Tag Archives: Lunchbox Love

Happy Halloween!

31 Oct

halloween bento

 

Cam’s class is walking to the park this morning for some playground fun and they’re having a pizza party later this afternoon.

Lucky kids.

It’s actually a reward for all of the kids who got good grades and good behavior on their report cards but it happened to fall on Halloween.

Cam was so sick with strep last Halloween that she couldn’t get off the couch all day. She couldn’t eat, I had to help her walk, she lost her vision for a while, it was bad. Bad enough that it took four weeks and two rounds of strong antibiotics to get rid of it.

After what she went through last year, I think she deserves a super special Halloween so we’ve got lots of trick or treating planned for later tonight, and I made her a really fun lunch that I think she’ll love.

In her Easy Lunchbox she has three vampire bat sandwiches, a couple of cheesy party pumpkins, a chocolate cookie that I made using a cookie stamp, strawberries, grapes, popcorn, candy corn, and a few black sugar skulls.

I hope everyone has a fun night!

Happy Halloween! ♥

 

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29 Oct

halloween bento 2014 pumpkins

 

I went with a pumpkin theme for today’s lunch.

Or maybe it’s a pumpkin/bell pepper theme because that taller sandwich looks more like a bell pepper to me than a pumpkin.

Do you see it too?

The two “pumpkin” sandwiches are filled with chocolate hazelnut spread. These were made using some inexpensive cookie stamps that I found at Wal-Mart last year. I bought a bag that contained several different cutters and didn’t get to use them all during Halloween week last year.

I also attached a cute pumpkin sticker (found on sale of course) to a Babybel, and tossed in some black grapes with these cute eye picks, pumpkin-shaped pretzels, and a few pieces of candy corn.

 

 

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It’s Halloween Bento Week!

27 Oct

I love Halloween.

I mean, dressing up as anyone or anything you want in exchange for free candy and fun treats?

I’m in!

But my favorite part of Halloween has actually become the lunches that I make for Cam.

I think she looks forward to eating them as much as I look forward to making them for her.

Last year I made her a different Halloween themed lunch every day for a week leading up to Halloween.

That went over so well that I’ve decided to do it again.

But before I show you today’s lunch, I wanted to share a few of my favorite Halloween lunches, in case you need some spooky lunch inspiration.

 

Halloween bento 2013 collage

 

Now, on to today’s slightly spooky lunch.

 

halloween bento

 

I found the super cute Halloween pasta at Aldi last week for $1.99 and knew right then that I had to use it in one of Cam’s lunches.

I mixed in a few tomatoes because they reminded me of pumpkins and big yellow moons, and sprinkled Italian seasoning over the top which she suggested could represent graveyard grass.

She also has a banana ghost which is just a banana cut in half with chocolate chip facial features and a cute little hat.

I also used cutters from this set to make apple ghosts. The facial features were cut from the apple’s skin. I used a golden delicious apple which provided the perfect shade of ghostly glow green (say that three times fast).

Come back tomorrow to see what creepy concoction I’ve come up with.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Daily Bento

9 Oct

 

Today, Cam’s Laptop Lunchbox contains a chicken sandwich on Hawaiian bread, some cheese crackers, a few pieces of mozzarella cheese, and a small salad of romaine hearts and sweet pepper rings.

 

 

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Daily Bento

18 Sep

 

Cam’s Easy Lunchbox holds a cute sandwich, chocolate covered almonds, carrot coins, chopped celery, a few veggie sticks (I seem to have a bottomless bag), and some good advice courtesy of one of our Lunchbox Love notes.

 

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Daily Bento

16 Sep

Cam loves finding Lunchbox Love notes in her lunch every day.

In fact, when I sent her off to school without one last Friday, she was sure to let me know that going forward, that would not be satisfactory.

Whoops.

So along with today’s Lunchbox Love note, the little one has two tiger sandwiches that I made with our Cuddle Palz cutter from CuteZCute, some red pepper rings, and a few veggie straws.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Daily Bento

15 Sep

The kids had pizza for dinner over the weekend so it was a no-brainer to add the leftovers to today’s lunch.

Along with her pizza, Cam has romaine hearts and sweet peppers, pineapple chunks, and dark chocolate covered almonds. I also included a fruit & veggie strip but I highly doubt she’ll get to it. If not, she can eat it while she does her homework this afternoon.

 

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Daily Bento

4 Sep

 

One of the comments that I received on Facebook a while ago went something like this:

“I’d like to see your grocery bill every week.”

This comment actually came from a friend so there was no ill will intended but I assume that what she was getting at was, since I don’t pack the same thing for lunch for my daughter every day, I must spend an astronomical amount of money.

Actually, it’s quite the opposite. I used to walk into a grocery store and think nothing of blowing most of my paycheck on groceries but that was when I was working full-time and earning a decent living. Now my job is to take care of my home and my family and although it’s the best job I’ve ever had, it doesn’t pay anything. So I’ve had to become a lot more frugal than I used to be.

I don’t like to give my daughter the same thing for lunch every day nor does she want the same lunch every day.

So how do I cater to my daughter’s love of a variety of different foods and still stay within my budget?

Today’s lunch is a great example of how I’m able to do just that. I pack leftovers for lunch whenever possible, I always buy what’s on sale and use coupons whenever possible, and I buy ingredients that I can use in multiple dishes throughout the week.

Pictured above is her lunch from today that contained leftover pasta salad from last night’s dinner which was just veggie pasta, chopped cherry tomatoes, herbs, parmesan, and a simple Italian dressing. Easy peasy.

I also tossed in some seedless watermelon chunks that I got for a crazy good deal because they were in season and on a BOGO (buy one get one) sale last week. The fruit-filled cereal bar was also purchased on sale and with a coupon. Those aren’t something that I normally buy for my daughter but I was able to get them for next to nothing and I know she enjoys finding them in her lunch from time to time.

I’m not sure if that particular friend ever reads this blog but I had suddenly remembered her comment today and this particular lunch is such a great example of a few of the ways that I save money on lunch packing that I figured, why not address it here?

So I did.

Do you have any money-saving tips for lunch packers? Let me know in the comments section below.

 

 

 

 

 

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Daily Bento

3 Sep

 

Lunch today includes four blueberry mini muffins that I made last night after dinner. As soon as they were cool enough to handle, Cam grabbed the container that they were in and promptly ate nine of them. I’m fairly certain that she would have finished them all if I hadn’t suggested that we save a few for lunch today.

She also has some steamed edamame with sea salt, grape tomatoes, grapes, and veggie straws in her Laptop Lunchbox.

The blue container comes with a lid which is great because this lunch will be carried sideways today. After I snapped this picture, I just placed on the lid and laid the Lunchbox Love note on top for her to find at lunch.

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Daily Bento

13 Apr

pizza grilled cheese bento

 

Is pizza grilled cheese a thing?

I mean, is this something that people are doing?

I haven’t checked Pinterest because every time I think that I’ve come up with an out of this world original idea, Pinterest is there to remind me that everything has already been done.

Thanks a lot Pinterest.

And while we’re on the subject, did you know that yesterday was National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day?

I sure didn’t. I found out after I had already made lunch. I love when that happens.

Here’s how this particular sandwich masterpiece comes together:

Just like you would if you were making a regular old grilled cheese sandwich, you’ll need to spread butter on one side of two slices of bread. Then shake a little garlic salt and Italian seasoning over the buttered bread.

Fill the sandwich with your favorite pizza fixin’s: Italian cheese blend or mozzarella, pepperoni, ham, peppers, onions, olives, mushrooms, etc. You get the idea.

Cam isn’t very adventurous when it comes to pizza so the most she will let me put on her sandwich is cheese and pepperoni, but put whatever you or your kids like on yours. I’ll be cramming as much as I possibly can on mine – who’s with me!?

Once you’ve got your ‘pizza toppings’ on your sandwich, close it up and toast in a saute pan on the stove top over medium heat.

When it’s golden brown and toasty on both sides, slice it up and serve along with warm pizza sauce for dipping.

Cam thought this was genius. She was not so thrilled about the idea of taco grilled cheese sandwiches though. I still think I can make it work. I’ll keep you guys posted. 😉

Along with her sandwich she had a flapjack from our Graze box with a few chocolate chips tucked underneath, and some sliced peppers.

 

 

 

 

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