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 -- 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 -- 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!