Cute lunch check-in

brightning

Just ONE lunch this week because my DD was knocked flat with the flu for six days. She was just pitiful! So I'll post her one and only lunch, which she took to school today, and answer a few questions and post a few links, too.

Rock! Paper! Scissors! Truth be told, I ordered these new picks and didn't realize what the hand signals meant until I read the packing slip. This is a very small lunch for my poor girl who ate almost nothing for a week. Ham & cheese on a Hawaiian roll, two strawberries, Wheat Thins, a string cheese plus a piece of dried mango. I'm guessing she'll eat very little of it.

I made these "homemade Goldfish" last weekend, thinking DD would eat them in her lunches this week. Wrong! But everybody else has been snacking on them! The recipe title is misleading because they're not cracker-like at all, more chewy and cheesy. I followed the recipe exactly, except I added some dried mustard powder. I cut them out using the FunBites cutter and stamped smiley faces on them. https://tastykitchen.com/blog/2011/09/homemade-goldfish-crackers/

 For the poster 25thHour who asked about starting to make cute lunches, here are a few tips:

*Start small! Just do one cute thing!
*Since you're packing for such a young child, I would just make sure everything is cut into bite-sizes pieces and is easily accessible in one dish.
*I buy most of my supplies at allthingsforsale.com, but you can certainly use items from your regular store. A small container 3 or 4" wide and 4 or 5" long and maybe 2.5" deep is plenty big enough. I also like the Sassy containers at BRU and Target - they even have a spoon built in.
*Silicone muffin cups are perfect for separating foods.
*The blog (not mine!) wendolonia.com has a ton of ideas. If you look along the top, she has a category called Bento Box Basics, including a section on packing a preschool bento.

I also thought I'd link here (sorry, not clicky on my Mac) to a few products I've been loving lately:

https://www.allthingsforsale.com/bento-deco-cutter/2125-food-sandwich-cutter-set-small-fun-bites-cube-091037094711.html (For making itty bitty squares. I used it for the Goldfish, for cutting up bread to make tiny French toast and for making tiny sandwiches - I cut the bread first and then add the fillings.)

https://www.allthingsforsale.com/bento-accessory/2144-japanese-bento-accessories-mayo-cup-dressing-dipping-4904705160730.html  (We use these for peanut butter, for a tiny treat or just a few dried cranberries. DD loves opening up the box and discovering what's inside.)

https://www.allthingsforsale.com/bento-box-lunch-box/2595-japanese-2-tier-bento-lunch-box-strawberry-pink-4984343975989.html  (We just got this box and it is absolutely darling, especially when you have a strawberry-loving girl like I do.)

Someone please make up for my lack of pictures and PIP your cute lunches here! Have a great weekend!