Saturday, October 31, 2015

"Ghosted" Cheese Sandwich Halloween Lunches

 
Z likes toasted cheese sandwiches, but E hates them. So whenever I toast up a sandwich for Z, I just make a PBJ for my youngest, and make cinnamon toast scraps for myself! I made "plain" toasted cheese sandwiches last week with some ghost picks on the side. After school when I asked how they likes their toasted cheese, my oldest thought I had said "ghosted cheese." Brilliant! So I made sure to squeeze one in before Halloween.

"Ghosted" Cheese School Lunch
"Ghosted" goat cheese sandwich on GF bread, organic carrots and snap peas, organic apples and crunchy PB
 
This is my favorite ghost cookie cutter shape, but that little tail is hard to keep intact, specially with crumbly gluten-free bread. This night was a good one for Mama, and nothing broke!
ghost cupcake pick in her veggies and a ghostly white muffin cup for her PB (for dipping her apples) kept the ghostly theme going.
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Ghostly PBJ for Preschool
PBJ on GF bread with chocolate chip features; organic carrots snap peas, and apples
Little Sis got a simpler ghost cookie cutter just to change things up, plus a smiling ghost ring topper to make it less spooky.

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Halloween Trick AND Treat Fake Kitty Litter Box Lunches!

One night at dinner my 7-year-old informed me that she loved our kittens more than she loved me. In fact, I was rated 4th behind Luna (her kitten,) Cookie (Little Sister's kitten,) and Dadda. So I joked that I would put kitty poop in her lunch the next day, and we would see how much she loved the kittens after that! And so I did! Sort of...

Cat Got Your Lunch?
Organic ketchup and mustard, leftover pineapple-bacon sausage, "kitten poop," organic apples and carrots
 
Whenever we have these sausages for dinner, Hubby always cooks an extra one for me to use in lunches the next day or so. My girls love them, hot or cold! Z prefers hers with ketchup and mustard, so I put some of each in a Mini Dipper for her. I put a few slices of sausage on a witch finger cupcake pick to make lunch... and the potential source of the sausage meat... a little spookier!
The kitty litter and "lumps" were sent in an orange and black tie-dye muffin cup (the set also has great red-green-white Christmassy ones, and red-white-blue patriotic ones!)
An eye cupcake ring makes some ordinary apples and carrots a little creepier too!

Kitten Crunchies
Leftover pineapple-bacon sausage, organic carrots and grapes, "kitten poop"
Since my preschooler hadn't rated me below two fluffy poop-machines, I let her in on the secret about the "cat poop" and litter that would be in her lunch, and showed her the ingredients, which are all treats she enjoys. I also gave the teacher a heads-up that it wasn't really poop! Lol!
Her sausage bits went on a skeleton hand cupcake pick, and I used a pumpkin-shaped muffin cup for her julienned carrot coins. Still a little spooky, but hopefully not as much as Big Sister's lunch!

I made the "poops" out of some slightly warmed Trujoy Choco-Chews which are organic and don't contain artificial petroleum-derived vanillin like the name-brand ones.I mashed up a Glutino vanilla sandwich cookie (my favorite, so I always have a package hiding somewhere in the house!) and some natural blue jimmies sprinkles to make the litter. Most of the kitty litter cake tutorials online say to use graham crackers, but our actual litter is very pale, so I chose the lighter cookie both to look more like what we have, but also because it meant I got to scrape off the filling and eat it myself! Nom!

Z ate her choco-poo, but not her crunchies. E couldn't bring herself to even try it. So I ate it after school!

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Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Haunted Pumpkin Patch Cracker Stackers

 
I loved making MOMables Cracker Stackers even before we went dye-free and gluten-free and cow-dairy-free and could no longer buy the boxed version anyway. The best part isn't that you can choose healthier options when making your own, or that it saves a ton of money. No. The best part is that you can use mini cookie cutters to make them super cute! Wahoooo!

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Haunted School Lunch
Glutino crackers, uncured ham, sliced goat cheese, organic carrots and apples
I'm not feeling super creative or energetic this Halloween, so I love easy lunches that are still fun and "festive!" The mini pumpkin and ghost cutters were perfect! I even had a hugemongous organic carrot that was wide enough to use the pumpkin cutter on too! Not that it inspired my 2nd-grader to eat her veggies. *sigh*

Preschool Patch
Sliced goat cheese, Glutino crackers, uncured ham, organic carrots and apples
Little Sis got the same lunch as Big Sis, since luckily for me, Cracker Stackers are a "fan favorite" with both my kids!

Those leaf things in both lunches are some silicone suction-cup drink markers I found at the natural grocery store and bought just for fun.

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