busy bags part 2

so the busy bags were a hit--for at least a good...10 mins lol!!

actually, although i thought M would appreciate the paint chip matching thing more, B has really been enjoying it.  both enjoyed the popsicle sticks with velcro but neither for very long.  i think they just liked the idea of it more than liking the actual activity.

here are two others i tried:

i took an old greeting card (sort of amusing that it was a christmas card used for quiet time at temple but i used what i had!), glued it to a bunch of popsicle sticks, and then took an exacto knife to cut it apart.

then the girls put them together to finish the puzzle:

M enjoyed this, but was able to finish the puzzle in about 20 seconds.  B found it more entertaining to take the individual popsicle sticks and hand them out to other people in our row (which were thankfully family members and good friends)!

this one i thought would be a huge hit:

foam sheets cut in half--on one half, i made a design by sticking on different foam stickers.  then i put the other half, together with duplicates of all the stickers i used on the first half, in a ziploc--the idea being that they make the design on their half following my pattern.

my girls LOVE sticking these foam stickers on foam sheets!  they can do this for a good, long while.

so i was right that it was a hit--but again, M was too quick for me!!  she had these done in no time.  B had a harder time with it so although i made what i thought were easier ones for her, they probably should have been even more simple.

in the end, despite my best efforts, the flower-bordered paper my girlfriend brought for her daughter was paired with some crayons and had the longest staying power.  and yes, that is hard for me to admit ;)

i'm still proud of my efforts and i feel that one day my children might look back and think i worked hard at my job to keep them happy, quiet, and entertained ;)

busy bags?? yes, please!

i'm more "pinterested" than ever these days--especially now that i found the "explore" button--what a wealth of time-sucking ideas!!!

the "busy bag" is my new favorite--even though i haven't even shared them with my kids yet!  i just know (ok, hope) that they'll be into these ziploc baggies filled with fun little activities--and such perfect timing because we're in the throes of spending lots of time needing to be quietly entertained in temple!

there are so many out there in pinterest, but here are two of my favorites (mostly because they were easy enough for me to do while watching the emmy's!):

a color-matching activity:

how great is this??!  paint chips from lowes plus clothespins topped with a bit of color--remove the clothespins and match them up again!  i can see the girls loving this :)

and this gem:

popsicle sticks (which i actually had thanks to an overzealous craft run at some point last year) and sticky back velcro dots stuck to each end/both sides of the popsicle sticks.  the girls can make letters, or shapes, or whatever they want--over and over again!  i can definitely see them loving this, as they are constantly making shapes and letters whenever they have pretzel sticks for lunch!

i'll try to remember to let you know how they like these busy bags, but in the meantime i wanted to share them either way because i think they're a great idea!

school days...

M is starting kindergarten tomorrow, and i swear i tear up every time i think about it!  it is tough work sending your first child off to "real" school!!

so i figured i'd distract myself and make a new blog post--two birds with one stone :)  i haven't made too many fun lunches this summer--the girls were in camp for several weeks, and then it seems like we were on the go a lot.  but i couldn't let her start her school in career with just a regular sandwich ;)

i hope this helps her remember how much i love her and how proud of her i am :)

good luck to all the kids starting school this week--and especially to all the mommies and daddies out there too!!

pintrified cookies

remember how i said to stay tuned for some posts based on pinterest findings?  well, here's one.  there's not even much to say about these cookies except that you must try them.  for real.  i feel like they're a balanced meal.

yummmmm

i feel like i've lived up to the term "balabusta" today--let's take a look:

first, i made a few of these smoothies.  i made strawberry banana, and mixed berry (blueberry, raspberry, strawberry and blackberry).  they're "interesting", as my husband declared after trying the first strawberry banana one i made.  but then this morning he asked for more so i guess "interesting" is good.  i found these on pinterest, along with many other fun things, so stay tuned for some "pinterfied" posts in the future ;)

then i made egg salad for B for lunch.  this was the first time i've ever made egg salad.  is that weird?  i think it's weird.  probably not as weird as the fact that i've never eaten it, but i digress.  and yay for a kid who's willing to eat more than just pb&j!!  she gobbled it up--and all i did was use a hard boiled egg, a droplet (seriously--maybe 1/8 tsp??) of mayo, and some garlic salt.  soooo easy!

now on to doughs!  first i made this pizza dough.  i use garlic flavored oil and i bake at 450 degrees, not 500.  i double it and with one half i make a few crusts that i bake and then freeze--it's like having my own boboli, only totally homemade and unprocessed!  then with the other half i break it into individual dough balls and freeze those, for days when i have a little more time (and i mean a little--it takes a surprisingly little amount of time to roll out a pizza crust!).  i even made a little pizza for the girls so they could take it in their lunches tomorrow.

and i also made this rye bread because despite her pickiness, M actually likes rye bread!  and so do i :)  now, i should say that the flavor of this is delicious--but i would definitely never be able to sell this bread (not that i'm planning on it!) unless the buyer likes to make three-inch-wide sandwiches, because no matter how many different ways i've tried, the whole loaf only rises to about that high.  it's super delish, though, and no one here seems to mind (esp because we usually just use it as toast).  i only like seedless rye, so i use a spice grinder to grind the caraway seeds.

B and i had to stay home for the plumber today, but it reminded me that before i know it it will be time to stay indoors!  looks like i'll have to up my number of workout days if being home means i'll be in the kitchen more often...

lowes v. law degree

ok--i'm the first to admit that becoming a lawyer is NOT that difficult--so don't be thinking that i feel holier than thou because i did just that.  i do not.

i do, however, feel a hell of a lot holier than the lowes guy who told me my garden wouldn't grow--because guess what.  i recently made zucchini muffins with these babies:

and whenever i figure out when i'm supposed to pick this, i'll make something with this, too:

(that's a butternut squash, in case you're wondering)
and then i'll be making a salad with this beauty:

granted, it will be a salad for one person, but that's not the point!  the point is, never again will i allow myself to be discouraged by a mean guy at lowes!!

so that's what's been going on around here--i know i've disappointed my legions of fans by not keeping up with the blog, but i've been enjoying the summer and all it's bounty!!

take that, guy from lowes!! (aka a veggie update)

i recently went to lowes to see if someone could help me with the planting of my "babies".  i met a man who basically told me i started too soon with all my plants, and that nothing i planted would grow.

so then i went crying to one of my plant-growing friends, who told me to just go for it--so i did :)  after a fabulous weekend enjoying my nephew's bar mitzvah, i spent a bit of mother's day "just going for it"--and planted my "babies" in our city-dweller raised beds.  because they were either going to die inside, or outside--or they would flourish, despite the mean guy at lowes.

and guess what i found the very next day:

yep--a beautiful flower on my zucchini plant!!

and even better, guess what i found today:

yep--that's right!!  a green bean!!!!  an ACTUAL green bean!!  and what's more, there are TWO of them!!

so take that, guy from lowes!  my black thumb and i have beaten the system!!!

"z" is for zigzag

sadly, "Z" week doesn't get much better than "Y" week...;) 

sure, i could have done a zebra, or zipper--but i went with zigzag.  what can i say--i had an episode of the big bang theory to get to so i needed lunch to be packed and out of the way!

not much of a (big) bang to end the alphabet, but i'm sure M will be ok with it--especially b/c they worked on cutting out zigzags this week :)

thankfully, even though we're at the end of the alphabet, we're not at the end of the school year--i still have a whole month left of lunches to make!  hopefully my creative mojo will return soon ;)  in fact, if anyone wants to make a request, i'd be happy to try and oblige!  so feel free to make them :)

"y" is for yawn-y face

i've been dragging my feet posting this one b/c i'm just plain embarrassed--this is bad folks!  so i'll just post the pic and get it over with, ok?!

i didn't know what else to do for "Y" week!!

at least "X" week was a respectable effort--remember this??

"w" is for whale

poor M was sick AGAIN last friday!  but she wasn't when she went to bed on thursday, so i made her a lunch--and she requested a whale for "W" week

when the girls had a "picnic" (indoors, as it was pretty cold out!) with their packed lunches, the first thing M said was "why didn't you do a blow hole??"  i told her it was because i thought she was going to school and hadn't figured out a way to pack it--she was very understanding :)

"v" is for volcano

once again i am so thankful that my children are not very discriminating!

M asked for a volcano for "V" week:

man, i love this kid--when i picked her up from school she said she loved it and told me that yes, it really looked like a volcano.  i was thinking maybe i should take this opportunity to discuss the merits of telling the truth, but i figured i shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth...

veggie update and another tip

my "babies" are getting so big :)

ok, enough bragging ;)  on to one of my favorite tips:

i don't know about you, but i find a lot of recipes online--and that means either making sure i have my laptop on the kitchen counter, or i have to print them out.  and then throw them out.  and then find them and print them when i need them again. 

until i figured out a better way!  i got a three ring binder and some sheet protectors--such a simple thing!!  i only have to print out a recipe once--if i like it, it goes in the binder (and if i don't, it goes in the garbage!)  voila!  modern day recipe book :)



"v" is for veggie garden

M didn't have school last friday, and she was under the weather last wednesday...so it's no wonder that on the "first" day of spring break, we're already at each other's throats ;)

there actually wasn't a letter for school last week, but i was thinking that if there WAS a letter, it would have been "V"--and it just so happens that last week we started our own vegetable garden around here!  and i'm sort of unnaturally excited about it--as in, checking in on my "babies" many, many times a day excited ;)

i've been wanting to plant a vegetable garden for a while now, but i didn't know how and i have a black thumb, so i figured it wasn't in the cards.  but i also thought i could never make bread or crackers from scratch, and i've been doing that for a few months now, so i decided to try it out!

first we got some seeds...

planted them in biodegradable planting pods...

and placed them by a window. on very fancy folding tv trays...thankfully it's only temporary!!

and voila!!!!  this is less than 10 days!! 

you know, i have carried and birthed two babies--but this?  this is miraculous!!

so, so, SO proud of my little babies :) 

i'm figuring in about three months i'll never have to go to wegs again, right?!

"u" is for umbrella

i suppose i could have gone with unicorn, but umbrella seemed easier :)

it sort of looks like something from a dr seuss book, no?

this is how i would do it if i didn't have to pack it for school:

i can't believe how far into the alphabet we are--not only does this mean i'll have to think of other things to post about, but it means M is getting closer and closer to kindergarten....!!



"t" is for toothbrush and tooth

sorry for the delay--as you can see i've changed the name of the blog and didn't want to continue to post until i'd done so--so even though it was "U" week this week, i still have to post for "T" week :)

i couldn't decide what to do for "T" week, and M requested a tiger.  i said i didn't think i could pull that off, especially when packing it for school.  i was racking my brain and was about to just use my "T" cookie cutter when it hit me--i'm married to a dentist!  how could i NOT do something tooth-related for "T" week?!

my husband said the tooth has "external resorption of the distal root" for all the dentists out there.  for the non dentists out there, it means the root on the left hand side looks funny...;)

"s" is for sushi, and a tip

ok--the tip has nothing to do with "S" week, but i was thinking about it and i had a positive response to the muffin tin post (from people in "real life") so i thought maybe in addition to the girls' lunches, i'd start posting some tips i find useful, and whatever else i feel like talking about--hey, it's my blog, right?!

but first, "S" week--i had just been out with my girlfriends for sushi, and when i came home i remembered i still had to make M's lunch.  ugh. what to do, what to do...but wait!  sushi starts with "S"!!  and i can do that.  quickly.  so that i can put my sushi-stuffed self to bed.

i thought the cheese-stick "ginger" was a nice touch ;)  i sent some chopsticks in M's lunchbox with it too :)

apparently M's awesome teacher had the same idea b/c she brought in a toy sushi kit for "S" week--great minds think alike i guess!

speaking of great minds...here's my tip:  i keep a little magnetic pad on the fridge, and any time i think of something we need, or we use the last of something, i write it down on the paper so i don't forget to put it on my grocery list.  but here's the best part--before i leave the house, i sometimes take a pic of the list with my phone--that way if i get to the store unexpectedly, i have my list!  come on--before you roll your eyes and think "i can't believe i read this far and this is it?!"--how many times have you gotten to the grocery store and either forgot your list or lost it, or just didn't have it b/c you didn't realize you'd get to the store??  huh??  right.  you're welcome.

happy lunching!

"r" is for don't look a gift horse in the mouth

i love making fun lunches for the girls, and i love having a blog on which to post about them.  but sometimes i feel pressured to come up with something good to post about on said blog, and then it's not fun.

so when i couldn't come up with anything for "R" week, i sort of jokingly said to the daddy who lunches, in front of M, "can i just do a rectangle?"--to which M said "ooh, yeah!"  and also "and there's that rabbit cookie cutter you have--you could do a rabbit on a rectangle bed!"

SOLD.

happy lunching!

"sunshine" is for SPRING!!!!

it has been such a beautiful day here--60 degrees in early march is not a usual thing around here, so even though i know it's not officially spring yet, i thought i'd share one of our favorite fun lunches around here--perfect for a sunshine-y day like today :)

a sandwich sun with cheese rays, pirate booty clouds, and strawberry tulips in the sugar snap pea grass :)

happy lunching (and happy spring weather)!!

"q" is for queen

and not just any queen--queen esther, of course! 

purim begins this week, and M's class spent a good deal of last week preparing.  AND it was "Q" week at school, so i figured queen esther would be perfect for M's lunch

amazing likeness, right??!

and for those of you who aren't familiar with purim, you can check this out

happy lunching!

"muffin tins" aren't just for muffins

surely you have heard of muffin tin meals--but just in case, i thought i'd introduce you.  especially b/c the girls didn't have school this week and in between playdates and errands we never did any fun lunches ;)

the idea of muffin tin meals is that you use a muffin tin instead of a "regular old plate" to serve your kids' meals--and you can add foods they've never eaten/would normally not eat and they'll gobble it up b/c it's in a muffin tin and not a "regular old plate".

yeah--my kids *might* eat something new if it's covered in chocolate, but even then there's no guarantee.  BUT, they do enjoy the occasional meal when their food comes in a muffin tin, and they may even eat more than they usually do so i consider it a useful tool.

here's a muffin tin dinner i served the girls a couple weeks ago:

starting at the top left and going clockwise there's: a piece of (whole grain) bread, a chicken finger (we keep kosher so it's actually a meat-free chicken finger, but you get the idea), strawberries, noodles, drink, and then the last slot held some of the ingredients that made up a salad the daddy who lunches and i were having--including hearts of palm, pine nuts, goat cheese, and edamame.  this was B's muffin tin--M's contained grapes in that slot b/c (despite the original goal of the muffin tin meal) she would shun the entire thing if those "weird" items were anywhere near her meal.  but by all means, use the muffin tin as a vehicle to introduce your kids to new food items if you think it will work ;)

have you ever served your kids a muffin tin meal?  did they eat new foods if you did?  let me know!

and as always, happy lunching (or dinner-ing)!

"p" is for pajamas

yay!!!  M is healthy again!!!  and she's actually been to school and her other activities all week--whew!! 

now it's P week, and not only that, but M's fabulous teacher has decreed tomorrow "pajama day"--let me tell you there has been no shortage of M's excitement as she prepares to wear not only hello kitty pj bottoms but a frog pj top (frogs were her first love)!

so how could i resist making pjs for lunch?! 

polka dot pjs, no less :)

yes, of course it's pb&j (i can't wait until B takes a lunch to school, as she's a much more adventurous eater!) with cheddar polka dots. trying to get those polka dots to stay was sort of a project, so i'm crossing my fingers that they hang on until lunchtime!

in other news, today is a special day for me--i noticed that i have my first non-family/friend "follower"!!  i don't know who you are, but you have made my day!!  welcome, and i hope you enjoy our lunches!

happy lunching!

"valentine's day" is for love...

...the love this mommy who lunches, who is NOT a fan of valentine's day, has for the daddy who lunches--who is.

i would just assume ignore this "holiday"--except for the chocolate--i love the chocolate.  but since the daddy who lunches likes to celebrate, my new way of dealing with valentine's day is to have a "heart attack" for dinner:

the table

 the heart shaped quiche

the fruit

and, of course, the dessert



happy valentine's day to those who love it, and to the one i love :)

"o" is for octopus

i know, i know--i usually post on fridays and the tens of thousands of you reading this have spent the entire weekend wondering where i've been--i'm sorry!  not only was M still sick all this week as well as last, but B joined in too :(  so needless to say, it was a loooooong 11 (but who's counting?!) days in this house!

but don't you worry--we still celebrated "O" week in our usual fashion!  and the girls, who were finally on the mend by friday, did enjoy their octopus lunches--even though they had been eating like birds for the previous week or so

although M was thinking the apples were water (hey--not all water has to be blue--maybe it was SO clear it was...white?!) we decided that they were the sand in the water--b/c *clearly* the schools of fish swimming around the octopus and the strawberry "coral" were all in the water as well, right?!

thankfully everyone is healthy again and school and other activities have resumed--so don't be worrying about missing "P" week--i wouldn't dare!

happy lunching!

"n" is for nightgown

poor M is sick and home from school :(  but i couldn't let my loyal readers (hi mom!) down, so here's a nightgown for "n" week

it's a pb&j nightgown on a cheese cracker bed (with cheese headboard), grape pillows, a strawberry blanket, and a special treat on the "nightstand" :)

happy lunching!

"f" is for felt

or, how to occupy your children while you try to make soup and other things in the kitchen

M and B go to the same school--but on different days and in different rooms.  for the last couple weeks whenever  we drop B off at school, M has been very interested in a felt board in B's room.  her interest coupled with pictures a facebook friend of mine just posted of a felt board she made for her kids reminded me that i've been wanting to make one for the girls.  M of course asked for something hello kitty themed, so i obliged (thankfully my children aren't all that discriminating!)

here's what i came up with:

even though i thought i might go blind after cutting out all those tiny pieces, it was well worth it as the girls played with it for a good portion of the morning while i got to cut and roast veggies for soup and to make more "goldfish" crackers (feel free to post an instructional comment if you know how to make a link to my previous post!)

happy lunching (and felting)!

"m" is for mouse

a lunch can only be as creative as it's weakest link (or, having to pack a lunch for school limits how cute i can make it)

M requested a mouse for "m" week.  here's what i thought this could mean:

esp b/c i wanted to use the pizza i had made earlier this week.  but then i realized that (a) i accidentally made the ears with peanut butter instead of "fake" peanut butter and (b) that would end up looking like a piece of pizza, two half moons, and some raisins by lunch time

so i had to start over.  i got out the fake peanut butter and came up with this:

hey folks--they can't all be winners ;)  but at least it will still look like this at lunchtime :)

happy lunching!

"x" is for xylophone

it's only "m" week at M's school, but a friend of mine asked for an "x" lunch--and i usually only do a fun school lunch for M on fridays so i thought i'd take the opportunity to fulfill my first request ;)

i actually thought of x-ray for "x" week, and thought something like this would be best:

but then another friend suggested xylophone and i'm guessing you'll agree that's a much cuter "x" lunch (and more recognizable lol!)

happy lunching!

"c" is for crazy--or how to make your own "goldfish"

i have a very dear friend (i won't name names but she knows who she is!) who is starting to go "au naturel" when it comes to food--and is trying to take me down with her get me to see the value of her ways.  so when she told me she was making her own "goldfish" crackers, i told her she was crazy--and then decided i had to try it out. 

here's what you need: 8oz of cheddar cheese, shredded; 4 tbsp butter, cubed; 1 cup flour (i used white whole wheat), 3/4 tsp salt (i will cut this down next time b/c i thought they were kind of salty), 2 tbsp cold water; 350 degree (anyone want to tell me how i can type in that circle thingy to indicate "degrees"??) oven

here's what you do: pulse everything but the water together in a food processor until it looks like (coarse) sand; pulse in the water 1 tbsp at a time; remove the dough from the food processor and wrap it in plastic wrap (or press and seal which is what i used) and chill in the fridge for 20 mins; roll it out and cut it into shapes using whatever (mini) cookie cutters you have and place the shapes on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.  bake for about 15 mins or until crispy.

they are incredibly easy (but the cutting is time consuming)!  i will admit that my dad (usually my biggest fan) said "they don't" in response to my "they're supposed to taste like goldfish crackers"--but i thought they were pretty good and my most important critics (M and B) liked them so i considered them a success!   

i'm also not ready to completely cross out "goldfish crackers" from my grocery list...;)  but i will try them again--but i'll lessen the salt and i'll try to make them thinner next time. 

happy lunching!

"l" is for lollipops

these aren't as creative, in my opinion, but M requested lollipops for "L" week so i couldn't refuse :)  peanut butter and jelly circles and stars with veggie stix for the lollipop stick. 

are you wondering why every sandwich is peanut butter and jelly??  simple--the only other sandwich M will eat is a grilled cheese.  and really, doesn't grilled cheese speak for itself?!  no need to make shapes when you're eating buttered bread and melted cheddar!

happy lunching!

"k" is for kitty

hello kitty, that is

i have no idea how or when it started, but my 4 yr old (M) has a mild obsession with hello kitty.  most evenings in our house include printing out a hello kitty coloring page for her to color while i get dinner ready--while in hello kitty pjs and a hello kitty headband (her, not me)

so what else would i make for "k" week??  and if you're wondering why i wouldn't make it for "h" week, there's a very simple explanation:  it never really occurred to me to make a lunch corresponding to the letter of the week until "j" week.  so we start at "j"--maybe if anyone ever actually reads this i'll go back and think of something cute for "a" through "i" ;)

and in case you're wondering, that's a peanut butter and jelly sandwich cut into a cat's face, with raisin eyes, a nose made out of a piece of one of those rocketship-shaped goldfish crackers, slices of about one square of a hershey bar for the whiskers, and a homemade butterfly-shaped goldfish cracker (more on those to come later) for the bow.

happy lunching!

"j" is for jigsaw

my oldest daughter's preschool teacher assigns a letter to each week.  in school, that means they talk about words that start with the letter, do crafts of things that start with the letter, practice writing the letter, etc.  at home, it means mommy tries to come up with something clever for lunch. 

this was for "j" week and if do say so myself, was probably my best lunch yet--and free hand no less ;)  just thought i'd put my best foot forward for my new blog...

my first ever blog post!!

i'm a sahm--i "used" to be a lawyer.  and while i absolutely adore my children and feel incredibly fortunate to be able to stay at home with them, sometimes i get bored.  bored?, you ask.  with a 4.5 yr old and a 2.5 yr old to take care of?? 

ok--not bored.  under appreciated.  i admit it--i miss the feedback.  i need someone to tell me i'm doing something right--not just the millions of things i'm doing wrong (complete with foot stomping and whining). 

enter facebook.  huh?  let me explain:  make cute lunch for children.  take picture.  post to facebook.  bask in the glow of friends' accolades.  repeat as necessary (or when time permits).

actually, i really just wanted to have fun with my girls' lunches--especially b/c they're pretty picky eaters and i thought it might be a great way to insure their actually eating what i made.  but the accolades were so delightful!  and then i started getting suggestions/requests for a book--and my did my ego begin to swell!  then i realized that i only made cute lunches every once in a while.  plus, a book requires not only the commitment to write it, but a publisher and people to buy it--and that's a whole different ballgame than friends on facebook who make a sideline suggestion.  so, the idea to blog was born (thanks to my loving and supportive husband)--and here we are! 

so, i hope you enjoy--i'll post any lunches i make for the girls, and any other fun stuff i can think of--and i hope you'll follow along!