Back To School with yubo for my Bigger Boy!

This Back To School lunch I made for Pickle may be the last one of his that I blog! He's decided that now that he's in middle school, he's too old for themed bentos & shaped sandwiches, and wants plain lunches.  But I packed him this one (possibly) last special lunch anyways :)

He has a Babybel cheese with a check mark carved in the wax, Oreos with a chalkboard pick stuck in the frosting of one, yogurt with chocoladehagel (sprinkles), a notebook paper peanut butter sandwich embellished with food markers, stacked atop a second plain sandwich, & a Lunchbox Love note.

Everything pictured plus a drink, napkin, & spork is packed in his new, more grown up, yubo tote. It's less bulky than the yubo lunchbox, but still the perfect size for all the yubo containers, & more:

The yubo ice pack fits perfectly in the new soft-sided Tote, along with the same container combination as can be packed in the hard-sided yubo, as well as additional yubo container(s), accessories and/or a drink.

Something else that's new for middle school is that Pickle doesn't have an aide sitting with him,  encouraging him to eat tidily & helping him pack up when he's finished.  He likes to squish his food - it's an autism/sensory thing - plus he's neither the neatest of eaters, nor very good about remembering to put the lids back on his containers, & frequently brings home a messy lunch bag covered inside & out with smushed Oreo smears & spilled yogurt. So I was pretty thrilled with the ability to completely unsnap the yubo Tote & wipe it down, or even machine wash it. No scrubbing crud out of seams, yay!

I really like that when the yubo tote is completely unsnapped it becomes a placemat. Having a messy kid myself makes me more than a bit squeamish about eating on shared surfaces... who knows what germs are lurking there ready to leap onto my lunch, heheh... so this is a great feature for me :)

See all the lunchboxes & accessories yubo has to offer at getyubo.com

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Just in case anyone's wondering about the bottle in Pickle's lunch, it's this:

It's called Bot-L, by Fred & Friends, & it's one of his favourites.  I like it well enough - it doesn't leak - but it's not insulated, & I have to hand wash it...
so I don't love it quite as much as Pickle does ;)

Disclosure: I received no monetary compensation for this post. I was offered a complimentary yubo tote to review with no obligation to endorse. This post does contain affiliate links to products I used. All opinions & images are my own. 

Look Who's 100 days Smarter!

It's the 100th Day of School for most of my sproutlets! Kindergartner Birdie reaches her 100th day tomorrow :) It's also breakfast for lunch day at school, so most of the kidlets wanted the pancake hot lunch. Bella wanted some of last night's supper leftovers though, which she planned to heat in the lunch room microwave, so I packed her a Laptop Lunches bento box:

She has some saucy pulled chicken to heat & spread on the bun under the Lunchbox Love note, carrots, cucumbers & tomatoes, mozzarella string cheese, a dark chocolate, nuts & sea salt KIND bar, & Light My Fire spork.

To mark Bella's 100th day of school I added a couple of "Look Who's 100 Days Smarter" stickers - one for her & one for a friend - & wrapped her spork in an owl print cloth napkin. I know she'll find this lunch delicious & fun!  :)

What's black & white, black & white, black & white?

A panda bear rolling down a hill :)  Heheh, cute. And I love it when I have bento accessories that go with the jokes, riddles, & facts on our Lunchbox Love notes. Bella loves pandas too, so she loved this lunch:

Her EasyLunchbox is packed with turkey & cheddar wraps secured with panda picks, Craisins in a mini dipper, grapes in a flower cup, & celery with a little panda sauce container filled with peanut butter for dipping. Oh, and the last of the pumpkin pie Oreos :)

Lunch for the Man: Wrap Up Some Leftovers

Sailor Boy's working extra long days this week so he's getting supper much later than the rest of the family. Yesterday I made spaghetti for the sproutlets' supper, then later used the leftover spaghetti sauce to make Sailor Boy a smallish lasagna in a loaf pan. Since I didn't make a full size pan, I ended up with some chopped spinach & ricotta cheese leftovers, but not enough to make another lasagna, so today I wrapped them up for his lunch:

The wraps are tortillas spread with the leftover ricotta & layered with the spinach, some smoked turkey & sharp cheddar, rolled up. I put a Mackintosh's toffee in the centre section of the PlanetBox Rover & it's red & green wrapper seems to have influenced what I chose to pack for his fruit & veggie sides - he has kiwi chunks & raspberries with a red heart fork pick, & cucumber chunks & grape tomatoes with a red pick that says "bite me" :)

Even the Lunchbox Love note I chose is red on one side & green on the other, heheh. When I noticed how festive his lunch was looking I wrapped his fork in a Star Wars print cloth napkin to make it a little less Christmassy :)

Sailor Boy has never beaten me at Scrabble so I had a giggle over the fun fact on the Lunchbox Love note - maybe it will come in handy some day :

Pizza Burrito Hero Lunch

If you've followed my blog for some time, you may remember that most of my posts used to include fun peanut butter sandwiches for Pickle, who ate them every day. If you're wondering why you haven't been seeing them this school year,  it's because there is a peanut allergy in his class. 

Peanut lunches aren't banned - the 5th graders have been educated about their classmate's allergy & know not to share food - but I'd personally feel terrible if Pickle had some peanut butter on his hands & touched something that student might later touch & have an allergic reaction to, so I've been making his lunches peanut-free this year.

So, what have I been sending? Well, most days, cereal & milk! We've just swapped his breakfast & lunch :) He has his beloved peanut butter sandwich in the morning,  at home where I can supervise his hand washing, & takes nut-free Cheerios or Life cereal & milk to school for lunch :) He's a creature of habit, so he hasn't been bored with this, but every now & then I like him to try something new - like this pizza burrito (I drew on it with food markers):

The only vegetable Pickle eats willingly is tomato, in the form of ketchup, marinara dip, or pizza sauce.  I'm trying to introduce more variety into his diet though. He likes pizza Hot Pockets, so I suggested we try making something like a hot pocket by wrapping pizza toppings in a tortilla, & happily, he was willing! He even helped make it :) We spread marinara sauce on a burrito size flour tortilla, sprinkled it with turkey pepperoni, mozzarella & cheddar, folded it into a burrito, & heated it in the microwave. 

He liked it! And it's something he can make himself, which I like :)

This is the first time I've packed a pizza burrito in his lunch. He likes it heated until the cheese is melted, & students don't have access to a microwave, so I heated it to hotter than he would be able to eat it & wrapped it in foil,  hoping it would still be warm enough to be appetizing to him at lunch 3 hours later. I also stuck some funny face & "Eat me first" stickers on it for good measure :)

I stuck stickers on everything else just for fun :) His lunch is packed in a Goodbyn Hero, the newest addition to the Goodbyn lunchbox line.  The Hero is divided into 3 sections with space between them (see below). I hoped that gap would keep the hot burrito section from warming his Trix yogurt, which fit perfectly packed upside-down in one of the smaller sections. In the other, in the lidded Dipper container, he has his favourite cookie, Oreo. The spoon for his yogurt is wrapped in a cloth napkin from Beneficial-Bento.

 

Before putting the Hero's transparent lid on, I added a Riddle card from one of the newest Lunchbox Love for Kids volumes. Between the riddle, the silly stickers, & his newest favourite food with a friendly face drawn on it, this lunch is sure to bring a big smile to his face :)

I do still make fun peanut butter sandwiches for my Pickle, he just enjoys them at home. And he makes them for himself too! Nothing I've made recently hasn't been blogged before, but when I do make him something new I'll share it :)  I do have some fun new cutters to try... stay tuned!

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Click to buy some of the stuff shown in this lunch:

  

Christmas Everyday Bento Giveaway!

Just in time for Christmas! I'm thrilled to be giving away 2 copies of one of my favourite cookbooks ever, Everyday Bento by Wendy Thorpe Copley. This beautiful book, written by the author of one of my favourite blogs, Wendolonia, would make a wonderful gift for anyone who packs a lunch for their family or even themselves :)

I just LOVE this book! Aside from being gorgeous to look at, everything in it is completely do-able for just about anyone. The lunches are kid-friendly, made with ingredients even my picky sproutlets will eat :) The recipes are more than text directions & a photo of a finished bento; Wendy shows us step by step how to create every detail, with clear, colourful photos. She also explains the basics of bento packing, the techniques, the tools, the gear, & gives ideas for what to put on your grocery list. There's even a list of foods sorted by colour! Everyday Bento is THE book I recommend to anyone interested in packing fun lunches. Whether you're an absolute beginner or a seasoned bento packer, you'll find inspiration in Everyday Bento!

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I was inspired by the festive Christmas Gift Bento Box! My version is slightly modified for my sproutlet's preferences & the bento accessories I have - I realized that I do not own a Santa pick! What?! I must get one :)

I used a Merry Christmas pick instead of a Santa. I did have leftover ham! I cubed it with FunBites cutter. I subbed raspberries & honeydew melon for the pomegranate & kiwi.  Instead of crackers, I cut up a tortilla to stack with the cheese, but kept the red pepper ribbon, which I affixed to the top slice with a bit of cheese spread.

I also added some cucumber slices cut with a holly leaf cookie stamp, & cut some red pepper circles for a holly berry & stacked them together using more cheese spread. I filled the bottom tier of the Fit & Fresh Lunch Pak Carrier with popcorn, a cloth napkin, spork, & a Lunchbox Love for Christmas note. Bella loved it!

This festive bento was so easy to make, & quick! I find what takes up the most time when packing a bento is figuring out what to put in it, where to put it, & how to achieve the look. Everyday Bento does that for me & shows the steps for putting it all together! Love it ♥

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Here's your chance to win a copy for yourself or to give as a gift!

a Rafflecopter giveaway 2 winners will be drawn & announced the morning of December 17th. Check back here, follow me on Facebook, or check your email to see if you've won - the winners will only have 24 hours to claim their prizes so there's (hopefully) enough time to deliver them by Christmas!

Disclosure: I received no compensation for this post. I was offered a complimentary copy of Everday Bento to review but declined it as I already have a copy :) This post does contain affiliate links to products I used. All opinions & images are my own. 

Leafy Fall PlanetBoxes with Lunchbox Love

How I love a fall morning in the Pacific Northwest! I love it being cool enough to make a fire in the wood stove, and how much more enjoyable my coffee is when there's still a bit of a chill in the air and it's not quite light out yet.  I love the fog that makes the world outside my window look soft and dreamy as it grows lighter. And I love the bright colours of the autumn leaves in contrast! 

I put some leaves and warm fall colours in the girls' lunches :)

In the PlanetBox Shuttle, I packed Birdie some yogurt with sprinkles (and a happy little spoon to eat it with), strawberries, and mini peanut butter & cheddar sandwich leaves. Her cloth napkin's print is Peanuts characters playing in the leaves. In the little green Woodstock box she has one of her Hallowe'en candies for a treat.  We love Snoopy & the Peanuts gang :)

Bella's PlanetBox Rover contains leaf-shaped turkey & cheddar quesadillas, Craisins dried cranberries,  cranberry & sage Triscuit crackers, apple wedges, a tube of almonds, babble cheese, and a Hershey's Kiss treat.

It's nearly Thanksgiving, so I got out our Lunchbox Love for Thanksgiving, we had a few notes left from last year. They've added a 4th volume this year! Each volume of 12 notes features thoughtful quotes about gratitude on the front and fun interesting facts about Thanksgiving on the back. 

There's still time to get some Lunchbox Love for Thanksgiving! Besides putting them in lunches,  you could include one (or a set!) with hostess gifts, or even use them as place cards at Thanksgiving dinner :)  And you can use my coupon code, BENTON, to save 15% :)

The note I added to Birdie's PlanetBox reminded me that it's about time to bring out my Little House books for Sprout!

Since it's Movember,  I chose a moustache print napkin for Bella, which I packed atop her quesadillas  & set her Lunchbox Love note on  - I like to save & re-use the notes if they don't get food on them :)

The trivia on the flip side of Bella's note was fitting for her cranberry-filled lunch - it inspired me to add a leaf bento pick to her Babybel cheese :)

That orange tubular container the almonds are in is a repurposed mini M&M's tube! Fits perfectly in that section of the PlanetBox Rover.

Below are the spring-loaded pastry stamps I used to make the leaf mini sandwiches in Birdie's lunch. They make a great impression on the bread! 

Do the colourful sprinkles on the yogurt look like autumn leaves to you?

I think they do... but they are actually turtles! They came in this Sea Accents sugar sprinkles assortment of marine creatures :)

Happy Fall, y'all!

Lunchbox Love for Teachers!

Sunday October 5th was World Teachers' Day. Thank you, teachers!

The start of this school year was a bittersweet one for my Bella, who was excited to be starting middle school yet sad to be leaving elementary. She's especially going to miss her 5th grade teacher, who really inspired her & made school & learning so much fun! ♥ The younger sproutlets still attend that elementary school, so Mia Bella does have an opportunity to see her favourite teacher from time to time, if she's with me when I pick them up.

With help from the lovely folks at Say Please, who contributed the Lunchbox Love, we put together a cute thank you gift for her beloved teacher. We filled a Be Kind Mug with a Lunchbox Love for Teachers set, & added a fun ruler themed notepad. Middle school lets out earlier than elementary school, so Bella walked over & met me there to deliver her gift. Her teacher loved it! She's familiar with Lunchbox Love notes, from the ones I put in Mia Bella's lunches, & was thrilled to have some to share with her class :)

Lunchbox Love for Teachers sets includes these 2 volume sets:

• Lunchbox Love for Class Motivation
• Lunchbox Love for Class Kindness
• Lunchbox Love for Class Birthdays

Each 2 volume set includes 24 cards, hopefully enough for a whole class. Any or all of them would make a thoughtful gift for a teacher you know!
Say Please often has a special deal on their home page, but if not, you can use my coupon code, BENTON, for 15% off :)

A big thank you to Bella's teacher, and teachers everywhere! 
I'm so grateful that ALL my little ones have been fortunate to have wonderful teachers who make their school days pleasant as well as educational ♥ 

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. Say Please provided me with Lunchbox Love notes purely out of generosity & to do as I pleased with, & I purchased the mug & notepad myself :)

Back To School Giveaway: Lunchbox Love!

I love our Lunchbox Love for Kids notes, they're a fun way to connect with my sproutlets while they're at school, and we often enjoy discussing what their cards said when I pick them up.  They sometimes tell me that their whole lunch table enjoyed the fun trivia or joke as well :) I'm so pleased to be able to share some of that Lunchbox Love fun, with a giveaway! 

The folks at Say Please have generously offered to send one of my readers 4 volumes of Lunchbox Love for Kids, & the 2 volumes of the new Lunchbox Love for Kids Riddles! That's 72 Lunchbox Love notes, awesome!

We love the new Lunchbox Love for Kids Riddles!

Just like the original Lunchbox Love for Kids, the new Riddles cards feature positive messages on the front, but instead of a fun fact or joke on the back, these cards feature a tricky riddle (and answer) that's sure to entertain your child & their lunch companions :)

You may recognize this lunch I packed for Bella,  I shared it earlier this week in a round up of lunch box note bentos, but I didn't mention that the Lunchbox Love note I included is from Volume 1 of those new Riddles :)

Bella & her siblings had fun trying to guess the answer to the riddle on the back of her Lunchbox Love, & made some funny guesses before Bella got it! And the message on the front made her smile right away :)

Do you know a riddle, joke, fun fact, or sweet sentiment you'd like to see on a Lunchbox Love note? Share it in the comments at the bottom of this post, then enter the Giveaway via the widget below:

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Lunchbox Love for my Loved One

My Sailor Boy is home from deployment! ♥  He's on leave for now, so I don't need to pack him a lunch, but after he unpacked his sea bag, I slipped some Lunchbox Love for Loved Ones into the pockets of his uniforms, for him to find when he's back at work... I hope he doesn't read this!

I chose that card for what was on the front, and completely forgot to look at the trivia on the back! Sometimes I choose a card for it's sentiment, sometimes for the fun fact, just like I do with the Lunchbox Love for Kids :) The card above is from Lunchbox Love for Loved Ones, Volume 2. Here are a few more of my favorites from that set:

I'm so happy to have my Sailor Boy home after his long deployment! And while I'm not looking forward to him going back to work, I am looking forward to making him lunch again, and choosing the perfect Lunchbox Love note to tuck in with it :) Here are a few of my favorites that I've made him:

A thankful lunch for Thanksgiving:

Some pies for Pi Day:

A farewell lunch from when he shipped out:

In case he does read this:

Welcome home my love!

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P.S.  This is not a sponsored post - all gushing about Lunchbox Love is my own because I ♥ them.