2nd lunch of the New Year

Sometimes sandwich containers make my life so much easier. I can easily pack 2 into a lunchbox and have room for a veggie container and juice.



Lunches for the boys. Turkey sandwiches. Tyke has a thing for dinosaurs as of late. Clark picked out a car. I also added a Kit Kat and string cheese that is partly opened. Don't worry, it does not dry out of get ucky before lunch.
 

They have grapes and carrots for their fruit and veggie. Clark will eat his carrots. The sensory input he gets from them is great. I added some dip in hopes Tyke would eat it... Yeah, no luck.

Ramen Noodles for lunch

 Today we will start with Colonel Sanders lunch. She is now 14 months old and has a full set of teeth. Around the edges of the box I have slightly steamed carrot. I steamed it just enough for it to bend, but not enough for it to be completely soft. The colonel enjoys a little crunch. I also have diced kiwi, green melon, watermelon, a rolled up slice of nitrate free turkey, thin cut cheese, and some ramen noodles with veggies.

I have to admit that I had my doubts when I saw this bento box. I wondered if it would really hold enough for lunch. Given some of my other boxes (and previous posts with small boxes) I should have known better than to doubt. Fot some odd reason the minions enjoy ramen noodles cold. So they have ramen noodles with mixed veggies, watermelon, green melon and kiwi slices. under the lid was that very small white piece. It was perfect for something flat like a cookie or small like M&M's. For a treat I gave them some small M&M's. Under that we have sliced carrots, mozzarella and cheddar cheese and nitrate free turkey.

Cheese Waffles

Today we will start with Colonel Sanders lunch. She has a cheddar cheese waffle, strawberry half, blueberries, cheese, and salami.
 

 Look who is joining us for lunch today! Yes, it is lunch time, but to create a different routine than a school day, we stay in our pjs till after lunch unless we are going someplace.

My father in law punched a Babycakes waffle maker for me as a Christmas gift. (see bottom) The waffles are in a heart shape and there is a spot to add a stick to them. While that thought is interesting, I do not want the boys to have to much fun with lunch.

Our Easy Lunchbox is perfect for this lunch. For the boys I made the waffle into a sandwich. See waffle recipe below. I added a slice of cheese and a slice of salami. I put half a strawberry on top of it to add some color. To the left I have blueberries and a slice of ham on a sword pick. 

The flash was a little to much for Colonel Sanders. Although you can see by her smile that she is enjoying her salami.

I changed the waffle recipe a bit from the original recipe. I was looking for a recipe that was not to sweet. Sweet and cheese do not always go to well together. I took a look at the little recipe book that was included with my waffle maker. Inside was a recipe for buttermilk waffles that used no sugar. Perfect!!! Only I have no butter milk. I do have some kefir on hand though. (see jar on bottom picture) So I decided to see if I could substitute. Worst case, I have to make more mix.

I will post the recipe as I used it. The original is in the Babycakes book that comes in the Babycakes waffle maker.

 Cheese Waffles
1 3/4 C flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups kefir (ok, I was short, so I added some milk)
1/3 cup olive oil (it calls for canola)
2 eggs
1ish C cheddar cheese

Mix all dry ingredients. Then add wet and mix until combined. It will be slightly clumpy and not very thick. Do NOT over mix.

Add in your cheddar cheese. I shred my own cheddar. I think it has a better flavor. The stuff you buy in the store pre done is coated so that it will not stick together. Stir mixture till it is just combined well. DO NOT OVER MIX. The mixture will still be pretty liquid. I have to admit that it threw me off. I have never had a waffle batter this way. It did turn out well though! Pour some into your waffle maker and cook until desired color. It was 4 minutes for me.

Clark took his sandwich apart and Pork ate it as a sandwich.

See that jar in back? The one with the pink hair tie holding on a coffee filter? Yep, that is my kefir. And the machine in front of that is my waffle maker. I am a messy cook, so there is drippings and what not around it.

The 2 cups of kefir I indicated in the recipe, I actually used about 1 1/8 cup of kefir and the rest milk.

The waffles came out thinner than normal ones. This worked in my favor for sandwiches. I think the waffle maker was designed to make thin waffles.

Our friend came over...

Clark, Pork, and Colonel Sanders lunch

I have been kinda out of it recently. Lots going on and I am afraid I have been a little depressed. I still make lunches, but I do not always take pictures or blog. Thank you to all who still come here and look to see if I have posted.

T's Lunch

Today we have the same lunch, 3 different ways. We had a guest over and I know she loves Hello Kitty. She also does not like cheese. In addition to that, Tyke had decided that he no longer wants his lunch "cut". He wants his sandwich whole. Clark and Pork still want "lunch cut". So I tried to please most people.

Tyke's Lunch

We had organic peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, The cut outs were of a reindeer and made of either ham or salami (Nitrate free), cheese, and fruit on picks.

I just had to make this one large. Look at Colonel Sanders stuff her ham into her mouth! Doesn't she make a cute Pooh Bear? This poor outfit was bought used and it has now been worn by all 4 minions! The Colonel likes it so much that she would "yell" at us if we put the hood down. This is not a costume either.

Pork chop would not stop moving his head. I think he was overly excited over his reindeer.

Tyke, T, and Clark. Sorry, I do not feel right posting a child's face if they are not my own minion. T actually lifted the cat lid herself and asked me to take a picture. Notice Clark decided to copy her.

This was my lunch. Left over homemade chicken noodle soup... minus the broth because I did not want it to get mushy over night. It still tasted very yummy!

Manicotti and dinosaurs.

I am still trying to work on the lunches, working 3rd shift, being mom all day, and sleep. Sleep is in short supply right now. Sadly I have not been taking any pictures.

In our Easy Lunchbox we have cheese and broccoli manicotti, chicken, a slice of mozzarella cheese, and some grape tomatoes. To the right of that we have steamed broccoli and an old fashioned caramel candy.

We used our Gerber Mealtime Organizer we have nitrate free salami, sliced cheese, celery, carrots, raspberry, and sunbutter and whole wheat tortilla dinosaurs. I rarely use this box because it is a little on the clunky side and easily pops open if a minion drops it.

Tyke is showing us his veggie stick. You can see Colonel Sanders standing in the background. She decided to stand and eat her lunch today.

 

 Pork enjoyed his salami. Aunt Julie was sent home from work early today since they ran out of work to do. So she joined us for lunch.

Colonel Sanders is a very messy little girl today. She was helping her brothers color earlier and then snacked on some blackberries before lunch. Did I mention her runny nose too. *sighs* I should have changed her, but she would just have gotten messy while eating. So I opted to change her after lunch.