109 & Grub for the Hub

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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.

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! 

Sneaky Lil' thing

So a while back during a Roald Dahl blog hop by the Bento Bloggers & Friends there was a fantastic lunch posted by Organized Bites for The Witches (one of my favorite Roald Dahl pieces) and I fell in love with this cute little kiwi mouse she made. I thought it was totally clever and I decided to try my hand at making my own little kiwi friend today. It's not as good as hers but both Monkey and I still really enjoyed it. Please do check out her post HERE.

But, here's my lunch. :)

IN THIS LUNCH: 

• Leftover chicken from last night's dinner
• Grape Tomatoes
• Kiwi
• Popcorn
• String Cheese
• Chocolate Almond Milk (not pictured) 

Happy Packing!! 

March 31 - April 4: Round Up

Life certainly has gotten hectic lately! We've begun homeschooling and have added a new baby to the family which has been keeping us all busy and tired! However the lunches must go on. It is one of the things I truly enjoy doing and gives me something to look forward to. If you'd like to see the lunches daily, make sure to like us on Facebook. You can catch the weekly lunch round ups here :)

3/31

IN THIS LUNCH: 

Leftover Enchiladas

Corn on the Cob

Orange

2 Fig Cookies

4/1

IN THIS LUNCH:

Salad w/ Catalina Dressing

Annie's Organic Mac n Cheese

Shrimp

Blueberries

4/2

IN THIS LUNCH:

Chicken Nuggets w/ BBQ Sauce

Cottage Cheese

Orange

Banana

Hello Panda Cookies

4/3

IN THIS LUNCH:

French Bread Sandwich

Leftover Peas

Frozen Raspberries (from last summer)

Strawberries

4/4

IN THIS LUNCH:

Seafood Salad (was on a fantastic sale) w/ Crackers

Lima Beans

Blueberries

Orange

Cheddar Cheese

Happy Packing!

2014 -- 028

Happy Valentine's Day! I will be totally honest I did think about what kind of lunch to make for several days. I thought about all the cute hearts, x's, o's, envelopes, conversation hearts, roses, and anything else I could pin to this holiday. I came up with some ideas but truly just couldn't figure out how to make them happen (that happens a lot, I get grand visions and lack the tools or skills to create them LOL). So, instead Monkey got a lunch made with lots of love that really isn't all that festive. I think she's still going to really enjoy it though. 

IN THIS LUNCH: 

• Bagel sandwich with cream cheese and blackberry jam,
• Brussels Sprouts (leftover from dinner) sprinkled with dried cranberries (there are some throughout, promise it's not just 5 little cranberries!), 
• Almonds mixed with white chocolate chips for a treat, 
• An orange and;
• A juice box. 

Luckily, thanks to pinterest and other fantastic bloggers I will get to oogle all the creative and cute lunches that I didn't make and will wish I had thought of myself! Are you packing your kiddos any fun treats for the v-day lunches? 

Happy Packing! 

2014 -- 012

Something Old, Something New

So my husband brought home this really fantastic fresh baked hoagie rolls for our pulled chicken sandwiches. They were so fantastic that I was willing to break with my normal wait two days to pack leftovers rule. We did chicken with BBQ sauce, cooked onions, and bacon all mixed up together. Healthy, no...magic on a hoagie roll? Yes. Tonight was a bit of a indulgence night, which in my opinion is just a good thing for life.

So I took the other half of Monkey's roll and filled it with some leftovers and got that baby in the box! She was enjoying dinner so much I couldn't imagine that she wouldn't like having it again for lunch. In addition to this I snagged her a couple of the crispier leftover fries (she specifically asked if she could have some in her lunch) and tossed them in as well. She wanted Brussels sprouts, but we polished them off at dinner (they never last around here). 

The third aspect of our lunch today was inspired by something I have been really crushing on that I've seen online, the Grape Parfait Crunch by MOMables. The recipe I saw took vanilla yogurt, two types of grapes, and granola. Looked delicious and I wanted to make it. Come to find out, I had no yogurt and one kind of grape...and no granola. I could have made some myself but after a long day dealing with my broke down car I just wasn't feeling that. So I went with what I had! 

This grape parfait has red grapes, a dollop of whipped cream (I put a little too much, but she won't mind :P), dried cranberries for a little tartness, and slivered almonds on top for the ''crunch'' aspect. This will be her dessert and calorie wise whipped cream is one of those lesser evils in my book. So, just to recap...

IN THIS LUNCH: 

• Leftover Pulled Chicken Sandwich
• A few leftover crispy curly fries
• My version of a grape parfait crunch
• Organic Milk (not pictured)

Happy Packing!! 

2014 -- .002

In This Lunch: 

• Turkey Meatballs
• Peas and Carrots
• Applesauce w/ Cinnamon
• Annie's Cheddar Bunnies
• 100% Juice Box

So yesterday was a shopping day and we found that when we filled the freezer there wasn't any room left for a small package of turkey meatballs. So decided to change the lunch plan for today and cooked them up. The peas and carrots were actually leftovers and then the applesauce and cheddar bunnies were part of the original lunch plan. I really enjoy using leftovers whenever possible but find that Monkey isn't always thrilled with eating traditionally warm foods cold but luckily she's not SO picky that she'd refuse. 

Happy Packing!

Bottom of the barrel

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Okay, so I don't know about you, but I don't get to go grocery shopping till this weekend. That means figuring out what I have left, figuring out what's about to spoil, and making the most of what I have left! Today's lunch does just that! 

IN THIS LUNCH: 

• Mini bagel Sandwich w/ cream cheese and pepperoni [not much cream cheese left so wanted to use it up! There's still a few mini bagels but gotta get them used before they mold, and the little pepperoni slices will be dating in about a week or so]. 
• Strawberries [actually JUST broke down and bought these yesterday and already they're squishing]
• Organic Vanilla Yogurt w/ Fall Sprinkles [The yogurt will be dating in a few days]
• 2 pickles [Monkey just wanted some pickles]
• 100% Juice Pouch [not pictured] 

How do lunches workout for you when you're ''getting to the bottom of the barrel''? Do they live up to the normal lunch standards or do they get a bit like this one? Haha, it's still a great lunch full of flavor and good stuff, but it's definitely not as well planned out as my normal lunches. 

Happy Packing!

Last September Lunch

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So, it's the end of the month and we are getting to the ''cabinet creative'' time of month I like to call it. We all go through it I think. When you're at the bottom of the month's groceries and you're suddenly a culinary MacGyver. Tonight we had noodles, leftover frozen turkey meatballs, and cream of mushroom soup. It looked a lot like stroganoff but tasted nothing like it haha. Monday lunch is just as MacGyvered as dinner was, but a little food time creativity will be continuing on till we go grocery shopping again on the 6th. :-P

IN THIS LUNCH: 

• Sunflower Butter/Apple Butter Bagel Sandwich
• Organic Apple Slices
• Babybel Cheese
• Raisin/Almond 'trail' mix. 
• Organic Vanilla Milk (not pictured). 

She was still up when I made this one and she was pretty excited about it! There was a few apple slices leftover and some more raisin/almond mix so I decided since tomorrow I would be heading to class I'd salvage these leftovers from her lunch and make my own little snack for class (no one likes a grumpy hungry preggo!)

IN THIS MOMMY MUNCHABLE:

• Leftover Apple Slices from Monkey's Lunch
• Raisin/Almond 'trail' mix. 
• Medium Cheddar pieces
• Popcorn and;
• A tiny bag of mini gummy bears

I was actually looking forward to my snack tomorrow! I even washed my metal reusable water bottle, got it filled, and chilling in the fridge. I have been very bad about eating so far this pregnancy. I mostly snack and even that isn't very often...I blame my sensitive nose and the nausea but this snack looks appetizing even to me! I'm looking forward to eating it. 

This lunch will also be part of the Meatless Monday link-up party. Make sure to check out all the fantastic lunches. :) 

Happy Packing!

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. 

Look, Grab, Pack

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So I'm calling today's lunch, ''Look, grab, pack'' because I didn't pack it last night! I got tired, went to bed, and this morning remembered that I didn't pack a lunch for Monkey! Instead of throwing in the towel and letting her have school lunch today (who know's what they're having and what kind of gunk it's made with) I did a ''look, grab, pack''. So simply, you look at what you got in the fridge, try to cover all your food groups, and run with it. No pre-plan (the pre-planned lunch I didn't feel like making). So here is what Monkey got today!

IN THIS LUNCH:

• Fruit: Cut Apples, Sunburst Tomatoes
• Dairy: Vanilla Yogurt (also protein) w/ fall sprinkles, String Cheese (also has protein), Milk (not pictured)
• Veggies: Baby Corn
• Grain: Butterfly Crackers
• Protein: Sunflower Butter (not pictured for dipping apples and crackers). 

As I started I was thinking about fall and how I am a bit sad to see summer go. So accidentally, we've got a goodbye summer (the single purple butterfly silicon cup) and hello fall (all the colors and the sprinkles). The sprinkles by the way are green, orange, and have little brown pumpkins which I picked up in my Target's dollar area! I think in general we covered all our bases and it's a lunch that should come home empty.

Don't forget to check out ''What's for Lunch Wednesday" to see a bunch of fantastic lunches!

Have you ever made a look, grab, pack lunch? What was it? :) 

Happy Packing!

Leftovers!

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So for today's lunch I decided to use a new container! This little beauty I picked up at the Dollar Tree and is intended to be used for things with dip. Well, me...I think I could put anything I want in the ''dip'' container. So I did! I put her dessert in there! I'm also thinking it would fit a mini muffin, yogurt, cottage cheese, applesauce, dips of any type, maybe a hard boiled egg, etc... I think it's a great little container!

IN THIS LUNCH: 

• Rice cooked in chicken broth w/ carrots and peas
• Garlic and herb roasted pork loin 
• Mixed berries [defrosted] including: raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries
• Dessert: 6 Hello Panda Biscuit Cookies.
• Strawberry Honey Kefir [not pictured]

Shockingly this was actually last night's dinner but Monkey said she wouldn't mind having it again for lunch today. Usually she's not a fan of leftovers so soon (neither am I) but she was totally on board with this (so it must have been good!). 

Just wanted to include this so you could see that the dip section has it's own little lid to keep it separated from the other foods. After I put the top lid on I used a hair tie to wrap around it. I wasn't sure if it would open in her box or not, so I just wanted to be safe! 

Shaken Salad

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So, initially I had a whole other salad in mind. But since I was mysteriously missing a couple items and forgot to cook the chicken for it, I decided to run with something else! While my Monkey will eat salad I don't like to push it, I know she can get sick of them quickly if I make too many. However I like their versatility. 

IN THIS LUNCH: 

• Salad: Mixed Baby Greens, Peas, Cucumbers, Turkey ribbons.
• Sunburst Tomatoes
• Pineapple Skewers
• Babybel Cheese
• Not Pictured: Side of Ranch and Capri Sun 100% Juice Pouch

With this salad I simply took a container and put in a handful of mixed baby greens, cut up cucumbers, cut some turkey lunch meat ribbons (by rolling up the lunch meat and cutting across) and tossed in the leftover peas from dinner. Put on the lid and gave it a shake! I personally hate when all my salad mix-ins are on the top and by the time you get to the middle there's nothing left but lettuce. 

I know that Monkey will be a bit bummed that we were all out of her favorite dressing, Catalina. However, I know that she'll eat ranch and we threw a cute little sticker of a bunny on top of her dressing cup. She won't get it, but it was a joke at the fact most people call this sort of lunch ''rabbit food''. On the side is her napkin with her fork wrapped inside. 

This post is also park of the ''What's for Lunch Wednesday'' link up. Feel free to check out the other awesome lunches by clicking the button! 

What kind of salads do your kids like to eat? :)

Happy Packing!

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!