Whew!

This morning was one of those AAGGHH! mornings--have you ever had one? Rachel woke up around 5:00, and went back down at 6:00 (after smothering me in my bed for an hour), so I thought I would just "rest" for 30 minutes or so until my alarm went off. The next thing I knew I was dreaming that I was taking pictures of the fall leaves with a camera in one hand, a hand grenade (a small one) in my other, and binoculars around my neck. Which, naturally, is when the neighbors drove by. Then, Greg was shaking me telling me it was almost 8:00. Which meant that I had about 20 minutes to get my girls up, dressed, fed, and ready to go.
We got the essentials done when I remembered that Becca's homework was due and she still had two pages of math left.
We burned through that (with me giving more than one hint, I'll admit [for example: If 5+5=10, and 6 is 1 more than 5, what is 5+6?]) and I put in in her backpack only to realize that I hadn't packed her a lunch.
Now, on a morning like this last year, I would have just told Becca to have school lunch for the day, but for anyone who doesn't know, we have been having a few issues with the school lunch program. Namely, before I could put any more money on Becca's account (we had about 70 cents left over from last year) I received notice that Becca's lunch account was negative and "she would not be allowed to have school lunch again until the account had been settled."
I asked Becca if she had eaten school lunch for some reason, but I was pretty sure she hadn't since her home lunches had been eaten every day. She said "no" so I tried to contact the school to straighten it out.
Instead, I got another note & Greg got an email saying taht she was now 2 meals in the hole. I tried calling again, and sent an email without response.
We have now had 3 meals charged to Becca's lunch account, and I have refused to put money in until the account is settled. Which means I get to pack a lunch whether we have had a nice relaxing morning or an AAGGHH! morning.

But....Da da da da! (cue the trumpets) I got her lunch packed in under 30 seconds because I have come up with the greatest lunch ever for AAGGHH! mornings.

Becca LOVES Uncrustables. I first bought them at NPS (for anyone who lives around here and doesn't know that store tell me and I will share my wealth of knowledge) where they were about 5 cents per sandwich, and I couldn't pass it up. However, if I want to buy them now, they are around 50 cents a sandwich at Costco (on sale sometimes for about 25-30 cents) but for a PBJ I find that a little expensive still--we have already gone over my frugality...I come by it rightly, just ask my mom.

So instead, I go to the bread store, buy a couple loaves of bread, get a jar of peanut butter, a jar of homemade strawberry jam (Becca's favorite) and make my own.

So, coupled with some baby carrots and a fruit leather, here are the easy to follow directions for anyone who is interested in a really easy packed lunch:

1-Put peanut butter on BOTH sides of the bread (to prevent a jam soggy mess)--learned that one from Uncrustables
2-Put a little dollop of jam/jelly in the middle of one slice of bread & top with second slice.
3-This part is what I do because Becca likes the "UN" in Uncrustables. I get a nice big plastic cup that has a wide lip at the top and smash it on the sandwich (verses a thin-lipped cup that would cut the sandwich). Then I peel the crust away from the smashed edge and violla! I Have a sealed sandwich without any crust!

They freeze really well ( I just stick them in individual baggies and throw them back in the bread sack), and Becca likes them just as well as the "real thing."

The only sad thing is that I think that they cost about 5 cents a sandwich, which if I could find them at NPS every time would save me the hassle of actually Making them. But! You can't always have your uncrustable and eat it too, right?