School Lunches III

More packed school lunches!

1.  tortilla chips
2.  salsa
3.  fun size Skittles
4.  swiss cheese sandwich on pumpernickel with ketchup and mustard
5.  roasted red pepper hummus with three olives
6.  fruit salad or pineapple, cantaloupe, and raspberries

1.  whole plum
2.  banana, mango, pineapple yogurt
3.  granola
4.  veggie straws
5.  cheese/pepperoni pinwheels (one swiss chees, one provolone cheese)

1.  Cracklin' Oat Bran cereal
2.  whole plum
3.  mashed sweet potato with cinnamon and brown sugar
4.  half slice of baby swiss with ham, rolled
5.  half of Asian pear, sliced
6.  fortune cookie

1.  sandwich of swiss cheese and half a slice of ham with ketchup and mustard, cut to fit container  (He came home from hot lunch day raving about the grilled ham and cheese sandwich he had, so ham has now been added to the short list of meats he will eat - at least sometimes.)
2.  salad of Romain, shredded carrots, cheddar cheese, ranch dressing, and croutons on the side
3.  fun size Skittles
4.  whole plum

1.  graham crackers
2.  ranch dressing for dipping
3.  sandwich of cranberry sauce, cream cheese, and turkey on pumpernickel bread
4.  two dried apricots
5.  three baby carrots and one grape tomato
6.  cottage cheese
7.  grapes

1.  Tortilla chips and garlic rye crisps
2.  roasted red pepper hummus with one large regular olive and one olive stuffed with blue cheese
3.  two grape tomatoes and three baby carrots
4.  pepperoni and swiss cheese roll ups (two slices of swiss and 6 pieces of pepperoni, rolled, cut in half, and stuck on toothpicks)
5.  grapes
6.  Cracklin' Oat Bran cereal

Tooth Fairy Pillow

I made a tooth fairy pillow as a birthday gift for my son's friend.  I think this will be my "go to" gift for birthday parties this year, assuming the child will be around the age of loosing teeth.  Poor Benjamin always gets my prototypes since his birthday is usually the first of the school year.  I have had the design in my head for a while, but had not gotten around to making one until I had the deadline of a birthday party to get me moving.  I like how it turned out, but there are a couple of changes I will make the next time I make one.

The front has the tooth fairy and a little pocket tooth.  I had some fusible batting that I used as stabilizer for the embroidery, and I still can't decide if I like it or not.  It gives it a little "puffy" appearance, but I don't know if that is good or bad.

I might hand stitch the tooth next time because the sharp turns on something so small are hard on the machine.  It was also difficult to see if I started and stopped my stitching evenly (I didn't).  I either need to mark it better or do it by hand so I can see better.

The name ended up not being centered and I know how to fix it for next time.  I did all of the embroidery first and the fabric was then folded in half so the fairy is on the front and the name on the back.  Unfortunately, I didn't leave myself enough play and I could not get both images centered.  Next time, I'm going to cut the fabric into two separate pieces.  I thought eliminating one seam would be helpful, but it just caused more problems.

I am happy with how it turned out though and love that these will use up some of my larger odds and ends of left over fabric. 

Hot Air Balloon Shirts

Here are a couple of hot air balloon shirts I made as a custom order for my shop.  The girls are having a hot air balloon party, and they have coordinating shirts.  Right as this order was placed, my hard drive crashed, taking my embroidery software with it.  After almost a week, I finally did it the long, hard way to get the names added.  Doing the spacing by hand is always a little tricky, but I think they turned out great.  I hope the girls like their new shirts.

School Lunches II

My computer has been down, so now I have some catching up to do.  Until I get around to blogging the fun things I have made, here is another school lunch entry.

1.  vanilla yogurt with frozen blueberries
2.  cherry vanilla granola
3.  sliced tomatoes with salt and pepper
4.  4 baby carrots
5.  veggie straws and 3 Townhouse crackers
6.  1 slice of summer sausage (he didn't like it, but I gave it a shot), 1 slice of pepperoni, and 6 cubes of swiss cheese
7.  1 prune, 2 dried apricots, cranberries, and raisins

1.  half a banana
2.  kid size oatmeal raisin granola bar
3.  roasted red pepper hummus spread on a small tortilla with chopped tomatoes and green olives, rolled and cut into pinwheels
4.  7 cubes of swiss cheese
5.  2 slices of pepperoni

1.  buffalo flavored pretzel chips
2.  mandarin orange
3.  1 large marshmallow and 3 medium cinnamon flavored marshmallows
4.  3 grape tomatoes, 2 baby carrots, and one pea pod
5.  swiss cheese on half a hot dog bun with ketchup and mustard (yes I know how gross this is, but it is the only "sandwich" he will eat.
6.  roasted red pepper hummus with 2 blue cheese stuffed olives on top.

1.  veggie straws
2.  1 slice of home made coconut bread, cut to fit container
3.  swiss cheese cubes
4.  2 chocolate covered animal crackers
5.  ranch dip
6.  kid size oatmeal raisin granola bar
7.  whole plum
8.  3 cucumber slices, 2 baby carrots, and 3 grape tomatoes

1.  applesauce with cinnamon on top
2.  chili corn muffin with green chilies cut in half, with butter and honey
3.  2 dried apricots and 1 prune
4.  mandarin orange
5.  swiss cheese cubes
6.  fortune cookie

 

1.  cheez-it crackers
2.  mandarin orange
3.  2 dried apricots
4.  4 strawberries
5.  ranch dip
6.  3 baby carrots and 4 half slices of cucumber
7.  2 chocolate covered animal crackers
8.  swiss cheese on half a hot dog bun with ketchup and mustard

1.  dry cereal (variety of left over odds and ends: Cheerios, Fruit Loops, and Chex mostly)
2.  raspberries
3.  slice of cold pepperoni pizza cut to fit container and 2 swiss cheese cubes
4.  3 slices of cucumber
5.  half an apple

1.  2 home made oatmeal butterscotch chocolate chip cookies
2.  whole plum
3.  home made cheddar garlic biscuit (I've been on a baking spree)
4.  Cesar salad with shredded parmesan and croutons on the side (in the past the dressing has also been on the side, but he was having trouble getting it onto his salad) 
5.  freeze dried apple slices with cinnamon

1.  vanilla yogurt with frozen blueberries
2.  granola
3.  2 dried apricots, 1 prune, cranberries, and raisins
4.  half a slice of baby swiss, rolled
5.  half a banana
6.  3 slices of cucumber, halved
7.  ranch dip
8.  veggie straws and garlic rye crisps

School Lunches

At the urging of my husband, one of my son's teachers from summer camp, and a couple of friends, I am going to occasionally blog about the lunches I pack for my son who is in kindergarten.  While I doubt that these will work for everyone, I know that I scoured blogs and articles looking for ideas when I had to start packing him a lunch.  Hopefully, these can help inspire others who are looking for different ideas for lunches.  Once I get 5-10 photos, I'll do a new blog post.  This won't be an everyday thing, but I'll try to do a school lunch post every few weeks.  While I do have another blog that is about my kids, I decided to put this here to keep that one more personal.

Just a couple of notes about what I choose to put in his lunch and why:

1.  My son's school is nut-free, not just peanut-free, so that eliminates a lot of his favorite sources of protein.

2.  My son is not a vegetarian, but he really does not like most meats.  I can count the types of meat he willingly eats on one hand and have fingers left over.  Just this week he has eaten chicken twice, each time prepared in a different way, so maybe we can now add chicken to the list.

3.  My son is the type of kid who will love something one day and be "tired of it" the next.  He does not like to eat the same thing everyday.  If I send the same lunch two days in a row, it often come back hardly touched the second day.

4.  I do my best to include a veggie each day.  Some days, the definition of vegetable gets stretched a bit, but I like to have at least a tiny bit of vegetable. 

5.  I try to include contrasts in flavors and textures; salty & sweet, crunchy & soft.

I don't always make my goals, but I come close enough most of the time, so I'm happy.  Unless otherwise noted, he always has water to drink. 

 Taco Day!  If I tell him he has tacos in his lunch, he usually groans, but this is the one meal that consistently comes back nearly completely eaten.  Yes, these are the toppings he chooses for tacos when we have them at home (he won't touch the meat or beans).

1.  two mini taco shells (in a ziplock bag to keep them crispy)
2.  cheese (cheddar and jack layered), chopped cucumbers, chopped tomato
3.  strawberries and grapes
4.  animal crackers and two pieces of a Hersey's chocolate bar (lid put on the blue container after photo to keep them crispy)

1.  half a cinnamon bagel with cream cheese and raisins, made into a sandwich and cut into thirds
2.  two dried apricots and one prune (my kids are weird and love prunes)
3.  strawberries and raspberries
4.  cucumber sticks with ranch (white container) for dipping
5.  buffalo flavor pretzel chips (lid added after photo to keep them crisp)

 1.  home made broccoli cheddar bread, cut to fit container (he did not touch this and claimed not to know what it was, despite having three helpings of it the night before at dinner)
2.  grapes
3.  Cracklin' Oat Bran cereal (lid added after photo to keep them crisp)
4.  kabobs of grape tomatoes, swiss cheese, pepperoni, and olives

1.  half a King's Hawaiian roll
2.  blackberries
3.  three carrots, three grape tomatoes, and one small piece of broccoli with ranch for dipping (lid added to blue ranch container after photo)
4.  two chocolate covered animal crackers
5.  four blue cheese stuffed olives (lid added after photo)
6.  cheddar and swiss cheese chunks
7.  pieces of leftover honey chicken

 

1.  banana, honey, frozen yogurt tube (in green)
2.  pieces of spinach, ricotta, garlic, and black olive pizza
3.  three grape tomatoes and three baby carrots
4.  whole plum
5.  canned pineapple chunks (lid added after photo)
6.  veggie straws (lid added to blue container after photo to keep them crisp)
7.  two chocolate covered animal crackers