10/11

Lunches for today, Oct 11, 2011

7 yr old- Egg salad, GF rice crackers for dipping. Babybel cheese, 4 gluten free mini cookies, 2 dates. Strawberries and pear slices, celery with sunbutter and chocolate. Tiny dill pickles on a stick.  Yogurt and banana for afternoon snack.

She reports- "The yogurt was gross, I hated it! (tried a new brand, dairy free almond milk yogurt. Apparently NOT a keeper, LOL!)  also- "I loved the egg salad. and I like my bell cheese better when you make it cute" (ok, so noted- cute babybel cheese!)

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15 yr old- Tuna salad, GF rice crackers to dip. Strawberries, HB egg, celery with cream cheese. 5 mini GF cookies, 2 dates. Orange.

He reports- " I loved my lunch today, the tuna was really good, did you do something different? I also like those brown things, what are they called?" Dates. They're dates, lol. Also nothing different with the tuna. Just olive oil mayo, onion and relish.

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 17 yr old- Tuna salad, GF rice crackers for dipping, strawberries, babybel cheese, celery with cream cheese, mini GF cookies, 2 dates. Banana.

She reported- " I ate everything, so apparently I liked it" as she walked away texting her boyfriend. LOL!

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Todays pictures are very dark. My cell camera is not the best. If it wasn't such a PITA to use my digital camera and upload pics from it each time I'd take much better pictures. Hopefully they aren't so bad you can't get the general idea...

Also, a real life friend suggested I ask the kids to report on what they liked or didn't like in their lunches so I'll be doing that from now on :)

10/10

I realize I've skipped a week of lunches. It has been a hectic couple of weeks around here. My 17yr is a Senior in High School and we've been doing the College application thing, Senior pictures (taken by me) Homecoming Dance, AND parent teacher conferences for all 3 in one day. I haven't had time to post the pictures of their lunches. I did take pictures though! I've been so exhausted. I'm also an avid knitter and it is almost the Holiday season so around this time of year is when I am staying up way too late to finish gifts :)

I figured I would start fresh with this week!

Today my kiddos ate-

17 yr old- ham,turkey,salami rolls (all three rolled together) a babybel cheese, celery with cream cheese, colby cheese squares, strawberry, melon and gluten free chips. And a tangerine.

She reported- "My lunch was so good, I ate every single bite!"

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15 yo old- Ham, turkey and salami rolls, babybel cheese, celery with cream cheese, grumpy HB egg, strawberry, melon, GF chips and a tangerine.
He reported- "My food was really yummy today, but my chips were soggy" I asked how they could be soggy and he replied " I dunno, they had water in them" Since there was no water in his lunch box we concluded that some juice from his melon must have seeped over. We also concluded that he must not have kept his lunch box upright. He confessed to "tossing" it into his locker, and swinging it around on his way to lunch. Not my fault he had soggy chips! Maybe he will learn now, LOL!

7 yr old- 2 ham, turkey and salami rolls, babybel cheese, celery with cream cheese, flower painted HB egg, melon and GF chips. A pear for afternoon snack, which she switched out for a small apple and a cheese stick this morning.

She reports- "I liked my lunch today, the flower cut out was cute. I wanted more strawberries though. And I liked the flower on the HB egg." I asked her if she ate the egg (before I unpacked her lunchbox) and she replied " well.. I didn't really have much time, so I took one bite at least!" She did eat everything else, including her apple and cheese for snack.

9/30

For my 15 yo-

Egg salad, GF crackers, hummus and carrots. Grapes and orange slices, cheese skull (by my husband) with red eyes and a dagger in his mouth. GF animal crackers, yogurt, trail mix and an orange.

For my 17 yo-

Ham and salami, black olives, cheese,GF crackers. Flower carrots, grapes, GF animal crackers. Trail mix, yogurt, apple.

For my 7 yo-

Flower theme!
Flower hardboiled eggs. kiwi, babybel cheese, carrots, grapes, black olives, GF animal crackers. Yogurt, trail mix and an orange.
She will pick two things to have as afternoon snack. Usually its the yogurt and orange.

My 3yr old ate HB egg, black olives, apple and grapes, trail mix, flax crackers with cheese and banana with nutella. He ate everything except the egg yolks which he usually gives to me.

9/29

Todays lunches make me giggle. I know it is way too early to be doing Halloween stuff but I just couldn't help myself. It must be because I took my teenagers out shopping this evening for Halloween costume ideas and Halloween is one of my most favorite Holidays ever!

For my 17 yo- Pumpkin shaped rice onigiri. Nori faces cut by my husband. Grapes, pepperoni and cheese, orange slices, greek yogurt with local raw honey and dark chocolate swirls, home made trail mix.

 For my 7 yo- Pumpkin shaped rice onigiri. Nori faces cut by my husband. Grapes, pepperoni and cheese, orange slices. In the cat container she has homemade trail mix, in the monkey container she has greek yogurt with local raw honey and dark chocolate swirls, and a baby banana. She will choose one or two (depending on how hungry she is) of the side dishes for her afternoon snack.

The rice is colored with food coloring. I know it isn't natural or healthy but I was standing there cooking the rice and trying to figure out what shapes to make when I saw my pumpkin cookie cutters and inspiration hit me. If I had thought of this in advance I probably would have attempted a more natural coloring choice, but for now this will have to do. To make them I used two pumpkin shaped cutters, one of those solid ones with the lines and a thicker one thats just pumpkin shaped. I lined everything with saran wrap and pressed the rice through the thick cutter and onto the solid lined one. Then I gently removed the rice from the plastic wrap. I was SO giddy at how well these turned out! The smaller ones were made the same way but with my mini pumpkin cutter.
I ended up with enough rice to make 4 more mini pumpkins so I put those in the fridge for my 3yr old to have later.

You'll notice my 15yr old son does not have rice onigiri. He doesn't like "sticky rice" and prefers that I not send it in his lunch. So I whipped up a batch of chicken salad for him tonight.
Chicken salad, GF rice crackers for scooping, pepperoni and cheese, carrot sticks and a small container of hummus. Grapes. Homemade trail mix, greek yogurt with local raw honey and dark chocolate swirls.

9/28

15 yo- He requested ham and salami again. I also included jack-o-carrots (a big hit, he thought they were hilarious!) some cheese, half a pear, dried date. Olives and a bowl of greek yogurt with honey and chocolate swirls.

17yo- Spaghetti squash with home made sauce. Some cheese sprinkled on top. Half a pear, acorn shaped carrots and greek yogurt with honey and chocolate swirls.

7 yo- Cubed chicken breast, jack-o-carrots and carrot kittys. Flower and leaf cheese (found a new leaf cutter I didn't know I had!) olives, home made trail mix. greek yogurt with honey and chocolate swirls and a small apple for afternoon snack.

I also included an apple with the teenagers lunches but forgot to photo those.

My 3 yr old just finished his lunch "snack tray" as he calls it. He had-

Pepperoni and cheese on sticks, a kiwi fruit, grapes. Gluten free cookies, black olives, a dill pickle and some homemade trail mix.

9/27

I had something different planned for todays lunches, left overs from dinner. (Mini taco salads) But there was some miscommunication and the teenagers polished off the leftovers. So I had to come up with something else.

For my 15 yr old DS -

Ham and salami. Jack-o-carrots. Pepperoni and cheese circles. Bell pepper slices. GF muffin and some lemon bumble bar. Apple.

For my 17yo DD-

Ham and Salami flower (I tried to make it look like a flower anyway, I need more practice!) green bell pepper leaves. Pepperoni and cheese center. GF muffin, lemon bumble bar, bell pepper slices, heart and flower carrots. Apple.

For my 7yo DD-

Exactly the same as her big sister. Except she gets a pear for afternoon snack.

I know my leaves are more tree leaves than flower leaves, but its the only leaf cookie cutter I have. I need to wait for some after Holiday clearance sales to stock up on more themed cutters :)

9/26

Oh dear, I skipped a few days of lunches there huh? I promise that I fed my kids! LOL! I even took pictures, but I forgot to post them. I just finished prepping lunches for tomorrow so its on my mind right this moment to post these. I'll get around to uploading the 2 days I missed, maybe tomorrow.

For my 7yo (above)
Gluten free chicken nuggets. Locally made GF BBQ sauce (purchased at our farmers market), pear slices. Baby dill pickles, tomato, cheese and basil sticks. Cucumber flowers and some adorable tiny carrots that my DD picked from the ground herself :) Tiny banana for afternoon snack.

For my 17yo (above)
Grilled chicken breast, GF Locally made BBQ sauce, baby dill pickles, cucumber slices, cherry tomatoes, cherry flavored bumble bar and cheese. Apple.

For my 15 yo (above)
All the same things as my 17yo except he gets a pear.

Often times my meals will repeat. Because we don't do grains I am having to think outside of the "bread box". Also my kids will request repeats. I don't always like to prepare the same meal in a week but if they want something again I will oblige if its easier for me :) For example the other day my 15yo requested that I make egg salad for him. The other two don't like egg salad, so one got a deviled egg and the other got something totally different because she thinks HB eggs are "gross, ew!" heh. (One of the meals I need to upload later!)

9/21

Todays lunches are mostly the same. We had an unexpected over night guest last night and since he was going to school too I made an extra lunch. Can't let kids go hungry, even if they aren't mine!

Since I had an extra kid I didn't have enough food set aside for lunches and needed to think about something else instead.

While pondering what to make since I had an extra mouth to feed my teen son came into the kitchen and asked what was for lunch. I told him I had to ponder for a moment and come up with something and he said "hey, could you make that chicken salad again? That was really good!" So, they all get chicken salad. Easy!  How I make mine  at bottom of post.

For my 7yo-
Chicken salad, GF rice crackers for dipping, Purple sweet potato flowers, red bell pepper slices, white cheddar cheese slices. Cantaloupe and a dark chocolate square with a bumble bar. Pear for afternoon snack.

For my 15yo-
Chicken salad, GF rice crackers, hard boiled egg, red bell peppers, purple sweet potato stars, cantaloupe, dark chocolate square, bumble bar, and a peach.

For my 17yo-
Chicken salad, lettuce for wraps, red bell peppers, purple potato flowers, cantaloupe, dark chocolate square, bumble bar and an apple.

For our guest-
Chicken salad, lettuce for wraps, red bell pepper, purple potato stars, cantaloupe, dark chocolate square and bumble bar, pear.


For my chicken salad- Its really easy and apparently my kids think its the best ever, lol. Also I don't measure anything exactly but this is basically what I do...

I cook 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the pressure cooker,  I then remove and shred into a bowl. I add half a small onion diced, half a small apple diced, run half a carrot over the shredder and plop in two spoonfuls of mayo made with olive oil. A little salt and pepper and call it done. Its fairly simple and quick to make if you cook the chicken in a pressure cooker! My chicken breasts went from frozen to cooked tender and shredded in about 35 min!

9/20

The first two lunches today are packed into our Easy Lunch Boxes  The one for my 7yo is packed into her little bento box she picked out.

17yo DD-
Ham rolls, cheese squares, red bell pepper, small plum.
Homemade trail mix, bumblebee bar, black olives, dark chocolate square. Apple.

 

15 yo DS-

Egg salad, rice crackers to dip, cheese squares, small plum, bumblebee bar, homemade trail mix, black olives, dark chocolate square. Nectarine.

7 yo DD-
2 hard boiled egg flowers, small golden plum, red bell pepper slices, 3 purple tomatoes, bumblebee bar, black olives, cheese, trail mix. greek yogurt with a drizzle of honey and some dark chocolate flakes, pear.

9/19

Todays lunches are again very similar. I love that all my kids have mostly the same tastes in foods. Now if only I could get them to agree on music and movies! It would be so much calmer around here, haha.

All three lunches packed into my favorite containers- Easy Lunch Boxes!

For my 17 yr old-

Chicken salad, lettuce (for wraps) cheese on sticks, melon, cucumber slices under carrot and bell pepper slices. An apple and a small container of homemade trail mix.

My 15 yr old got the same things as the 17yr old. :)

Just a bit different for my 7yr old. She didn't want lettuce wraps. She felt like it would be hard to keep her chicken salad in the lettuce (she does not like when her food falls out of her lettuce, taco night is an adventure around here!)
So for her she has chicken salad, gluten free tortilla chips to dip, cucumber flowers, tomato, basil and mozzarella sticks, tiny gold plum, melon, carrots and green pepper slices. A pear and home made trail mix for afternoon snack.