Lunch in a muffin & a Mister bento

-Ham and egg muffins
-Organic peanut butter bar
-Bare apple cinnamon chips
-Honest Kids berry lemonade

The kids' water bottles have been coming back home more than half full this week. I guess they aren't being reminded to drink since the weather has turned nippy. We've been talking a lot about staying hydrated and helping our bodies fight off colds by making sure we're giving it everything it needs to stay healthy. I included the juice pouch in their lunch to insure that they'd have a little extra to drink tomorrow. The girl's lips are chapped, and she's pretty interested in getting them feeling right again, so hopefully she also remembers to drink water all day.
The ham and egg muffins were an experiment that paid off well. I wanted to make a lunch muffin, but not a regular cornbread muffin since they are so delicate and make tons of crumbs. I was hoping for something that I could fill with veggies and protein to make sure the boy isn't just eating carbs.
Lightly whisk two eggs (the chickens are making HUGE eggs right now, so it's probably more like 3 store-bought eggs) with 1/2 cup of coconut milk,
then add;
1 cup of frozen corn
1 cup of Bob's Red Mill gf cornbread mix
6 oz of Wellshire Uncured Turkey Ham Steak cut into small cubes
1/2 cup of mashed acorn squash
I oiled my stoneware muffin tray with coconut oil, filled it a little over half full, and baked them for 25 minutes. I'm very happy with the way they turned out, light and cake-y, with some sweetness from the corn and saltyness from the turkey. It's got a good amount of protein, and I was able to get 2 veggies in there!

I was also able to pack a little bento up for the mister's lunch tomorrow. Usually he packs his own lunch, but I thought it would be a good day for a special lunch. Besides, it allowed me to try out the new EcoLunchbox I got the other day.

-2 Ham and egg muffins
-Tuna salad with cranberries and onions (he already has some bread at work)
-Carrots, olives, & grape tomatoes

The EcoLunchbox holds a lot more than I expected since it's so compact. I'm interested to hear how it works out tomorrow.

Pizza and Bug Food

-Pizza sticks (gf pizza crust, spaghetti sauce, daiya cheese)
-Clementine pieces
-Banana, chocolate, peanut butter smoothie

Neither kid ate the clementines, saying that there wasn't enough time. I'm suspecting that the boy's new love of clementine has passed. Short lived, but still progress. She had hers after school, but his became a parent snack. 
I had an unexpected chunk of free time this evening, and nothing planned for dinner. So, out came the leftovers to be remade into Bug Food (though maybe they look more like sea creatures?).

 For the boy: Tinkyada gf spaghetti with nori strips, black olives, Wellshire uncured turkey ham, grape tomato half, red pepper piece, marshmallow and mini chocolate chip eyes (dandies and enjoy life).

For the girl (who's not a fan of noodles at the moment): Black beans, black olive, nori strips, red peppers. Wellshire uncured turkey ham, grape tomato half, marshmallow and chocolate chip eyes.

Monday Ghosties

-Ghost egg halves with olives and grape tomatoes
-Organic apple cinnamon pouch
-Sunbutter & strawberry sandwich halves on Rudi's gf bread
-2 dates
-Sweet almonds and goji berries

We only have one chicken laying right now, so the kids had to share an egg. At least it was a big one. It cracked a bit while boiling and ended up being ghost shaped, so I decided to leave it as is instead of trying to mold it. Then I remembered the nori punch that I picked up recently, and gave it a try. The kids thought they were really cute, and were quite impressed with my nori cutting skills until I told them about the punch. They were still pretty impressed after that, though not with the tomatoes. The girl picked them out at the store, but I'm suspecting that she wanted them because she knows I love them. The pouch is left over from the before school stock up shopping trip, and the boy has been asking for them for a couple of days, he was happy to see that it made it into his lunch today.
I've been informed that dates aren't as good when they're cold, and the boy doesn't want them in his lunch anymore unless there isn't an ice pack. Hmm. The almonds and goji berries are a yummy treat that we don't get very often. The brand is Himalania. I like to toss them into trail mix for a surprise bit of sweetness, and they also have a little pink salt in them, which makes the flavor more complex and interesting. I'm pretty sure I could make them on my own, and should probably attempt that soon.
This was declared a winner by both kids, with the exception of the tomatoes.

Happy Monday!

Busy week!

We've been working on lots of things this week, so I'm doing a multi-day lunch post instead of my usual daily ones. We're in the midst of a major room switcheroo, moving the living room into the dining room for a more cosy and comfortable space, and the former living room is becoming a playroom. We had been using the dining room as a playroom, but it's size made it difficult for the kids to have much in the way of sensory play. Moving them into the living room allows for us to set up zones, as well as making room for a crash pad and swing. We now have an art corner, a lego table, a sensory play area with the crash pad, trampoline, and treadmill, and the swing should be set up very soon. I'll try to get some pictures soon, when it's not grey and rainy out and there is adequate light.

 

Family Field Trip to COSI!

-Half sunbutter & strawberry jam sandwich on Rudi's gf multigrain bread

-clementine & Pamela's gf ginger cookies

-small bag of Popcorners chips

-apple (for the girl), date roll (for the boy)

A "yes list" lunch! Everything except the clementines were eaten because they were so excited to go play some more. They did eat them for a snack later in the day.

 

Papa-packed lunch!

-Half sunbutter & strawberry jam sandwich on Rudi's gf multigrain bread

-clementine

-trail mix

-organic squash & apple pouch

-Andean Dream quinoa cookie

Another "yes list" lunch. The only thing left was the peanuts from the trail mix. This batch of peanuts wasn't very good, and have been getting left behind a lot. That bag is now finished, so they should start going in again soon. 

 

 

Our first "no list" lunch in a while.
-carrots with peanut butter & sunbutter
-sili squeeze filled with apple sauce
-Bell & Evans organic franks with dipper of ketchup

The boy didn't like that the peanut butter and sunbutter were mixed, and would have preferred just peanut butter. He also didn't like that he couldn't control the amount of ketchup that went onto the hot dog, but couldn't tell me why he wasn't able to control it. I offered to use a small squeeze bottle, but he didn't think that would work either. We'll have to explore this more. Both kids love apple sauce at home, but weren't into it in the squeeze. I wondering if it's because I didn't put cinnamon in it.
They ate about half the carrots, all the apple sauce, she ate all of her hot dog and he had about half of his.
He seems to be having some food regression, and has lost quite a few foods this week. He's craving carbs and sweets even more than usual, and avoiding proteins.

Boring Monday

-Half Sunbutter & Strawberry jam sandwich on Rudi's wholegrain gluten free bread
-Organic Strawberry Banana pouch
-Mary's Gone Crackers pretzel sticks
-Peanut butter and honey for dipping

I'm not feeling up for anything fancy tonight, so I just put something quick together. I used our new dip containers for the peanut butter. The kids shouldn't have a problem opening them since the lids just flip up. I'd love to find something tiny in stainless steel, but all the small stainless containers are still too big for small amounts of dip.

UPDATE: This one got mixed reviews. Sandwiches are always popular, but the pretzels got a thumbs down. I agree, they taste kind of strange. They were still eaten, but not finished. If the peanut butter hadn't been there to dip into, I don't think they'd have been touched at all.