Thursday, February 14, 2008

Valentime's lunch



No, that's not a typo. That's how my 4-1/2 year old says "Valentine's" and it's just too cute to correct. It turns out that a lot of children still say it this way in first grade, as I found out firsthand while volunteering at the tall one's school this afternoon. Yes, it's still cute when they are 6.

Here is her super cute red-themed valentine's snack for preschool today:

Sweetheart mini sandwiches - one is filled with a dab of cream cheese and the other with strawberry jam. I used my Pampered Chef Creative Cutters to make the sandwiches. I had to open the strawberry one and add bit of peanut butter after assembly at her request, so it was a little snug in the container with it's cream cheese filled buddy. Next are fresh strawberries, quick trail mix of white and milk chocolate swirled chocolate chips, dried cranberries, and some pecans, strawberry yogurt, more homemade granola, and sliced red peppers. The nesting spoon and fork and some apple juice in a resuable juice box finished it off. I added some pretzels into the trail mix after I snapped the picture in case she wants a few bites of something salty.

No picture of the tall one's lunch today because he was off to school before I got home from work. Snapping pictures of his lunch was the last thing on my mind at 4:45 Am when I put it together. Plus, his lunch today was a somewhat uninspired and was not worthy of pre-dawn photos. He got a plain bagel and some baby carrots with some cream cheese in a container. Apparently his school has this thing called a "bagel bag" and he has been asking for one, so I made one for him, albeit a lame one. Bagels were on sale and I even broke down and bought baby carrots as opposed to grown-up carrots that are usually cheaper. It's amazing how a week of him having the flu turned me into a big softie. I threw in some wheat crackers, raisins, and and some apple juice as well.

It sounds like a lot, but I pack everything in very small quantities for him because he is not a big eater, but he likes to have a lot of choices. Also, we only come directly home from school one day a week, so what I pack has to last through after school activities and dinner, which often is around 7PM, if not later. If he doesn't eat the carrots or peppers at lunchtime, it's a sure bet they will be the first thing he has right after school in the car on our way to afternoon.

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