Happy Monday, Everyone!
The boys started back to school today. There is something about the start of a new school year that makes life feel fresh and new and fraught with possibility. Perhaps its because I WAS a student for so long and then worked IN schools for so long and because the Teacher is, well, a TEACHER. I always think of the First Day of School as the REAL New Year (sorry, Jan 1st!)
Anyway, this year the Diddle started 3rd grade and the Nugget started Kindergarten, which, in our district, is full day. So, for the 1st time in 8.5 years, I have NO ONE at home....and I'm a little (ok, a lot) sad.
That being said, I love. love. LOVE school supply shopping and organizing (not so much the paying for it part, though. Those lists keep getting longer and more specific!!) This year, THIS was my favorite purchase:
I saw these months ago at Vons (my regular grocery store), but at 8.99 apiece, I was going to wait until they went on sale. Then, very randomly I was shopping at Old Navy this summer and, lo and behold...I found them THERE (weird right???) and they were only 4.99...so I snagged 2 and put them away for this year's lunches. They are BPA free plastic, bento boxes made in New Zealand (I'm not sure why that makes me feel better than Made in China but it does). This is how they open:
Food Challenge is going well, the slow cooker Cheeseburger Soup was a hit last week. The Nugget informed me that it was even better than lentil soup (which is high praise from him!) No one scoffed at the celery inside and I made it with ground turkey so it was high in the protein but low in the fat departments. Here is the recipe in case you are interested!
Slow Cooker Cheeseburger Soup
In a large slow cooker, combine: 1 lb. ground turkey*, 1/4 t pepper, 1/4 t italian herb blend**, 1/4 t Mrs. Dash or other seasoned salt, 1 envelope dry onion soup mix, 3 C water, 8 oz tomato sauce***, 1 T soy sauce, 1 C sliced or diced carrots, 1 C sliced or diced celery. Cook on high for 6-8 hours, periodically breaking up the turkey.
Add 1 Cup raw noodles (I used whole wheat elbow macaroni). Cook another 20 minutes or so (until noodles are tender).
Serve topped with shredded cheese.
*I put my turkey in frozen and it was fine! I just chopped the whole thing into quarters first.
**I buy this instead of "oregano, thyme etc." separately. You can use whatever you have.
***I used the sauce I made in the slow cooker in the middle of the week!
Hope you like it. The Teacher requested it get put into our regular rotation since it made his "Top 5 soups that I make" list. haha
I'll leave you with a picture of my kidlettes, acting silly on their way to school.
You found the lunch containers? Where were they? You should document what you make! Remember, kids LOVE to dip stuff into stuff! Apples in peanut butter (or almond butter), grapes in yogurt, carrots in ranch, etc. It's a sneaky trick to get them to eat fruits and veggies. Oh, and pick up some of those cute animal food picks online at a bento place. They're so cute!
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