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.

Is that an Edible Arangement pineapple cupcake pop?

I tossed this cheap container after this use. I love my Easy Lunchboxes so much better!

Notice I have been packing a little more to eat? Well, I noticed that there was next to nothing left over in the lunch boxes. So I figured it was time to pack more. I trained the boys to never toss anything away at school. Yes, it can make the lunch box a mess, but I rarely have lost picks.

Today I have a crust-less PB&J sandwich. After I made it, the boys asked for meat and cheese "sticks". *sighs* I told them no and then changed my mind. It only takes another minute to make them. So sure! Also I have an Edible Arrangement pineapple "cupcake pop". For fruit we have blackberries and blueberries. I added a carrot for crunch. Clark was pleased, Tyke not so much.

Hi

 Today we had a 2 hour delay. Because of this, Clark's bus picked him up at 12:10pm instead of 11:30am. See, normally the bus leaves the school with the AM students and picks up the PM students while she drops the AM students off. We are very close to the school, so Clark is the first on. Since there were no AM students today, Clark was picked up last. Needless to say the change did not go over well with Clark.

Due to the change, I also made Clark a lunch. Clark's group eats at school (family style) and Tyke's does not.

We have mandarin oranges, popcorn, a peanut butter roll up, blueberries, and cheese cubes that spell out "Hi".

The Colonel has a similar lunch. She has popcorn (picked apart so no pieces will get stuck in her teeth/choke her), mandarin oranges, blueberries, peanut butter roll up, and cheese.

Sourdough star sandwich

I decided I would make some sourdough bread. This gave me the chance to use my star bread pan. I think it turned out pretty well. I have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on sourdough bread, cottage cheese, strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries.

I made Colonel Sanders the same thing, only I made sure to cut her bread as thin as I could. I also have to admit that I regretted giving her cottage cheese and allowing her to feed herself. 

Homemade chicken nuggets and apple cars

First things first, I forgot to take a picture of  The Colonel's lunch. I am sorry. It was very similar to the other lunches only toddler friendly.

Today for lunch we have apple cars with blueberry wheels. I used a dab of sunbutter to keep the wheels attached. I also have 2 pieces of chocolate and some cheese. In the top tier (bottom) I have celery with sunbutter and homemade chicken nuggets.

Big boy Tyke eating his chocolate first. Funny tidbit: All 3 boys have that orange shirt he is wearing. I dressed both Clark and Tyke in it today. Luckily they are at an age where they do not care. I think it is cute when they are all matching.

The Colonel is still in her pjs. I am kinda lazy. Her toes get cold on our wood floors, yet she refuses to keep her socks on. So I sometimes just put her into another set of pjs when she wakes up. Clean clothes daily, just pjs instead of day wear.

My Pork Chop is growing up!!!! Look at him and then go back to one of the much older posts. He is thinning out. He is not so much a pork anymore.

Hard boiled eggs

I know you do not see them to often, but I made hard boiled eggs for everyone's lunches today! I have a Thomas, Percy, Fish, Hello Kitty, Bunny, and Car hard boiled eggs today. How did I make these? Egg molds.

Here is another sight you don't see every day! Today was a snow day. Clark was in the kitchen when I decided to make lunch, so I had him pick out what bento he wanted to eat out of, he wanted the police car. To keep the others from fighting to much, I picked out the other rescue vehicles for them to eat from. Poor Clark could not wait to sit down and have lunch today. Sadly he did not eat well. None the less, he was desperate to sit down and open op his police car. I may have to order another police car and fire truck at some point. I just hate spending $30 on a smallish lunchbox that I am afraid to lose. Yes, I know some moms have lunchboxes of that price for their kids to take to school every day and they never have an issue. I am just very cheap and well, I really like these. The minions do like to eat from bentos, but I also collect them (for their use).

Everyone had their own egg today. I sliced all eggs in half, made deviled eggs, and then put the 2 halves back together. This is Colonel Sanders lunch. The green outline is done with a food safe marker.  

Clark's lunch. He had the Thomas egg. I also have blood orange slices, ham, cheese, and some blueberries.... I'm not sure why his are not pictured. Oh yeah, HE ATE THEM!

Pork got the "flat" fire truck. As you can see, it still holds quite a bit of food. The eggs are super easy to make. Hard boil some eggs. While they are still warm you need to peel them. I always put the peeled eggs back in the hot water for a minute before I put them into the egg molds. Next put them in the egg mold and close it. If you want it done "fast", put the mold in a bowl of ice water (or very cold water) for 10-15 minutes. Open it up and there you go!

Tyke got the car egg mold. I do not think my egg was warm enough when I put it in (it was the last egg and I was getting bored). It did form pretty well, but the tires have been better other times I have used this mold. Tyke had turkey for his meat. Come to think of it, I think Clark was the only one who had ham.

I know this lunch lacks some sort of fiber, trust me, we had plenty of it for breakfast (homemade whole wheat chocolate waffles), snack (homemade granola), and for dinner we are having homemade mac and cheese using whole grain noodles. While they may not have any in this meal, they are easily meeting their daily amount between other meals and snacks.

I made Julie lunch too. She has cheese and a leftover slice of blood orange. I cooked down some fruit until it became thick (when cooled) and put some homemade granola on top. I added a few blueberries for color. The sandwich is on homemade bread and consists of egg salad and spinach. On top of it is half one of one of the molded eggs. She got a bunny.

The boys are checking out what Mama made them for lunch. Mmm.....

Aunt Julie and The Colonel. Notice the Colonel. I think she wants Julie's egg.

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.

Grill day leftover bento

I was not even aware that I had not posted this bento. This is another leftover from grilling bento.

I have grilled chicken tht was marinated in Italian salad dressing, corn on the cob, carrots, string cheese, blueberries, and alphabet pretzels.

Race night!

I know, at first glance this does not look like much. I was trying to make Winston Speedway in Rothbury, Mi.

On the back side of the track is a treeline and the highway. I used blueberries for my highway and kiwi slices for my treeline and field. On either side of the track there is a field/grass. So I used zucchini slices for that. The stands are made form sliced carrots. I even added in our 2 favorite race fans in turn 4 (the cheerios).

The dirt track is rolled ham with cheese on the inside. The center is a peanut butter sandwich. I also used a peach and blueberry to make a single racecar.  I saw this on Bent On Better Lunches. Cristi used an apple and grapes with toothpicks to make some pretty cute cars. I wanted something less functional. I have made the ones she has before and they boys were rolling those all over the table. So I used a dab of peanut butter to keep the wheels on the body.

The Zombie Truck - PG rated

PB&J sandwiches, string cheese, grapes, blueberries, carrots and
zucchini. The truck is decorated with cheese, turkey, and nori.

Beware the truck that goes up and down your road. It plays happy music and has pictures of yummy ice cream on it. I know it sounds inviting and makes you want to investigate what they have to offer. DON'T!!! It's a trap! Beware, it's the Zombie Truck! Or that's what I tell the minions.

We live about 5 blocks from a lake with a beach and park. So during the summer we have 2 ice cream trucks who pass by. After awhile, 3 little voices chiming for ice cream 2 times a day gets old. Especially when one child will scream and cry for 20 minutes (you would think I never punish him). One day I got the bright idea to tell them that it was the Zombie Truck. Why not! Wheels on the Bus also has a zombie verse. So why can't we have a Zombie Truck.

I taught them it was a bad truck by saying "Oh no! It's the Zombie Truck! You can't have my brains!" every time I heard the music. After a week the boys started to run up to the door, open the inner door and yell "Zombie Truck!!!" every time they heard the music. And that was the end of the crying.

The white van has gotten smart and turns his music off at the corner and leaves it off until he is 3 houses past us. To bad the minons can hear him a block away and wait for him. I think the poor man will be scared for life. The brown truck plays his music but drives by very fast. As of 2 weeks ago, not only is there a chorus of "Zombie Truck", but Tyke now also yells "You can't have my brains!". Yes, I realize this is how they make money, but I assure you, on my section of road they make no money anyway. There are no kids except mine and no adults buy from them.