Day 15 - Green Day

Dairy: Shredded Cheese in wrap and salad

Protein: Turkey slices in wrap

Grain: Spinach Tortilla Wrap

Fruits: Grapes

Vegetables:  Salad

Extra:  Watermelon Jello Jigglers and Green Olives

Days 12, and 13

Dairy: Mozzarella Cheese Stick

Protein: Turkey Slices

Grain: Annie's White Cheddar Bunnies

Fruits: Apple Slices

Vegetables:  Broccoli

Extra:  Ranch Dip

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Day 13

Dairy: Cheese Stick in her Rollups

Protein: Ham Slices in her Rollups

Grain: Tortilla Shells

Fruits: Applesauce

Vegetables:  Carrots and Ranch Dip

Extra:  Raspberry and Cream Cheese Rollup for dessert, and some cheese puffs

Day 10

A is for Apple

Today's Lunch is brought to you by the letter "Aa".  Love Bug's class is studying "Aa" this week, so I thought we'd do an "Aa" lunch.  It has several "Aa" foods in it.

Dairy: A cheese stick, cut into cubes and used with the turkey rolls.  Also 3 gouda cheese "A"s.

Protein: Turkey slices in turkey rolls.

Grain: Tortilla shell used in turkey rolls.

Fruits: Apple Slices (trying out some new "fresh fruit" stuff to see if the apples stay fresh)

Vegetables:  Broccoli and Ranch dressing on the side.

Extra: Iced Animal Crackers

Notes:  The turkey rolls are simply tortilla shells with turkey laid on them, rolled up and cut into smaller pieces.  I then took a toothpick and placed 1 roll, a cube of cheese, and another roll on the toothpick.

It's not just lunch...it's love!

I saw this saying on the website for Goodbyn lunch boxes and it really stuck in my head.  "It's not just lunch...it's love"!  One evening this week I was packing Love Bug's lunch for the next day.  My husband came in the room and saw me working, then he went on with his business.  He came back a few minutes later and said, "You're still working on that?"  I told him I was packing some love into her lunch.  Then I got to wondering why do I pack a lunch everyday when she can buy a lunch at school?  Here's what I've come up with:

• I've seen school lunches.  I hope they have improved since I was in school, but I'm not sure.  I had the pleasure of eating with Love Bug today and was not too impressed with what the kids were eating from school.  They had the option of a chicken sandwich which looked to actually be a chicken breast and not some processed chicken pattie (the two kids I saw that had this, only ate part of the chicken and could have cared less about the bun) or fish shapes (which most of the kids that I saw ate), and they had different fruit options and some sort of slushie type thing.  I didn't see 1 vegetable on any of the kindergarteners plates...not 1 (that doesn't mean they weren't offered veggies, I just didn't see any)!  Now, I'm not saying that my Love Bug eats all of her veggies, but she is offered them during lunch and sometimes even eats them.  She's exposed to them, and for that I'm happy.
• I enjoy packing my Love Bug's lunch everyday.  It's fun to use some of my creative juices on creating happy healthy lunches for my girl.  I love surfing the net for new ideas.  I'm sure my "creative" lunches make my girl happy and for that I'm happy!
• I like inspiring you all!  I recently had someone tell me  "I feel a sense of accomplishment when I pack L's lunch."  I want to inspire you all to pack happy healthy lunches for all of your munchkins.  I want to help you all create balanced lunches for your kids and make them happy at lunch time too, and for that I'm happy.
• I tell myself that I'm saving money by packing her lunches.  Sometime I plan to do a breakdown of how much her lunch costs, but for now, I would hope that it's less than $2.30 which is what a school lunch costs at our school.  For now, I'll tell myself we're saving money, and for that I'm happy.
• Sure it takes a bit of time.  It takes a bit of planning in the beginning of the week.  But it's worth it.  I know what she's getting to eat everyday.  I know where her food comes from.  I know that most of what she eats is free of chemicals and GMO's.  I know she's getting the nutrients that she needs to grow and achieve great things in school.  I know for the most part, she's happy taking her lunch, and for that I'm happy. 

What is the main reason you pack a lunch for your child?  

I like packing a little bit of LOVE into each lunch!

New Lunch Box and Day 8 Lunch

GOODBYN Lunchbox

I was very happy when I went to Target today and found the Goodbyn Lunchbox that one of my friends suggested that I try.  It was under $10 which was a major plus!  

I wanted to find a bento style lunch box that was a little bit bigger and could fit more of a sandwich in it.  The back of the box says that the big compartment can hold 2.1 cups of food, the middle compartment can hold 2 cups and the smaller compartment can hold 1 cup.

The Goodbyn is very easy to open and I think my kindergartener shouldn't have any trouble opening it up.  I went ahead and packed her lunch for Day 8.  It was a bit tricky, just because I had several different foods that I wanted to include, but wasn't sure how to fit it in.  Here's what I came up with.

Day 8 - Pizza "Lunchable"

Dairy: Shredded Cheese

Healthy Fats: Green Olives

Grain: Whole Grain English Muffin (cut in half for pizza dough)

Fruits: Blueberries and Grapes (there are more grapes than normal because this lunch will be partially shared with little sister)

Vegetables:  Tomato Sauce

Extras:  Surprise Chocolate Cookie, brought by Mommy!