Pre-School and Daycare

*Cute lunch check-in*

I made more than I thought this week!
Rainbow pancakes. If you make them, make sure to keep your griddle on a lower temp than you might normally use, so they don't get overly browned. I made a double batch so that we could do the whole rainbow. All of the extras are frozen and will be reheated for breakfast. These are about 2.5 inches in diameter.
 
This didn't start out as a cute lunch, but as I arranged it on the plate I could see the face taking shape so I went with it! Tomato and grape eyes with sprinkle details, homemade granola bite for the nose, burrito mouth and rice teeth. The hair is a heart napkin. The bowls and mini silicone container are all from World Market.
 
Oops! I meant to put the heart upside down, and I smudged the peanut butter. Homemade sealed sandwich (using a Krustbuster I bought on Amazon) with frosting accents left over from a cupcake kit. Underneath the sandwich was ... something ... apples or celery? Also blueberries and strawberries. This was an extra quick lunch that would have been perfect for on the go. I have learned that the sealed sandwiches work best with a softer bread - this is "white wheat" and it stays together significantly better than the drier breads I usually use.
 
 
I meant to put a rabbit pick in this to make a "bunny in the garden" theme - oops! Leftover chicken taquito, halved and placed in a terra cotta muffin tin with sour cream at the bottom. Also leftover green beans, some shredded lettuce for the taquitos, and a few berries.
 
Another sealed sandwich. This little guy was supposed to be a rooster. Silicone sushi grass separates the sandwich from the tomato/mozzarella picks. To the right is celery, a strawberry and leftover Greek chicken with tzatziki sauce for dipping.
 
Mickey made with no fancy tools! The cookie cutter is from Party City. There are pita bread cut-outs, tomato picks (from grocery story), I free-hand cut an M into a Babybel cheese, more leftover Greek chicken and tzatziki, and a pile of blueberries inside the cookie cutter. 
 
Have a great week! PIP your cute lunches! 
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Re: *Cute lunch check-in*

  • Your lunches are always so cute!  

    I have questions - what percentage of her lunches/meals are "cute" and does she have an obvious preference for the cute ones over non-cute?  What does she think of restaurant meals, or other non-cute meals in general?  Does she ever help make her cute meals? 

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  • Lunch is the only meal that I cute-ify. On holidays, I try to make all of her meals at least a little cute, even if it's just a themed napkin. When we're at home, I do fun lunches about 90% of the time. Some are a LOT less cute than others, but even if I make a plain sandwich or leftovers, I try to at least have it on a fun plate with a pretty napkin.

    She most definitely prefers cute lunches over plain. After eating at a restaurant, friend's house or when we're on vacation, she almost always remarks that it's a shame they don't have cute lunches. She's never refused to eat a meal if it's not cute, and she understands that they take longer and I don't always have time to make them.

    About 25% of the time she helps with her lunch. I make her food while she's watching her dad get ready for work (read: playing on his iPhone), so she'd probably help more if that wasn't the way our schedule happened to work out. Sometimes it's picking the theme or a container she wants to use, or using the cookie cutter, or standing nearby and eating all the scraps. Just as often, though, she prefers to have it be a surprise and will stay out of the kitchen while I make lunch.  I don't often show it in the pictures, but I usually give her a mini pitcher of milk to pour, so she's also involved in that aspect of it. Her lunches often involve a dip or using picks or chopsticks, so that's another angle.

    On a side note, it's no all about me trying to entice/bribe her into eating her lunch. The lunches often tie into other activities we're doing, or to a craft we've done, and I often tell her a little story about what's happening with her lunch and she'll make up her own stories throughout her entire meal. They're a very handy way to reuse leftovers, to provide a greater variety of food instead of just one main dish and one side dish, and a clever presentation has made her try things she's otherwise unwilling to try. Children eat with their eyes just like adults do, and I'd like to believe that the food tastes better to her because it looks better. They also say "I love you," which might be the most important part.

    HTH! 

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  • thanks brightning
    i was just curious & being nosey, not questioning w/ any other intention - hope that was clear!

    I think your lunches are precious - I have vivid memories of cute lunches my mom made me when I was little - & most recently, she's made a few for my DD. Thanks for always sharing pics 
  • No prob! I just thought I'd throw that other info out there because I get a lot of "Must be nice to have that kind of time" comments and for me there are lots of benefits, so it's worth taking a little extra time.
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  • Your lunches are adorable! I am sure she loves the cute factor and that makes meal time much more enjoyable.  I have been working on making my sons meals cute too, so far I only have the cookie cutters but he has noticed. Thanks for the inspiration.

    Two questions: Where do you get your supplies? Do you think that you waste food- like when I cute out the sandwiches and stuff I feel like there is a lot left? TIA 

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  • Any specialty bento items that I have are either ordered from allthingsforsale.com or the Marukai store (they don't have a website). Some of my small containers, picks and cookie cutters are from the grocery store, Party City or World Market.

    I make a point of having minimal food waste. If I cut out a sandwich and there is a lot of bread left, I'll take a small round biscuit cutter and make a mini sandwich or DD will eat the bread scrap plain while I finish making her lunch. Other things, I either put back in the package, she eats it, or it goes into my lunch. I also make a point of using up dinner leftovers for her lunch. What to do if you only have a few blueberries left in the package? Throw them into a tiny container and put them in her lunch!

    I don't think I have any more food waste now than I did before I made cute lunches. HTH!

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  • Thank you! Your lunches and you are so inspiring! I must have a brain freeze about the scraps...save them, duh. Thanks a bunch!! Last night he had stars and moon quesadillas and I thought of you :)
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  • Very cute :-)  I like the rainbow pancakes :-))

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  • yay! love these! and i'm so excited, i got a package of stuff from allthingsforsale.com for the boys' lunches. mostly pics and little forks. i also got the sandwich sealer thing you recommended before from amazon.

    i can't believe i have to start in a week. ack! 

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  • I hope your stuff works out well and that your boys enjoy it! I just placed another order from allthingsforsale too! For the sandwich sealer, just make sure that you don't put filling at the edges where the sandwich crimps, and try a softer bread. Our dry-ish extra fiber bread doesn't stick together very well with it - the softer "white wheat" bread seems to work much better.

    Good luck! 

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