Pokemon and Teddy Bear Picnic

So I'm a bit behind in my blogging, these were from last week and I never got around to posting. I know you're all saddened by this lag in lunches so here they are! :) I do truly love and appreciate all of you for reading and supporting us. This year has been crazy busy and honestly not even a coffee I.V. could save me. But I do so love these crazy monkeys and so I will try and do my best to keep up with their ever busy schedules.

Pokemon

Greeon Monkey got his very first set of Pokemon cards...you can imagine the excitement.

In this lunch : In Easy Lunch Box

• Poke` Ball - Ham and cheese sandwich
• Pikachu - ELB mini dipper with ranch dressing (Not an artist!)
• Carrots
• Grapes

Teddy Bears Picnic 

Blue monkey had his teddy bear picnic at school today. Decked out in his Chicago Bears shirt and his "Grandpa Bear" made from my dad's old shirts and suit in memoriam, which he got to bring to school for their picnic. Each year we celebrate at school by reading The Teddy Bears Picnic by Jimmy Kennedy.

 

 In this lunch : In Easy Lunch Box

• Teddy grahams
• Teddy Bear  - Peanut butter and jelly sandwich with candy eyes
• Ham roll
• Gummy bears
• Carrots
• Grapes

 Ok and on to the next week, er this week, well that's just confusing isn't it? :)

Happy Birthday Jim Henson

So yesterday was Jim Henson's Birthday. Oh that I were talented enough to pay homage to his wonderful characters through our bentos...but I'm not in his universe when it comes to talent. His works shaped my youth : Sesame Street, The Muppets, Labyrinth, Fraggle Rock, and The Dark Crystal are all movies and characters I still hold near and dear to my heart. All lunches are packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.

The Muppet Show

It's time to get things started...its time to light the lights...

Animal and Kermit

In this lunch :

• Animal - Red ramen noodles (flavored with butter and parmesan cheese), carrot eyebrows, babybel eyes, red grape nose, Monsters Inc lip pop.
• Rainbow connection - watermelon, cantaloup, banana, green grape, black grape, red grape
• Rainbow goldfish
• Kermit - green apple

Beaker and Rowlf

We have often laughed that little blue monkey looks like this when he frowns

In this lunch :

• Beaker - Ham sandwich, babybel eyes, carrot hair
• Rainbow connection - watermelon, cantaloup, banana, green grape, black grape, red grape
• Rainbow goldfish
• Rowlf - Cliff kids bars (honey graham), 2 Annie's chocolate bunnies as his ears, Fruit leather hat, candy eyes, raisin nose, almond mouth

Labyrinth

You remind me of the babe. What babe? The babe with the power. What power?

Ludo, Fireys, and Jareth's Crystal

In this lunch :

• Ludo - Shredded carrot on spinach, string cheese molded into horns (lightening bolt ice cube tray), babybel eyes, almond nose, apple mouth, ham face
• Fireys - Red ramen (flavored with butter and parmesan cheese), green grape nose, red grape mouth
• Labyrinth and Jareth's crystal orb - veggie pirates booty and snowglobe pick

I could go on forever and ever, and watch all of his movies again and again like a toddler. It's only forever, not long at all...

For another cool Labyrinth lunch check out Bent On Better Lunches

For another cool Kermit lunch check out Lunchbox Dad

National Punctuation Day

Today is one of those obscure wacky days, National Punctuation Day! Now the grammar police will probably be having a party, whipping out their red corrective pens. If you've read my blog, or chatted with me in any written form, email, text, or facebook, then you have come to realize that I am a slob when it comes to punctuation. I have a penchant for run-on sentences and fragments. All three lunches are packed in Easy lunch boxes.

An Apple A Day :)

Little Blue monkey just finished up their apple unit at preschool so this fit well. The sideways smile emoticon is a favorite in my typing, he also has a shirt with this on it, and of course Amy Pond's apple used this same symbol, so for him this was perfect.

In this lunch :

• Apple sandwich -Ham, pretzel stem, veggie pirates booty leaves, gummy worm
• APPLE - Trader Joe's cinnamon schoolhouse cookies
• Carrots
• :) Apple for our hidden punctuation 

Hersheys or Nestle ? 

Big Green monkey did not want an apple, despite picking out the worms to go in it. So instead he opted to go a sweeter route. Being the sweet mom I am when he asked for chocolate in his lunch I obliged and gave him choices or more questions.

In this lunch : 

• Hershey and Nestle candy bars - Ham sandwiches
• ? - Babybel cheese
• Veggies pirates booty
• ? in a green apple

 , , , Chameleon 

Can we really have a holiday about punctuation without also incorporating a pun? I think not, grammatical humor at its finest. If you were around in the 80's you'll get the reference. As long as I was throwing in random references I put in 2 homages to TV shows I watch in this one too.

In this lunch :

• Comma Chameleon (Karma Chameleon - Culture club) - Spinach salad, provolone cheese art, and ham commas
• Dexter and Bones - Dexter just ended (boo I hate series finales), and Bones has begun its fall season. So I made a cheese severed finger for Dexter and a bone for Bones, both are string cheese melted into an ice tray then chilled. Atop veggie pirates booty.
• Period - Black and red grapes and green apples

Letters D and E

Continuing in our alphabet series today with D and E. These were fast and easy and the monkeys loved them. Fancy or not so fancy they love the crazy lunches we make everyday.

D is for Dinosaur 

In this lunch : In our Yubo lunch box

• Triceratops - Ham sandwiches
• T-rex - Ham roll
• Dino - Trader Joe's cinnamon schoolhouse cookies
• D - Fruit leather
• Carrots
• Black and red grapes

E is for Elephant

In this lunch : In our Easy Lunch Box

• Elephants - Ham and cheese sandwiches
• Circus peanuts
• Elephant - Babybel cheese
• E - Fruit leather
• Elephant - cucumber on top of Carrots
• Red and black grapes

Camping Fun

Our big Green Monkey has joined scouts this year. It is a fun new journey teaching the kids to enjoy being outdoors, along with all the other skills and behaviors it will teach.

 After our adventures we enjoyed a wonderful campfire dinner in our Easy Lunch Boxes. I can't say enough about how much we love these. I was so protective over them, no knives allowed! I packed a cutting board for the steaks :). They worked great for dinner, and we washed and reused them for breakfast. I love how easy they are for the kids to open, and it was a perfect way to keep food warm and safe from bugs until everyone was served.

Steak, mushrooms, carrots, edamame, and potatoes.

Of course there were s'mores for dessert, you can't build a fire and not have s'mores! That addiction sparked an idea so when we got home I baked some Gluten Free Peanut-butter cookies from Immaculate Baking and turned those into s'mores. I can't express how sinfully delicious this idea was mm mm mm!

2 Gluten Free Peanut Butter cookies + 1 large marshmallow + 1/4 Hershery bar = Blissful s'mores

Since these were made indoors we just zapped them in the microwave for 10 seconds, still awesome. I wish I had the cookies with me for our trip but this was a fun way to remember the fun we had and keep the camp experience going.

The Black Bread's Revenge - International Talk Like A Pirate Day Hop

Ahoy there land lovers! It's International Talk Like A Pirate Day! The scallywags o'er at Bento Bloggers and Friends have set sail from 2 diff'rent isles in search of gold. Now this here crew is aboard The Black Bread's Revenge. Once you've looked through our loot, click the flag below to check all of the cabins for treasure. 

Captain Hook

 Peter Pan is a long time favorite among these buccaneers.

In this ye old Easy Lunch Box :

• Pirates booty
• Cap'n Hook's boat - Immaculate baking crescent roll with cinnamon sugar filling, pretzel and ham sail
• Swedish fish and sour punch strips
• Tic Toc - ham sandwich with candy eye
• Carrots
• Cantaloupe Island

The Old Pirate That Swalled A Fish 

 The wee ones love ter sing this book, especially as they watch his belly grow!

 In this ye ol' Easy Lunch Box :

• Pirates booty
• Old Captain's Pirate ship - Immaculate baking crescent roll with cinnamon sugar inside, pretzel and ham sails
• Fish - ham sandwich
• Swedish fish and sour punch strips
• Carrots
• Island - cantaloup

Veggie Tales- The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything 

In this ye ol' Easy Lunch Box :

• Pirate boat - chicken, string cheese and ham sail, on spinach
• Larry - cucumber with pea nose, candy eyes, watermelon bandana
• Sedgewick - Cheddar cheese
• Babybel pirate with candy eyes
• Pirates booty
• Cantaloup island

Now click yer flag below an' see what A Boy and His Lunch have locked away in their treasure chest.

After yer've sailed 'round this hop, hang on to yer sea legs!

Click 'ere to board t'next ship fer another hop!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

I am so proud that my 1st grader has found a love of reading. While a great reader, it has always been in the bargaining chore area...until now. I am excited that he takes Cabin Fever (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 6) everywhere, sleeps with it, curls up on the couch with it, and wants to read. So today's lunch reflects how proud I am that he is independently reading. I guess now he should go back and check out books 1-5.

Cabin Fever - Greg 

In this lunch : In our Easy Lunch Box

• Greg - provolone cheese with food coloring
• Ham sandwich
• Snow - popcorn
• ELB lil dipper - ranch dressing
• Carrots
• Watermelon
• Hershey's chocolate milk
• Jello chocolate pudding snack pack

 We had an early release day so since they were eating early and skipping snack I packed it fuller than usual. 

A, B, C, for You and Me

Twice a week I make lunches for all 3 of us. Sometimes we all do our own theme and sometimes they match. Last night none of us had any better ideas so we started the alphabet. For every night that we can't think of anything we'll work our way through the alphabet. My preschoolers loved my fun lunch and it sparked good discussion about types of foods and in this case things that start with "C". We can't say enough about our Easy Lunch Boxes. They are so sturdy and easy to use, even my husband who doesn't follow any of this stuff complimented them on our camping trip.

A is for Alligator, Airplanes, and Angry Birds 

In this lunch :

• A is for Alligator - Ham sandwich with raisin eyes
• Trader Joe's Potato straws
• A - fruit leather
• Angry birds - carrots
• Airplanes - watermelon

B is for Bear, Boat and Bomb Bird 

 In this lunch :

• Bear - ham and cheese sandwich cut with CuteZCute cutter
• B - babybel cheese
• B - fruit leather
• Trader Joe's Potato straws
• Bomb Bird - carrots
• Boats - watermelon

C is for Cats, and Cars

  In this lunch :

• Chicken salad with Cucumbers
• Cat - provolone cut with CuteZCute cutter
• Trader Joe's potato straws
• Cars - watermelon

International Dot Day

Did you know it's International Dot Day? I didn't either until our school emailed all of us that the kids would be participating in Dot Day celebrations today, learn something new every day :). We didn't have the book The Dot by Peter Reynolds, but as luck would have it I found it on YouTube. The monkeys and I watched it last night, and then we talked about it and how we would make today extra creative. At school they asked the kids to wear polka dots. At preschool little Blue Monkey went straight to the paint easel and mixed those colors until the paper couldn't hold anymore.

The Dot

 In this lunch : In our Easy Lunch Box

• Trix swirls cereal
• Paint Pallete - Ham and American cheese sandwich with M&Ms
• Dot - Babybel cheese
• Cucumber dots
• Cantaloupe and watermelon dots

 I hope you all had a wonderful day and try to do a little more each day.

Crescent Rolls 4 Ways

As part of the Immaculate Baking Program I receive some goodies and coupons to try out their products, everything else in this post is unbiased. So one late night around 11pm, I had an urge to bake, I know weird right? I had been planning to make pizza bites for my son's lunch, but once I popped the can open I had a few other ideas and decided to try them all. 1 can, 4 ideas, all winners according to me and my monkeys.

Pizza Pockets 

Directions:

1. Unroll crescent dough
2. Press 2 triangles together  (1/4 sheet) at the seam, then cut in half
3. Add 1 spoonful of pizza sauce, I wen t the easy route with our local brand
4. Sprinkle on cheese
5. Top with other half and press together with the tines of a fork. I was using this one for Roald Dahl Day and wrote Willy Wonka in pizza sauce before baking
6. Bake according to package directions for crescents

I sent this as part of our Charlie and the Chocolate Factory lunches, cold, and my Green Monkey loved it! "Best lunch ever, can I have more?" If it's that good cold I'm telling you, you will never buy a hot pocket again. He LOVES his new Easy Lunch Box we even took them camping this weekend but that will be a story for another time. :)

Pizza Bites

Directions:

1. Repeat the above directions
2. Crease however many squares you want. I took the easy route and used my FunBites CubeIt!

Another fun Charlie and the Chocolate Factory lunch for Roald Dahl Day in our Easy Lunch Boxes. Again I didn't bother warming it up as the rest of the lunch I wanted to stay cold. Little Blue Monkey thought it was awesome and again requested more. So that solves our fears of serving the kids cold pizza, apparently all those nights avoiding dinner has created kids who love cold pizza. WIN!

Sunbutter and Jelly Rolls

Ok so this is where late night baking got me in trouble. Ideally I was going to send beautiful sunbutter and jelly pinwheel rolls to lunch....but it got eaten, before I got a picture, before it got sliced, but it was a delicious afternoon snack so we'll make it again soon.

Directions:

1. Spread however you like on those conjoined triangles. I was going for a spiral so I did sunbutter on one triangle and jelly on the other and rolled it lengthwise .
2. Tuck the ends to keep it from oozing out too much during baking
3. Bake according to package same timing as crescent rolls

Cinnamon Rolls 

 

Again these got eaten up before a pretty presentation picture could be taken, but that just goes to show when it's good it's gone!

Directions:

1. Spread butter, margarine, or whatever you like on the dough
2. Sprinkle with a pinch of sugar and a dash of ground cinnamon (would be just as good with apple pie spice or pumpkin spice etc)
3. Roll into crescents - deliciousness on the inside
4. Bake according to package directions

 So there you have it, any way you roll it these are delicious!

Roald Dahl Day Blog Hop

"There is no life I know to compare with pure imagination." - Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder)

 The Bento Bloggers and Friends are at it again, its time to make a date with Mischief and Mayhem in honor of one of our favorite authors Roald Dahl. Enjoy edible depictions of his best selling children's books. Roll through all of the Dahlicious lunches until you get back here. There's no way of knowing which direction you are going..

Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory 

In keeping with the spirit, it was all done in excess and I ended up with 4 Wonka lunches this week. 

My favorite little Oompa Loompas

 In this lunch : In our brand new Easy Lunch Boxes!!!

• Ham tree (Edible forest)
• Golden ticket - Pizza Pocket using Immaculate Baking Croissants, pizza sauce and shredded Italian blend cheese. recipe to follow in later post.
• Oompa Loompa - Cotton candy grapes, orange, marshmallow eyebrows, carrot nose, candy eyes
• Carrots
• World's Finest Chocolate - My son's school fundraiser chocolate in an ELB Mini Dipper

In this lunch: In an Easy Lunch Box with mini dipper

• Willy Wonka's Hat - Ham stacked cubes with hat on top
• Pizza on a stick - Immaculate Baking Company's crescent rolls pizza pocket, cut with a FunBites CubeIt and Starbucks skewers for the chocolate river. Recipe to follow in a later post.
• Oompa Loompa - Orange, grapes, marshmallow eyebrows, candy eyes, carrot nose
• Carrots
• Willy Wonka - ELB mini dipper with World's Finest Chocolate

  

 In this lunch : (Before I got my ELBs sorry)

• Oompa Loompa - Ham and cheddar with lettuce hair, marshmallow eyebrow, candy eye and food coloring
• Trix swirls cereal
• Grapes and cucumbers
• Yogurt covered raisins and Babybel cheese questions?

 Wonka Boat Ride

 In this lunch : In my Easy Lunch Box with mini dipper

• Wonka Boat - Ham and provolone
• American blend salad with cucumber flowers
•  World's finest Chocolate in Wonka Bar mini dipper
• Oompa Loompa - grapes, orange, marshmallow, candy eyes, carrot nose
• Pistachios 

Willy Wonka: But Charlie, don't forget what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he always wanted.

Charlie Bucket: What happened?

Willy Wonka: He lived happily ever after. 

Now off you go to see what Grace over at Eats Amazing has dreamed up in her imagination!

Where you go I will follow

I would like to thank my friend Alexandra of Lunch with Eyeness for helping me with my blog make-over. I cannot thank her enough for all of the wonderful banners and watermarks and work she has put into helping me. You are an amazing person with a generous spirit.

If you haven't visited my Bento Bloggers & Friends tab above please please go check out these blogs, they are awesome and you can't help but be inspired by their creativity.

Ok on to our lunches. Today was a volunteer and park day for little blue monkey and I, while green monkey was at school.

School Days 

In this lunch :

• School and car (drop off line) - Ham and cheese
• A,B,C - Trader Joe's Cinnamon schoolhouse cookies
• Orange sun
• Carrots

Momables - Homemade Lunchables

For more healthy lunch ideas check out MOMables

 

 In this lunch :

• Ham
• Ritz crackers
• Cotton candy grapes
• Carrots

 I hope you're all back in the swing of things. I never seem to adjust to the lack of sleep, neither do the boys, thank goodness for naps!

Monkey Business

Little Blue Monkey and I had our 1st days of school today! He started the day off all smiles...bless his teachers heart ;). I had a great 1st day of teaching, I love our kids and the staff. 

 Remember he's cute for a reason ;)

Tuesday, It must be Pig  in a Poke!

I know it's only the second week of school, and first day for Blue Monkey and I, but already our routine is... well... routine, so Tuesday made me think of Sam and Dean.

In my lunch : We got a Goodbyn bynto box at Target, but it's huge for my kids appetites so now it's mine :)

• Pig in a Poke - American blend salad, cucumber and ham pigs
• Trader Joe's veggie straws
• Fruit salad - cotton candy grapes, oranges, strawberries

 Back to School

In this lunch :

• Pencil - Carb smart tortilla, Sunbutter, banana, honey, decorated with food coloring
• Carrots, cotton candy grapes, orange slices

On a roll 

In this lunch :

• Banana, sunbutter, and honey roll-up
• Carrots, cotton candy grapes, orange slices, cucumber slices

So this was their first experience with sunbutter, or a banana roll-up. Neither touched it, Green Monkey was afraid it was peanut butter and didn't want to chance his classmate having an allergic reaction. I had told him at breakfast it was sunbutter not peanuts and wrote it on his napkin note, but he's not remotely a morning person. The little blue was having a difficult day adjusting to class rules and refused to try it. So while I can attest it is in fact delicious ( I taste tested last night), mine will have to try it again during more awake hours then I can pack this again. for those with allergies or in a class with food allergy sufferers Sunbutter is yummy for those hooked on PB&J. 

For more allergy friendly, fun, non-sandwich ideas check out Keeley McGuire's round-up.