A simple thank you is usually the best. I made little S a lunch to help enforce the message of gratitude and not taking freedom for granted. If not for the choices of brave men and women neither of us would be where we are today.
This is one of those lunches where M turns to me after I put it together and says.. I didn't know we had ____. How did you do that so fast?
I am... let's go with frugal. As the sole support for the family right now my budget squeaks it's so tight. I am against going into debt so I make due. This is one of those lunches that comes from my frugality. I don't throw fruit or veggies away. If they are starting to get ripe and need to be eaten and I can't make them work into what I am serving. (I serve three meals a day plus snacks) I prepare them and then individually freeze them and store them in labeled packages in the freezer. It's really a money saving and a time saving tip. If you only need 1/2 an onion for a recipe cut up the whole thing and then freeze the part you do not need. The onion is then ready and waiting for the next time you make this dish or some other one that needs 1/2 an onion. Sometimes maybe you run week poor, where you have too much week left and no more paycheck; in those times just open the freezer and you have items to put together to make a nutritious meal for the family.
When we are a little more flush in our budget I buy the seasonal fruit I know we love but will miss in a few months and put it away for later. July there were HUGE quantities of blueberries on sale for less than 99 cents a pint. I bought 5 extra pints and individually froze them and now we're enjoying blueberries out of the freezer when at the store they are harder to come by and much more expensive.
Patriotic Lunch:
Left: strawberry jelly sandwich stars - This happens to be two slices of homemade white bread I made the previous day. Little S isn't a big fan of mixing PB with the jelly, or Sun butter with Jelly he likes them all separate I thought in this case red and white stuck with the theme best. I jellied the bread with strawberry jelly and then flattened the sandwich. I take two of the thin plastic sheet cutting boards, place one under and one over the sandwich and flatten it. Using the cutting boards insures I do not get dirty; the counter doesn't get dirty and it's a greener and more frugal option than using plastic wrap. Flattening the sandwich makes it easier for little S to eat because the sandwich isn't a huge mouth full and it helps me get a few more stars or shapes out of the sandwich.
Top right: shredded carrot. I had gotten the carrots nearly free at target so I shredded them for use in pasta sauces; little S has no idea that pasta sauce normally doesn't come with carrots. I put extra veggies in where I can to add nutrition and volume to our meals. The TY(thank you) are made with green bell peppers from our garden also frozen.
Bottom right: Frozen blueberries with tiny provolone stars
If you put frozen fruit and veggies into the lunch box they will thaw by lunch and help keep the cheese and sandwiches cool.
So proud that my BFF shared this on one of her firefighter spouses boards.
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