Pack Lunch Ideas

Don’t pack the same PB&J sandwich as your kid’s lunch. Here are some creative pack lunch ideas.
It’s not easy to keep coming up with healthy and fun school lunch ideas. No wonder most parents tend to pack the same foods over and over again. So just how do you avoid packed lunch boredom? Here are some simple ideas to spice up your child’s lunch box.

Change the Bread – Or don’t use bread at all. Kids can get bored with sandwiches so why not try the same fillings but make it a little more exciting by changing the bread. You can try pita bread, bagels, tortilla wraps or even crackers or breadsticks. You can place the fillings on the side and your child can assemble the crackers or sandwiches themselves.

Try a Salad – Not your typical lettuce and tomato salad, what kid would get excited by that? But instead try a pasta salad or potato salad. Cook and drain the pasta or potatoes and mix with a little mayonnaise or olive oil, add some cut up veggies such as corn kernels, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots; add some sliced turkey, chicken or ham and place in a plastic travel container.

Fun, Fun, Fun – On the days where you go for the traditional sandwich try cutting the bread with fun shapes using cookie cutter. You can also cut slices of cheese or ham into fun shapes. Cookie cutters are something every mom should make good use of. You’ll be amazed at how a boring cheese sandwich will get gobbled up when shaped into a flower or dinosaur.

Fingers Foods – Sometimes kids, especially younger ones, don’t like to eat a whole sandwich or bowl of food. Instead you can try preparing cut up cubes of cheese, grapes, carrot sticks, pretzels, mini crackers, and ham cubes. Place in a container with individual compartments or just a standard one for a fun lunch. You can also try cutting sandwiches into small rectangles or triangles for easier eating.

Pinwheels Anyone? – Instead of sandwiches try pinwheels. Cut the crust from two slices of bread, flatten bread using the back of your hand or rolling pin. Spread thinly with cream cheese. Place one slice of ham and roll each slice into a log shape. Wrap in cling film and place in freezer for about 30 minutes. Unwrap and cut into pinwheel rounds.

Dip It – Kids love dipping stuff. For an easy and nutritious lunch snack you can cut apple wedges and serve with a strawberry or peanut butter dip or cut up veggies served with a hummus dip or try a cream cheese dip. For a more substantial lunch add pieces of pita bread, breadsticks or crackers.

Lunch Notes – Write cute little notes once in a while to put a smile on your little one’s face. A simple note with a smiley face saying I love you or miss you can instantly make a child feel better. For older children (who will no doubt be embarrassed by smiley faces and cutsie notes) try a riddle or brain teaser instead.

Be a Creative Mama – Think outside the box, the lunch box that is. Pack mini pizza slices, mini hamburgers, meatballs or chicken drumsticks. Add some potato wedges on the side. Or try tortilla chips with strips of cheese, turkey and sliced tomatoes on the side. Add a sour cream and/or guacamole dip for instant lunch time nachos, perfect for older children or teens.

Or how about some bake savory mini muffins using chopped, cooked bacon and chives or grated cheese and ham. Sweet fruit mini muffins will be a big hit too.
We recommend:
Dine Without Whine
The family friendly menu mailer – Dinner recipes that you and your kids will love send to your inbox everyday. Christine will even create a grocery list for you. Fixing dinner every night couldn’t be easier. Give it a try!

Outdoor Summer Activities for Kids

Here are some great outdoor summer activities for kids that will come in handy during summer break
when your kids start to get bored and are looking for something fun to do.

6 Ways you Can Get the Kids Outdoors This Summer

Summer is time for outdoor fun with your children. However, sometimes the days are long and your ideas are short. Here are some ideas to help you make sure your active ones are busy and getting lots of fresh air this summer.

Garden
Your child will learn science, responsibility and have fun by planting a garden and maintaining it. In fact, if you have the time or inclination, you can make the entire landscape edible. How fun would it be to be able to just wander around the yard snacking? Blueberry bushes, strawberries, herbs, and fruit trees are all easy to maintain. Some vegetables, like tomatoes require nothing but a lot of water and sunshine to grow like weeds. Start small and see what happens.

Flat You
Lay on the sidewalk and take turns outlining each other. Decorate your flat selves by drawing clothing and funny faces. To make this project educational, you can read the book “Flat Stanley” as well.

Hopscotch
Teach your kids how to play hopscotch. Let them draw their own hopscotch patterns. If they are like I was as a kid, they’ll make hundreds of squares and hop around all day.

Hoola Hoops
Has your child ever tried to hoola-hoop? Show him how. Then, take hoola hoops and make a pretend circus in the yard or try to get your dog to jump through one. You are only limited by your imagination.

Bubbles
Bubbles are always a favorite. Take turns chasing and popping them. Blow bubbles with various bubble wands to see how their shapes and sizes differ.

Turn on the Sprinklers
There’s no need to buy a pool when the old-fashioned sprinklers are just as much fun. There is definitely something special about running around in the front yard through the sprinklers, especially when the neighbor kids see you having fun and join in.

Be sure to print out this list and keep it handy for the next time your children say “MOMMMMMM – we’re bored!”

Potty Training Tips
Potty Training Advice and Tips From Moms & Dads Like You.

Nicole Dean invites you to www.ShowKidstheFun.com — a free website filled with activities to make memories with your children and www.ShowMomtheMoney.com – a fun and informative resource for moms who want to make money from home.

Origin Of Mother’s Day

The origin of mother’s day celebrations go all the way back to ancient times. Learn more about the origin of mother’s day and how it evolved into today’s celebration of mom.

Potty Training Tips
Potty Training Advice and Tips From Moms & Dads Like You.

The Origins of Mother’s Day

Most people mistakenly believe that Mother’s Day is an invention of the greeting card manufacturers and flower shops – a cynical ploy to make the nation spend millions of dollars each year on greetings cards and flowers. However, the roots of the holiday are more elevated than this and go back much further, right back to the times of the ancient Greeks and Romans.

Historians believe that the earliest celebration of Mother’s Day was the ancient springtime festivals in Greece and Rome, dedicated to the mother goddesses, Rhea and Cybele.

In England “Mothering Sunday”, similar to Mother’s Day is observed on the fourth Sunday in Lent. It is believed that the early church adapted the ancient celebrations, to venerate the Mother of Christ, Mary. In the 1600′s Mothering Sunday was one day of the year that all young men and girls who were working away from home as servants and laborers could return home to visit their mothers, attend church with them, bringing with them small gifts.

It is Anna M. Jarvis of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who is credited with being the inventor of modern day Mother’s Day in the USA. Her mother, who was also called Anna Jarvis, used to hold an annual gathering called “Mother’s Friendship Day” that was intended to celebrate peace and to heal the pain of the Civil War. After her mother died in 1905, Anna campaigned for the establishment of an official Mother’s Day to commemorate her mother’s work. In 1908 the first Mother’s Day celebration was held at the West Virginia Church, where the elder Anna Jarvis had been a Sunday School teacher for over 20 years. Each son, daughter and mother present wore white carnations to symbolize the sweetness, purity and endurance of a mothers love. Over time, red carnations became the symbol of a living mother, with white carnations signifying that one’s mother has died.

In 1914, President Woodrow signed a bill recognizing Mother’s Day as a National Holiday to be celebrated each year on the second Sunday in May. Anna Jarvis had envisioned Mother’s Day as a religious holiday, to be observed by attending Church, but, much to her disgust, it became more and more commercialized with the sending of cards, gifts and flowers instead. It is said that before she died in1948 she confessed that she regretted having started the Mother’s Day tradition. Ironically, she remained childless, but each Mother’s Day she would receive thousands of cards.
The second Sunday of May is the most popular day of the year in the USA to dine out, and telephone lines are at their busiest. Mother’s Day has become the third-largest card-sending holiday and Americans collectively send around 150 million Mother’s Day cards and spend an average of $100 on Mother’s Day activities each year. In recent years the face of Mothers Day has changed and the greeting card companies have adapted to this change. You can now find cards suitable for single and divorced mothers, for stepmothers, foster mothers and caregivers. If you look hard enough you might even find one from the cat to mom.
Janice Kaye is the operator of Biblical-Gifts.Com, an online shop that specializes in exclusive hand-crafted products, made out of flowers & fruits grown in the land of the Bible. They also offer a selection of the best Christian gifts and souvenirs made in the Holy Land.

http://www.biblical-gifts.com

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