hump day halloweening!

we are getting closer and closer to halloween, which means soon, i'll have to pack away my skulls and bats and headstones and doll parts in mason jars (really)! but for now, i still get to dress up the kids' lunches with halloween goodies. 

on tap for hump day is homemade lunchables (with organic pepperoni and summer sausage, swiss and cheddar cheese, and crackers), pretzels (i needed something to fill that little space!), veggies (carrots, broccoli and cauliflower), and fruit (mini clementines- my son calls them "clementiny"- and kiwi). 

egg not-so-mc muffins

lunches for the littles are just leftover spaghetti and meatballs, veggies and grapes, so i'm not sharing those today. i'm sure you are all so devastated. trust me, they weren't cute or anything. it's like those pb&j lunches that i don't photograph. 

that said, i made egg mcmuffins for breakfast. well, not MCmuffins, i'm not freaking mcdonalds, after all! but, the golden arches has a monopoly on catchy names, so it stuck. perhaps, we'll call 'em egg not-so-mc muffins. 

a few years ago, i picked up a brand new muffin top tin at goodwill. it is supposed to make just the top part of muffins- you know, the yummiest part. but, they never really turned out the way i wanted. eh, call me old fashioned, but muffins should be whole. 

instead, i use the muffin tin to bake perfect egg circles. just grease the pan, pour in your scramble egg mixture (it takes far less than you'd imagine), and bake. i like it at 350 for 20ish minutes, but it totally depends on your oven. 

after baking the egg patties, i reuse the pan for assembling the muffin sandwiches. just layer a sliced english muffin with a slice of canadian bacon (my daughter will argue that this name is an evil joke: "it's just HAM, mom! this isn't BACON! that's just wrong."). then put your egg patty on top and slap a piece of cheese on that sucker!* these can be refrigerated overnight, or baked right away. if wrapped individually, they'll keep in the freezer, too. 

mine will be popped in the oven first thing in the morning, ready to help the kiddos start their day. pop the whole tin in the oven at 350 for 10-15 minutes, until warmed  through. serve with some fruit and it's a delicious breakfast!

*if i'm making these fresh, to be eaten within minutes, i'll often layer a slice of tomato or some sautéed spinach leaves in there. for some reason, my kiddos don't like 'em much if they've been refrigerated or frozen with the veggies.  

leftover lunches!

mama had a rough day and wasn't prepared to make five little lunches this evening, so i packed 'em up with leftovers from dinner. we had kung pao chicken, brown rice, and stirfry veggies for dinner, so for lunch, the kiddos are getting what's left. instead of kung pao, they got the milder stirfry chicken, brown rice and veggies; oranges and strawberries; reese's cup; and yum yum sauce to dip. 

tuesday boos-day lunches!

this weekend was spent taking a well- deserved break. the oldest spent the night with a friend, the two littles had an extended play date, and one if the middles went to a nascar race with his dad. there were no soccer games, no commitments, no blogging, nothing but rain and knitting. 

then, monday came and back to school they went. and i was back to cleaning and chauffeuring and soccer momming. there are no photos of monday's lunch. i can't even remember what i packed.  oops!

i do know what i packed for "tombsday." see what i did there? tuesday, tombsday. haha. yeah, yeah. just humor me. 

nothing real exciting- mini subs; crackers and pretzels; mini salads; orange and strawberries; cheese cubes; and a treat. 

knitty knitty, holiday knitting!

so, all five of my kids announced they wanted mama-knit sweaters for christmas. in october. with 74 knitting days left until christmas. with all the other standard holiday knitting still to be completed. and my smallest kid is a size 6. the largest is a women's medium. we're not talking tiny baby knitteds. but, it's the first time they've asked for my wares, so i kind of HAVE to. 

i had some yarn in my stash already, and i had pattern already picked out for the boys, so i started right away. it's not the ideal yarn for a preteen boy's sweater, but it'll do for now. 

the yarn is malabrigo worsted weight merino yarn in autumn forest. the pattern is knitting pure and simple's children's tunic. 

knitting and rewatching season 5 of supernatural on the ipad. i love the way my stitches all line up in a pretty little row like toy solidiers. 

friday lunches!

looky looky! a tiny jackolantern full of veggies. don't they look yummier when they are all dressed up like this? kiddos are getting the usual broccoli and cauliflower (in the bottom of the pumpkin), with squash spears, sugar snap peas, and two kinds of cherry tomatoes. yummy!

on the menu for friday is organic pepperoni and summer sausage with baby swiss and cheddar cheese slices and crackers (aka homemade lunchables); veggies; oranges and strawberries; with a reese's cup for dessert. 

thursday bentos

like i said before, i celebrate halloween from the first day of autumn until the first weekend in november. that means, as of today, i still have 24 more days of halloweening left!

thursday's lunches were kind of a flop. i had wanted to make little vampire bagel sandwiches, so i did. but, while i was packing the rest of the lunches, the vampire teeth kind of spring loaded and tore the bagles in half. i mean, i guess it's fitting. it is halloween after all. BAGEL MASSACRE! 

to respect the dead and their families, no photos of the bagelcide will be posted. instead, you get the photos of the sole survivor. 

on the menu for thursday is turkey bagel sandwiches with spinach and cheese; crackers and pretzels; squash, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, sugar snap peas, and two types of grape tomatoes; apples, oranges, and strawberries. oh, and a kitkat. just because. 

next time i make these, i will probably cut the center of the bagel out instead of just relying on the hole already there. ah well, you live and you learn.