hot dog and 'french fries'

Ya think I am ready for summer?!

I finally caved and bought some organic hot dogs for the kids.  We are watching the children of some friends of ours for a few days and I know the kids love hot dogs so I went ahead and picked up the central market brand of organic dogs.  

My son will eat hot dogs cold, so I figured he could enjoy this one in his lunch tomorrow.

So, organic hot dog on a wheat bun with some organic ketchup, strawberries and veggie straw 'fries'.

purple potatoes

We found ORGANIC purple potatoes today!  My daughter was thrilled! 
I lightly cooked up a small one tonight and sliced it up to try and saved a few slices for lunches of course.  Guess what?!  They taste just like... wait for it....            potatoes!

I first saw purple potatoes on sherimiya's blog,  Happy Little Bento.  She always does the prettiest lunches that look like a rainbow watercolor painting or something.  They are always so bright, cheery and... well, happy!

We also found some wonderful looking, albeit expensive, organic strawberries.  They looked gorgeous, so I splurged!  I believe I have purchased frozen strawberries ONE time since fresh were in season last summer.  It was a great treat to see these in the store today. 

 

lettuce with parmesan and tomatoes, organic prairie ham slices, cheese, carrots, purple potatoes, and the most juiciest, beautiful organic strawberries I have seen in months... summer, we miss you!

triple decker

I asked my son what he wanted for lunch tomorrow... he suggested a double decker sandwich.  Once I was ready to cut, I figured I could fit a triple decker sandwich in the box if I placed it on it's side.  Basically this is a full sandwich with the edges hacked off and divided into three.

Veggie straws, almond and cranberry topped lettuce, carrots and dressing finish off this lunch.

snowman tummy

I didn't make lunches last night.  I am not so wonderful at getting out the door on time anyways,  so to add extra duties to my morning routine is asking for pure trouble.

I've been out of the 'fancy lunch' routine lately.  BUT the thing about kids is sometimes you can trick them into thinking they are getting something fancy.

Here is a last minute 'fancy as it's gonna get when it's made in the morning' kinda lunch...

It's a snowman tummy (Cheesy?  yes, very.  BUT she bought it and she thought it was 'cool').

It was fitting too.  We woke up to snow flurries in North Texas this morning!

Snowman tummy is yogurt with very non organic, crappy from the jar maraschino cherries, an apple, carrots and hummus, and annies mac and cheese.

tres leches cake

Here is my son's lunch from Monday.   My husband's cousin was in the area for work this week and was able to come over for dinner one night.  It happened to be his birthday the next day.   So we HAD to have cake!  I made a WONDERFUL Tres Leches (that is Spanish for 'three milks') cake from a recipe off of The Pioneer Woman website. Sure, I used mostly organic ingredients but there is an old wise saying...  (Ok, I have a saying that I read somewhere once... ).  "An organic cookie is still a cookie".  So basically, there is nothing healthy about this cake.  It is soaked in three types of milk -sweetened condensed, heavy cream, and evaporated milk.  And I mean SOAKED. 

It was oh so bad, but oh so good.

Somehow, there was a piece leftover for my son's lunch.  

Wow, see how messy I was with the cherry juice?   I didn't even notice that till now.  Normally I would have wiped that off... I think I was too busy salivating over the cake as I snapped the picture.

To counter balance the badness of the cake, I threw in some green beans.  There are also crackers and cheese curds (cause three milks plus whipped cream wasn't enough dairy - ?)  and an apple.

Manicotti and hummus

No, not together - ewww.

This is a his and hers style post. 
We had manicotti for dinner and my son LOVED it.  Called it 'pizza sticks'.  Whatever works, kid!   The girl on the other hand... not crazy about it.  But, she does LOVE hummus.  So, for lunch tomorrow he gets the manicotti filled lunchbox and she gets the lunch with the hummus to dip her carrots.

HIS...

HERS....

cheesy heart pizza lunch

We made homemade pizza and I took a little dough and used it to make mini heart shaped pizzas for lunches.
This is a very cheesy lunch... Heart shaped homemade cheese pizza, salad with cheese curd crumbles, rolled chicken slices (sadly, not organic) with heart cheddar cheese slice and kiwi.

heart elephant

Due to snow closing school (for her on Thursday and for him on Friday) Valentine parties at school were postponed.  That means, more heart lunches this week! 


This one is an elephant made out of hearts (peanut butter and honey sandwiches today), carrot heart on the trunk, raisin eyes.  On a bed of lettuce, with a side of ranch.  Carrots for dipping, and a brown rice cake finish off this lunch. 

valentine's breakfast

I got breakfast in bed.  My Husband found the cookie cutters and made heart shaped french toast.  Say it with me... "awwwwwwww".

heart penguin

Penguin made out of hearts  - tortilla, apple, sweet potato and candy eyes.  It is on lettuce with a tortilla cinnamon sugar heart in the corner.  Apple and sweet potato hearts, yogurt with frozen blueberries.

puppy love

Tomorrows lunch is a PB &J 'heart doggy' with rolled oat 'wisker dots', cranberry nose, and candy eyes... yes, I said candy eyes!  Absolutely nothing organic about them.  They are from a candy bracelet my daughter got at a birthday party and they made perfect blue eyes.  They are the only non-organic item in this lunch.

This lunch is for my son and he is on a lunch lettuce strike again....  I have given him a LOT of lettuce lately.   I told him we could skip vegetables in his lunch tomorrow, but he'll be getting two kinds with dinner tomorrow.   He agreed.  So, lots of fruit instead; kiwi, frozen peaches and blueberries, and yogurt with a kiwi heart in the center.

cupid's arrow lunch

Heart shaped almond butter and jelly sandwich on a bed of lettuce with dried cranberries.  Apple heart and arrow details on the sandwich.  Yogurt with a swirl of pom wonderful juice and a cranberry heart center.  Cut apples dabbed with lemon juice are in the last container.

The secrets of life

I had no idea. 

When I found out, I felt so stupid, ashamed, clueless,  in the dark.

How did I not know? 

THIS...

is made by mixing only THESE...

Just TWO things!

That is it!  There are no other ingredients.  Why did I not know this?  How did I not know this?  Why would anyone ever buy brown sugar in a bag already mixed?

And get this... if a recipe calls for DARK brown sugar?  You just add more molasses.  Seriously, how did I get through 21 years of life (ok, 31... whatever) without know this?

I vow today to never buy brown sugar again.   EVER.

Please tell me I am not the only one who thought brown sugar was some complex, complicated, multi-ingredient concoction.  please?!? 

Saints Win!

Lunch today is in honor of the New Orleans Saints for winning the super bowl.  I had grandiose ideas, but limited time since this was another morning lunch!

 

Salad with dried cranberries, royal blend rice pilaf, a horizon organic 'tuberz' and an orange with the saints symbol.

February shopping - week 2

This was a Kroger and a Sprouts run combined.

I picked up some pricey items this week.  The organic chicken was 6.99 a pound.  So far, this is the best price I have found for organic chicken.  Most of the stores carry it for 8.99/lb.  Oh, how I miss the days of $1.66/lb bulk store brand chicken!  Chicken has become a rare treat around here! We have a freezer full of beef from 'cow sharing', but try to only have beef once or twice a week. 

I also bought organic vanilla extract and organic almond extract.  Those were a pretty penny each even on sale and with coupons.

The cheese is not organic.  It is sargento brand.  I have a very hard time buying the organic cheese.  I cut back on a lot of things around here (chicken for one!)  but we do eat a lot of cheese.  If I buy strictly organic cheese, I wouldn't be able to purchase even a quarter of what I do now.  I am sure less dairy would be a good thing, but for now, I'm not willing to cut that back.  I think we'll lighten up on the cheese as summer hits, but while it is still cold outside, we eat a lot of foods with warm, gooey cheese on top!

 Budget - $100/week
TOTAL SPENT -  134.24
total saved with coupons this week- $19.79


Total for February so far - $167.45

cinnamon roll kind of morning

These were made with all organic ingredients.... so they are healthy, right?!

This was the second pan.  The first pan got all the ooey gooey icing (also organic).  They would have made for a better picture but they were demolished before the camera came out from hiding.
see the tin foil?!  These are being wrapped and frozen RIGHT AWAY.  Last time we made these we decided to let the second pan sit out to be picked at sit out to cool.  This time they went right in the freezer for us to enjoy another splurgo fatty fat fat sugar rush of a lazy weekend morning.

recipe here

20% off Numi Organic Tea

To make this Valentine’s Day warmer, sweeter and healthier, Numi Organic Tea would like to offer you, Lunchbox Limbo readers and their sweethearts a special discount on some of Numi’s newest and most romantic teas that make for guilt-free treats to warm a loved one’s heart.

Numi Chocolate Puerh’s rich, velvet, chocolaty aroma envelops this enticing blend of deep, dark Puerh and organic cocoa nibs. Numi's Chocolate Puerh is made with organic wild-harvested tea leaves fermented and ripened into an earthy black tea. Whole vanilla beans and sweet accents of orange peel enhance this blend along with nutmeg and cinnamon rounding off a spicy finish. Rich in antioxidants, this hearty and healthy Puerh tea is decadence in a cup.

Numi's Magnolia Puerh enraptures the senses with sweet layers of floral scents. Rich and aromatic, this blend of magnolia-scented green tea and black Puerh is picked from wild-harvested tea trees up to 500 years old. Magnolia Puerh changes with every sip, taking you on a journey of flavors from flowery vanillas and earthy notes to hints of fruit. You will fall in love with Magnolia Puerh and never let it go.

Enter code NM2TEN at checkout and receive 20% off* for Valentine’s Day when you purchase Magnolia Puerh, Chocolate Puerh, or any of our Flowering Tea Gift Sets (Dancing Leaves and Bamboo Flowering Tea Gift Set).    

* One time use per customer

Puerh (pū-ĕr) is an ancient healing tea known for its medicinal properties and rich taste.  Its fermentation and aging process elevates the beneficial nutrients in tea making it a highly effective healing beverage.  Chinese culture purports that Puerh lowers cholesterol, aids digestion, breaks down fat, and rejuvenates life energy.  Numi’s Organic Puerh averages 32% more antioxidants than green tea.

empty lunchbox today!

A double ear infection for one kid, a fever and tummy ache for the other....
no school today=no lunchbox to share.  we just had good 'ol pb&j yogurt and shared a rather large apple.

tomorrow is a teacher work day, no school for students so no lunch tomorrow. 

quick morning lunch

I am not a morning person...  my bed was just so warm and cozy this morning...
I rushed this lunch together just before the bus arrived.  Nothing cute or fancy today.  Organic spinach lettuce with cranberries and almonds, orange slices, cheddar bunnies and a banana.
I've got to go back to making lunch in the evenings!

Groundhog Day Lunch

My dad was at my house tonight after rushing me to the mechanic?  garage?  automotive shop?.... you know, the car fixit place.  I thought my car was done so we rushed to get there before they closed only to find out they did something to make the engine light come on and now they need to take my car back apart tomorrow to re-fix it... *insert eye roll here*
Anyhow, before he left, I said "you got any good ideas for kid lunches tomorrow?"  He stared at me for a minute and gave me the 'well, duh' look.  "Well, it IS Groundhog Day."

I had forgotten all about it.

So, dad, this one's for you!  Happy Groundhog day!Thanks for loaner car, btw!

First February groceries

This was a small trip to Tom Thumb (a safeway store) for some basics. 

 

Got some great deals this week, but not as many organic items as I would have liked.  The organic salad was BOGO at 3.99.  The granola, oatmeal and crackers all had killer store catalina coupons I recieved at the checkout one day.  I stacked them with manufacturer coupons to save up to $4 on each!  They are not organic, but better ingredients than some of the alternatives.  I've been making my own granola and oatmeals lately, but I couldn't beat the price of these vs. ingredients for making my own this time around.

The tea is a treat for me that was in the clearance bin (long expire date - just discontinuing that flavor).  

Total spent - 33.21

saved $13.50 in coupons

January grocery totals

Added up the month of January- grand total - 454.08
Our budget is $100 a week.... I am calling this a 4 1/2 week month.  There were 5 weekends to feed in this grocery cycle!   how is that for logic?

In that case, we went over by 4.08.  Darn those cookies from earlier in the month!