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!