Throwback Thursday - Bynto Bentos

It's Throwback Thursday,  (the internet says), so I'm throwing back (is that right?) to a Thursday last February, almost a year ago! My bento blogger buddy Beau - aka The Lunchbox Dad - had just begun hosting a weekly Throwback Thursday lunch link-up :) That week I had linked up this heart-filled Goodbyn Bynto from the previous Spring.

Sydney Bean still loves her Bynto lunchbox, in fact she took lunch in it yesterday. No pics of that lunch though - it wasn't anything creative. I'm still trying to find my groove again - life just seems a whole lot more hectic now than it was 3 years ago when I began this blog. I thought this parenting thing would get easier as the sproutlets got older and more independent, but it seems like the more independent they are, the more involved I find myself having to be! Gone are the days when I could gate them safely in the playroom to amuse each other while I accomplished something. Lately I'm just not finding the time I used to have for my blog :( Oh well, at least I'm making them lunch, right? And it was a bunch of her favourite fruits & a granola bar in a colourful container she likes, so she was happy with it ;)

Here are some more throwbacks to Bynto lunches she's loved:

That rainbow bento was one of my favorites too.

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I don't think I ever blogged this one!

 

 I love how happy she is with her lunch :)

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We both liked this one because it goes with a book!

How Did That Get In My Lunchbox tells about the journey foods make from where they begin until they get to us. Read more about it in this post :)

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And I love this one because my little Bean Sprout made it herself!

Cutie Monkey Bean Yumbox

Sprout's nickname is only one of an assortment of nicknames, all stemming from her very first, given to her in utero, by Sailor Boy :) Not long after suggesting Sydney for her first name, he commented that in her ultrasound photo she looked like a little kidney bean... then suggested we use bean for her middle name - he thought Sydney Bean would be adorable! I agreed it would be adorable to us, but perhaps not so much to her, one day. We did settle on a lovely middle name, but she also became Daddy's Little Sydney Bean. And as she grew, so did his list of nicknames for her: Sydney Bean Sprout, Bean Sprout, Sprout, Monkey Bean, & Cutie Monkey Bean.

So I always think of her when I see cute monkey things. Like the funny little monkey face forked bento pick I put in her Yumbox today:

Sprout aka Cutie Monkey Bean's Purple Yumbox contains:

• Strawberries - finally, the grocery store had some nice-looking ripe ones - it must be Spring somewhere!
• Green grapes, also nicer than any I've found in weeks :)
• Annie's Homegrown Bernie's Farm cheddar crackers
• Mozzarella string cheese with heart fork picks
• Grape gelatin made with real juice
• & a Hi-Chew candy treat, with the monkey pick stuck in it 

I also included a Light My Fire spork, but it doesn't fit in her Yumbox. Her Yumbox fits in her Thirty-One Chillicious lunch box though, with room for the spork, an ice pack, & her drink :)

Last Day of Kindergarten - Farewell Clifford!

Wow, this school year went by fast! My kindergartner Bean Sprout had such a great year :) As excited as she is about going into first grade next Fall, she's going to be sad to say goodbye to her her beloved kindergarten teacher & her fun classroom, and their mascot, Clifford the Big Red Dog.  Today is her last day, and this is her last Clifford themed kindergarten school lunch:

Sprout's last day of school Go Green Lunch Box contains:

• Oatmeal carrot muffins - one for her teacher & one for her
• Strawberries (frozen) 
• Mozzarella string cheese (with a Clifford ring cupcake topper)
• Organic Berry Medley Junior Juice
• Yogurt with purple, red & green sugar sprinkles
• Granny Smith apple wedges
• Raisins, in a Monbento square egg mold used as a treat box
• tucked behind the muffins, a Light My Fire spork
• & a Lunchbox Love note ♥

I've made my Sprout more than a few Clifford lunches this year! We do love Clifford ♥ Here's a round up in case you missed any :)

April ~ Clifford in his doghouse

February ~ Valentine's Day & Clifford's 50th Birthday!
December ~ Clifford's First Snow

November ~ Learning is fun with Clifford

My bento blogger friend at Organized Bites has also made a Clifford the Big Red Dog lunch for her kidlet, check it out: My Big Red Valentine

And my bestie Karen at What's In our Lunch Bags? made one for Hallowe'en, Clifford's Halloween Howl, and one featuring Clifford and his canine friends:  Scholastic Big Red Readers.

Congratulations to my kindergarten graduate Sprout!  ♥

Clifford the Big Red Dog

Sprout's library day is today, and as I packed her last week's book in her schoolbag, I chuckled because the book she borrowed was one that we own, both on paper and as a Storia eBook - Clifford the Big Red Dog :) Of course we read the library copy anyways... that girl loves Clifford!

She'll be very happy to open her lunchbox today:

I made the Clifford in his doghouse sandwich with a Critter Cutter Lunch Punch, Americolor food pens, & candy eyes, all available from BentoUSA.

Clifford is also Sprout's kindergarten class mascot!

Lunch is a Nutella sandwich on white wheat, baby carrots, apple wedges, & a Fiber One Strawberry PB&J Chewy granola bar, packed in her green yubo lunch box. None of Sprout's lunch needs to be kept chilled, but she does prefer her apples & carrots crisp & cold, so I put a small ice pack under just those 2 containers instead of the full size one that comes with the yubo.

Lunch is linked to Read.Explore.Learn!

Lunch On A Stick : Late Edition :)

At almost the last minute before it was time to leave for school, Sprout decided she wanted a "mum lunch" instead of the school lunch. So with less than 10 minutes to spare I made her one a lot like her brothers, but prettier:

Sprout's sweet Something On A Stick Day lunch contains peanut butter sandwiches on a stick, made with my FunBites squares cutter, a string cheese stick and a fruit leather roll stuck through cupcake rings, Trix yogurt (dye free!) and baby carrots, packed in her yubo lunchbox. 

Rather than edit this morning's post, I decided to make this late addition to today's lunches a late edition blog post of it's own. Then I can link it up to my own Something On A Stick Day link-up!

Stuff used for today's lunch:

McHappy Spring!

Last night was McTeacher's Night, where the sproutlets' school teachers worked at the local McDonald's to raise funds for their school. Sprout was having so much fun seeing her classmates and teachers and just being at McDonald's, that she hardly ate or drank anything! So she has her Happy Meal apple juice box in her lunch today :)

Spring is here, and things are beginning to bloom!  I filled Sprout's yubo lunchbox with blossoms: a blossom-shaped peanut butter sandwich, yogurt with flower sugar sprinkles, and grapes & carrots arranged like flowers.

Cutting sandwiches with a cookie cutter and arranging fruit creatively is an easy way to make a lunch cute without using pointy little bento picks - perfect for a preschooler, or any kid who might not bring home accessories :)

Featured in today's lunch:

The Powerpuff Obsession Continues...

According to my 6 year old Sydney Bean, better known on the blog as Sprout, this lunch "looks pretty good but it would look better with a Powerpuff Girl."

Better?

"Yes, but next time don't eat a strawberry!" 

 (Well I had to make room for the cupcake pick didn't I?)

Some stuff used for this lunch:

A Lovely Lock & Lock for Sprout

Sprout wanted to take her Hello Kitty lunch box today, which only holds our smaller lunch containers like our Japanese bento boxes, the Sassy box, LunchBots, Lock&Lock, and Goodbyn Mix & Match. She chose the Lock&Lock four square box, because "it has the easy lid".

I prettied it up with some colourful square silicone cups, and filled it with her choices for today: Granny Smith apple wedges, strawberries, Parmesan Garlic Triscuit Thin Crisps, and cheddar cheese.

Last time I packed her a full-size ice pack, Sprout complained that her lunch was too cold, so this time I put a single "ice pillow" in just the cheese section. I bought several water-filled pillow ice sheets and carefully cut them into smaller sizes as needed for perfect fit cold packs in various containers.

I didn't take pics of the other sproutlets' lunches today. We were rushed. 

Happy Monday!

Stuff used for this lunch (or similar):

Never Smile At A Crocodile

Today is World Animal Day,  and we're having a Blog Hop! Each blogger in the hop has chosen a different animal to include in a bento. I chose the crocodile, because I've had a certain song randomly popping in my head for weeks now, and I just happen to have a crocodile shaped play-doh cutter too :)

You know the song right? You might remember it from Disney's Peter Pan... but that's not the version in my head, I've been hearing the Paulette Sisters' version ♬♩Anyways...

I made a little preschool bento for Birdie. She has baby carrots with a smiling crocodile cupcake ring around one, 2 cheese stars (a nod to Peter Pan... second star to the right, and straight on till morning) atop grapes speared with a sword (Captain Hook's?) and a musical note, and 2 crocodile peanut butter sandwiches on honey wheat. And I found the perfect Lunchbox Love note!

I like the other side of the note too :)

Making this bento didn't get the song out of my head, but that's okay, I actually kind of like it. Want to sing along? Oh, come on! It's such a cute song...

Just click the Play button and follow the lyrics below :)

Never Smile At A Crocodile
by The Paulette Sisters
(the version from You've Got Mail)

♬ Never smile at a crocodile
No, you can't get friendly with a crocodile
Don't be taken in by his welcome grin
He's imagining how well you'd fit within his skin
Never smile at a crocodile
Never tip your hat and stop to talk awhile
Never run, walk away, say good-night, not good-day
Clear the aisle and never smile at Mister Crocodile
You may very well be well bred
Lots of etiquette in your head
But there's always some special case, time or place
To forget etiquette
For instance:
Never smile at a crocodile
No, you can't get friendly with a crocodile
Don't be taken in by his welcome grin
He's imagining how well you'd fit within his skin
Never smile at a crocodile
Never tip your hat and stop to talk awhile
Never run, walk away, say good-night, not good-day
Clear the aisle and never smile at Mister Crocodile ♫

There, wasn't that fun? Now,  it's time to hop along and visit the next animal bento, by Michelle of Creative Food...

Hey, after you've gone through the whole hop and find yourself back here,  why not vote for me as one the Circle of Friends Top 25 Canadian Mommies?

Halloween Yubos + Spiral Sandwich Sushi Tutorial!

Today's the day someone wins a deluxe personalized yubo! But first... 

That's right, yubo has some fantastic & colourful Hallowe'en faceplate designs! Sprout got Witchy Feet, and Pickle got Trick or Treat...

Sprout & Pickle love them,  thank you, yubo :)

And here are our first Hallowe'en lunches!

Pickle wanted a sushi sandwich and a fortune cookie but I wanted to make a Hallowe'en lunch so I compromised - he has a yogurt ghost with sugar sprinkles & candy eyes, peanut butter sandwich sushi with Hallowe'en party picks, the fortune cookie, and for snack, an upside-down yogurt cup with Boo! written on the bottom - and I did pack spoons, they're just not shown.

Sprout has grapes in a pumpkin silicone cup, a fortune cookie, a little container of raisins, sandwich spirals on a pumpkin party pick, an Enjoy Life Caramel Apple Bar, & a Jack O'Lantern satsuma orange (face drawn with food colouring marker) To drink she has Horizon chocolate milk, which fits perfectly in the Yubo - and after snapping the pic I put her orange Fall print cloth napkin between her lunch and the lid to keep it all in place.

I love Hallowe'en & Hallowe'eny lunches!  I was super scattered this morning though - it was my first day "back to work" after letting Sailor Boy take care of things while I was ill ... He did great, but the cupboards were pretty bare, things were not where I expected them to be, and I was a little slow, so Bella & Beanstalk didn't get Hallowe'eny lunches today. Ah well, we do have the whole month of October ahead of us  :)

♥ By popular demand...

And here's another look at last week's lunch that they went into :

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Okay, you've waited long enough... assuming you didn't skip the post and jump down here... The winner is.... 

#223 Emily C ! 

But don't despair if that's not you! Remember I said yubo had another treat for me to give away for Hallowe'en? That was no trick... 

To thank you for your entry, the folks at yubo would like to offer you a 25% off coupon towards anything on their site.  They have some very cute Halloween faceplates that can be personalized!  So hurry and check out their adorable lunchboxes at www.getyubo.com.  Offer ends October 10, 2012. Enter coupon code: benton25 when you order to receive your 25% off.  
Personalized items require 7-10 days, so don't wait!