Review: Modes4u Bento Box, Squishy and Easter Bunny bento

I am very pleased that Modes4u has provided me with some wonderful items for me to show in today's post. I am also very happy for this opportunity to encourage you to see the many really cute and fun items you can find at Modes4u. They make available a wide assortment of bento boxes, one of which I used to pack this lunch. They also offer a great collection of bento accessories which can quickly add that extra dash of cuteness to your presentation. Their site is a great wonderland and I recommend it as one of those must see websites!

For this bento I made some bunny sandwiches which were shaped with a cutter and stamper set. As they are small, I stacked up two pairs of them and included a granola bar on the left side section. The right side section I filled with organic baby carrots, some red seedless grapes and a section of apple that I cut to the shape of rabbit ears.

This lunch was packed in a biscuit bento box that looks so much like an ice cream sandwich that you almost want to take a bite out of it. It is one of the many great bento boxes you can find in their bento collection.

Picks, like the little pink bunny one that I used for this lunch, baran dividers, cutters, sauce containers and much, much more are awaiting your visit to their accessories pages.
Did that French cruller look so yummy you could almost smell it? No, that delicious looking pastry alongside the bento is not a real French cruller even though it looks so wonderfully tasty and mouth watering.

It is one of the fantastic Kawaii squishies from the huge collection that can be found in their Squishies pages.

 You can't imagine how much fun I've had looking at all their goodies!

Make yourself a cup (or perhaps even a pot?) of coffee or tea before you start scrolling through their amazing site with huge selection of cute bento accessories, squishies and much more. Happy shopping!

Disclosure: Modes4u generously provided me with the products for review without cost to me. All opinions are my own.

Continue Reading »

Fun Lunches With UpChefs Sandwich Cutters

Recently I was very pleased to received a set of very cute cutters from UpChefs, which I was happy to put to good use straight away.

First, however, while I am not one who attaches labels to others or would illogically categorize them, I have discovered that some "picky" eaters, which Nikolai can be at times, will eat better when the lunch is presented in a fun or cute style. Sometimes these little things can make a big difference!

UpChefs have come to the market with a set of cutters that can make cuteness easy and quickly attainable. Their cutter set includes nine sandwich bread or cookie cutters, which offer a great variety of options, and also two additional smaller cutters that can be used for fruits or vegetables. These will make a most welcome addition to my collection.

The lunch shown below is just one example of the many ways these cutters can quickly make an otherwise unremarkable sandwich into a fun meal for your children.

In this lunch is a sandwich cut into a heart and pair of dolphins using one of the cutters from UpChefs, strawberry and orange slices with a dolphin pick, Babybel cheese with a dolphin cut into the wax covering, and a granola bar. I used the small heart shape veggie cutter for the center cheese heart and added candy eyes for the dolphins.
This lunch was packed in his Planetbox rover.

Here is a picture of their set of cutters from which you can make sandwiches or cookies shaped like hearts, butterflies, dolphins, dinosaurs, elephants, puzzle pieces, a star, transportation vehicles, and a dog with his house. It even includes the small cutters which can make little hearts and flowers.

( photo courtesy of UpChefs )

Here is another lunch for which I used the transportation cutter from the UpChefs set to cut the sandwich into shapes, added cheese rectangles for windows for the boat, and made imprints with the bigger end of a chopstick to make portholes for that extra touch, added a string cheese along side and used the other sections of our Easylunchboxes container for carrots, apple wedges with a traffic light pick in a square silicone cup.

As some of you might have discovered, it is more rewarding to discover and implement a helpful solution than to worry over a problem, and if getting your child interested in eating his or her lunch is one of yours, then this cutter collection from UpChefs might be a great help.

A discount of 10% is available by using the code JMP5EDRG  at checkout.

Let me add that while those with a "picky" eater might benefit most, just about everybody enjoys a bit of fun with their lunch!

Continue Reading »

Ham and Cheese Crescents Roll-Ups For Lunch With Recipe

This seems like a good time for me to post this amazing recipe that I found on pinterest, and have used so many times. Our entire family, our friends, co-workers all loved them, and I've made them for many parties as well. This recipe only requires three ingredients which makes it totally my kind of easy recipe! You can have them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, tea time or really anytime of the day. They are so tasty!

I baked some the other day for breakfast and packed a couple of them into Nikolai's Easylunchboxes for this school lunch.

Here is the recipe which I used.

Ingredients:

• 8-oz can refrigerated crescent roll dough. I used Pillsbury brand 
• 8 slices of deli ham 
• 8 slices of cheddar cheese (you can use any other cheese that you prefer)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Separate dough into 8 equal pieces (they usually separate into triangles)
3. Place 1 slice of ham and 1 slice of cheese (folded in half) on the larger end of the triangle.
4. Roll the crescent up with the ham and cheese inside, and place it tip side down on a baking sheet ( I line it with aluminum foil for easy clean-up).
5. Bake for 15 minutes, until tops are golden brown.
6. Enjoy! 

Nikolai doesn't mind eating lunch foods at room temp or cold , thus, I send some in his lunchbox. In the above lunchbox I have used some of my eyes picks to give them a fun appearance and added goldfish crackers and some seedless grapes in the other sections.

In the lunch shown below, I have also included a couple of tasty Ham and Cheese Crescent Roll-ups, this time choosing airplane and truck picks. This time I have cheddar bunnies and orange slices in the other sections. This lunch was also packed in our Easylunchboxes.

Seldom do I follow a recipe exactly as I find it. I like to add a tweak here or there to suit my own taste, and I think this recipe is perfect for that. Try something different in place of the ham, perhaps smoked turkey, try it with Swiss or Asiago cheeses. At home you might enjoy experimenting with different dips or side dish combinations. Be adventurous and have fun!

Continue Reading »

4 Puzzle Themed School Lunches

It's already March, where did February go? Nikolai has joined another after school club and they end at the most hectic time of the day whereby traffic is the heaviest as for many office hours end then.

I planned to post these lunches last summer, but as usual, got sidetracked with other holiday themed posts. These lunches were created with our lunch punch puzzle set. I always find myself reaching out to them especially during busy days when I feel like packing something fun for Nikolai.

Below are four puzzle themed lunches created with four different cutters from the set.

Bento lunch 1: Main compartment of this lunch contains a puzzle sandwich topped with mozzarella and cheddar cheese with a cereal bar on the top. Sides that I included are apple pieces, cucumber slices and raisins. This lunch was packed in our leak-proof Yumbox panino.

Bento lunch 2: This bento lunch featured sandwiches cut into puzzle piece shapes and a colorful collection of sides which were organic baby carrots, cucumber slices, orange slices, mini cheese crackers, and on the far right, a mozzarella cheese stick. This lunch was packed in a Bentology Living bento box.

Bento lunch 3: Simple puzzle shaped nutella sandwiches with a roll-up of ham and cheese for the main section, a granola bar, some red grapes, organic baby carrots with a cute eye pick surround some yogurt covered raisins in this Planetbox Rover.

Bento lunch 4: Here I have some pandas with the puzzle. Puzzle piece shaped sandwiches and a granola bar are accompanied by a couple of panda baran while a panda pick joins the collection of red grapes. Some applesauce and baby carrots complete the circle around the yogurt covered raisins in the center compartment of our leak-proof Bentgo Kids lunchbox.

Besides having in common the theme of the puzzle piece shaped sandwiches, these examples also share the ease with which you can combine healthy foods with a fun presentation to make lunch time special.

Continue Reading »