Cheese and Crackers, Fried Pickles

Jeffrey's best friend is getting married tomorrow.  We are so excited for him!  His fiance is wonderful, I just love her and am so thrilled to have her around.  It will be nice to have a girl permanently around when his friends come over.  As such, though, I have been a complete slacker when it comes to lunches for my boy.  This week I think he got a sandwich once.  And we are out of bread again.  Go figure, right?  At any rate, he is a trooper, and at least me writing messages on his napkins sure helps him like his lunches!

Today he wanted a Wallace and Gromit lunch.  "Cheese and crackers, Gromit!"

I was relieved!  Like I said, no bread, and I was fast running out of ideas on what to make.  Cheese and crackers are so easy, and if he likes it, hey, I'm not going to complain!  So, he got the cheese and crackers as well as an applesauce, gogurt, peanut butter granola bar, and a drink.  I also hid a few cookies in the front pocket, but he didn't find them.  I am wondering how long it will take before he realizes they are there!

Today I wrote a joke on his napkin.  On one said it said "What do you call an alligator in a vest?" On the other side of the napkin, I wrote "An investigator!" Hahahaha!  Hope you have a great day, Keith. I love you.  xoxoxo

He said he loved the joke, but some of his friends didn't get it.  I am glad that a little message from me isn't embarrassing yet.  I remember the one time I didn't include a message in his lunch last year, and there were some seriously hurt feelings on his part.  I know that when he is a teen he probably wont want me to show this kind of affection, so I need to get as much of it in as I can, and hopefully by then, he will be brainwashed into thinking it is normal.

One can hope, right?

With the upcoming wedding, Jeffrey, Faye and I are all a part of the wedding party.  Jeffrey is the best man, I am a bridesmaid, and Faye is the flower girl.  We are all excited.  I was especially excited to not have to cook dinner tonight, and to have left-overs to feed my boys with tomorrow.  After the rehearsal, the groom took everyone out to eat, which was very sweet and kind of him.  But that is the kind of guy he is.  Because of that, we are set for tomorrow.

Surprisingly, Keith ate all of his food at the restaurant.  He had pork brisket, a corn muffin, and then some sides.  He ate all of the meat and the muffin at the restaurant, and even though he had been complaining for a good hour and a half prior about how hungry he was, when he finished eating he said that it was well worth the wait.  Funny boy.

For his lunch tomorrow, he gets Faye's leftover corndogs, fried pickle (oh my goodness, have you ever tried that?  SO good!), A granola bar, a baby jar filled with applesauce, and some green jell-o shots (not really, just small jell-o containers.  Are they still called shots if there is no alcohol in them?) which are currently in the freezer so they will still be cold by the time he has lunch.  And the cookies are still in the front pocket.

At the table during dinner we tell a lot of silly Knock Knock jokes.  Most of them don't make any sense and are just random, but the kids giggle like mad and are so proud of themselves for coming up with their own jokes.  Because of that, I put a Knock Knock joke on Keith's napkin for tomorrow.

Knock knock.

Who's there?

Tank.

Tank who?

You're welcome!

I am sure he will giggle like mad when he reads this one, and then he and his friends will tell so many knock knock jokes, the lunch lady may have to shoo them out to play.  Because that is how my boy is.  

The lunches this week have really made me stretch my creativity and I am thankful for that.  I do look forward to baking some bread this weekend (after the wedding!) so that next week will be a bit easier to make his lunches.  Can't wait!

Back To School

google image found here

Well, it has certainly been a while since I have posted here!

Enter the new school year, 2014-2015!

We asked Keith before he began school what he would like, school lunch (because his charter school actually makes the lunches from fresh ingredients in the school.  Yay!), or home lunch.  He opted for home lunch.  Which makes me happy, because that way I can ensure that my boy is getting healthy food.  What a relief!

So, Sunday night, I was getting ready to make his lunch for the first day of school the next morning, when suddenly, I realized we did not have any bread in the house.  Gasp!  I had to get creative, really fast.

Monday morning dawned, I got him dressed and off to school, lunch packed, and drove home, slightly misty eyed, as my little boy is growing up, and gosh I miss him!  When he got home from school, I asked him what his favorite part of the day was, and he said "Lunch!"  It made me so happy that I had succeeded!

For his first lunch, and due to my lack of bread, Keith got nachos.  I packed some tortilla chips, some shredded cheese with a bit of chopped green onion mixed in, some fresh baby tomatoes, a cut up apple, a carrot, and a box of raisins, along with a Super V Capri-sun.  I of course wrote a little note for him on his napkin and tucked that into his lunchbox.  Finally, I hid a rice krispy treat in the front pocket of his box as a surprise (and to ensure he wouldn't find it until he had eaten his whole lunch).

Funny thing, though, that boy of mine ate all of the veggies and fruits, leaving the nachos. What?  What kind of kid would rather eat the healthy foods over the junky food?  My health conscious son, that's who.  I guess I have done a good job of teaching him!

Tuesday: I did have bread, but Keith requested a pancake sandwich.  I spread some Adam's peanut butter on one pancake, then drizzled some maple syrup on another.  I then cut up a banana and put the slices on the peanut butter, and covered that with the syrup covered pancake.  Keith again got a carrot stick, apple slices, raisins, and juice with his lunch.  And I wrote a joke on a napkin for him.

Wednesday (today): My baby was sick this morning, and so I was focused on her, so asked Keith to pack his own lunch.  He made himself a peanut butter and honey sandwich, got a small container of applesauce, a banana, a carrot, and some juice and considered it a good lunch.  What a funny boy I have.  I am so glad that he is so self sufficient and able to pack himself a healthy lunch when my attention is greatly needed elsewhere.

Now that I am more in the habit, I will try to post pictures of the lunches he takes.

How wonderful and exciting to be back in the swing of school lunches again!

Spring Picnic

Spring is coming.  In celebration, the kids and I decided to have lunch outside.

I miss making lunches and decided to try again.

We had some chickpea sandwiches, carrots with Green Goddess dressing, and orange slices.  We had cantaloupe water for refreshment.  The sun was warm, the breeze was a little nippy, but it was refreshing all the same.

I love having something more than peanut butter and honey.  Faye loved it too, but Keith, not so much.  He is starting to get a little picky about food.  He wouldn't touch the sandwich, which is a shame because it is one of my favorites.  Just chickpeas (from the can) mashed up.  I generally use a fork because it makes it smoother and creamier than a food processor, oddly enough.  Mix it with a bit of mayo, salt and pepper and you are good to go.  Slap it onto two slices of bread, a little spinach, and everything is delicious.

Change in Menu!!!

Due to unfortunate circumstances, Keith will no longer be going to his school. As such, I will no longer be providing him with a home lunch every day. That said, I have loved this little blog here, and all the ideas and helps it has been to both me and others. Because of this, I plan to continue to post lunch ideas here, just not as frequently, and not necessarily with the same feedback because I can give him anything at all from my kitchen, hot or cold and not have to worry about how it will be a few hours from when it is made. I will also try to post new ideas as this will be a valuable resource to me in a few years when he is actually going to school and needing a lunch from home, instead of attending a preschool. Good luck with your Home Lunch Revolution, and I hope to be able to continue to be a support and resource for you. Amy