Pizza Muffins

Have I ever mentioned my love for the Dollar Tree? I can pick up holiday themed food picks and the cupcake liners for $1! Can't beat that!

This morning I was feeling a little bored with sandwiches. The minions? They really didn't care. They will eat sandwiches every day of the week... Except when they want hot lunch. This is also my effort in keeping them from wanting school lunch. Something different is good.



This morning I made little pizza muffins! Last week I saw a post that used dough, eggs, and bacon to make breakfast muffins. I thought that would make a pretty good lunch item if I changed the contents. So my pizza muffins have a little sauce, cheese, and pepperoni.  Add a little egg wash on top and they are ready to go in the toaster oven.

For lunch we have carrots, grapes, mini chocolate chips, sunflower seeds with dried prunes, and the pizza muffins.

For snack we have raisins, banana chips, sunflower seeds (a current favorite) and pumpkin seeds.

Here is the link to the post on the breakfast muffins.

You certainly don't need to use the canned muffins.  This would work too. You can make some so they are ready to go for future use. Or you can use the leftover dough to make rolls for dinner. Either way, it all works out in the end.

Here is a moment of happiness for everyone, the best of Grumpy Cat. I love Grumpy Cat.

Darth Vader

I popped some popcorn (in a pot) last night. I decided the boy needed a bit of change in their snack. 

I am trying to pace myself with the cookie cutters. Then the Star Wars light saber food picks came from Amazon. If you want them, I suggest looking around for the cheapest one on Amazon. I paid about $6 for 12 of them. I have seen them as high as $12 for 12.

Under the cheese stick is a combination of peanuts and chocolate covered raisins.

Will Dance For Brains

I was a little bored. The minions wanted zombies again. Luckily for me, some new cookie cutters came. I had ordered some smaller ones. One happened to be a brain. Yes, Ebay is becoming an addiction. Anyway, I pulled out the dancing zombie cookie cutter and my brain cookie cutter. Both are peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches. Karl wanted the jewel picks today. Behind the string cheese are peanuts. 

Snack consists of banana chips and grapes.

Plants Vs. Zombies

Yeah! Plants Vs. Zombies cookie cutter finally came! I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, grapes, carrots, cucumber, string cheese and chocolate covered raisins.

1Up

Snack is alphabet pretzels, WOW Butter, and apples.

Karl requested the 1up mushrooms for lunch. They are ham sandwiches. We also have mandarin oranges, tomatoes, cucumber (no one will eat that but...) string cheese, and chocolate covered raisins.

Zombie Hunter

Baby banana with a slit in the top for easy opening and popcorn from Aunt Agnes.

We have a zombie hunter lunch today. Carrots, grapes, yogurt tube (I freeze them), gummy bears, Ninja sandwich and a zombie sandwich. I found the ninja sword lunch pick on Amazon.

Mario Lunch

Karl has been asking for a kiwi. We have kiwi, a baby banana, and pretzels.

I used my new Mario and mushroom cookie cutters today on a ham sandwich. I also have a yogurt tube, carrots, grapes, and a fruit snack.

Easy lunch 2

The boys have been eating their pretzels but leaving all their veggies. So I lessened the amount of pretzels.

 

The last of the subs and croissants were eaten by the boys today. The space food pick were such a hit, I decided to use them again. 

Easy lunch day

Aunt Agnes brought the minions some popcorn.  Snack today is popcorn, apple, and wowbutter. Three of the classrooms in the hall my older 2 minions are in are nut free classes. So I have been trying to make sure snack is nut free.

The Elder ordered subs and croissants from a coworker. I had 3 left after we had the for lunch when Aunt Julie was visiting. I figured they would make decent lunches for the boys.  The lunch picks were purchased off Ebay for $4. 

Zombie lunch

I found my dancing zombie cookie cutter! That brought me great excitement. We have a peanut butter and jelly zombie, cheese stick, gummy bears, carrots, cucumber, and grapes. Yes, carrots and grapes are staples. I know that I can buy them on Saturday and they will still be good for lunches on Friday.

Snack is Wowbutter, apples, and carrots.

Lego Figure

How come Ebay and Etsy always have the coolest cookie cutters? That's right! We are using another cookie cutter that came in the mail. Today I am using our 4inch Lego figure cookie cutter. You can get 2 men per sandwich. Maybe 3 if you use the larger Aunt Millie's Italian bread.



Notice carrots are skimpy? I have 2 1/2baby carrots sliced up. The boys have not been eating them very well. So I cut back in the amount I gave them. I am sure our chickens will be sad when they don't get as many leftover carrots.

 Lunch consists of grapes, carrots, peanut butter and jelly Lego men, a cheese stick, and some fruit snacks.

I made apple bunnies for snack today! They are nibbling on carrots. I also added in some popcorn.

Back when I became interested in cute lunches (before kids when I had time to watch anime) there was a site called Bento Tv.  I use to watch all her minute or two tutorials things. One of the first things I learned to make was apple rabbits. I searched her out to add her clip, but sadly, it doesn't appear that she exists anymore.

So I went to my current favorite place, Cooking With Dog on YouTube. In this video she teaches you to make an apple bunny. Enjoy!

Fish sandwich

My parents don't purchase toys for my kids as gifts very often. Most of the time it is a knit sweater (Karl loves them), books (Clark), or something else. My parents see the toys we have and figure they have too many. Well, even a few toys apiece times 6 kids adds up! This year, my parents gave Karl a pack of 101 cookie cutters made by Betty Crocker. Karl's response was "Cool! More sandwich cutters!" My mother was a little confused until I The Betty Crocker ones seem to be larger than my Wilton ones. So I think these will work a lot better for sandwiches. No, I'm not going to tell you how many cookie cutters I own. I may take a picture of it someday though.




For lunch we have sliced apples (dipped in salt water so they won't brown), carrots and celery, a cheese stick, fruit snacks, and fish shaped sandwiches. I used a dab of peanut butter to keep the eye on.

Snack was grapes with carrots and humus. I knew the humus would not be a hit. Still, I give it to them. I hope that one day they will acquire a taste for it. I know Clark does sometimes.

Pac Man lunch with Veggie Pizza snack

My 4inch Pac Man cookie cutters came! I ordered them off Ebay. We are so excited to have them! Karl loves Pac Man. We have a peach with a Pac Man silhouette, baby carrots, tomatoes, cheese stick, chocolate covered raisins and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  I used a dab of PB to hold the eyes on. 

Laurence has been asking me to make him a veggie pizza for several weeks now. I guess they saw it on tv and he thought it looked good. I opted to send it for snack since I was not certain they would eat it. It consists of a bagel, cream cheese (I used veggie), broccoli, carrot,and tomato. They also had grapes to go with it.

Minions!

We have some new magnets for our lunches. Ok, we have more than a few. The boys' father is gifted in photography and web design. I asked him if he could put together some magnets for the boys to fit their interests or to match with cookie cutters I have. Today we are using those. I have Karl's lunch featured. Clark had World of Goo for his magnet and Laurence had Batman.




The snack containers all had this minion magnet set on them. I have a minion banana, carrots, and a cheese stick. The minion eyes were purchased off Amazon.

This was taken in our morning rush. The boys did not want to get ready today. This is Karl's lunch with Pac Man magnets. They all had minion sandwiches on a minion baking cup, a minion banana, carrots, tomatoes (Clark's request), a cheese stick that says "You are one in a Minion.", and chocolate covered raisins.

Truck lunch

Aunt Agnes brought the kids some popcorn. The kids were so excited and asked about bringing it for snack. So we have baby carrots, a few chocolate covered raisins under the spiderman ring, and popcorn.

Laurence made the sandwich shape request today. He wanted the truck that was so popular last year. I used the TMNT baking cup again under the sandwiches. I added a Superman ring to the box on the truck. I also have baby carrots, grapes, string cheese, and chocolate covered raisins.

Failed zombie lunch.

I had a request for ants on a log. So I made it for snack. Their snack tends to be less tossed about than their lunches. I opted for sharks again. Clark seems to really enjoy them. We have sliced peppers (which no one but the chickens eat), carrots, and ants on a log.

Today is a failed request. Karl asked for a zombie lunch. I couldn't find my zombie cookie cutters (halloween markdown cookie kit). I couldn't find my skull with the eye, nose, and mouth imprints either. All I had was the basic skull. I don't like getting up any sooner than I need to. So I used a dab of peanut butter to attach eyes and called it good. I have a mummy cupcake baking cup under the sandwiches with skeleton arm food picks. I also added the almost mandatory cheese stick with chocolate covered raisins under it. Grapes and baby carrots finish the lunch.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle lunch.

Snack today is some chocolate covered raisins, blueberries, and baby carrots. I added a dinosaur cupcake topper to this snack. In only Karl's snack I added the little face you see. Karl refuses to try blueberries. He loves them in pancakes, but he won't try just the fruit. So I added the little face. I imagine that was his face when he saw them. One day... One day he will try them.

We have a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle lunch today. I found the sandwich cutter on Amazon. Laurence loves TMNT. The ninja sword food pick was also found on Amazon. The sandwich is a peanut butter and jelly, carrots and peppers, grapes, a cheese stick, and some chocolate covered raisins under the cheese. 

I place a flattened cupcake baking cup under the sandwiches to add some color. The boys seem to like it.

First day of school

Excuse my poor pictures. My camera is dead, I lost my phone, and I am using my Kindle for pictures. Not that I was ever the best at taking pictures, but I do try.

This year I have two 2nd graders and a 1st grader! So everyone gets a snack and a lunch.



For the first day of school I made a ninja lunch. I made sure to double check the ninja sword food pick with our principal first. The boys loved it. We have baby carrots, tomatoes (fresh from Aunt Agnes' garden), grapes, 2 ninja sandwiches, string cheese, and under the cheese we have chocolate covered raisins. 

First day of school snack consisted of grapes, carrots, and some hummus to dip it in. I was not sure how well the humus would be received. I was told it was interesting but they weren't interested in it again. I added a shark cupcake topper for fun.

Camping 2

The Elder eating breakfast.

Laying out food again for our meal. Potatoes, seasoned pork, and pineapple.

Here is one of the minion's meals.

Coleslaw, potatoes, and beef.

It's had to tell, but this is sliced potatoes with dehydrated spinach and tomato. The bun looking thing is a breakfast Pig in a blanket. I cooked it over a fire.

Camping

I love using Easy LunchBoxes when we go camping. Easy to clean, food is separated, and the depth makes it easy for my disabled SO to pick them up. The Elder has Cerebral Palsy. His good hand has some fine motor skill issues.



Dinner one night. Hotdog, cheese stuffed sausage balls, baked beans and some fruit cocktail.

Breakfast of potatoes with dehydrated spinach and tomatoes. Scrambled eggs with dehydrated spinach and ham.

Karl showing off his breakfast. Everyone had a banana while I was making breakfast, hence why there is no fruit.

This is how I set things up. I put them in a row on our coolers. Made it MUCH easier to plate.

Lunch time! Pineapple, chips, ham and grilled cheese and an extra ham slice (as requested).

Why We Pack

I join the kids for lunches when I can. I have to admit, at the end of the school year I was burnt out. Shirley's surprise heart defect and open heart surgery at 2 months of age took a lot out of me. I had weekly visits to the Dr. for a long time on top of everything else. Clark and Karl both had neuro psych evals (3 step process) in a town 3 1/3 hours away. I was just tired. Half the time the kids ate school lunch.

Colonel Sanders

The last week of school I was able to find a sitter and come every day for lunch. I once brought Colonel Sanders with me. Per their request, the boys all had school lunch. Our school offers a "salad bar". It mainly consists of carrots broccoli, a fruit selection, and lettuce. I am impressed that it is offered at the Lower Elementary. Although I saw many plates without any fruit or veggies as I sat there. I had to tell all 3 of mine that they needed to grab some.

Laurence of Arabia eating his Bosco stick.

These are our school lunches. They meet the required guidelines. I have to say that I am saddened. I remember much different lunches when I was their age. We even had leftover soup (veg, spaghetti, and chicken pieces) for a side once a week. That soup was a favorite. You ALWAYS had a vegetable on your plate and you were encouraged to pick up a fruit as well. I remember lunch ladies giving us "the look" and sometimes saying something if we didn't.

My lunch. I don't think it was worth the $3.50. Kids get the same for $2.20.

I am not saying that our lunch staff doesn't care. I KNOW they do. They were happy to see a parent having lunch with the kids. Several stopped and told me how they enjoyed seeing what I made the kids every day. Two mentioned how glad they were to see veggies on the plates of my kids. They wished more kids would eat them. I talked with them a bit as my older kids ran off to recess. It was clear even they were saddened by what they now had to offer for lunches.

Clark picking at his pizza

I once mentioned school lunches to other parents. I was told they were a godsend because their kids were picky eaters. I have 2 picky eaters. One is sensory based (also why I pack). One is not. I saw many of their picky eaters... Many of them barely touched their lunches. You know, that pizza that they love. Maybe 2 bites taken out of it. They ate the goldfish crackers though!

Picky eater. At least he ate his apple and Bosco sticks.

I think mine ate most of their lunches only because I sat there. This year I will pack again. At least I know what my minions are eating. I know they eat a bit more when I pack. How do I know? I taught them to not toss their lunches. So I see all the leftovers.