The Boxtrolls

This past weekend I took the monkeys to see The Boxtrolls, a new movie about a boy raised by boxtrolls beneath the city. The characters are endearing but what I loved most was the message. It doesn't matter where you come from, or what others believe you should be, "You make you". You decide who and what you will be in your own life, you just have to think outside the box.

Eggs - The Boxboy 

 

In this lunch : In a Easy Lunch Box

• Eggs - Babybel cheese head, jelly sandwich box
• Carrots
• Strawberries and blueberries 

Fish - The Boxtroll 

In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• Fish - Babybel cheese head, jelly sandwich box
• Carrots
• Cantaloup

Here's the trailer, I hope you love it as much as we did. Dare to be brave.

Doctor Who Alphabet N and O

Moving right along through our doctor who alphabet this week begins on the letter N for our little blue monkey. My first new doctor experience was the ninth doctor, Christopher Eccleston. He was fantastically dark and kept Rose Tyler on her toes.

N is for Nineth Doctor 

In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• Nineth Doctor - Jelly sandwich
• Rose Tyler strawberries
• N in cantaloup

O is for Ood 

 In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• Ood - Ham sandwich, provolone face, sour spaghetti candy tentacles and babybel cheese translation sphere
• Strawberries
• O in watermelon

This alphabet while challenging is also pretty fun, sure beats the I have no idea what to make routine.

Shel Silverstein's Birthday Blog Hop

We love birthdays around here, and books! So the Bento Bloggers & Friends are celebrating Shel Silverstein's big day with a blog hop of his beloved works. One of my all time favorites and my son's is The Giving Tree. They read it at school each year. This year is its 50th anniversary! As a parent it holds new meaning for me now that I didn't understand reading it as a child. But like the little boy, our needs change as we grow and so does our understanding.

"Once there was a tree, and she loved a boy very much....even more than she loved herself"
~Shel Silverstein

The Giving Tree 

In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• The tree and her boy - Ham sandwich with provolone
• Apples - Watermelon
• Apple slices

In tough times it helps to read this book again and remember that all of the struggles, the tantrums, the work that goes into raising children is all part of our gifts as parents. They use up our resources and we gladly give as much of ourselves as we can, because we love them more than ourselves. And I love two boys very, very much. And the boys are happy. And this mom is happy. 

Now please click the button below and see what Amanda over at Food, Family, Fun has created. As always keep clicking until you have turned through all the pages and wind up back here. Enjoy!

For more learning fun check out Shel Silverstein's Learning Resources page.

More Doctor Who Alphabet

So we're still chugging away at our alphabet. It's funny how some letters we all know what  we should make and some we are just stumped. No matter how many times we've watched the episodes over and over we still draw blanks sometimes. I'd blame the silence but not until "S".

London  - Big Ben

One  of the Doctor's favorite cities to save.

In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• Big Ben - Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
• Strawberries
• L in cantaloup atop cantaloup and carrots

The Master 

One of the Doctors biggest enemies

 In this lunch :In an Easy Lunch Box

• The Master and M - Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
• Watermelon apple shapes
• M in watermelon

If you have ideas for the rest of the alphabet feel free to chime in in the comment section and we may use it.

It's Monday And So The Beat Goes On

We are continuing the Doctor Who Alphabet this week for the little blue monkey. The big kid and I forgot to discuss what he wanted for lunch the night before, so I randomly picked Star Wars, because how can you ever go wrong with that? He loved it and it was fun for him to be surprised at lunch with his on-lookers. Every year I wonder when he will be too old for these "cute" lunches or napkins notes, but so far they still love them. Some day they will be too cool for me, some day they won't need me, some day I will miss all the little extras that fill our days, some day is not today :-)

K is for K-9 

In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• K-9 - Peanutbutter and jelly sandwich, other half sandwich is placed behind it but not fancy.
• Strawberries
• K in cantaloup

Tie Fighter 

In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• Tie fighter and asteroids - Jelly sandwiches
• Carrots
• Cantaloup

International Talk Like A Pirate Day

Arrr you ready matey? It's tha' time 'o year again. To set sail for buried treasure and talk like a pirate. Our scallywags didn't want to swab the deck or walk the plank but they did want to eat.

Pirate Ship 

In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• Skull and crossbones - Jelly sandwich, Cheese stick mast and boat
• Carrots
• Strawberries with skull pick

Walk the Plank 

 In this lunch : IN an Easy Lunch Box

• Sharks - jelly sandwiches
• Walk the Plank - cheese stick
• Pirate on Grapes
• Strawberries

I hope you land lubbers arrr ready fer a fun filled day of piracy.

One pirate said to his fellow crew-mate, "Arrrgh, that be a fine looking hook and peg leg ye got for ye'self!"

The pirate replied, "I should think so, it cost me and arm and a leg!"

The Bento Bloggers & Friends have also created a fun Linky Paaarty so cast off and bento ahoy!

Thursday Toss Up

Yesterday I posted all 3 of little blue monkey's lunches so today I'm posting big green monkey's lunches. We really love baby Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy, our kitchen dance-off's are pretty epic.

Baby Groot 

Funny aside : I totally cheated for his companions because I didn't have a raccoon for Rocky I used a Koala and for Starlord I used Ironman....close enough right? 

In this lunch : 

• Groot - Jelly sandwich, gummy eyes, tree pick, babybel cheese pot
• "Rocky" - carrots
• "Starlord" peaches

Then big monkey got on a cyberman kick so we made that 2 days in a row, because children love repetition even in 2nd grade.I thought I'd post them anyway because these are my fast, make in the morning within 5 minutes lunches.

In these lunches : In Easy Lunch Boxes

• Cybermen - Jelly sandwich, I suppose its worth mentioning we use organic fruit spread on whole wheat bread since he has sworn off all other kinds of sandwiches.
• Carrots
• Top lunch - strawberries
• Bottom lunch - pear and peach slices (no sugar added)

 

Doctor Who Alphabet continues

If you have been following along we are up to the letter H in our Doctor Who themed alphabet. H is for hats, whether you're a fan of the Fez or the stetson no doubt the Doctor rocked them.

Hats : Fez and Stetson 

In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch  Box

• Stetson and Fez - Jelly sandwiches
• Grapes
• H in cantaloup

I is for the great Intelligence 

Ok so kind of a stretch but in the Christmas episode the great Intelligence possessed snowmen.

 In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• The Great Intelligence
• Grapes
• I in cantaloup

J is for Jack Harkness 

 In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• Captain Jack Harkness - Jelly sandwich
• Strawberries
• J in cantaloup

I have been pretty surprised at how challenging this has been. We have a lot of fun trying to figure out something for each letter.

International Dot Day

It is international dot day! A day dedicated to creativity, courage, and collaboration. Imagine how great the world could be if every day we tried to make a new friend, create great works of art, and work together. Both monkeys had nearly identical lunches so I'm including the video of The Dot story at the end of the post.

In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• Smile! - Jelly sandwich with dot candy smiley face
• Carrots
• Peaches and pear slices with Orange crayon

 In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• Smile! Jelly sandwich with dot candy
• Grapes
• Carrots
• Vashti - mandarin orange drawn in edible marker

Now go make your mark!

Roald Dahl Day Blog Hop

Happy Birthday Roald Dahl! A beloved author of some of our favorite books. To celebrate Bento Bloggers & Friends are hopping through the book stacks and bringing his creations to edible fruition. So read, nibble and get lost in a wonderful world of imagination. Click the hop button at the bottom of this post to check them all out, when your library card is full, fill your head and your belly with magic.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory : Violet you're turning violet! 

In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• Willy Wonka : Violet Beauregarde - Apple english muffin with jelly, babybel cheese head
• Carrots with books pick
• James and the Giant Peach : Miss Spider - Peach slices and spider 

Now come along, and discover the magic within his pages brought to lunch rooms around the world starting with  Summer Mum.

And The Doctor Goes On

I kind of like long themes because I have at least a conversation starter with the monkeys as to what to make for lunch the next day. Since we're doing the whole alphabet in Doctor Who its been a lot of fun o try and think of something Who related for each letter. We didn't map it out so we're still thinking it over day by day.

F is for Face of Boe 

In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• Face of Boe - Nutella sandwich
• F in carrots
• F in watermelon
• Strawberries
• Grapes

G is for Gallifrey 

 In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• Gallifrey - Apple cinnamon english muffin with jelly and an alien attack
• Grapes
• G in watermelon
• Strawberries

Doctor Who Alphabet for 2

Week 3 of school begins and we're continuing the Doctor Who alphabet with D for Dalek and E for Earth.

D is for Dalek 

Inside the Dalek

In this lunch :

• Dalek (Inside and out) - Jelly sandwich
• Carrots
• Strawberries

I forgot to add a cut letter D, but as this went to my big monkey not the little guy no one noticed.

E is for Earth

The Doctor's favorite planet to visit and save from extermination

In this lunch : 

• Earth - Nutella sandwich
• Carrots
• E in cantaloup

Week 3 is when homework begins. Also when I went back to work, so you can expect short "Look Lunch" posts most of the time with a few fun hops along the way to play with our Bento friends.

C is for...

Continuing our Doctor Who alphabet for little monkey, inspired big monkey to come up with a Star Wars twist. I don't think he wants the whole Star Wars alphabet but I will squirrel that away for another time :)

Carbonite 

In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• C is for Carbonite - Han Solo frozen apple sauce
• C is for carrots too
• Millennium Falcon and X-Wing fighter - Jelly sandwiches

Cyberman 

 In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• C is for Cyberman - Ham sandwich
• C in cantaloup
• C in honeydew melon

Both kids had a great day and earned buying lunch tomorrow, so happy pizza Friday boys.  What I love most about these cookie cutters are that they take no time at all to make a fun fancy lunch.

Doctor Who for 2

Yep still on our Doctor Who kick, but don't worry other themes come up eventually. If there was ever a doubt as to who was coming up with these things, I think it's pretty clear its the monkeys who run this kitchen.

Strax

In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• Strax - Jelly sandwich
• Carrots
• Strawberries

 B is for Bowties 

Continuing our fun alphabet

In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• Bowties - Nutella sandwich
• B in cantaloup
• B in Honeydew melon

  Simple and fast lunches for Wednesday.

Week 2 begins

Some times its the simple things that matter most. My kids don't care if their lunch is artistically perfect. They know that it's a mid-day hug from me. So we're starting out simple while we all adjust to our new schedules. My big kid loves to tell me what to make next, and the little monkey usually tries to copy him at least in theme if not exactly. You'll see a lot of repeated characters and themes because it's a kids world to repeat repeat repeat.

A New Doctor 

Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor

In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• Peter Capaldi - Jelly sandwich and babybel cheese hair
• Carrots
• Strawberries

A is for Adipose 

Little monkey is going to be having the Doctor Who alphabet this month

 In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• Adipose - Nutella sandwich, mozzarella cheese stick limbs *Boo he still won't eat cheese but had to try.
• A in cantaloup
• A in watermelon

 Despite knowing they won't eat certain foods I keep trying hoping that some day they will. I subbed out veggies for 2 servings of fruits because both celery and carrots were declined. 

Look Lunch!

We survived our first week back to school. A few hiccups along the way but we managed. Friday's they get to buy lunch if they have been good, and they were, so this is the last set of lunches for this week. We are definitely looking forward to a nice long 3 day weekend.

Minecraft Slime 

In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• Slime - Jelly sandwich
• Slime - Scrabble Jr. Cheez-its
• 2 Gluten Free chocolate chip banana muffins (recipe posted yesterday)
• Heart straberries
• Carrots

 Plants VS Zombies 2 Pea Shooters

In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• Frozen Pea Shooter (Blue) - Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
• Frozen peas - red grapes (he hates blue berries)
• Green Pea Shooter - Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
• Green peas - green grapes
• Strawberries
• Cantaloup cones

These were simple and fast and done in 5 min. Not every lunch has to be fancy to make them smile.
We are so glad the first week of school is behind us, here's to a nice long weekend and a fun next week.

Two more down hundreds to go

We've made it to Wednesday of the first week of school. Only 173 more days to go....too soon to count down to summer? Well we can dream anyway. In the meantime there's lunches and many fun days ahead too.

A Whovian Hug 

My little one has had a tough time adjusting to Kindergarten so we made all his favorite Doctor Who friends to help him through the day.

In  this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• Dalek and TARDIS - peanutbutter and jelly sandwich
• TARDIS and K-9 - cantaloup
• Gluten Free chocolate chip banana muffin

 Minecraft Skeleton

The big green monkey is a pro, barely even says good bye when heading in the building.

In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch Box

• Skeleton - jelly sandwich with string cheese bones
• Gluten Free chocolate chip banana muffins
• Strawberries 
• Carrots

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Banana Muffin Recipe 

• 1 1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill all purpose flour
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup butter melted
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup Stevia for baking
• 2-3 very ripe bananas
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Mix it all together, I tend to mix wet ingredients first, then add the dry. Spray a loaf pan or in this case mini muffin pan. Fill almost to the top. Bake at 350 for 50-60 min depending on the size of pans you use.

Minecraft Maniacs

Like many, many, many other kids across the country, my little monkeys are obsessed with Minecraft. While I may prefer getting up to play outside from time to time, I can't really fault the engineering skills they learn from playing. So it comes as no surprise that they would request their favorite characters from their favorite game right off the bat this year.

Zombie 

My little blue monkey chose the Zombie, and while my photo is a bit tough to make out he loved it.

In this lunch : In an Easy Lunchbox

• Zombie - Peanutbutter and jelly sandwich
• Cantaloup "blocks"
• Green - celery and peanutbutter
• Zombie  - Scrabble Jr. Cheez-its

Creeper 

 My big green monkey chose a Creeper, creepers gonna creep y'all.

In this lunch : In an Easy Lunchbox

• Creeper - Jelly sandwich
• Green crayons in carrots
• Heart strawberries
• Creeper - Scrabble Jr. Cheez-its

* Tip - When  I pack crackers I put them in a Lil' dipper container (not pictured but in my tools section) to keep them from getting soggy from the sandwich in transit.

Back to School

It's official I have a no more babies at home. My monkeys are back to school this week starting second grade and kindergarten. It's always a mixed bag of emotions for me, summer is too short, exited they are growing up, worried for them to make friends and do well, and missing the noise and chaos. Yes I said it, I miss the noise when they aren't here, no matter how much I shh them when they are ;) So now that I have 2 in school full time its also time for me to go back to work full time so in a couple weeks I'll be packing all 3 of us lunch every day.

Inspired by the new season of Doctor Who my green monkey chose the TARDIS and Strax for his back to school lunch.

TARDIS and Strax 

In this lunch : In a Easy Lunch Box

•  TARDIS and Strax - Jelly sandwich 
• Pencil - Colby cheese stick
• Chalk board - Carrots
• Smiley face - Apple slices

Little blue monkey is beginning his elementary school experience, while he may not feel ready, its time to be a big kid.

Welcome to Kindergarten 

In this lunch : In an Easy Lunch box

• Notebook paper - Peanutbutter and jelly sandwich
• Pencil - Colby cheese stick
• Blue crayons - Carrots
• School bus - Cantaloup stars

We like to kick-off the new school year with some special treats for the kids and their teachers, because first days of school are tough on everyone.

Teacher Survival Baskets 

 I found these great crates at our grocery store for $1 each and filled them with supplies every teacher needs.

• Clorox wipes
• Highlighters
• Pens
• Straw cup
• Via coffee
• Via splashers
• Extra gum
• Advil 
• Germy gel for the class and scented ones for her
• Chapstick
• Laffy taffy to remember to laugh
• Smarties for those smartie pants
• Mini Pinwheel just for fun

I also left a little something out for each kid before going to school. The napkin went in their lunchbox the rest stayed home for after school fun.

• Bubbles
• Pop rocks
• Laffy taffy
• Smarties
• Mini pinwheel

 

Lunch For Twelve - An Edible Geekery Hop

I am so very thankful for my friends over at Edible Geekery. Thanks to them this lunch blog is getting just the kick-off we need to welcome in another school year. What better way is there to inspire getting back in the kitchen to make lunches than by welcoming a brand new Doctor on Doctor Who. We are so excited to watch the premier this Saturday on BBC America. So let's take a "Deep Breath" and travel through all 10 fantastic, brilliant, wibbly wobbly timey wimey wonderful lunches until you get back here.

Fantastic, Alons-y and ??? 

Inspired by the last 3 generations of Doctors and companions. 

 In this lunch : In our TARDIS blue Easy Lunch Box

• Rose Tyler - Celery with organic peanut butter and turkey bacon roses on celery stems
• TARDIS - Hard boiled egg
• Amy Pond - Gala apple over grapes
• Clara Oswald - Leaf cucumbers and salami
• Doctors 10, 11, and 12 icons on mozzarella cheese slices. 

Now run you silly boy (*ahem or girl) and go check out Beneficial Bento by clicking on the hop button below. Geronimo!

World Autism Day

Today is World Autism Awareness Day. Light it up blue! So adorning our blue outfits today we set out to play in Texas Bluebonnets. What can I say, we just love our friends, and their Autism/Aspergers just brought out extra helpings of awesome. Loving and sweet and always fun to be around. While searching for the right words to express how special these people are to our lives I came across a top 10 quote list that will melt your heart.

1. "I know of nobody who is purely autistic, or purely neurotypical. Even God has some autistic moments, which is why the planets spin" - Jerry Newport, Your Life is Not a Label

2. "You know, everybody's ignorant, just on different subjects" - Will Rogers

3. "If I could snap my fingers and be non-autistic, I would not. Autism is part of what I am" - Temple Grandin.

4. "If they can't learn the way we teach, we teach the way they learn" - O. Ivar Lovass

5. "Think of it: a disability is usually defined in terms of what is missing...But autism...is as much about what is abundant as what is missing, an over-expression of the very traits that make our species unique" - Paul Collins, Not Even Wrong: Adventures in Autism

6. "I like it that order exists somewhere even if it shatters near me" - Elizabeth Moon, The Speed of Dark

7. "Autism, is part of my child, it's not everything he is. My child is so much more than a diagnosis" - SL Coelho, The World According to August - One Good Friend 

8. "Autism: Where the 'randomness of life' collides and clashes with an individual's need for the sameness" - Eileen Miller, The Girl Who Spoke with Pictures: Autism Through Art 

9. "Do not fear people with Autism, embrace them, Do not spite people with Autism unite them, Do not deny people with Autism accept them for then their abilities will shine" - Paul Isaacs

10.  "I myself am opaque, for some reason. Their eyes cannot see me. Yes, that's it: The world is autistic with respect to me" -Anne Nesbet, The Cabinet of Earths."

 Light it up Blue 

In this lunch : Blue monsters containers and of course TARDIS blue lunch box

• Every piece matters : Blue Autism awareness ribbon then cut into puzzle pieces - Jelly sandwich
• Heart strawberries with heart pick
• Carrots with Blue pick

After school we ventured out to the bluebonnets for our annual spring pictures. I know they aren't lunch related but they're the kids eating all these lunches :)