This week in Bentos

So, last week was spring break for us and I got very sick with strep throat.  I'm just now beginning to feel like myself again and although these meals aren't quite as creative as I was hoping for, they have made KoKo very happy at school.  She told me just tonight that the kids at her table all asked her to tell me they like her lunches.  Squeeee!!!  :o)  She has been very excited to see what I create each day.

Here are my girls at the Clifford Live show we got to see on Sunday afternoon.  They were so excited to see Clifford the Big Red Dog and Emily Elizabeth on stage.  I loved watching them as they sat in their seats holding their little stuffed Cleo dogs.  Their little faces would just light up every time they saw Clifford!  I love these girls...

So of course, Tuesday's lunch had to reflect Clifford.  I wasn't happy with it, but still feeling a little under the weather, I guess it was okay.  I used a huge Lock and Lock container I purchased through Amazon.  It barely fit in the lunchbox and I packed way too much food, but at least there was leftovers for snack!

 I desperately needed to get to the grocery store, but used what I had on hand.  There were two little heart shaped sandwiches, dog bone and heart shaped cheese in the red heart silicone cup, dried apple chips, a clementine orange with little flower pick in the blue square silicone cup, a bazillion wheat thin crackers, and two spring time Oreos for dessert.

Tuesday night, we had taco salad.  For lunch on Wednesday, we had leftover taco salad, which I did a build your own taco salad thing.  I completely forgot to take pictures, but it wasn't all that inspiring.  I also got yelled at Tuesday night because they apparently had pickles with their school lunch that day.  Bad mommy for not letting her have a pickle!

Thursday, I played with an under the sea theme.  I really need to come up with cute names for these lunches.  I love that on other blogs.  Oh well, maybe someday I'll come up with some.  Anyhoo...there was a peanut butter sandwich on Pepperidge Farm goldfish bread (LOVE that stuff!) with a little pink heart sprinkle, little white American cheese fish and American cheese waves, pineapple in the blue square silicone container with a couple of fishy picks, American cheese whales with white American cheese blow hole stuff in the red heart silicone container, goldfish crackers with more cheese fish on top in the green silicone container, and a small container of yogurt.  She LOVED it!  Success!  Oh yeah, she also got a pickle in a ziplock.

Tomorrow is Panther Pride day at school.  They all wear purple (their school color) every single stinking Friday of the school year.  Ugh.  We have so much purple it's insane.  Anyway, I wasted a piece of bread trying to make the sandwich at first.  I ordered my paw print cookie cutter on Amazon and didn't realize when it said it was 4.5 inches that would be bigger than even normal sandwich bread.  So...after thinking for a moment, I remembered someone somewhere made some sandwich roll ups where they had flattened their bread a little first.  Surely I could do something like that and get enough bread to get the shape cut out.  I pulled out my trusty, handy dandy rolling pin, went to work, and voila!  It worked!  Yay!!!

So, the paw print sandwich has turkey and white American cheese and RV (for Royal Valley) written in food safe marker.  The second container has carrots (with two carrot hearts on top) in the pink heart silicone container and an oatmeal raisin Teddy Grahams Soft Paws.  I'm also going to send another stinking pickle and a cup of peaches.

This has become such an addiction for me.  I'm LOVING it and I know the girls are too.  Hope you all enjoy!

My First Bento Ever - Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I have recently become obsessed with the idea of creating healthy, fun lunches for my monkeys.  I ran across a blog one day about Bento boxes and I fell instantly in love with the idea.  It only took me a few months to get started, but I finally created my first one today.

My girls and I marched in our St. Patrick's Day parade this afternoon and I packed our Bentos to take and eat while we sat in line waiting for the parade to start.  Needless to say, they were a huge hit and my oldest asked me to make more sometime and wants me to make some for her to take to school.  I'm not sure it is very good, but I was very proud of myself and figured I have to start somewhere.  :o)  So, without further ado, here we go...

 

I apologize for the picture quality...I'll work on getting better pictures in the future.  Anyhoo, I grabbed these Systema boxes at Bed Bath and Beyond.  I think I paid $5.00 a piece for them and they hold quite a bit of food.  My kids couldn't even finish their meal. 

In the top sandwich part, I made a peanut butter sandwich cut in a shamrock shape with smiley face in a food safe marker and a little shamrock heart.  I also added small shamrock colby jack cheese shapes.  

In the bottom part, I made a fruit rainbow from strawberries, little cuties oranges, bananas, kiwi, blueberries, and grapes with a little shamrock pick I got from some cupcakes.  The grapes were actually red because I couldn't find any purple ones at the store, but they look different than the strawberries, so I just went with it...On the right, I have strawberry yogurt with shamrock sprinkles and mini carrots, along with a ring for them to wear at the parade.  I found these really neat little green cups, that are actually for ice cream, and matching spoons at my local Hobby Lobby.  I got a set of 12 for 40% off (just over $2.00).

Overall, I'm very proud of what I accomplished.  It took quite a while to get everything together, but I know I'll get quicker at them.  I learned a lot about the process and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Hearing my first grader ooh and aah over them made it well worth the effort!

Happy St. Patrick's Day from the two cutest little leprechauns I know!  :o)