While Mom's Away.....

     I am thoroughly enjoying work right now.  My first day was last Monday, and although I have yet to do any actual patient care (that starts tomorrow) I find myself so content to simply be working on a regular basis.  As cheesy as it may sound, I get a little thrill every morning when I clip my badge to my chest.  Something about seeing that red tag with those big, bold, white letters "RN" makes me get a surge of pride and excitement.  It's a daily reminder of all I set out to do and accomplished, but it's also a humbling reminder to earn the right to continue wearing the badge for as long as I am willing and able.  I know that a lot of these feelings are related to the newness of it all, and I'm sure they will fade with time.  I only hope they don't fade too quickly or completely.  

     All this time away has caused a bit of an upheaval on the home front.  Poor J has had to pick up my slack by taking charge of Monkey, which includes getting her to and from school, packing her lunches, overseeing homework, and intercepting all messages from school.  Not to mention he's now in charge of dinner and most of the housework while I'm gone most of the day.  He has received these new duties with as much grace s is humanly possible for him.  He even mopped for the second time in our entire marriage yesterday.  It's been interesting to watch as he navigates these mostly uncharted waters.  And it hasn't been without its funny moments.  Take lunch for example, y'all have seen the cute-sie lunches I usually prepare for Monkey.  Let's just say that J has a more simplistic approach.  Let me present my case this way:


How Mommy does lunch:
      Cute and coordinated themed lunches that are as aesthetically pleasing as they are nutritious.

How Daddy does lunch:
     I think they're supposed to be lips....

How Mommy does breakfast:
     Bakes yummy Dark Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins the night before so no one is rushed or scrambling to find breakfast in the morning.

Recipe below

 How Daddy does breakfast:

J (yelling up the stairs):  Kid, if you want to eat this morning you better get down here now and grab some cereal! We leave in 5 minutes!!!

How Mommy does dinner:

Begins the process several hours in advance, making sure to enlist the help of Monkey so that she's engaged and occupied.  Presents a hearty, healthy, and filling meal to her family with pride.  

Recipe coming soon

How Daddy does dinner:    

J (walking up to my car as I arrive home from work):  Are you full of germs?
Me: No; I didn't take care of patients today.
J:  Cool, don't get out.  I forgot to defrost the chicken.  I'm taking y'all out to eat.  


     As much as I love poking fun at him, my husband has been a great help these days, and I have every confidence he'll find his own groove soon.  Or at least I hope he does ;-) Now, how about a recipe before you go?

Dark Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins
Adapted from two twenty one blog
Makes 15 muffins 

1/2 canola oil
1 cup 100% pure pumpkin
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon milk
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
2 cups dark chocolate chips

Combine oil, pumpkin, sugar, egg, and vanilla.  In a separate, small bowl combine milk and baking soda; add to pumpkin mixture.  Next add cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, salt, and flour to pumpkin mixture.  Fold in chocolate chips.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Allow the batter to sit for 15 minutes.  Line muffin tin with paper liners.  Use a scoop to ladle batter into prepared muffin tins.  Bake 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes away clean.

I'm Trying to Be Productive Here

     It's September.  My last blog post was in July.  You may be asking, "What happened to August?".  Well, although my last post should have ushered in a new age of consistent, uninterrupted blog posts (the likes of which this blog hasn't seen since my days as a stay-at-home mommy), sadly that has not been the case.  Why?  Simply put: I've had a case of the "I don't wanna's" since graduating.  I obtained a BSN, followed by an RN, and then I even secured a job, so if I want to sit around my house and color adult coloring pages until I start working, I'm entitled to do that, right?  .....Right?

     *sigh*  I was supposed to run 8 miles today, but instead I crawled back into bed once I saw my daughter off to school from the bus stop.  I did not wake up again until 0900.  It was glorious.  However, in order to not feel like today was a total waste, I've decided to revisit this poor, neglected blog.  How about some fun lunches for your little one?

Charlotte's Web Bento

 After reading this classic tale to Monkey as a bedtime story, I surprised her with this Charlotte's Web-inspired lunch.  There's Wilbur made with these easy-to-use sandwich cutters.  Charlotte was cut from the wax of a Babybel.  Wilbur's "trough" is filled with yummy pretzels.  And you can see the goose with her seven eggs that will later hatch into goslings, while one egg was doomed to rot in Templeton's collection.  I threw in some snow peas and grapes for sides, and sent Monkey off to school, excited to eat her fun lunch.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

For this lunch I prepared wheat rotini and turkey meatballs the night before.  I added some spaghetti sauce, black grapes, celery sticks, and a pepper jack cheese stick to complete this meal.

Under the Sea Bento

This one was fun to make, because it was the first time I got to use the egg molds an awesome friend bought for me.  I made the fish-shaped egg using the mold, and then I made a starfish sandwich.  Then I cut a fish out of the wax of a Babybel.  Next I made this cute sea-snail from a Halo orange by cutting away most of the peel. I added the Goldfish and grape tomatoes as sides and called it good.

DIY Pizza Bagels

I've made DIY Pizza lunches before, but I usually used my homemade English muffins as the pizza crust.  To save time, I decided to use store-bought bagels for this lunch.  I like bagels because they are super easy to write on, and Monkey loves them.  I put some pizza sauce in the little Cinderella box pictured, and I added some sliced ham and Mozzarella cheese for toppings.  For sides, I added grapes,   an orange, and a bit of broccoli.

Cars That Go Vroom Bento
(If you have that song in your head now, you're welcome.)

For this one, I used the other egg mold in the pack my friend bought for me, which makes the little car-shaped egg you see there.  I used cookie cutters to cut out the car-shaped sandwiches, and I decorated them using my food markers.  Next I designed a stop light on a Babybel using food markers.  Then I added a Go-Gurt and an orange for sides.

School Days Bento

This bento was Monkey's first-day-of-school lunch.  It features a pencil-shaped sandwich, complete with cheese to form the standard #2 pencil look, as well as a bit of lunch meat to form the pink eraser.  I then cut an A+ in a Babybel and added some carrot sticks.  I also packed a handful of Alphabet Cheezits and a few strawberries.

Snow White Bento

For this lunch I used a simple circle cookie cutter to form a circle sandwich to form Snow's face, which I then decorated with food markers.  I surrounded the sandwich with snow peas.  Then I cut a "bite" from an apple using a small cookie cutter.  Next using another small cookie cutter, I cut an apple in the wax of a Babybel.  This I put on a bed of pretzels.

Dino Bento

For this bento I cut two different dino sandwiches from two different dino cookie cutters.  I then used my handy food markers once again to draw cracks on the shell of a boiled egg.  This I laid on a "nest" of pretzels.  I added a pair of Halo oranges and a pepper jack cheese stick for sides.

Breakfast Bento

On Sundays, J and Monkey can usually convince me to make pancakes for breakfast, and every now and then I have enough foresight to make a few mini ones for Monday's lunch.  These pancakes are a slightly healthier version, made with Greek yogurt (for the recipe click here).  I packed a bit of syrup in the Cinderella box for dipping, and then I filled the remaining containers with strawberries, a cheese stick, and a boiled egg.

Breakfast for Lunch (Again)

For a different take on breakfast for lunch, I simply packed a bagel with cream cheese (in the Cinderella box), an egg, a bit of broccoli, and some grapes.

Puppy Bento 

This was another easy lunch to prepare.  I used a circle cookie cutter to cut the bread and meat for the sandwich, which I then decorated with food markers and candy eyes.  For the floppy ears, I simply used a bit of the crust and secured them in place with a dab of mustard.  Then I cut a bone shape from the wax of a Babybel.  I added grapes, and snow peas as sides, and called it a day.

     Hopefully these fun lunches will inspire you to jazz up your kiddos plain ol' PB&J with some fun new twists!

May the Fourth be With You

     This may come as a shock to some of you, but growing up I was a complete nerd.  (I know, right?!) I loved reading and learning so much; school was my favorite.  I made A's all my life.  (Until Nursing school, of course.)  In primary and middle school I was teased mercilessly for not being cool or popular.  I remember being called names, bullied, and even tripped in the hallways between classes.  At recess I would hide in the library, where I'd research anything from ancient civilizations to American history.  But that didn't always work, and some nights I'd come home very upset, and I'd cry to my stuffed animals.  On nights like those I remember being cheered up by the adventures of Bilbo Baggins as he went off in search of dragons and treasure.  On other occasions when I was made to feel bad, I'd perk up while watching Luke Skywalker use the Force to conquer the Dark Side with my daddy and big sister.  Sometimes, just daydreaming about what it would feel like to have superpowers, like the X-men, would make all the worries go away.  I didn't always like being a nerd, though.  I tried not to be one for a while, and I was miserable.  I wanted to be popular in middle school, but that would have meant giving up all the things that made me happy.  For a while I tried, but it didn't work.  It just made the misery worse.  Finally in high school I found people who liked me just as I was, no pretending, and no sacrificing the things I was passionate about, but I was still hesitant to let my inner nerd truly fly, having been made to suffer for it all my life.
     It's odd how paradoxical life can be.  As bad as I wanted to fit in while in grade school, that's how badly I want my daughter to stand out.  Even after all the torment I went through as a nerd, I'd love to see my daughter be one too.  And here's why: nerds, geeks, dorks, whatever you call them have one thing in common: passion.  They are incredibly passionate about the things that make them happy, whether that's science, technology, comic books, novels, Halo, Magic the Gathering, Dr. Who, Harry Potter, LOTR, Star Wars, Star Trek, etc.   It doesn't matter what ignites their excitement, once a geek likes something, they let everyone know about it, and they pursue it for life.  I want my daughter to be passionate about life, and I want her to find joy in even something as trivial as a card game.  That's why I encourage her when she shows an interest in something to go all out with it.  You like superheros?  Superhero books!  Superhero coloring pages! Super hero costumes!  Oh, you're into Pokemon now?  Cool.  I'll buy two decks, and then we can play together.  What's that?  You were playing Star Wars at school with a friend?  Sweet!  Let's watch the movies, so you can accurately imitate a strong female character like Princess Leia.
     Being a nerd is something that I thought brought me great strife as a child, but now I realize that's only because I didn't embrace it at the time.  I hope my child enjoys her nerdiness, and embraces the fact that you can get really excited about a movie, or a scientific fact, or even a new trading card, and that's OKAY!  That's more than okay in my book; that's pretty cool :-)
    Coincidentally, this monologue is being brought to you on none other than May the Fourth (if you don't get the reference, you're excused).  You know...Star Wars Day?  And since the theme of the evening is revel in your nerdiness, allow me to share with you the epic lunch I sent Monkey to school with.  This is the lunch my sister deemed, "The most epic and nerdy thing you've ever concocted" (and that's saying something).

     This marvelous Star Wars masterpiece was so much fun to make.  I created Princess Leia by drawing a cartoonish version of her onto a sandwich bun using a food marker.  The Storm Trooper was made by simply drawing on a boiled egg with the same food maker.  Yoda was created by cutting a green apple in half; I then cut one of the halves in half again, and I soaked those three parts (the half and two quarters) in a bowl of water with a few tablespoons of lemon juice for about 5 minutes to keep it from browning before lunch.  I arranged Yoda's ears and face by using green grapes to keep everything in place.  Next I used the tip of a grape as a nose by securing it with a toothpick, and I added a pair of candy eyes using a couple of dabs of Nutella.  I threw in a handful of Wheat Thin Chips for good measure, and I sent Monkey off to school.  But, wait, there's more....

     I had to add this fun little note to the lid of Monkey's lunch box.

     Today was also Monkey's day to bring snacks to school, and I had a LOT of fun putting these together.

     I found Star Wars themed Teddy Grahams, although you could also use the chocolate Teddy Grahams as Ewoks, and I placed those in one snack bag per child.  Then I dipped pretzel sticks in white chocolate that I had dyed blue and red, although, the red turned out pink :-/  Monkey didn't mind though.  She knew which ones were for the Dark Side lol.  I printed out little labels from card stock that said, "Happy Star Wars Day", and I used those to staple the two bags together.

     Next I printed out little labels that said "Jedi Juice".  I let Monkey color the lightsabers before I enlisted J's help to tape the labels onto juice boxes.

     I had a lot fun putting all these together for Monkey, and she informed me that her classmates enjoyed playing with the mini lightsabers before devouring them.  Yay for organized nerdiness!

Happy Star Wars Day!  May the Fourth be With You! :-)

Miss Frizzle Goes to Kindergarten

     Yesterday was Dr. Seuss' birthday, and in celebration of that day, my daughter's school encouraged kids to dress up as their favorite book character.  Initially Monkey wanted to be Elsa or Ana (of course), but I tried to emphasize book characters.  Yes, I realize there are book versions of the movie now, but I really wanted to encourage something that was at least a book before it was a movie.  After many suggestions and vetoes we both decided on Miss Frizzle from The Magic School Bus series.  We both agreed on this idea because 1) Monkey LOVES the Magic School Bus 2) the costume would be pretty simple to execute 3) the outfit wouldn't be so outlandish as to be a distraction in class and 4) we actually have a few of these books and have read them before she saw the shows  (it's the principle, after all).

     Most of Miss Frizzle's outfits are collared dresses with outlandish patterns, so I decided to start simple and add on.  I began with a simple navy blue, collared dress I found at Gymboree for $10.  (You can buy them online from Old Navy Kids for less, but I didn't have time to wait for shipping.)  I  found some fun solar system fabric at Hobby Lobby and a couple packs of yellow star buttons at Hancock Fabric.  

My haul

     I cut out individual planets from the fabric, pinned them in place, and sewed them to the dress. 

I swear I'm studying

Pinning it all in place 

I literally had to dust my poor sewing machine off before I could use it.

  Next I added the buttons by hand stitching them in place.  Here's the finished product:

Front

Back

      Something seemed to be missing, so I gave Monkey her own "Liz" to keep her company, by attaching her Beanie Baby "Rainbow" to her shoulder using safety pins.  I made sure to warn Monkey not to rip Rainbow/Liz off her shoulder or it would make big holes in the dress and/or the stuffed animal.  I also made sure to let her teacher know how I attached it so she could remove him if the stuffed animal became a problem in class.  It's a good thing I did, because when I got home from clinical, I found this note from Monkey's teacher.  It's a good thing Monkey was in the other room, because I got the giggles after reading it.

     Finally to round out the look, I twisted Monkey's hair the night before while it was still wet so that it would be good and frizzy curly the next morning.  J pulled it all up into a loose clip yesterday morning while I was at school with strict instructions to snap multiple pictures for me.  He, unfortunately, did not get the memo, so I don't have any pictures of the full ensemble. (You had one job, J!) Oh, well.  I may just snap a couple myself next time she decides to play dress up.

     Monkey and I had a lot of fun hunting for the perfect dress, finding the add-ons together, and even giggling while I did her hair.  It's really fun having a little girl, especially when she lets you in on the dress up game.  She got many compliments at school about her outfit, and she really enjoyed the extra attention.  Now she's telling me she wants to be Miss Frizzle for Halloween and Daddy can be Liz.  We shall see if he's up for that, but lucky for him she has plenty of time to change her mind!

     Also to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday, I made this special lunch for Monkey:

   I made the Cat in the Hat's hat by coloring red stripes on a white cheese stick.  Then I made green eggs and ham by dying an egg like you would an Easter egg, and threading a bit of rolled up ham on a toothpick.  I added in half of a banana, a GoGurt, and a bit of trail mix made up of Cheerios, cranberries, and yogurt-covered raisins.

     I had a lot of fun putting together all of this stuff so Monkey's usual Monday would be a tad more fun.  Now I'll leave you with these wonderful words of wisdom from Miss Frizzle herself :-)

Happy Valentine's Day

     Lately Nursing school has been taking up more and more of my time, which means my amazing husband has found himself filling in my shoes more often than not.  He's been wonderful about it, and I've really been impressed with just how quickly he willingly took on my share of the load so that I could devote more time to my studies.  That being said, there's definitely been a huge learning curve, for both of us, and what would this blog be without a funny story or two (or more) of my sweet husband navigating his way through this new uncharted territory?
     Just about every pay day, y'all have read my stories of misadventures to the commissary, and you've heard (and ignored) my pleas to remind me to not bring my husband to the store with me in the future.  Well the other night, I decided to be smart and send my husband to the store by himself.  He asked me to go with him, but I declined because Monkey needed help finishing her homework, and I still had some homework of my own to take care of, so off he went to the store alone.  Five minutes after he left I got a phone call.  It was J, telling me that the commissary was closed (it was Monday, of course) and that he'd be headed to Walmart instead.  I thanked him for the head's up (as this would mean he'd be gone longer than expected) and hung up the phone.  About three minutes later my phone rang again.  It was J again, asking if Rouse's would be better than Walmart.  I told him it really didn't matter to me.  Rouse's is a tad more pricey, but it's locally-owned so I let him decide, and got off the phone in order to help Monkey with her homework.  Another 5 minutes went by and my phone rang yet again.  It was J.  He wanted to tell me he chose Rouse's and what would I like for dinner?  I told him I'd leave it up to him since he was cooking.  I told him I really needed to concentrate on my homework now that Monkey was finished with hers.  I reassured him that I trusted him to make these choices alone, and then I got off the phone.  Ten minutes later, it rang again.  Guess who?  J wanted to know if I wanted tacos for dinner.  He'd just grab some ground beef, since we had most of the other ingredients at home.  At this point I should have said "yes that's fine dear" and left it at that, but I was trying to finish up some stuff on my computer and I was not thinking clearly, so I said something bout having a burrito for lunch and not really wanting Mexican food again.  Then J started asking about various types of meat I may be interested in, and I lost my patience, asked him to figure it out, and got of the phone hastily.  At this point I realized I wouldn't get much studying accomplished, as Monkey was finished with her chores and getting bored, so as I got out the craft supplies, I called my sister because she had asked me to call her earlier that day.  As I'm filling her in on my husband's antics, I hear a beeping noise on the line.  J again!  I put my sister on hold only to have my husband ask me if I preferred flaky biscuits or the Grands.  Apparently he had settled on breakfast for dinner, and just wanted to hear my voice telling him that was a good idea.  I told him to stop calling me and just come home and start cooking.  I hung up, switched back to talking to my sister, and decided I would never send him to the store alone again.  That notion was only confirmed when 5 minutes later there was another beeping sound in my ear.  I didn't answer that time, and he finally stopped calling.  I think he missed me, because he came come with a King Cake and a bag of Hershey's Kisses with Almonds :-)
     As much as I pick on him, I am going to miss my husband this weekend.  He's going to his mom's so that Monkey can enjoy the Mardi Gras parades.  I stayed behind to study for my OB/Peds final exam.  The house is very quiet without them here.  Of course, this means my husband is getting out of Valentine's Day.  Somehow he manages to do that every year.  Oh well, it really isn't that important of a holiday in my opinion.  If it were my birthday or an anniversary, I may be more upset.  I was really more upset that I wouldn't be able to make special snacks and crafts with Monkey than anything else.  I did make up for that a bit, though, with these cute lunches and by helping her make some special goodies bags for her Valentine's Day party at school.

Heart Chef's Salad (Kinda)
 

     Okay this one didn't quite come out the way I wanted it, but it was still a yummy lunch, so I'm including it.  I laid out a couple of slices of ham, topped that with a layer of sliced Monterrey Jack cheese, and finished it off with a layer of salami.  I log-rolled the whole thing, and sliced it into little rounds.  I positioned two rounds each on a toothpick.  They were supposed to look like hearts when I did this, but I didn't quite get it to work at 0530.  Unless you turn your head and squint, that is.  I shrugged it off and placed the toothpicks on a bed of lettuce and spinach and added a few diced tomatoes and slivered almonds.  I included a bit of Italian dressing, some strawberries, a few Wheat Thins, and a NutriGrain bar.

Cupid's Lunchbox

     For this lunch, I simply cut two slices of bread and a couple slices of ham using a heart-shaped cookie cutter to form the sandwich.  I added a cheese stick with a sweet message written in permanent marker on the wrapper.  Next I threw in some celery sticks and a few crackers.  The final touch was a pair of Cupid's arrows that I made by threading blueberries, orange wedges, and strawberries onto a wooden kabob.

 DIY Lunchable: Valentine's Version

     I know I use this idea a ton, but it's just so versatile.  I cut two types of cheese (Colby Jack and Monterrey Jack) into heart shapes.  Next I cut turkey pepperoni slices into hearts.  I added a bit of blueberries and strawberries I had cut to look like hearts.  I also included some Ritz crackers (not pictured) for Monkey to make cracker sandwiches with.

DIY Mini Pizzas: Valentine's Version

     This is another one I've done before, but by cutting the pepperonis into heart shapes it makes it a special Valentine's lunch.  Included in this box was an English muffin cut in half, shredded Mozzarella cheese, turkey pepperonis cut into hearts, homemade pizza sauce, Wheat Thins, blueberries, and strawberry cut into hearts.

     I love making these special lunches for Monkey, and I hope one day she looks back fondly on the memories and sees that her Mommy just wanted to do something a little extra to make each day special for her.  Speaking of little somethings to make someone's day special, let me show you the little goodies she packed for her Valentine's Day party at school yesterday.

Aren't these goodie bags cute?

      First I found some cute goodie bags at Walmart.  Monkey picked out her favorite design.  We brought them home and filled them with the following goodies:

     First I printed off some hearts that said, "You are all 'write' Valentine!" on white card stock.  I let Monkey decorate the hearts while I punched two holes in the hearts to thread a cute Valentine's Day pencil through it.

     Next I printed off labels that said, "Your friendship blows me away, Valentine!" on white card stock.  I cut two slits in the label, and Monkey helped me thread Blow Pops through the labels.

   
     Then, I printed out these cute Valentine's Tic Tac Toe boards onto card stock, cut them out, and placed them inside snack-sized Ziplocs with ten Red Velvet M&Ms, five of each color.  Lastly, I added a label for each of her classmates to the outside of the bag.  You can skip this to make it easier on the teacher, but Monkey has a crush on one of the little boys in her class, so she wanted to make sure he got a specific bag.

     The baggies were fun to put together because Monkey was very involved, coloring, organizing, placing, and making sure each of her friends got a personal little Valentine from her.   The time we got to spend together making them almost make up for the fact that I won't get to spend time with her at the Mardi Gras parades....almost.    

I'm Hungry....Perhaps Blogging About Food Will Help

     I'm in time out.  Well, more of a self-imposed exile, actually.  You see, tonight my loving husband decided he would save me the trouble of cooking by preparing dinner without any help from me.  He and Monkey have been in the kitchen since 4:30, and I've been sitting here waiting on my food.  I'm starting to think I may have to eat the dog if it isn't ready soon.  At least J bought chips and salsa for the meantime.

     I was passing the time on Pinterest, pinning all kinds of yummy foods, but that didn't help my situation (go figure, huh?).  Then it dawned on me that I haven't blogged since the beginning of the month.  So that's why I'm here.  And because I have no food.  You know, cause blogging about food when you're starving makes perfect sense.....yeah.....

     Let me start by sharing a few more fun lunches I've been making for Monkey.  Over the Christmas break she told me she wanted to start eating cafeteria food.  I told her that was fine with me, but J piped up that she wouldn't get any say in what they feed her at school.  She quickly decided she preferred Mommy's lunches.  That didn't last long at all!

Monday: DIY Tacos
We've done DIY Lunchables and DIY Pizzas, so we kicked it up a notch for this lunch.

    Using a circle cookie-cutter, I cut circles out of 2 burrito-sized flour torillas.  I brushed the front and back of each tortilla with oil and sprinkle a little bit of salt over each.  Next I fitted the tortilla rounds into a mini-muffin tin and baked them in the oven at 350 for about 8 minutes.

     I chopped up some leftover chicken into tiny cubes.  I then added a bit of shredded cheese.  You can throw in some shredded lettuce and diced tomatoes too, but I just added a bit of leftover salad from the night before.

 Tuesday: Hello Kitty Sandwich

    
     I know I've mentioned these cute sandwich cutters before, and I know I've even used the kitty one before and shared it, but that just goes to show how versatile this one set of lunch gadgets can be.  I cut the bread and meat out with the cutter, and then I indented the top piece of bread with the kitty face stamp.  I used my food markers to color in the indentions.  I added some grape tomatoes, a bunch of grapes, and a cheese stick with a little message written in permanent marker on the wrapper.

     One of the things I love about packing Monkey's lunch is that I can slip little notes into the lunch box.  It's even more fun when it's on her food :-)

Wednesday: Ham, Cheese and Spinach Pinwheels

     As you can tell, tortillas are a staple in this house.  They last a while, so when we've devoured all the bread, there's usually still some tortillas on the shelf, so they make for a quick lunch.  For this one, I rolled a couple of sliced of ham, some cheddar cheese, and a bit of spinach into a log, and then I sliced the roll into pinwheels.  I also used a fun butterfly cutter to cut the cucumbers.  I added those, some grapes, and a granola bar (not pictured) to Monkey's lunchbox.

Thursday: Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons Lunch
     As most of y'all know from Facebook, Monkey entered her school Reading Fair with a project on the book, "Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons".  She got 1st place at the school fair, and then again at the district fair.  To celebrate, I packed this extra special lunch just for her.

     Using a round cookie cutter, I cut four circles from a burrito-sized tortilla.  I colored each one with food markers to look like four buttons of varying colors.  I then thinly sliced some turkey pepperoni (you could also used diced chicken like the mini tacos), diced a bit of tomato, shredded some lettuce, and added a bit of cheese.  The idea was she could make her own little soft tacos with the "button" tortillas.  I added some fruit and veggie sides, and sent her on her way.  She loved this one!

 Friday: BLT Wrap---Bacon, Love, Tomato

      For this wrap, I layered a slice of ham, a couple of slices of cooked turkey bacon, a sliced tomato, shredded lettuce, and a bit of Ranch onto a tortilla and rolled it up.  I added a special message with my food markers.  Then I threw in some colorful Goldfish, a bunch of grapes, and a bit of broccoli and called it a day.

Update:  My husband finally fed me, and it was delicious!  Well worth the wait.  I would post his recipe, but I was too hungry to take pictures.  I should have though, because he says that was so much work he's not sure he'll be doing it again any time soon :-/  Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

     Since I don't have pictures of tonight's feast, let me share a recipe that doesn't take 2 1/2 hours to cook.

Taco Soup
1 lb ground turkey (or ground beef)
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can tomato soup
3 cans sliced olives
1 package taco seasoning or 2 TBS homemade (recipe below)
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can corn, drained
Shredded cheese (optional)
Sour cream (optional) *We substitute plain Greek yogurt.  It tastes the same and is bester for you.

Brown ground turkey (or beef).  Add taco seasoning and the amount of water listed on package (if using homemade add 1/2 cup water).  Cook until 1/3 of water is left.  Dump in all the canned foods.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low.  Simmer 20 minutes.  Top with shredded cheese and/or sour cream, if desired.

Homemade Taco Seasoning
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

This doesn't make a ton, so I typically double or triple it when I make a batch.  Then when I see I'm getting low I'll add some more.

Enjoy :-)