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Back to School Making Lunch Fun

Good Morning,

Some places have started school already and some schools don't start until after Labor day. I've started my semester and the holidays are coming up, so we might just be getting busier over here. The next few posts will be school related post unless they aren't for some reason that I currently don't know and that I may or may not reveal to my readers.

Today's is about Making Lunch Fun

1. Use cookie cutter's to cut out sandwiches-use the leftovers for bread crumbs or stuffing. You can use cutters specifically made for sandwiches or use cookie cutters that you already own. I like the sandwich ones' because I feel there's less waste of the bread with those or less bread to put to another use. If you'r going to be using your own cookie cutters and saving the bread for another use, I recommend cutting the bread before filling it-no one wants peanut butter and jelly flavored breadcrumbs.



I love these, I think they're so cute and would be great for picky eaters
              my favorite one of them all-    


2. Pack jokes with your kids lunches that's sure to put a smile on their face

Here are some sites to help you out:

The Gunny Sack
Caps Creations
Pinterest-Lunch Box Notes
Spoonful

3. If you use paper bags you can decorate the bags


You can make Hello Kitty lunch bags:

Buy white lunch bags
    


and print out the picture from the link below.


Hello Kitty Picture

You might need to enlarge the picture to fit the width your bag.

You can either use my trace method to trace the picture onto the bag or you can cut out the bow, the eyes and the nose, (whiskers are optional just because you might find it easier to draw your own). Color the bow red-this is something your child can do, unless you'd like it to be a surprise.

Paste on the bow, eyes and nose in appropriate spots. Draw or paste on your whiskers.

To make this a craft that your child can do:
Mom should use the trace method to trace on the picture and cut out the pieces. Have your child color the pieces and match the pieces, to mom's tracing. While this way is a little more effort, your kid can be involved and it's good for their development.

The trace method can be used for any picture and doesn't necessarily have to be a white lunch bag.

While we're not going for party bags over here-it does help to have an idea of what the final product is supposed to look like-so I found this picture, which while not quite the look were going for it is similar and if you want to use her suggestions and dress yours up a bit. Feel free to knock yourself out (that's not supposed to sound rude-but it might come across that way-sorry if it comes across that way to you).

Source: Presently Pink
while I believe these are quite nice,
the whiskers are a little too long for my taste
and for lunch bags we can forgo the glitter and the tissue paper.

So I cropped this picture to give you an idea of what it's supposed to look like
-sorry no little girls over here to make this for and

tada-aren't they cute

You can also use white lunch bags to make snowman, draw or cut out a scarf, draw or cut out a carrot for the nose, you can add real buttons or draw on some, be creative. 

You can also make puppet lunch bags or Funny Face lunch bags

For the puppet lunch bags you need to lift the flap and color it red. Then add your own eyes and ears, you can make it be anything you want, a dog, a cat etc. You can also funny face stickers and make funny faces on the lunch bag.

Here are some sites with great ideas and some are can be quite appropriate for different times of the year.

Family Crafts

DLTK_KIDS-this one's got a ton of ideas

Enchanted Learning

Child Drama

Wow! I think this post should keep some of you super moms out there busy, er enjoying yourself or the time off before school starts with your kiddies or busy while you miss your kiddies who have started school.

Reheating Rice?

Source: Google Images

So you had leftover rice, and you placed it in the refrigerator. In general rice doesn't keep well. But it also doesn't taste that good cold. The other day, our sides were from the refrigerator. Frozen vegetables and brown rice. I took out the rice, and it was hard. I thought no one's going to eat it. Is it possible to revive it? I was going to put it in the oven, with a wet paper towel on top. Then I decided to do a quick internet search. I was semi-on the right track, many people said you can't reheat rice, but I saw that someone said you can microwave the rice. My rice was hard and I had nothing to lose.

1. I put my rice in a microwaveable container
2. I filled it up about an inch with water. Shook it around, tried to get most of the grains wet.
3. I decided it had too much water, so I spilled some out
4. I placed my wet paper towel over the rice, right on top of the rice (not the container.)
5. I microwaved it on Hi for 4 min.

Rice Revived!

*Not saying it tasted the same as fresh, but much better than hard rice.
* I did this with brown rice.

Chicken Roll-Ups

This isn't the best pic, it's the only one I have.
They usually turn out much prettier,
but you get the idea. This chicken wasn't cooperating.

These are very easy to make and make for a pretty presentation. They come together quickly, so that's an added bonus.

You Will Need:
Chicken Cutlets (trimmed and thinned, buy it like this or do it yourself.)
Deli Meats (I like to use pastrami/corned beef, but you can use anything, I feel the red meats are a nice contrast in terms of color, you can also use an assortment of meats)
Duck Sauce
Cornflake Crumbs
Toothpicks

1. Take your chicken cutlet and lay it out.
2. Lay your chosen meat or meats on top of the cutlet.( I sometimes cut the meat in half lengthwise because I don't want any meat sticking out)

3. Roll the whole thing up
4. Cover the chicken with the duck sauce-making sure it gets all over the chicken
5. Coat the chicken with the cornflake crumbs
6. Place the toothpick in the chicken to hold the whole thing together
7. Put your chicken in a pan to bake
Bake at 350 degrees until done (the time in my oven varies, it depends on the chicken-it can take anywhere from 25 min until 40 minutes.)

When you take it out of the oven, slice the chicken, you should get some very pretty and yummy chicken.

If you don't have duck sauce, here's an easy way to make your own. Take apricot jelly, jam, or preserves-it doesn't matter which one, and mix it with lemon juice to taste. Presto, duck sauce.

On Passover-we crushed up some matzah for the crumbs, it worked fine. It's best with some sort of coating be cornflake crumbs, matzah crumbs, breadcrumbs, panko, wheat germ-don't try to skip them-the taste just isn't the same. I think panko, cornflake crumbs or wheat germ are best.

Silent Challenge

Have you ever tried being quiet for a while? I don't mean being quiet while you take a nature walk or being quiet when listening to a speaker/lecturer. I mean being quiet while going about your routine activities. It's not easy, but you can learn a lot in the time you are being quiet. Obviously, we were given a voice for a reason, but that doesn't mean we have to use it constantly, sometimes we have to be quiet, so we can hear and learn. This is not a take on a no-talking for the rest of your life challenge, it is a challenge for you to be quiet and be aware of what is going on around you. Some things you will notice more, when you are being quiet, not talking.

you can't gossip, it's wrong ya know

Here are the rules:

-Let people around you know that you've taken on the silent challenge, it is not necessary for them to also take on the silent challenge.

-Set yourself a time limit to be quiet for, 15 minutes is too short, I think even an hour is too short, but you get too choose. Maximum amount of time is a 1.5 days.

-If you wake up and forget you're doing the challenge, you have not failed, one slip-up is okay

-If you need to run errands or have dealings with other people, then obviously the silent challenge is not kept. (I think you will learn the most, if you do this on a day, when other immediate family members are around and you will not be having interactions with extended family, friends, or others.)

- You may nod yes or no to questions (In the beginning I was being so silent, I didn't realize it would be okay if I did this.)

-People may insult you or tempt you to give up the challenge, you may not answer them or give up before the time you set. Don't answer them back even after the silent challenge is over.

-Thank You can be said with a nod of the head, or putting your hands together and giving a slight bow, or whatever gesture you come up with.

-If you know sign language, don't sign. You may however make up other gestures to convey what you want to say.

-Try to use gestures only when absolutely needed.

-Respond only when absolutely necessary

-You can write down what you want to say (but try not to), writing down gossip is not considered necessary and is not allowed

-If you are getting frustrated, or upset, please write down what you want to say

-Do not tell anyone what benefits you gain what you learned or why you are doing this during the silent challenge. Afterwards you can tell whoever you want.

-This is not really a rule, but obviously don't decide to do the silent challenge when you are sleeping or will need to talk to other people.

*In an emergency, break the silent challenge.

These are the basic rules, obviously you can adapt them to suit you. I believe that these rules will allow you to learn the most from your experience.

I hope you try this challenge and share your stories with me. Maybe we'll even have some inspiring stories to share as an outcome of this challenge.

If you have a blog, you can grab the silent challenge button from the side.