MOMables Monday - We {Heart} Pizza Bites!

Thursday, 9/26/13 - I shared this leftover pizza idea with MOMables, and it's one of our favorites! With or without dip, Leftover Pizza Bites are a big hit with both my girls.

Hearts for Kindergarten

Leftover GF olive pizza, dye-free heart gummies, organic sugar snap peas and strawberries

The mini heart cutter not only made cute shapes out of our leftovers, but also managed to utilize most of each piece. So not a lot of wasted scraps. Yay!
Plus I actually remembered a heart in my Kindergartener's lunch! (My goal was every school day, but so far I'm 50/50.)
The heart gummies are from Surf Sweets, and might only be available around Valentine's. I stock up, since they're dye-free; made in nut, gluten, and dairy-free facility; and use pectin instead of animal gelatin.

Hearts for Baby

Leftover GF olive pizza, dye-free heart gummies, root chips; celery, tomatoes, carrots, organic strawberries

Similar lunch for the toddler, but with a few root chips to help fill the space, since she won't eat as many pizza bites. She also gets a wider assortment of veggies. 'Cuz she'll eat them!

Tools of the Trade

    

We {Heart} Lunch - Mini Heart Sandwiches

Wednesday, 11/13/13 - "Cookie cutter lunches" are an easy way to keep lunch fun. Both my girls prefer smaller hand-sized sandwiches. They're easier to hold and eat!

I {Heart} My Kindergartener

GF PBJs, organic pink carrot, organic mini apple, GF MOMeos

 

I made a goal this year to include a heart in every Kindergarten lunch. So far I've forgotten almost as many times as I remembered, but for this lunch, it was kind of the basic theme.

I couldn't resist grabbing a few of these tiny apples from the farm stand when I was picking up my weekly farm share. So cute! A whole one fit easily in the smallest compartment. Squeee!

I {Heart} My Toddler

GF PBJs, organic pink carrot, organic raspberries, GF MOMeos

The cookies are one of the batches I tried for the MOMables Gluten-Free "Oreos" post, testing different flours. These used a more refined flour blend, and were super crunchy (and got a wee bit overcooked) but I like the taste better than the whole-grain version that I ended up posting there. But the girls loved both versions and didn't seem to care which ones they got.

Tools of the Trade

    

[This post contains affiliate links.] 

Leftover Chicken for Easy School Lunches!

Extra chicken or turkey from dinner or the holidays? No problem. Lunch it! You can toss it win with other foods in a soup or casserole or burritos or whatever, or do the lazy thing, and toss it in with some crackers or bread for DIY canapes! Ha!

Friday, 8/16/13

Z's lunch: GF brown rice crackers; organic sugar snap peas, champagne grapes, cherries; leftover chicken

 

Some chunks of leftover roasted chicken with gluten-free brown rice crackers make a quick and easy Kindergarten lunch!

E's lunch: GF brown rice crackers; organic champagne grapes, peas, heirloom cherry tomatoes; leftover chicken

 

The toddler got the same lunch as Big Sis, except with tomatoes instead of cherries. On account of she likes tomatoes (Z hates them,) and she only eats the pits and stems of the cherries, and spits out the flesh. So we don't waste any on her!

Friday, 12/13/13

E's lunch: leftover rice, leftover corn, mango chunks, leftover turkey, GF baguette slices

 

We'd gone to Whole Foods the night before because Mama had a wine tasting event, and Dadda works nearby. They have a faaaabulous buffet (pay by weight) with tons of safe gluten- and dairy-free foods that the girls like. And of course, no petroleum-derived ingredients!
Both girls had leftovers, so Mama packed some into their lunches the next day!

E's rice and corn have pink spots because she'd tried some beets, which tend to mark everything they touch!

Z's lunch: GF baguette slices, leftover turkey, GF graham cracker w/dye-free
frosting and gummy, leftover mashed potatoes and corn, mango chunks

The gluten-free baguette slices were for the girls to make little turkey sandwiches or whatever, and I'd toasted them first, with a little dairy-free butter and garlic salt.

Z got a gluten-free graham cracker (Schaar brand) with some dye- and dairy-free pre-made frosting we'd gotten with our special gingerbread house kit. She was upset at having to wait to assemble the gingerbread house until my sister's house the following weekend, but was placated with the promise of a frosting-slathered graham cracker. I added a Surf Sweets heart gummy because I've been trying to include a heart in each of her Kindergarten lunches.

Tools of the Trade

     

[This post contains affiliate links.]