Week 9 Day 2

Another day, another lunch.

I really am having a hard time finding creative ways to blog about these.  Or maybe it is just because I am tired when I blog about this.  Who knows?

At any rate, I gave Keith a sandwich that I really want to try.  A grilled cheese sandwich with pesto, tomatoes and spinach.  A pear apple, two slices of home grown cucumber that we thought was a watermelon.  Grapes, blueberries, cheese stick and carrots.  As a treat, I slipped a Halloween tag onto Keith's sandwich, gave him a little Halloween note about having a good day, and a pumpkin napkin.  He was so excited for his lunch!  And yes, he ate the whole thing.

I think.

It was a great lunch day!

Week 9 Day 1

Today I decided to try something new.

I am tired of making peanut butter and honey sandwiches.  Even if Keith isn't tired of eating them, I thought he needed some variety in his lunch.

I need to have a little variety in the way I make his lunches, too.

I did a little internet surfing for inspiration and then went into the kitchen to see what sort of magic I could make.

I pulled out the cookie cutters and a peach.  I cut the peach into 1 inch slices, and put a cookie cutter through the middle of them.  The pear sliced up looked like a ghost.  I really wanted to make it into a ghost, but didn't have the proper tools for it, so I just let him pretend.  :)  I gave him some carrots, a ghost fruit leather, a cheese stick, and for dessert, he got half a cinnamon roll.  And now, for the finale.  I made him a peanut butter and.....
.....
......
raisin sandwich!

Yup.  Peanut butter and raisin.  I know, it is crazy, and to me sounds awful.  But Keith absolutely loves raisins, and I have mentioned several times about Keith's love affair with peanut butter.  I know he likes peanut butter and raisins on celery for ants on a log.  I thought I would make it into a sandwich.

Doesn't sound very good, does it?

He didn't like it much, either.

But at least he ate the whole thing.

And he ate nearly all of the lunch.

I was impressed.

And oh so pleased.

I guess there is something to making it look attractive.  I mean, the sandwich had a fun little stamp on it.  A smiley face that said smile on it.  And he ate the whole thing.  So.  I am thinking I need to spruce things up a little bit.  I will begin to invest in bento things.  I guess.  I figure it wont be a bad investment, especially if Keith loves his lunches, right?

Week 8 Day 4

So when I am in a hurry, I completely forget to take pictures.  Which is why making the lunch the night before would be a good idea.  Except when said lunch gets all slimy and bleeds through the bread, and makes the bread soggy... which is why I often think of making lunches the night before, but never actually do it.  And then I forget to take pictures because I am worrying about getting the kids both ready for school, fed breakfast, their lunches made, and us out the door on time.

Today, I tried out the new tupperware thing I bought.  On one side it held tightly a sandwich, on the other there are 2 compartments for snacks.  I also bought one that was divided into two compartments.  This way, Keith can have four sides or less.  I don't have to worry about using up baggies, and it keeps his lunch box cleaner.  Albeit bulky.

Today, he had his cucumber sandwich.  He was so excited!  I got a few slices of french bread, spread some cream cheese on them, sliced up a cucumber and placed the slices on the cream cheesed bread.  I sprinkled a little salt on top of the cucumbers.  That is it.  They are open faced sandwiches.
I also gave him some apple slices and peanut butter, a kiwi strawberry fruit leather, some carrots, a celery stick and a broccoli head.  He found some cookies that he and I made the night before, and put that in his lunch.

He loved it.  He ate everything.  Er, nearly everything.  The vegetables were only slightly eaten, and Faye finished them off as soon as we got back into the van.  Loving that the novelty helps him eat better.

Week 6 Days 2-4, Week 7, Week 8 Days 1-2

Firstly, thank you for all the encouragement.  I am so grateful that my meager attempts to help people and the world think before they eat, and try to eat better.

I have been slacking in my posting.  For that, I apologize.  I may have some of this a little mixed up, but I am going to attempt to get it all here, anyway.

Week 6
Day 2
I gave Keith a peanut butter sandwich again.  I was running late, so rushed to make him something.  He got a peanut butter and honey (again, from my father's hives) sandwich, carrots, a piece of broccoli, and an orange.  He ate everything.

Day 3
I had gone to the grocery store the night before.  I had all sorts of delicious foods for him, but low and behold, he requested peanut butter again.  Sigh.  That boy and his love of peanut butter.  I guess it is typical, though, right?  So, I gave him a peanut butter sandwich, some edemame and raisins, grapes, a cheese stick and some broccoli and spinach.  He ate the sandwich.  And guess what, I learned that he has been eating some of the fries from school lunch.  It broke my heart a little.  I mean, he has the right to choose what he is going to eat.  But I really try hard to teach him about good foods, and I have really gone through a lot of work to get him his home lunches.  The boy has much better and natural food than what his friends are eating!  But I do understand about peer pressure, and also the allure of fatty greasy foods.  I only hope that if I continue to provide him with the good foods, that he will make the right choices.

Day 4

It seems, Keith really does want the boring lunches.  Peanut butter sandwiches.  He does want what goes with the peanut butter varied slightly, but not much.  I was tired of giving him the peanut butter.  Besides, we were out of bread.  So I grabbed a tortilla, put some cheese on it, and badda bing, badda boom, he had a quesedilla.  Sorry, no picture because it is wrapped in foil.  I sliced up an apple, gave him some grapes, carrots, green peppers and broccoli.  He ate it all.  Yay!

Week 7
Day 1

To mix it up again, I decided to completely forgo the typical sandwich and move on to cheese and crackers. I gave him some vegetable ritz crackers and a bit of a sharp cheddar cheese ball.  Some of those delicious orange tomatoes again.  I don't know why I keep trying with those.  They are incredible, and completely wasted on the boy.  At least Faye and I get to eat them when he gets home, right?  I am so glad he doesn't throw them away!  I gave him a delicious red pear, some broccoli, a carrot stick and celery stick.  Can you tell what his favorite vegetables are?  At least he eats those nearly every time.

Day 2

The night before, Jeffrey and I had a late night pizza binge.  There was lots left over since Jeffrey was really the only one hungry for the pizza.  I thought it would be a fun surprise for the boy to find a pizza in his lunch box.  I gave him an orange, carrots, celery and broccoli along with it.  And a cheese stick.  When I picked him up from school, I was surprised to find the only things he had eaten were the orange, cheese stick and broccoli.  At least he is eating the healthy things, right?  I worry that he is eating junk from school, though.  Again, all I can really do here is keep on providing him with the good wholesome things.

Day 3



Day 4


Week 8
Day 1

Monday October 1

Guess what kind of sandwich that is?  Yup.  Peanut butter and honey.  I can't get away from the peanut butter.  I think partially it is because I am so tired at the end of the day that I go to bed.  I am not planning out his lunches as I should.  I am not preparing them the night before as I should.  Because of that, the easiest thing to give him is peanut butter.  And I know he will eat it. That is a big thing, too.  But I am going to find a way to mix it up, soon.  I am determined to be more creative.  I am determined to find a compromise with the boy so he will eat his food, and he will have variety.  Though sometimes I wonder why I fight it.  If he likes it so much, why not give it to him all the time?  But if I did that, what would be the purpose of this blog?   Not only do I want to give him good foods, I want to help others.  And if you, dear Reader, or your children do not like peanut butter, what kind of help am I providing?
 At any rate, I gave him a peanut butter and honey sandwich, carrots, celery, red grapes, vegetable Ritz, and a bag of raisins, edemame and a few (very few) white chocolate chips sprinkled on top.  He ate everything but the homemade trail mix.

Day 2
Peanut butter and banana sandwich.  I do have to say, he requested a cucumber sandwich, but I don't have any on hand.  I am going to get some this week.  Hopefully he can have that cucumber sandwich by Thursday.  Along with his sandwich he had an orange, carrots, celery, broccoli, and as a little treat, I included some cider from our October Celebration, and some vegetable Ritz crackers with a bit of German frosting in the middle, making it into a weird sort of salty sweet treat.  Though I probably should have tasted it first.  The garlic in the cracker really puts off the frosting.  :)  No wonder he didn't eat that.  But he did eat everything else.

And just a little extra, here is a snack the kids and I had sometime during the summer.  Triscuts (which only have 4 or so ingredients.  Love that!), fake cheese in a can (I know, I know, but I think it was the first time in my kid's lives that they had the plastic gunk), and delicious green grapes.  Yum!

Oh, also, another note, I am extremely picky on the peanut butter we use.  Adams is the only kid I will buy or eat.  Have you seen the ingredients?  Peanuts.  That is it.  No artificial anything.  Just peanuts.  So, I suppose the peanut butter romance isn't so bad, but remember the boring bit?  And the bit about blog identity?  Why blog if all I put is "he had peanut butter again"?  So, I will keep digging for creative ideas.  I am toying with the idea of bento boxes.  I just don't have the money to put down for all the cute little extras.  It would save a monsterous amount of plastic baggies from the landfill, and I would love to be able to do that, but investing the money in something, and not really knowing where to invest it is never a fun thing.  I will toy with the idea a bit longer, I suppose.  That and save up my nickles and dimes.

Week 6 Day 1

Keith ate everything in his lunch today.

Everything!

Except for the tomatoes.  Those delicious sugary tomatoes.

Drool.

The reason he ate everything today, was because he designed his own lunch.

"Mom, I want a peanut butter sandwich, some broccoli, and some carrots.  Oh, and some water."

Which is exactly what he got.

But I thought I would get all fancy schmancy and add some mouth-watering tomatoes.

Sigh.

At least he ate what he planned.

Still working on that balance.

No picture today, because I forgot.

Week 5, Day 1

All weekend I was sick, so I woke up a little late, and made Keith's lunch in a hurry.

Today he had a peanut butter and banana sandwich, a carrot and celery, a peach, a cheese stick, and a pickle.  Keith ate everything but the carrot stick, which he ate on his way home from school.  Yay!  He liked the lunch.  That makes me happy.  Oh, and his thermos was full of water with a hint of lime. 

Week 4

This week I had hoped to do a little better.  Sadly, not a ton of luck there.
It was a bit of a chaotic week.  I had a bridal shower to plan, and only had a week to do it in.

Monday, I woke up early, went to the gym, stopped by the store and picked up some provisions for the week.  I went home, and made what I thought was an incredibly delicious lunch.

I made a pesto wrap, included some edemame, a pear, and a small container of apple crisp.
To make the pesto wrap, I spread some pesto on a tortilla, sprinkled some mozzarella cheese on top, added a few spinach leaves, and sliced a tomato and spread it on the tortilla before rolling the thing up.  I added an apple crisp, pear, and carrot to the bunch.  He ate the apple crisp.  That was it.  I was very disappointed.  When he got home, I ate the pesto wrap and it was delicious!  The boy doesn't know what he was missing!

Tuesday I got a pita pocket, and filled it with a chickpea spread.  I opened a can of garbanzo beans, drained it, and threw it in the blender.  When it came out, I mixed some mayo in with it, and added a bit of salt.  Delicious!  With his lunch, I added a carrot, a bag of spinach, and some blueberries.  He ate the whole thing.  Why did he eat the pita pocket and not the pesto wrap?!

Wednesday, I was running late.  I had a hard time getting the kids ready and out the door, and consequently, didn't have time to make lunch for Keith.  I took Faye to school, her first day, and when it was over, rushed to my mother's house, and threw together a lunch.  Peanut butter and honey sandwich.  I also gave him some broccoli tops (his favorite), a banana, some vanilla wafers, and grape juice.  It was a big hit!  Made me happy.  At least he is eating some of my lunches, right?

And then Thursday came.

It was the biggest fight in the world to get Keith out the door for school.  He seriously cried and screamed, and voluntarily went to bed on his own.  Because I told him he had a choice.  School or bed.  Because the only reason to not go to school is because you are sick.  I finally convinced him to go to school.  But only because he was going to pretend to be Calvin from Calvin and Hobbs.  He took his stuffed Iron Man in his back pack, as Hobbs, and there was no room in his backpack for a lunch bag.

He helped me make his lunch.

He wanted peanut butter and honey again.  With a cheese stick, an apple, and some nuts.

He ate all of it, and for some reason, pretending to be Calvin did the trick.

Again, I am hoping now that all this stress is gone, that I can do better with his lunches.  Here comes next week!  Yee-haw!  (check that enthusiasm)

Multi-grain Garden Tomato Sandwich

Wednesday night I forgot to make Jeffrey a lunch, so Thursday morning I got up early and while I was cooking some delicious food for the children (we had eggs and toast) I threw together a lunch for my darling man.  He told me the day before that he didn't like herbs much.  He doesn't like to dress up his food, and to please not add so many herbs to what I make for him.  He wasn't a big fan of the rosemary, which I think is tragic because rosemary is one of my favorite herbs!  Thanks to Jamie Oliver I have learned it can go in about everything.  Savory dishes, sweet dishes, and it always makes it a yummy dish.  At least in my opinion.  At any rate, not so many herbs.  Check.

So, Thursday Jeffrey got a multi-grain Garden tomato sandwich, apple slices and peanut butter, peanuts, and a cheese stick.  I wanted to put lots of our garden basil on the tomato sandwich, because tomato and basil are so complimentary, but I remembered his admonition from the night before and refrained.  

To make the sandwich, I got two slices of mulit-grain bread, slathered on some mayo (the boy loves his mayo.  He has in the past made mayo sandwiches.  Just bread and mayo.  And been over the moon happy.), sliced up a freshly picked tomato, and put some lettuce leaves on the other mayo-ed up slice of bread.  Yes, mayo on both slices.  If he could marry a condiment, he probably would have passed me up and gone straight for the mayo.  Then I just put the the bread slices together.  Pretty easy.  Always delicious.  Especially if you substitute the spinach for basil, and sprinkle a little bit of salt on the tomato to enhance and pull out the flavor.  Yum!  But Jeffrey doesn't like salt.  Or herbs.  So his was somewhat boring but still delicious.  I know, because that is what I had for lunch as well.