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.

9/20

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.

9/16

3 very similar lunches today.

17 yo DD- chicken breast, babybel cheese, cucumber slices, purple sweet potato hearts. bowl of grapes and 3 apple bunnies. Small bowl of homemade trail mix with a dried date.
Included but not pictured is a nectarine and 1/3 of a bumble bar.

15 yo DS- Same as above, except I'm following his "no flowers Mom, geez" rule :) So his purple sweet potatoes are just circles. (I planned to do star shapes but the 3 yr old ran off with my tiny star I think!)
Included but not pictured, also a nectarine and 1/3 of a bumble bar.

7 yr old DD- chicken breast, white cheddar squares, flower cucumbers, purple heart and flower sweet potato, homemade trail mix (no almonds) and grapes with 2 apple bunnies.
Included but not pictured- the last 1/3 of the bumble bar small bowl of yogurt and a container of grapes and cheese for afternoon snack.

Note about Bumble Bars- I found these in my local "discount grocery store" They were 4 bars for $1.00. I got a dozen of them. I didn't think the kids would like them very much since they're made with sesame and flax seeds and a bunch of other really good for you but sound weird ingredients, LOL!
So I planned to just give them to my husband in his lunches and keep a few in my purse for those moments where you just NEED to eat something right this minute or you might faint :) Turns out all of my kids really, really, REALLY like them!  I bought the Almond, Chocolate and Lemon. My favorite is the lemon flavor. I think they're sized pretty big for a kid so when I pack them into lunches I cut each one into thirds and split them among the boxes. My 3yr old really likes them too, he asks several times a day for a "bumble bee bar pweese?"

I included a link to their website for anyone who was curious about them. I did not receive any money or free food for this mention. Though if the people at Bumble Bars wanted to send me some more yummy Lemon bars, I wouldn't complain! :)

9/15

7 yo DD-
Bottom- Gluten Free sunbutter sandwich, black grapes. In the star container there is a homemade "trail mix" including raisins, craisins, sunflower seeds, fresh coconut flakes and some dark chocolate swirls.

Top- Purple sweet potato flowers, tomato, basil and mozzarella cheese on sticks, black olives on sticks. Flower shaped cucumbers and a babybel cheese made into a lady bug. I used a hole punch for the circles and cut the deco items out of a sheet of Nori. Attached them to the wax with a tiny dob of honey. Afternoon snack is full fat yogurt with a few dark chocolate swirls.

17 yo DD- Peanut butter and Nutella sandwich on Gluten Free bread, corn on the cob with a pat of organic butter, carrot sticks and black grapes. I wrote on her bread with an edible food marker. You can find those in any of your "big box" stores in the cake decorating isle.
Babybel cheese in a lady bug, nectarine slices and some home made "trail mix" containing all the same as the 7yo above, but with almonds. Not pictured is a bowl of full fat yogurt with dark chocolate swirls.

15 yo DS- Ham sandwich on Gluten Free bread, cherry tomatoes on a stick, carrot sticks, Babybel cheese made into a "monster". Nectarine slices, home made trail mix. Hummus for his carrots and of course full fat yogurt with dark chocolate swirls.

3 yo DS-
Pepperoni stick (he requested that I do not cut his "boomer stick" up, which means it will be used as a sword or gun before he eats it, LOL!) cheese squares, homemade trail mix and 3 purple tomatoes.
Grapes, peach slices, cucumber slices and avocado.