Bento: Finally Fall

It finally feels like fall here in Central Texas.  It's 55 degrees and raining this morning, and I *love* it!  I'm looking forward to being able to open the windows for the cool air.

The Laptop Lunch containers for today's lunch are filled with a potato bread sandwich (cookie cutter used for bat outline and colored with Wilton Food Writers), silicone cup with almonds and a leaf pick from AllThingsForSale.com, silicone cup with a homemade Pumpkin Maple and Cream Cheese Whoopie Pie.  I created dried apple "ghosts" (Wilton Food Writers) that are fun and SUPER easy, and the final container is filled with dried blueberries and a scarecrow pick also from ATFS.

Lunch face

A sandwich cut in half and stacked with a pair of creepy eyes combined with apple slices turned jagged teeth create a lunch face. Dried blueberries with a stray eyeball and granola bar bites finish out this quick Laptop Lunch.

The twins were at home today for lunch, and I made ham, cheese, avocado, and lettuce sandwiches topped with a mango slice for a smile.  Silicone cupcake liners hold raspberries, applesauce, and googly eyes (rings and picks) from AllThingsForSale.com

Lunch: Out of Bread

Last night, I realized we only had 2 slices of bread left for today's lunches. This morning, we made pancakes, and we made some extras to use as bread. Some Wow Butter and honey made for some great impromptu sandwich treats. Fresh raspberries, yogurt covered pretzels, and Gogurts finish out these three lunches.
Happy Friday!

Bento: October, Halloween, and Nut-free "Butterfinger"!

 I pulled down the Ziploc bag of Halloween pics, rings, etc. this morning!  The little man requested a ham and cheese sandwich, but they're always soggy if you make them ahead of time, so this is deconstructed.  The ham was patted dry and placed between the bread slices with a slice of cheese.  Lettuce (hiding a finger) and tomatoes are in separate containers.  Baby carrots (hiding a hand) and Gogurt are snacks, and the nut-free "Butterfinger" bite will be a special treat. (Nut-free "Butterfinger" = 1 jar Wowbutter + 1 lb. bag of melted candy corn mixed, cooled, cut + dip in melted chocolate.)  These are all tucked in Laptop Lunch containers with lids.

I'm sharing this one, not because I expect it to inspire you in any way, but rather to share my learning experience.  

The other day, we were running really late, so the Despicable Me minion is made with cheddar cheese and a food writer. (Our family is doing a Despicable Me theme for Halloween this year.) HOWEVER, I do NOT recommend trying to draw on cheddar.  I don't buy American cheese, because it isn't "cheese."  Unfortunately, American cheese is also a lot easier to decorate because of the moisture content.  I will be working on other Despicable me foods in the coming weeks, too.

Gogurt, fruit snacks, and a Nutri-Grain bar finish out this "we must go NOW" lunch.

Bento: Team Spirit

10 minutes before it was time to leave for school thus morning, my husband asked if I would make our 3rd grader's lunch. Our son who has demanded nut butter and honey sandwiches every day for the better part of almost 2 years decided he wanted grilled cheese, Mac and cheese, or ham & cheese for lunch. We did not have any ham or Mac and cheese, and I didn't want his grilled cheese to be soggy.
So I made a pastrami and cheese sandwich with the school mascot cut from a piece of pastrami and adhered with a tiny bit of mayo.
I carved the school's initials in an apple, pulled off the skin, spritzed with lemon juice and covered with plastic wrap.
I added a granola bar given my time constraints.

Bento: Apple of my Eye

On such a difficult and emotional day, I struggled with what to do for my 8 year old's lunch.  His knowledge of 9/11 is still very very limited.  I took the opportunity to share a little bit about it this morning and explained steps taken to keep our nation safe in the future. (With all of our family's travel, I didn't want him to live in fear.)  For his lunch, I decided to express how special he is to me.  His sandwich is adorned with hearts from fruit leather.  Dried apples have notes written on them with a Wilton Food Writer.  The apple has a heart cut with the same cookie cutter and removed with a small knife.  I use lemon-lime soda instead of lemon juice to "seal" the apples so that they aren't bitter.  I threw in a granola bar in the silverware space.  Show the ones around you that you love them!

Bento: Guess What Day It Is!

Hump Day!!!!
Do you think that commercial is half as funny as we do?  Today's lunch is inspired by how happy the camel is on Wednesday.
The Laptop Lunch box is filled with applesauce with cinnamon, dried fruit, a granola bar, and a "camel sandwich" made with Wilton Food Writers.  I drew this one freehand, but you could easily print out a picture and cut it as a template.
I wrote on both sides of the banana using pressure, not ink.
Happy Hump Day!

Bento: Zone

Our kid LOVES going to the "Zone" at our local Y. With school starting back up, his opportunities to go have decreased.  Today's lunch is zone-themed with the promise of taking him after school.
For the spiral sandwiches, flatten a slice of bread with a rolling pin, and spread the filling leaving 3/4" at the far end. Roll the slice away from you like a jellyroll. (The filling will "squish" into the end a bit.) Use a sharp knife to trim the edges and slice the log into spirals.
I carved the fruit leather with a small knife.
Garden tomatoes, dried blueberries, and a frozen Gogurt finish out today's lunch.

Bento: Star Student

As we start off the new school year, I wanted to encourage my 3rd grader AND to show you how easy a fun lunch can be.  Don't get me wrong, I love some of the elaborate lunches; but let's be honest, we don't all have time for that every morning.  My original plan didn't work out (when I realized that my loaf of bread was still in the freezer), so this a modified even EASIER version that was quick to throw together this morning.
This lunch is in a Laptop Lunch box (currently, there is a 72 hour sale for back-to-school - enter code BTS15 for 15% off.)  The sandwich has stars cut with a cookie cutter and a piece of fruit leather cut with the same cookie cutter.  The dried blueberries have some star sprinkles that I had left from cupcakes.  The egg was pressed in a star egg mold (and was a small egg!)  The egg took the longest, but I did it last night.

Last night, I boiled an egg (larger eggs are preferred) for 9 minutes, drained the water, rolled it around the pan gently cracking it open on all sides (to make it easier to peel), ran a quick rinse of water over the egg, peeled the shell, and placed it into the egg mold before putting it in the fridge overnight.  While the egg was boiling, I made the note with "Night Sky" font.  
This morning, it took less than 5 minutes to assemble the lunch. Happy Back To School!

Back to School!

 I downloaded the free printables from Yellow Bliss Road, and <3 them!  Chalkboard "1st Day of" signs for free!  For lunch, there's an A+ sandwich (Wilton Food Writers were used to make the "paper,") fresh blueberries, garden tomatoes, a pluot (who named that anyway?,) and a granola bar.  For a whirlwind first day of school with my husband out of town, a full day of meetings, getting all 3 kids ready and out of the door (not to mention feeding our four-legged family members), I thought this was rather successful even if it is super simple.  The kid - he absolutely loved it. 
(And yes, it was still dark outside when I took the picture, so it's not fabulous.  I should have used my *real* camera.)