Lunch: 9.30.09

I went kind of maple themed for today's lunch, in honor of fall.

Snack is not so maple themed, though.  Two Ham & Cheese muffins, some raisins, kiwi, and juice.

Lunch is a gogurt, grapes on maple leaf picks, a babybell, Scrabble Cheez-its, two mini maple cookies, couple Little Letter Cookies, three puffins (they have maple in them), maple shaped homemade bread with a little butter.

Lunch: 9.29.09

Snack is two puffins and some grapes with a fun balloon pick, and some juice.

Lunch is three ham & cheese muffins, Scrabble Cheez-Its, raisins, Little Letter Cookies, a gogurt, kiwi, and a babybell.

Lunch: 9.28.09

Snack today is two Cranberry Pumpkin Banana Oat Mini Muffins, a Puffin, some raisins in the green container, and a juice.

Lunch is a gogurt, a Ham & Cheese mini muffin, a babybell, some grapes, Scrabble Cheez-its, Kiwi, and Little Letter Cookies.

Recipe: Cranberry, Banana, Pumpkin & Oat Mini Muffins

I had three bananas that were going bad, and noticed some cranberries in the freezer the other day, so I decided to make some muffins with them.   This makes a big batch - so you could halve it if you want to.

Cranberry, Banana, Pumpkin & Oat Mini Muffins

3 c rolled oats
3 c whole wheat flour
1 c brown sugar
2 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 c ground flax seed (optional)
2 c fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped coarsely (I chopped them in my food chopper/mini food processor when they were still frozen)
2 c skim milk
1 c mashed bananas (I used 3)
1 c canned pumpkin puree
4 Tbsp applesauce
2 Tbsp canola oil or melted butter
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Mix together dry ingredients and stir in cranberries to coat (this will help keep them from sinking in the muffins).  Stir together mashed banana, pumpkin, milk, applesauce, oil or butter, and eggs.  Slowly add in dry ingredients and cranberries, and mix well.

Scoop into mini muffin tins with liners or sprayed well.  Bake for 10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool on racks and serve or freeze.

Lunch: 9.25.09

Friday!!!

Snack is two puffins, some kiwi, and a juice.

Lunch is a gogurt, some grapes, raisins in the red container, a cinnamon sugar bagel stick, Little Letter cookies, a ham and cheese sandwich on homemade whole wheat bread, Scrabble Cheez-its, and a Nut Free Granola Bar.

Lunch: 9.24.09

Thursday!

Snack is the same as yesterday - a couple puffins, a banana, and a juice.

Lunch is two ham and cheese flower shaped sandwiches on homemade whole wheat bread, a gogurt, some Little Letter cookies, a few grapes, half a kiwi, some raisins in the green container, and Scrabble Cheez-its.  I wish the sandwiches came out clearer - they are really cute. 

I really wish she would have eaten the penguins.. I'll try again at some point, because I like them so much.  ;)

Recipe: Turkey Veggie Meatloaf Muffins

I made these for dinner tonight, and they were great.  My daughter didn't love them, but they would be great in a lunch if your kid would eat them.  They were chock full of veggies and they were moist and delicious.

Turkey Veggie Meatloaf Muffins

1 1/2 lb (1 package) ground turkey
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 c carrots, shredded
1 c zucchini, shredded
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1/4 c flax seed meal
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1 Tbsp garlic powder

Ketchup and Barbecue sauce, for glaze

Preheat oven to 450.  Chop beans and tomatoes in a food processor until they are small chunks (or mash with a fork).  Combine all ingredients (except for ketchup and barbecue sauce) well in a bowl.  Spray muffin pans with cooking spray, or use muffin liners (which would probably also be best sprayed).  Scoop meat and veggie mixture into muffin cups and fill to the top.  Squirt a small amount of ketchup and a small amount of barbecue sauce on top of each muffin, and spread out evenly.

Bake for ~25 minutes or until cooked through (a meat thermometer inserted in the middle should come out at 160).

Lunch: 9.23.09

Well, she loved the Grape Penguins, but only ate the cheese and the carrots out of them!  That made me sad.

So, I didn't go as cute for lunch today.

Snack is a banana, two puffins, and a juice.

Lunch is kiwi slices, raisins (in the green container), Scrabble Cheez-its, a gogurt, some Little Letter Cookies, a babybell, and some turkey on skewers.

Lunch: 9.22.09

I had fun with today's lunch!

Snack is two puffins, some slices of kiwi, and a juice.

Lunch is a banana, some grape penguins, some Little Letter cookies, a ham & cheese muffin, gogurt, Scrabble Cheez-its and some raisins.

Grape Penguins!

I saw Cream Cheese Penguins over on Foodie Footsteps.  Since my daughter wouldn't come near an olive with a ten foot pole, and since I have these super dark purple grapes this week (they were on sale), I thought I would give it a try.  And it worked!

I used grapes, a cut up babybell, and slices of baby carrot.  They are so cute!

(I tasted the grape with the babybell, and it was yummy.  Now, if only she would eat brie!)

Lunch: 9.21.09

Back to packing for one kid.  Happy Monday!

Snack is a couple puffins and some raisins, and a juice.

Lunch is a small banana, some carrot flowers with ranch dressing in the red container, some Little Letters cookies, some dark purple grapes, a piece of ham, a babybell, and some Scrabble Cheez-its.

Product Review: Little Letters Mini Cookies 100 calorie packs

I picked up these little cookies because they have letters on them... as I have demonstrated, I have a hard time resisting cute things with fun shapes or letters on them.  There are 6 packs in the box, and each is ~100 calories.

There are a lot of little cookies in each bag.  I won't be packing a whole "serving" in lunches, so it should last a while. (This picture is of all the cookies in one bag).  The picture didn't come out as well as I hoped, but they are very cute.  Trust me.

They are lightly sweet and are a typical tasting shortbread.  They do have high fructose corn syrup in them, which isn't something that I avoid as avidly as some people do, but it is something that I wanted to mention.  One whole bag has 6g of sugar and only 3g of fat so again, using about a third of bag in lunch?  I'm good with that.

And they are so cute.

Recipe: Ham & Cheese Mini Muffins

My daughter loves ham and cheddar cheese.  I decided to make these Ham & Cheese Mini Muffins to have an easy, pop it out of the freezer and into the lunch box treat.

They turned out really great!  They are a little more like biscuits than muffins.  If your kid would eat such things, you could add in some peppers or onions or green onions.  Sundried tomatoes would be yummy, too, I think.  Unfortunately, my daughter is a little reluctant to eat such things without me there to encourage her.  *sigh*




Ham & Cheese Mini Muffins

1 1/2 c white flour
1 c whole wheat flour
3 1/3 tsp baking powder
1 c shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 c cubed ham
3 eggs
3 Tbsp melted butter
1 c milk

Combine all ingredients and mix until combined.  Don't overmix.  Scoop into mini muffin pans lined with muffin cups or well greased.  Bake at 375 F for 12-14 minutes or lightly browned and a knife comes out clean.

Recipe: Mini Maple Pumpkin Pancake Muffins

I love Bakerella.  She's all sorts of awesome and I have gotten a lot of inspiration from her.

When I saw her Mini Maple Pumpkin Pancake Muffins, I knew I had to make them.  I won't re-type the recipe here, because I only changed it minimally.  I used some blueberries and some chocolate chips in the muffins (some of the commenters on Bakerella are calling them Puffins, and I like that).  I used half whole wheat flour and half white.  I topped them with a little maple glaze.

Maple Glaze

1/2 c confectioner's sugar
1/4 c maple syrup
2 Tbp milk

I declare my love for Bakerella.  Try these little Puffins.  They are yummy.

Lunch: 9.18.09

Last day of double packing!  Next week, my life returns to the normal amount of chaos instead of the heightened amount I've enjoyed while my mother-in-law has been on vacation...

For the boy, I packed a gogurt, some Scrabble Cheez-its, raisins, a couple Maple Button Cookies, strawberries, a babybell, Ham & Cheese Skillet Bread, a banana, and a juice.

For snack, the girl has a Nut-Free Granola bar, some pretzel nuggets, a babybell, and a juice.

For lunch, she has a zucchini blueberry muffin, raisins, strawberries, Scrabble Cheez-its, a gogurt, Maple Button cookies, and ham and cheese skillet bread.

Lunch: 9.17.09

Thursday!  That means it's almost Friday!  Yippee!  Only one more day of double lunch packing for us.

For lunch, the boy gets a banana, strawberries, a babybell, Scrabble Cheez-its, Bug shaped grahams, a blueberry zucchini muffin, an English muffin with honey and a juice.

For snack, the girl has a blueberry zucchini muffin, a banana, and some juice.

For lunch, she has strawberries, ham on a skewer, an english muffin with honey, Scrabble Cheez-its, a gogurt, raisins, bug shaped grahams, and a babybell.

Lunch: 9.16.09

Halfway through the last week of double packing!

For the boy, I packed an English Muffin with creamed honey, strawberries, a babybell, raisins, bug shaped grahams, Scrabble Cheez-its, a banana, and juice.

For snack, the girl has an English Muffin with creamed honey and strawberries and a juice.

For lunch, she has a spinach whole wheat tortilla with cheese and ham, Scrabble Cheez-its, a gogurt, bug shaped grahams, raisins, and a banana (not in the picture).

Lunch: 9.15.09

Another two kid packing day... I got these gorgeous strawberries at Trader Joe's while visiting my sister.  I mourn for the fact that we don't have that store in my state...  anyhow, they are gorgeous, and they were really inexpensive.  Just lovely.

The boy has strawberries, a blueberry zucchini muffin, raisins in the white chick container, Scrabble Cheez-its, bug shaped grahams, a babybell, a banana, and a juice.

The girl has two blueberry zucchini muffins, a babybell, and some raisins for snack with a juice.



For lunch, she has strawberries, a ham and cheese roll up on a spinach whole wheat tortilla, a gogurt, a cinnamon sugar bagel stick, a mini fruit jelly, some Scrabble Cheez-its, and some bug shaped grahams.

Lunch: 9.14.09

Another week begins, and I'm packing for both kids again.  Happy Monday!

The boy has a nut-free granola bar, some strawberries, three mini pumpkin-zucchini muffins, a babybell, some raisins, Scrabble Cheez-its, bug shaped grahams and a juice.

For snack, the girl has some strawberries and a nut-free granola bar.

For lunch, she has a mini fruit jelly, a cinnamon sugar bagel stick, Scrabble Cheez-its, a gogurt, a cheese and ham roll up on a spinach whole wheat tortilla, raisins, and a couple bug shaped grahams.

Lunch: 9.11.09

Last day of packing for the week!

For the boy's lunch, a nut-free granola bar, grapes, Scrabble Cheez-Its, a gogurt, bug shaped grahams, three mini pumpkin-zucchini muffins, a babybell, and a juice.

Snack for the girl is four mini pumpkin zucchini muffins and some raisins with a juice.

Lunch is a cinnamon sugar bagel stick, gogurt, some grapes, a mini fruit jelly,a babybell, Scrabble Cheez-Its, grapes, and a spinach and whole wheat tortilla with ham.  (She was just eating the ham out of the wrap with hummus on it and asked for just ham).