another lunch

PlanetBox preschool lunch: fantastic firetruck fun for my fabulous & feisty four-year-old

2013-05-23T09:01:00.000-05:00

A couple days ago I had this fun lunch all ready to greet my youngest,Tyler, when he got off the bus from preschool. This little guy loves fire trucks a lot. And then yesterday that little guy turned 4. Four years old! I'm still wondering where the last four years have gone. Sigh.

Packed in a PlanetBox:
- Fire Engine #4, a sandwich cut with the truck Lunch Punch. I fashioned a little ladder out of havarti cheese, along with the number four. The siren is a little organic jelly bean. :)
- waffle pretzels with a few firetruck cheese crackers (homemade recipe here).
- kiwi fruit and strawberries, with the helpful firehouse dog bento pick
- cucumber fire stations and a bunch of carrot coins
- the middle treat section holds some five-alarm spicy jalepeno almonds

Because I am afraid someone will ask: the tiny firetruck cutter is from a set of transportation vehicle mini cutters I bought several years ago from an online bento shop that is no longer in business. I haven't seen any similar in a very long time. :( The way they are designed makes them really hard to use on cheese (which I originally intended using them for), but they have been really cute for cracker making.

Supplies used to make this lunch:

Lunchbots bento boxes | a little of this & a little of that

2013-05-21T09:00:00.000-05:00

These bentos are on the small side, but there is a lot of variety packed into these small spaces.

This bento is in a Lunchbots Quad (divided into 4 sections):
- two mini blueberry muffins with some pecans tucked in the corners
- butterfly crackers with organic cream cheese
- mini BabyBel cheese and slices of salami
- grapes & strawberries with a couple cute flower bento picks

Packed in a Lunchbots Duo (made with two sections):
- deli roll-ups, made with Applegate all natural ham & havarti cheese*
- cucumber slices, cut with a flower shaped mini cookie cutter
- tiny strawberries in a small silicone corner cup, with a cute bento fork to eat them with
- wheat crackers with organic cream cheese
- pumpkin kernels in the little corner cup, topped with an organic yogurt covered pretzel
- a couple strips of turkey jerky
- a few organic chocolate teddy cookies

I packed this Duo box with the wet stuff on one side of the divider, and dry foods on the other. Within each of these sections I used silicone grassy baran to further separate some foods: the deli roll-ups from the cucumbers, and then the teddy cookies from the turkey jerky.

Supplies used to pack these bentos:

* Applegate recently sent me a variety of deli meat and cheese to try out and enjoy with my family. :)

Muffin Tin Monday - Nursery Rhymes

2013-05-20T09:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Muffin Tin Monday!

Today's scheduled theme is Nursery Rhymes. :)

I totally phoned it in this week and whipped out this super simple muffin tin in mere minutes.

Top row:
- Little Miss Muffet's spider, creeping up on her ~~tuffet~~ zucchini muffin
- Jack & Jill's pail full of dry roasted peanuts
- Mary's little lamb, waving from the top of a grape heap

Bottom row:
- Baa Baa Black Sheep (olives)
- Old Mother Hubbard's bare cupboard. Poor puppy. :(
- Twinkling Little Star, up above the world so high

Those are dye-free organic "M&M" type candies in the star cup, the globe is a little piece of chocolate wrapped in earth-print foil. Both these treats were found at Whole Foods in the bulk bins.

My intent for this muffin tin was to have Paige guess what nursery rhyme each space represented. This was a huge flop as it turns out Paige doesn't know the nursery rhymes!!! What what what?!! I was flabbergasted. After talking a while about them, she says they sound "kind of familiar", but definitely not second nature, not by a long shot. Yikes! I guess we have a summer project on our hands: Nursery Rhyme Boot Camp.

Supplies used to make this muffin tin meal:

New to Muffin Tin Monday? Check out the MTM information page to read all about it. The schedule of themes can be found there too. The schedule has been updated and themes are now listed through the end of July! :)

An Amazing School Lunch For My Best Girl

2013-05-16T09:00:00.000-05:00

Okay, maybe it's not amazing, but Paige said it was "fantastic and delicious" and I'm pretty sure that's basically the same thing.

Packed in a PlanetBox:
- kiwi fruit pieces and strawberries, packed in the PlanetBox Big Dipper
- veggie chips
- two cute animal silicone cups hold peanuts (in the elephant, naturally) and pistachios
- deli pinwheels made with Applegate ham & Applegate cheddar cheese*, secured with simple bento picks
- a square of organic dark chocolate

That little orange fork tucked alongside the Big Dipper is from a set of bento forks I bought a few years ago. They were made by a bento company I never see around any longer called Caio (or something like that). There were a lot of bento accessories from that line that all coordinated, color-wise and with the same little animal characters. I think the line was called "Farm", though the animals featured were a bear, elephant, and bunny. It's unfortunate miniature sized utensils aren't more available for bento, they are really such a great little size. Not as tiny as a bento pick, but much more compact than a full sized utensil!

Supplies used to pack this lunch:

* Disclosure: Applegate recently sent me a variety of yummy meat and cheese to try out and enjoy with my family. :)

Kindergarten school lunches (times three!) - piggies, pinwheels, & puzzle pieces

2013-05-15T09:39:00.000-05:00

A few of Paige's Kindergarten lunches. I won't be able to say that for long...only one week of school for us to go! My little girl will soon be a big 1st grader! This year has flown. Like a turbo jet.

All these lunches are packed in EasyLunchboxes.

First, a lunch from last month that I forgot to post. :)

- sandwich cut into puzzle pieces with a Lunch Punch, cozied up in a large silicone cup
- veggie chips
- roasted chickpeas
- blackberries with a piece of organic fruit leather, cut with a small heart cookie cutter

Next, a lunch packed in a super big hurry. This lunch was no-nonsense. Put things in a box, apply the lid. Done.

- Applegate ham & Applegate havarti cheese rolls* with a bit of mustard, secrured with bento picks so they didn't unravel
- an apple cereal bar
- ripe organic strawberries & frozen blackberries
- pistacios

I left the cereal bar in the wrapper so it didn't get little crumbs all over the deli rolls, but cut one end open so Paige could slide it out easily.

Last lunch, TODAY'S lunch!

- a sandwich on multigrain of organic peanut butter & fruit preserves
- veggie chips
- sunflower kernels in the little piggie cup
- clementine wedges with strawberries
- cucumber slices, cut with a small flower mini cookie cutter (faster than peeling!)

The bread stamp that made that cute piggie face was a gift from a friend and I don't know where it came from, but the pig from this stamp set is similar. :)

Supplies used to make these lunches:

* Disclosure: Applegate recently sent me a variety of yummy meat and cheese to try out and enjoy with my family. :)

Planetbox | Ladies Who Lunch - a Mother's Day brunch box :)

2013-05-14T09:00:00.000-05:00

Last Friday Paige's Kindergarten class hosted a little Mother's Day tea at lunchtime. The kids and moms shared home packed lunches picnic-style.

Packed in a Planetbox lunch box:
- homemade hummus with waffle pretzels
- cucumber slices
- cutie orange, kiwi fruit, and two gorgeous grape gemstones on ring bento picks ;)
- girly girly mini sandwiches of peanut butter and fruit preserves
- naturally colored chocolate covered sunflower kernels in the middle treat section

The Mother's Day lunch event was the perfect ocassion to break out my new "fancy lady" mini cookie cutters. :)

Supplies used to make this lunch:

Muffin Tin Monday - In the Garden

2013-05-13T09:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Muffin Tin Monday!

This week's scheduled theme is "In the Garden".

In my super simple garden muffin tin:
- grape tomatoes with cute pea pod bento picks
- homemade ranch dressing in an adorable carrot-shaped silicone cup
- cucumber pieces on more cute veggie-topped bento picks

- Annie's organic bunny fruit snacks in a bunny shaped silicone cup (we lost so many tomatoes to rabbits in our garden last year! Boo to the garden bunnies!)
- mini sandwiches, one shaped like a bell pepper, one like an eggplant
- farm fresh strawberries (Owen and I went berry picking this weekend - fun!)

I picked up the veggie shaped mini cookie cutters on ebay a couple months ago. I discovered I can get them practically dirt cheap from there, even with shipping. I loaded up on a few others sets I didn't have yet in my collection too. :)

Supplies used to make this muffin tin meal:

Now I'd love to see what muffin tins YOU cooked up this week. Please share!! The more, the merrier. :)

New to Muffin Tin Monday? Check out the MTM information page to read all about it. The schedule of themes can be found there too. The schedule has been updated and themes are now listed through the end of July! :)

Peace, Love, & Mickey Mouse - more Mickey bentos :)

2013-05-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

More Mickey in the house...and in the lunch boxes. :)

Ethan got some Mickey fun this time.

Packed in an EasyLunchboxes:
- soft pretzel
- cheddar cheese
- organic baby carrots
- kiwi fruit & a strawberry on a puffy Mickey head pick

That cute little Mickey Mouse container next to the pretzel is called a furikake shaker bottle. Furikake is seasoning flavor/spices that is sprinkled on rice in traditional Japanese bentos and food. I have it filled with pretzel salt since this soft pretzel was unsalted. Ethan could add a sprinkle of salt to the top as he wished.

Peace, Love, & Mickey Mouse!
- multigrain peace sign pretzel chips
- kiwi fruit and a strawberry heart
- Mickey Mouse crackers (they are from Disney World)
- little Mickey Mouse sandwich of organic peanut butter & local honey

This lunch is packed in a 4 square Lock & Lock box. :)

Supplies used to make these lunches:

EasyLunchbox bento | Mickey Mouse & Minnie Mouse lunches

2013-05-08T08:00:00.000-05:00

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

Big huge puffy heart love for Mickey Mouse. Also? Big puffy heart love bursting open when seeing how thrilled little Tyler was with his special lunch yesterday.

Packed in an EasyLunchbox:
- two Mickey Mouse sandwiches of organic peanut butter & fruit preserves
- Wheat Thins & a BabyBel cheese circle
- organic yogurt covered pretzels
- Mickey Mouse crackers (picked those up on our trip to Disney World)
- organic strawberries with a SUPER CUTE Mickey Mouse glove bento pick

I spied those adorable Mickey picks on ebay a month or so ago and about jumped out of my skin from the excitement of them. So stinking cute! I've had them sitting on my counter all these weeks because the package of cuteness just made me happy to look at. I decided it was finally time to put them to use. They just make me smile. A lot. :)

While Tyler was enjoying his lunch I decided to busy myself by making a similar one for Paige for the next day's lunch (that's today!). I don't usually make lunches ahead of time, but if this works out (no sogginess or staleness) it would be fabulous.

Paige's Minnie Mouse bento is also in an EasyLunchbox:
- cucumber slices (with a sprinkle of pepper)
- organic yogurt covered pretzels
- Mickey crackers
- Minne Mouse sandwiches, also pb&j on multigrain
- organic strawberries & grapes with a marvelous Minnie Mouse bow bento pick :)

The Mickey and Minnie sandwiches were both cute and stamped with a pair of cookie cutters. Incidentally, these are the same style (and maker) of my favorite Hello Kitty ones. The bow pick was also scored on ebay, as part of a cute 12 piece Minnie themed bento pick set. {insert more smiles}

Supplies used to make these lunches:

2 Laptop Lunches for my Kindergarten girl

2013-05-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

A couple Laptop Lunches here! These are both school lunches made for Paige.

- cucumber sticks with a schnazzy handstanding bunny bento pick
- mini-dipper full of hummus
- organic strawberries and a talented dancing bear bento pick
- three mini sandwiches on multigrain, cut with this little cutter set
- Snap Pea Crisps
- black bean quinoa tortilla chips (from Trader Joe's)

A couple random notes:
#1 - Paige only likes those Snap Pea Crisps if she can dip them in hummus.
#2 - Those tortilla chips from Trader Joe's are fantastic!
#3 - I absolutely love those little EasyLunchbox mini-dipper boxes, and stoked they fit in the Laptop Lunches. While the Laptop Lunches do come with a tiny dip box, the mini-dippers are a bit bigger and the lids are easy for my littles to handle independently. I'm a fan.

- two clementines with cute leaf picks and a handful of grapes
- Paige's most favorite, garlic chicken pizza with parmesan
- veggie chips
- turkey jerky

I've been trying to limit the amount of sugar Paige gets in her lunches. Packing two sugary fruits (clementines and grapes are both high sugar fruits) is not ideal, but I tried to counter it with higher protein sides. She also had a higher protein snack for her afternoon snack time. :)

Supplies used to make these bento school lunches:

Muffin Tin Monday | Classic TV & Cartoons

2013-05-06T09:00:00.000-05:00

Howdy ho, muffin tin makers and lookers!

Today's theme for Muffin Tin Monday is Classic TV & Cartoons!

Here we go, my mish mash of classic tv and cartoon hits:

Top Row showcases...
- I Love Lucy: Vitameatavegamin crisps (Eat Your Vegetables chips)
- Lassie: a mini-dipper of homemade hummus
- Flipper!: cucumber & baby carrots with a dolphin bento pick

Front Row entertainment...
- The Flintstones: no-bake "energy balls" with bone bento picks
- Land of the Lost: dino sandwich made with Applegate turkey & cheddar cheese
- The Jetsons: homemade robot crackers

Let's take a closer look at what's going on in Lassie's neck of the woods...

Oh no! That's Timmy, and it looks like he fell in the well again! ;)

Ah, this muffin tin brought back a lot of memories for me! These are all tv shows I watched obsessively as a kid. Any other Land of the Lost fans? Did you ever think Timmy couldn't find his way out of a paper bag without Lassie to lead his way? Anyone else marvel at how Flipper could solve mysteries, catch bad guys, and rescue those boys week after week? Oh man, not pictured in this muffin tin, but I also loved Ben. That big bear? I wanted him to be my friend. I swear, those tv kids had the coolest pets....

Supplies used to make this muffin tin meal:

New to Muffin Tin Monday? Check out the MTM information page to read all about it. The schedule of themes can be found there too. :)

pssst! The schedule has been updated and themes are now listed through the end of July!

Kindergarten Field Trip Lunch & hearty snack bento

2013-05-02T13:20:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week Paige had her last field trip of the year. Unlike most field trip lunches, this one did not need to be disposable (yay!).

The field trip was to see a performance of Go Dog Go. So naturally I tweaked a little of that heme into her lunch that day.

Packed in an EasyLunchboxes container:
- pb&j sandwich on multigrain, cut with a dog in a dog house Lunch Punch
- two dog bowls (according to Paige!), with Goldfish crackers and a few grapes
- Wheat Thins and some Applegate Farms havarti cheese, cut into bone shapes with a mini cookie cutter
- cucumber slice "frisbees" ;)

Because the class ate lunch earlier than normal, before leaving for the field trip, parents were asked to send in "a hearty snack" for the afternoon, when they returned back to school. No problemo! It was the perfect occasion to break in our new strawberry bento box:

This berry cute snack bento holds:
- a bunch of hummus in a mini-dipper box
- "Eat Your Vegetables" chips
- two organic strawberries
- deli roll-ups made with Applegate Naturals uncured slow-cooked ham & natural Havarti cheese*, with a bit of mustard

This strawberry box is crazy cute, all stacked up ready to roll. :)

Paige was so excited over this strawberry bento, and I really enjoyed packing it up. It was a reminder that I really need to reach for those lesser-used fun bentos in my cabinets.

Supplies used to make these bentos:

* Applegate recently sent me a variety of delicious deli meats and yummy cheese to sample and enjoy with the family. :)

preschool bento box lunch | robot crackers, tiny sandwiches, & a flower eating dog

2013-05-01T09:00:00.000-05:00

Cute lunch for little Tyler, coming right up!

Packed in a Sassy box:
- mini sealed sandwiches, filled with hummus
- robot shaped homemade cheese crackers
- cucumber slices and baby carrots
- cantaloupe flowers in a silicone cup

So, for the record, those cute robot cutters make super cute crackers! I mentioned when I used them to make tiny robot sandwiches that I wanted to try it, but wasn't sure the details would come though. I'm so happy they worked perfectly. Cutest crackers ever. :)

Supplies used to make this lunch:

The anti-bento lunch box, part 3: another look at Owen's lunch

2013-04-30T15:27:00.000-05:00

I am going on my 4th year of blogging about lunches here (albeit off and on), and have pictured over a thousand bentos during that time. And yet this is only the third lunch of Owen's to appear here. The first two lunches were posted three years ago in 2010, the anti-bento lunch, and an updated anti-bento lunchbox part 2.

Without further ado, Owen's current cast of cafeteria characters:

Owen's lunch is almost exactly the same every single day.

Every. Single. Day. He has the following packed in his lunch box:
- a thermos of milk
- a jar of applesauce
- a container of something crunchy
- a spoon
- an ice pack

The only thing that changes in his lunch is the Thermos Funtainer (we have 3 "boy ones" in rotation) (I once sent Paige's Hello Kitty one in his lunch box and it came back untouched, he refused to drink from it). I am THRILLED (like, hallelujah, rejoicing!) that he drinks milk from those Thermos bottles because for the first 3 years of school he would only drink the Horizon organic milk boxes, in either vanilla or strawberry. He still LOVES those milk boxes, but now we do those only as an occasional treat. Plain milk in a Thermos Funtainer is much easier on our grocery budget (not to mention, less sugar).

The stainless jar for his applesauce is a more recent purchase. There was a time that Owen would only eat applesauce from the little single serve containers. With a straw poked through the lid. It took years of work for him to eat it with a spoon. And then another year before he'd eat the same applesauce (Mott's natural) from a jar, rather than the single serve container.

Ever since Owen braved to eat jarred applesauce from a regular container I have been searching for the right container to pack it in. You wouldn't believe how many I have tried and discarded. My requirements were pretty simple: something in the 6-9 ounce size range, leak free, easy to open. Well, I did find something that met those requirements, but they were totally not durable and would crack and need replacing. Like every three weeks. Finally, finally, I have found the perfect applesauce jars for Owen.

These are made by Lunchbots. They hold 8 ounces each. They are not big and bulky like the Thermos Funtainer food jars, so Owen is able to grasp them better to easily open and close. They don't leak. They will never crack. Hello. We finally found a winner.

The contents of Owen's "something crunchy" container changes day to day. Today he had pretzels. Sometimes it is crackers (saltines, Ritz, Goldfish). Sometimes it is corn chips (like Fritos, or the Trader Joe's version of). In truly desperate "oh no, our cupboard is bare!" times he gets plain Cheerios as his crunchy thing, but being that he eats dry plain Cheerios for breakfast every.single.day I try not to double him up on that if it's at all avoidable.

If you can't tell, eating is a huge struggle for Owen. And for us, as his parents, and as a whole family. We can't walk into any ole restaurant we like and sit down for a meal unless we know they serve french fries. Yes, french fries. That is the only (ONLY) food from a restaurant Owen will eat. If we are going somewhere unfamiliar we have to pack a lunch box for him to take along.

Owen has made eons of progress, in many areas, since being diagnosed with autism at age three. There has not been much progress in the eating department at all. Things like eating applesauce with a spoon instead of sucking it through a straw, allowing that applesauce to be in any old bowl or container instead of the familiar pre-packaged single serving containers are HUGE milestones for him. Those seemingly small steps took years of work and tears (on all our parts) to achieve.

Not all kids with autism have enormous eating issues like Owen, but many do.
Owen is not your typical picky eater. Owen would starve rather than eat food outside his accepted circle of foods. And that is not an exaggeration. He would simply not eat.

Lately Owen has been open to smelling unfamiliar foods. This is a huge step for him, as food smells used to send him running for the hills. We take what we can get. Small steps. Baby steps. Itty bitty infantile teeny tiny steps.

Owen's lunch, all packed up and ready to be zipped. Yep, that's the same lunch box he's used since Kindergarten. :)

Thank goodness L.L. Beans lasts forever. I think we will get a couple more years from this yet.

So here we are, at the end of April. The end of Autism Awareness Month. I squeezed Owen's lunch in just under the wire!

Amy's final autism message, which also touches on the topic of food:

"Children with autism are 5 times more likely than other children to have problems eating. Often labeled "pickiness," these eating disorders are actually due to sensory issues (extreme sensitivity to tastes and textures), oral motor difficulties (problems chewing or swallowing), obsessive-compulsive disorder (always having to drink from the same cup or eat from the same bowl), food allergies or sensitivities, or a combination of all of the above.

My son has a very severe autism-related eating disorder. He has eaten only sweet potato/yams out of the same bowl for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the last seven or eight years now. We work with a doctor and mix in supplements to make sure he gets adequate nutrition, and we work on adding new foods with a combination of occupational and behavioral therapy. Happy Autism Month!"

Thank you for your support during this month of sharing about autism. :)

Supplies used to pack this lunch:

Last Two Puzzle Lunches for Autism Awareness Month!

2013-04-30T09:02:00.000-05:00

It is the end of April, and the end of the month-long Autism Awareness themed lunches.

I have two more puzzley lunches to show now, and I'll be back later to share one of Owen's typical lunches. Riveting stuff, let me tell you. :)

But first, an Ethan lunch -

Packed in a PlanetBox:
- organic gala apple slices, flip-flopped to make a fun pattern
- grapes
- homemeade granola bites, made puzzle shaped by using a puzzle muffin pan
- Wheat Thin crackers across the top
- cheddar cheese

Paige's lunch from the same day -

Packed in an EasyLunchbox:
- puzzle shaped sandwich
- pretzle chips
- a few organic gummy bears in the treat box
- cucumber slices, with a sprinkle of fresh pepper
- apple and strawberry slices

And that, my friends, is the end of the puzzle lunches for awhile. Phew!

Another special autism message from Amy:

"Person with autism" or "autistic?" Language shapes how we perceive the world and how others perceive us. In disability circles, "person first" (person with autism) language is usually encouraged, however many autistic self-advocates prefer the term "autistic."
They say that autism is such an integral part of what makes them who they are, that that saying "person with autism" would be the equivalent of calling a woman "a person with womanhood." In fact, Temple Grandin once famously said that autism was such an inseparable component of her identity that even if she could "cure" herself, she would choose not to.

I tend to use "autistic" or "on the spectrum." My son considers himself the possessor of an "autistic brain" and sees it as a superpower. However, I do use person first language at times, after receiving a lecture from an acquaintance about the shocking wrongness of using "autistic." The lecture didn't convince me "autistic" was wrong, but it did convince me that it can be so distracting to some people that it will sidetrack an entire discussion. ;)

Happy Autism Month!

Supplies used to make these lunches:

Muffin Tin Monday | April Showers Bring May Flowers

2013-04-29T09:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Muffin Tin Monday!

The assigned theme for this week is April Showers Bring May Flowers.

Top row:
2 umbrella sandwiches.
The green handles for the umbrellas are from Lindt chocolate "carrots" I saved from Easter.

Middle row:
havarti cheese raindrops atop crackers.

Bottom row:
strawberry flowers on a kiwi backdrop, bento picks make the tulip stems and pretty daisies.

April has felt especially rainy to me this year, not necessarily literally, but figuratively it has been a sad month. Death (a child from our elementary school passed away), disasters (Boston Marathon and West, Texas tragedies), and a diagnosis (not ready to talk about that yet). It's just been a month of yuck and heartache and I am so hoping May blooms with beauty and bursts with bliss. I have two friends who are having babies next month and that seems like a wonderful start. :)

Supplies used to make this muffin tin meal:

New to Muffin Tin Monday? Check out the MTM information page to read all about it. The schedule of themes can be found there too. :) The themes through June are posted!

EasyLunchboxes Lunch | Honk If You Love Fridays! car bento

2013-04-26T09:50:00.001-05:00

This cute little lunch was for my youngest car-fanatic, Tyler.

Tyler attends morning preschool four days a week and is home by lunchtime, so packing a lunchbox is not necessary on most days. But the boy LOVES a lunchbox. So every now and then I try to have a cute lunch waiting for him at the kitchen table, all packed up in a lunchbox, for when he gets home from school. Tyler gets so excited and sports a smile a mile wide as he unzips the lunchbox and lifts the lid of the bento box. His delight is well worth the extra minutes it takes to put a bento together for him. :)

Packed in an EasyLunchbox:
- Car sandwich, this is hummus on seedy multigrain bread, with little cheddar cheese wheels
- the road, an organic Clif Kids Zbar
- spare tires and jack ;) - cucumber slices and baby carrots
- road hazards: kiwi chunks and strawberry pieces, with a cute flag bento pick

Tyler waved that little flag pick around and said, "look mama! it's a sign!". I said "that's called a flag!". To which he then said, "a flag? the flag goes on the castle!". Coming from a kid who was completely unintelligible a handful of months ago, his words make me so happy. :)

Supplies used to make this lunch:

EasyLunchboxes | Penguin Burrito Bento

2013-04-25T09:26:00.000-05:00

Cute little penguin meal:

Packed in an EasyLunchbox:
- deli burrito, stuffed with Applegate natural smoked turkey breast, Applegate havarti cheese, & romaine lettuce
- two little penguins made from Applegate organic cheddar cheese (cut with cutters from this set)
- penguin bait (Goldfish crackers) :)
- grape assortment with a cute penguin bento pick
- pistachios
- a few organic gummy bears are in the little penguin pot

This was a dinner sort of meal for Paige. I had to take her along to some after-school appointments that would cut into her starting-to-starve-time. For a school lunch I would have shelled those pistachios for her, since the time allotment for lunch period is pretty tight and I don't want her to waste those minutes wrestling the shells open. But for outings, such as this one, I LOVE having time consuming eats in her box. It's a great distraction and keeps her busy and engaged in her meal for a longer period of time, making the waiting at appointments much more tolerable for everyone. :)

Supplies used to pack this lunch:

Disclosure: Applegate recently sent me a selection of delicious organic and natural deli meats and cheeses to try out and enjoy. Yum!

school lunches: puzzle bynto bentos

2013-04-24T09:00:00.000-05:00

And this is what school lunch looked like today...

Ethan's lunch, packed in a Bynto box:
- organic gala apple slices in an oversized silicone muffin cup
- grapes with cute dancing animal picks :)
- turkey roll-ups
- cheddar cheese puzzle pieces
- pretzels

Paige's lunch, also in a Bynto box:
- organic gala apple slices and strawberries, also in an oversized silicone cup
- cucumber slices
- leftover garlic chicken pizza with fresh pecorino Romano cheese on top (YUM!)
- pretzels and a cheddar cheese puzzle piece

Those puzzle pieces are there for Autism Awareness Month, and here's Amy with another great message:

"We tend to associate autism with children, but autism is a lifelong condition: autistic children become autistic adults. And this transition can be difficult since many services and supports end abruptly when children become adults, although their need for them remains.

There is currently a lack of group homes and caregivers available to provide care to adults on the spectrum. Even those, like my son, who have the potential to go to college or work, may not be able to due to a lack of support and understanding: for sensory difficulties, for problems with independent living skills, or for social and communication difficulties that cause problems in interviews or other professional interactions.

It's Autism Month, and I'm spreading the knowledge!" :)

Supplies used to pack these lunches:

Lunchy school lunches - 2 EasyLunchboxes

2013-04-23T11:26:00.001-05:00

Lord have mercy that lame title really took some work to write. My poor little pea brain is so fried. Yeesh.

Two lunches here, both in EasyLunchboxes:


Paige's lunch:
- leftover grilled chicken from last night's dinner, cut into bite-sized cubes
- hummus in the lidded mini-dipper box
- Wheat Thin crackers
- cucumber slices
- strawberry slices

Paige asked that her lunch have "a style" - by which I think she meant "a theme". So in went two animal mini-fork bento picks and I called it a safari. She was pacified with that. Phew. ;)

Ethan's lunch:


- organic gala apple slices, dipped in lemon juice to keep fresh and bright
- a few organic strawberries
- organic baby carrots
- cheddar cheese, the top piece is puzzle-shaped, and all the scrappy bits are underneath
- his most favorite garlic parmesan pretzel chips

The cheesy puzzle piece is a nod to April being Autism Awareness Month, and as such, Amy is here to share another message about autism. :)

"One common characteristic of autism is a lack of eye contact. (So common that autistic author John Elder Robison titled his memoir "Look Me in the Eye.") Some autistic people describe having to make eye contact as being painful, like being burned. Some find it difficult or impossible to process speech and look at someone at the same time. (I've seen t-shirts that say "I can listen to you or look at you. Pick one.") In fact, some not only need to look away but need to stim, doodle or engage in another activity in order to block out sensory overload and allow their brains to process speech.

Given the fact that polite eye contact varies from culture to culture, and given that this would really be asking our son to change a lot just so other people wouldn't need to feel uncomfortable with his different way of processing, this is something we never actively worked on with him. Overall he seems to have picked up this cultural norm over time and does pretty well with eye contact himself these days, but still there are many times when he appears to be absorbed in something else, when he's actually listening quite closely.

Every brain is different. If someone doesn't look at you when you're speaking, they may actually be working to pay extra close attention to you rather than none at all.

Happy Autism Month!"

Supplies used to make these lunches:

Muffin Tin Monday | Earth Day

2013-04-22T09:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Earth Day!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

2-4-6-8! What should we appreciate? Our planet! Our planet! Yay Earth!

Unfortunately, these peppy cheers are all I have to contribute to today's Muffin Tin Monday. Time totally got away from me last week and a busy weekend (and an overdue homework project) took precedence.

I can't wait to see what YOU came up with!

New to Muffin Tin Monday? Check out the MTM information page to read all about it. The schedule of themes can be found there too. :) The themes through June are posted!

3 PlanetBox school lunches coming right up!

2013-04-19T15:42:00.001-05:00

While cleaning up some photo albums on my computer I found a few lunches that I never posted. Poor little forgotten lunches!

This one was from February!

- Flowery sandwich, cut with a Lunch Punch
- grapes
- wonton pizza rolls
- cucumbers
- chocolate/candy sunflower kernels

Paige went totally kookoo for those little pizza rolls. She's been bugging me daily to make more of them! I simply cut a mozzarella stick into 4ths, added a couple slices of turkey pepperoni and some Italian seasoning, folded into a wonton wrapper and baked in the oven until crisp. She's hooked!

Another lunch that slipped through the cracks....

- smiling Ernie sandwich, made with big Sesame Street cookie cutter
- cucumber slices
- strawberries and grapes with a few of Ernie's favorite rubber duckies
- granola bar pieces and pretzels
- chocolate/candy covered sunflower kernels

And lastly, I am a robot, I am a robot, I am a robot -

- super cute robot sandwiches, made with little plunger-style robot cutters
- a few stars cut from organic fruit leather (these are SPACE robots!)
- blackberries
- hummus and cucumbers
- veggie chips
- dye-free chocolate/peanut candies

I love those new little robot cutters! They are too cute. I'm going to use them the next time I make homemade cheese crackers and I'm really hoping all those cute details will come through! Not sure if they will be visible after baking or not. I'll keep you posted. ;)

Supplies used to make these lunches:

three lunches in the roomy elephant box

2013-04-18T12:38:00.000-05:00

Still loving our fun elephant lunch box. :) Here are a few lunches packed in it recently...

One day this week Paige used the box for her school lunch.
- burrito, stuffed with shreded chicken, black beans, and cheese
- a few tortilla chips
- cinnamon tortilla chips
- grapes

The cinnamon chips were made by cutting a tortilla into puzzle pieces with a Lunch Punch cutter, spreading a little coconut oil on them and sprinkling with cinnamon. Then toasting in the oven until crisp.

This lunch ended up being a lot more carby than I would have preferred for her, but there was a lot of protein packed in the burrito. Most of the tortilla chips (both varieties) came back home uneaten.

One of little Tyler's lunches:

His fun lunch included:
- peanut butter on multigrain bread, cut into puzzle shapes and secured with simple bento picks
- grapes
- cucumber slices & baby carrots
- hummus in the small leak-proof mini dipper box
- veggie chips (which he really likes to dip in the hummus too)

And another Tyler lunch:

- two big slices of watermelon (his new "faborite") & blackberries
- two puzzle piece shaped blueberry muffins (baked in my silicone puzzle pan)
- roasted chickpeas with homemade puzzle crackers on top
- two rolls of peppered turkey with a cute bear-face piece of jack cheese on top

So many puzzle pieces! What's the deal with that? It's Autism Awareness Month, of course! Here's our friend Amy to share another great autism message:

"Stimming (short for self-stimulating) is repetitive movements or utterances -- like hand flapping, rocking or repeating phrase -- common in autism. Autistic people stim to regulate emotions and sensory input. Actually, many non-autistics stim too. We're just less likely to notice these stims because pencil tapping or hair twirling is more socially acceptable than hand flapping.

My son twirls his hair, makes a kind of clicking sound and paces in circles. I push my hair behind my ear when I'm nervous or embarrassed, but I didn't notice this until I shaved my head and found myself repeatedly raising my hand to my head to brush away hair that was no longer there.

Maybe you stim too! Happy Autism Month!"

My Owen stims verbally - he talks to himself (quietly, muttering). His little monologues are often scripts from tv shows of movies he enjoys. I find that I stim by rubbing and pulling on my earlobe, especially when I'm nervous or uncomfortable in social situations (total introvert here!). How about you?

Supplies used to make these lunches:

recipe | how I make homemade cheese crackers

2013-04-16T09:00:00.000-05:00

These are delicious. Seriously, they are. Make them. Eat them. Resistance is futile.

Delectable (customizable!) Homemade Cheese Crackers

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup finely grated sharp cheddar* cheese, packed
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard powder
2 teaspoons seasoning of choice*
4 tablespoons cold butter, sliced
2-3 tablespoons cold water

* These crackers are great because you can really customize them to your tastes so easily! You can switch up the cheese - cheddar, mozzarella, parmesan, or a mixture! For seasoning I like red pepper, garlic powder, cajun seasoning, pepper, paprika.

Every time I made cheesey crackers I make them a little different. In the example photo above, the lighter crackers had a cheese combo of parmesan, Sharp Cheddar, and a Mexican blend of cheese and 2 teaspoons of garlic powder (along with the stated mustard and salt). The darker crackers were all Sharp Cheddar and 2 teaspoons of cajun spice (along with the stated mustard and salt).

Directions:

1. Combine the flour, cheese, seasoning, salt, and mustard in a bowl.
-- or dump these in a food processor and pulse it once or twice. :)

2. Add the butter and work it in with two forks or your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
-- in a food processor, pulse a few times until the butter is combined.

3. Add the cold water, a tablespoon at a time, and continue working with your hands until the contents come together to form a smooth dough.
-- in a food processor, pulse a few times after each tablespoon of water is added. Continue to pulse until the dough flops into a big ball (technical term). :)

4. Press the dough into a flat round, cover with plastic wrap or put in large zip-top bag, and put in the refrigerator until well chilled (minimum of 30 minutes - maximum 24 hours).

5. Preheat oven to 350.

6. Unwrap the dough, put on a lightly floured surface, sprinkle the dough lightly with flour. Use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll the dough to 1/8 inch.
-- or, skip all that flour mess and use your handy dandy pasta roller on its thickest setting to roll out the dough. :)

7. Cut the dough in whatever shape you like using small cookie cutters, or use a pizza or ravioli cutter. Gather up the leftover dough scraps, form them into a ball with damp hands, roll out as instructed in step 7, and cut into more shapes. Repeat until all the dough has been used up!

8. place shapes on cookie sheet and bake for approximately 15 minutes. Check after 12 minutes and remove when edges turn golden.

9. Remove from baking trays and cool on wire racks.

10. Try not to gobble them all up at once. :)

Store crackers in an airtight container. I recommend glass jars (I use a couple wide mouth canning jars), or stainless steel canisters. Sometimes plastic containers don't hold in the crunch as well. The crackers should last at least two weeks. Probably longer, but we eat them up pretty quick.

-------
Okay, that was the short version. Here's the wordier version, with visuals. :)
And some bonus notes about consistency and mustard. :)

Here are pictures of the process I use to make these crackers. Now, I USED to do them all by hand. It's definitely doable, but it does take a lot longer and it gives your hands quite a work-out! Since I have gotten a large food processor, cracker making is so easy. So, so easy. And fast. The longest part is having to wait for the dough to chill. But the prep and all that? Effortless!

This is what the first step looks like, combining the flour, cheese, seasonings and giving it a whirl around with two presses of the pulse button:

Add the butter pieces and let it whirl around a couple more times. Pulse. Pulse. Pulse.

This is what it looks like with the butter mixed in. It looks a lot like it did in the first step:

The next step is adding the cold water. This is what my mixture looked like after 2 tablespoons of water. It's still very loose, but it suddenly looks all cheesy. At this point SMELL IT! How does it smell? Is it delicious? If so, then continue on.... but if the aroma is not making you drool yet, then it's a good time to add some more seasoning. A few dashes of garlic, pepper, curry, cumin, whatever tickles your fancy - now's your opportunity to tinker with the taste:

This is what my mixture looked like after I added one more tablespoon of cold water and a couple more pulses. It's starting to come together, but has not reached proper dough ball status...but it's close:

I dribbled in a half tablespoon of water more, pulse, pulse, - BOOM. We have a dough ball. It's like magic, only yummy.

NOTE: The amount of water it requres for your dough to come together can vary based on several factors, including what sort of cheese you are using (some cheeses are very moist, some are very dry). This batch of crackers I used a lot of parmesan, which is a very dry cheese. Other cheeses would likely take less water (like mozzarella, it's a much moister, gooier cheese). Also, the more dry seasoning you add can affect how much water you need.

Another note: if you do not have dry mustard, you CAN substitute regular bottle mustard, but use a bit more (like a hefty squirt or two), and if you are using wet mustard you will probably be able to get away with using less water. It's all about the dough ball. When your dough globs together, you're ready for the next step.

Flatten to a disk, cover and chill - I like to use a zip top bag for this because nothing else allows you to get all the air out and seal up quite as well:

I am completely incompetent with a rolling pin. Seriously, me + rolling pin = disaster level worthy of SNL or Informercial mockery. The rolling-the-dough-out step was the worst one for me, by far, back when I used to do this all by hand. But now I'm all fancy pants with my handy pasta roller. I just crank the dough through like a queen.

So that's where I stopped taking pictures. The next step is the fun one - cutting the dough into shapes. I made mostly puzzle pieces because it's Autism Awareness Month. :) But a few animals worked their way in too, along with some hearts, stars, trucks, boats.... As your remaining dough dwindles and dwindles, you can use smaller cutters to make the most of every last scrap.

ENJOY! :)

Supplies used to make these crackers:

Muffin Tin Monday | Blast to the Past - the groovy 60's!

2013-04-15T09:00:00.000-05:00

This week's theme for Muffin Tin Monday is the groovy 60's!

Back row is jiving with some 60's lingo:
- groovy homemade pickles
- free love blackberries
- far out grapes

Front row is hangin' loose with some 60's symbols:
- peace sign pretzel chips
- flower power sandwich
- tie dye yogurt

The peace sign pretzels were a great fit for this themed muffin tin lunch! They are by a brand called Laurel Hill that I have found at Whole Foods. This variety is the "everything" flavor and they remind me of Chex Mix pretzels. Yummo.

The flower power sandwich was made using a big groovy daisy cookie cutter, and then the decoration on top is made with apricot and strawberry organic fruit leather. I used a mini petal shaped cutter from a 12 piece mini cutter set and a small circle cutter to piece that together.

And finally, the tie dye yogurt was kind of a flop. I used 3 different flavors of yogurt: strawberry, blueberry and orange, and attempted to swirl it for a tie dye effect, but the yogurt didn't move the way I needed it to. Paige said it was "the yummiest", so I guess it's all good. ;)

Supplies used to make this muffin tin meal:

What outta sight muffin tins did you whip up? Share your boss eats with the class!

New to Muffin Tin Monday? Check out the MTM information page to read all about it. The schedule of themes can be found there too - just updated, themes are listed through June!
Keep in touch with Muffin Tin Monday posts and updates via the Muffin Tin Meals Facebook Page. :)