Lunch box inspiration

Trying to pack daycare/school lunches can get boring... And expensive.
Last week Lumpy requested no more sandwiches for a while! Instead she had left over "green pie" - which is spinach and feta, we had some muffin sized ones left from the weekend and she took one everyday!
I forget that sometimes I need to mix thinsg up. SO this is a little post I will update more often with what we send to lunch - Please feel free to add comments and suggestions!!

This week there is sandwiches! It was requested for sandwich with vegemite and square cheese,
In the first compartment is a fruit mix (paw paw, strawberries (which we picked) blue berries and rockmelon)

Second compartment was an egg - cheap as we have chickens (except we used all the eggs for baking and tonights dinner so collected some from my mum) (some facilities have a no egg policy due to allergies, make sure yours is safe)

third compartment is sultana banana cake/loaf which Lumpy and I made this morning, using some turning bad bananas

final compartment is yogurt from the 1.8kg tub we got from our roadtrip yesterday, her sandwich with vegemite and square cheese (yes, I do use cookie cutters to "cut" her sandwiches), home made air popped pop corn

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greem pie, mandy, yogurt, fruit

This weeks lunches will look like this - left over "green pie", yogurt sachets (12 pack for $2.99 from grocery club), watermelon and grapes, mandarin (after this photo was takes, we ate dinner there was left over sausages and Lumpy asked if she could have one for lunch, so one was added)

A scone that Lumpy and daddy made while I worked

Dried apricots (good for iron and to assist with bowels)and craisins

Cheese from the block, tomato, fig & multigrain crackers
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7/10/13

This week is a short week - Labour day public holiday. So only 2 lots of lunches for Lumpy.

Dried apricots and sultanas, with home made jelly fruit "cups"

Vitaweatlunch slice and baby roma tomaotes

Good old boiled egg

Last nights left over dinner - salad with beetroot, corn and cheese with little chicken balls, and a container of yogurt. I have since added a slice of wholemeal bread with the salad just for a complex carb.

Saturday Road Tripping Adventures!

It's the weekend! As i work most weekends, when I do have one off we like to make the most of it! Today we decided to head to Borumba Dam for a picnic, do a 4wd track that the daddy one had read about and would take us to Kennilworth... where the best cheese and yogurts are made. Well, it didn't go exactly as planned, but what an AMAZING day!

Saw  these cute hey bales on the way to Borumba dam!

Today's picnic lunch was very easy - basic fruit salad, some bread, peanut butter (no we don't use butter/margarin with peanut butter), pre cut cheeses and crackers, bananas and apples. keep it simple and stress free - also makes it budget friendly! There were lots of tables - under cover- and up away from waters edge, also a few bbq's with great condition plates.

An easy picnic!

Little Miss Independent

Our view!

After Lunch, we headed out to do the 4wd track, only to get 3km in and find that parts of a bridge had been washed out in one of the floods! So back out to the main road it was! Where we saw a camel - Lumpy didn't see it so Daddy turned around and went back so we could show her (awesome photo op!) 

Finally! Kennilworth cheese factory! when we got into Kennilworth, we realise dpretty quickly that it was teh Kennilworth show and rodeo! After our yogurt purchases we went and checked out the show.

Trying the newest flavoured yogurt!! YUMMMMY

There is a Kennilworth celebration on from next weekend, and there seemed to be a lot of scarecrows and little statue type things.

On the drive homewe decided on a sponatneous strawberry pick! lots of places to pick your own strawberries!

Great day, very long but such a great family day <3 enjoy your weekdend!

MYO pizza

It's friday a night, I felt like pizza. I love doing things my little offsider can help with. SO decided it would be a pizza night.
First step I made the dough (an incredibly easy 2 ingredient mix - 1 cup greek yogurt, 1.25 cup self raising flour (measures may vary depending on the yogurt))
second step - I set up the table while Lumpy washed her hands.
third step - apron and sit at table.
forth step - suggest she start with flattening the dough and the rest she was pretty confident on.

 

How it started

Taking flattening the dough VERY seriously!

need the tomato paste

Mushrooms

more toppings!

Cheese!!

One very proud little girl!

Now for the grown up to use the oven!
Helping in the kitchen really seems to boost Lumpy's self confidence. She absolutely loves it. She will make comments like "I'm like a mummy now, I'm a grown up!". It also builds essential skills for later in life.
Have a great weekend and get in the kitchen with your little one!

'Inside snack garden'

As I'm sure you know by now, Miss Lumpy loves gardening!when we were at our local Aldi store, they had these packs of galvanised pots and seeds. She asked "Can we please get an inside snack garden?". Of course!
After a nap she was very keen to get the garden started! (While she had a (rare) nap, I soaked the pellets to make the soil)

Dividing the soil

Sprinkle the seeds in each pot

Water the seeds

Leave ina warm partly sunny spot

two weeks later

Now just to wait until our lettuces and tomato grows.

Making strawberry jam

While in South Australia we visited a farm that makes jams. Lumpy has asked if we could make jam. Strawberries were very cheap today, so we made Jam!

1kg Strawberries, 1kg sugar, some lemon juice

removing all the "green"

adding sugar to the pot

After leaving the strawberries and sugar to sit for about 45 minutes

Boiling away!

All bottled up and in the sink cooling

4 jars of jam!

Just had some on toast after dinner... MMMMMM = WINNNNAH

South Australia holiday!

Earlier this month, we went on a family holiday to South Australia! What a wonderful week it was, such a family friendly destination.
Our first full day we headed to Hanhdorf ( info here), I LOVE this town! its beautiful and the food is AMAZING.

Hanging out in Hanhdorf

looking down main street

one of the many old buildings!

The next day we headed off for an over night stay on Kangaroo Island!

Lumpy checking out a seal

heading to do a walk to check out Remarkable Rocks

Seals playing just off the beach in a little town we stopped at for breakfast!

The next few days were spent going to small towns and into Adelaide!

Granite island

Horse Tram on Granite Island

mm Cheese factory

Grabbed some cheese and crackers and stopped at a picnic ground!

St Peter's Cathedral

Hanging out in Adelaide.