Friday, December 28, 2012

Marvel Hero Muffin Tin Meal

It's Stan Lee's birthday today, so I made my biggest boy a Marvel hero muffin tin meal. Represented are the Thing, the Incredible Hulk, the Amazing Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, & Captain America:

Beanstalk's lunch contains:
  • Chex Mix
  • green apples 
  • mozzarella string cheese
  • barbecue sauce, for dipping 
  • beef franks
  • & a peanut butter sandwich

I don't often get to make my 6th grader a muffin tin meal, he's not into cute lunches anymore - but he liked this one :)

Pickle had a Captain America sandwich & yogurt with sugar sprinkles:


The sandwich didn't turn out the way it looked in my head and I was a little heavy-handed with the sugar sprinkles, but he liked it, so that's all right.
I served it with an invitation leftover from Beanstalk's Avengers birthday party, he liked that too  :)

Happy 90th Birthday Mr. Stan Lee!

Here are some past Marvel lunches:

   
   

plus...

check out a marvelous Marvel lunch
Birthday wish over at Our Lunch Bags!
&
a round-up of amazing Marvel
lunches from Bento for Kidlet
&
a couple of comic-al lunches by
Robot Squirrel and the Monkeys

Friday, December 21, 2012

Lunch is FRAGILE

Last day of school before Winter Break! Last night I had the idea to make a bar of Lifebuoy soap from watermelon, so I already had part of this made (though I kind of messed it up) when Bella reminded me that they don't need lunches - it's only a half day. Ah well, she can eat it when she gets home :)

A Christmas Story leg lamp bento school lunch
Bella's lunch was inspired by the holiday flick A Christmas Story. She has a FRAGILE (that's frah-gee-lay) leg lamp turkey & cheese sandwich, tomatoes, watermelon, and a mini candy cane. Her spork has a serrated edge on the fork so she can cut her watermelon Lifebuoy soap into chunks herself. 

That's it for school lunches for the year 2012!

Stuff I used tho make this lunch:

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Happy Ho Ho Holidays!

It doesn't look like we'll have a white Christmas on Whidbey Island... unless all these raindrops turn into snowflakes! 

The sproutlets are really wishing for snow... and Sprout's yubo lunchbox containers are just right for building a snowman lunch!

Snowman Yubo Bento School Lunch
She's going to love taking this lunch to school! It's so festive & fun even before she unpacks it, with it's Holly Jolly holiday yubo faceplate!  Add to that the Christmassy Lunchbox Love & red spork and lunch looks a bit like a present :)

Snowman Yubo Bento School Lunch
Sprout's snowman is made of yogurt, cheese sandwiches, & a powdered sugar mini donut. She also has strawberries (frozen, but will thaw by lunch), red & green grapes, apple wedges, & baby carrots.

Donut Snowman

The snowman wears a Hersey's Kiss hat. His features are mini chocolate chips. And his nose is an orange Smarties... but not an American Smarties (which are called Rockets in Canada & the UK)... the original Smarties, which my parents bring us from Canada :) I secured the candy with cookie frosting.


The top of her stack of cheese sandwiches is decorated with large sprinkles, & the Santa snowmen picks are from a peg game found at Dollar Tree!


I've had people ask me things like, "How does that look by the time it's been carried to school?" So I thought I'd find out! Here's lunch, looking all cute:

Snowman Yubo Bento School Lunch
I put the lids on everything, except the donut - that I stuffed a cloth napkin in with, to keep it in place, and for cleaning up the mess that comes with powdered sugar donuts! Tucked in a spoon for the yogurt, and the Lunchbox Love, snapped on the lid, then had Birdie carry it around for a bit.

yubo lunchbox packed   yubo lunchbox handle sideways

 Next I unpacked it to see what being swung around sideways did:

Snowman yubo Bento School Lunch

Not bad at all! Some shifting of the fruit and turning of the round containers themselves, and some of the yogurt's sprinkles stuck to the lid, but everything surived, still looking pretty cute! And yummy :)

Now it's time for you to hop on over to What's In Our Lunch Bags and see what Karen's been up to...

Holiday bento Blog Hop

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Santa Claus is Coming to Lunch

Santa Claus sandwiches! Slightly blurry Santa Claus sandwiches...
It's so dark in the mornings now, and I take my lunch photos outside so I don't have to use a flash -  and brrr, it was so cold yesterday, I was shivering & having a hard time keeping my hands still to take a clear photo! 

Christmassy Santa Claus Bento School Lunch in EasyLunchboxes


Bella's EasyLunchbox contains:
  • a Santa turkey & cheese sandwich
  • Gala & Granny Smith apple wedges
  • grape tomatoes
  • English cucumber slices
  • mini peppers (don't they look a bit like Christmas lights?)
  • granola bar squares
  • & Hershey's Kisses
For snack she has spiced almonds in an EasyLunchboxes Mini Dipper

Christmassy Santa Claus Bento School Lunch in EasyLunchboxes

Beanstalk's LunchBots Quad contains
  • red & green grapes
  • Pistachios & a Hershey's Kiss
  • green & red apple wedges
  • a LunchBots Dip Cup full of spiced almonds
  • 2 Santa peanut butter sandwiches
Christmassy Santa Claus Bento School Lunch in LunchBots

I love the fun fact on the Lunchbox Love note I chose for him!
You can print your own fun holiday love notes on their website! www.sayplease.com


It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Only 3 school days left!

Some stuff I used to make these lunches:

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Frosty First Day of School

Yes, you read that right :) 3 year old Birdie just started preschool this week! Her first holiday bento lunch is a Frosty one, packed in one of her Goodbyn Mix & Match boxes:

Frosty Preschool Bento Lunch
She has yogurt in the dip cup, a cheese snowflake atop the lid, apple wedges, a snowflake peanut butter sandwich, grapes, & a snowman chocolate treat.

Lunchbox Love

Can't forget the spoon! And even though Birdie can't read yet, a Lunchbox Love note for one of her teachers to read to her  ♥ 

I love the Goodbyn's transparent lids that let the cuteness peek out :)

Some stuff used in this lunch:


Monday, December 17, 2012

5 FUN Gifts To Encourage Healthy Eating

Looking for last minute gift ideas? Give the gift of good eating habits with one (or all!) of these five fun ways to encourage healthier eating, a gift that will last beyond the holiday season and for many New Years to come.

5 Fun Gifts That Encourage Healthy Eating
1.    Bring some fun & games to the table with
Created by a mom, Crunch a Color® is the award-winning healthy eating game that makes mealtime fun! Kids earn points for eating a balanced and colorful plate of veggies, fruits, proteins and grains. Bonus points for trying new foods! Crunch a Color® has been featured by Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, Pottery Barn Kids, Laurie David’s Family Dinner, Kiwi Magazine, Dr. Greene, and Yum Food & Fun For Kids, among many others, as a simple, fun and playful way to make healthy eating fun for the whole family.

Get the table talking! Created by kids for kids, Crunch a Color's award-winning Conversation Starters for Kids are sure to invite giggles and great conversation to your family table. Chock full of curious questions and delightful dilemmas, these 104 conversation starters help kids share their thoughts, grow their ideas, and make mealtime fun!

20% off for Bent on Better Lunches fans with code: bentonbetterlunches

We'll be playing these as a family when Sailor Boy gets home for Christmas Leave! Look for my Review & Giveaway in the New Year!

2. Get your family eating their 5 fruits & veggies a day 
with help from Today I Ate A Rainbow!
The Rainbow Kit from Today I Ate A Rainbow! is a rainbow-themed nutritional chart that encourages your child to "eat a rainbow" every day - a serving of fruit or veg in each of the 5 colours on the chart - and mark them with magnets as they do. It's also much more than a nutritional chart! It's a game, a challenge, an incentive... and it's fun! It even comes with a book!  We love ours - click here to read my review and catch our Rainbow Week!

The Rainbow Kits have recently been revamped! The charts are now a full magnet board that can be hung on a fridge or wall! Only $18.99 and if you buy 2 kits the shipping is free!  www.todayiatearainbow.com


3. Stuff a stocking with one of these adorable fruit & vegetable

These cute & cuddly plush beanie characters from Learning ZoneXpress are great incentives for making good eating choices!
Also from Learning ZoneXpress...

4. Inspire kids to help make healthy snacks with LANA's 
Fruit & Vegetable Snack Recipes

 

LANA makes healthy eating fun & easy! LANA cookbooks are spiral-bound with sturdy wipeable laminated pages. Full of the promise of tasty treats & kitchen fun, they're sure to bring a smile to any preschooler's face :)


The LANA (Learning About Nutrition through Activities) Preschool Program website, http://lananutrition.com/ is a wonderful resource for ways to help kids learn about making healthy eating choices through play. They even share FREE downloadable activities & recipes every month!

 

My smaller sproutlets & I have made many of the snacks within our LANA cookbook. Click the pics above to see a couple I've posted about :)

Get FREE shipping between now & Christmas from Learning ZoneXpress with the code BOBL Enter at checkout at http://www.learningzonexpress.com/

5.  Give bigger kids & grown-ups ideas for packing healthy lunches with the  EasyLunchboxes 

This fabulous cookbook is full of recipes contributed by your favourite lunch bloggers (Like me! That's one of mine at the top right, below! Simple & sweet.) It's perfect for anyone who packs a lunch in to school or work - or you could get it for yourself to give your family the gift of better lunches all year! 


Cooking with Trader Joe’s Cookbook: Easy Lunch Boxes is available at bookstores everywhere including Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com.

Also brought to you by EasyLunchboxes, there's a new community for lunch packers - no matter what brand of containers, bags, coolers, or lunch boxes you use! Let's Pack Lunch! is the place to connect with the very people who packed the lunches in the cookbook, and more!


So there you go, a handful of my favourites, and where to find them. There aren't many shopping days left in this holiday season though, so if it's too late to order from the websites, you can still get some of these from Amazon!



Have a Happy & Healthy Holiday!
Disclosure: My posts contain affiliate links to products & services I've used & approve of  :)  If you make a purchase after clicking one of those links, I earn a small commission. Thank you!

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