Patriotic 4th of July Lunch

We're at it again!  The Bento Bloggers and Friends are doing a patriotic blog hop.  We all were talking and noticed that we are so proud of our countries and wanted to celebrate them with awesome lunches.  Canada celebrates their Independence Day on July 1st and the United States of America celebrates their Independence Day on July 4th.  We have friends in both countries that will hop with us and it made sense to hop a few days prior so that we could take the holiday off to celebrate.

Our main entree is an American flag open faced sandwich.  We cut the crusts off of our bread and created a rectangle for our flag.  Then, we spread some whipped cream cheese on the bread.  Finally, we added sliced strawberries and a few blueberries to create Old Glory.

Our vegetable side is zucchini and red peppers.  We used a small star cookie cutter to cut out the center of the zucchini to create white stars.  Then, we used our micro star cookie cutter to cut the red pepper into red stars.  We added an American Flag pick and a Captain America Shield ring to this section too.

Our dairy side is vanilla yogurt.  We added a few star sprinkles to the top to match our theme.  We also added a Statue of Liberty (one of our favorite symbols of freedom) to the bowl.

Finally, our fruit/dessert is a patriotic strawberry.  We dipped fresh strawberries in white chocolate and then just the tip in some blue sprinkles.  These were a HUGE hit with the kids.  Plus, they are much more healthy than most other holiday themed desserts.  There are two sparkly star picks below the strawberries.

Now it's time to HOP on over to see what incredible fun thing Bobbi has created for her kids at Bobbi's Bentos, then keep hopping to see what everyone else has imagined up to represent their patriotic side.

Camping Lunch

When the girls at Bento Bloggers and Friends came up with a summer lunch themed blog hop (see below), I jumped right in. *pun intended* This is a fantastic group of ladies that make incredible lunches for their kids and even some of them make lunches for their husbands.  They are all a great source of inspiration.

When given the theme of a summer lunch, I was torn between doing something like the summer lunch that I made for Molly at the end of the school year and something new.  I thought about some of our favorite summer activities and our theme was born.  Camping!

Our main entree is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  We cut our sandwich into a triangle and used our food safe markers to create our camping tent.

Our vegetable side is campfire peppers.  We cut pieces of yellow, orange and red peppers into flames, stacked them and put some kindling, a/k/a pretzel sticks, at the bottom.  These were a big hit.

Our fruit side is a banana, a sleeping bag banana.  We cut the banana in half and wrapped it with a fruit roll up.  Then, we added some chow mein noodles for crazy bed head hair.  Finally, we used our food safe markers to add a sleepy face.  *note: the moisture from the banana makes the fruit roll up very sticky and messy, but still yummy.

Our dairy side is a Babybel cheese.  We cut out a little tree shape in the red wax.  We are always surrounded by big beautiful trees when we go camping.

Finally, our dessert is roasted marshmallows.  We put mini marshmallows on pretzel sticks and used the burner from our gas stove to toast the marshmallows.  All three of the kids LOVED this, especially because they could eat the stick. ☺

*This tray is from Target and the cup filled with water is from Ikea.

Now, head on over to visit the incredibly talented Shannon at the awesome What's For Lunch At Our House by clicking on the blog hop link below and keep hopping for some great summer lunch inspiration.

Final Lunch of the Year - The Un-Birthday Lunch

WE DID IT!!!!!!!  2nd grade will be a thing of the past at 3:30 tomorrow afternoon.  This year was filled with lots of ups and downs but all in all it was a fantastic year.  Molly made huge strides in her reading and math, plus she formed a lot of great friendships.

Tomorrow, she will be celebrating her un-birthday since her real birthday is at the very end of this month.  We put together her goody bags to give to her classmates and included little squirt toys, bubbles, glow sticks and yo-yo's.  A GREAT way to start the summer off.

Tonight is the last time that we will be making just one lunch during the school year.  Next year, Molly's little sister will be joining the ranks at the elementary school.  We are SO excited for both of them.

Our main entree is a Molly sandwich.  This is Molly's favorite, a salami and colby jack cheese sandwich that we added some embellishments to. We used eyes that we picked up at the bake shop, our food safe markers for her face, and since Molly is known for her curly hair, we added some ramen noodles that are sprinkled with a tiny bit of the flavor packet to make her beautiful brown hair.  Finally, there is a little cheese bow in her "hair" just for fun.

Our vegetable side is a red pepper.  This is Molly's favorite vegetable.  We added a Happy Birthday pick and a few little candle picks to go along with the un-Birthday theme.

Our fruit side is Molly's favorite; strawberries and blueberries.  We had lots of fun with birthday picks in this container.  We have a "happy birthday" pick, a balloon and several of the little candles.  So much fun!

Finally, our Final Fun Friday treat is cake balls.  These are like cake pops without the stick.  They are chocolate cake mixed with cream cheese frosting then dipped in white chocolate with a few sprinkles added.  We put them in little cupcake wrappers and added another balloon pick and a candle pick.

Happy Un-Birthday, Molly!!! ☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺

Have a FANTASTIC summer everyone.  We'll be posting a few random things here and there but otherwise, see you in August!!

Theme Week Lunch 4 - 3rd Grade!

We were going to save this lunch for the last day of school but Molly will be celebrating her un-birthday at school on Friday so we decided to switch up the last two days.  We can't believe that the 2nd grade is almost over and our big girl will be a 3rd grader in a few short months.  It is so exciting to think about all of the fun things that she has to look forward to next year.

Our main entree is a cheese quesadilla.  We melted cheese between two flour tortillas, cooled it down and then used a number 3 cookie cutter to cut out lots of 3s for our favorite soon to be third grader.  There is a side of Trader Joe's salsa verde for dipping because it is one of Molly's favorites.

Our vegetable side is cucumbers.  We have a small number 3 cookie cutter that we used to cut these out.

Our fruit side is green grapes, blueberries and apricots.  We used the same small number 3 cookie cutter to cut out the apricot to keep up with our theme.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is a Chobani Champions Chocolate Chunk Greek yogurt.  This is Molly's favorite yogurt so we had to include it.  We used some small Post-Its on the lid that say, "Look Out 3rd Grade, Here Comes Molly!"

One more lunch before summer vacation!!! ☺

Theme Lunch 3 - Summertime!

We can't wait until summer vacation begins.  We have grand plans of hanging out poolside at Grammy and Papa's house with fun in the sun, swimming, building sandcastles, hanging out at the neighbor's fire pit, eating great fresh fruits and vegetables and catching fireflies!

Our main entree is a salami and colby jack cheese sandwich.  We used a foot shaped cookie cutter to cut it out and then added a flip flop with our food safe markers.  Finally, we added a little sunglasses pick.

Our vegetable side is cucumber slices.  We used our crinkle knife to cut the cucumbers for extra fun.  We then added a beach ball pick to this container.

Our fruit side is watermelon.  Nothing says summer quite like fresh watermelon.  We used a small starfish cookie cutter to cut out a few pieces and then added some fun summer picks.  We have a sand pail and shovel, sunglasses and a beach umbrella.

Finally, our dessert is.....MONEY$$$$!  Summertime and ice cream go hand in hand.  We put a few quarters into a tiny container  form Molly to buy some ice cream.  We added it to a bigger container that we lined with a foil cupcake line and then added a cute ice cream cone ring.  Molly loves her rings!

Only a few days before it's summer all the time!!!  As Phineas and Ferb would sing, ♪♫ There's 104 days of summer vacation til school comes along just to end it.  So, the annual problem for our generation is finding a good way to spend it. ♫♪  This summer is going to be GREAT!

Theme Lunch 2 - Teddy Bear Picnic

Four days left in the count down to the last day of school.  Our theme week is going on strong and what better to remind us of summer than a teddy bear picnic?

Our main entree is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  We used potato bread, natural peanut butter and Trader Joe's Reduced Sugar Apricot Jam.  We then used a small teddy bear cookie cutter to cut out our little bear family.  Finally, we used our food safe markers to add details and a little picnic basket pick.

Our vegetable side is ants on a log.  What is a picnic without ants?  We used our natural peanut butter again on celery with currants because Molly really liked that last time.

Our fruit side is checkered apples.  We found this idea from Jenn at Bento for Kidlet.  She has a great little tutorial here.  Looks just like a checkered table cloth to us.  We also added a giant ant that we found at our local bake shop.  

Finally, our dairy/dessert is vanilla yogurt with fun colored sprinkles.  It reminds us of some fun desserts that we have had at our picnics.  Our kids are fans of funfetti cupcakes or cookies with sprinkles as a great picnic treat.

Purse Lunch

This is the last week of school this year and we've decided to make a theme lunch every day this week.  This is not an easy task but we're up for it and have the whole week planned out.  Hopefully it will all go off without a hitch. ☺
Monday is the purse theme.  We found some really cute picks at a local bake shop and decided to just go with it.  Plus, one of Molly's favorite entrees is purses.

Our main entree is Trader Joe's Perline Pasta and Prosciutto.  These are little purses of pasta hold yummy bits of prosciutto and cheese.  We added a little bit of light Italian dressing to keep the pasta from drying out.

Our vegetable side is carrot chunks.  These are manageable little pieces that Molly will be able eat easily and quickly during her short lunch period.  We added a little purple purse to this container.

Our fruit side is strawberries and blueberries.  The berries are in full bloom here in PA and taste so delicious this year.  We added a little blue purse to this container.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is vanilla yogurt.  A sweet and creamy end to a yummy lunch.  We added a little pink purse to this container.

Dance Recital Lunch

Molly and her sister will be performing tomorrow night in their dance recital.  They are both very excited.  Molly will be in a ballet number and a tap number.  She loves her tap costume (black and blue with little black sparkles) and her ballet costume looks like a beautiful pink and yellow flowing flower.  They both get to wear make-up...REAL make-up and Molly's little sister just loves make-up.  (Daddy's not a fan of the make-up but he agrees that they look beautiful.)

We've made a very special dance themed lunch for the special day, along with a very special Fun Friday treat.

Our main entree is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  We used our ballerina cookie cutter to cut it out and our food safe markers to decorate it.  (Not my best effort.  It's quite an odd shape.)

Our vegetable side is star shaped cucumbers.  We know that Molly will be a star tomorrow night!  We used our micro cookie cutter to cut these little stars out.

Our fruit side is strawberries.  We used a larger star cookie cutter to cut these out.  We also added a ballet slipper ring to this container.  Molly will be so excited because she is giddy about rings every single time we put one in her lunch.  (We have one for her sister too!)

Our dairy side is a Babybel cheese.  We used the same micro cookie cutter that we used for the cucumbers to cut out a tiny star from the wax.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is ballet slipper cookies.  We dipped nutter butter cookies in pink chocolate, let them set and then added some white chocolate embellishments.  Cute and delicious!

Popcorn Chicken

Molly has chosen to have the hot school lunch tomorrow.  With only a little over a week of school left, this may be her last cafeteria lunch for this school year.  We're hoping! ☺

Picnic Lunch

While looking for inspiration for Molly's lunch, I channeled our weekend.  We had so many picnic-like meals, it was easy to figure out a great lunch.  *side note - has anyone else realized how many different "salads" there are at a picnic?  pasta salad, fruit salad, veggie salad, jello salad, etc.  I wonder if picnic is another word for salad somewhere?  haha!

Our main entree is a cheese tortellini salad.  We cooked up some Trader Joe's cheese tortellini for lunch today for Molly's siblings.  The rest were put in a container, light Italian dressing was added and there you have it. One of Molly's favorites.

Our vegetable side is mini cucumber slices.  We picked up another bag of these mini cucumbers at Sam's Club today.  They are crunchy and great by themselves or dipped into hummus or a yogurt dip.

Our fruit side is strawberries and blueberries.  We saw a lot of fun recipes for strawberries and blueberries incorporated into desserts for memorial day.  The idea of a vanilla yogurt parfait with strawberries and blueberries sounded really good.  This and the next container could be that, just deconstructed.

Our dairy/dessert is vanilla yogurt.  Molly is all about the vanilla yogurt right now.  Parfait or no parfait, it's a great end to a healthy lunch.

Swimming and Sea Creatures

Molly's Grammy and Papa have a beautiful pool in their back yard and we are so lucky to have access to it.  We've spent most of the past two weekends swimming and enjoying family time.  Molly has become quite a little fish.  Her swimming has gotten better and better over the past few summers.  Her new thing is a snorkel.  She just swims around looking underwater at all of the things that "coming up for air" wouldn't let her see before.  Only a few more days of school left before this becomes our full time activity.

Our main entree is a mini cinnamon raisin bagel sandwich.  We split it in half and added whipped cream cheese.  Molly had this last week and loved it.  We added a little sea turtle pick to represent great swimmer, just like Molly.

Our vegetable side is carrot chunks.  This will be a great crunchy addition to lunch.  We added a little shell pick to this container.

Our fruit side is strawberries.  So sweet and juicy with a delicious fragrance and flavor.  We added an octopus pick to this container because it is one of Molly's favorite sea creatures.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is blueberry yogurt.  Molly hasn't had this variety in a while so we figured that it would be a nice change.

Hat Day Lunch

Molly's school is having another Funky Friday$ day tomorrow.  They are collecting money for a new playground.  Each student that participates pays $1 to do what ever that funky thing is.  Tomorrow is hat day and every student is allowed to wear a hat, which is normally not allowed.  Molly is very excited to wear her Hello Kitty fedora.  She laid out her special matching Hello Kitty outfit and can't wait till morning for hat day.

Our main entree is a hat sandwich.  We cut out or whole grain white bread into the shape of a hat and used our food safe markers to decorate it.  Then, we filled it with salami and colby jack cheese, per Molly's request.

Our vegetable side is orange mini peppers.  We cut these peppers into rings and put a cute little purple hat on top of them.  We found these hats (this and the one on the fruit) at a local bake shop.  It's so much fun to find great little treasures, even if we don't quite know what we are going to do with them.

Our fruit side is a kiwi.  We cut the kiwi in half and then into slices so that it's easier to eat.  We also added a fun little pink hat on the top to keep with our theme.

Our dairy side is a cheddar and mozzarella cheese stick.  Since there is no yogurt, we're confident that Molly will be needing a little bit extra to eat.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is dessert hats.  We used fudge stripe cookies for the base, added a mini Reese's peanut butter cup and attached them with some melted red chocolate.  Then we added a little decoration to them because hats are more fun with embellishments.

The Return of an Old Favorite

When we went to Trader Joe's the other day, we picked up a bunch of things and a few old favorites made it into the cart.  Molly used to request pimento cheese sandwiches all of the time.  I introduced pimento cheese spread to my kids one day on the way home from the zoo.  Trader Joe's is very close to the Pittsburgh Zoo so on our way home, we stopped for a snack.  I bought mini whole wheat pitas and the pimento cheese spread as a way to introduce it in a small way, just in case they didn't like it.  Well, they are truly my kids and it showed with their new found love of pimento cheese spread.  We haven't had it for a while so Molly's eyes lit up when she saw it.

Our main entree is mini pimento cheese sandwiches.  We split 5 (there are 6 in a serving according to the nutritional information) Trader Joe's mini whole wheat pitas and filled them with Trader Joe's pimento cheese spread.  Molly is going to go crazy over this blast from the past.

Our vegetable side is mini cucumbers.  We used our crinkle knife to cut these up to make them look more like a pickle.  They are really crunchy and refreshing.

Our fruit side is a peach and some raspberries.  We found these peaches very inexpensively at a huge sale at  a local super market.  We like the combination for both aesthetic appeal and flavor.  

Finally, our dairy/dessert is plain vanilla yogurt.  Molly will more than likely add her raspberries to this yogurt.  She has been loving this combination of vanilla yogurt and fresh berries.

Trader Joe's Inspired Lunch

We made a run out to Trader Joe's yesterday to pick up a few essentials and some other goodies.  We just love Trader Joe's and heard a rumor that there might be one opening much closer to where we live.  It's about a 20 minute drive from where we are right now, but totally worth it!

Our main entree is a Trader Joe's mini Cinnamon Raisin bagel sandwich.  What's better with a bagel than cream cheese?  We added some whipped cream cheese and sandwiched it together.  We also added a little bow pick for fun.

Our vegetable side is Snap Peas Crisps.  These are a fantastic alternative to potato chips.  They are crispy, crunchy and salty.  The best part is that they are made with peas and baked so they are very healthy.  We added a pink flower pick to this container for a reminder of spring.

Our fruit side is strawberries.  These are still from the fresh picked batch of strawberries that Grammy got for us.  All four quarts are almost gone.  To say that we like strawberries at our house would be an understatement.  We added a small dragonfly ring to this container because Molly really likes when we put rings in her lunch.

Our dairy side is a cheddar and mozzarella cheese stick.  We think that Molly might be a little hungry (she didn't eat a lot at dinner tonight) so this is the perfect add on.

Finally, our dessert is peach yogurt.  Molly really likes to put her strawberries into her yogurt and peaches and strawberries are a great pairing.

School Lunch

The temptation of the school lunch strikes again. Chicken Fryz. Ugh! But, we have an agreement and it isn't the worst lunch being served this week. We may be changing our agreement next year from once a week to once a month to buy school lunch. These things that they are feeding the kids are so gross. The nutritional information provided just makes my blood boil. 838 calories for a lunch at school. Might as well feed them Big Macs! I digress. Plus there are only a few more weeks of school and then any "buying" options will be up to us.

Dog Days of Summer

This past weekend, we went to Grammy and Papa's house for some fun in the sun and lots of swimming.  Thing 2 is done with school but Molly still has a few more weeks.  As we were getting ready to leave this evening, Molly was very jealous of Thing 2 because she got to stay another night and Molly had to come home because of school tomorrow.  But, the dog days of summer are right around the corner.

Our main entree is a doggie shaped sandwich.  We made a salami and colby jack cheese sandwich then used a dog shaped cookie cutter, a tiny bone cookie cutter and a small paw print cookie cutter to cut it out.  Then, we used our food safe markers to make it more fun.

Our vegetable side is mini peppers.  We sliced an orange and a red mini pepper into rings.  We think that they will taste great with the sandwich.

Our fruit side is fresh strawberries.  Grammy's friend got these for us.  They are fresh picked from a local farm and their flavor is incredible.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is vanilla yogurt.  Molly asked for plain vanilla yogurt because she like to put some of her strawberries in it.

Pizza Friday!

Thing 2 graduated from preschool today and it was awesome.  The four of us, along with Grammy and Papa, watched as she sang her songs and received her diploma on the stage.  (sniff...sniff...)  She will be joining the ranks at the Elementary School in Kindergarten next year!  That also means that she will be the lucky recipient of a new Laptop Lunchbox of her own and get fun lunches just like Molly.

For now, we're still sticking with lunch just for Molly.  A Fun Friday of yumminess!

Our main entree is cheese pizza.  We picked up a "take and bake" pizza at the grocery store today after graduation so that we'd have an easy dinner.  There were plenty of leftovers so Molly is getting a slice in her lunch tomorrow.

Our vegetable side is a mini cucumber.  We sliced these into little nickle slices so that Molly can just pop them in her mouth.  They are SUPER crunchy and delicious.

Our fruit side is sliced strawberries.  It's the merry berry month of May here in Pittsburgh so the strawberries are plentiful and amazingly scrumptious!

Our dairy side is a mozzarella and cheddar cheese stick.  We wanted to add a little extra protein so that Molly wasn't starving at the end of the day.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is a soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie.  We picked these up as a special treat for Thing 2's special day.  The kids went gaga over them.

Sister's Graduation

Tomorrow, Molly's little sister will graduate from preschool!  We are allowing Molly to miss a few hours of school tomorrow to attend the ceremony.  This means that she will get to school just before lunch.  I had a hard time trying to decide what to do.  Do we let her buy lunch or do we pack something small?  See, there is going to be a "luncheon" at the graduation ceremony.  We don't want to waste food and we aren't sure how much Molly will eat at the preschool.  So, we decided that we are going to bring a brown paper bag with a few ziploc bags so that Molly can eat a little bit at the luncheon and bring some of her leftovers in for lunch.

I am also going to pack a few peanut butter crackers and an apple, just in case there aren't a lot of options for Molly.  Our last resort is to just let her buy lunch at school if she doesn't eat much at all.

I can't believe that Thing 2 is old enough to be graduating from preschool and heading to Kindergarten in the fall.  She is completely ready for the big step but my heart is a little bit sad knowing that she's no longer a baby. Yet, I'm so excited for all of the fun adventures that await her.

Congratulations to the Preschool Class of 2012!!!

Something New

We are trying something new in Molly's lunch tomorrow.  We purchased some chicken burgers a few weeks ago on a trip to Sam's Club.  They are really delicious plus, they aren't breaded and fried like the average chicken nugget.  We've ended up buying a lot more of them.  I've been eating them like a regular piece of grilled chicken during a meal or on a salad...YUM!  I've also had them cold and I think that they are so good that way too.  I'm hoping that Molly feels the same because she gobbles them up at dinner.

Our main entree is an Old World Kitchen Caramelized Onion and Swiss Chicken Burger.  We cut it into strips, like we do for dinner.  There is so much flavor in these that they don't need any kind of dip or spread.

Our vegetable side is sugar snap peas.  Molly went through a period of time when she wasn't a fan of these but luckily, she's gotten over it.  They are juicy and crunchy with such a yummy flavor.

Our fruit side is a MacIntosh apple.  We sliced it up to make it faster to eat.  Elementary kids don't have a lot of time at lunch so anything to help make it easier is great.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is vanilla yogurt with a few Trader Joe's Elegant Cocoa Pearls.  They are a little crunchy and sweet.

May Flowers Lunch

We have breakfast for dinner quite often at our house.  The kids just love it.  Last time I made breakfast for Molly's lunch, I had some fun with a squeeze bottle.  I recalled it tonight when I was making dinner.  I made more Hello Kitty pancakes, smiley faces, a few rocket ships for my son and a whole bunch of flowers.  Those flowers were the inspiration for Molly's lunch tomorrow.

Our main entree is pancakes.  These are honey wheat Krusteaz that we put into a squeeze bottle and created fun flowers with.  We added a side of Biscoff Spread for Molly to dip into.  (That stuff is so delicious that it would make even a plain rice cake taste spectacular!)

Our vegetable side is baby carrots.  Molly has said that they are the best option for a vegetable when breakfast is on the menu.

Our fruit side is a mix of fresh berries.  Raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries that have been cut into flower shapes to match our theme.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is vanilla yogurt.  We added a few berries to liven it up and add more fun flowers to Molly's lunch.