For lunch today, Camryn has a chicken sandwich made to her exact specifications: “light mayo no cheese”, veggie chips, tzatziki in the rainbow box, Hello Panda cookies, grapes, and carrot coins.
Have a great weekend!
Archive | Bento RSS feed for this section
Daily Bento
4 Apr
Camryn tried tzatziki last night for the first time and loved it.
Just in case you have no idea what I’m talking about, tzatziki is a yogurt based sauce with cucumbers, garlic, dill, lemon juice, olive oil, and maybe a little sour cream depending on who’s making it.
She’s never been interested in dips, dressings, sauces or gravies. However there are a few exceptions.
Cream cheese on bagels? Yes.
Nutella on toast? Absolutely.
Hummus on pita? Not on your life, Jack!
Yeah, it pretty much ends there.
In an effort to expand her culinary horizons, I thought I’d try a little taste test with her yesterday afternoon.
I can report that hummus is still a no go but tzatziki – that was a total winner.
She was dipping and munching, all the while telling me about all the things that she thought would go well with it. Celery, carrots, cucumber, apples.
Wait…what?
Yeah, she totally went there.
So she has tzatziki in her lunch today and I have a feeling that it will be making an appearance quite often in the next few days.
One of the things I’ve learned about littles is that they will love something one day and then forget they ever liked it the next.
True fact.
So when my kids try something new and like it, that new food goes into heavy rotation so they don’t conveniently forget how they originally felt about it.
Here’s what’s in today’s lunch:
- PB sandwiches
- Crackers with tzatziki for dipping
- Hello Panda cookies
- Broccoli
- Watermelon
- Organic fruit leather
Items used in this lunch:
Daily Bento
3 Apr
For lunch today Cam has a vegan snack cake that I made last night, Babybel cheese, chopped organic gala apple, carrot coins, and some cheese crackers for a little something salty.
Daily Bento
2 Apr
For lunch today, Camryn had: A chocolate hazelnut sandwich, cheese crackers, watermelon, organic fruit leather, pumpkin & sunflower seeds in the rainbow box, and Hello Panda cookies.
Daily Bento
1 Apr
Spring Break is ovah!
The kids are back in school where they belong and all is right with the world!
Don’t get me wrong, I love my kids.
But when all four of us are cooped up in our small home and 3 out of the 4 of us are sick, it’s no picnic.
There were no trips to the beach or play dates in the park for us last week. Just 9 straight days of 102 degree fevers, incessant coughing, running noses… and the dreaded stomach virus.
I was the only one that made it out of the other side of Spring Break unscathed.
Maybe it’s all my years of having small people cough and sneeze in my face that have rendered me impervious to viruses. Who knows?
I’m just glad the whole ordeal is done.
I made banana bread over the weekend and I threw in some chopped caramels as a special breakfast treat for my adoring children. Their response was “Um, yeah Mom – this banana bread is fine and all but you’re gonna get us some waffles tomorrow, right?”
Ingrates.
Anyway, I thought instead of a sandwich, I’d put some of that banana bread in Cam’s lunch today. I used our FunBites Cube It! to easily cut it into little bite-sized cubes so she could just pop them in her mouth. She also has a Babybel cheese (her new jam), Annie’s Organic Fruit Snacks (under the cheese), strawberries, carrot sticks, and a little treat from her Easter basket.
Easter Bento
30 Mar
Since I hadn’t made any Easter themed lunches this week due to Camryn being sick, I figured I’d better get on it, or Easter would pass me by.
I’m happy to say that Cam does have a bit of her appetite back so she was able to eat lunch today.
In today’s lunch:
- Chocolate hazelnut bunny sandwich with fruit leather details & marshmallow tail
- Apple bunnies with fruit leather details & chocolate covered sunflower seed ears
- Pretzel bunnies
- Cheesy chicks with carrot beaks & fruit leather feet (hatching chick is made out of colby & mozzarella)
- Small piece of chocolate in the plastic egg
*I noticed after the picture was taken that the Easter Bunny’s ear was crooked. She was sitting right next to me when I snapped the pic so I’ll let you figure out what happened 😉 .
Daily Bento
29 Mar
This is just a little snack bento I made for Camryn on Sunday. She still wasn’t feeling great so she was eating smaller meals throughout the day.
In her snacky bento:
- Chocolate Hazelnut sandwich cut with our new FunBites cutter
- Strawberry yogurt
- Strawberries
- Carrot coins
FunBites Review & Giveaway!
28 MarI was asked recently by FunBites if I would be willing to review one of their cutters.
I’m pretty sure that I was the only blogger left in lunch land that didn’t already have one of these. So I think you know what my answer was.
FunBites come in two styles: Cube It! which makes 12 square bite-sized pieces, and Luv It! which makes a geometric heart pattern and two smaller hearts.
I chose the Cube It!
Using FunBites is easy:
Step 1: Place FunBites cutter on top of food. Remove popper top and set to the side.
Step 2: Grab cutter handles on both sides, press down firmly and rock 5-6 times to cut through the food.
Step 3: Lift the cutter up, insert popper top and pop out the bite-sized pieces!
FunBites cutters can be used on sandwiches, fruit, veggies, pizza, burgers, tofu, omelets, cheese, pancakes, pretty much anything.
Seriously, these cutters are tough!
I wanted to do something a bit different with my FunBites Cutter so I used mine to make bite-sized butter cookies. The type of cookie really doesn’t matter here, just make sure your dough is nice and cold.
I like to roll mine out between two sheets of wax paper, so it doesn’t stick, lay it on a sheet pan, and then pop it into the freezer for 20-30 minutes.
Once the dough was chilled and firm, I used my FunBites cutter to cut out the dough squares:
Then I used the popper top to pop them out:
If your dough has chilled enough, you should get nice clean edges just like that up there. However, if your dough sat out for a bit due to… oh, I don’t know, kids who are on spring break and “need you” every two minutes – your dough might not come out so square. If that happens, just tap the edges down lightly with your finger. Easy peasy.
Cookies this size don’t need long to bake. Mine took between 5-7 minutes.
Ta Daaaa!
Cute right!?
Then I got to thinking about other things I could do with the FunBites Cube It!
I had a can of cinnamon rolls in the fridge – perfect! I rolled each of them out just a little and then used the Cube It! to cut little squares. These little cinnamon squares were a big hit with both of my kids. You can serve them with the glaze on the side for dipping as I did below or toss them with the glaze and let them set before you serve them.
I also made:
I just made a grilled cheese sandwich, let it cool for a few minutes so the cheese could set a bit, then cut it with my FunBites Cube It! I plopped a few on top of some veggie soup and it was lunch. If you like your grilled cheese to stay more crisp, just serve them alongside the soup rather than in it. Or serve it on a skewer with some lunch meat and/or a tomato in between for dipping, Yum.
And lastly…
If you’re buying croutons you need to stop it! It’s way too easy (not to mention cheaper) to make them yourself. They taste better too. I use whatever bread we have lying around, this is actually whole wheat sandwich bread. I cut the bread with my Cube It! then I tossed it in a bit of extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. Then I toasted it on a sheet pan in a 300 degree oven for a few minutes until toasty.
After using the FunBites Cube It! for a couple of days, I can see where you could literally use it for every meal. I used it for breakfast, lunch, snack, and even a sweet treat but you could also use it to make bite-sized appetizers or to cut food into a safer size for little ones.
FunBites are:
- Sturdy
- Easy to use
- Fun
- BPA free
- Made in the USA
- Dishwasher safe
If you want to learn more about FunBites, or if you want one for yourself, you can visit their website: www.funbites.com.
Or…
Enter my giveaway and win one!
To enter:
1st: Like FunBites on facebook: facebook.com/FunBites
2nd: Like WSBFL on facebook: facebook.com/WeShouldBeFoldingLaundry
3rd: Tell me in the comments section below which FunBites cutter you would choose if you won, Cube It! or Luv It!
**Rules & other super important info**
You must complete all 3 steps to win!
The winner will be selected by Random.org on April 4th, at noon and notified by email. Winner has 48 hours to respond. If I don’t receive a response from the original winner within 48 hours, I will choose another winner via Random.org.
This FunBites giveaway is open to all residents of the US & Canada.
Disclosure: I received a FunBites Cube It! cutter to review. No other compensation was provided by FunBites. All photos are the property of WSBFL and opinions given in this review are solely my own.
* This giveaway is now closed.
Daily Bento – Blast From The Past
22 MarThe funk has invaded our house.
Both of the kids are sick and both have very different ailments.
The oldest is dealing with a stomach bug while the youngest has a respiratory infection.
How does that even happen?
Camryn has been eating small meals throughout the day so I didn’t make a fancied up lunch yesterday or today.
I did however remember a certain lunch that I made for her over a weekend last month that I never posted.
I actually can’t believe I’m going to show it to you because honestly, it’s not my best work.
Camryn must have agreed because when she saw it she said “Mom, that pig looks crazy.”
She’s right. There’s a creepy look in his cheesy eyes.
Cam was going through a pretty serious Angry Birds phase a few months ago so I thought it would be fun to surprise her with an Angry Birds lunch.
The only problem was that I wasn’t real sure what those pigs and birds looked like. I only played it once, ages ago after several minutes of pleading from my husband and daughter.
I’m not into the vidja games which makes me the odd man out in my household.
Call me crazy, but as a SAHM I can usually find something more productive to do like cooking, cleaning, or child rearing than sitting around playing video games.
I’m not knocking anyone that does sit around and play those games all day, go for it if that’s your thing – no judgement. But I have a really addictive personality and I have no doubt that if I started playing, even if just for fun, I would soon be hooked and before you know it, my house would look like a cross between the second half of a Harlem Shake video (you know, where the kids are on the counters with mixing bowls on their heads) and one of those houses on Hoarders.
Not pretty.
Plus, it would be kind of hard to justify my not working if my husband had to do all the housework and work a full-time job at night because I was obsessed with getting to the next level of Halo or Assassins Creed or Zelda or whatever it is the kids are into these days.
Yeah, I’d say my reasoning is pretty solid.
So back to my dilemma, I looked on the interweb and luckily those pigs are everywhere. Plus, we had some Angry Birds graham crackers and their little faces were all over the box.
So there’s really no excuse for what I’m about to show you.
Sigh…
I’m telling you, that’s a Halloween mask waiting to happen. Take note costume manufacturers.
I believe that behind that psychopathic glare is a chicken sandwich. His eyes were made out of mozzarella cheese stick slices and food grade marker. The mouth and eyebrows were made out of organic fruit leather. His teeth were also made from mozzarella cheese.
I also put strawberries, pineapple, cheese stars, fruit leather letter cut-outs, and Angry Birds graham crackers in this lunch.
Daily Bento – Made by Daddy!
20 MarToday is my wedding anniversary.
So I think it’s somehow fitting that the hubs offered to make lunch today.
I gave him free reign of the kitchen and all of the lunch making supplies.
He asked Cam exactly what she wanted for lunch and then went to work peeling, chopping, and arranging everything until it was just right.
It was so sweet watching how much time and care he put into making Camryn’s lunch.
It made my bento loving heart go pitter pat.
I know… gross.
Still, you gotta love a man who puts as much effort into the things that you love as you do.
Even if it is just lunch. 😉
Seriously. How cute is that lunch!?
In Cam’s lunch today:
- Bear sandwich. He used a rice mold to cut the sandwich. I would have never thought of that!
- Organic fruit leather cut-outs
- Banana cream-filled graham crackers
- Yogurt in the cat container
- Grape tomatoes
- Celery & carrots
Now that I know that he’s some sort of lunch packing savant, I think he needs a regular segment on this blog!
.jpg)
Beyond The Bento
We Should Be Folding Laundry 