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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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.

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Big Hero 6 Baymax Bento

We had a great three day long weekend as Monday was Labor Day holiday, and we also celebrated our 15th year wedding anniversary with a pleasant weekend getaway. Everything was planned by my romantic hubby, because, as I may have mentioned before, he is the romantic one of us and also the one with the patience. Many people have asked us about how our friendship led to marriage, and my first answer is that we talk (and listen) a lot. I believe that communication is the key to a successful marriage. I need to change the subject now before I get into writing about marriage and romance, this is a food blog right?

Meanwhile, returning to bento mode, the nice people over at Say Please have sent us their newest edition of Lunchbox Love notes. If you are not yet familiar with them, these are collections of colorful and cheerful note cards, each about 9cm x 6cm, with a positive message one one side, and a bit of trivia on the other. They are a great way to say, "I've been thinking of you" when discovered in Nikolai's lunch bag or backpack, in his school binder as I've been doing lately so he sees them early in the mornings, or propped on the desk in his room. I sometimes slip one into my husbands wallet just to remind him that I was thinking of him. I have included them with many of his lunches which can be viewed HERE.

For a long time, it seems, Nikolai has asked for a Baymax bento, so I made this one featuring a Baymax shaped  sandwich topped with Provolone cheese and decorated with nori. Baymax is a Big Hero 6 character so I used the 6 from my numeric cutter set on the babybel cheese. Along with these he had pieces of peaches in one container, celery and organic baby carrots, and ranch for dip in the smallest container. Far right is a granola bar. I included a Lunchbox Love note in his lunch bag, and this lunch was packed in a  Bentology Living box, previously Laptop Lunches.

Here is a simple bento lunch with which I also included a Lunchbox Love note in his lunch bag. Into our LunchBots Quad I packed some of Nikolai's favorite roll-ups, ants on a log (aka celery with sun butter and raisins) with cucumber slices, orange slices with grapes, and alphabet cookies from IKEA.

I think these are a really fun way to brighten the day and educational too! From one card I learned that the International Space Station moves at 17,500 miles per hour. I never would have guessed that!

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Bear bento and Tortilla Pinwheels in New Bentgo Kids with Review (2)

I acquired a bentgo kids lunchbox last week and I've put it to use for these lunches. The second lunch became a real test especially to check out the leak-proof feature. The compartments were quite generously sized. The inner tray is removable for cleaning or possibly using alone at the table if you don't need to take it away from home. The latches are easy to open and close, secure, and the colors are beautiful.

I'm thinking that although it is printed on it's box 'Recommended For Ages 3 to 7', it could be useful for kids of any age. 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. My son is 10 years old and we love the size of the box, 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.

In the first bento I included a crust-less sandwich with a bear face cutout with Asiago  cheese eyes and mouth on mild cheddar cheese. Along with the sandwich I included organic baby carrots, organic apple slices, Annie's organic white cheddar bunnies, and seedless green grapes with a cute pick.

For this second bento, I made some of Nikolai's favorite tortilla pinwheels (Sun-butter and strawberry jam) and his sides were strawberries, a Colby and mozzarella cheese stick cut into bite sized rounds, sugar snap peas and organic applesauce with a cute frog baran.

Below is a photograph of the bentgo kids bento box closed and ready to go!

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

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Butterfly Quesadilla and Bread Roll-Ups in Easylunchboxes

I had some tortilla on hand, so I made a quick and easy quesadillia for Nikolai's school lunch. When I cut up the quesadilla so it would fit in a lunchbox, I thought this one might look like a butterfly if I added a piece of string cheese for the body. :)

The second bento is an example of what can be done almost in less than five minutes. As some of you might agree, there are days when plans change on short notice and you need a quick solution such as this.

Both of these lunches were packed in his Easylunchboxes container.

In this bento lunch:

• Quesadilla cut into four wedges, mozzarella string cheese and a couple of picks.
• Cucumber slices and baby carrots.
• Organic kiwi slices in a silicone cup.

Here is a super easy and quick bread roll-ups lunch. I used a rolling pin to slightly flatten the bread, spread with SunButter and roll.

In this bento lunch:

• Bread roll-ups in jumbo silicone cup, cucumber slices and organic baby carrots.
• Mozzarella string cheese cut into pieces.
• Seedless green grapes with a Mickey pick.

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

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Quick and Easy Roll-Ups bento

Happy Monday! We made it through the first week of school even though there were some days when we had to rush, and a few times I had to quickly put a lunch together. This bento was one of them, and it took me around 10 minutes to put together. I added a little cuteness by using a bear shaped cookie cutter for the cheese cut out. This lunch is packed in an Easylunchboxes container.

In this bento lunch:

• Sunbutter and jam roll ups sandwiches. I used a rolling pin to flatten the bread, spread the jam and sunbutter, roll and cut.
• Organic baby carrots.
• Babybel cheese with a bear cut out, above granola bar.
• Watermelon and seedless green grapes with a watermelon cupcake pick.
• Goldfish crackers.

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

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Simple Roll Ups Bento With Love

With a few picks I added a touch of love to some easy to make kebab roll-ups bento for Nikolai. Tomorrow he will have the school's lunch as they will be serving one of his favorites. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! :)

In this bento lunch:

• Top tier: I used a rolling pin to flatten the bread first, spread SunButter and Jam, roll and cut. I skewered them with the red and green heart picks.
• Bottom tier: Cucumber slices and strawberries cut into heart shape on either side of a fig bar( cut into half) to which I added the I LOVE U picks. This lunch is packed in a lovely Paris themed bento box.

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

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