Lunch and Lipstick!
First: lunch
I am completely out of lunch menu ideas. The children (while they are very sweet, and they rarely complain about the food I serve them....actually I don't think they ever complain about our meals) and I are really, really tired of eating the same things for lunch every day. I don't want to appear ungrateful, because we are really thankful that we have food to eat! But, I need some suggestions to liven up our lunch menu! Currently we eat the following:
leftovers
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
turkey or ham sandwiches
tortillas with Ranch dressing and ham or turkey
chips and salsa with or without melted cheese
I serve all of these meals with chips, strawberries, and grapes. Every day. Every day.
Would you please share your lunch ideas? Since I am helping the children with their schoolwork, I am reluctant to take time away from that to prepare a more involved lunch. However, since we are desperately wanting some new lunches, I am willing to leave the schoolroom and spend some time in the kitchen!
Second: lipstick
I have worn the same shade/brand of lipstick for about 10 years. It is nothing special and definitely inexpensive, but I like it! The brand is Jane, and the shade is Kiss of Caramel. I originally bought it at Wal Mart, but our Wal Mart stopped carrying it about 3 or 4 years ago. Fortunately, the Wal Mart in a town about 3 hours away still sold it, and so a friend of mine would buy it for me and mail it to me! Then her Wal Mart stopped carrying it too. I googled it, and found it on Drugstore.com. They offer free shipping with orders over $25, so periodically I would order 11 tubes at a time (to get the free shipping!---the lipstick is $2.49 a tube.) Well, earlier this week I sat down to order my 11 tubes of lipstick, and guess what?! Drugstore.com no longer carries Jane lipstick! I immediately googled it again, and I cannot find anywhere that sells it. It must be discontinued. I wear lipstick everyday, and I am not looking forward to spending $20 to find the perfect shade at Wal Mart! Has anybody seen Jane lipstick anywhere?
Off the subject.......Sam has begun to "write" notes. He scribbles on a piece of paper, rolls it up like a scroll, seals it with a sticker, and then delivers it. When we open it, he "reads" to us. He is just precious! Yesterday he "read" his note to Jimmy, and it said, "Thank you for taking me in your truck to buy a new tree. I had fun."
Caylie and Christian LOVE Lean Cuisine frozen meals! Since they are fast, easy and healthy, I let them pick out a few each time we go to the grocery store. Maybe that could add some variety to your lunches! :)
ReplyDeleteTry these yummy homemade chicken nuggets. They really are delicious. Even my husband loves them. And they don't take long at all to prepare.
ReplyDeletehttp://cookingoncloverlane.blogspot.com/search/label/Chicken%20Fingers
Greetings for FL, Roan! I'll have to check our Wal*Mart next time I'm in to see if we carry it here...be happy to get them for you if we do.
ReplyDeleteAs for lunch menu ~ here has been our 2 week lunch rotation for the past "school year": 1 of the weeks is in this post http://smithseasonsoflife.blogspot.com/2009/10/menu-plan-monday_18.html
As for the other week it looks like this: Mon ~ Turkey or PBJ, apple slices, chips; Tues ~ Ravioli, bread n' butter, applesauce; Wed ~ Fish sticks, french fries, cheese stick; Thurs ~ PBJ's, carrot sticks, chips; Fri ~ Ramen noodles, pears; Sat ~ Chicken salad sandwiches, chips
Hope that provides some other options. As for our home, I sheduled lunch preparation to our second oldest son, so that I could work with other children until lunch. It provides him some valuable kitchen skills in the process. "Food for thought"...
Blessings ~
Jarnette @ Seasons of Life
P.S. I am hosting a Challenge/Giveaway to celebrate Season of Life's Bloggiversary...ends May 2nd.
One of my favorite go to recipes. Chicken Black Bean Salsa Quesidillas. Take 1 1/2 - 2 lbs of chicken (can be frozen) and 1 large jar of Corn/Black Bean Salsa (I use the Wal-mart brand). Cook in the crockpot 4 hours on high. Shred the chicken with 2 forks and set aside. Brown the tortilla on one side on the stove top. Turn over and add chicken mixture and shredded cheese. Fold into half "sandwich". Brown and flip. Any of the leftover chicken can be frozen and used for another meal.
ReplyDeleteI've never much cared for soup, until I tried this one. We've been making it once a week lately and it's perfect with homeamde Italian bread. You can use any veggies, but it calls for 3 medium size potatoes, 1 cup cliced carrots, and 1/2 cup sliced celery. (I made it with red bell pepper the other day and it was good.) Stew veggies (carrots first) in 3.5 cups chicken broth (I save ours from stewing a chicken the day before), then while that's going on melt 1/3 c butter (ok, so it's not exactly low fat) in another pot then add 1/2 c flour then 3.5 cups milk making a white sauce. Stir together on med to high heat until it bubbles then add 4 c grated cheese (I use the mexican blend and we love it). Once it's melted and creamy, add it to the chicken broth with veggies. The Italian bread is super easy. 1.5 cups water, 3 cups bread floud, 1 T sugar, 1 tsp salt, 2.5 tsp yeast. I set the machine to dough cycle for an hour and a half then I take it out, form a big long loaf and let rise again for 30 minutes or so then bake 25 minutes at 350. We like to dip the bread in the soup. Yum! Sorry, can't help you with the lipstick. I usually forget to wear any, but stick with the brown family when I do wear it.
ReplyDeleteI'm stunned that you were able to find your lipstick for as long as you did...this seems to happen to me all the time. I find a product I really like and then it's discontinued.
ReplyDeleteAt work we take turns bringing leftovers. Whichever of us cooks will bring whatever was left from the night before to work...no matter how much was left...sometimes we have a smorgasborg :)
Pizza is an easy lunch though...it's really nothing to throw together a homemade crust, roll it out in a pan and let the kids experiment with the toppings they like best...you could even do individual pizzas :)
i understand the idea of not wanting to have cooking/prep time take up homeschooling time...here are a few things that work for us:
ReplyDelete-once a week or so, make something you can have a few times during the week (chicken salad, egg salad, ham salad, soup)
-use it as a cooking/math/language lesson and have the kids help cook something
-once or twice a month, make freezer lunch meals (i make things in lunch size portions like: individual pizzas, baked pasta, homemade chicken nuggets)
-we also inject "monkey platters" (like what monkeys and other animals are served in the zoo) into our daytime meals...i forget where i saw the idea but...
take a platter (or whatever will work for your family) and pile it up with a little of this and a little of that. for example...i usually have 2 different fruits, at least one veggie (with ranch to dip), some cheese, maybe a ham & cheese tortilla roll up that i slice into pinwheels for individual bites, pretzels, fritos...really, whatever your kids will eat...its just a fun way to get my kids to try new things...i put things that are known favorites out along with new or lesser-liked items. its usually wiped clean!
*one of the keys for our kids eating new things is that i use a "pokey"...(a finger food skewer that you would find at a party sometimes...like for meatballs or something)...they like to eat with the pokey and it gets them to try new things.
i hope these gave you some ideas. good luck!
kate