Week of lunches with Applegate Day 5 {Build your own Pizza Sticks}

Well this is it.

Last post of school lunches with Applegate.

Which means last day of the first week of school for us.

We made it!

The fact that I survived the carpool lane without getting banned for life from it is my biggest accomplishment of the week.

People that thing is CRAY CRAY.

Todays lunch was another easy ready in two minutes deals.

We had made whole wheat pizza earlier in the week, when we did I made some little pizza sticks and put them aside for today.

 And for pizza toppings I added a little sauce, some Applegate Natural Pepperoni and Organic Provolone Cheese {which I cut into heart shapes to fit easier in the container}.

A drink, a GoGo SqueeZ, and some yogurt covered pretzels and this thing was a wrap.

Of course you could easily make these in the oven if you kids would rather have them that way.

Of course I had to sample, you know, just to make sure it was good

{wink, wink, elbow, elbow}

A few takeaways from this week:

- Making lunches the night before is so freeing. To wait up and not have to scramble around the kitchen at 7am trying to think of lunch when I barely had a sip of coffee is pretty epic.

- Bean LOVES school and his after school stories are the best:

"The little boy in the red shirt flicked my paper."

"Did you ask him to stop?"

"Yes, then I flicked his."

"I didn't eat my wasagna, just my salad"

5 mins later

"What do you want for dinner?"

"Wasagna."

- Applegate is truly a great company with an amazing mission.  But I knew that their food was great before this week, I just hadn't sampled such a large variety of it. It is just nice to know that there is a line of food that is working to provide a good natural and organic product and that is committed to remove GMO's. I look forward eating more and making more recipes with them.

So with the first week down, now my mind has switched to Halloween, eek.

So excited.

Things are a brewing...

Natural Pepperoni and Organic Provolone provided by Applegate

Week of lunches with Applegate Day 4 {Genoa Salami Caprese Skewers}

I think my favorite part of blogging Applegate lunches this week has been honestly how fast they come together.

Take for example todays.

Salami, tomato, cheese, stick it on a skewer and call it a day.

Pretty much that easy people.

Added a little hummus and falafel chips plus some berries.

How stinkin cute is food on a Hello Kitty Skewer?! I mean come on...

Now as for the second half of this post I to start off by saying this,

I CAN NOT STAND HOTDOGS.

Unless they are crisped to near death I will not touch them

Mostly cause they freak me the heck out.

And poor Nolan loves them.

But once you read over Applegates Organic Beef Dog, most of my fears we set at bay to have a clear conscious of feeding him them.

But just so we are clear, I will still need them suckers BURNT.

He was stoked for what we call his "Dragon Dog"

He took him and wrapped him the castle bread.

One more day left and we will have officially concluded the first week of school, CRAZINESS!

Organic Genoa Salami and The Great Organic Uncured Beef Hotdog

provided by:

A week of lunches with Applegate {Day 3: Mini Pita BLT's}

As I sit here in day one of what I am calling my semi retirement, I have been thinking.

Thinking about the addiction or dependency I have on my kids.

Hear me out.

I am super excited to find myself in a quiet home twice a week, but it also gives me huge flood of emotions.

Everyday I count my blessings to be able to stay home with my kids.

But when you find yourself without them for a good chunk of the day, you start second guessing your importance.

Housework is always there as a friendly reminder that I am needed. 

But I find that pull to them to make me feel important.

Without someone around to ask for something, needing help, or just want a hug its hard not to feel alone.

Being a stay at home mom has its downsides.

But I think about working full time and the burdens that brings, it just is never a win there will always be something to question and wonder "What if...?"

I will find my grove with this, in due time...

Ok but back to the real post at hand,

Applegate and how they have made making lunch this week, CRAZY fun.

Today I made Buggie mini BLTs using their Organic Sunday Bacon.

After a quick round in the microwave I had two crispy slices ready for assembly.

I used mini whole wheat pita rounds, a slice of tomato, some spinach and baby kale leaves, and since Buggie has aversion to mayo I added a little spread of guacamole on it.  It was that simple.

I ended up making two extra for me to stick in the fridge for my lunch, yum.

I added a little dried apples, almonds, and strawberries to round this lunch out.  

As for Bean he got a little family of Applegates nugget chicks.

Its not creepy to eat nuggets made to look like chickens, right?

Happy lunch making...

Organic Sunday Bacon and Chicken Nuggets provided by Applegate

A week of lunches with Applegate {Day 2 King of Jungle fun lunch and mini tacos boxed lunch}

For day two I am going to share a fun plate and a lunch box idea.

Bean is starting school today, its cool, I am ok promise.

I am mostly nervous about forgetting one of them. 

So here is what my day will look like,

I sit,

I stand,

I check the time,

I sit again,

I turn the TV on just to check the time,

pretty much on repeat until it will be pick up time.

But yesterday I made him a fun lunch while Sisty was at school.

For his plate I used Applegates organic black forrest ham and organic cheddar cheese.

Have I ever mentioned my love affair with cheese, its pretty bad.

So when I say Applegate has some of the yummiest prepackaged cheese, I know what I am talking about here folks.

I made a grilled cheese with the ham and cheese, then cut the bread in a circle. Adding some cooked frozen corn around for the mane.  

Two blueberries and some red pepper completed the face.  Broccoli florets made for some cute little trees.  The red peppers at the bottom had no real purpose other then Bean loves his "chippers" so we will pretend they are rocks.

Some hummus added a little extra for dippin his veggies.  I use squeeze bottles for this, makes it easy to write on the plates and add designs.  

His favorite part is making up stories about his plates, this little Lion, turned into an alien Lion after he eat one of his eyes, and was on a planet with "wittle guys" carrying "wight sabers"...oh having boys is SOO different then girls, hahaha.

As for Buggie today she brought her most favorite food ever, tacos.

Applegates southwest grilled chicken is crazy good, yummy flavor and no slimy gross texture a lot of those packaged grilled chickens get.  I think my favorite part of this lunch was I could make it the night before without worry of anything getting soggy.  

Some whole wheat tortillas, salsa, guac, and greek yogurt {our substitute for sour cream} round out the tacos.  Added a little real fruit leather for something sweet and called it a day.  A filling well rounded meal that took all of three mins the night before to put together. Now I cannot wait to throw some of this chicken on a salad, yum. 

See you back tomorrow! 

Organic Black Forrest Ham, Organic Cheddar Cheese, and Grilled Southwest Chicken provided by Applegate.

A week of lunches with Applegate {Day1 Ham & Cheese Hitchhikers}

The day of reckoning is upon us,

the first day of school, bring on the flood of kids wearing backpacks in front of doors on FB.

Its been a CRAZY fast summer.

Blinked, gone.

But looking back we did squeeze a lot in.

So in the scheme of summers, I would call it a success.

But with the first day of school comes the grind of busting out lunches.

Which honestly can become an overwhelming process to make sure I am providing a variety of healthy options that aren't too time consuming.  

So I am UBER excited to team up with Applegate this week to share some lunch ideas.

If you are not familiar with Applegate and their products, its pretty simple for me, they provide a product that I can read the ingredients and know what I am about to feed my family.  But get this, it taste good too!

For Hitchhikers I took some organic black forrest ham and organic white american and rolled them up, usually just two rolls.  Then stick three pretzels in the roll and cut it make little ham and cheese bites.

I paired them with apple slices with almond butter and a hard boiled egg.
And how exciting are these Adam & Eve waters?
Water based with real juice and coconut water.

I purchased those cute little silicone dividers from Bento A Day.  They are a great little way to pick foods from mixing.

And you cannot pack up lunches the first week without a little note of love.

I reached out to Kori from Paper & Pigtails to hook us up with some super fun free notes

 {click here for download of boy and/or girl versions}.

After a quick mention to her about how fun it would be to have little convo starters at the bottom, she came through. Perfect little card to add a note, and let you kids ask their new and old friends some questions to find out more about them.

See you back tomorrow...

Organic Black Forrest Ham and Organic American Cheese Provided By Applegate

Chicken Al Carbon with Quinoa Tortillas {Clean Eats Day 1}

I am sure by now you have seen or are doing clean eating.

Its pretty much everywhere you look.

And for the most part we are pretty clean eaters.

I think the appealing part for me is it is getting back to basics, avoiding additives and processed crap our bodies don't need.

So not that four letter word, diet {said on a hushed whisper}, BUT more a lifestyle choice.

I get that it can be super overwhelming and scary to eliminate so much from you diet.

So baby steps are ok.

This week I am focusing on a whole week of clean eating.

Am I being crazy stupid strict about it, um no, Momma is not about to give up her coffee and little bit of raw sugar, I am all for healthy but not crazy. But with that said, over three months ago I switched to black coffee.  It was more out of dire straights, as I had ran out of my soy creamer one morning and said the heck lets try it black.  And I never looked back.  CRAZY.

Any who back to this week.

After Sunday night and killin a WHOLE box of Hot Tamales aka my kryptonite, I set forth on Monday on a clean eating binge.

I thought I would share my clean eating chicken al carbon with quinoa tortillas. 

I used the Gracious Pantry's recipe for the tortillas.

Now this was my very first time making tortillas, so I don't have a fancy smancy tortilla press.

I took two silicone cutting boards lined them with cling wrap, placed a ball in between and pressed down with my hands. Then to flatten them to an even thickness I used a rolling pin on top of the mats.   Once you are ready to start cooking, make sure you pan is on high heat {for my stove on 8}, one thing I could not find in the recipe.  And keep an eye on those suckers, they cook FAST.

As for the Chicken Al Carbon {makes 4 servings of two tacos each}:

- 2 chicken filets {all natural, free range, no antibiotics is the best if possible}

For the marinade: 

- 2 limes

- 1 shallot

- 2 tbsp olive oil

For the toppings:

- half white onion diced

- avocado

- plain Greek Yogurt {GREAT substitute for sour cream}

- cilantro

At least 30 mins or an hour if possible before you are ready to cook marinate chicken.

Take the chicken and cut them down the middle, making 2 cutlets.

In a large ziploc, add the juice of the limes, olive oil, and the diced shallot.

Season the chicken with a little pepper and salt.

Add to bag and massage, set in fridge.

Over medium heat grill your chicken, since they are cutlets you will only need to cook for 6-7 mins per side.

Remove from grill dice, add to warm tortillas and top with stuff above.

The kiddlets did not want tacos so I made them quesadillas 

{Napoleon make yourself a damn ques-a-dilla, sorry had to} and the tortillas held up good.

I just sprayed a non stick pan with a little canola oil.

Then this am, I decided to make a egg taco.  2 egg whites and one whole egg, some fresh salsa, and a dollop of greek yogurt. Along side my strawberry lemon water {always keep a pitcher in the fridge for easy access all day} and black coffee.

See you back tomorrow with another Clean Eats recipe from tonight.  

XOXOXO

Zucchini & Sauce {fast and healthy!}

Ready for a super easy, super yummy, and very healthy recipe?

Hip Hip Hooray!

Here is what you will need:

- Zucchini {for my fam bam of four I used 4 large zucs}

- a jar of a low sodium pasta sauce {I buy Gia Russa brand, its no salt add and is 20mg per serving which is 1/2 a cup}

- organic Italian chicken sausage or ground turkey

First brown your meat.  While thats browning, cut your zucchini ends off and slice down the middle.  Then take a peeler or if you are fancy shamancy a mandolin and make thin ribbon slices.  Once your meat is browned add sauce and let simmer.

While the sauce is simmering add zucchini to a medium size sauce pan with a large dash of olive oil and pinch of salt. Cook while gently stirring for around 5 mins over medium/low heat.  

Add to a bowl with a serving of sauce.

DELISH! 

PS: adapted from my StepMomma's recipe.

<---------------------------<<

In other food news, there are a few "we play with our food" plates I have done for Bean over the past couple of weeks...

 

Making food fun can lead to kids trying all new foods.

Peanut Butter Protein Balls

I have been seeing different versions of these popping up on Pinterest.

I loved the idea of a healthy little protein/fiber packed snack just sitting in the fridge.

But most of them had things either that I did not have on hand or would HATE to eat {shredded coconut, which to me has the texture of finger nails}.

So I picked a few things from several different recipes and here is what I came up with:

- 1 1/4 cup natural creamy peanut butter

- 1 cup honey {if you can get your hands on local honey this is a HUGE benefit with allergies}

- 1 1/2 cups powdered milk

- 3 cups rolled oats

- 4 Tbsp flax seed meal 

- 1 cup raw sliced almonds

You pretty much just add everything to a bowl {minus the almonds} and mix {I used my stand mixer}.

Once all mixed using your hands mix in almonds.

Then roll into three to two bite size balls.

You should get around 30.

Place in freezer for 45 mins.

Then transfer to a airtight container or ziploc and keep in fridge.

Prefect little pre work our snack, midday boost, or even a little dessert.

My kids LOVE them.

Enjoy!

Homemade Turkey Sloppy Joes.

Like I said yesterday, we had Turkey Sloppy Joes planned for Tuesday night din din.

So here is my from scratch, no jarred stuff here, Slop Sloppy Joes.

{advance apologies for the crap iphone pics}

Ingredients:

- 1 lb ground turkey

- 1/4 cup brown sugar

- 1 tbsp Adobe seasoning

- 1 medium onion chopped

- 2 medium carrots chopped into small pieces {now most people will use a bell pepper, my fam bam is not bell pepper fans, so carrot it is}

- 1 & 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar

- 1 & 1/2 tbsp worcestershire sauce

- 2 cups tomato sauce

- 2 tbsp tomato paste

- potato rolls to serve

First brown the turkey with the brown sugar and adobe seasoning over high medium heat.

Once browned add onion and carrots. Then add red wine vinegar and worcestershire sauce and reduce heat to medium and cook for 5 mins.

Mix in tomato sauce and paste, reduce to a simmer and cook another 5 mins.

And bam!

You have homemade Turkey Sloppy Joes!!!!

For a side I made cucumber salad:

Ingredients:

- cucumber

- shallot diced small

- 2 dollops of sour cream

- 1 tsbp red wine vinegar

- 1 & 1/2 tsp dry dill weed

Mix everything together, add salt and pepper to taste.

Add a little kick with a jalapeno pepper or

if you can't handle the heat, a sliced pickle will be nice.

BUT for the love of everything DO NOT FORGET THE TOTS!!

Enjoy.