Homemade Lunchables

I don't know about your kids, but mine love Lunchables. Yes, the store-bought-probably-not-that-nutritious Lunchables. So, when they were begging and begging for them for lunch today, and none were to be found in the fridge, I thought to myself, "Why not make some homemade lunchables?"

So, I got out the Mickey Mouse shaped cheese, the deli meat and proceeded to the pantry to look for the crackers that I just knew were on the shelf waiting. Uh oh. No crackers. Great, now I have to be quick on my feet and somehow make this lunch desirable. Lunch meat and cheese on a plate weren't looking to good to me. So, I grabbed the bread and a heart shaped cookie cutter and created mini hearts out of bread for their homemade lunchables. Of course, they were a hit! They are in there as we speak creating more hearts out of the "butts" of the bread, which are normally not eaten in our house. Wasteful, I know.

But, that's not all, I took it one step further and used the kitchen shears to cut the lunch meat into hearts as well. Why didn't you just use the cookie cutter, you ask? Didn't think of that until after the fact. But, probably would have turned out much better than my hearts. As I was cleaning up my mess, I overheard the girls pick up their lunch meat "hearts" and ask, "What's this?" So, needless to say, I did not take any pictures of this fantastic fiasco.

Anyway, I thought I would share to give any of you moms an idea for those lunches that become so very boring after a while.

Valentine's Cookies

We got some yummy valentine's cookies from our sweet neighbors, which inspired me to make some in return. Because it's so cold and nasty outside, and venturing to the grocery store with three kids in tow is not an easy task, I decided to try to make them from scratch. So, I cracked open my Betty Crocker cookbook and was so surprised at how easy it was to throw together a few ingredients (of course with three little helpers). Well, that went so well that I decided to make some frosting, too. I cannot believe how easy it was to make frosting! There were four ingredients: Confectioner's sugar, salt, milk and vanilla. Whip it all together in my mixer and voila!

Now....I think that the recipes need a little tweaking, but that's okay. Now, I feel more empowered to try that again! Who knew what a little laziness would reveal! I would post pictures, but I still haven't figured out how to post a picture on here yet...

Matthew

So, lately when I tell Matthew not to do something or to stop doing something (i.e. discipline...), he says in the sweetest little voice that I can barely imitate in person, so on the computer will not have the same effect, "Whhhhyyyy?" But, imagine it said in a soft, sweet little voice.