Happy Halloweenie!!!

We LOVE Halloween at our house.  Molly usually starts thinking up her costumes for the next year as soon as she gets home from Trick or Treating.  

We always have fun with our food too.  We've made the hot dog mummies before but we found a new version on Pinterest and tried it out. 

Our main entree is a crescent roll wrapped hot dog in the shape of a mummy.

Our vegetable side is a mini orange pepper with a jack o lantern face cut out of it.

Our fruit side is a monster mouth.  It's an apple with a little bit of peanut butter and some mini marshmallow teeth.

Finally, our special treat we have Franken Fingers, pretzel rods dipped in green chocolate with a pumpkin seed finger nail and dark chocolate decorations.  Also, a little Rice Krispie treat.  We added some pieces of pretzel plus some chocolate chips and decorated with chocolate chip spiders.

Happy Halloween!!!!

Happy Birthday, Friend!

Last week, Molly was invited to eat lunch with one of her friends and a few other classmates because it was her friend's birthday.  Since Molly's birthday isn't until the summer, it was nice to make a birthday themed lunch during the school year.

Our main entree is a roast beef and smoked Gouda sandwich.  We used our Lunch Punch birthday cake sandwich cutter and food safe markers to decorate it.

Our vegetable side is pepper rings.  We added a few birthday candle picks to keep with our theme.

Our fruit side is grapes with a birthday pick.

Our dairy side is a Chobani Champions Dragon Fruit yogurt tube.

Finally, we baked some brownies with sprinkles on top and cut out a small piece as our special birthday dessert.  

Happy Birthday, Katelynn!

Bean's Special Day

Bean's school is participated in a HUGE Scholastic book sale.  Parents were allowed to come in and have lunch with their child and then shop for some books.  Well, Daddy decided to surprise her and show up for lunch and shopping!  She was SO excited and it really made her day.

Bean's main entree is a peanut butter and orange marmalade sandwich.  We used our food safe markers to draw a book and write the word, "read" on it.

Her veggie side is celery slices, per her request.

Her fruit side is fresh raspberries and clementine segments.

Daddy brought in a special little treat for her dessert.  They still haven't told me what it was.  Must have been really good!

Life Got In The Way (But a Yummy Banana Muffin Recipe to Make Up For It!)

Yep, typical situation.  We're still making our house a home after the move and Daddy and I both have been training for various running events.  Plus, we're both fundraising for our Pittsburgh Marathons by selling headbands that I make.  We're running for a charity this year and need to raise funds.  The blog was pushed to the back burner but I still took a couple of pictures!

So, we have two fun lunches with a great go-to recipe!

Our first lunch is an Eggo Pumpkin Waffle sandwich with whipped cream cheese and thinly sliced apples inside.  WELCOME FALL!

Our vegetable side is pepper slices.

Our fruit side is strawberries.

Our dairy/dessert is a Chobani Champions Strawberry Banana tube.

Our second lunch is Healthy Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins.  Recipe below.

Our veggie side is cucumber slices.

Our fruit side is raspberries and clementine segments.

Our dairy/dessert was Greek yogurt with honey in a silicone tube.  It didn't make the photo.

Healthy Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Yields 12 muffins

2-3 ripe (very ripe) bananas mashed

1/3 cup honey

*1/3 cup natural peanut butter VERY IMPORTANT (The stuff you can make yourself or at Whole Foods)

2/3 cup plain Greek yogurt

2 tsp PB2 peanut butter powder

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup chocolate chips

Mix the first 5 ingredients together in a large bowl.  Add the next 5 ingredients and mix well.  Finally, add the chocolate chips.  The batter will be pretty thick.

Add batter to lined muffin tin.  

Bake at 400 degrees F for 5 minutes, then turn the oven down to 375 degrees F and bake for 10-12 more minutes.  A toothpick will come out clean aside from some yummy melted chocolate.

Homemade Lunchable

One of the girls' favorite lunches is the homemade Lunchable.  They get to play with their food and "help" cook their lunch.  So, our featured lunch this week (we're going back to weekly posts) is the Fun Friday Lunchable in Laptop Lunchboxes.

Our main entree is a homemade Lunchable made with salami, turkey pepperoni, provolone and colby jack cheeses.  We used a small cookie cutter to cut the salami and cheese and added a little froggy pick to the box.  

We also have Ritz crackers for the girls to make sandwiches with.  We added a little ladybug pick to them. 

Our fruit side is a pink lady apple that has been cut into chunks.

Our dairy side is plain Greek yogurt with honey mixed in it and a few sprinkles for fun.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is a small piece of Dove milk chocolate.

Pepperoni Roll

I went to my favorite bake shop to get some birthday goodies (my birthday was yesterday) and picked up a pepperoni roll for the girls while I was there so tomorrow's lunch was nice and easy. 

Tomorrow's lunch is in a Laptop Lunches bento box.

Our main entree is the scrumptious pepperoni roll.

Our vegetable side is mixed pepper rings.

Our fruit side is raspberries and blueberries.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is plain Greek yogurt with honey and a few sprinkles.

Brinner for Lunch

Tonight we had Brinner, you know, breakfast for dinner.  

The girls asked if the leftovers could be their lunch for tomorrow.  Easy for me!

Our main entree is pancakes.  The girls like these just plain but I put a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar on them for an extra flavor.

Our fruit side is strawberries.

Our protein side is turkey bacon.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is Chobani Champions Tubes.

Cold Pizza

Oh Monday...why must you come and bring the weekend to an end?

One good thing about Monday is the weekend leftovers!

Our main entree is cold leftover pizza from the weekend.  The girls are huge fans of cold pizza.  

Our vegetable side is baby carrots.  We have an Easy Lunchboxes Mini Dipper with a little bit of Ranch dressing in it for dipping.

Our fruit side is raspberries and blueberries.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is plain Greek yogurt with honey in a silicone tube.

Friday By Request

Both of the girls had their own ideas for lunch tomorrow so we went with it!

Tomorrow's lunches are in Easy Lunchboxes.

 

Bean requested another pumpkin bread sandwich but with whipped cream cheese in the middle.

Molly requested a hot dog with a relish/mustard mix on the side.

Our vegetable side is seedless cucumbers cut with a crinkle knife.  

Our fruit side is red grapes.

Molly has a GoGurt Simple in strawberry and Bean (who is getting very picky lately) has plain Greek yogurt with honey that we made and put into a silicone ice pop maker.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is a little Dove chocolate.

Pita Pizza

The girls have always been cold pizza fans and asked for a pizza lunch.

This is one of my favorite things to make because it's so easy.

Tomorrow's lunch is in Easy Lunchboxes.

Our main entree is a pita pizza.  We spread a thin coat of tomato paste on a whole grain pita, topped with a sprinkle of Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute, shredded mozzarella and some turkey pepperoni.  Bake and let cool, slice and then right into the lunch box. 

Our vegetable side is baby carrots.  There is a small container (Easy Lunchboxes Mini Dippers) of Ranch for them to dip their carrots in.

Our fruit side is fresh raspberries.

Finally, our dairy dessert is a new Gogurt Simple yogurt tube.

Pumpkin Bread Sandwich

Oh yes, it's the most wonderful time of the year, in my opinion at least.  Fall/Autumn brings cool crisp air, fresh apples, pumpkins, beautiful leaves and the most amazing smell!

We're getting a little taste of it here in Western Pennsylvania today and so is our lunch for tomorrow.

Lunch is in an Easy Lunchbox.  Link below.

 Our main entree is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on Pepperidge Farm Limited Edition Pumpkin Spice Swirl Bread.  YUM!!!!

Our veggie side is a white cucumber and a few pepper rings.

Our fruit side is a Chambersburg peach.

Finally our dairy/dessert (not pictured...oops!) is Chobani Champions Yogurt Tubes.

Make Your Own Lunchables

One of the girls' favorite things for lunch is make your own Lunchables.  They like to pick their favorite meats and cheeses, then add some crackers.  We like that we can choose healthier things than what is in the deli case.  Our lunch is in Easy Lunchboxes.  Link below

Our main entree is honey ham wrapped around a string cheese and then sliced.  We added some butter crackers for the girls to stack their meat on.

Our vegetable side is a white cucumber.  We were given one of these by a really nice man at our local farmer's market.  The skin tasted bitter so we removed it but the rest was really nice.

Our fruit side is fresh blueberries.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is a Chobani Champions Greek yogurt Tube!  YUM!

Day 5, FUN FRIDAY!!!

We've made it!!!!  We have survived the first week of school!!!

We've always had a tradition of having a dessert or something fun on Fridays as a way to celebrate making it through the week.  Well, this week is our first Fun Friday of the year in Laptop Lunch Boxes.  Link below.

 

Our main entree is a pepperoni roll from an awesome little bake shop near our new house.  We added a small container of Ranch for dipping.

Our vegetable side is baby carrots.

Our fruit is grapes and clementine segments.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is two heart shaped cookies from the bakery.

Day 4 of School

So, we were a little crazy in the spring while getting ready to move and got a puppy.  Yes, horrible timing and a lot of responsibility but he was too cute to pass up.  A great friend works at The Animal Rescue League of Pittsburgh and posted his picture on Facebook and we just couldn't resist.

I mean....could you say no to this adorable little face?  

Instantly, Dublin became part of our family.

The girls asked for a puppy themed lunch in honor of him (who is now about 4 times this size!).  Our lunch is in Laptop Lunch Boxes.  Link below.

 

Molly had a smoked gouda and ham sandwich and Bean's is pb&j.  We used our Lunch Punches to cut out our sandwiches and colored on them with food safe markers.

Our vegetable side is baby carrots for Molly and cucumbers for Bean.

Our fruit side is sliced strawberries.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is Chobani Champions tubes.

ps - they're having a 72 hour sale!!!  

Day 3!

Bean requested mac and cheese for tomorrow's lunch so we are breaking out our Thermos containers and Lunch Bots.  Links below.

Our main entree is Annie's White Cheddar Shells.  Our method is to microwave the pasta in a separate container in the morning, fill the Thermos with hot water from our Keurig to warm it up, dump the water and fill the Thermos with the hot pasta.  The girls say that their lunches are piping hot at school.

Our fruit side is a Chambersburg peach and some prune plum segments.

Our vegetable side is baby carrots, cucumbers and pepper rings.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is a Chobani Champions tube.

2nd Day of School

The girls had a FANTASTIC first day of school.  They absolutely love their new schools, teachers and friends.  We're hopeful that this positive trend will keep going for the rest of the year!

The school is having breakfast for lunch tomorrow so we went with it.  Our lunches today are in Laptop Lunch Boxes using the large insert.  Link below.

Our main entree is a waffle sandwich.  We added whipped cream cheese to 2 waffles (chocolate chip for Molly and whole grain for Bean) and then added thinly sliced peaches.

Our fruit side is champagne grapes (known as baby grapes in our house).

Our protein side is two slices of bacon.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is a Chobani Champions Greek yogurt tube.

1st Day of School!

Tomorrow is the first day of school for Molly and Bean.  They are in a new school, new district and they are going to different buildings for the first time.  It's quite an adjustment but we are thrilled with our move and can't wait to see what the future has in store. Our first lunch is in Laptop Lunch Boxes, a great way to have a waste free lunch.  (link below)

Bean chose cucumber boats (pickling cucumbers hollowed out and stuffed with whipped cream cheese with a little bit of dry ranch mix in it.) for her first main entree.  We added a few pepper rings for some color.

She also has a few crackers and a couple of pieces of turkey pepperoni.

Molly chose pasta salad for her main entree.  She's always been a big fan.

Her vegetables are cucumber slices and pepper rings.  

Both girls have mixed berries for their fruit side.

Finally, their special first day dessert is a Rice Krispie Treat with a few sprinkles added for fun.

Happy first day of school, girls!!!!

We also had to make sure that the teachers were not forgotten.  We made a survival kit for each of them so that they can have a great first day too. 

We picked up a few essentials at the Target travel section.  Tissues, hand sanitizer, band aids, Altoids, Tooth "brushes", Tums, Chap Stick, Advil, Hand lotion, a yummy Annie's snack, a few Hershey's Kisses and of course, the coveted red pen.

All packed up in a re-usable bin with and a little note of appreciation.  

Bring Your Child to Work Day!

Molly is beyond excited for Bring Your Child to Work Day tomorrow.  She went with Daddy to work last year and had an absolute blast.  We whipped up a fun little lunch for her to bring since she wasn't a fan of the lunch last year.  (How does she remember these things?)

Our main entree is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich cut into a star shape.  We added a few fun picks to show how much we love Molly and Daddy!

Our vegetable side is cucumbers and red peppers.

Our fruit side is oranges and red grapes.

We also added a Chobani Champions tube and made a little snack box filled with some pretzels, Annie's bunny graham crackers and Craisins.

Happy Easter Lunch

Today is the last day of school before Easter break for the girls.  They were supposed to have today and Tuesday off but a day off in October due to Hurricane Sandy and a snow day a couple of weeks ago have shortened their vacation a little bit.  We are excited to enjoy time with family and friends celebrating the glorious reason for Easter.  Christ is RISEN!!!  We are also anticipating spring...eventually!  Hopefully our bunnies and chick will be a reminder that it will be here soon. 

Our main entree is yummy bunnies.  We added some shredded cheese to pizza dough, baked it and used some cookie cutters and food safe markers to bring our bunnies to life.

Our vegetable side is shredded carrots under the bunnies.  If Bean is lucky, her bunnies got hungry and ate them...she's not a huge fan of carrots.

Our fruit side is fresh strawberries.  I found these little strawberries at the store yesterday and they are so sweet and delicious. 

Our extra side is a little chick popping out of his egg.  We used a hard baked egg, cut a small part of the white off and added a little carrot beak and used our food safe markers to make eyes.  SO CUTE!  

Happy Easter!!!

The Wizard of Oz Lunch Hop

Some of the Bento Bloggers and Friends and I are celebrating the opening of the movie Oz, The Great and Powerful today.  We all put our creative thinking caps on and did our best to represent the classic The Wizard of Oz.  Enjoy and keep hopping for more fun!

Our main entree is an Emerald Castle sandwich with some cheesy embellishments.  We love our food safe markers!!

Our vegetable side is a small salad with a red pepper house, like the one that Dorothy arrived to Oz in.

Our fruit side is blueberries and ruby slipper strawberries.  We used a small shoe cookie cutter to replicate the iconic shoes.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is a lollipop...you know, like the Lollipop Guild. 

Now check out what fanciful things Rina has lined up over at Bento School Lunches!