5 Breakfast For Lunch Ideas

Tomorrow is already December, where did the time go! With Nikolai having a few days off from school, we really enjoyed an extra long Thanksgiving weekend and, as perhaps many others, celebrated in part by eating way too much. Hubby was the main cook, but he insists that everyone helped with the production.:)

Breakfast for lunch or breakfast for anytime of the day is quite popular with our family. I find it easy to pack and you can use either frozen or homemade breakfast foods. Some of these were enjoyed by Nikolai months ago.

Bento lunch 1: Domo french toast. My hubby made french toast one of the mornings for us and I conveniently packed a couple for Nikoila's lunch. I added a couple of choc chips for the eyes, fruit leather mouth and mozzarella cheese teeth. Does it look like Domo-kun? In the center of his leak-proof Yumbox panino is organic maple syrup and his sides were alphabet wheat cookies from Ikea and seedless green and red grapes.

Bento lunch 2: Blueberry muffins. I baked these sometime back and saved some in the freezer. Thawed them the night before in the refrigerator and they were ready to go the next day. He also had sausage patties, granola bar, yogurt covered raisins, peach slices and yogurt. This lunch was packed in his leak-proof Yumbox panino which is perfect for sending yogurt.

Bento lunch 3: Mini pancakes, sausage links and a few picks to make this lunch a little cute.
He also had persimmon slices, cheese slices, and Ikea's alphabet wheat cookies. This lunch was packed in a Bentgo leak-proof lunch box.

Bento lunch 4: Cream cheese bagel which I added a bunny pick to look like a bunny in a float. His sides were yogurt and apple slices. This lunch was packed in his Yumbox panino.

Bento lunch 5: Waffle sandwich with baran sheet, a granola bar, fruit snacks, cereal and apple slices. This lunch was also packed in a Yumbox panino.

Here are the supplies that I used to create and pack these lunches.

Continue Reading »

Monkey Roll-Ups Sandwiches

We are getting so close to Thanksgiving! Will you be hosting the feast or will you be attending? This year we will be hosting and my amazing husband is going to do the cooking. You see, he is our cook during the holidays as well as the weekends when we decide to eat in.:)

I didn't make any Thanksgiving themed lunches this year since school will be out from this coming Wednesday which is also Nikolai's birthday. You can find my previous Thanksgiving themed lunches here. These roll-ups sandwiches are so easy and fun to make. I've also created other characters before such as bear, bunny and dog with the same roll-ups method. I used a small heart shaped cookie cutter for the monkeys face, small circle cookie cutter for the ears (cut into half), and a paper puncher for the eyes and mouth. I find that my paper puncher works better on nori sheets and a little quicker, lol. I found some banana shaped picks which I collected years ago. His sides were some grapes in a silicone cup and a Clif Kid organic bar.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This lunch is linked to:

Here are the supplies that I used to create and pack this lunch.

Continue Reading »

Squirrel Sammies and Pasta Lunch

I've been so occupied with the upcoming holidays, or rather enjoying a cheerful holiday mood, and haven't been blogging as much as I had planned. Whenever we have a long weekend, we are mostly out of town and as there are so many fun activities this time of year, especially during the weekends, we are mostly out and about. It's all fun though, and I am sure that things will slow down somewhat early next year when hopefully I'll be able to pick up and blog more often.

Here again are a couple of lunches which I prepared for Nikolai awhile back. Both of these lunches were packed in his Planetbox Rover.

Bento lunch 1: I used my new set of cutters/stampers for the squirrel sandwiches. His sides were grapes with a squirrel pick, yogurt star, Annie's organic snacks, baby carrots and celery sticks.

Bento lunch 2: Organic ditalini pasta with leftover turkey or chicken pieces (it's been so long and I can't remember) topped with fish shaped cheddar cheese, seedless grapes, yogurt star, organic baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, goldfish crackers and some dip in the small dipper.

Here are the supplies that I used to create and pack these lunches.

 

Continue Reading »

Warm & Tote Lunchbag Review

I am elated to be given the opportunity by the nice people at Warm & Tote to try out their warm and tote heated lunch tote. Sometimes, during the cooler months, Nikolai requests something warm for his lunch, and I understand that many other school children prefer to enjoy their lunches warm as do many adults. Now, thanks to Warm and Tote, there is an excellent and very attractive solution. Our son's lunch time is 12:45 p.m. and I need to finish packing it by 7:35 a.m. which leaves a span of time of approximately five hours. Much of last week I sent 'leftovers for lunch" and asked each day if it was still warm. The last time he replied," You don't need to keep asking, Mom, it has always been warm!" Previously I would occasionally pack a warm food in our thermos container, which worked well, but had some limitations. With the Warm and Tote, you can keep the entire lunchbox warm, which means you don't need to plop the sweet potato casserole on top of the turkey and dressing. I like such options. 

There is plenty of space in the 'perfecta' model by Warm and Tote, and with two compartments separated by an effective thermal divider, you can keep the lunch warm in one while you keep fruits or a beverage cool in the other. Its size also makes it quite handy for traveling with snacks and beverages, like when visiting theme parks, attending a sporting event, or for taking along for short trips on the weekends.

Here is a photo of the Warm and Tote with the Microcore pac to the left. I followed the instructions for the use of the Microcore pac and it easily kept the lunch warm for five hours. In addition to keeping foods warm, it can also keep them cold for up to ten hours! We tested this feature during the weekend and we were quite amazed that even in the hot Florida sun we could enjoy some cold beverages. I really like the bright red color of this lunchbag.

Here is a photo of the Warm and Tote Perfecta with the lunch I packed and sent to school with Nikolai.
On the left is Couscous decorated with a flower made with mild cheddar cheese cut to shape and thin strips of cucumber with leaf picks. To the right are edamame and meat balls with another pick. This lunch was packed in an Easylunchboxes container which fit nicely in the lower compartment of the Warm and Tote Lunch tote with the Microcore Pac. In the upper compartment he had some fruit in another container with an ice pack.

In this photo you can see how nicely the Warm and Tote perfecta holds our Easylunchboxes container. They have other models with different dimensions available, but for us, this one is truly 'perfecta'!

Please note: Warm and Tote has requested that I link to their Amazon store which will be handling their business volume. They intend to use their private site only to handle the Heat Pack aftermarket purchases. 

Disclosure: GreenPaxx generously provided me with the products for review without cost to me. Other than receiving the products, I have not received any compensation to write this review. - See more at: http://www.bentoschoollunches.com/2015/10/greenpaxx-slim-snack-reusable-snack.html#sthash.RDJDXCE6.dpuf

Here are the supplies that I used to create and pack this lunch.



Disclosure: Warm & Tote generously provided me with the products for review without cost to me. Other than receiving the products, I have not received any compensation to write this review.

Continue Reading »

5 Quick and Easy Sandwich Ideas

Thanksgiving is approaching soon and Nikolai's birthday will be one day before Thanksgiving this year. As you can imagine, we will be quite busy, but on the bright side, there will be no school on his birthday. I believe I've mentioned before that I usually start my Christmas shopping months before November but this year I've not even started yet! I'll have to  need to start shopping as soon as possible. Not that I'm complaining, I LOVE shopping.

Some of the below sandwich lunches were enjoyed by Nikolai last school year, which means more than half a year ago. I decided to combine all of them in one post. All of the lunches were packed in our leak-proof Yumbox Panino

Bento making should be all about having fun and never something about which you should feel  intimidated. You should ignore any suggestion that bentos are too much work, or take too much time, or that they need to be based on Japanese food, for none of that is necessary. It’s really all about adding that bit of fun, color and whimsy to a meal. And sometimes that extra cheer can make a big difference in a day. Here are five examples of how one can add a little something extra to a plain sandwich.

Bento lunch 1: Cheese lettering. I created the letter SMILE from my alphabet cookie cutters, included a cute eye pick and a cheddar mouth. Alongside are Annie's organic crackers, seedless grapes, apple slices and strawberries.

Bento lunch 2: Face cutout. Simple sandwich which I used a mini circle cookie cutter for the eyes (you can use a straw as well) and free hand cut the mouth. His sides were a babybel cheese, organic apple sauce with extra cinnamon topped with frozen blueberries, yogurt covered raisins and seedless red and green grapes.

Bento lunch 3: Topped with a topper or baran: I love Keroppi and used our Keroppi topper on a sandwich, how easy is that. His sides were string cheese, seedless grapes, Annie's organic fruit snack, organic baby carrots with a pick.

Bento lunch 4: Stamped sandwich. I've not used my CuteZCute Animal Palz in a long time and use the monkey stamper on this sandwich. His sides were cookies from Ikea, string cheese, yogurt covered raisins, strawberry pieces a pick.

Bento lunch 5: Use a cupcake ring or a food pick. This is one of the easiest of them all and also the day when we are low on groceries. I used a cupcake ring on the sandwich, Trader Joe's yogurt stars, Annie's organic fruit snacks and organic apple slices.

Here are the supplies that I used to create and pack these lunches.

Continue Reading »

6 Ways To Use String Cheese in Lunch Packing

String cheese is quite popular in our home and we always have some in the refrigerator for a grab and go snack or to be included in lunch boxes. I am not a cheese fan but Nikolai and my hubby are. I included them often in Nikolai's school lunches and I'll share with you ways that they can be used. Here are just 6 examples.

Bento lunch 1: Message on the wrapper. I made a simple breakfast for lunch and added a message/letter above the string cheese. His breakfast contains french toast sticks, sausage patties cut into halves, organic maple syrup in the smaller container and the string cheese with a message. Alongside were rice crisps, organic apple sauce and a spoon wrapped in cloth napkin. This lunch was packed in a bentology lunchbox.

Bento lunch 2: Cheese roll-ups. I used salami and rolled it on the cheese and then had to add a few picks for fun, how easy is that. I've seen something similar in the grocery stores (without the picks) and they were quite pricey, why not make them myself. His sides were seedless red grapes, Annie's organic fruit snacks, heard shaped cookies which we purchased from Ikea, wheat crackers and organic baby carrots. This lunch was packed in a Bentgo leakproof lunchbox.

Bento lunch 3: Sushi roll-ups. Another easy roll-up with which I used uncured ham slices, rolled on the cheese sticks and cut into bite sizes. He also had some grape tomatoes, ants on the log (aka celery sticks, sun butter and raisins), Annie's organic cheddar crackers, seedless red and green grapes and a yogurt tube. This lunch was packed in a bentology lunchbox.

Bento lunch 4: Cut into slices. This idea is great when you have to fill up small sections in a lunchbox or to be included in silicone cups. This lunch contains seal shaped sandwiches, wheat cookies from Ikea, slices of string cheese, orange slices, and seedless grapes. It was packed in a Bentgo lunchbox.

Bento lunch 5: Use one as a separator. This is the most simple lunch which I spruced up with a cupcake pick on the string cheese (I've also used cupcake rings on string cheese). Nikolai had a sandwich cut into half, the string cheese, popcorn, seedless grapes, organic granola bar and cookies from Ikea. Packed in a bentology living box.

Bento lunch 6: Cut into shapes. I've cut a string cheese into octopus shape in many of my lunches and this is one of them. It's simple, cut the string cheese into half and slit lengthwise for about two thirds of each to make the eight tentacles and then gently spread them out slightly. He also had celery sticks with Sunbutter in the small container, fruit snacks, some huge seedless grapes and Annie's organic oatmeal cookies. This was packed in a Bentgo lunchbox.

Below is a Pinterest friendly collage of the group.

Here are the supplies that I used to create and pack these lunches.

Continue Reading »

Flamingo and Beach Lunch

Today has to be the day! It's already November, and these lunches were enjoyed by Nikolai during Spring time! I guess its has to be that time really does fly when you are having fun! I found this post which was written and overlooked it in my draft folder.

 It was then
It's almost almost summer time and it's also time that we switch up our yard decorations. We have several flamingo decorations and they look super cute when pink in color for the first few months, but due to the hot Florida sun, they start to fade after that. The pink almost looks like white now and I can't wait to remove them even though they still look cute.

This bento lunch features a flamingo which looks quite like the one in our yard, not pink at all, lol! I used my flamingo cookie cutter from my Wilton cookie cutter set for the sandwich, accents are provolone cheese and a raisin for eye. Alongside he had Ikea alphabet cookies in a silicone cup, organic granola bar, organic baby carrots, seedless red and green grapes with palm tree cupcake picks. This lunch was packed in an Easylunchboxes container.

We live not too far from the beautiful beaches and the second bento has a beach theme. The sandwiches, which were shaped with a circle cutter are decorated with provolone smiles and sunglasses picks. In silicone cups there are a babybel cheese with the covering cut to resemble a peppermint and some fish shaped crackers. Top left I included some celery sticks and dressing in a mini container and top right I included some apple slices. This lunch was packed in an Easylunchboxes container.

Here are the supplies that I used to create and pack these lunches.

Continue Reading »