1) The Fault in Our Stars   2) Out Of My Mind  3) Okay for Now  4) Number the Stars  5) Wonder  6) The One and Only Ivan

I’m always showing my kids’ lunches, but since I’m sharing some of my favorite reads so far this year I thought I’d use this opportunity to talk about one of my favorite things to eat for lunch…roasted vegetables!  Often times I’ll make a double batch of roasted veggies to serve with our dinner knowing that I’ll have just enough leftovers to take with me to work the next day.  This is a quick and easy lunch to heat up and it tastes oh, so good!  I don’t have an exact recipe as I’m constantly changing the ingredients seasonally.  Below is a general recipe that could get you started, but it’s easy to change it to your taste.

3 zucchini cut in chunks (I use yellow and green)

1/2 med red onion, chopped

1/4 red pepper, chopped

1/2 c. mushrooms, chopped

1/2 head cauliflower florets

2 TBS olive oil

1.5 TBS balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp dried rosemary

1/2 tsp thyme

Mix all ingredients in a bowl until veggies are well coated.  Spread veggies on a large baking sheet and bake at 425 for 30-40 minutes.

]]> http://thislunchrox.com/2013/05/my-lunch/feed/ 2 http://thislunchrox.com/2013/05/garfield/ http://thislunchrox.com/2013/05/garfield/#comments Wed, 08 May 2013 14:20:54 +0000 Jamie http://thislunchrox.com/?p=1882 My kids are going through a phase where they are LOVING graphic novels (a.k.a. comic books).  At first I was somewhat reluctant to let them forego chapter books for comic books, but if you’ve been following my blog for a while you probably already know that I try to give my kids as much ownership in what it is they’re reading as I can.  I’ve learned over the years that it’s a critical component of building my kids’ love for reading.  As the boys dove into graphic novels it seemed I couldn’t keep their nightstands stocked fast enough.  Thank goodness for our local library where we’ve checked out an average of 25 books every other week because the kids go through them so quickly.

Of all the graphic novels they’ve read, their absolute favorite is Garfield!  There is something about him that the boys find so endearing and it’s not uncommon for us to hear them laughing out loud when they’re reading Garfield books.  As a mom of boys I think it’s such a challenge to find books that grab their attention.  While we’ve found a lot of great chapter books, I’ve not yet found anything that quite  draws them in like a great graphic novel.  I understand the literary content isn’t comparable to a well written chapter book, but I know this is a phase of their reading journey and I intend to take full advantage of their enthusiasm for this genre.  If you have a reluctant reader or are struggling to find books for your kids I would highly recommend giving graphic novels a chance!  I’ll continue to add some of my boys’ favorites on my Amazon site HERE so stay tuned!

We have a late start school day today which provided me with a little extra time to put together a “fancy” lunch.  I thought I’d make a Garfield themed lunch in honor of their favorite book series at the moment.  This lunch includes:  turkey sandwich with cheese accents, Ellsworth cheese curds, carrots, chia seed cookies, strawberries and grapes all packed in a Planet Lunch Box.

So, without further ado…my little guy’s lunch today includes: ham/string cheese roll-ups, strawberries/blueberries, almond flour chocolate chip cookies, hard boiled egg, cauliflower, pickles

In addition to cutting up fruits and veggies I typically make three baked goods over the weekend.  The baked goods usually include one batch of cookies, a batch of muffins, and a sweet bread/bar.  (Over the years I’ve learned to make mini muffins and smaller sized cookies so they fit in the lunch boxes.)  If I know we have a busy week with evening activities I typically make double batches of everything so we can use them as sides for dinner.

Here’s a quick peek at our fridge after this weekend’s prep.  Along with the fruits, veggies, and baked goods you’ll also notice some other staples I like to keep stocked in our fridge…hard boiled eggs, string cheese, and unsweetened almond milk for smoothies.

Today’s quick-and-easy lunch is made up entirely of things I made up over the weekend.  Almond flour waffles toasted to use as “bread” for a peanut butter sandwich, yellow peppers, hard boiled egg, pumpkin mini muffins, strawberries/cantaloupe, cheese curds all packed in a Planet Lunch Box

Wham-O Superball, Wham-O Hacky Sack, Dragon Kite, Hand Buzzer, Water Arcade, Scrabble Fridge Magnets, 6-color pen, Peg Game, Auto Bingo

Today’s lunch is a “quick-and-easy” lunch as our week has been a little on the hectic side.  It includes: scrambled eggs (thermos), strawberry mini muffins, grapes/blueberries, orange pepper, peas, cheese curds, macadamia nuts

Today’s St. Patrick’s Day lunch includes:  clover leaf peanut butter sandwich, grapes, cheese curds, orange slices, celery, cauliflower, carrots, pumpkin mini muffin, hard boiled egg

1) Seekers  2) Ragweed  3) Martin’s Mice 4) Dive  5) Everest  6) Garfield (Both of my boys are working their way through the entire collection of Garfield comic books…very quick and easy reads!)  7) Gregor Series

Today’s Read Across America Lunch includes:  peanut butter sandwich on lavash bread, strawberries/blueberries, hardboiled egg, snap peas/tomatoes, string cheese, chocolate covered almonds, Trader Joe’s letter cookies

Today’s “map lunch” includes:  peanut butter sandwich, strawberries/blueberries/, cheese curds, celery/peanut butter, and oatmeal-free “oatmeal” cookies.