Fiesta Ranch Chicken Salad

We broke away from the sandwich zone for today's lunch.   It's one of our favorite summer dinners and it occurred to me that it would make a pretty good school lunch too!

The salad contains:

• Salad greens
• Grilled chicken
• Corn
• Black beans
• Cheddar Cheese
• Ranch dressing
• Tortilla chips (which are intended to be crunched on top but she will probably eat them on the side)

*The recipe also calls for salsa but my daughter doesn't like it on hers so I didn't include it in her lunch.

Her lunch also contains strawberries and blueberries.   I added an eye pick because eyes make everything cuter!

In addition to the product link above, here are some of the other items I used when creating this lunch:

This post contains affiliate links.

School Days

Sometimes I am really thankful that my daughters don't follow bento blogs.  Because if they did, they would not be nearly as impressed with today's lunch.   Today's lunch was completely inspired by this lunch made by my friend Rina at Bento School Lunches.  I didn't even change the math equation!!  I want to make sure to give her credit for her adorable lunch...but I'm not going to share it with my girls ;-)

• PB and honey sandwich made on whole wheat bread, decorated with food safe markers to look like a piece of notebook paper.  I used strawberry fruit leather and Wilton's number cutters to make the math equation
• Strawberries with a school-themed pick
• Carrots and celery with ranch
• Cheese stick decorated with markers (I know I have seen this idea somewhere but can't find where to give credit.  If you know, please leave a comment)
• Hershey kisses

Here are some of the items, or similar items I used when creating this lunch:

This post contains affiliate links.

PB&J Roll-ups and a Deconstructed Turkey Bagel

For those that may be new to my blog, you will soon learn that I have 2 different eaters.  Although both my girls love fruits and veggies, my youngest daughter does not like any type of cold meat.  In addition, she absolutely loves peanut butter.  So, she almost always has a peanut butter sandwich, in some form, in her lunch.  Whereas my oldest daughter is more adventurous and will eat lots of different things.   So today I made PB&J roll-ups as a fun change to the traditional PB&J sandwich for the youngest.  My middle schooler wanted a deconstructed turkey/veggie cream cheese bagel.  She will most likely eat the turkey by itself and then have the bagel with cream cheese separately.  But, she has the option to assemble it into a sandwich, if she chooses.

• PB&J roll-ups on a "So Sweet" skewer
• Peas
• Strawberries and blueberries
• Wheat Thins Popped
• Oreos

• Whole Wheat mini bagel with veggie cream cheese and turkey
• Peas
• Strawberries and blueberries
• Oreos

Here are some of the items, or similar items, I used when creating this lunch:

This post contains affiliate links.

1 Lunch, 2 Different Ways

As I've mentioned in previous posts, my oldest is in middle school now and doesn't want "cute" lunches.   No problem!   Here are both my daughters' lunches for today.  As you can see, they are the exact same lunch.  I just added a couple cute touches to make my younger daughter's an owl themed lunch and kept my older daughter's plain.  Everyone is happy!

Both lunches contain:

• PB&J made using the Pampered Chef Cut N Seal
• Cucumbers and cherry tomatoes
• Red grapes
• Pretzel Sticks
• Hershey Kisses
• Lunchbox Love Note

To make the owl sandwich, I decorated the sandwich with more cucumber slices for the wings and eyebrows and carrot for the beak and feet.  I used these eye picks for instant cuteness (that won't melt like sugar eyes sometimes do!)

Here are some of the products, or similar products, I used when creating this lunch:

This post contains affiliate links. 

Cuddle Palz!

Earlier this summer we received the newest product in the CuteZCute product line, the Cuddle Palz, to try. Similar to the other CuteZCute products, the Cuddle Palz is super easy to use and provides instant cuteness to any lunch!  The 2-sided cutter and stamps allow you to make many different combinations.  I have a feeling you will be seeing many Cuddle Palz lunches on our blog!

Koala Lunch:

• Koala PB&J made using the Cuddle Palz cutting system.   He is holding on to a piece of celery.
• Celery with peanut butter
• Grapes with a koala pick
• Pretzel sticks 
• Hershey kisses

Again, my middle schooler doesn't want cute lunches anymore.  So we kept it simple:

• Pizza roll-ups with marinara for dipping
• Peas
• Red grapes
• Oreos

Here are some of the products, or similar products, I used when creating this lunch:

First Day of School!

After taking the summer off, we are back in business as today was the first day of school!  I now have a middle schooler (ACK!) and a 4th grader.  The middle schooler has requested "no more cute lunches" but we are going to continue to pack "bento style" because it's environmentally friendly.

My 4th grader specifically requested a "pencil lunch" for the first day:

For my 6th grader, we kept it more simple:

Both lunches contained:

• PB&J Sandwich.   For the pencil, I just used food-safe markers to decorate it.
• Carrots or Broccoli with ranch
• Raspberries
• Oreos 

Plus, I included a Lunchbox Love Note to let them know I was thinking of them!

Listed below are the items, or similar items, I used when creating this lunch:

This post contains affiliate links.

Keeping It Simple

Wow, it's been a long time since my last post!   Life has been SO busy recently!  I'm sure you can relate!!  We've still be packing and keeping it cute, but I haven't been feeling overly original or taking the time to photograph.  Sorry about that!

Today's lunch I kept simply on purpose.  I thought about adding icing eyes, a bow pick, and whiskers, which would have been cute.  But, I really liked the kitty simple too so I went with that.

• A kitty and heart shaped sandwiches (There wasn't space to cut out 2 kitties but I didn't want to waste that much sandwich so I found a smaller cutter to use up the remainder of the sandwich.  We can call it Kitty Love)
• Watermelon kitties with blueberries
• Sugar snap peas and grape tomatoes with ranch
• Chocolate

This post contains affiliate links.

Bunny Buddies!

Bento Tip of the Day :  Icing eyes make everything cuter!

• 2 bunny shaped sandwiches decorated with icing eyes, sprinkles (nose), spaghetti noodles (whiskers) and bento picks I got from Bento USA (see link to the right)
• Broccoli with ranch and a "Happy Easter" pick
• Pineapple and strawberry slices with a bunny pick
• Dove chocolate eggs

This post contains affiliate links.

Bunny Tushie

Completely inspired by this adorable lunch at Kitchen Fun with My 3 Sons, I made this bunny tushie bento. My girls thought it was hilarious and it was quick and easy to pull together.

• Bunny Tushie sandwich made from using the Pampered Chef Cut N Seal and a small oval cookie cutter for the feet.  I decorated it using a mini marshmallow and food safe markers.
• Strawberry halves with a "Happy Easter" cupcake pick
• Carrots and ranch - I decorated one of the mini carrots to look like a big carrot by shaving off one end into a point and topping it with a spring of broccoli
• 2 Dove Chocolate Easter eggs.

This post contains affiliate links.

Luck of the Irish to You!

A couple more St. Patrick's Day lunches to celebrate!

Both lunches have:

• Shamrock shaped cucumbers with ranch in a clover sauce cup
• A rainbow fruit salad with a pot of gold cupcake pick
• Pretzel crisps
• Gold chocolate coins

The top lunch has 2 shamrock shaped sandwiches decorated with little shamrock picks

The bottom lunch has turkey and cheese on St. Patrick's themed picks.

Click on the product links above or see the Amazon links below for the products, or similar products that I used when making these lunches.

This post contains affiliate links.

Mickey Mouse

I love Mickey Mouse.   I love chocolate.   I love my husband.

For Valentine's Day my lovely husband got me chocolate covered Mickey shaped pretzels.  My first thought?....Disney lunches!!

• 3 turkey and cheese roll-ups, decorated with Disney picks
• Red grapes, decorated with a Mickey pick
• Sugar snap peas and cherry tomatoes, with ranch
• Utz Mickey Mouse shaped chocolate covered pretzels

• Mickey shaped PB&J
• Broccoli with ranch, decorated with Chip and Dale picks
• Red grapes, decorated with a Mickey fork
• Utz Mickey Mouse shaped chocolate covered pretzels

Here are some of the items, or similar items,  I used when creating these lunches:

This post contains affiliate links.

Lunchbox Love Notes Valentine's Giveaway!

The wonderful people at Say Please, Inc have offered me another opportunity to giveaway their adorable Lunchbox Love Notes to one of my readers.  This giveaway is just in time for Valentine's Day!  

The first prize for this giveaway will be the two volume back of Lunchbox Love for Valentine's Day.  These notes are a fun, thoughtful way for your child to share the celebration with friends. The pack comes 24 special Valentine's cards and each card in the pack has the same heartfelt message on the front and a unique animal fun fact on the back. The notes are fun to include in lunches but can also be attached as a Valentine's Day card on a pack of stickers, added to a gift bag, or given on its own--the recipient will sure to feel Loved and have fun at the same time!   In addition to the Valentine's cards,  Say Please is also going to send the winner Lunchbox Love Notes for Loved Ones, volume 3 .  With these special notes you can show your love and appreciation for your husband, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, or significant other. Each pack contains 12 cards with heartfelt sentiments on the front and fun, interesting trivia facts on the back.  But wait!  There's more!!   The winner of this giveaway will also get Lunchbox Love Notes for Kids, volumes 1 and 2 so everyday can be Valentine's Day!

To take part in this giveaway, simply enter below.   This giveaway is open to United States and Canadian residents only.   I will randomly select a winner on January 29th and the winner will have 48 hours to respond.  If I don't hear back within 48 hours, I will select an alternative winner.   All entries must be active and will be verified at the time of the drawing in order to be valid.

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Baby, It's Cold Outside!

Well, after 2 weeks of break for the holidays and 2 "snow" days due to sub-zero weather it's finally time to head back to school!  


I was inspired by this lunch created by my bento buddy Jeana at Tiny Princess Lunchbox.  I think her version is cute but my girls didn't see hers so hopefully they will like mine:

 

The sandwich was made to look like an igloo using the Funbites Cube-It.   The penguin is just a piece of white bread, cut into a penguin shape and decorated with food markers.

• Strawberries with letter picks
• Broccoli and ranch decorated with snowflake picks
• Dove Milk Chocolate
• Dove Milk chocolate

Here are some of the items, or similar items, that I used when creating this lunch:


This post contains affiliate links.

Turkey Bento

I saw this post on Pinterest and it inspired me to make a turkey bento to celebrate Thanksgiving.

•   Turkey sandwich made with 2 circle cookie cutters, icing eyes, a carrot nose and tomato skin.   You may wonder why he's wearing a bow tie (which you can barely see in the picture) and a party hat?   Because they are helping keep his head in place.
• Cucumber slices with a turkey cupcake ring
• Red grapes with a "Give Thanks" cupcake pick
• Candy corn (turkey feathers)
• Lunchbox Love Note from the Thanksgiving Series

Here are some of the items, or similar items, I used when creating this lunch:


Click below to see a bunch of other fun lunches:

Jack-O-Lantern Lunch

• Jack-o-Lantern shaped PB&J
• Peas with creepy eyes (cupcake ring)
• Clementine that I carved to look like a Jack-O-Lantern and added a leaf pick
• Mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cup
• Lunchbox Love Note from the Halloween Series

Here are some of the items, or similar items, I used when creating this lunch:

:*~*~* Lunchbox Love Notes Giveaway! *~*~*

For those of you who are regular readers, you know that my family loves Lunchbox Love Notes.  My daughters have asked me to send them even when they are buying lunch at school!  So, I was very excited when the wonderful people at Say Please offered to giveaway a set of their newest cards (Kids volumes 49-52 PLUS 1 set each from their Halloween and Thanksgiving collections!) to one of my lucky readers.

For those of you who are not familiar with Lunchbox Love Notes, they are an easy yet meaningful way to let someone know you are thinking of them. A positive message on the front of the card reminds them how much they are loved while the "Did You Know" trivia or joke on the back will entertain. My daughters' classmates always want to hear the trivia or joke, which encourages lunchtime conversation.  Each volume contains 12 cards --10 with different phrases and fun facts or jokes and 2 blanks so you can add a personal message.

 

The "Did you know?" trivia facts are lots of fun.   Can't you just see all the kids at the lunch table trying to hum while holding their nose?:

 

I also love when the message ties to the theme of the lunch: 

They also have Lunchbox Love Notes specific to the holidays!  Here are Thanksgiving and Halloween lunches!

 

There is a Lunchbox Love Notes perfect for every occasion!

To enter this giveaway, please leave a comment below letting me know what your favorite thing is about Lunchbox Love Notes.  This will open up additional entry options.   This giveaway is open to United States and Canadian residents only.   I will randomly select a winner on October 2nd and the winner will have 48 hours to respond.  If I don't hear back within 48 hours, I will select an alternative winner.   All entries must be active and will be verified at the time of the drawing in order to be valid.


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Do you want even more chances to win?   Click over to Bentos on the Bayou and enter her Lunchbox Love Notes giveaway!

Pizza Friday!

To me, pizza and Fridays just go together...The perfect pairing.  I'm also making a concerted effort not to pack sandwiches everyday because I don't want the girls to get tired of them.   So, today's lunch is pizza pinwheels.   I got the recipe from Pinterest and just used frozen pizza dough - easy peasy!

 

• Pizza Pinwheels with extra pizza sauce for dipping
• Cucumber and tomato slices
• Berry fruit salad (blueberries, raspberries and strawberries) with a "Love" cupcake pick
• Hershey Kisses

Here are some of the items, or similar items, I used when packing this lunch:

 

Angry Birds Bento

Isn't inspiration a beautiful thing?  Today's lunch was inspired by a lunch created by Glory at Glory's Mischief.  Her version of this lunch was inspired by a lunch she saw at Hawai`i’s Bento Box.  So, this lunch is COMPLETELY unoriginal, on my part, and not as well done as the others.  But, I didn't show the others to my daughters so they thought my version was great!

• Angry Bird Pig sandwich.   The pig is a little smaller than I would have liked but I made him using a small bear cutter I already had.  I used a tiny oval cutter and the crust of bread for the nose and provolone cheese and a straw to cut out the eyes.   I was just going to leave him the color of the bread but my youngest insisted he should be green so we colored him using food safe markers.
• Purple cauliflower and cucumber slices with ranch and an Angry Birds cupcake ring
• Raspberries and an Angry Birds cupcake ring
• Pretzel rods

Here are some of the products I used when creating this lunch:

This post contains affiliate links.

Summer Salad at School

My daughters have requested that I pack a salad for them at least once a week this school year.   So, today was their first of the year!  I went with a heart theme to remind them that I love them.

 

• Salad made with romaine lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, carrots, celery, broccoli, cherry tomatoes and a hard boiled egg, for added protein.   I used an egg mold to shape the egg into a heart and decorated it with heart picks.   The salad dressing is in a Mini Dipper container.
• Vanilla yogurt with a strawberry heart, stored in a Mini Dipper container
• Fresh pineapple and blueberries and a heart pick
• 2 Dove chocolates

I enclosed a Lunchbox Love Note to give them a sweet message and some trivia to enjoy while they eat.   Guess what!... Say Please Inc, the makers of Lunchbox Love Notes has offered me the opportunity to do a giveaway for Lunchbox Love Notes so stay tuned!!

 

Here are some of the items, or similar items, I used when creating this lunch:

 

This post contains affiliate links.

Beating the Heat

We have been practically living at the pool the last few days, in an effort to beat the heat!   So, I packed some yummy lunches to eat while we were there.

 

• Flower-shaped sandwich.  I used smaller flower-shaped cookie cutters, that I pressed partially into the bead, to make the flower indentations on the top
• Cucumbers slices with a flower cupcake-ring
• Flower-shaped watermelon with blueberries (so refreshing!)
• Chobani Champions yogurt tube

 

I wasn't in the mood for a sandwich so I made myself a big salad with lettuce, spinach, broccoli slaw, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes and toasted almond slices.  The only thing would that would have made this better would have been some chicken, but I didn't have any on hand.    I also had some orange slices and Chex Mix.

Here are some of the items I used when creating this lunch:

Click here for a link to the cutter I used on the watermelon.

This post contains affiliate links.