Next week, many of you have children going back to school, if they haven’t already. There are a few very important things we do to prepare for this event. Clothes shopping is so fun this year because we moved back to Texas and there are NO MORE UNIFORMS! Woohoo!! Besides the back-to-school shopping, there are a few other things that I’ve had on my “list” that I’ve had to tackle and plan for.
First, if you have a daughter around the age of 10 like mine, you know how big of a deal a cute lunch bag (they were called lunch boxes back in my day) is to her. I don’t know why, but out of all years that it’s most important, we have had the HARDEST time trying to find something she loves. I feel like all I’m seeing are “Elsa”, unicorn, or character lunch bags. That doesn’t work for her, or for me! Our usual big stores have left us totally disappointed this year. After a couple weeks of looking and complaining and finding nothing, a couple of friends were on Facebook sharing their same dilemma. One had a solution for us and I’m soooo glad she did! She asked if we had heard of Pursebox. Nope, we had not. We visited PurseboxShop on Instagram and on their website and WOW! How adorable!!
This was the one! We’d found a lunch box that looked like a purse. Pursebox! Brooklyn and I were both squealing with excitement! Although pink is her favorite color, Brooklyn also loves aqua so she picked that one. I love the pink, aqua and blue colors that it comes in. Isn’t it just the cutest?! You can take your lunch back to school in style or take it to a friend’s house for a play date. Thank you, PurseboxShop!! You’ve solved all our “tween” problems….for now, ha!
Next item still left on the list….a “Back-To-School” dinner party! We love celebrating a new year to help get them excited about starting a new year with a new class, teacher, and friends. This is usually the week or weekend before. Just not the night before because we need to get to bed at a decent hour and get everything ready.
This year I kept it “simple”. Simple to me, at least. No balloons, no streamers or banners…just the food, a nice place setting and lovely floral arrangements. We had one of our favorite drinks, Strawberry-Kiwi no-calorie drink, rolls, a large fruit platter (forgot to take a pic…eek!) and a fabulous chicken pasta salad (see below). A friend reminded me that I had not pulled out my Kate Spade Flamingo Placemats all summer! {GASP!} And every girl knows, Kate Spade is not meant to be kept in a drawer so I pulled these babies out and decided they were just the way to start planning my tablescape.
I knew immediately that I wanted a lovely pineapple/floral centerpiece. There were no large pineapples at the grocery store, so I grabbed 4 mini pineapples for around $1 on sale and used them for my “end of summer/back-to-school floral arrangement”. I cut off the top, carved out the middle with a knife and spoon (takes just 2 minutes each pineapple, so it’s quick) and added a short, small glass cup. Then I grabbed some pink roses that matched the pink flamingo placemats, white hydrangeas, and some green filler for the middle. Easy peasy and very inexpensive. I placed each one at the head of each place setting.
Being the end of summer, it is still HOT here in Texas and I wanted something light but filling. My friend shared this fabulous Chicken Teriyaki Pasta Spinach Salad years ago and I’ve loved it ever since. You serve it cold but it is soooo tasty and hearty and everyone loves it. Here’s the recipe:
Ingredients:
1 lb raw baby spinach
1 lb. farfalle (bowtie) noodles
2-3 chicken breasts (or 2 cups rotisserie chicken)
2 cups honey-roasted peanuts
1 cup dried cranberries
1 small can water chestnuts, sliced and chopped
1 large can mandarin oranges (14 oz)
1/2 chopped sweet onion
3 TBSP finely chopped fresh parsley
Dressing:
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup vinegar (either rice, white or apple cider vinegar works)
3 TBSP brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Instructions:
Prepare dressing by combining all of the ingredients well.
Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain water and add noodles to a large bowl. Toss the cooked noodles in about half of the teriyaki sauce and refrigerate until cooled.
Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper and grill until cooked through. Shred chicken or cut into small pieces.
Combine the spinach, cooked chicken, peanuts, dried cranberries, sliced water chestnuts, mandarin oranges, parsley, and chopped onion in a large salad bowl. Add the pasta to the bowl and toss to combine. Add additional dressing, if desired.
For dessert, I wanted to keep it light still. I grabbed a sour cream angel food cake from my local grocer bakery. At home, I make homemade whipped cream and diced strawberries and folded them in. Then I smothered the cake with it AND even added another dollop of leftover strawberry whipped cream after slicing and serving each piece. The perfect summer treat! We enjoyed all the strawberries we picked the other day.
And third, our Back-To-School Breakfast on their first day of school is our other fun thing to plan! This day is important. I want them to eat but I know they are full of nerves and anticipation also. So, I get up and do something fun or special or just extra yummy so that they look forward to it. I haven’t decided exactly what I’m doing on Monday. Last year, the kids begged me not to do a big breakfast. They said they just wanted to do something like muffins and juice. So, I did this….(pardon the iPhone picture)…
And you know what? They absolutely LOVED it! Just taking a minute to display something in a special way can make all the difference in the world.
What are you doing for the 1st day of school or what traditions do you and your family have? Leave me a message and let me know. I’m curious as to what others do and love to be inspired by your ideas! Good luck, mamas! And good luck to your kiddos, too!
xoxo, Summer
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