Thursday, September 25, 2014

110 + Grub for the Hub -- Daddy & Me Lunch

Okay, so...sorry for the long title but I feel like this lunch is different than just the other lunches where I had Monkey's lunch and my Husband's lunch. This lunch I made them (roughly) the same thing. When I use the same ingredients I sorta like thinking of them as "Daddy & Me" lunches. I hope they highlight for you that you can really pack the same things for more than one person despite appetite size!


IN THESE LUNCHES:
  • Pizza Bagels -- Mini Bagel, tomato sauce, turkey pepperoni, olives, shredded cheddar
  • Mixed Greens Salad w/ Balsamic Dressing
  • Popcorn (First time using coconut oil to pop, it's pretty tasty)
  • HE got a Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Lara Bar and SHE got a handful of grape tomatoes. 
[These are packed in our Easy Lunchboxes]

One of the goals when packing lunches for me is to make sure that Monkey doesn't feel alienated from the other kids. I don't want her to be the weird kid who's mom packs her lunch (thank goodness there's like 4 other kids in her class this year that bring lunches). I don't want her to feel excluded from the goodies they get like Pizza or Popcorn. Her school has Popcorn Friday where you can pay .50 for a bag of popcorn. Well, sometimes I do this because it raises money for the school, but OTHER weeks I just pop my own and send it with her and she seems happy with it. She just wants to feel like she is like the other kids most of the time and this is a small way I can make her feel included. 

As a side note, she thinks Daddy getting packed lunches too is the coolest. :-P


Happy Packing! 


109 & Grub for the Hub

109


So folks are are getting down to the bottom of the barrel here as far as what we have for lunch fixins. I know it's something we all go through at the end of the month (especially those that only get paid once at the beginning of the month like we do). So, the lunches might start seeming a bit...hodge-podge. Luckily, Monkey isn't picky and will eat whatever is in the box. So, if the lunches start seeming a bit...odd or less cohesive, you'll know why. 


IN THIS LUNCH: 
  • Whole Wheat Crackers
  • Pepper Rings
  • Banana Chips
  • Peas
  • Shrimp
  • Cottage Cheese
  • Brownie with Peanut Butter Coconut Frosting (hers also had a couple chocolate chips, that's the bumps)
That's right today's special treat is some homemade brownies with my special icing. Let me tell you, it's soooo yummy! You can get the recipe by clicking the link above or the photo below! 

Grub for the Hub

So this is what REAL looks like. HAHA. I didn't get to finish his lunch until right before I went to bed last night and it was too dark to take a picture. Well, he leaves before the sun is up, so it was too dark THEN to take a picture. So I asked my husband to take a picture of it at work and send it to me. This is what it looked like. Of course when I packed it the kiwi were in a nice little line kept over by their lettuce separator....so here what it really looked like after he got it to work. :P



IN THIS LUNCH:
  • Tillamook Marionberry Yogurt w/ Almonds
  • Sliced Kiwi
  • String Cheese
  • Mini Bagel Sandwich -- Mayo, Swiss, and Pepperoni
  • Brownie with Peanut Butter Coconut Frosting.






Tuesday, September 23, 2014

108 & Grub for the Hub

108



Monkey has been very enthusiastic about her lunches lately and now that I am making lunches for Dad she's pretty interested in those too. The sad part, we're getting to the end of the month so we are starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel on lunch fixins. Usually I plan out lunches for the whole month, but this month with her birthday party well, things went a bit off course and I never got around to it! But, hopefully these lunches will be up to par.



IN THIS LUNCH: 
  • Apple Slices
  • Mini Ravioli (tomato sauce in green container)
  • Halved Tomatoes
  • Turkey Pepperoni
  • String Cheese (cut into rounds)
Initially, I wanted these to be skewers...but the string cheeses weren't cooperating! So I gave up and she got all the pieces I had ready for the skewers. Hooray for lunch fails! 

Grub for the Hub

So my bento blog friends all helped me come up with this segment name and my husband liked it too, so all the posts with lunches for my husband will have the Grub for the Hub title. :) I hope this will make finding them easier when you search. 


IN THIS LUNCH:
  • Garlic Hummas
  • Carrots & Pepper Strips
  • Parmesan Cous Cous
  • Chicken Tenderloins
Color wise this lunch IS a bit drab, but it's full of flavor and I think he'll enjoy it. He LOVES chicken so that's always an easy go to when thinking about what to cook for him. 

Happy Packing!


Monday, September 22, 2014

106, 107, & Grub for the Hub!

Okay so this morning was definitely feeling like a Monday! This meant I would have rather been sleeping than getting up to face the day. Which also means that I wasn't feeling too inspired to make lunch. Who hasn't had that morning? With that in mind I needed something simple, fast, and no busting out bento tools! Here's what I came up with.


Definitely not the belle of the ball but it'll hit the spot for lunch! 

IN THIS LUNCH:
  • Meat and Cheese Rolls ups (No tools today so I used a pretzel to skewer!)
  • Pretzel Rods
  • Tomatoes
  • Peppers
  • Apple Sauce w/ Cinnamon 
There you have it! Lunch number 106 is a no muss and no fuss sort of deal. 

------

After I after I had a chance to wake up and got home from dropping Monkey off at school I was feeling....a tad inspired! So I decided to make lunch for tomorrow. This of course has something new added to it. My husband got a new job and will be needing me to pack his lunches too! I'm really excited about this and look forward to sharing the journey of packing lunches for both of them with you!! 

Here's what we got for our lunches tomorrow! 


So, for packing both their lunches I wanted to make this as streamlined as possible! So, I used most of the same ingredients to pack both with a few unique twists for each of them. 


Daddy's Lunch [On the Left]: 

  • 1/2 Sandwich -- Garden Vegetable Cream Cheese, Turkey Pepperoni, Sliced Turkey, and Swiss. 
  • Salad -- Mixed baby greens, pepper rings, and feta [As my husband says, "Feta makes it bettah!"] w/ Balsamic Vinaigrette. 
  • Pretzel Rods
  • Banana Bread Larabar 
  • I packed the other half of his sandwich in a plastic baggy on the side for his break. 
Monkey's Lunch [On the Right]: 
  • Pinwheels [Swiss Laughing Cow, Mixed Baby Greens, Pepper Rings, Turkey Pepperoni, and Sliced Turkey lunch meat]. 
  • Scooby Snacks Graham Crackers
  • Celery with Garden Veggie Cream Cheese
  • Pear halves with cinnamon
Essentially, I took Daddy's salad and sandwich and put it in a wrap for Monkey! Then with the leftover pears, I pulsed them in the baby bullet a few times and made chunky pear sauce [Like applesauce] and gave the baby half for lunch and the other half is saved in the fridge.

Happy Packing! 

Thursday, September 18, 2014

105 -- Breakfast-ish?

So this morning was one off those ''Oh geez, I gotta pack a lunch" days. So, hopefully you can all relate to that feeling when you look around your kitchen hopelessly and just start grabbing things and hoping for the best. This is one of those lunches! Hope you enjoy!



IN THIS LUNCH: 

Two hard boiled eggs
Sweet Pepper Strips w/ Hummas (in blue container) 
Babybel 
Mandarin Orange Segments
Cinnamon Streussel Muffin

Happy Packing!!

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

ROUND UP 9/10-9/17

I'm a bit behind on my blog so if you aren't following on Facebook then you haven't been getting the latest lunches. On the up side, now you get six lunches all in one round up! Plus we get to celebrate my 100th lunch together!

99 -- Happy Caterpillar Pancakes


IN THIS LUNCH:

Six Mini Pancakes (w/ syrup)
Applesauce
Banana Chips
Almond Slices
Tillamoo





100 -- Beary Good Lunch




IN THIS LUNCH:

Peanut Butter & Jelly Bear Sandwich
Bear Shaped Cheese
Kiwi
Pepper Slices & Halved Tomatoes
Clif Kids Z bar -- Chocolate Brownie






I got the fantastic idea for this bear from a lunch packing group I'm in on Facebook called Eats Amazing Lunch Packing Community. If you looking for more lunches and great ideas it's a good place for you to check out!

So I got the idea for this bear there. You take your egg mold (in this case the bear) and smoosh your babybel cheese into it. I never thought of that and it works really well! Here's a close up so you can see the details. :)


101 -- Supreme Salad








IN THIS LUNCH:

Mixed Greens Salad with Celery, Carrots, Tomatoes, Feta, Shrimp, Pepper Rings, and with Balsamic Vinaigrette.

Halved Grapes

Pistachio Pudding







102 -- Super Star






IN THIS LUCH:

Fairy Bread Sandwich (Peanut Butter & Jelly)
Kiwi Slices
Cheddar Stars

Ever wonder what "Fairy Bread" is?

It's just the fun name that was given to the sandwiches with a window cut out and filled with sprinkles, like this sandwich is!








103 -- Tuna Twist




I always make Monkey's Tuna the same way. With Mayo and celery and grated carrot. Today I decided to try something a little different.

IN THIS LUNCH:

Tuna w/ mashed Avocado and lemon juice
Whole Wheat Crackers
Celery Sticks
String Cheese Rounds
Grapes
Iced Oatmeal Cookie Kids Z Bar









And for today's lunch!!

104 -- Sandwich Skewers




IN THIS LUNCH: 

Sandwich Skewers -- Sourdough Bread, Mayo, Sliced Turkey, Turkey Pepperoni, and Mozzarella Cheese

Mixed Greens Salad w/ Balsamic Dressing

Tomatoes

Fruit Parfait -- Layers of Kiwi, Whipped Cream, Grapes, Sliced Almonds, and the top is Graham Cracker Crumbs. 

-- Monkey had a lot of fun getting to crunch up the Graham Crackers and top the Parfait herself! -- 

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

.098

I know that there are many of us that hear the same thing when we go down the refrigerated aisle at the grocery store, "Mom, can I have a Lunchable?". They have done some fantastic marketing over the years where even kids that have had barely any (like Monkey) still ask for them. Everytime Monkey sees one, she asks. She knows the answer will be no and she's only had maybe 6 in her lifetime. Since I know many lunchboxes in her cafeteria have a Lunchable, I like to make sure that Monkey gets to feel on the 'in'. So today's lunch is a Pizza "Lunchable".


IN THIS LUNCH:
  • Pita Flatbread Triangles (4 triangles = 1/2 Pita)
  • Tomato Sauce
  • Turkey Pepperoni
  • Shredded Cheese
  • Olives
  • Sliced Kiwi
  • Flavored Water (not pictured)
Do your kids like Lunchables? Is is something you buy for them or that you prefer to make? 

Happy Packing!


Monday, September 8, 2014

.097 -- New Bento Toys!

So after Monkey's My Little Pony Party yesterday, decided to check the mail. I was super excited when my husband brought everything in and my bento order had arrived! So I decided to skip my original lunch plan for something that I could use my new tools on.


IN THIS LUNCH:

  • PB&J "Sushi" (Got this idea from my friend Beau over @ Lunchbox Dad. Check out his post including a how to HERE)
  • Sweet pepper slices
  • Grapes
  • 2 slices of Mozzarella cheese
  • Chocolate Almond Milk
I always like finding new ways of presenting food and the sandwich roll ups will be a fun lunch addition for Monkey. I think I might try it with meat & cheese sandwiches too and see how that goes.

Happy Packing!

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Monkey's 7th Birthday -- My Little Pony

It's hard to believe that my baby is seven already! It seems like she was just a tiny baby not that long ago and now she's a big first grader and turning 7. I always through growing up that adults were being dramatic about how quickly we were growing up, on the other end now, I get it. Time passes by so quickly and you never get it back.



This year Monkey asked for a My Little Pony party. It is one of her all time favorite things and she is constantly dragging out the bin of ponies to play with! It's one of the few things she hasn't grown tired of. So, when she picked out that party theme I was happy. I knew she'd stick with it and that I would have plenty of material to work with. First stop was food!

First on the menu was Pegasus Poop Cookies (if you've seen unicorn poop recipes it's the same). They took a bit more time than I usually like devoting to projects because I don't consider myself particularly crafty. However, I LOVE how they came out. I got the recipe HERE. The neon package of dye I had only came with four colors so we did that. It was really concerned it was too dark but once I got the luster dust on there, it looked great. I'll warn you the link I gave to where I got the recipe uses "Disco Dust" yes you can buy that at cake supply stores but from everything I have read it's intended to be for crafts and showpieces. Disco dust on the label says for craft projects whereas luster dust says FDA Edible. So I'd just be mindful of that if you decide to make it and not use Disco Dust. Here is my final product!


And of course because we were going to be having this party at a park they were going to need a container. I opted for my tried and true Ziploc and printed off a label for the box. 


Everyone was nervous to try the cookies but after the first person who took one (and declared they were yummy!) then the others followed suit. Afterwards though you end up with pretty glittery fingers which people were calling the ''mark of shame'' for eating poo. LOL. Glad my bunch had a sense of humor about it all. In case you were curious, here's what the inside looks like. Also as to the recipe I added 1 1/2 tsp of orange oil to the recipe link above (instead of lemon or vanilla that it calls for).


This year I decided to print labels for napkin rings and water bottles (it was supposed to get up into the 90's!) 


Both say "Happy 7th Birthday" and then her name at the bottom. I used the same rings for both, I just cut down the arms on them for the napkins. 

Just in case there were people that weren't brave enough to try out the Pegasus Poop we went ahead and brought Hay Bales which were Rice Krispies treats. They were kept in a Ziploc box just like the cookies were. 


I found a large image of Sunny Apple Acres the family farm of Apple Jack (a primary character) and simply used the paint program to add the text, and print! I tried to round the edges so that it would fit the top of the Ziploc container.


Here is a close-up of our Veggie Tray sign. 


To accompany Fluttershy's Critter Food we also had to bring in Rarity's Fashionista Fruit!


Here's what the rest of the food half (the other half was for presents) looked like. 


And our two tables we showed up before 9 am to stake out before the other people got there! 


Each table had a My Little Pony table cloth, balloons, and it's own pink box which had an Apple Pie inside. This year my daughter decided to forgo the traditional cake for a apple pies. I totally appreciate the commitment to theme since Apple Jack is known for making apple pies! Each box got it's own label that says, "Apple Jack's Apple Pie". I didn't get a good shot at the party, but I'll include what I printed. 


Aside from the water you already saw we had a couple drink options. One was a jug of lemon tea and then there was Pinkie Pie's Party Punch. The lighting in this picture makes the punch look orange but it was in fact very very pink! We used Pink Lemonade concentrate (one reconstituted with water, one not) and most of a 2 liter of lemon lime soda. We used my Sun Tea jar to help keep the bees and other undesirables away.


At the end of it all Monkey had a fantastic time! Her grandparents brought her to the party so she got to see everything once it was already set up and she was soooo excited! She flitted around noticing all the little details and thought the labels on the water and napkins were super cool. And of course, she made out like a bandit in the gifts!



I know I don't usually post about my parties but I hope that you enjoyed getting to see Monkey's 7th birthday! I really enjoy planning kids themed parties and making Monkey happy (especially on her birthday). 


Happy Partying!

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Happy Birthday Monkey!

Okay, well Monkey's birthday is not until this Saturday but it seemed only fair to give her a special lunch for her Friday lunch to celebrate anyway. This year my little Monkey is turning 7 and I can't believe how much time has passed already! So tomorrow when she wakes up she'll be surprised with a new My Little Pony hooded sweatshirt and this lunch to take with her to school. I hope she'll love it.


IN THIS LUNCH: 

  • Popcorn Chicken
  • BBQ Sauce (In our purple Sistema to go) 
  • Cucumber slices
  • Cottage Cheese w/ Pepper
  • And a mini lemonade cupcake with sprinkles. 
Do your kids have to go to school on their birthdays? If they do how do you make it special for them? :) 

Happy Packing!

.095

Monkey has been enjoying her first week back at school and I'm finding the quiet extremely odd! I'm glad she is reconnecting with friends and getting back on a schedule. Today for lunch I wanted to offer her some of her favorite foods



IN THIS LUNCH

  • Pretzel Thins
  • Rolled Turkey Lunch Meat
  • Baby Carrots
  • Tomato Slices
  • Mozzarella Slices
  • Watermelon Chunks
What are your kids favorite foods?

Happy Packing!

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

.094

Second day of school and Monkey was thrilled to get some watermelon! I personally don't buy a lot of melon because I hate cutting it up, just feels like such drudgery for me and I refuse to pay the crazy price for the precut stuff. Luckily, they had a few halves lying around at the store the other day and that felt much less daunting than a full melon. So, here is our day two lunch!

Like yesterday I tried to go along with the idea of what the school was having so we had our own breakfast lunch.


IN THIS LUNCH: 
  • Watermelon
  • Hard Boiled Egg (with pepper)
  • Peach Yogurt (topped with a banana chip)
  • Graham Crackers
  • Dark Chocolate Almond Milk
Some people may be put off by the lack of meat in this meal but I assure you with the egg and yogurt she's is making up for the ''lack of meat''. So a simple vegetarian option or a simple breakfast lunch if you kids like those! 

Happy Packing. 


Monday, September 1, 2014

New School Year!! 2014-2015

It's that time. The time when we all scurry to the office supply store and stock up on pencils, paper, fat line markers, and watercolors. As of now, Monkey is tucked into bed, all of her school items labeled with her name, her outfit for tomorrow all stacked together, and her lunch is put together and waiting in the fridge to be lovingly tucked in her lunchbox in the morning.

At which point I'll probably still be in my pajamas, hair not brushed, with a squirmy baby on my hip and a caffeinated beverage in my hand not certain if I remembered to actually put an ice pack in the box with her lunch or not. Those perfectly polished moms hopping out of their mini vans and SUVs that will undoubtedly give me the evil eye can stuff it! I'll just be happy my darn shoes match (this is a problem that happens more often than I'd like to admit).

I don't know about you but with each coming school year I start worrying over what I'm going to be packing for Monkey! This will be my third year packing her lunch and we both really enjoy it. I also get the satisfaction of knowing what she's eating and she gets the satisfaction of bragging (she tells me she does this often. I should discourage it, but I just can't bring myself to haha).

This year I decided to use the school menu for inspiration! Yes, I love Pinterest and Facebook but I also know that Monkey wants to be like her friends. The older she gets the more this will probably become my reality. So, I sat down with the school lunch calender with pen in hand and went to work circling the items that I figured I could make myself. Her first day of school lunch could have been the pencil shaped sandwich I was planning to commemorate her first day of first grade, but it's not.

According to the school calender the kids will be having Teriyaki Chicken and Brown Rice. Well, from what I remember of school food, it'll be Chicken-like product and moist cardboard. But, I know that sometimes, a similar lunch just makes Monkey feel like she's like everyone else. So, I obliged. To make life easy on myself we had Rice Bowls for dinner and I just made a little extra so we could put her lunch into her box while we plated dinner.

LUNCH PACKING TIP: Anytime you can just make extra dinner and put a portion in the box while plating, do this! It saves time and effort and works out really well most of the time!


IN THIS LUNCH
  • Rice Balls
  • Veggie Mix - Peas, Carrots, and Zucchini (Monkey suggested we add bell peppers in the future). 
  • Teriyaki Chicken
  • Pineapple Chunks
  • Chocolate Almond Milk (not pictured)
So tomorrow for school this is what my almost seven year old will be having for lunch. She doesn't know it yet, but her father and I are sneaking a brownie into her lunch too as a first day of school surprise! :) 

What are you all packing? 

Happy Packing!