Simple Flower Lunch

Lunch

You'll notice a few adjustments to today's lunch :)

Less food, less elaborate, and the recess is isolated.

I had hoped we could get out to the store this weekend to pick up a watch,

but we didn't end up having the time :(

We'll get one in a day or so, and let you know how it goes :)

In This Lunch:

Marble cheddar and ham sandwich on enriched whole wheat bread

Marble cheddar flower

Apple flowers

Napkin

Recess

In This Recess:

Green Grapes

Whole Enchilada

Individual Container Follow-Up

What she ate:
1 Sandwich, 1 Carrot Stick, 3 pieces of Cucumber, 1 Yoghurt Cup

So, here is Lily's sitter Kelly's picture of what came home from school.

(Mad props for helping me out Kel! Thanks!!)

If you look at the list of what she ate, 

you'll see she actually didn't do too bad at school today.

After she was allowed to snack at Kelly's, the only thing that remained was the banana.

Apparently it did made a small difference if the foods were separated!

With this new information in mind,

her sitter, her father, and I,

devised a plan!

Starting Monday:

-Her recess will be in a special container marked as such.

The reason being:

She might be filling up on her recess too much, then having no appetite at lunch, 

and coming home starving.

Also, it eliminates choice, thus saving time, giving her longer to eat her snack.

-She will wear a wristwatch with a timer set to go off 10 minutes before the end of lunch.

The reason being:

We suspect she has my ADD-Inattentive Type.

This does not mean that she is hyperactive.  

Quite the opposite, 

it means that more so than other kids, she zones out, and has trouble focusing.

For this, she will need to learn tricks and tools to keep herself on task.

-I will slightly decrease the amount of food packed in her lunch

But most importantly...

-We will continue to make creative lunches, 

but with adjustments made to make the lunches optimal for devouring :)

Individual Container Lunch

What's for Lunch:

Turkey and marble cheddar sandwich on homestyle white bread

Mini Chiquita banana

2 Cucumber skewers

Carrot sticks

Strawberries

Vanilla Yogurt (which didn't fit in the picture)

Banana Man!
(Arms function to stop movement in transit)
(Face drawn with food-safe marker)

Strawberries

The only brand and flavor Lily will eat these days
(Make no mistake, I'm not getting paid to say this!)

So this is experiment number 2!

I'm testing to see if she will be more inclined to eat her lunch at school 

if all foods are not touching different foods.

Same as yesterday's experiment,

I have used a similar amount of food as a usual creative lunch would have

Let's see what comes home today!

Today, as I am working this afternoon, 

I will be enlisting the help of Lily's after school sitter Kelly

To document what comes home, and what is eaten for snack

All that plastic makes it look like so much food!

Separate Units Follow-Up

What came home from school

After I let her snack on it at home

With today's portion of the experiment complete, it's time to document the results:

As you can see, she did not eat much of her lunch at school,

as the photo on the left shows how much came home.

I asked her a few questions, and here is how it went:
Mommy: So Lily, why didn't you eat your lunch today?
Lily: I didn't have time to eat my sandwich.
Mommy: What about this container of fruit and veggies?
Lily: I just didn't feel like it.
Mommy: Did you eat anything else at school today? For example something from the breakfast program?
Lily: Mmmawm!  I don't eat their food!  That food is for people who don't eat breakfast at home, and I EAT breakfast at home!
Mommy: (sensing Lily is getting tired of the interrogation) Well, if you'd like an after school snack, you can finish your lunch :)

Lily groans, but accepts her fate, and picks at the lunch for a minute, then plays with her toys and continues to pick for about 2 hours, (about an hour before supper). (I wanted to let her take as much as she would eat - without me prodding her, to see what got left behind)

The photo on the right is what was left after 2 hours when I put the containers away.

So what has today's experiment taught me about her preferences?
-She prefers to eat her sandwich first at lunch time, and eats a small snack at recess.
-She has limited time to eat, so she needs filling food that can be eaten quickly.
-I suspect she is not focusing on the task at hand during lunch time, (they have 30 minutes to eat), and she will need something to help her focus.

Factors I already know about Lily's lunching habits:
-If it can be spilled, it will be.
-Sprinkles = yucky
-Yoghurt not in original brand container = confusing/yucky
-Lunch must contain sandwich if possible. No Sandwich = Confusion on where to start, and lunch gets hardly touched.
-Sticky = Yucky (unless it's jam in a sandwich)
-Things dipped in other things are confusing/gross (example: yoghurt covered raisins, chocolate dipped strawberries, salad dressing covered veggies).

The thing is, if I'm right there with her, she'll eat!  But I can't go to school with her and sit with her at lunch time, (As much as I would love to).  Part of me is saying, "if she's actually hungry, she'll eat," but the other part of me is saying, "If she doesn't eat at lunch, she might go 7 hours with hardly any fuel for her constantly active body!"  At her Booster shot/check-up in August, the doctor reported that Lils is in the 95th percentile for height, but only the 32nd percentile for weight, so I do worry that she's not eating enough :(

Other Parents!

Do you struggle with this too?

I'd love to hear your stories, and how you're handling it!

Separate Units Lunch

I have a problem.  Lily's lunches have been coming home uneaten :(

Despite my best efforts to make them fun and exciting, Lily seems to find them exciting at home, then yucky at school!

So, this lunch is an experiment.

I have given her a similar amount of food as are in the creative lunches, however,

Only dry things can touch dry,

Only wet things can touch wet,

And the Sandwich stands alone.

Carrot sticks, grapes and cucumber... all leftovers!

Strawberry jam sandwich on homestyle whole wheat

Animal crackers, Apple cereal bar, Vegetable crackers

All packed up and ready to go

Tomorrow... Each container gets one thing.  Watch the drama unfold! (haha)

Snowy Lunch

Waking up to... Snow!

First snowfall of the year (that actually stayed on the ground)!

{Random fact: The radio reported that there were 27 accidents in the Halifax Regional Municipality during this snowfall...22 of them in Lower Sackville!  (Our corner of the HRM) (Luckily no fatalities) Some snow-plow/salt truck driver's in big trouble today! Ha!}

In This Lunch:

Strawberries with snow-themed picks

Cucumber snowflakes

Apple slice snowflake and snowman

Hard icing snowflake

Snowflake sprinkles

Carrot sticks (for snowmen's noses)

Strawberry jam sandwich on homestyle white bread

Snowflakes cut using the corner of a leaf cookie cutter, went amazingly fast!

Happy Hippy Lunch

In this Lunch:

Mini Chiquita banana hat

Strawberry jam on homestyle white bread

Sweet pea smile and eyes

Carrot nose

Green bean hair

Green grapes with frosting faces

Follow-Up:

She was grossed out at the idea of frosting on grapes, (go figure)

And refused to entertain the idea of licking the frosting off, so...

I ended up wiping the faces off before the frosting even had a chance to dry :(

Flower Garden 2

So I said I planned to give the flower garden another shot... 

Here's how it turned out :)

I also went nuts and in a moment of insanity turned the lunch container longways...GASP!

(Yay for trying different things!)

Sadly though, I'm afraid this lunch will probably still be being picked at up till supper,

since I completely forgot that today is a pizza day at school :(

Oh well, it still makes for a great recess and after school snack!

Here's What's In This Lunch:

Apple flowers with food marker centers and a paper leaf pick

Cucumber foliage (Lily thought they looked like leaves)

Snow peas

Ham and cheese slice sandwich on whole wheat bread

Pretzel flower pots

Cheesy pretzel stick flower stems

Snow pea leaves

Strawberry fruit leather flowers

Sugar icing flower

Teddy Bear Intruders!

They be crawlin through yo lunchbox, they be snatchin up yo cucumber...*

In This Lunch:

Strawberry jam sandwich on whole wheat bread

Cheese slice bear

Teddy grahams

Raisins

Apple bears

Cucumber

Strawberry fruit leather bears

Banana slices

*For clarification, Lily has not seen nor heard of the bed intruder video, nor the various remixes... I just got the song stuck in my head and ran with it!

Barnyard Lunch

In This Lunch:

Apple piggies in a muddy (raisin) pig sty

A mischievous piggy loose in the pasture (cucumbers)

Carrot stick gates

Mommy and baby horses (cheese slices with food marker eyes)

Turkey (strawberry fruit leather) wandering around the yard (triscuit crackers)

Ham and cheese whiz sandwich on whole wheat bread

Snow pea foliage

Escaped piggy loose in the pasture!

Fall Day At The Park

In This Lunch:

Apple slices (which Lily thought looked like clouds)

Carrot sticks (and that these looked like logs)

Marshmallow clouds

Blue/green fruit roll-up combo

Orange fruit-leather tree

Strawberry fruit leather squirrel

Cheesy pretzel stick swing-set

Spearmint shoe lace candy swing ropes

Strawberry fruit leather swing

Fall leaves sprinkles

And under the park...

A strawberry jam sandwich on whole wheat wrapped in plastic wrap

Follow-Up:

She ate everything but one piece of apple (and the sprinkles)!

Mind you...

 some of the sprinkles made an escape into the lunch bag, 

which wouldn't have been so bad...

 except that Lily left her lunch bag on the playground at recess 

(I didn't even know they took them outside ever), 

and it poured with rain.

The lunch food was safe and dry in the easy lunch, but the escaped sprinkles...

Oh the goo!

Lets just say her lunch bag is taking a dip in the washing machine today :(

Lily's Favorites

In This Lunch:

Cucumber

Banana

Carrot sticks

Strawberry jam sandwich on enriched white bread

Personalized star cookie

Jammie-clad Lily wanted to jump in to today's picture :)

Follow-Up:

Bananas, though they were cut up, were still to hard for her to peel.

I tried making a slice along the side of the pieces of them when she got home,

and she got into them no problem.

Hearts Lunch

We went for a girlie lunch on Friday, going for hearts, and turning her sandwich into a butterfly ♥

In this lunch:

Carrot sticks

Grapes on heart picks

Cheesy heart crackers

Turkey and cheese whiz sandwich on enriched white bread

Strawberry Pocky stick

Fruit leather hearts

Remembrance Day Lunch

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Wake up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields

-John McCrae, May 1915

Today is the day before Remembrance day, and there will be a ceremony at school to honor those who have given their lives for our country, and those who risk their lives for us still.

I wanted to honor in our own way, our family members who have fought in the past, and those who still do today.

Today's lunch is dedicated to Lily's great-grandfather Carman, cousin Jason, and uncle Charlie.

You're truly heros to us all

In This Lunch:

Strawberry jam sandwich on whole wheat (wrapped in plastic wrap)

Green fruit roll-up

Apple fruit leather camouflage

Strawberry fruit leather poppy

Cheese slice poppy center colored with food marker

Triscuit ground

Yoghurt covered raisin headstones

Snow pea grass

Plastic swords

Carrot sticks (to represent our troops who stand on guard for us all)

Follow-Up

Plastic wrap is perfect for preventing the invasion of the goo!

The only thing not eaten in this lunch were the yoghurt covered raisins

(apparently, the combo freaks her out)

Under The Sea Lunch

Since the lilianator was feeling a bit better today, off to school she went!

Today's lunch was a request which I was honored to do.  Lily's sitter Kelly has been one of my best friends for over 20 years, and growing up, her room was painted floor to ceiling in an underwater theme.

It was incredible!

Today's lunch is dedicated to Kelly, with many thanks for the wonderful years of friendship :)

What's for lunch:

Snow pea kelp

Fishy crackers

Turkey and cheese slice sandwich on whole wheat

Blue fruit roll up (background)

Fruit leather boat bottom

Cheesy pretzel stick and cheese slice oar

Fishy crackers and marble cheese fish with food marker

Spearmint candy laces seaweed

Chocolate chip granola bar ocean floor  

Follow-Up:

So, this lunch, as adorable as it was when it left the house ended up a huge catastrophe!

A valuable lesson was learned.  Moisture + fruit roll-up = GOO

By lunchtime, the moisture of the turkey had turned her blue background to blue goo

and was stuck to her sandwich beyond all saving :( 

Take heart though, as I think I've found a solution:

Plastic wrap!

I'll let you know how it goes :)

The boat bottom engulfed in goo!

Oh, the carnage! :(

A sad mess :(

Hearts and Bears Lunch

Today, sweet Lily is home from school with an injured knee :(

Doc says to watch it, and for her to take it easy, so we have a stay-at-home lunch today.

What's for lunch:

Peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich on whole wheat

Snow peas

Teddy grahams

Kiwi hearts

Day At The Beach Lunch

Rain, rain and more rain!

Our rainy leaf-covered front step :(

So, this morning we woke up to a small monsoon outside...

Leaves and branches plastered everywhere, 

Pouring rain, and crazy whips of wind...

It really made me miss summer at the beach :(

So I thought I'd put a little beach in Lily's lunch today :)

What's for lunch:

Carrot stick baseball bat

Grape balls

Cheese slice Seashell

Fishy crackers

Scooby snacks sun and water/sky

Chocolate chip granola bars sand

Fruit leather towel

Raspberry cereal bar beach umbrella with red pick handle

Raisin sand castle

Flower Garden Lunch

This lunch took more time than I expected!  

I wanted to try to make some flowers on stems, and didn't really research it first.  For future reference, fruit leather, is not the best for this!  If you like how it turned out, go for it, but Lily didn't even know what they were supposed to be.  She asked if they were brooms :/

All told, this lunch took 30 minutes, and almost made us late for school :(

I do plan on trying it again though.  

Just using different materials, and with less detail!

In This Lunch:

Large apple flowers with food marker centers

Triscuit flower beds

Cheese slice flowers with food marker centres

Small apple flowers with food marker centers

Carrot flowers

Turkey and cheese whiz sandwich on enriched white bread

Fruit leather petals tied with purple colored twist ties

Cheesy pretzel sticks

Cheese slice leaves colored with food marker

Apple cereal bar flower bed