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!

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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!

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!

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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!

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!! 

A little slow

So, today I was again feeling in the lunchy mood so I decided to try out a new cutter on the sandwich my daughter requested. I also decided to bust out a veggie that she keeps insisting she now likes, though she hated it before. Will we end up with an empty box or will it still have that veggie that I am skeptical at best she's liking now?

IN THIS LUNCH:

• Snail Sammy - Sunflower butter and Jelly
• Broccoli
• Blueberries
• Cottage Cheese with Pepper
• Flavored water

Well, I am pleased as punch to report that it was an empty box! She ate the broccoli with no comment other than it was clever that I used it as grass. Hey, who doesn't like appreciation? What are you all having? 

Happy Packing!

April 7th -- A New Bento Box

So maybe it's dorky but I was super excited to put this together. I found a fantastic new bento box at Target and let us just say, it's got me lunch inspired! Been dying to use it for a few days and here is what we've got.

UPPER LEVEL: One clementine, some grapes, two strawberries, string cheese, and pretzels.

LOWER LEVEL: Meat/lettuce roll ups, mixed greens salad with almonds, dried cranberries, and catalina dressing with tomato hearts.

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 -- 030

A Bear-y Good Lunch!

So this lunch was a completely happy accident that I am really in love with! I asked my husband to put on an egg to boil for me this morning and next thing I know he asks if he could try to use the bear mold on it. I have had nothing but trouble with those molds but decided, what they hey, let's go for it! I think he did a pretty good job getting that little bear mold to work (better than any of my attempts!) and from there we decided we wanted a bear lunch! 

IN THIS LUNCH: 

• Bear Shaped Sunflower Butter and Jelly Sandwich
• Bear Shaped Hardboiled Egg
• Carrots
• StrawBEARies. :P 
• Yogurt Parfait (Greek yogurt, cut grapes, slivered almonds, and some sprinkles!).

I'm not sure why but this lunch just makes me sort of happy. Not sure if it's the shapes or the colors, but I really ended up loving this one! I guess I owe my hubby a thanks for wanting to use that egg mold! :) 

Happy Packing! 

2014 -- 029

Feeling Green

Literally, last night I woke up feeling really ill. I really hope that little miss hasn't decided to bring morning sickness back in the last few weeks of her gestation! Subsequently, I overslept a little...which also means, lunch got a bit thrown together. Today I was really gravitating towards green items and fruit. I had several times I would pick up something to include and went, ''no not another fruit!" and would put it back. She almost had about 5 different fruits in her lunch today (not counting her drink). Also, I apologize for the terrible glare and picture quality. It was a one snap on the kitchen table sort of day!

IN THIS LUNCH: 

• Hello Kitty Thermos is filled with a Mango Fruit Smoothie, 
• Cottage Cheese w/ Pepper, 
• Pretzels, 
• Almonds, 
• Cucumbers, 
• String Cheese and;
• Kiwi

So this is one of those ''look, grab, pack'' lunches! It is featuring my new triangle silicon cups which I got for Valentine's Day. Oh yes, my hubby knows me. BENTO SUPPLIES! Loving them. Monkey has also been asking for a smoothie for quite some time and I never get around to it. Partially because I don't like taking the time to make smoothies and also because the thermos takes up so much of the box! She will be pleasantly surprised though! 

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 -- 025

Just Another Snow Day

Well, we've now been stuck at home for 5 days with the snow and ice. I personally don't mind it much but Monkey seems to be getting bored with it! Hopefully things will thaw out enough for school tomorrow! But, just because there wasn't any school doesn't mean we aren't having lunch. Here's what I put together (and would have sent) for lunch. 

IN THIS LUNCH:

• Turkey/Swiss Meat Rollups (2 pieces of lunch meat, 1 piece of cheese halved)
• Cucumber Slices (about 1/4 cucumber)
• Cranberry Sauce (about 3 tbsp)
• Handful of Pretzels
• 1 kiwi
• 1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard

We also had a great dinner tonight of Cheese Tortellini Soup. It was warm, rich, creamy, and very filling. The recipe is available HERE (or in our recipe section) and you can also PIN IT for later. 

Happy Packing!! 

2014 -- 016

A Laptop Munchable

So, I got my Laptop Lunchbox a while ago and I haven't used it nearly enough! I love the versatility but knew that my daughter struggled to open the outer containers as well as the inner containers. When I realized that this Monday was a teacher in-service day, initially I was a bit bummed. Not because I wanted to usher my child off to school, but because I wouldn't be needing to pack a lunch! Then it hit me that it would be the perfect opportunity to give my little monkey some practice with her laptop lunchbox with me nearby to help if she needed it (fingers crossed she's got it down herself now!). 

IN THIS LUNCH: 

• The main compartment has a pasta salad with rotini pasta, cut mozzarella balls, sliced grape tomatoes, and sliced olives with a little bit of pesto. 
• In the blue compartment we have star, flower, and heart shaped cucumber cutouts.
• In our orange section we have a little flower made of orange segments and a blackberry center. 
• Our drink is an organic chocolate milk. 

When Monkey saw this lunch she was thrilled with the little orange flower and pointed out how I had constructed it and was thrilled I made cucumber shapes again. She smiled and hugged me and expressed how much she liked the flower and my making her lunch. All the smiles, hugs, happiness, and better nutrition than school lunches make this hobby so worthwhile. If her expression alone doesn't make the two minutes it took to make that little flower worth while, I don't know what would! BOO to the Bento naysayers! :-P

Happy Packing!!

2014 -- 015

The Quick and Easy "Classic"

By the time lunch making rolled around last night, I was exhausted. Gotten up at 2:30 for work, went to my full day there, then rushed to an ultrasound appointment, spent way too long at the bank, and of course nabbed monkey from school, and went to game night which I have been missing. Was a nice day but oh so tiring! My awesome husband stepped up to make a lunch for me since I was so tired so he decided to ''go with the classic'' sandwich. :-P All I did was tell him what to put with it. He even took the picture. :-)

IN THIS LUNCH: 

• Whole Wheat Bread with Sunflower Butter & Blackberry Jelly, 
• Tillamook Pomegranate Blackberry Yogurt w/ sliced almonds,
• Raisins and one prune
• 100% Juice Box (not pictured)

This lunch is part of the 15 minute Friday link up. Make sure you check out all the other fantastic 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 -- 010

New Containers!

So I have been crushing on those lunchboxes that have the built in ice packs in the lids for some time. Well, my husband apparently spotted them on clearance and nabbed them for me! I love that he sees lunch containers and thinks of me (and enables my lunch making craziness hobby). When looking at my monthly lunch menu I was not seeing anything that really would showcase the new box! What's a girl to do? Plan a new lunch obviously! I had some pita that needed using up anyway...

IN THIS LUNCH: "Homemade Pizza Lunchable"

• Whole Wheat Pita, cut into slices
• Tomato Sauce
• Cut up pepperoni slices (it's only about 4 whole slices, but they were too large for the pita so I cut them down smaller). 
• Mozzarella Cheese
• For the treat (monkey likes to point out the store bought lunchables always have a treat) is a lindor truffle. 
• On the side is no-sugar added applesauce with cinnamon on top
• Served with Organic Milk (not pictured)

Fantastic marketing has gotten kids to really love the lunchable and the convenience is something that parents can enjoy for sure. But for the cost to me it's just not worth the buy. They are usually pretty expensive for the little bit of food they're getting and I don't always feel great about what is in them. This lunch only required about 1/2 a pita, 4 slices of pepperoni, a few TBSP of tomato sauce, and a small amount of shredded cheese. They're definitely cost effective and only take a few minutes! I am so glad I started making my own. 

I'd love to see all your homemade 'lunchables'! Please feel free to share. :) 

Happy Packing!

2014 -- 009

Bagel Sandwich

I don't know about you, but sometimes I am just NOT in the lunch packing mood. That's when my month of planned out lunches goes out the window and I stare blankly into the fridge debating what I can pack besides a sunflower butter & jelly sandwich. I don't know if this is MUCH of an improvement, but I'd like to think it's a small step up!

IN THIS LUNCH: 

• Mini Bagel Sandwich: Cream Cheese, Pepperoni, and Cucumber Slices
• Tillamook Strawberry Yogurt w/ sprinkles
• Frozen Blueberries
• 100% Juice Box (not pictured)

This lunch took maybe 10 minutes to throw together which was mostly the sandwich! I was informed later that cucumber/pepperoni is Monkey's favorite sandwich (I don't recall ever making her one before) she's so silly! 

Happy Packing!

2014 -- 003

The lunch that almost wasn't

So, I got the lunch all ready to go and found that Monkey had forgotten ANOTHER lunch box at school. Well the first we've still never seen again, so I was a bit distraught thinking that we'd lost a 2nd box and our last ice packs. Luckily, the box was recovered and we were able to send this lunch a day late.

IN THIS LUNCH: 

• Skewers -- 1 Babybel cheese cut up, 1 slice of turkey, 3 slices of salami, 3 grape tomatoes. 
• Cucumber Stars and Flowers (about 6 slices of cucumber)
• Grapes
• Home Popped Popcorn
• Organic Chocolate Milk

Monkey adored the cucumber shapes and it was an easy way to incorporate them in a fun way. Usually I just toss slices in and call it good. This didn't take much extra effort and she really enjoyed the product. Popcorn is one of Monkey's favorite snacks and is a great lunch feature for a whole grain. Our protein star in this was cheese and lunch meat. 

Don't forget this lunch is part of the ''What's for Lunch?" Wednesday Link-up. Check out all the other fantastic lunches!! 

Happy Packing! 

First New Year Lunch!

Back to the Lunch Making Routine

So, I've been slow about updating the Facebook but even less so here, things in life got crazy as they often do. Of course lunches were still being packed and devoured but time to update, take pictures, etc... just didn't seem to present itself. Small update for those that follow my blog, I'm nearly 32 weeks pregnant with my 2nd little monkey! In October (about when the posts stopped) I had to pick up a job which has me getting up at 2:30 a.m. and honestly, the sleep deprivation and illness has been getting to me (not pregnancy illness, I just keep getting colds etc). With the new year, one of the things I wanted to do was try to get back into the blogging habit with making lunches. I really enjoy it so what's an hour out of the day? Haha. 

IN THIS LUNCH: 

• Sunflower Butter/Jelly Puzzle Sandwich,
• Grape Tomatoes
• Chobani Champions Yogurt Tube
• Banana
• Organic Chocolate Milk

This lunch is part of the Meatless Monday Link up! Make sure to check it out and see all the other Meat Free options. 

Treat Day!

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We are still going through training week and I am finding that I am super tired and definitely needing to make a trip to the store! So today we have another improvised lunch featuring whatever I could find in my pantry and fridge. I think in general it came out alright!! It also features a monkey made treat for treat day! 

IN THIS LUNCH:

• Mini Bagel Sandwich
• Mixed Greens Salad w/ tomatoes & Pomegranate Blueberry Vinaigrette
• Unsweetened Applesauce with Cinnamon
• Small piece of cake (made by monkey!!)
• Kefir Smoothie

This box came home almost empty! There was just a little bit of salad left after school and you know, I am okay with that. She at a good 85% of her salad. She was thrilled to see that her treat had made it into a box. Overall this is a lunch I would even pack for myself! I think it looks and sounds delicious.

This lunch is part of the ''What's for Lunch Wednesday" Link up. Be sure to check out all the fabulous lunches by clicking the button below.

What are your favorite treats to toss into a box? 

Happy Packing!