Leftover Oatmeal? Make Snack Poppers!

Some mornings my kids wolf down their breakfasts and practically race out the door with time to spare and all the enthusiasm in the world. Other mornings, it's a race to get to the breakfast table after some kind of drama (I'm tired! My favorite pants are in the wash! I don't want to brush my hair!) and then we're running and hoping that we won't be late for school.  

Ugh.  

Today I'm making the most of a drama morning. I'm reusing what would otherwise be thrown out – leftover oatmeal. My son is a grazer by nature. He loves the concept of a 'work-in-progress' meal. Maybe it's the age. I can't remember my daughter ever being like this but frankly, who can remember? He doesn't have access to food all day, of course, so he has to roll with the punches of regularly scheduled meals and snacks. I'm repurposing his morning oatmeal into a lunchtime snack with these pear and oatmeal snack poppers:

Pear and Oatmeal Snack Poppers with a Bosc pear sandwich

It's really just a fancy name for a spoonful of oatmeal on top of a square of bosc pear with a dash of cinnamon. I've also made a pear sandwich on that plate - something my little guy is wild for. Bosc pears are beloved in my house at the moment and here's what we're doing with them these days.

Confession: I gobbled up about 5 of the pear and oatmeal snack poppers before assembling these on the plate. They're a perfect finger food!

Delicious, Easy Tzatziki for Your Little or Big Dippers!

My kids are late to the dipping party. I had friends whose kids were dipping fanatics from the earliest age. Not mine. But right now, my son is in a ketchup phase and my daughter is all about tzatziki. 

It happened innocently enough. I was waiting in line at the grocery store and spied a bottle of tzatziki by the cheese section and dashed away quickly to pick it up and add it to my cart. It was an instant hit. My daughter, who basically could live on dairy until the famed cows came home, loved it immediately. It was the kind of thing where I wondered why we didn't have it around more often. So I set to work, trying to make my own.

Greek yogurt, labne, kirby cukes and dill

It's funny having the feedback of a 7 year old because the comments are so straightforward. I heard some "Mom! this is toooooooo spicy!" (hmm... too much garlic), and "Mom! this is really runny, I can't dip the right way." (hmm... too watery) and "Mom! this has lots of chunks in it! Can it be smooth?" (hmm... smaller pieces or puree needed). 

I finally came up with the recipe that worked for us and I'm happy to share it! I used labne (full fat) in place of sour cream and Greek yogurt and eliminated the raw garlic completely. I used kirby cukes because they seem to be the least watery.  I wouldn't be surprised if my daughter dipped each of the items in her lunchbox into the tzatziki. Even the grapes! But, I've kept everything separate (thanks, Easylunchboxes!) so she can decide for herself. 

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 cup labne
• 2 kirby cucumbers, peeled and chopped
• 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh dill

Combine all ingredients and puree using a stick blender (or if your kiddos like a chunky version, eliminate that step completely)! 

Tzatziki for my Little Dipper! 

Halloween Lunchboxes

So it's the night before Halloween and I'm just spent. My husband is out of town on business this week so it's me + 3 kids. I LOVE Halloween so I'm doing my best to muster the energy. My kids are eagerly awaiting the Candy Fairy. Do you have anything like this at your house? The kids have to write a letter to the Candy Fairy asking about her favorite candy. She lets them know - usually with a print out of the label - and then on Halloween night, they place a few of those items under their pillow and get a little toy in exchange!  

And isn't it funny? The Candy Fairy likes Peppermint Patties just like I do!  

 :D Here's what the kiddos are taking for lunch tomorrow: 

homemade mac and cheese with a hint of Polly Pocket + monster-eyed banana. (not shown: pretzels and seaweed)

sunbutter and jam pumpkin sandwich, monster-eyed banana, clementine, monster-eyed fresh mozzarella

The No-Hassle Lunch

Today's lunch took all of 4 minutes to pack. Um, hello happy Monday! 

My daughter has been in a bit of a tzatziki craze lately, and everything is getting dipped - rolled up sandwich included.  I'm experimenting with tzatziki recipes and am trying to find the balance of ingredients (recipe to come if it's awesome). In the meantime, the Applegate ham and cheese roll up took all of three minutes - including the time to slightly melt the cheese. I've said it before, I love that I can rely on Applegate products to be both tasty and high quality and my kids are all about that Black Forest Ham. 

Ham and Cheese Roll-Up with Applegate

Minute four of this super easy lunchbox was spent placing baby carrots, clementines, tzatziki and our new snack discovery: Mountain Rise Granola. We eat these chunks like cookies and they are a nut-free and not produced in a factory that processes nuts so they are also safe for me to pack in my son's lunchbox. 

The no-hassle, 4 minute lunch!

Voila! Colorful, balanced, healthy and 4 minutes of time. Packed neatly and stored separately thanks to our EasyLunchboxes! For some new ideas to liven up your New Years breakfast and lunch routines, be sure to visit our Resolution Foods post for recipes and downloadable images to add to your LaLa Lunchbox food Library. 

note: these opinions are my own. I am not paid to like these products! 

Cabbage Vase!

I sure do love the smell of eucalyptus.  So when I walked by a flower stand today and spotted a bunch, I  couldn't resist. And then I remembered something I came across as my daughter and I were browsing Pinterest the other day - a vase made with cabbage. I asked the florist for a block of floral foam, bought a red cabbage and ran home. 

This is my first test run of this concept but I look forward to making improvements with each iteration. And it was so easy! Here's how I did it: 

Red cabbage vase! 

I removed the outside cabbage leaves and cut the bottom to make a flat surface. Using a paring knife, I cut a square and dug out the cabbage bits with my fingers. It was not an elegant job and I felt kind of like vegetarian Fred Flintstone in the process but once it was done, I had a perfect space for floral foam. I wet the foam and placed it inside and then arranged the eucalyptus. Easy peasy!