Mini PB & J

Mini PB & J on a dinner roll w/ cucumber slices and mandarin oranges.

The Mini Monday

Mini croissant with havarti, ham, spinach and mini (cherry) tomatoes
Peach slices

Stickwiches: The Sandwich Pop!

When B & I first talked about stickwiches, I'm sure this is what she had in mind:

A regular grilled cheese on a stick.

As the week progressed, she wanted to know when she was going to get a sandwich on a stick and I really thought  we had that one covered with the skewered version.
She kept pushing the idea so I finally tired this one, and it was an instant hit. I added some mandarin oranges, cucumber sticks and ranch and we called it a day.

Stickwiches: The Inside Out Edition

So Boo wanted to get creative with her lunch today and she wanted an inside out stickwich. This is her idea and final result:

What we did:

Covered 3/4 of a thin breadstick with cream cheese, rolled in into shredded heese and covered it with ham. It looks like a hot dog on a stick, but it is way tastier, according to B :)

I love it when she wants to experiment and has creative ideas.

Stickwiches: the sequel

Today we tried to play with some crescent doug and made some breadstick sandwiches.

Cut some cheese sticks, wrap in ham and then cover with dough and pop them in the oven. Super simple and easy.

She said she loved the tomatoes yesterday so let's see how we do with this tiny salad.

This Week's theme: Stickwiches!

Yep, they seem to be all the rage these days. Food on a stick is always fun.

Today's stickwich is the regular version: french bread, some lettuce, ham and cheese cut outs and cherry tomatoes.

I also packed some carrots & ranch and yogurt w/ sliced strawberry. Stickwiches got two enthusiastic thumbs up while the yogurt was an epic fail.

Happy Labor Day!

No Lunch Today :)

Apple Salad

This is Boo's version of my favorite salad:



Apple, chicken and candied pecans from Trader Joe's with blue cheese dressing.

My version has crumbled blue cheese, more spinach, arugula, and honey mustard vinaigrette.

This lunch was brought to you by the letter A

As you can tell, this week is apple week, a perfect theme for back to school lunches. Since there are just so many ways that Boo will actually eat an apple (sliced and whole, ha ha), and yesterday I put her over the edge with an apple cheddar sandwich, today I made an apple shaped ham and cheese quesadilla, abc cucumbers & ranch and watermelon.



Let's take a closer look at the cucumbers so I can remember to either buy larger alpha cookie cutters or forget these crazy shaped cucumber ideas:


Apple-shaped quesadilla, yum!

An Apple a Day

Today:
Grilled Cheddar/apple sandwich on wheat and white
Carrots & ranch
Banana/peanut butter dippers

I know I'm pushing Boo on this one. She is not exactly a sandwich fan (unless it's PB&J) and she hates bananas, or so she says.

Lesson 1: Too much food, pack a lighter lunch.

Lesson 2: Do not buy a whole loaf of wheat and a whole loaf of white to pack one child's lunch UNLESS you are somehow related to the Earl of Sandwich, which we have already stated we're not :)

Lesson 3: Try smooth PB next time.

Houston, We have a Lunch!

While preparing for this experiment, I bookmarked a million fun ideas. This one caught her eye and she decided that was what she wanted on her first day back.


Houston, we have a Lunch:



She even made the pencils herself!

Cheese Pencils
Greek Yogurt w/ Honey and Bear Naked Granola
Carrots & Ranch
Apple Slices

The Box

Meet our box:




Klip It Cube



It has three compartments, is microwaveable, dishwasher & freezer safe AND it's BPA free. I'm thinking this is the best one out there for the sandwich based lunches. I also got a couple of these small food keepers.

Unfortunately, Boo is not exactly The Lady of Sandwich so for salads, pastas, etc. I'm going to have to try a different box because the Klip it lunch cube is not designed to hold liquid based foods.

Why?

Boo is a picky eater. We've struggled for quite a few years now. We've tried a million different things to get her to try new foods, but haven't had much luck. Since she only eats a handful of things, packing lunches has always been a challenge. She would cry before trying a sandwich, carrots with ranch, soup or a tortilla pinwheel. She would rather starve than eat some apple slices with PB or caramel!

This is what Boo's lunch looked like any given day last year:



Yep, the classic stand-by consisting of a cheese stick, yogurt and fruit. That's it. If Boo was feeling adventurous, I would include some crackers and sliced cheese instead of the cheese stick.

And guess what would come back from school in her lunch box each day. . .











wait for it. . .








Yep, the same cheese stick, yogurt and fruit. And yes, sometimes milk from school comes back too.


Then BooBoo came along and as it turns out, she's a foodie in the making. She will try everything and eat anything on the table. It was then that Boo started to try new things. If BooBoo liked it, it must not be so bad, right? You have to love the kid's logic.

So now as I sing It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (and no, it's not Christmas yet) I I've decided to take lunch prep a step further and think Inside The Box.

So here it is, our one school-year experiment, where I hope to boost Boo's foodie future and expect to get to healthier (ie no sugary yogurt, more veggies!)and fully eaten lunches soon.