Family Lunches: 5.9.14

Happy Friday!

Sandwich: 45g, crackers: 10g, carrots: 1g, apple slices: 4g, honeydew: 5g

The Boy has turkey, hummus, and Cabot Cheddar on homemade pain de mie, cut into squares and put on a skewer, along with oyster crackers, carrots, apple slices, and honeydew melon.  His snack is an applesauce (not pictured: 15g)

The Girl has turkey, hummus, and Cabot Cheddar on homemade pain de mie, cut into squares and put on a skewer, along with oyster crackers, carrots, apple slices, and a babybell cheese.  Her snack is an applesauce and a banana (not pictured).

The Hubby and I have the same thing - My mother-in-law's homemade goulash with a piece of cheese on top (it gets all melty when you warm it up - delicious), with honeydew melon and some sweet & salty nut mix.

Lunches for Outings: VINS (with bonus King Arthur Flour) and Eagle Mountain (4.24.14 & 4.25.14)

We had Spring break this past week, and the kids and I had a couple of adventures that included lunches.

Rough-legged hawk

American Kestral

Snowy Owl

On Thursday, we went to VINS, the Vermont Institute of Natural Science, with my mother.  It is mainly a raptor rehabilitation and education center, and we saw a couple of live raptor educational shows.

For lunches, we had a sandwich with hummus, ham, and Cabot cheddar, apple slices, strawberries, and some carrots.  My mother also brought some pretzels.

Of course, we stopped by King Arthur Flour before heading home, because it is 10 minutes from VINS, but two hours from home... it would have been a travesty if we had simply skipped it.  Mostly, we stopped by to admire their beautiful artisan bread.

The Girl took the opportunity to grind some wheat.

Then, on Friday, we got together with a friend and took a little hike on Eagle Mountain, enjoying lunch in the woods.  I brought us crackers, ham, a cheese stick, carrots, apple slices, and a couple Easter candies in the egg.

I am hoping that this spring and summer bring many outings and hikes.  Last year was kind of a dud, so I'm crossing fingers for more cooperative weather and timing.  We do love our adventures, and our Easylunchboxes!

Lunches: 4.16.14

Got to love Vermont... it was 80 on Monday and it snowed last night.  I am so ready for a real spring, and the kids are as well.  We all want to go hiking (and we are not winter hiking people) - and this weather is making hiking season look far off.  Hoping it isn't that long..

Wrap: 37g, cheddar penguins: 10g, strawberries: 4g, apple slices: 8g

Anyhow, The Boy's Wednesday lunch is a chicken Caesar wrap (his tummy is feeling better, he said), along with some cheddar penguins, strawberries, and apple slices.  His snack is a granola bar (not pictured, 34g)

The Girl has sandwich pinwheels with hummus, Cabot cheddar, and ham.  She also has some romaine lettuce with parmesan cheese, strawberries, and apple slices.  Her snack is a granola bar (not pictured).

Think warm thoughts!

Family Lunches: 4.14.14

Monday!

Sandwich: 45g, strawberries: 5g, pretzels: 15g

The Boy has a sandwich with hummus, ham, salami, and Muenster cheese, along with spring yogurt pretzels and strawberries.  His snack is a granola bar (not pictured: 34g)

The Girl has a sandwich with hummus, salami, ham, and Cabot Cheddar cheese, along with spring yogurt pretzels and strawberries.  Her snack is a granola bar and an apple (not pictured)

I have a sandwich with hummus, salami, ham, and Muenster cheese, with spring yogurt pretzels, and strawberries.

The weather is supposed to be amazing today - but with wind gusts of up to 40 mph.  I was really hoping to bike, but I don't want to be blown into the lake on my commute.. *sigh* soon enough.

Recipe: Fruit Parfait "Cupcakes" for a Birthday Celebration

The kids' schools have put in place an "Only Healthy Treats" policy this year, which makes birthday celebrations a bit more challenging than throwing together some cupcakes.

In lieu of cupcakes, I decided to make fruit "cupcakes" - little fruit and yogurt parfaits.

I used watermelon, strawberries, blueberries, grapes, kiwi, and for fun, dragonfruit (that we have tried before and found sadly underwhelming on it's own, but nice in fruit salad!).

For the yogurt, I used plain Cabot Greek yogurt, and mixed in a package of cheesecake flavored pudding mix.  It's really yummy and I think I might use it for a fruit dip at future parties.

Watermelon circle with a ring of yogurt piped around it to start

To make the parfait "cupcakes" pretty, I layered the fruit in an attractive way.  I started with circles of watermelon on the bottom, cut to fit in the cups, and piped a little of the yogurt around the top.

I followed this with a nice slice of strawberry, and a few pieces of kiwi, then a scoop of blueberries.

I piped another layer of yogurt over the blueberries, then added grapes and a couple pieces of dragonfruit.  To top the parfaits off, I placed a strawberry sliced through most of the way several times and spread to form a fan.  For fun, I put a tiny watermelon star on each parfait.

I think they are sweet and healthy and a nice alternative to cupcakes, and I hope that the kids like them!

Lunches for an Outing: Boston Museum of Science, 3-1-14

We love the Boston Museum of Science!  If you live anywhere at all close, I can't recommend it enough.  We have a membership, and intend on renewing it for next year.  We spent the day there yesterday, and had such a wonderful time.

Wall of food!

There's a temporary exhibit that we could have spent so much more time at - Our Global Kitchen: Food, Nature, and Culture.  (I will have some pictures of this later - my camera died).  It was fascinating.

Another temporary exhibit features molecular gastronomy, which I have seen all over the Food Network, and as a scientist, I would love to try it.. but those molecular gastronomy kits are expensive!  It is called Innovation in the Art of Food, and made me really want to try oil "caviar" and carrot foam...

We went to a show in the planetarium all about moons (this was outstanding, and worth the trip in and of itself), and also an IMAX show about the South Pacific and coral reefs.

On top of all of that, we saw tiny cotton-top tamarin monkeys, a porcupine, a fantastic lightening show, the live butterfly garden that always makes me feel like I am communing with my father (who was an amateur lepodopterist) ... and the kids spent a really long time watching their favorite, the perpetual motion machine.

The Girl and my fabulous mother enjoying their lunches

But we also needed to eat.  So, I did what I do, and I packed us lunches.

I made some nice fresh oatmeal bread (from a King Arthur Flour recipe), and we had sandwiches with hummus, spinach, turkey, Cabot cheddar cheese, and Penzey's sandwich sprinkle, along with carrots and cucumber with some hummus (The Girl just had some carrots, as she is not a fan of cucumber), some apple slices and nectarine slices, and a couple lemon Savannah Smiles Girl Scout cookies for each of us, each in an Easylunchbox.

We are looking forward to going again, and I think next time, we will also pack dinner.  The cafe is ok, but expensive and doesn't have many options (since we stayed for an evening show at the IMAX theatre, there was only one dining option left open, and a cheeseburger and fries cost me almost $9...) If I am going to spend money at the museum, I would rather spend it in the museum store, instead of on something I could do myself.

I don't know when we will go down next, or where our next outing will be to, but packing lunches makes it more affordable to do fun things, so pack away!

Family Lunches: 2.20.14

Happy Thursday!

The kids and The Hubby all have essentially the same lunch for Thursday.

The sandwiches have a secret weapon today - my sister got me some Penzey's Sandwich Sprinkle.  She says it makes sandwiches magical.  I'll try it on my own sandwich and report back... it certainly smells divine.

Sandwich: 30g, banana: 28g, apple slices: 6g, fruit jelly: 5g

The Boy has a turkey and spinach sandwich with Cabot cheddar cheese, hummus, and Sandwich Sprinkle, on a sandwich thin, along with a small banana, apple slices, and a fruit jelly.  His snack is a yogurt (not pictured, 12g)

The Girl has the same thing as The Boy.  Her snack is a yogurt and a mixed fruit cup (not pictured).

The Hubby has a sandwich thin with hummus, turkey, spinach, Cabot Cheddar cheese, and some Sandwich Sprinkle, along with a small banana, apple slices, and a couple of Thin Mints.

Family Lunches: 1.21.14

The Hubby has Tuesday off, but I made some really yummy homemade bread, so the rest of us have sandwiches in our lunches.

Sandwich: 40g. carrot: 2g, watermelon: 5g, fruit jelly: 5g

The Boy has a liverwurst and cheddar cheese sandwich, with baby carrots, watermelon, and a fruit jelly.  His snack is a Granny smith apple (not pictured, 8g)

The Girl has a sunbutter and jelly sandwich, baby carrots, mango, and a fruit jelly.  Her snack is some Dick & Jane Educational snacks (not pictured).

I have a liverwurst and cheddar cheese sandwich, with some pickles that my sister made on the side (I intend to eat them with my sandwich, but didn't want them to get soggy), along with baby carrots, and mango.

Family Lunches: 1.16.14

Happy Thursday!

Sandwich: 25g, strawberries: 3g, fruit jelly: 5g, apple slices: 4g, Dick & Jane Educational snacks: 16g

The Boy has a ham, salami, spinach, and Cabot cheddar sandwich with strawberries, a fruit jelly, Pinata apple slices, and Dick & Jane Educational snacks.  His snack is a yogurt (not pictured, 12g).

The Girl also has a ham, salami, spinach, and Cabot cheddar sandwich with strawberries, a fruit jelly, Pinata apple slices, and Dick & Jane Educational snacks, and her snack is also a yogurt (not pictured).

The Hubby has a ham, salami, spinach, and Cabot cheddar sandwich with strawberries, Pinata apple slices, and a cupcake from our freezer as a treat.

I have leftover Moroccan Fetteh waffles, with Pinata apples and a fruit jelly.

Lunches: 1.14.14

The Girl made dinner on Monday night.  I had picked up some unflavored spinach ramen noodles at the Asian market, and I helped her a little to make a veggie soup with the noodles.  She loved them so much, she wanted the soup for lunch.  I asked her if she just wanted the noodles, and she said, "No, just put the soup in a thermos, and fill an Easylunchbox with fruit and veggies for me."  I like this plan.

So, The Girl has a small thermos of homemade ramen soup with veggies, a banana, strawberries, apple slices, a fruit jelly from the Asian market, and some Dick & Jane Educational snacks.  Her snack is a yogurt (not pictured).

Sandwich: 20g, strawberries: 7g, apple slices: 3g, fruit jelly: 4g, Dick & Jane Educational Snacks: 18g

I only have one thermos (which the kids complained about, and I'll have to remedy soon), so The Boy has a sandwich with salami and Cabot cheddar, along with strawberries, apple slices, Dick & Jane Educational snacks, and a fruit jelly from the Asian market.  His snack is a yogurt (not pictured, 12g)

Family Lunches: 1.13.14

I absolutely meant to make bread and granola on Sunday.  I had it all planned.

But... instead, we started on a bathroom redo project we've been meaning to start, worked on cleaning a bit, and I snuggled with The Girl and watched two Harry Potter movies (we just finished reading book 5.. working on catching up with the movies!)  I'd say that's not a bad way to spend a day.

It didn't get bread made, but it was still a pretty good day.

I will do my best to get bread and granola made early this week.  It's still in the plan.

Anyhow, our lunches are homemade bread and granola free for this Monday.

Sandwich: 25g, strawberries: 5g, apple slices: 6g, Dick & Jane Educational snacks: 18g

The Boy has a salami and Cabot cheddar sandwich, along with strawberries, Granny Smith apple slices, and some Dick & Jane Educational snacks.  His snack is a blueberry muffin, made by The Girl (not pictured, 24g).

The Girl has some leftover Brazilian chicken salad on a bed of spinach, with Pinata apple slices (fancy apples!  Can't resist occasionally!) and some Dick & Jane Educational snacks.  Her snack is also a muffin (not pictured).

The Hubby has a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, strawberries, Red pepper chips from The Better Chip (review coming oh so soon!), and some Pinata apple slices.

I have leftover Brazilian chicken salad on a bed of spinach, Pinata apple slices, and some Red Pepper chips from The Better Chip.

Lunches: 1.10.14

Happy Friday!

Wrap: 25g, Corn chips: 17g, Fruit jelly: 6g, Apple slices: 4g, carrots: 1g

The Boy has a wrap with liverwurst, spinach, salami, and Cabot Cheddar, along with some corn chips from The Better Chip (review coming soon!), a fruit jelly from the Asian market, apple slices, and baby carrots.  His snack is Dick & Jane Educational snacks (not pictured, 18g)

The Girl has a wrap with a little Major Grey chutney, spinach, ham, and Cabot Cheddar, along with some corn chips from The Better Chip, a fruit jelly, apple slices, and baby carrots.  Her snack is also Dick & Jane Educational snacks (not pictured)

Lunches: 1.8.14

We had grilled ham & cheese sandwiches for dinner, and there are leftovers for lunches.

Grilled Ham & Cheese: 35g, Kale & Spinach chips: 12g. Chocoboy: 6g, apple slices: 4g, Dick & Jane snacks: 18g

The Boy has grilled ham & cheese on homemade bread, kale & spinach chips from The Better Chip (review coming soon!), apple slices, Dick & Jane Educational snacks, and a couple Choco-Boy biscuits from the Asian market.  He has a Envirokidz cereal bar for snack (not pictured, 21g)

The Girl has grilled ham & cheese on homemade bread, kale & spinach chips from The Better Chip, pear slices, Dick & Jane Educational snacks, and a couple Choco-Boy biscuits.  She has an Envirokidz cereal bar for snack (not pictured)

Lunches: 1.7.13

Tuesday lunches, which also have some treats from the Asian grocer we visited this weekend.

Sandwich: 40g, broccoli: 1g, Fruit jelly: 5g, apple slices: 6g, Corn chips: 10g

The Boy has a sandwich with homemade bread, liverwurst, spinach, salami, and Cabot cheddar, along with broccoli, a little fruit jelly from the Asian grocer, along with apple slices and some corn chips from The Better Chip (review coming soon!).  His snack is an Envirokidz cereal bar (not pictured, 21g)

The Girl has a sandwich on homemade bread with Miracle whip, ham, spinach, and Cabot cheddar, along with broccoli, a fruit jelly, half a pear, and Spinach & Kale Chips from The Better Chip.  Her snack is an Envirokidz cereal bar (not pictured).