Tuesday: On this day I did a homemade lunchable: turkey circles, cheese flowers, wheat crackers, carrots, strawberry slices, granola bites, watermelon on the side and sixlets for dessert. Do you remember Sixlets? I found them at the dollar store and couldn't resist. They are perfect here as they can add extra color and fit into a small space. This day I was really paying attention to moisture levels. On the left I tried to keep all the "wet items," while the right had dry things. It worked pretty well. E's lunch came home with a few crackers and they were still crispy. She didn't like the granola bites, so we had those. K ate everything!
Wednesday: This was a serious leftover meal. We had chicken and Crash Hot Potatoes (my new favorite way to make potatoes). They are much better fresh, but just fine room temp. I also squeezed in some mango jello that I found at an Asian market recently. The second container had raisins and goldfish crackers. The lunch was packed in two new containers I found at the Asian market. Perfectly shallow for little meals like my kids eat. E ate much of everything. K ate all but the chicken. She didn't like it cold and without a sauce. I couldn't figure out how to give her the sauce without it going all over the whole container. K said her friends gave her a hard time about the little containers. Oh well! At least I know she is eating pretty well as opposed to when she eats school lunches and I never know how much she ate. 
Thursday: On this day I had made mini corn dog muffins. They are paired with carrot sticks, grapes and strawberries, and a teeny apple jello. E was the only child with a lunch this day as K had a dentist appointment. She loves the corn dog muffins but only ate 2 of the 3 that day. She didn't like the apple flavor of the jello, so that was a bust. The lid didn't quite make it back on the container after she ate, so there was ketchup all over the inside of her lunch bag. Yuck!
This next meal was mine! I got called to sub as a librarian very late that morning. Luckily I had pre-made E's lunch. I threw together the last of the chicken and crash hot potato meal and paired it with frozen green beans and grapes. I took a cue from K's complaint and added a small container of teriyaki sauce. The sauce container is really a travel toiletry item. I found it at the Container Store and it fits the bill just right, especially being leak proof. I have to say that I really dislike this photo though. I put the green beans in the container still frozen so they are really frosty. Not the best for color in my lunch, but they were perfect by lunchtime. I packed my lunch so I could pull out the grapes and sauce to microwave the rest. I'm high maintenance, what can I say? I like my hot food hot and my cool food cool. Remember this commercial? Did that ever really work? 
Friday: Here we did leftover pizza. E's lunch was smaller as has been her appetite lately. So small bites of pizza, apple bunnies, cheese shapes (one has an imprint of a bird on it, just for fun!), Texas pretzels and sixlets. E ate half the pizza, one of the cheeses, two of the apple bunnies and most of the pretzels. She ate all the sixlets, of course. 
K had a bigger portion but most of the same things. I added a few carrots under a bread stick to raise it up and keep things from shifting. Also, under the heart shaped cheese is a yaki onigiri (also heart shaped). It's basically a shaped rice ball, pan seared so crispy and brushed with soy sauce. K loves these (as do I) but E doesn't care for them. They freeze well and I just warm up to room temp in the microwave in the am. Gotta love eating rice with your fingers! 
Monday: OK, this is a boring repeat lunch. I love how cute this monster sandwich is. After struggling with the face falling apart, I tried something new. After spreading the jelly on the bread, I used my cutters to cut out the eye shapes. When I put the sandwich together, I had some nice sticky peanut butter on which to place my chocolate chips. They stuck very well. I know this because E's lunch came home with this half of the sandwich intact, even the chocolate pieces. Hmmm, I guess she really did run out of time to eat if she left chocolate in there. She ate only the bottom part of the mouth and a few grapes as well as the other sides. Oh, the nose was an accident. As I was assembling the lunch one of the grapes fell there and I thought it looked cute. Yes, I realize it's under the teeth, but this is a monster after all. Anything goes, right?
Long enough post for you? I thought so. I'll stop typing now.
