Muffin Tin Monday - October 29, 2012

I haven't made a Muffin Tin Lunch in several weeks!  We have been so crazy busy with family activities, birthday parties and just life in general.  

This weekend, we cancelled all social plans.  Hubby, Baby and I came down with the stomach flu.  It was not pleasant to eat and then RUN to the washroom!  Anyways, we just stayed at home and I was able to make a nice indoor picnic lunch for the kiddies. Luckily, the older ones were spared and we were only sick for 24 hrs or so.  Whew!  

Today's lunch:  microwave popcorn (in glass bowl method), Asian chicken quesadillas, chopped leftover dinner ham, dill pickles, olives, grape tomatoes and crunchy green grapes. 

  

The kiddies were so excited to see the pickles and olives. They devoured them first!  Then the grapes and grape tomatoes.  The ham and chicken quesadillas next.  Popcorn was the last to go.  So lovely to see the siblings enjoy a meal together on their own. 

For more great lunch ideas, visit Muffin Tin Mom!  Have a wonderful day!

Enjoy!

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Muffin Tin Monday - October 8, 2012

Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving!  We had a quiet weekend and will be having a nice turkey dinner tonight with family.  Since we will be feasting tonight, the kiddies had a light lunch.  I love making lunches in 12-cup muffin pan on the weekends.   It makes a fun, simple lunch.  I love watching the children gather around the floor for a little picnic.  

Today's lunch:  sugar snap peas, red pepper sticks, sliced fresh pears, herb & garlic Triscuit crackers, apple slices (I used a melon baller to scoop out the core), leftover frozen pizza and diced cheese sticks.  

The kiddies are so cute at this age!  There are some days where I look at them and I can't believe they are mine.  They are growing up way too fast!   I'm so happy to capture these simple moments.  

I have so much to be thankful for.  For more great lunch ideas, visit Muffin Tin Mom!  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!  

Enjoy!

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Muffin Tin Monday - October 1, 2012

I can't believe it is October already!  The month of September flew by so fast with school, ice skating lessons, birthday parties, etc... Last week, we all got sick  from our first official cold bug of the season.  It was nice to stay home this weekend and recover.

Yesterday's lunch was fun:  sugar snap peas, red peppers, blueberries on toothpicks, imitation crab meat, sliced prune plums, wedges of Laughing Cow cheese and stoned wheat thin crackers.  The children enjoyed spreading the soft cheese on their crackers.  

It was a pretty light fare. Since they just got over their colds, I'm happy that they were eating again!  

For more great lunch ideas, visit Muffin Tin Mom!  Happy Monday!

Enjoy!

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Muffin Tin Monday - September 17, 2012

Am I the only one still struggling to get in that "back to school" routine?  It was Nessa's turn to bring a snack to share with her class.  In my classic "rummage through the fridge and pantry" style, I wanted to throw something together for everyone to enjoy.  Normally, I plan the night before but I got lazy and made it right before she left for school!  With only a handful of different items left in the fridge, I lucked out that this muffin tin snack turned out so cute and colourful! 

Today's snack:  juicy strawberries, shiny grape tomatoes, diced cheese sticks, chocolate and pizza flavoured Goldfish crackers, diced farmer's stix (mild pepperoni), red pepper sticks, cucumber bear cut-outs and crunchy green grapes.  

My middle child attends the Kindergarten program at our local Montessori Academy.  My preschooler is there too, so I tried to make this appealing to the 3-5 year age group. 

I think I have most of the food groups covered... some fruit, veggies, dairy, meat, grains and a little chocolate... hahaha, am I the only one who thinks chocolate is a food group? 

For more great lunch ideas, visit Muffin Tin Mom!  Happy Monday!

Enjoy!

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Muffin Tin Monday - July 30, 2012

What a busy month!  We went down to Vancouver for a 10 day visit and then we brought back hubby's cousin and her daughter to 100 Mile House.  This was their first visit to Canada.  We had feasted in Vancouver and then we feasted again in 100 Mile House!  Alas, they left on Saturday, leaving a trail of broken hearts.  We had a really great time.  It was a wonderful visit and we are looking forward to seeing them again. 

Now, I am trying to establish a summer schedule.  Hubby took the month of July off work and he will be getting back to the office on Wednesday.  Tomorrow is his last official day of vacation.  With hubby home, I haven't had much time posting recipes the past month.  Too busy having family time!

The children really enjoyed their Muffin Tin Monday today.  We had our picnic lunch on the living room floor after we came home from grocery shopping.  Blueberries were on sale for $2/lb for a 5lb box, Long English cucumbers were $0.99 each, and grape tomatoes were about $2/pint. 

Today's lunch:  ham roll-ups, fresh blueberries, cucumber star slices, triangle parmesan & roasted garlic thin Triscuit crackers, red and green grapes, grape tomatoes, aged cheddar cheese bears and chocolate oatmeal cookies. 

From our recent trip to Vancouver, I managed to hit Daiso, a Japanese dollar store that was across the street from our hotel.  There, I purchased some cute food picks and little cookie cutters.  I used the star cutter on the cucumber slices and the bear cutter for the cheese.    

I thought that it would be fun to include what mommy and daddy had for lunch.  I made "His" & "Hers" lunch salad.  I used some organic spring mix (arugula, radicchio and other baby lettuce), topped with bits of cucumber, red peppers, aged cheddar, ham and grape tomatoes.  Hubby wanted his with Bacon Caesar dressing (left).  Mine was drizzled with organic extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar (right).

For more great lunch ideas, visit Muffin Tin Mom.  Happy Monday!

Enjoy!

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Muffin Tin Monday - June 25, 2012

Happy Monday!  After complaining about the rainy weather, it is nice to get a burst of sunshine this morning.  I've been juggling with someone (and myself) being sick, birthday parties, BBQ parties and special end of year events at the kiddies' schools.

I'm glad that my youngest is feeling better, but still very fussy.

I didn't have time to make a muffin tin lunch with a regular muffin tin, so it's just the girls' lunch with silicone square muffin liners.  These muffin cups are really good portions for the kiddies.   

I kept things simple today for the girls' lunches:  cut up strawberries and grapes, half a whole wheat honey banana muffin, ham roll-ups and last night's salad with cucumbers, yellow peppers and grape tomatoes (I took out the spinach and greens to make it easier to eat).

These lunches are actually pretty easy to whip up in a production line.  I threw three of these lunches together within 10 minutes!    

 For more great lunch ideas, visit Muffin Tin Mom!  Happy Monday!

Enjoy!

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Muffin Tin Monday - June 11, 2012

Good Monday morning!  It is so nice to wake up to a nice sunny day (finally).  The past week has been so dreary and rainy.   It felt like I had the winter blues with 5 days of rain, rain, rain.  In the middle of that rainy week, I also cut out coffee from my mornings.  I switched to an organic dark roast coffee and it gave hubby and I some nasty acne!  Who knew that we would dealing with acne at almost 40?   I think the caffeine withdrawal affected me quite a bit.   Finally, my energy is increasing and my skin is getting better. 

With or without coffee, we have to keep going.  The kiddies were sick too.  I was battling the same bug.  Glad to be back on track today!  

Today is Nessa's Snack Day at preschool, so I just rounded up her favourites, as requested.

Today's snack:  all-beef hotdogs, sliced strawberries, cute mini strawberry and grape fruit skewers, cucumber slices and sliced baby carrots.  I'm still a little bummed that 2 of my silicone liners went missing at preschool from last week.  Oh well, back to using the paper liners. 

I stumbled across Schneider's Natural hot dogs at the supermarket.  They claimed that they only have natural ingredients, so I gave them a try.  We don't normally have hot dogs but I figure it is a nice change for Snack Day. 

According to the package, the ingredient list has only: beef, water, vinegar, sea salt, cane sugar, celery extract, spice, garlic powder and smoke.  Compared to the other brands, this list is short!  I was able to fit 5 wieners in 3 muffin cups!

For more great lunch ideas, visit Muffin Tin Mom!  Happy Monday!

Enjoy!

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Muffin Tin Monday - June 4, 2012

It was one of the girl's turn for Snack Day at preschool.  For some reason (again), I didn't have time to go to the grocery store and was trying to figure out what to bring to school that was dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free and wheat-free.   The ages of these preschool kids range from 2.5 years to 5 years old.   And there are some pretty picky eaters.  

For Snack Day:  baby carrots, ham roll-ups, mini fruit skewers with grapes and oranges and cucumber slices.  I also packed a container full of organic red corn tortilla chips (not shown here). 

I kept things pretty simple and the kiddies enjoyed their snack. Everything got eaten! Even the chips.  Unfortunately, 2 of my silicone muffin liners were missing.  Oh well... that means I get to shop for more cute muffin liners! 

For more great lunch ideas, visit Muffin Tin Mom!  Happy Monday!

Enjoy!

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Muffin Tin Monday - May 28, 2012

I used to hate Mondays.  I love them now.  It is the day after an awesome weekend filled with non-stop activity, birthday parties and family time.  Mondays can be a slow start, but since our family thrives on routine, the kids look forward to going to school and I look forward to cleaning up the weekend's mess!  

Poor hubby has no routine!  Since his work schedule is so erratic, I don't know where he is half the time.  Being a rural family doctor, he is either at the hospital ER, his office, the walk-in clinic, after-hours administrative meetings, at a medical course or off to deliver a baby!   We are very fortunate that daddy can work in the same town and does not have to be away from us for weeks at a time.  So yes, family time with mommy AND daddy is a special thing and not to be taken for granted.  

The kiddies really enjoyed lunch with daddy yesterday.  He had to rush off to deliver a baby in the middle of church but came home in time to share a Muffin Tin lunch. 

In our lovely muffin tin and silicone cups:  last night's baby corn, carrot and sugar pea medley, apple slices, organic red corn tortilla chips, crunchy & sweet green grapes, imitation crab, savory Caesar salad croutons and some sliced black olive & cheese bites.  It was a light lunch as the kiddies had some birthday cake beforehand. 

I really like our new weekend tradition where the children gather around our special picnic quilt and enjoy lunch together.  

For more great lunch ideas, visit Muffin Tin Mom!  Happy Monday!

Enjoy!

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Muffin Tin Monday - May 21, 2012

Today is Victoria Day, which is a Canadian public holiday to commemorate Queen Victoria's birthday.  Since the kids do not have school, this is generally the first weekend to kick off camping season!  We didn't go anywhere far this long weekend.  Hubby had a maternity patient that was due any day now, so we stayed home for a nice relaxing weekend. 

For this week's Muffin Tin Monday, I thought it would be nice to pack a nice picnic lunch!  It was overcast and cloudy, but that didn't stop us from going out to enjoy family time together.

I grabbed my trusty Tupperware container, got some silicone muffin cups and started scrounging around the fridge and pantry.  Luckily, I had some nice leftovers from yesterday's breakfast and dinner.  

I packed some leftover breakfast sausage, cheerios, last night's asparagus & carrot stirfry, oven roasted corn, fresh sugar snap peas, marble cheese slices and red grapes.

  
What a tasty lunch!
 

Ready to go!  During transport, some of the food fell out of the liners and some of the food got jumbled around.  Next time, I'll have to find a container that fits food tighter to keep everything in its place.

The long weekend went by pretty fast. The kiddies enjoyed a nice outing the other day on our beach at Horse Lake, BC.  We grabbed our camping chairs, packed a lunch and enjoyed what nature had to offer. 

For more great lunch ideas, visit Muffin Tin Mom!  

Enjoy!

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Muffin Tin Monday - May 14, 2012

What a great Mother's Day weekend!  We usually celebrate our holidays for almost a week.  It all started when hubby had to work Christmas Day or Christmas Eve several times the past few years.  To get around this, we celebrate over a course of a few days.  It's great when my birthday lasts for a week!  

We were busy with activity the whole weekend. The kiddies were starving when we got home after their piano lessons.  Of course, that's when moms become Iron Chef Mommies...complete with a panel of judges with discerning kiddie palates.

The theme?  Whatever in the fridge and pantry to feed starving, grumpy, whiny kids... it should be relatively healthy and FAST! 

This is what my fridge and pantry yielded:  red grapes, goldfish crackers, leftover oven roasted corn, leftover oven roasted bacon and yogurt with fresh strawberries.  

They ate in record time and declared themselves full after they inhaled everything!  Whew!  

For more great lunch ideas, please check out  Muffin Tin Mom.

Enjoy!

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Muffin Tin Snack Day

It's Nessa's turn for Snack Day at preschool and I think I have a system that provides a bit of everything for everyone.  There are 8 preschoolers in her class and I figure that a muffin tin of snacks can provide enough for that number of kiddies.

I tried to offer a variety of fruits and vegetables plus 1 protein.  Veggie cups have mix of cucumber sticks, baby carrots and sweet yellow bell peppers.  Even if the children don't eat their veggies, I know for sure they will gobble the bright red luscious strawberries and juicy watermelon balls.  I threw in the ham sausage slices for protein.  I really like how cute the silicone muffin liners turned out.  I guess the theme is "we eat whatever the supermarket has on sale and in season"!  

I also included a package of baked rice crackers.  Better to have too much food than not enough!

For more great kids' lunch ideas, check out Muffin Tin Mom.

  

Enjoy!

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Muffin Tin Lunch

I love Sundays.  It is our "Family Day" where we all get dressed nicely and spend time together as family for church.  After that, we go grocery shopping, head back home and play outside.  While the kids are playing, I put the groceries away and load up a simple muffin tin lunch for the kiddies. Thanks Muffin Tin Mom!

The children enjoy a lovely variety of different foods.  Food presentation is so important to them (and me!).  I find that they do eat better and it is easier to introduce one new food at a time.  Yesterday's lunch:  carrot sticks, cucumber sticks, bacon Caesar dressing/dip, grapes, pita pizza, diced cheese sticks and imitation crab. 

The wonderful thing:  I had to reload the muffin pans 2 more times!

I lined the cavities with silicone muffin liners.  I like that they help keep the non-stick finish intact, but it was a little tedious to wash all 12 of them afterwards.  It was easy to do, but a little mind numbing.  

They had a very nice picnic lunch in the family room.  My best friend made this gorgeous "Under the Sea" quilt for my son when he was born and we used that as our special indoor picnic blanket.  It was so cute to see the children gather around and enjoy lunch together on the weekends.

For more great kids' lunch ideas, check out Muffin Tin Mom.

Enjoy!

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Muffin Tin Snacks and Meals

This month, Baby has gone to the same preschool as Nessa, so that means there is another Snack Day added to the schedule.  My Baby is growing up too fast!  She too will learn about sharing her snacks with the rest of the class. 

I had mentioned before in my Oatmeal cookie post that her classmate has a sensitivity to wheat, dairy and eggs.   For peace of mind, I always try bring something that everyone can enjoy together.  That's part of the meal times we have at home, so why not school? 

Then I came across Muffin Tin Mom's idea of serving food in muffin tin cups.  Sheer genius! 

I used Baby's favourite fruits and snacks and put them in each muffin cup. I have silicone muffin cups on order, so I can reduce the waste of the paper liners each time. 

The possibilities are endless!  I used watermelon balls, strawberries, fresh pineapple spears, slices of ham sausage, crackers and gluten-free crunchy Rice Chex cereal.  Next time, I will do a myriad of veggies, dip, cheese cubes and fishy crackers.  With this presentation, there will be a little something for everybody.

This idea was so cute, I had to share it!  Over the weekend, I didn't know what to do for lunch, so I put some sausage, cheese, fruit, veggies and some crackers in a tin.  We had a wonderful little picnic on a quilt in the middle of the living room floor.

This idea would be fun for playdates and parties too!  

 Enjoy!

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