Hot Lunch for a Chilly Day

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So we are up for another warm lunch. I think that I am a big fan of packing warm lunches but there is one thing that I didn't take into consideration when I started planning hot lunches. The sides that I serve with them have to be things that don't need to be kept cold. While I've seen a tutorial on how to pack both in one box, I don't have the same kind of box they have so if I pack a hot lunch, I have to have sides that can be warm too. So far not a problem but I think this could lead to repetitive sides down the road. 

IN THIS LUNCH: 

• Annie's Organic Macaroni & Cheese w/ leftover ham (cut into chunks), and some peas. 
• Apple Sauce with Cinnamon 
• Juice Pouch

I L-O-V-E cinnamon. It smells fantastic, it brings memories of holiday foods, and it's a natural way to help prevent spiked in blood sugar. I love that about it. It's a fantastic spice and I have always been a fan of warm applesauce with cinnamon. Our Mac N Cheese is packed in our Funtainer and the applesauce is in our Nude Food Mover. The sad thing, Monkey said that this lunch wasn't very warm when she got it at lunch in spite of  the fact that I had preheated the container with boiling water and that I had just made the food in the morning and heated it till it was steaming piping hot before putting it in the container. Blegh. Oh well. Maybe I didn't preheat with water long enough. 

Chili On A Hot Day

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So we were excited to bust out our Thermos Funtainer today. Monkey said her lunch was still warm when she opened it at lunch and that it was DELICIOUS. This lunch was actually kept from leftovers. I like to use leftovers whenever I can! 

We had chili Tuesday night for dinner and set aside a portion for Monkey for lunch Thursday. Some might pack it right away on Wednesday, but me personally, I don't like eating the same thing all the time. If I am going to eat leftovers I like to wait a couple days before I revisit them! 

IN THIS LUNCH:

• Homemade Leftover Chili w/ Cheese on top
• Grape Skewers
• Cornbread muffin
• Vanilla Milk

I had monkey help me skewer the grapes, something that she was super excited to do! She loves helping make her lunches whenever possible and so this was an opportunity for her to do that. The skewers I actually got a huge pack of from the Dollar Tree and they work fantastically! Love em. 

Here is the lunch inside the box. I like to incorporate these pictures because sometimes I see people's fantastic pictures and just wonder to myself how it all fits in the box, or what it looks like in the box, etc.. So I like including pictures of her lunches in the box. I don't know if anyone else wonders these things, but my brain works in mysterious ways sometimes! 

I'm still working on the entry for a Dairy Free/Gluten Free week of lunches! I am very excited about that! I also have made my first shot at Jungle Juice. I wasn't a fan but Monkey said it was good. I think I will keep trying until it's something we can all handle! 

What are some of your favorite ''leftover'' lunches?

As luck would have it...because this week has a Friday the 13th one of my favorite blogs ''Becoming a Bentoholic'' is doing their usual Friday link-up party on Thursday instead! So while I was bummed I wasn't going to get to participate before, I get to now!

Happy Packing! 

New Tools & Goodies

So, yesterday my Monkey had her 6th birthday! I can't believe it. While we're gearing up for tomorrow's birthday party I have also be ''gearing up'' for lunch packing which starts Monday! I have been very blessed to have a wonder fiance that indulges my lunch habits so some of these were gifts from him! I'm excited to share with all of you the new 'swag' (that's the word the kids are using these days right? Lol).

Of this picture I won't lie I am most excited about the Gourmet Writer markers! I have been wanting them for about a year now and I am stoked to be able to make little faces and doodles on her food safely! Before I was limited to oranges and bananas (anything she'd be peeling the skin off). The large carrot is also neat. It has an opening for carrots as well as a top that will store dip! The top three items were Dollar Tree finds! I love my Dollar Tree. While Monkey's birthday was Friday she wanted to get to experience a birthday school lunch so I picked up the cupcake liners/pick combo pack for just a buck. I find LOADS of great themed items there. Next to it is a lunch punch that removes the crust and will seal the sandwich into a little pocket like those ''Uncrustables'' sandwiches the school's serve. Only we can feel good about using better for our children ingredients! Nothing questionable here.

We also got our long awaited Funtainers. I'll be honest the cost is what held me back last year. At $15 a pop I wasn't ready to make that kind of commitment. I bought cheaper alternatives. The food one broke and the cup leaked. I wasn't pleased. It would probably have just been easier to just shell out the money for the more durable containers. I've heard nothing but great things from other bloggers that use them so we bit the bullet. The awesome part, the drink container we were able to get for about $9 since it was on clearance at Target when we went now that their major back to school sales are over! If you can't tell my Monkey is a HUGE Hello Kitty fan (that party I mentioned tomorrow, Hello Kitty themed).

Okay, Hello Kitty popped her head in for another picture! I couldn't decide how I wanted to format them. Anyway, here you can see the large stack of our Lunch Blox containers that I am super stoked to try out for the school year! They come with a variety of sizes and the salad container came with a divider that fits into the other containers which is awesome! I enjoy the colors and the fact the containers have fitted ice packs that came with them (not pictured because they're in my freezer)! On top of Hello Kitty Funtainer is hard to see but there is a clear little cup w/ lid. While I was at the party store I stumbled across the ''jello shooter'' containers. I thought they were the perfect size (about 2 oz) to put in with the lunches to section off crackers, dip, or anything else I really want! They also fit (with lid) inside the Lunch Blox containers, which is a win/win for me!

Last but not least are the monkey themed napkins from the Dollar Tree (told you I love them). Again I haven't invested in cloth napkins. I'm sure people have noticed that I am not totally waste free in my lunch packing everyday, but I aim to be eventually. I just have to slowly make my investments over time because of a tiny budget! Something I am sure many mom's can relate to.

What are your new lunch packing items that you're excited to get to use? If nothing new, do you have a favorite lunch packing item already? What do you like about it?

Happy Packing!