March 31 - April 4: Round Up

Life certainly has gotten hectic lately! We've begun homeschooling and have added a new baby to the family which has been keeping us all busy and tired! However the lunches must go on. It is one of the things I truly enjoy doing and gives me something to look forward to. If you'd like to see the lunches daily, make sure to like us on Facebook. You can catch the weekly lunch round ups here :)

3/31

IN THIS LUNCH: 

Leftover Enchiladas

Corn on the Cob

Orange

2 Fig Cookies

4/1

IN THIS LUNCH:

Salad w/ Catalina Dressing

Annie's Organic Mac n Cheese

Shrimp

Blueberries

4/2

IN THIS LUNCH:

Chicken Nuggets w/ BBQ Sauce

Cottage Cheese

Orange

Banana

Hello Panda Cookies

4/3

IN THIS LUNCH:

French Bread Sandwich

Leftover Peas

Frozen Raspberries (from last summer)

Strawberries

4/4

IN THIS LUNCH:

Seafood Salad (was on a fantastic sale) w/ Crackers

Lima Beans

Blueberries

Orange

Cheddar Cheese

Happy Packing!

2014 -- .002

In This Lunch: 

• Turkey Meatballs
• Peas and Carrots
• Applesauce w/ Cinnamon
• Annie's Cheddar Bunnies
• 100% Juice Box

So yesterday was a shopping day and we found that when we filled the freezer there wasn't any room left for a small package of turkey meatballs. So decided to change the lunch plan for today and cooked them up. The peas and carrots were actually leftovers and then the applesauce and cheddar bunnies were part of the original lunch plan. I really enjoy using leftovers whenever possible but find that Monkey isn't always thrilled with eating traditionally warm foods cold but luckily she's not SO picky that she'd refuse. 

Happy Packing!

Hot Lunch for a Chilly Day

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So we are up for another warm lunch. I think that I am a big fan of packing warm lunches but there is one thing that I didn't take into consideration when I started planning hot lunches. The sides that I serve with them have to be things that don't need to be kept cold. While I've seen a tutorial on how to pack both in one box, I don't have the same kind of box they have so if I pack a hot lunch, I have to have sides that can be warm too. So far not a problem but I think this could lead to repetitive sides down the road. 

IN THIS LUNCH: 

• Annie's Organic Macaroni & Cheese w/ leftover ham (cut into chunks), and some peas. 
• Apple Sauce with Cinnamon 
• Juice Pouch

I L-O-V-E cinnamon. It smells fantastic, it brings memories of holiday foods, and it's a natural way to help prevent spiked in blood sugar. I love that about it. It's a fantastic spice and I have always been a fan of warm applesauce with cinnamon. Our Mac N Cheese is packed in our Funtainer and the applesauce is in our Nude Food Mover. The sad thing, Monkey said that this lunch wasn't very warm when she got it at lunch in spite of  the fact that I had preheated the container with boiling water and that I had just made the food in the morning and heated it till it was steaming piping hot before putting it in the container. Blegh. Oh well. Maybe I didn't preheat with water long enough. 

Leftovers!

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So for today's lunch I decided to use a new container! This little beauty I picked up at the Dollar Tree and is intended to be used for things with dip. Well, me...I think I could put anything I want in the ''dip'' container. So I did! I put her dessert in there! I'm also thinking it would fit a mini muffin, yogurt, cottage cheese, applesauce, dips of any type, maybe a hard boiled egg, etc... I think it's a great little container!

IN THIS LUNCH: 

• Rice cooked in chicken broth w/ carrots and peas
• Garlic and herb roasted pork loin 
• Mixed berries [defrosted] including: raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries
• Dessert: 6 Hello Panda Biscuit Cookies.
• Strawberry Honey Kefir [not pictured]

Shockingly this was actually last night's dinner but Monkey said she wouldn't mind having it again for lunch today. Usually she's not a fan of leftovers so soon (neither am I) but she was totally on board with this (so it must have been good!). 

Just wanted to include this so you could see that the dip section has it's own little lid to keep it separated from the other foods. After I put the top lid on I used a hair tie to wrap around it. I wasn't sure if it would open in her box or not, so I just wanted to be safe! 

Shaken Salad

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So, initially I had a whole other salad in mind. But since I was mysteriously missing a couple items and forgot to cook the chicken for it, I decided to run with something else! While my Monkey will eat salad I don't like to push it, I know she can get sick of them quickly if I make too many. However I like their versatility. 

IN THIS LUNCH: 

• Salad: Mixed Baby Greens, Peas, Cucumbers, Turkey ribbons.
• Sunburst Tomatoes
• Pineapple Skewers
• Babybel Cheese
• Not Pictured: Side of Ranch and Capri Sun 100% Juice Pouch

With this salad I simply took a container and put in a handful of mixed baby greens, cut up cucumbers, cut some turkey lunch meat ribbons (by rolling up the lunch meat and cutting across) and tossed in the leftover peas from dinner. Put on the lid and gave it a shake! I personally hate when all my salad mix-ins are on the top and by the time you get to the middle there's nothing left but lettuce. 

I know that Monkey will be a bit bummed that we were all out of her favorite dressing, Catalina. However, I know that she'll eat ranch and we threw a cute little sticker of a bunny on top of her dressing cup. She won't get it, but it was a joke at the fact most people call this sort of lunch ''rabbit food''. On the side is her napkin with her fork wrapped inside. 

This post is also park of the ''What's for Lunch Wednesday'' link up. Feel free to check out the other awesome lunches by clicking the button! 

What kind of salads do your kids like to eat? :)

Happy Packing!

First Day of School!

001 - Designer Monkey

For the first day of school I have a small tradition. I like to let Monkey decide what she will be having for lunch. It sounds small but I like to give her the chance to make her own choices (once in a while :-P). I feel like on the first day it gives her a sense of comfort to know what is coming at lunch, when everything else is so new and different. So, the lunch for the first day was completed selected by Monkey. Here it is, our first  Monkey Munchables lunch (so long to our old blogging name and home). 

IN THIS LUNCH: 

• Turkey/Swiss Puzzle Sandwich on Dave's Killer 21 Grain Bread
• a mix of sunburst and grape tomatoes
• peas (albeit some overcooked!) and; 
• a mix of bananas with orange segments. 

Please forgive the terrible lighting, my kitchen light hates me! Anyway here is her designer Monkey masterpiece. I was actually rather pleased with her food choices! For those that follow my blog and my facebook you all know that Monkey's birthday was last Friday, her birthday party (a gigantic hello kitty bash) was today. She was rather disappointed that she wouldn't be having school on her birthday, so I said, "what the heck," and tossed her a Happy Birthday Pick that I found at the Dollar Tree. I think the thing that surprised me most in this lunch was when she specifically asked for the orange/banana mix. Seemed very random but I had no problem running with it. I just hope the juice from the oranges helps keep the bananas from getting too yucky by lunch (I'll check on them in the morning). These are of course our new Lunch Blox containers that I have been so ecstatic to try! 

For those that are wondering here is how her lunch fit in her box. She is having a Horizon Organic Chocolate milk (also her choosing) and up at the top there is a fork wrapped inside a leftover napkin from her Hello Kitty party today! It's also hard to see because of glare but the lid on the peas actually has a Lisa Frank sticker (I found a pack of them at the Dollar Tree as well!). 

Here is the front of her new lunchbox that she got so excited about when she opened it at her birthday party. I was worried. It wasn't the one she had shown interest in and it wasn't Hello Kitty...so I got concerned that poor Barbie wasn't gonna fly. But, she squealed with delight and hugged it to her chest, so I guess it worked out okay! 

Hope you all enjoyed our first Monkey Munchable! 

Happy Packing!