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!

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.

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!

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!

Read Across America and Dr. Seuss Lunch

Each year we celebrate Dr. Seuss day on (or near) his birthday, March 2nd.  This year we decided that we would do a The Cat in the Hat lunch.  We had a few ideas, a few obstacles and a whole lot of fun!

Our main entree is a fish sandwich.  Since it is Friday during lent, we can't have meat (so no ham for green eggs and ham).  We decided to go with the The Cat in the Hat theme right away.  We made a good old peanut butter and jelly sandwich and used our "uncrustable" cutter on it.  Then we added a piece of cheese and drew the fish from The Cat in the Hat on the top....see, a fish sandwich.  tee hee!

Our vegetable side is grape tomatoes skewered with pieces of string cheese on a plastic lollipop stick to create a The Cat in the Hat replica hat.

Our fruit side is a Thing 1 and Thing 2 apple.  We halved the apple and cut a circle out of the skin, then used our food safe gel color and a tooth pick to create the logos seen on the Things shirts.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is The Cat in the Hat cookies!  We dunked Nutter Butters in white chocolate and piped the details with red and dark chocolates.

Valentine's Week Lunches

We had so much fun making Valentine's Day and love themed lunches all week last week.  Sometimes, it's just sometime as simple as using a heart shaped cookie cutter to make a special lunch.

Our Love "lunchable" is turkey pepperoni, provolone cheese cut with a heart shaped cookie cutter and crackers.  Plus, peppers, berries and a Chobani Champions tube.

 We made peanut butter and jelly for Ash Wednesday (since we are Catholic and don't eat meat on that day). We made it extra fun by turning it into a "fairy sandwich" by adding Valentine sprinkles in the cut out area.  This is accompanied by red peppers, blackberries and Chobani Champions tubes.

Finally, our REAL Valentine's Day lunch is hot pink chocolate chip pancakes. (We bought a mix at ALDI.)  We used our food safe markers to put hugs and kisses on our hard boiled egg, added some berries including a heart shaped strawberry, cherry Jell-o jigglers cut into heart shapes, Chobani Champions tubes and an extra little kiss. ♥

All of this week's lunches are in Easy Lunchboxes.

Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day!

Last week of January Plus the 100th Day of School

I think that we will be changing the name of our city to Pittsburrrrgh!  It's very cold this week but with the 100th day of school, there was a lot of fun to be had.

We made some fun sandwiches with our CuteZCute cutters.  We added a few flies to our frog (made with mini heart cutters) and some stars to our bear.  Carrot and celery sticks plus fresh strawberries and blueberries rounded out this fun lunch.

February 1st was the 100th day of school for Molly and Bean.  They LOVE breakfast for lunch so we figured that it would be an easy way to incorporate the 100s.  We made whole grain pancakes and used a squeeze bottle to make 100s (and we added a few chocolate chips to a couple of them).  We cut a few strawberries with our mini number cookie cutters to go on top of the other cut strawberries.  We used our food safe markers to put a 100 on a hard baked egg.  Finally, we put a little sticker on a new Chobani Champions tube and added a fun Friday treat of a white chocolate truffle.  Bean dressed up like she was 100 years old and Molly had a shirt with the number 100 made out of buttons on it.  

January 21 - 25, 2013

A peanut butter and jelly sandwich cut with a fun cupcake cutter from The Lunch Punch.  Strawberries, carrot matchsticks and honey Greek yogurt.  We added lots of sprinkles for fun, all in our Easy Lunchbox.

Bean had a special lunch with her teacher and a few friends so we made it fun with little cut out pb&j sandwiches.  We have strawberries, blueberries, red peppers and strawberry yogurt in our Easy Lunchbox.

Molly had some fun sandwiches that day too along with the same sides as Bean.

Breakfast for Fun Friday lunch!  A whole grain waffle with strawberries and cream cheese, a hard boiled egg, some turkey bacon rosettes, apples and blueberries, Annie's Bunny Grahams and the NEW Chobani Champions Greek yogurt tube!  (The kids LOVED it!)

The first few weeks of January

Since taking a hiatus from the blog, I have gotten a lot more sleep and I'm working on myself a lot more.  I've been trying to be more organized in my shopping and menu planning, plus concentrating on health.  We, as a family, threw caution to the wind a bit over the holidays and needed to get back on the healthy wagon.  

We are still packing lunches for the girls (and so is my husband) every day.  I plan to do a round up like this every week or so.  These are just a few of my favorites from the last couple of weeks.

Our happy winter lunch with a sandwich, peppers, clementines, pomegranates, string cheese (I wrote on the wrapper with a Sharpie marker.) and a fun Friday treat of white chocolate dipped pretzels with peppermint in Easy Lunchboxes.

 Our piggy sandwich (CuteZCute Cutters), cucumbers, sugar snap peas, clementines, apples, blueberries and Chobani Champions in Laptop Lunch Boxes.

Our Elephant sandwich (Lunch Punch cutter), cucumbers, clementines, pomegranates and peach yogurt in Easy Lunchboxes.

Fun Friday Christmas Lunch

We had a fun night tonight filled with traditions.  C. J. had open house at his preschool (which both of the girls attended when they were younger).  We had a great time looking at all of his crafts and meeting his little friends.  Afterward, as we do every year, we drove all around and looked at everyone's Christmas lights.  There were brightly colored twinkling lights and big blow up snowmen, Santas and Snoopys.  We saw some big beautiful displays and some simple displays.  It was awesome!

Our main entree is a salami and cheese sandwich.  We used a Christmas stocking cookie cutter to cut it out and then used our food safe markers to color them in.  I wrote their names on them but they are kind of hard to see.

Our vegetable side is....well corn, maybe.  We added Xochitl tortilla chips in their red and green Christmas variety.

Our fruit side is strawberries.

Finally, our Fun Friday treat is a Trader Joe's Pfeffernusse cookie and a few Christmas themed gummies.

There is also a little note from Lunch Box Love.  They have really cute sayings on the front and then fun trivia on the back.  Use the code: MOLLY to receive 15% off.

Pizza!

After a trip to Trader Joe's, we've got plenty of inspiration for some fun festive lunches, including pizza!

Our main entree is pepperoni pizza.  We used Trader Joe's Middle Eastern Flat Bread for our crust, added Trader Joe's tomato paste, pizza cheese and turkey pepperoni that we cut into tree and snowman shapes with mini cookie cutters.

Our vegetable side is cucumber slices.

Our fruit side is kiwi slices.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is Trader Joe's Strawberry Greek Yogurt.

Pick Your Lunch

This lunch shows a simple way use a few cupcake picks to make lunch look festive.

Our main entree is salami and cheese.  We rolled up a few pieces of salami, cut some colby jack cheese and skewered them with a few fun Christmas picks.

Our vegetable side is orange and yellow pepper rings.

Our fruit side is a clementine and a persimmon.  Bean wasn't too thrilled with the persimmon so only Molly will be eating them.

Finally, our dairy/dessert is vanilla yogurt.