Friends Share: Stop for Lunch!

The sproutlets were in go, go, go mode today, it was hard to get them to stop for lunch - even though it was fun bentos! I've been meaning to do a melon ball stop light lunch ever since I picked up the fun traffic sign paper it's sitting on. It's not the first time I've been inspired by a sheet of scrapbook paper :) 

Bella helped a little with this one, she peeled & cut the carrots & scooped the melon balls! Then she snacked of the not-so-round ones while I packed the rest of her lunch. The stop sign is a pepper jack cheese sandwich on honey wheat - sweet & spicy! On the side she has dried strawberries & a protein bar.

Pickle's lunch is his usual, a plain old peanut butter sandwich, yogurt & string cheese - but made cute with a car-shaped silicone cup, a candy stop sign, and alphabet cookie cutters. And I found the perfect Lunchbox Love note to tuck in: "Did you know? Americans spend an average of 8 months waiting at red lights during their lifetime." Pickle loves trivia :)

Pickle's lunch is packed in EasyLunchboxes! I rarely pack his in them because they aren't leakproof enough for yogurt when your kid is as rough & tumble with their lunchbox as my little man is :) But my favourite bento shop BentoUSA recently added the perfect solution to their inventory... 

These water-tight 4 oz sauce cups that fit snugly in the medium section:

 

They even fit with both their lid & the EasyLunchboxes lid on! Hooray!

I know that for many, not being able to pack really wet stuff is the only drawback to the EasyLunchboxes. While the Mini Dippers are fab, they are smaller & don't fill that section. I'm so happy to have found these versatile & inexpensive containers that do! Find them at BentoUSA :)

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This isn't the first time I've packed a lunch with a traffic light in it - I've got one featured in Cooking with Trader Joe's : Easy Lunch Boxes!

Of course, that's not how it looks in the cookbook, that's just the photo that I submitted... the bento pictured in the cookbook was professionally styled & photographed - fancy! But I designed it & wrote the instructions :) 

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Some of my blogger friends have made traffic stopping bentos too...  

Bento For Kidlet is unstoppable!

Bento School Lunches dreams of hitting the road...

Zoe's Lunchbox takes a road trip!

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All pictures belong to their blog owners. Click on them or their attached links to see the full posts on the original sites. (If you would prefer not to be featured, please let me know and I will remove your image.)

Friends Share: UFO bentos... Out Of This World!

Today marks the 66th anniversary of the Roswell UFO incident... what do you believe crashed into that ranch? The truth is out there...

The sproutlets' grandparents are visiting today, so I'm not making UFO bentos, but I did make one last week, for World UFO Day. And here's a fun bento I made last summer, as one of my submissions for the Cooking with Trader Joe's : EasyLunchboxes cookbook. 4 of my bentos are featured in the cookbook, but this space alien one wasn't one of the chosen ones:

The fruit alien reminds me of Boinga from the Backyardigans; she may have been an unconscious inspiration :) My Boinga is made with a clementine, 2 grapes with raisins stuck in them, and one more raisin stuck in a slit cut into the orange peel. Beneath her are white cheddar cheese stars atop carrot asteroids. Her rocket spaceship, planet & stars are peanut butter sandwiches.

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Here are some my favourite UFO & space alien bentos made by others:

The adorable marbled cheese aliens in this space-themed bento by Cass of We Should Be Folding Laundry make me smile :)

I adore the egg UFO in this PlanetBox bento by the talented Lise of Veggie-Bento. Lise's alien & UFO creations are also featured in the Cooking with Trader Joe's : EasyLunchboxes cookbook!

I've loved Sarah of Bentoriffic's Happy Little Aliens since I first laid eyes on this cute little one-eyed guy & his three-eyed cohort.

I totally dig this colourful Alien and UFO bento by Ariani of Bebento-Kids! I've only just recently discovered her fantastic bento blog, and don't know how I've never come across it before - but I'm glad I finally have :)

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Friends Share: Disposable Field Trip Lunches

Yes, that's right, I packed a completely disposable lunch. Bella's class was going on a field trip and they were asked to bring disposable lunches. Disposable doesn't have to mean it must be thrown in the trash though - I had saved some recyclable containers for things like this, so most of this could be thrown in a recycling bin if there was one available.

I wanted to pack her some fresh fruit, veggies & a sandwich, but the requested plastic zipper bag wouldn't offer much protection from bruising and squashing. 

A plastic clamshell strawberry basket would! I decorated the basket & bottle with duct tape, both for fun & to cover the original labels :)

Bella's berry basket bento lunch contains:

• A turkey & cheddar flatbread sandwich
• Grape tomatoes on toothpicks to keep them from rolling around 
• A Gala apple
• Stretch Island raspberry fruit snacks
• Raspberry lemonade
• Clif Kid Z bar (snack for the bus ride home)

I was able to fit everything in the berry clamshell, which I then packed in the requested plastic zipper bag that Mia Bella had labelled with her name.  Squash-Proof!

Bella said she didn't want to throw it away even though she could - and there wasn't a recycling bin - so she brought the berry basket and bottle back home with her to use another time ♥

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Some of my bento blogging friends have shared some great ideas to make the most of those disposable field trip lunch days!

Karen of What's In Our Lunch Bags? packed

 take out sauce cups for a snacky lunch! 

Jenn of Bento for Kidlet turned a

 boring brown bag into a work of art!

Nina of Mamabelly's Lunches With Love 

made lunch better with Doc McStuffins

Have you packed any disposable bento lunches?  I'd love it if you'd share them! Here's a button to place in your post if you do :) You are also welcome to use it if I shared your post ♥

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Friends Share: Nursery Rhyme Time

I had a nursery rhyme in mind when I packed this lunch:

Hey diddle diddle, the cat & the fiddle, the cow jumped over the moon ...

Bella's Go Green Lunch Box contains:

• Fig Newtons
• Cow peanut butter sandwich
• Apple moons
• Horizon Organic milk
• Cheddar moons & mozzarella cubes
• Sunburst tomatoes & baby carrots

Some of my bento blogging friends have also made nursery rhyme inspired bentos & bentos that bring to mind nursery rhymes, that I'd like to share:

Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall ...

Visit Bento Days to read more about or comment on this bento!

Hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock ...

Visit Eats Amazing to read more about or comment on this bento!

Mary had a little lamb, with fleece as white as snow ...

Visit Eclectic Lamb to read more about or comment on this bento!

The itsy bitsy spider, crawled up the water spout ...

Visit Bento-logy to read more about or comment on this bento!

Have you made any nursery rhyme or related bentos?  I'd love it if you'd share them! Here's a button to place in your post if you do :) You are also welcome to use it if I shared your post ♥

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