Today is my son's birthday celebration at school. He invited me to join him for lunch today which of course melted my heart. I wonder how many years I have left of him wanting me to come and sit with him over the lunch hour?! I'm afraid it won't be much longer <sniff, sniff>. So today I'll go to school and enjoy lunch with my very-soon-to-be-8-year old and enjoy every minute of it.

Today's lunch includes: my son's favorite almond flourfrosted pumpkin muffins, cucumber, roast beef sandwich wrapped in provolone cheese "ribbon", almonds and Trader Joe's alphabet cookie, pineapple.

Speaking of reading, today is Dr. Suess Read Across America Day! Our school celebrates Dr. Seuss' birthday by spending much of the day doing various reading activities. The kids get to bring in pillows, blankets, and their favorite books to share...such a fun day! In honor of this special reading day, I decided to make some Dr. Suess inspired meals. We kicked off the day with the ever popular Green Eggs and Ham:

Today's lunch includes: green "eggs" (made with white cheese and edamame beans for the yolk) & ham, ham & cheese Cat in the Hat sandwich, chocolate covered almonds, strawberries & broccoli

For those of you with younger kids who want to participate, here is asite where you can print a certificate of participation and a few other fun activities. Happy Reading Day, everyone!

My 2nd grader has such a love for baseball right now...not only does he love to play baseball, but he loves anything to do with baseball. He's currently reading through the Baseball Card Adventure series and learning some of the history behind one of his favorite sports. As a former high school teacher I understand the importance of instilling a love of reading in our children. I have realized over the years that finding quality books with age appropriate topics that are also at our son's "just right reading level" is quite a challenge. Searching for books has become a bit of an obsession for me. I've had countless conversations with friends whose kids are slightly older than mine, researched on-line endlessly, and visited with numerous teachers and librarians looking for recommendations. Let's just say that if time permitted I would probably start another blog devoted to books! Yikes...I better not get ahead of myself here. How about if I start with a simple recommendation here on my lunch box blog. If you have boys ages 7+ and they love baseball...I would highly recommend this series.

My son just started another book in the series which inspired today's baseball themed lunch which includes: toasted whole wheat english muffin peanut butter/organic honey sandwich, Ellsworth cheese curds, yellow and orange pepper slices with Trader Joe's chipotle hummus, blackberries and kiwi, cinnamon almonds, coconut flour baseball cupcake

I'm home from my work trip and I must say that I'm happy to be settling back into our everyday routine here on the homefront! It was a hectic week to say the very least. There's no school tomorrow because of parent-teacher conferences so I've declared tonight a "MOVIE NIGHT". The boys LOVE our movie nights...we throw pillows and blankets on the floor and snuggle in for at least one movie. Tonight's feature presentation at the Schultz Family Theater is "The Reluctant Astronaut" starring Don Knotts. I'm very much looking forward to a little R&R tonight with my three favorite people.

Today's movie-themed lunch includes: roast beef movie reel sandwiches (I used a large circle cookie cutter for the big circle and a lemon juice cap to make the small circles), snap peas, grapes, popcorn

I'm attending a convention this week for my job so I delegated lunch box duty to my husband. He wasn't very enthusiastic about taking photos of his lunch box creations so I thought I'd share a recipe instead. Both my husband and my son absolutely LOVE almonds...especially flavored almonds. The store bought flavored almonds are loaded with a long list of ingredients (most of which I couldn't pronounce if I tried) and many contain trans fat as they are made with hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. I've been experimenting with several recipes and found a this one that I made a few changes in order to make it a bit healthier. The end results were yummy!

Roasted Cocoa Almonds:

• 1/2 cup organic erythritol


• OPTIONAL: 1 tsp of french vanilla liquid stevia


• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder


• 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1 egg white


• 1 tablespoon vanilla


• 3 cups raw almonds

Today was supposed to be a cold lunch day, but our school's were cancelled as so many teachers are out for the day protesting proposed state legislature to balance the $3.6 billion budget shortfall. So, I thought this might be the perfect opportunity to talk a bit about breakfast. I used to rely A LOT on cold cereal in the morning as I raced around getting my son out the door. I didn't realize the importance protein & fiber plays in children...especially when they are headed off to school. You can read more about this topic here, but basically protein and fiber are digested slower than foods lower in fiber and higher in sugar (cereal). This means foods higher in protein and fiber will keep kids feeling full longer than low fiber/high sugar foods. In working with our nutrtionist, Maria, I've also learned how essential protein is for healthy brain function. Without a sufficient amount of protein our bodies cannot produce enough neurotransmitters such asserotonin which helps boost energy and provides mental clarity (along with many other things)!

Now, I'm a bit more conscious to fill our breakfast plates with protein rich food. Here is an example of a quick and easy breakfast that my boys LOVE: Organic scrambled eggs with cheese & one slice of bacon on a Tumaro's multi-grain tortilla and blueberries which are low in sugar and high in anti-oxidants making it one of my favorite fruits.

I spend an inordinate amount of time in the produce section when I'm grocery shopping. It seems as though I discover a new fruit or vegetable with each and every trip. This time I found some miniature bananas that are just about the cutest fruit I've ever seen! I brought them home and the boys went bananas (hardy-har-har) over them!! They have BEGGED to have one every day since I brought them home. What a delight...to have my boys begging to eat fruit. Today I decided to turn one of the mini bananas into an extra special treat by dipping it in a melted Chocoperfection bar (you can find these sugar-free bars on Amazon or Netrition).

In today's lunch I also included a homemade protein bar filled with all kinds of yummy goodness. It's a recipe I adapted from this site.

No-Bake Protein Bars

2 cups of uncooked, fast-cooking oatmeal
cup natural peanut butter OR almond butter OR sunbutter
2 scoops of protein powder (I use Jay Robb Vanilla protein powder which you can buy on-line at Netrition, Amazon or at some vitamin stores)
1 Tbsp. ground flaxseeds (I use golden flaxseeds and grind them in my Blendtec blender...purchased at Costco)
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
cup water

Optional mix-in ideas: sugar-free chocolate chips, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, etc...

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, knead all the ingredients together until mixed well.


2. Line a square 8-inch pan with wax paper (IMPORTANT) and press the dough into it using your fingers.


3. Freeze for 30 minutes. Remove and cut into 8 squares.


4. OPTIONAL: Drizzle with melted chocolate (I did this on half the batch and left the other half plain)


5. Wrap individually, and refreeze or store in the refrigerator. (I freeze mine and pull them out as needed)

My 2nd grader is getting a little too old for a cutesy Valentine's lunch so I had to come up with something that would get his seal of approval. This monster lunch passed the test...WHEW! Here's a picture before I pinned this little guy together (I used half-toothpicks in his eyes and mouth and had to "glue" his hair and feet on with peanut butter). When I use half-toothpicks to hold a lunch together I always leave plenty of room at the top so my son can grab ahold of the toothpick. Happy Valentine's Day!

Today's lunch includes: turkey sandwich, chocolate protein bites, carrots, grapes & blueberries

Typically the lunch boxes I post were created for my soon-to-be 8 year old son, but I'm pretty sure I would get in BIG trouble by said 2nd grader if I sent a "cute" Valentine's lunch to school with him. Lucky for me, I still have my younger son at home who loves nothing more than getting a "big boy" lunch like his brother and he's still young enough that he doesn't mind hearts or a prominent "luv u" message from Mom! I'll have to come up with another Valentine's day lunch box that will get my 2nd graders stamp of approval on Monday. Stay tuned!

Today's lunch includes: nitrate free turkey sandwich, celery, raspberry bites (raspberries with white chocolate chips in the middle), banana, Babybel cheese,chocolate crispies