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!

Halloween Inspired Lunch and a special giveaway!!

Are you a fan of ours on Facebook? We are running a little contest for our fans.  Make a lunch (any lunch), take a photo of it, post that photo on our Facebook page, tag Molly's Lunch Box and get your friends to like it.  You could win a bunch of awesome Halloween themed fun for your lunches. :)  (See the photo below)
Tomorrow's lunches are inspired by Halloween and a few of the fun things in our giveaway!

Our main entree is a pumpkin shaped salami and cheese sandwich.  The girls both requested this for their lunch.  We used our food safe markers to make a jack-o-lantern face.

Our vegetable side is cucumber slices and a mini orange pepper that we carved a jack-o-lantern face out of.

Our fruit side is kiwi slices.  We think that they look kind of like monster eyes...if we stretch it a little.  haha!

Our dairy side is a Babybel cheese.  We used some mini cookie cutters to cut an acorn and a leaf out of the red wax.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is S'mores drizzled mini crisps and we added a few Halloween sprinkles.

We used a candy corn and Charlie Brown Halloween napkin from our friends at Red Poppy Crafts.

We've got some great accessories to make a fun Halloween lunch.  Take our Facebook Challenge and all of this could be yours!

Cookie cutters, cupcake liners, food picks and napkins.

Fast and Fun Lunches with Chobani Champions

If you read Molly's Lunch Box often, you know how much we LOVE our Chobani Champions.  We were lucky enough to do a guest post for them with their "Win The Day" theme.  If you want to try Chobani Champions, keep reading.  There is something special at the bottom of this post!

As a Mother of three young kids, I am beyond grateful for every little win of every day.  Whether it is the successful reading of a book, a play date without drama or even a good potty day while potty training, they are all little smiles on my face that I am thankful for. 

I think that it is important to give those little wins back too.  In my blog, Molly’s Lunch Box, I strive to make a fun healthy lunch for my daughter, and soon her sister too.  Molly had a very difficult time with separation anxiety in Kindergarten and making these little boxes of love from home helped her tremendously.  That sprung into an almost daily routine for us.

*pit cherries for young children.

*my kids love their Chobani Champions frozen in silicon molds for fun shapes.

I am often asked how I have the time to make these cute lunches daily.  Many of my readers think that it is beyond time consuming.  Honestly, making the lunches rarely takes a long time.  If you have a plan and the right tools, it usually doesn’t take more than 10 minutes to put a smile on your child’s face and give them a win for the day.

I divide our lunches into a main entrée (sandwich, salad, wrap, etc.), a vegetable, a fruit and a dairy/dessert (that’s where Chobani Champions fits in perfectly!).  I usually have an idea of what to make, based on what is in the refrigerator.  I get out my cookie cutters and cute little cupcake picks to jazz it up a bit and BOOM, fun healthy lunch and a happy kid.  Plus, my kids will eat more if something is cut into a fun shape.  There is something about finger foods and kids that works together so well.

Here is a great “for instance” back to school lunch.  A classic peanut butter (or sunflower seed butter if there are restrictions at your child’s school) and jelly sandwich.  I used a cookie cutter to make a cute shape.  (10 extra seconds)  I chopped a carrot and used a Japanese vegetable cutter to cut that into a fun shape.  (30 extra seconds)  An apple seemed like a great choice for back to school so I used a small cookie cutter to cute a heart out of the skin. (15 extra seconds)  I then added Chobani Champions Verry Berry, which is a great source of protein and calcium.  (I probably saved a few seconds there.J)  Finally, I added a few back to school themed picks just for fun.  (30 extra seconds)  All told, it took just over a minute more than if I were to make just a pb&j, cut up a carrot, halve and core an apple and add some Chobani Champions.  The smiles that come home after school are COMPLETELY worth it.  My kids may have lots of other little wins for the day but I know that even if their day is bad, their lunch is a win. J

If you want to try this and start out small, try making an after school snack.  That too will put a smile on your child’s face.

*There are some lunches on my blog that did take more than 10 minutes but those are mostly for special occasions. 

*I make most of the lunches after the kids go to bed.

Chobani Champions makes making lunches a lot easier.  If you'd like to try them right away, they have coupons on their website.  Or if you want to try them for free, we are giving away a variety pack (all 4 flavors) of Chobani Champions to 3 of our lucky readers.  To enter...

1. Leave a comment and tell me what your favorite lunch was when you were in school. (Mandatory)

2. Like Molly's Lunch Box on Facebook and tell me that you did.

3. Share this blog post on your Facebook page and tell me that you did.

4. Like Chobani Champions on Facebook.

5. Follow Molly's Lunch Box on Pinterest and tell me that you did.

6. Pin this Giveaway on Pinterest and leave the link to the Pin.

Our winners will be chosen at random on Wednesday, August 15th, 2012 at 9am EST.
US residents only, please. 

Thank You and Good Luck!

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED.  THANKS TO ALL THAT ENTERED!

Back to School Lunch Essentials List

It’s that time of year again.  The store shelves are lined with back packs, pencils, crayons, paper and tons of back to school accessories.  Let’s not forget about lunch though.  There are lots of things available to make your child’s (or your) lunch fun and healthy.  *I’ve included several links and some discount codes within this post.*

1.      The Lunch Box

We have been using the Laptop LunchesLunch Box for the last few years.  It is a great system and although it seems a bit pricey, this is our third year using the same one and we’re still going strong.

*I would recommend any of the 2.0 Kits or Systems by Laptop Lunches. 

*I would also recommend getting a set of Bento Buddies so that you would have the option of a large container and a couple of the smaller ones in case one was in use or dirty.

*I would recommend the Laptop Lunches plastic drink bottles.  We’ve never had any leak problems with them.

My Bento Blogger Friends also can’t say enough good things about Easy Lunch Boxes.  They are BPA free, light weight and dishwasher/microwave safe.  We can’t wait to try them.

*They also have a carrier that keeps lunches cold and it is easy to clean.

*There are 4 boxes in each set so you’ll have one ready without having to run the dishwasher every day.  (We pretty much do anyway though. J)

*They are now going to be carrying Mini Dippers so that you can have a leak proof small container to put in your Easy Lunch Box for dips and salad dressings. Plus, we’ve heard a rumor about another leak proof small container to hold things like applesauce, yogurt and cottage cheese.
****UPDATE****  We LOVE our Easy Lunch Boxes and use them so often that they are always in the dishwasher.  They are great for leftovers for grown ups and lunches for kids.

2.      The Drink Container/Thermos

As I mentioned above, we’ve had great luck with the Laptop Lunches plastic drink container and would highly recommend it.

We have a Thermos drink holder with a straw.  Molly takes that to use in the classroom when she has a cough or if it’s really hot.  (With the teacher’s permission, of course.)

We also have a Thermos food jar for warm foods like soups and pastas.  These stay warm from the time we load them in the morning until lunch time. (*note: we fill the Thermos container with hot water while microwaving the food that will go into it.  Then, we dump the water and fill the Thermos with the food.  It seems to help with keeping things warm.)

3.      Keeping It Cool

We’ve been asked by several readers how we keep Molly’s lunch cold during the hot months of school.  It’s pretty easy with the Laptop Lunch Box because there is a small pouch in the carrier that can hold an ice pack.  There is also room in the Easy Lunch Box carrier so that the ice pack is right on top of the lid and keeps the food cold.  We’ve used the blue gel kind and also ones that look like ice cubes.  The biggest thing is to get something that lies rather flat.  Molly is in charge of putting her ice pack in her lunch in the morning and putting it in the freezer when she gets home.

4.      The Fun Stuff

We are lucky enough to have an amazing bake shop very close to our house and they have a great supply of cookie cutters and cupcake picks.  Our kids will eat more of something if it is cut out in cute shapes and decorated.  If you don’t have a place like this near you, check out your local craft store or the internet.  We have purchased a lot of things from AllThings For Sale. 

Here’s a list of our recommendations:

            *Cookie cutters for sandwiches.

            *Mini or micro cookie cutters for fruits, vegetables and other produce or sandwiches.

            *Silicone cupcake liners. They are nice for separating foods.

            *Cupcake picks, food safe rings or bento utensils.

            *Food safe markers

            *Sprinkles (dye free if your child is sensitive)

            *Lunch notes (available at Lunch Box Love or you can hand write them) (ps - use coupon
              code MOLLY to save 15% off Lunch Box Love Notes)

            *Cloth napkins

            *A container to put everything in (it’s important to be organized so that you can make 

              your lunches quickly and easily)

5.      A Plan

We try to write out a weekly menu but sometimes that becomes difficult when we get busy.  We usually look at the grocery store ads and start there so that we know what is on sale and what we have on hand.  If that seems like too much, there is a website called MOMables that does it all for you and even includes recipes and a shopping list.  We’ve used it and have had wonderful results.  They even have sample menus on their site to see if it would suit you.  *Stay tuned for a MOMables giveaway within the next few days!*

Theme lunches can be fun too.  We will look at our cookie cutters or cupcake/bento picks and go from there or look at the school calendar for inspiration. (ie: yellow day or Dr. Seuss’s Birthday)  We also look at the school lunch calendar just to see if we can make something similar but healthier. (ie: pizza or chicken nuggets)

6.      The Food

Like I said, we usually have a plan but there are some staples that are always good to have on hand.

            *Natural peanut butter/Sunflower Seed Butter

            *Low sugar jam/jelly/preserves

            *Whole grain or gluten free bread

            *Hard Boiled Eggs

            *Applesauce

            *Yogurt/Greek Yogurt (We like Chobani Champions)

            *Cheese sticks or Babybel Cheese

            *Cooked whole grain pasta (for pasta salad or to heat up with sauce)

            *Bagged salad

            *Baby carrots

            *Frozen or canned vegetables

            *Apples (we like MacIntosh or Empire because they don’t brown as quickly)

            *Fresh fruits and vegetables that your kids like (we usually have berries, peppers and 

              cucumbers in our refrigerator at all times)


Feel free to ask any questions below and have a great new school year! ☺