We ♥ Trader Joe's at our house. It's a good haul from our house to the closest store but completely worth it. We are all about those products that are exclusive to TJ's and we can't live without them. We are totally addicted to a couple of them. But, what is even better about Trader Joe's is their impressive fresh produce. We've tried everything from teeny tiny potatoes to pea shoots and keep going back for more. We also found something else on our trip last week and the girls are ecstatic to have them in their lunches for tomorrow.
Our main entree is a salami and colby jack cheese sandwich on Trader Joe's whole grain bread. We used a flower shaped cookie cutter for the large sandwich and our micro heart for the tiny ones.
Our vegetable side is a seedless cucumber that has been cut using a fluted Japanese vegetable cutter.
Our fruit side is....Champagne grapes! Those tiny little grapes that champagne is made from. They are adorable and have a great sweet flavor.
Our dairy side is a Sargento colby jack cheese stick. The girls have a larger appetite at the beginning of the year so this is a great way to curb their hunger.
Finally, our dessert is raspberry yogurt covered pretzels. We put a few of these in this lunch for a special little treat.
If you like Trader Joe's and lunches as much as we do, our friends at Easy Lunchboxes are coming out with a cookbook very soon. Pre-Order you copy with the link below.
Hi, I recently came across your site and found some great inspiration! Thank you. I ordered some cutters and accessories to make my son's lunch a bit more special this year. We already were using a Laptop Lunch system. I have a question for you - any tips on keeping your creations in place? I thought I was so clever yesterday putting in several "2" cheese cuts yesterday (for homemade Lunchables), but they got all shook up and my son thought they were Z's! I'm not sure how to keep everything flat and in place.
ReplyDeleteHi Jill!
ReplyDeleteGreat question. To keep things in place, I try to stuff them in the boxes so that they don't move much. For the cheese, I may have stacked it so that it stayed in place. Things are going to move (even at a restaurant, things don't always hit the table the way that the chef intended). Another tip is to get some bento/cupcake picks. (check out my link to All Things for Sale/Bento Supplies USA) You can use them to skewer things into place. Finally, maybe try the Laptop Lunches lunch bags with two compartments so that the box itself lays flat on the bottom. You can put his drink, napkin and love note in the top compartment and everything stays pretty much in place. Hope this helps. :) ~ Shannon
Yes - good tips - thank you!!
ReplyDelete