Cute lunch check-in

brightning · February 2012

I made quite a few cute lunches this week but next week will probably be slim pickings, as we'll be busy entertaining guests. I'll probably have to make some on-the-go snacks and I was thinking about not using any specialty bento items, but rather things that can be purchased in a regular grocery store. Would that interest anyone?

Normally I go all out on Valentine's Day and make all meals cute, but DD was sick. The eyes are Wilton silicone hearts from my grocery store, one with dehydrated strawberries and the other with a chewy treat from her preschool V Day party. I figured out the string cheese heart that I attempted last week - just halve the cheese first, and halve again to make each side of the heart before securing with toothpicks. The mouth is a double-decker, open-faced jelly and strawberry cream cheese sandwich with plenty of sprinkles. My favorite part was the snap pea eyelashes!

When I made scrambled eggs for breakfast, DD asked me to save some for her lunch. No problem! This super-simple lunch has leftover scrambled eggs, leftover green beans, blueberries and popcorn. I'm definitely going to do scrambled eggs for lunch more often! And hey, popcorn is a whole grain, right?

It's a little tough to see inside this deep, round container. The homemade sealed sandwich contains scrambled eggs and cheese (which was a hit!), blueberries in a silicone ice cream cone-shaped container, snap peas and a bunny container of dehydrated strawberries.

This was a lot cuter in my head, but DD still loved it! I thought a snail sandwich (PB/honey) would be hysterical if it had a trail of honey slime behind it - and DD agreed. Also on the plate, a mini colander of blueberries, pretzels and a treat left over from her V Day party, plus flower pot silicones of yogurt and edamame salad (which she did not like, even though she loves edamame).

DD loves a checkered apple (she calls them "plaid" but I am definitely not that talented!). A word of warning - they work much better on green apples, which are not as soft and likely to have bruises. Also included - veggie corndogs, ketchup for dipping, snap peas, blueberries and another V Day treat.

Banana hotdog! I spread peanut butter on the bun, placed two rows of sliced banana inside and topped with strawberry jelly. Also on the plate are snap peas, dried cherries and cheese. The hotdog looks cuter when the bananas aren't sliced, but it's a little too big to eat.

DD loves peek-a-boo sandwiches - she eats all the way around the outside of the cutout and eats that bite last. I would do the same thing! Strawberry cream cheese and jelly sandwich, cottage cheese, the last of the strawberries and a plum. We're going to the grocery store soon - thank goodness! I realized looking back that she had blueberries and snap peas most days this week.

Have a great week and PIP your cute lunches here!

Princess_Lily · February 2012

beautiful lunches, you are very talented. How are you able to keep them beautiful when she is in school? I would love to do this, but im afraid it would become a mess by lunch.

briebert · February 2012

Noah's ark! The animals on the ark are made of fruit leather.

I made these "roses" with almond butter, jelly, and whole wheat tortillas.

Dinosaur sandwich, black beans, and bell peppers.

briebert · February 2012

Banana on Valentine's Day: pumpkin seed feet, a Craisin for a mouth.

briebert · February 2012

Last one! Valentine's day doggie pancake with yogurt.

brightning · February 2012

For now, she eats at home as preschool is only half day. But when I make to-go lunches, I just attach any decorations with cream cheese or peanut butter, make sure the lunch is tightly packed in the box so there's little shifting, and runny things are put in containers with lids. Putting a piece of paper (World Market sells food safe paper that you can wrap a hamburger in, for instance) or wax paper on top of the lunch before closing it also helps keep everything in place. Really, the most important part is making sure it's tightly packed so there's no shifting. We bring lunch to the zoo and it gets swung around for a few hours before it's eaten, and it looks exactly the same as when I packed it. HTH!