Crazy Week

So this week did not start out 'crazy'. It actually started out calm, smooth, and easy. But as the week progressed, it slowly, then rapidly went crazy. Thankfully the week is not over yet, so we still have time to turn the craziness around. 

We have been having some type of weather these past few days. Lots of wind, rain, but thankfully the hurricane is bound to miss us. We will find out if this prediction is accurate tomorrow. The temperature feels great though. The house feels cool but cozy at the same time. 

So here are this week's lunch in no particular order. 

The girls' favorites were the pigs in the blanket and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. Why only four lunches? Because Friday turned out to be crazier than I had expected. Mainly due to distraction from the husband. I was at his work to pick up Rocky (long story), and while I was there, I was helping him with his board, and shredding paperwork.. All of a sudden I started TO feel hungry and that's when it hit me that I completely forgot to drop off lunches to the girls. Worst. Mother. Ever. Thankfully Cali is allowed to get a hot lunch and I just need to send the money to the school Monday. I had enough time to drop off lunch money to DJ, but still I felt bad. I over paid for their lunches, but most importantly I feel like I forgot to care for my children.

Making it up for them by making their favorite Filipino soup - Sinigang. It's perfect for this kind of weather and goes a long way since I can freeze the broth. It's a sour soup that has tamarind base. I use pork parts that has a lot of bones (neck bones with pork ribs). I also add vegetables such as water spinach (kangkong in Tagalog), string beans and okra. You can really add whatever you like but these are what the girls like. Maybe I can do a post on the soup another day as well as the awesome meal the girls prepared for us on Thursday.

Well to all my East coast family and friends, stay dry and safe while we are all still on flood watch. Until next time....

-Jen

A Week's Summary

So a daily post is starting to seem wayyyy too much for me - probably for everyone. I decided to do a weekly post of the lunches I have created for the week rather than a day to day post. People already think I do absolutely nothing with my time, or I have way too much time in my hand -- but honestly I try to just manage the time I have well so that it's spread just enough to get me by for the day.

This week I only had to prepare 4 lunches due to Wednesday being a Jewish holiday. It was a good little break for me so I was not complaining at all :)

So on Monday, I made a plain turkey, cheese, and lettuce sandwich with cheese crackers from Horizon Organics and tomatoes from our garden. These crackers taste really good, very similar to goldfish crackers, just not as salty.

Tuesday I wanted to give my girls a flower for being such awesome kids. One sandwich was Nutella, the other was peanut butter. Again with the sides of tomatoes and cheese crackers.

Thursday I was feeling the weather changes. Fall is probably my favorite season. I love the colors of the leaves as they change. I love the fresh cool breeze in the morning and evening. I love the sound of the tress and leaves as they are easily swayed by the breeze. I love how my electric bill is so much cheaper during this season. Most of all, I love Halloween. So this lunch was due to my excitement for October! It was a Nutella/PB sandwich with carrots, tomatoes, and yogurt.

Today's lunch was inspired by 'movie night' tonight for my family. The girls love the movie Big Hero 6. so I decided to try and create Baymax. Very simple to make. It's a rice ball, and I just cut seaweed wrapper up to make the circles and line. Next to the rice ball is ham inside a silicone holder the shape of a pig. When I bought it at first, I thought the silicone was more like a cutter. :( It wasn't though. But I made great use for it. This lunch was also prepped with our tomatoes and banana. My girls love tomatoes and honestly will chose to eat them over junk food. So why not ?! There are numerous benefits for eating tomatoes.

Well, that about sums up our lunches for the week. Hope everyone has a safe and blessed weekend.
- Jen

Special Day :)

Since today is such a special day, I decided to make the girls a special lunch that requires more than 10 minutes of preparation. After we picked the girls up last from school yesterday, we went to Kmart and purchased some crab traps. Our plan was to catch dinner with some left over so that I can use it in the girls' lunch. 

Well today's lunch is of no thanks to what we caught yesterday because we caught nothing lol. So I cooked some salmon this morning and made some sushi for the girls. Nothing special. It was just salmon and cuccumbers. 

So what makes today special? It's mine and my husband's 12th year anniversary. It's been more fun being married to this man than anything. We've had many adventures, many laughs, inside jokes, disagreements, and continuous opportunities to grow. We had to overcome many differences but things got easier once I started to focus on how I can be a better spouse to my husband rather than pointing out how he could be a better husband for me.  

Today we had an opportunity to go to the beach in the morning. We had a great little walk. Then went to Philly and had lunch at the Reading Terminal. I absolutely love Philadelphia and the Reading Terminal. We bought a dozen doughnuts from Beilers and had a beer at Molly Malloys. There's still so many places to explore in this huge city. I love it. Who knows what we have in plan for this evening. 

- Jen

That's a Wrap!

With school back in session I already knew things were going to be getting busy and chaotic. But I forgot about soccer, choir, book exchanges and other back to school functions at each other girls' schools.  With busy schedules (I'm sure other moms have even busier schedules), it becomes difficult to cook dinner or even pack lunches. At times like this I would just throw in the towel and opt for school lunches. But then once I remember the price (it usually doesn't take long for me to remember the price of lunch), I recollect myself and remind myself why I started this in the beginning. 

Last night DJ had soccer practice and Cali had a book exchange at school. They had a special going on with a local pizza company called Manco & Manco where part proceeds goes back to the school.  Their pizzas are always great too. It's always a fun event where the kids bring books that they would like to exchange and pick out new ones to read. There are also giveaways for the kids whose name is pulled out of a raffle, and it's a good way to meet some of the other parents. 

It was difficult to wake up this morning. So since I took my sweet time getting out of bed I had to do a quick lunch for the girls. I decided to make wraps. Quick, easy, and healthy. 

The wraps are held together with a kabob stick. It just makes it easier for the girls to eat, and it helps the kabobs from falling apart once they get to school. Even the hubby liked this idea. So in the wrap, we have provolone cheese, turkey breast, and lettuce. I didn't out any sauce in it because I didn't want it to get soggy. However next time I'd like to use the laughing cow cheese (I like the tomato basil one) instead of the provolone. I also packed watermelon and more tomatoes. 

My girls can eat tomatoes every single day, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They eat them like grapes and actually like them more than grapes.  So this lunch prep literally took me 10 minutes to make from start to finish. Tomorrow's lunch will be a special lunch. Stay tuned for that one 😊. 

- Jen

Mean Green

My girls absolutely love eating fruits and vegetables. So today I wanted to do something simple for lunch. Today's lunch was a garden salad with watermelon and a blueberry muffin.

Nothing fancy, but this is actually something that my girls can eat everyday. When we are at a restaurant, my younger daughter usually requests a Caesar salad rather than chicken strips, cheeseburgers, etc.

The tomatoes were from our vegetable garden that is slowly deteriorating. We have basil, parsley, pumpkins, and cucumbers. The cuccumbers and pumpkins are extremely sensitive. I think next year I will try to plant them in a container so that I can control the water from getting on their leaves. When you get water on the leaves of pumpkins or cuccumbers, they mold. Hopefully I can save some of the plants I have now from dying when it starts to get cooler outside. I just have to figure out where I can store them inside the house without my husband feeling like I'm turning the house into a greenhouse lol.

Well we are off to soccer practice and the family picnic at school. Til next time...

- Jen

Post Week 1 Football

Today I packed my girls' lunches based off of how I'm feeling after losing my first match in fantasy, and with the Eagles loss to the Falcons.

I'm a little salty. I hate losing. I'm super competitive and I wear all emotions on my sleeve. So I thought today's lunch was appropriate. Turkey and cheese sandwich with carrots and tomatoes. I also used celery sticks the help with the face.

So this week on fantasy, I started Peyton freaking Manning who got me a whooping 5 points. Their kicker was the one who won the dang game for them. I'm surprised they even won. Of course I had Demarius Thomas as my WR because I wanted the duo to rack points up for me, but I got a total of 8 points all together from the duo. I also had Frank Gore who didn't produce. No body freaking produced. I'm hoping it was just a wash this week.

Then there's the Eagles game last night. Byron Maxwell got exposed. Shows how much we should pay attention to preseason --- NOT. Ertz and Huff missed some crucial passes. We did not run the ball enough which is on of my main frustrations from the game. As many RB as we have, we did not freaking run the dang ball. It was almost like Andy Reid was calling our plays all over again. We need to run the dang ball!!! I swear I felt like Sandra Bullock from Blind Side when she calls the coach and tells him "Run the dang ball" in her southern accent. Except I was yelling it, which I should probably apologize to all my neighbors since all my windows in the game room were open. Also, we need to blitz more. We just need to be able to penetrate so the line can get to the QB and apply some sort of pressure. The times we blitzed or applied pressure, the Falcons weren't successful. Another thing and I'll be done (I can go on forever) --- we have to be able to adjust better as a team. These dang coordinators need to adjust better especially the defensive coordinator. If Julio Jones is in motion, double man him!! You can't have him one on one with Maxwell.

I just want to see freaking improvement, I don't want to keep taking steps backwards. Move on from this game. Adjust. Fix what did not work such as passing so much you forget about the run game. Eagles defense still needs a lot of adjustment and mesh. Hoping the progress from this. Can't continue to blow coverage on crucial 3rd downs that should be 4th downs because we aren't adjusting our defense to the opponent's offense.

That's all the rant for this Tuesday. I still have a headache from unbelief of the players that have all gotten injured this first week, from bad calls by the officials, and from frustration I have with my team. Next game is huge. We need a W against the Cowboys. Take advantage of Dez not being there.

- Jen

Welcome back Football!!

It's on necessary to do a football themed lunch with NFL season back officially as of yesterday!  For those who know my family, they know very well we are die hard Philadelphia Eagles fans. Win or lose. Without Superbowl rings. Yes, I've heard it all. I know what my team is, and I'm realistic about what I say in regards to our performance as a team. But I can proudly say because of our past unfortuneate years, we (only speaking for my family and I ) are probably some of the most loyal fans. 

Every team has bangwagon riders. These are by far the worst fans ever. They are a disgrace for the rest of us who actually ride or die by our team regardless of what dumb decision was made by the front office during off season or even during the season. If you're a fan, be simply that... A fan. Don't be a switch hitter just because one year the team you were rooting for wasn't performing to your standards. I see these fans as quitters. As people who can't handle or don't know how to handle struggle. I see them as people with little hope, little faith, no loyalty, and lack of resilience.  Regardless of what team you like, just make sure you are a fan worth winning for. 

Now, moving on to last night's opening season game with Patriots vs Steelers, there was a lot to take away from that game. First thing... Brady and the Patriots are pissed and they are taking it out on everyone. That kind of chip on their shoulder is dangerous for the other teams that will be facing them. Gronk and Brandy looked unstoppable. That being said, second thing to take away is how horrible the Steelers' secondary was without veteran pro bowler Troy Polamalu. But other factors that contribute is lack of meshing. The secondary still needs to learn how to work together. That will come with time. Third thing to take away is that if you have the Steelers' kicker on your team, might be time to grab a new one off the wire.  And last thing to take away with that was the production of DeAngelo Williams. I drafted Le'Veon Bell. The second I found out that Williams was going to replace Bell during his suspensions, I picked him up quick. I'm so glad I did because he produced 15 points for me when I didn't expect that much at all. 

I can't wait til Sunday, but even more for Monday night. It's time for friendships ending due to rivalaries. Friendship is temporarily over for some people lol. That being said, today I wanted to make a football themed lunch for my girls. 

Until next time, have a safe Friday!
- Jen