March: In Like a Lion and Out Like a Lamb

Tomorrow's lunch celebrates the first day of March -- In like a lion and out like a lamb!

• Turkey and cheese with honey mustard on a whole wheat sandwich thin (quartered). Lion and lamb are made from cheddar and provolone, with cucumber peel and icing eyes.
• Carrots with ranch
• Blueberries with lion pick
• Hershey heart
  
  
• PB&J on whole wheat (quartered). Lion and lamb is made from provolone and cheddar with cucumber peel accents and icing eyes.
• Cucumber slices and ranch
• Clementine with lion pick
• Hershey kisses

Looking for more fun lunch ideas? Check out What's for Lunch Wednesday

February Showers Bring...

...local flood warnings.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a really, really rainy day. So, why not make a bento to go with the weather?

• Turkey, cheddar and honey mustard on a whole wheat sandwich thin. The polka dot umbrella is made from cheddar and provolone.
• Strawberry and pineapple slices.
• Steamed broccoli
• Peanut Butterscotch Chocolate Crispy Bar (heaven)

Another Quick Bento

Haley ended up having a snow day today. Since I had already packed her lunch, she was set. So, I put together another quick bento in the other sandwich box, so they'd both have one. Here's what I came up with:

• PB&J on whole wheat with a cheddar and provolone butterfly
• Carrots with a cup of ranch
• Red grapes
• Cherry tomatoes
• Pretzel snaps
• Hershey heart

Back to Basics

Tomorrow's lunch is pretty basic. But, it's full of color and yummy food :)

• 3 turkey, cheese and honey mustard flower sandwiches on whole wheat
• Carrots with ranch (in green containers)
• Cheese stick
• Strawberry slices with a blackberry center
• Pretzel snaps
• Hershey heart

Inspiration

You have to admit, the internet is a pretty cool thing. I love how we can all share our ideas and be inspired by each other. For tomorrow's lunch, I was inspired by Kelly at Crouching Mother, Hidden Toddler who was inspired by a tutorial she saw at Mothering Corner. I don't claim to have nearly the talent of those two women, but I'm pretty happy with how they turned out!

To make them, I just followed the tutorial on Mothering Corner.

• 4 PB&J chick roll-ups. Their beaks are made from orange sesame seeds and the eyes are sprinkles** (Wilton's Rainbow Chip Crunch, specifically). Their wings (my little addition) are just triangles of bread that I stuck on with a bit of peanut butter.
• String cheese
• Peas
• Blackberries

** I took this picture before finishing Avery's lunch. For Avery's chicks, I made their eyes by adding dots with food safe markers. I think it looks just about as good and it won't run the risk of them falling off in transport.

Collaboration

Tomorrow's lunch ended up being a collaboration between Haley and I. I started out without really knowing what I was going to make. It started off as a face with the star hair, icing eyes, a sugar nose (now not included) and the fruit leather mouth. Haley walked up and said "Can you make it a clown?" So, I changed out the sugar nose with a bigger circle made from dyed provolone. Then she said "He needs cheek things and eye brows" and voila! This is what we came up with:

• Ham and cheddar cheese with honey mustard in a whole wheat mini pita. Provolone clown with cheddar hair, icing eyes, cucumber peel eyebrows, fruit leather mouth, and dyed provolone cheeks and nose.
• Blueberry and pineapple slices
• Steamed broccoli
• Babybel with star cutouts
• Hershey kiss

Want to see other cute bentos? Check out What's For Lunch Wednesday

Fishy Music

Tomorrow's lunches ended up looking quite different but have basically the same foods included in them. As I mentioned, I got some new picks from AllThingsForSale that were delivered last Thursday. I was very excited to get a few of them out!

Haley specifically requested that her lunch be music themed because of the musical note picks I got. Here is what we came up with:

• 2 ham, cheddar and honey mustard on whole wheat sandwiches (stacked) with provolone and cheddar musical notes. Their faces are made from cucumber peel.
• Cheese stick (hidden under the top sandwich)
• Red grapes
• Cucumber and cherry tomato kabobs
• Chocolate chip granola bite

Aren't these letter picks cute? I think I'm going to have a lot of fun with them :)

For Avery's lunch, we went with a fishy theme:

• 2 PB&J on whole wheat sandwiches (stacked) with a cheddar fish with provolone accents.
• String cheese (hidden under top sandwich)
• Red grapes on fishy picks
• Cucumber slices with cherry tomatoes

Did you notice?

I added some informational pages to my blog. There are links to them on the right, above the Followers box.

Let me know your thoughts! :)

Kid-Made Bentos!

The girls wanted to pack their own lunches today. So, I pulled out all my supplies and let them have at it! This is what they came up with.

Haley's Lunch

• 2 PB and Honey sandwiches on whole wheat (stacked) in a flower shape. She decorated them with food safe markers and added a cheddar center on the flower.
• Strawberry kabobs
• Edamame beans

Avery's Lunch

• 2 PB&J sandwiches on whole wheat cut in the shape of ice cream cones and decorated with food safe markers
• Red grapes
• Edamame beans
• 2 Cherry tomatoes (using one of my new picks...love them!)
• A chocolate heart

I think they did a great job and I didn't have to make lunch (double bonus!!)

Dollar Store Find!

Look what I found at Dollar Tree today.

These game pieces will make adorable picks for Easter bentos!

It's FRIDAY (well, at least Friday's lunches!)

Today has been a rough day -- my email got hacked so I spent the majority of my afternoon working on that. Bummer. So, tomorrow's lunches were quick and easy.

In other news, I got a package of some new bento supplies in the mail today from All Things For Sale. I was a little bummed that I had already made the girls' lunches. But, I got over it quickly, knowing I have many more lunches ahead of me! It will give me something to look forward to on Monday ;)

• Turkey and cheddar on whole wheat with cheddar giraffes and a fruit leather heart.
• Blackberries
• Steamed broccoli
• Pretzel snaps
• a Nestle Crunch bar for dessert, because it fit so nicely!
  

  

• PB&J on whole wheat with cheddar giraffes and a fruit leather heart
• Clementine with a blackberry center
• Steamed broccoli
• Pretzel snaps
• a Nestle Crunch

Update: Reason #193848 that I love my kids. I am constantly reminding myself how lucky I am to have good eaters. They almost always eat everything in their lunches. But, these lunches were pretty big so I didn't know if they'd make it through. This is what came home (minus the napkins and wrappers, which I tossed before snapping the picture):

Flower Power!

Rarely do I make 2 completely different lunches for the girls. But, I guess I'm just feeling a little crazy today. (See second lunch in the post below)

• Salami and cheddar flowers with wheat ritz crackers
• Celery sticks with peanut butter (in green container)
• Blackberries with a pretty flower pick

God Bless the U.S.A!

In preparation for President's Day, Avery has been learning all about our presidents and some of our Nation's landmarks. Today, she was looking through a huge box of cookie cutters I just found in my basement (woo-hoo!) and saw this bell. She said "That's the Liberty Bell! But, it needs a crack." So, I decided to make that the theme of her lunch:

• PB&J on whole wheat Liberty Bell sandwich with a cheddar crack.
• Peas
• Keeping with the USA theme RED strawberries and BLUEberries
• Cheddar starts
• Silver and red hershey kisses

Hey Chicky!

Today. while I was enjoying my own bento-packed lunch all by myself (ahhh, savor the quiet), I decided to look through some of my favorite bento blogs for new inspiration. There are so many insanely talented people out there! I'm honored that you all are taking the time to look at my blog.

Tomorrow's lunch was inspired by one of my favorite bento blogs, Another Lunch. Isn't this little chick adorable? So simple but so cute. I love his fruit leather feathers :)

• 2 turkey, cheddar and honey mustard on whole wheat bread sandwiches (stacked) with a little chick made from provolone, cheddar and strawberry fruit leather.
• Strawberries (with a cute little chicken pick)
• Cucumber slices and carrots (the carrots are under the cucumber)
• Cheese stick (confused?)
• Chocolate heart

The square cutter I used on the sandwich was too big to make 2 full squares but it left way too much to throw away as scraps so I hid the partial piece on the bottom and filled in the space with piece of string cheese.

Need more inspiration? Check out What's for Lunch Wednesday

Tuesday's Lunch

Tomorrow's lunches were really quick and easy. Since they are basically the same lunch, I just photographed them together.

• 2 slices of pizza (leftovers from our heart shaped Valentine pizza. I would have taken a picture of it but it ended up looking more like a cow's hoof than a heart. That's ok though - we had a good laugh!)
• Steamed broccoli
• Red grapes or a clementine with a grape center
• Cheese stick
• Conversation hearts for dessert
  

Valentine Lunch

Avery doesn't go to school on Mondays so she's home with me today. Here is her Valentine lunch:

• PB&J sandwich in the shape of the sign language sign for "I love you" -- MUCH happier with how this one turned out.
• Cucumber slices with heart shape cut outs and a heart shaped cup with ranch. She likes seeds and all so I gave her both parts.
• Strawberry hearts
• Cheddar hearts

She ate every bite and finished her meal with her personalized valentine cut-out cookie from Aunt Kim.

Creative or Creepy?

I thought I'd come up with a really fun and unique idea for a Valentine's lunch. But, it turned out a little creepy. Maybe the nails aren't right? I'm not sure. Anyway, do you see what I was going for?

Update: I figured out what I didn't like about the nails...They are too wide. I trimmed them a bit more so you can see a little bread on either side. It looks much better.

• PB&J sandwich in the sign language sign for "I love you"
• Red grapes
• String cheese
• Carrots and cucumber slices
• Chocolate heart

Valentine's Breakfast

Since we won't have time for a big breakfast tomorrow, we decided to do breakfast for dinner tonight! The girls LOVE breakfast for dinner and were even more excited when they saw that I made it "bento" (i.e. pretty) ;)

• Heart shaped pancakes with strawberry topping and a whipped cream heart
• Sausage hearts
• Strawberry hearts
• Strawberry yogurt

(They also has scrambled eggs but I forgot they were still coming when I plated and took the picture)

Think Summer!

I don't know about you, but I am OVER winter! The groundhog had better be right this year because I want an early spring! (Ok, tantrum over)

Today is especially cold so I thought I would combat Old Man Winter a bit by making a sunny summer bento :)

• Turkey and cheddar on a whole wheat mini pita with a cheddar sunshine. The sun's face is made from cucumber peel.
• Red grapes with a drink umbrella (left over from her birthday cupcakes)
• Carrots and cucumber slices
• Candy flip-flops (also left over from her birthday cupcakes)

100th Day of School

Avery's class is celebrating the 100th day of school tomorrow so I made her lunch to celebrate.

• PB&J on whole wheat with a cheddar garnish
• Strawberry yogurt with fresh strawberry "100"
• Carrots with ranch
• Iced brownie bite

Haley's lunch is another tribute to Valentine's Day.

• Ham and cheese with honey mustard in a whole wheat mini-pita. Cheddar heart with provolone letters.
• Strawberry yogurt with fresh strawberry garnish
• Carrots with ranch
• Brownie bite

5 Minute Lunch

Today has been a C-R-A-Z-Y busy day! So, tomorrow's lunch was S-U-P-E-R fast to put together. Mama is tired tonight!

• 2 slices of leftover pizza (cut and half and stacked)
• Steamed broccoli
• Red grapes
• 2 Hershey Kisses

I Love You

There is one more week until Valentine's Day so I'm keeping up the Valentine's theme.

• PB&J on whole wheat roll-ups with "I Love You" in fruit leather.
• Cheddar hearts
• Cucumber slices and carrots
• Red grapes
• 2 Hershey Kisses

Give-A-Way at Bentobloggy!

As I've mentioned before, I buy a lot of my bento supplies online at www.allthingsforsale.com.

Click on over to Bentobloggy for a great Allthingsforsale giveaway!

Go Steelers!

Ok, I admit it, I could care less about professional football most of the year. But, the Super Bowl is fun. It's a great excuse to eat snack-y food for dinner and see some good commercials. AND if you are going to watch the game, you might as well pick a team to root for. We are a house divided: Haley and I are rooting for the Steelers and Steve and Avery are rooting for the Packers! We've been building it up all week. The girls have been making up cheers and made signs for decorations. Haley wanted to buy a Steelers t-shirt for the occasion but settled for wearing black and gold. (Why can't these teams have pink and purple for their colors? That would have been WAY easier to accommodate!)

Anyway, Haley's lunch tomorrow was inspired by her new found love for the Steelers. Hopefully, she'll still be excited about them tomorrow, regardless of the outcome of tonight's game. Haley's reaction was "That's so cool! The boys are going to love my lunch tomorrow!" ;)

• Ham and veggie cream cheese in a whole wheat mini pita. Steelers decoration is dyed provolone cheese.
• Build-Your-Own Ants on a log (celery, raisins, and peanut butter (in yellow container))
• String cheese
• Strawberry
• 2 Hershey Kisses

Want more inspiration? Check out What's for Lunch Wednesday

Teddy Bear Lunch

Tomorrow's lunch was pretty quick and easy. But Haley thinks it's "sooooooo cute!"

• Salami and veggie cream cheese on a whole wheat sandwich thin. Teddy Bear garnish is made from cheddar with ham nose and ears, provolone eyes with cucumber pupils and mouth.
• Broccoli
• Red grapes
• cheese stick
• 2 Hershey kisses

Puppy Love #2

I'm being optimistic that they will have school tomorrow. We've had snow days the last 2 days and although we've had a lot of fun, I'm ready for them to go back ;) We haven't left the house, not even to walk outside (because everything is covered in ice!) since Monday. Can you say "cabin fever"? Anyway, if we do end up with another snow day, at least I won't have to make lunch :)

• 2 PB&J on whole wheat sandwiches (stacked). I used my heart cookie cutter to cut the puppy's head and his ears out of provolone and cheddar, respectively. The puppy has cucumber features and icing eyes.
• Peas
• Strawberry slices and blueberries
• 2 Hershey kisses (under the puppy's ears)