A Recipe (Sort Of) & A Cool Trick

Hello again! How are you all doing?  I hope well and surviving your first month of school back. =)     

Here we are on our last day of September.  It's hard to believe that it's almost been a month that our boys have been back in school.  I'm happy to say that my oldest soon is transitioning well into Jr. High. He was so excited to finally get his locker! That was one of the highlights so far.  He and his buddies also tried out for the flag football team, although sadly, none of the 6th graders made the team.  And our little 3rd grade is doing fantastic! He loves math (I'm not sure who he got that from...definitely not me) and is good at it too! We have a few of his math test with AP (Above Proficient) hanging on our fridge right now.   As a mom, I take joy in their accomplishments and in all that they do!  Whether it's a goal scored during a soccer game, an "A" that they got on a test to a sweet simple drawing they made...I'm proud of them. What can I say except this: I love my kids!

Even when they are being picky eaters...I still love them! Haha! And I still make them lunches.  Here are the lunches from last week, plus a tip I'd like to share with you.

While trying to draw a cute little face on our hot dog, I realized that my marker was dry because there was nothing coming out of it.  Oh the horror! How could I send a hot dog with just a bow tie and no face.  That would be weird right? (Lady, you just put a bow tie on a hot dog, and you think no face would be weird?)  I fixed this little glitch by dipping the tip of my food marker into a LITTLE TEENY BIT of food coloring gel.  You really don't need a lot and if you happen to put too much on the tip of your marker, dab it onto a paper towel to wipe the excess.  As you're drawing on your food, you might have to repeat the process because the food coloring doesn't really absorb into the tip. 

So if you ever find yourself in this situation, try this out.  I hope this cool little trick works for you like it did for our little hot dog below!

He's a fancy hot dog, bow tie and all.  Chili cheese dog (chili on the side) with mini milano cookies, strawberries and grapes.

Easy grilled cheese and turkey with apples and pistachios with a Batman ring.  

Because who doesn't love Batman?

Panko crusted mac and cheese bites with deli turkey slices and fruit.  Hold on now...I know what you're thinking. "Panko crusted mac and cheese?!? That's so fancy!!"  AND it's EASY! 

This is how I made it & I apologize for not having exact measurements.  

I winged it after reading a few recipes on Pinterest.  

1) Make your favorite macaroni and cheese 

(this works out great if you happen to have left overs of mac and cheese from the night before).

2) Refrigerate and let it sit for a few hours so it's cold and firm.  

3) Take a round cookie cutter and cut out a few circles of mac and cheese.  You can cut it out however you wish really.  I just prefer the cookie cutter because it helps keep the shape.

4) Pour some Panko bread crumbs into a bowl (measure it out based on how many mac and cheese bites you'll be making),  add a little bit of olive oil and mix.  You only need enough Panko to coat with.

5) Place a mac and cheese round into the mix and cover in Panko bread crumbs.  I used a spoon to coat  the m&c to help keep the circle from falling apart.

6) Once covered in bread crumbs, bake in the oven at 400 degrees for about 10 mins or golden brown.  I used a toaster oven so it actually took about 7 mins.

Let it cool a bit before you pack into their lunch.  This could be made the day before as well.

Pizza! Pizza!  This is our DIY version inspired by Momables! I love their recipes.  And this was kid approved in our home.  We made the pizza crust with ready made dough.  It's much better than the "other" kind of lunch in my opinion.

Fun Lunch for Fun Day Friday! Our little one had a party in class that day so I packed him a fun lunch.  PB&J star sandwich, pears, yogurt pretzels and cookies in his initials. 

Thank you again for stopping by!! 

October is upon us and that means...Halloween themed lunches!! Coming soon... =)