DIY Homemade Lunchables : Quick & Easy Tips

While store-bought Lunchables offer taste and convenience on the go, the experience becomes even better when you craft your own. In just a few minutes, personalize your lunchbox with your favorite foods or cater to specific dietary preferences. With complete control, your DIY Lunchables can be the freshest, most delicious, and even more cost-effective than store-bought options. Take an extra minute to cut them into fun shapes, add a touch of decoration, and arrange them neatly in your lunchbox for a meal that's both tasty and visually appealing.

Why DIY Homemade Lunchables?

• Customization: One of the main advantages of making your own lunchables is the freedom to choose what goes into them. Tailor your meal to fit your dietary preferences, ensuring a healthier and more enjoyable experience.
• Cost-Effective: Creating your lunchables can be more budget-friendly than purchasing pre-packaged options. Buying ingredients in bulk allows you to save money while also reducing single-use packaging waste.
• Freshness: Enjoy the satisfaction of using fresh and quality ingredients. This not only enhances the taste but also ensures that you are consuming wholesome, nutritious foods.

Ingredients:

Protein: Start with a base of your favorite protein – think deli meats, chicken nuggets, or even tofu for a vegetarian option.

Cheese: Choose a variety of cheeses such as cheddar, mozzarella, or Swiss. Cube, slice them or cut into cute shapes for easy snacking. 

Crackers or Bread: Include a selection of crackers, breadsticks, or even mini pitas.

Fresh Vegetables: Add color and crunch with fresh vegetables like cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices, or baby carrots.

Dips and Spreads: Elevate your lunchable by including hummus, guacamole, or your favorite dip. Small containers or compartments work well for keeping them separate.

Fruits: Incorporate sweetness with fruit slices or berries. Grapes, apple slices, or melon cubes are some choices.

Assembly Tips:

Bento Boxes: Invest in a bento box or compartmentalized container to keep each component separate and visually appealing. Some of our favorite lunchboxes are: Easylunchboxes, Planetbox, Bentgo Kids and more.

Portion Control: Be mindful of portion sizes to create a balanced and satisfying meal.

Variety is Key: Rotate your choices to prevent lunchtime boredom. Experiment with different combinations to discover your favorite mix.

Temperature Considerations: If you're packing lunchables for school lunch or work, consider using an insulated lunch bag or adding an ice pack to keep items fresh.

We have packed many DIY Lunchables over the years, and the joy of crafting our personalized meals never gets old. If you're ready to take control of your lunchbox experience, check out more ideas and tips HERE. 

Here's to delicious, customizable lunches that fit your taste, budget, and style! 

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5 Ways To Make Halloween MUMMY Themed Lunches

One of our favorite months of the year is here, October, which brings us cooler weather and Halloween! It's also time that we start thinking of fun foods to create, from cookies or cupcakes to school lunches.

Here are five ways that I've created Halloween MUMMY themed lunches in the past. 

The first two are quite similar, one I used a bear shaped cookie cutter and the other a gingerbread man cookie cutter.

In this bento lunch 1: Bear shaped sandwich topped with mozzarella cheese bandages, candy eyes and a spider cupcake ring. Organic baby carrots with a monster hand cupcake pick, Annie's organic fruit snack, seedless black grapes, orange yogurt topped with fruit leather which I free hand cut to look like Jack-O-Lantern. I included a Lunchbox love note with this lunch which was packed in a leak-proof Bentgo box.

In this bento lunch 2: Mummy shaped sandwich. I used a Gingerbread Man cookie cutter for the sandwich, candy eyes on nori face. Stripes of Provolone cheese for Mummy's wrappings. Seedless black grapes and cantaloupe. Sliced organic carrots and sliced cucumber.

Pizza is always popular with Nikolai, he doesn't mind eating them either hot or cold. I found a great recipe for pizza mummies from Weelicoius site and I found her instructions are very easy to follow. These pizzas are made from English muffins and the result was very tasty indeed, but I've also made some out of Pillsbury biscuit dough which you can find here.

In this bento lunch 3: English muffin pizzas. The one on the left is Jack -O-Lantern with mozzarella cheese cut with my Jack-O-Lantern cutter. The other is a mummy pizza for which I used strips of string cheese and a couple slices of a black olive. Above and to the left are some organic baby carrots and to the right is a container of apple sauce decorated with a mummy cupcake ring. This lunch was packed in a Bentology living lunchbox.

In the next lunch, instead of using thin strips of cheese as I did before for the bandages, I tried something a bit different this time. I used tortilla to make some roll-ups and then cut another into thin strips to make the bandages. I found that it helps to stick them in place at the ends with just a tiny dab of honey or some other sticky condiments.

In this bento lunch 4: A couple of Mummy tortilla roll-ups with candy eyes. Top right: Seedless black grapes with a cute Mummy cupcake ring.
Bottom right: Edamame (Eat-a-mummy?) in a spider silicone cup.
Far right: Mozzarella string cheese, I used food safe marker for the facial details.

In this bento lunch 5: Mummy sandwich cut with a circle cookie cutter, provolone cheese cut for wrapping strips, nori and candy eyes.
Apple sauce with a grape big spider (body is one half of a large black grape, the other cut into legs). Peach slices. Edamame with a mummy cupcake ring. I also included a Lunchbox love note from the joke edition. LOL! What did the mummy say to the detective? Answer: Let's wrap this up!! This bento is packed in our ECOLunchbox Solo Cube.

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Happy Halloween, everyone!

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25+ Lunches In Leak-Proof Bentgo Kids & Features That We Like

It's been two weeks since back to school for us, and we made it smoothly. I'm so glad that next week is Labor Day and we have a long weekend to take a short trip. Travel is a shared hobby or interest for our family and we seldom miss an opportunity for any kind of adventure. Nikolai once claimed that he learned to read from road signs and billboards besides books...could even be true! LOL!

Bentgo Kids is another leak-proof lunchbox that we have. Since the tray is removable, I believe you can use it as soon as a child is able to eat solid foods on a high chair. It has five compartments which are great for a variety of foods. The largest compartment is good for sandwiches, leftovers, pasta, salad and more. The other compartments are perfect for fruits, veggies, snacks, yogurt, applesauce and dips.

Features that we like:

- It's leakproof! It seals very well to prevent wet foods from leaking onto other foods.
- Drop-proof, rubber-coated edges and sturdy design.
- The removable tray is divided into sensible sized sections.
- It is dishwasher safe.
- All materials are BPA-free and phthalates-free.

You can view my gallery of lunches packed in Bentgo Kids by clicking HERE.

Below is a collage that I made for those who might like to pin.

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12 Of My Favorite Christmas Holiday Lunches

This is, for me, and my family, the most wonderful time of the year! Truly everyday is wonderful for us, but this time of year it is even more special.

I've packed over 50 Christmas themed lunches over they years and I must admit, I LOVE them ALL, even the simplest ones. You know why? It's because each and every one of them were packed with love, and Nikolai appreciated and enjoyed them.

I've decided to feature twelve of my most favorite ones, let me tell you, it's not easy to pick these above the others, but it was great fun looking through all of the lunches which I've posted over the years.

These lunches are not in any particular order. As I mentioned earlier, I love them all!

Joy to the world is one of my favorite Christmas songs. JOY on a bell themed lunch which you can find the details HERE.

I love the strawberry and marshmallow Santa in this lunch and of course the present sandwich. Details can be found HERE.

And the stocking are hung by the chimney with care...details HERE.

We never get snow here in Florida but it's always fun to make a Snowman lunch. Details can be found HERE.

It's always fun to decorate Gingerbread Houses, and here is one made of sandwich. Find the details HERE.

Nikolai loves Winnie The Pooh and we have several Pooh Christmas ornaments. Of course I had to make a Pooh Bear Holiday themed lunch, details HERE.

Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer is one of my favorite characters and I've made several Rudolph themed lunches over the years. You can find this one HERE.

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree roll-ups. This is quite easy to make and you can find it HERE.

I challenged myself to make Santa's belt and I'm quite pleased with the outcome. Find the details HERE.

The Polar Express is one of our family traditions. We watch it almost every year and HERE is a themed lunch.

Nikolai was fascinated with Snowmen when he was little. HERE is one wearing ear muffs.

This is one of the easiest Christmas tree lunch I've made. I used a tree cookie cutter as separator for a lunchables style lunch. You can find the details HERE.

I wish all of you a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year and an entire holiday season of good health and good fortune.

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4 Easy Lunches in Leak-Proof Bentgo Kids Lunchbox

It's already May and this will be the last month of school for this year. Where did the time go? I've still been packing school lunches daily, but have not been snapping the pictures since they are real simple lunches with mostly leftovers or simple sandwiches. It's also time to start discussing and planning for our vacations! Yippie!

Blogging has to be put on the back burner now since there are back to back activities, concerts, award ceremony and more. All are great fun, but time consuming. Good news flash: Nikolai's exams are over and everything is back to normal, especially the sleep schedule, so I don't expect to be hearing "why do I need to go to bed so early, mom?"

Here are four easy lunches, all packed in our leak-proof Bentgo lunchbox. Some are simple but still cute, they were brightened up by cute cupcake picks and mini cookie cutters.

Bento lunch 1: A couple of circle shaped sandwiches cut with my circle cookie cutter, topped with a couple of Cheddar bears for which I used our mini cutter to create. The sides were cheddar crackers, fruit snacks, grapes, a large strawberry and sugar snap peas.

Bento lunch 2: Sandwiches, Rice Krispie bar, organic baby carrots, celery sticks, fruit snacks, Annie's organic crackers and grapes with a cute Snoopy cupcake ring.

Bento lunch 3: A couple of circle shaped sandwiches with cute panda face cut-outs created with my cutter/ stamper set. Sides were cheddar crackers, rice krispie, fruit snacks, baby carrots, grapes with a Panda pick.

Bento lunch 4: Roll up ham and cheese. These were made by rolling the ham around slices of Gouda cheese. Sides were baby carrots, Ritz crackers, fruit snacks and grapes.

When does Summer break start for your kids?

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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.

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HO HO HO Christmas Bento

Ho, Ho, Ho, Christmas is fast approaching! 🎄🎅 I hope all of you are having a great time and enjoying the Christmas season. I have at least a favorite radio channel on SirusXM playing Christmas tunes as I drive Nikolai to school and back.

Today he took along this Ho, Ho, Ho bento. Hey, that almost sounds like a cheer. Again, I kept things simple and easy, yet I hope fun for him. The three section sandwich has the HO, HO, HO  of mild cheddar cut with our alphabet cutters and a Santa pick. I included some apple slices, frosted gingerbread stars from Trader Joe's and some slices of kiwi fruit with a Merry Christmas pick. In the small section in the middle are some Annie's organic fruit snacks. This lunch is packed in a Bentgo lunchbox.

Concerts and lots of other fun activities are just ahead, so this will be the last post of the year. I truly hope you also have had a fun year and that the new year will be even better!  From our family to yours, "Merry Christmas and Have a Blessed Holiday Season."

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5 Pinwheels Lunch Ideas

I did mention recently how much I love my reusable snack bags. Snack Taxi was the first brand which I acquired and use. They generously sent me a set several months ago to try out, and we love them. The reusable bags are made of 100 percent cotton outer with nylon lining, hook and loop closure and made in the USA. You can find many more designs and prints at their site here.

Stasher is another brand of reusable snack bags which I've reviewed earlier and you can find it here. They recently sent me their snack size stasher which we absolutely love. It's smaller than the original stasher and is perfect for snacks.

Pinwheels are among the foods that Nikolai loves. Often I use bread which I slightly flatten with a rolling pin before adding the fillings. I also use tortilla if we have them on hand, which is slightly easier as the tortilla does not require rolling. I'm also sharing one of my failed pinwheels lunches, which you will find if you scroll down towards the end. That morning I was way in a hurry and didn't bother to roll the bread so that was how it turned our - failed! Fortunately, it was still a yummy lunch, Nikolai didn't mind, and came home with an empty lunchbox which made my day.

Bento lunch 1: Ham and cheese pinwheels, cucumber slices and seedless grapes in a round silicone cup with a cute pick. This lunch is packed in a Happy Tiffin lunchbox. On the side is our SnackTaxi reusable bag which contains Annie's organic crackers.

Bento lunch 2: Cream cheese and jam tortilla pinwheels with an organic granola bar in the main section. Sides were Babybel cheese, fruit snacks, seedless red grapes and cucumber slices with a cute pick. This lunch is packed in a Bentgo leak-proof lunchbox.

Bento lunch 3: Pinwheels with cute animal face picks, organic baby carrots, watermelon slices cut into cupcake shapes in my favorite square silicone cups. On the side is a string cheese cut into half. This lunch is packed in our leak-proof stainless steel splash Ecolunchbox. As for snack, he had Annie's organic crackers in our new stasher reusable snack bag. We love this bag!

Bento lunch 4: Ham and cheese tortilla pinwheels. Sides were organic baby carrots, grapes in square silicone cups, cereal bar cut into half and cheddar snacks. This lunch is packed in a Planetbox shuttle.

Bento lunch 5: This is the lunch which I mentioned above. SunButter and jam pinwheels which failed. Annie's organic snack and Babybel cheese with an eye food pick in square silicone cups. Sides were cucumber sticks, baby carrots, pineapple and watermelon chunks. This lunch is packed in an Easylunchboxes.

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4 French Toast Breakfast For Lunch Ideas

I am biased here, I would say that my hubby makes the best french toast! I never much liked French toast before I met him but now, after tasting the ones that he made, I kinda like it as does Nikolai, who loves them and often requests them for his school lunch. The French toast bentos below were made by my hubby except for the French toast sticks which I got from my freezer stash. We like to stock up on some frozen breakfast items for times when we need quick and easy, grab and go.

The first breakfast for lunch, shown in the photo below, and packed in our leak-proof Yumbox , is so easy. While hubby was cooking more French toast, I added some features to the ones that I helped packed in the Yumbox. I used a small circle cutter for the cheddar ears and provolone nose, raisin eyes and nori accent for the nose. Does it look like a bear? His sides were organic maple syrup, organic apple sauce and orange slices.

The second breakfast for lunch was from my freezer stash, with the French toast heated in the toaster oven. The sides were organic granola bar cut into half, grapes, organic maple syrup, strawberry yogurt with a strawberry cut into star shape and some organic crackers. This lunch was packed in a leak-proof Bentgo lunchbox.

This third breakfast for lunch French toast was also made by my hubby and I added a smiley face to it, raisin eyes and nori mouth with a cap pick, easy peasy! Sides were organic apple sauce, seedless grapes, organic maple syrup in the small container, Trader Joe's yogurt stars and a spoon wrapped in cloth napkin. This lunch was packed in a Bentology lunchbox.

The fourth French toast breakfast for lunch was also packed in our leak-proof Yumbox. I added a baran sheet for cuteness. Alongside are Chobani Greek yogurt, organic maple syrup and seedless grapes with a pick.

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

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Butterfly Stamped Sandwiches and Music Notes Lunch

Today Nikolai and most of the fifth grade students at his school went on a field trip to Busch Gardens. Since the departure was quite early in the morning, I had to drop him off earlier than usual and had to wake up at 5 a.m. which was unusual for me. I am sure they are having lots of fun especially with the roller coaster rides!

Here are a couple of lunches which he had enjoyed a while back. Sad to say that we are not likely to use many of our double tiered lunchboxes next year when he starts middle school, and I was thinking of packing a few more lunches in some of them before the end of this school year, but we'll have to see. This first lunch was packed in our Paris bento box which is one of my personal favorites, I may inherit this box for myself, lol.

In this bento lunch: Top tier contains buttery stamped sandwiches. Bottom tier contains seedless red grapes with a butterfly baran sheet, a Babybel cheese with a butterfly cut-out and organic baby carrots with a butterfly cupcake ring.

The next lunch was a simple music themed lunch. He had music class on that day when I packed this lunch and that's how I came up with the idea.

In this bento lunch (packed in our leak-proof Bentgo lunchbox): Main compartment contains a sandwich cut into half and stacked, with music notes Mozzarella cheese and a pick. Alongside are cheddar crackers, fruit snacks, organic apple sauce and seedless grapes with a music note pick.

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

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