Bear Hard Boiled Eggs (refer to previous post for DIY instructions), Ham or Cheese, Grapes, with Halloween tooth picks.

YumLunch?  Yes. Although, minor issues with the cheese. If it winds up being eaten in the late afternoon, it starts to get sweaty, and boy doesn't finish.  Will try freezing cubes, and see if that works better.

Cute pics of the boy:  Pumpkin husband carved (boy drew what he wanted on dry erase board).  Cool battery run candle that changes color. Photo was shot while it was green. Spooky.

0 PB Sandwich with Cheese Cutouts, Bunnies, Cheese Cubes.

October 25, 2012

Lunch: Plain PB sandwich with cute heart cut outs from cheese my son said he didn't like. Wos. Way to go Mommy. Grapes and Tomatoes.

Snack AM: Plums, Cheese Cubes, and Annies Cheddar Bunnies.

Snack PM: PB sandwich and bunnies.

Yum Lunch? 
Yep. All Gone. Even the Cheese hearts.

Sidebar: Trader Joe's sells buckets of plums for something ridiculous like $3, and they are great in lunches.

0 Cream Cheese Crackers, Turkey Rolls, Tortilla Rollups

October 24, 2012

Snack AM: Tomatoes in halloween cupcake-cup,  Cream Cheese Crackers, solitary TJ Turkey Rolls, American Cheese Flower Cutouts.

Snack PM: Cream Cheese Crackers, Carrots, American Cheese Cutouts, More TJ Turkey.

Lunch: Trader Joe's Turkey - just a solitary roll of meat. Tortilla with cream cheese. Cream Cheese Crackers. Hearts from AmericanCheese.


YumLunch? 
Not sure.  Boy says he ran out of time. Turkey rolls and Cheese Cut-outs weren't all gone.

The turkey is super organic, no preservatives, etc., from Trader Joe's. For the record, it sort of smells like a foot when removed from the packaging, but tastes good. It is also really wet -- so I blot with a paper towel before putting in the lunch.

Boy also said he didn't really like the taste of the American Cheese. This is only a bummer because as a creative medium, the American cheese is really cute when using cookie cutters. But as a Mom, who is gently trying to shape and prejudice my son's palette to like healthy food, I have to be happy - he's having a princess and the pea reaction to highly processed cheese, and prefers "regular" "real" cheese.

0 Halloween Theme: Franken-Pear Sandwich and Bat Toothpicks

October 23, 2012

Lunch: Pear. wrapped in cellophane. Drew onto cellophane with a Sharpie, to make a FrankenSammie (a little smeary, but you get the idea).  Sandwich is a simple PB. HardBoiled egg, in Shell with Cat Sticker. Grape Tomatoes in Halloween cupcake paper cup.

Snack AM: Other half of pear, sliced and wrapped in cellophane. Cheese cubes with Bat picks.

Snack PM: PB sandwich and grapes.

YumLunch? 
Yep. All Gone.


Sidebar: Teachers complained (within earshot of my son, and his peers) that his egg was way too messy.  I'm not exactly pleased with the adults in the room complaining about his healthy food and making him feel bad about his lunch. That being said, my kid is totally messy with his food, and it probably is a drag to clean up his crumbs day after day.  My reco? Give him a dustpan and make it a fun game/song to cleanup his mess after lunch. That's what we do at home. 

0 Will My Kid Eat Cold Shrimp Cocktail? Chicken Lingonberry Croissants.

October 22, 2012     8th Week of School

Lunch: My boy loves fish - and who doesn't like a cold shrimp cocktail once in awhile?  Trying to send chilled shrimp (cooked last night) along with a chicken lingonberry croissant sandwich, and plum.

Snack AM: 1/2 Lingonberry Chix Sammy, Grapes

Snack PM: 1/2 Lingon-Chix Sammy, Tomatoes.

Extra Snack:  D has a hoops class after school, and is picked up 80 minutes later than normal. He needs extra energy!  Chicken and Potato Chips. Note: Boy was asked to eat chicken first, and that chips were reward for finishing.

YumLunch?  
Shrimp Fail. Boo.  Sandwiches and Fruit gone. Extra Snack not finished.

0 Hot Lunch: Bow Ties, Snack: Hard Boiled Egg Robots, Chicken

October 19, 2012

Lunch:  Bought New Fantastic LunchBots Stainless Steel Food Container. Attempting to pack hot lunch again (See Previous Hot Lunch Post). Boiled water, poured over LunchBot Tin, while it sat in a collander. Heated left over bow ties and marinara sauce in microwave. Placed into Tin Foil, sealed in LunchBot Tin, and placed in insulated lunch box. Let's hope it works.

Snacks: Hard Boiled Eggs in Robot Containers, Leftover Rotisserie Chicken.

YumLunch? Hot Lunch?
Lunch All Gone! Boy said bow ties were warm.
Lot's of left over egg. Boy said not enough time to eat his snack - again. What is up with snack time?

LunchBots Stainless Steel Food Container

0 Space Theme: Egg Robots, PB Stars, Crescent Moon, Plum Moon

October 17, 2012

Lunch:  Hard Boiled Egg in Cute Robot Container, Plum (moon), Croissant Moon Sandwich (Turkey Lingonberry Croissant - see previous post same), Star PB sandwich on homemade bread.

Snack AM: Chicken (Rotisserie Left Overs), Kiwi with cute Bento Picks.

Snack PM: Plum, Munster Cheese Slices, Turkey Roll.

Yum Lunch? 
60% Yum...
Lunch-Egg wasn't eaten all the way.  Turkey and Cheese left over - Boy said he didn't have enough time to eat all his lunch, and PM Snack.  His mood was crummy too when I picked him up. Food-Mood Connection: his mood is typically bad when he doesn't get his  protein.

0 Turkey Lingonberry Croissant Sandwich

October 16, 2012

Lunch:  Trader Joe's Turkey (Organic, with no preservatives. Tastes great, but kind of smells vaguely like foot when you take it out of the package), on Aldi Croissants with small dab of Lingonberry Jelly; Organic Gala Apple with Pumpkin face carved; Organic grapes; tomatoes.

Snack AM:  Grapes, Cheese, 1/2 Turkey Croissant Sandwich.

Snack PM: 1/2 Turkey Sandwich, tomatoes.

YumLunch? 
Yep. All Gone!

0 Birthday Lunch! Tamago Egg, Pears, Cute Hard Boiled Egg Molds

October 15, 2012       7th Week of School

Lunch: The lunch pictured is actually a birthday lunch I packed for my friend Sarah, whom I have not seen for ages, and whom I will get to spend the whole day with! Yay!  Tamago Omelet Egg Hearts, Bunny Hard Boiled Egg Molds, Grapes, Carrots (under Bunnies) and mixed nuts in small container (under Tamago).

Lunch for Boy: Tamago (not in cute shapes). Hard Boiled egg inside robot / rocket container. PB Sam.

Snacks: Tamago, H.B. Egg Mold (Bear), grapes.

At the bean, with friends, family and
Sarah, on her birthday (yesterday.)
Happy Birthday Sarah. 

Boy's Lunch. It's super protein day - because
there is a birthday treat for a fellow student. 

YumLunch?
Double Yum Good! Sarah and I had a delicious lunch, and the boy ate most everything, with a smidge of tamago left over (he was full)

Boy's snacks. 

0 Attempting to Pack Hot Lunch: Mac Cheese in Foil

October 12, 2012

Lunch:  NOT A GLAMOUR SHOT -- I know. Steaming hot Mac & Cheese packed in double layer of tinfoil. Paired with PB sandwich (no jelly*).  Why, you ask? The boy has complained that lunches are SOOOOOO cold (Thanks to Fit & Fresh Cool Coolers Ice Packs )  Can he have hot lunch?  While his school does offer a hot lunch program, I am lame, and have missed the sign up now, thrice.

Snack AM: Ham Rolls, Tortilla Rolls filled with Cream Cheese, Colby Jack slices.

Snack PM: PB Sandwich, Tomatoes, Cheese.

YumLunch? Hot Lunch?
Lunch all gone - Boy said it was warm.  Cheese in the Snacks not totally gone -- it gets kind of melty later in the day, despite chilling. Frozen cheese cubes have a better track record staying fresh and getting eaten.

*For the record, whenever I say I'm making PB sandwiches, there is never jelly.  I'm sure the boy would love jelly with his PB - but I personally dislike the taste of this traditional combo, so I simply refuse to add the J to PB. Also, as an avid fan of Dr. Lustig, and his video "Sugar: The Bitter Truth," combined with my child's hypoglycemic metabolization, I skip the sugar whenever possible. That being said, I am not consistent, and sometimes pair jelly with meat - such as Lingonberry jelly with cornbread and chicken bites.  I have not trouble getting my boy to eat straight PB.  Sometimes meat needs a little help. Bluff totally called.

Hot Mac Cheese all wrapped up.

Dr. Lustig's Video: Sugar - The Bitter Truth

0 Fall! Ham, Ham Sandwich, PB Tortilla; Leaf and Pumpkin Cheese Cutouts

October 11, 2012


The Boy's PK class has a fall theme this week - they are studying trees and leaves and pumpkins.

Lunch: Ham Cream Cheese Sandwich cut outs Leafs, White and Yellow American Cheese Leaf and Pumpkin Cut-outs, Tree Trunk Tortilla with PEANUT BUTTER in it. (Boy asked me to put PB in tortilla. I say "What? " I think it will be gross, and give him small sample. Boy pre-approves the taste as YUM. Go figure.)

Snack AM: Grapes, Cheese.

Snack PM: Ham Rolls, American Cheese Pumpkin Cutouts, Grapes, Carrots.

YumLunch?
Mostly Yum.  Some ham rolls and pumpkin cut outs didn't get eaten. Boy says he ran out of time during snack.








Products Used:  Small Leaf / Pumpkin cookie cutter from Sur La Table, however, I can't rave. They rust very easily, even if you wash gently.

0 I Heart You Ham! Ham Sandwich & Ham Rolls

October 10, 2012        6th Week of School

After a long Columbus four-day-weekend, I have lots of creative energy this morning and a large and very small heart shaped cookie cutter.

Lunch: Ham and Cream Cheese (Heart) Sandwich, Peanut Butter Sandwich, Grapes

Snack AM:  Carrots with small "mayo" container (from eBay) full of Bolthouse Blue Cheese Yogurt Dressing, Tortillas with Cream Cheese.

Snack PM: Ham Rolls with Grape Tomatoes

Yum Lunch?
All Gone!

Mayo Container,
Found on eBay

Sausage Cutter Kit,
Found on eBay

0 Potbelly Sandwich Leftovers, PB, Cream Cheese Cracker Sammys

Thursday Oct. 4, 2012

Lunch: An unglamorous, but delicious, potbelly chicken and cheddar sandwich, leftover from night before. Wrapped in aluminum foil because I warmed it up a little in the microwave. A few leftover potato chips, some pretzels, tomatoes, carrots.

Snack AM: Crackers with Cream Cheese and Colby Jack slices.

Snack PM: Peanut Butter Sandwich, Grapes

YumLunch? 
Yes!

0 Not Sweet Eats -Veggies, Fruit, and Salty Snacks for Halloween

Halloween brings with it a slew of party events for your family. Here are some fun, cute items for the snack table that won't crank your kid's insulin levels way up.  For more great ideas, check out Green Halloween for lots of earth friendly alternative ideas for Halloween Handouts.

Before you dismiss me as some health nut, or sugar buzz-kill, hear me out. Our kid has CVS (see previous post) and he's hypoglycemic. We want our kid to participate in general Americana Holidays, but would prefer to avoid buckets of barf and low-blood-sugar meltdowns.

Much like Valentine's Day and Easter, Halloween is a Hershy/Halmark Candy/Card conspiracy. And, as a result of aforementioned vomit and meltdowns, I am dreading Halloween a tiny bit.  But I'm looking forward to it too.  Let's face it -- these Holidays are fun! Halloween might be the most fun of all, especially if, like the Dean on Community, you have a storage unit full of weird shoes, Goth-get-ups, wigs, and costumes, um, like no one I know.

So boil an egg, cut up some apples, or buy some mini-pretzels when you set up your Halloween buffet.

0 Avoiding Sugar: Halloween Handouts - Treats without the Sweets

Like me, some of you might be scrambling to assemble homemade costumes, and purchase treats to handout Halloween night. We have to avoid chocolate (see previous blog entry here), unless we want to deal with buckets of barf.

Here are some suggestions for things you can hand out as treasures and "treats" without the sweet. Some are salty snacks, some are toys, some are just silly. All of these are on Amazon, and most are eligible for Prime shipping - so you can get them before 10/31.

Enjoy!

0 Wacky Wednesday

Wacky Wednesday, Oct 3, 2012


Our son's teacher told us this is opposite week, and the kids would meet Ms. Wacky W. Today is wacky opposite hair day. My son is blonde, so we found a purple hairspray (purple is opposite yellow on the color wheel). Also, my son has not yet adopted any gender color bias yet.

We styled his hair in a purple faux-hawk. We shrouded him in towels and sprayed the purple stuff, then ran out of the bathroom because the smell was so noxious.

Lunch: Opposite sandwich - ham on outside. Cream cheese spread instead of mayo. Cut into wacky W.

Snack: Wrong Way Car on Carrot road. Wrong way sign cut out leftover from sandwich.

Snack: Hard Boiled Egg Car, some Rotisserie Chicken, Grapes.

YumLunch?
Yep. All Gone

0 Happy Anniversary!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Lunch: a slightly less successful tamago omelet (I tinkered with the recipe, and added too much oil to my pan) in heart and birdie shapes, topped with American cheese to cover up the slap-dash tamago. It tasted fine, but didnt hold its shape as well as the last batch. Strawberries in heart shapes, peaches in flower shapes, and Cheerios. (I know - O's seem like a lame lunch item, but the boy has been begging for them lately).

Snack: more heart strawberries, tamago heart, Annie's bunny pretzels.

Snack: hearts, cheese with cute flower picks, more bunnyzels.

YumLunch?
All gone - but... This was not enough food. For a second I wondered as I was packing it all up, and now it seems more obvious looking at the snap shots from this morning.  Insert appropriate maternal guilt here.

Consequently, Boy very hungry and less than cooperative by the time our family sat down to celebrate my husband's and my wedding anniversary.

Thank you to the patient staff at Fin Sushi who did not bat an eye, when we asked for a small soy sauce container filled with water so my son could water-paint his anniversary card. Nor did they flinch when we asked for more napkins, more chopsticks, more rice, more napkins, more napkins again, please, and would they please be so kind as to box pretty much everything we ordered for the boy.

Thanks also to my wonderful husband who kindly and patiently explained to our son why he shouldn't sing at the top of his lungs, rock and dance like a person with no spine, and why laying like a drunk frat boy, on the shared bench seating, so that his feet were touching the couple seated next to us - well, why that was in bad form.

Thank you also, kind husband, for cupcakes, milk, pie, clean dishes, banjo music, putting tired boy to bed, cuddles, helping with snacks and other morning chaos.  Also, thanks for constantly exposing me to funny pop culture things that I would otherwise miss, and making me laugh every day.