A new year and a new box!

Okay, so right before school started, my wonderful computer that I've had for several years that my husband built for me totally died.  We couldn't narrow the cause down to one part that we could replace, so it was cheaper to simply replace the machine.  I now have a new computer, so back to blogging!

I'm still having trouble getting back in the routine of it as we are quite busy, but I will start taking pictures again tomorrow and posting at least once a week (I might do daily again, but I know I can do weekly).

So, before my computer died, I'd had swagbucks amazon cards saved up and won another one from a bausch & lomb giveaway, so I had not only enough to score Ruthie a wonderful red angry bird costume for under 15 dollars shipped, but it was the perfect time to get... yep... a new bento box!

She had been eating more all summer so it was time.

This is the box that she got

Here is the link - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051U1P58/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

it's a 1.2 quart square box by Omami, so it holds a little over 4 cups.  It came with a strap (a really nice one) and TWO lids... the one on the right seals the box to make it leak proof (YAY) and the top lid makes it pretty or you can fit a napkin between the two lids.  Naturally, I got it in pink because Ruthie LOVES pink and because this pink matches her embark lunch bag and embark water bottle.

We love this container and it's her favorite one now.  to divide it, I got jumbo muffin liners from the dollars pot at target (2 in a pack... I got two packs) and they come all the way to the top of the box and the clear lid seals them and the box... so no worries about packing juicy fruit in this box now!

This is her lunch she took the first day of school in this great box

She had a tuna sandwich, cut in half and stacked, and I used food writing pens to decorate the top one like notebook paper with an A+.  She also had green grapes, cucumber, and for a treat, she had some Doritos.

I also tried out putting my round 4 oz glad containers in this box and they fit with their lid AND the sealing lid on over their own lid and then they don't budge, so this box will also work great for snack lunches with things to dip in pb and the pb in a glad container.

Here is another fun lunch she has taken in a different box (it was basically a lunchable)

I used two different sized muffin cups to reflect portion sizing.  The jumbo had salad ( that's a pea pod on top and she LOVES them now... yay for adding a new veggie to her diet!), the small one had cut up slices of pepperoni from a big pepperoni stick (so they were thick slices that just had to be cut into chunks) and Kashi Hummis Chips (sea salt and olive oil flavor)  In the round glad container is oranges.  The container is made by Tupperware, but I don't know the exact name of it.

Lunch for the Park

I have not been blogging lunches lately because Ruthie has had a lot of troubles at school and is currently being given a tutor and we are working on getting her able to be back in school so she can move to the gifted class.  In other words, we have had to decide to start medication.

She's hopefully going to be returning to school at the end of the month, so fingers are crossed.

In the meantime, we had our first day spent at the park (not just going after lunch and coming home for dinner) and so of course I packed some bento-style lunches for us!  (I have three kids, but my oldest chose to stay home to help his father with yard work)

Ruthie requested pb and jam which surprised me as I have managed to figure out a chocolate pb spread recipe I like that is easy enough... but hey, it's okay to not be in the mood for chocolate, even if it does take me by total surprise.  Her brother, on the other hand, was all about that so he had a pb/chocolate and banana sandwich (he also had some pb/chocolate on the useable part leftover from Ruthie's bread being cutout)  They both got salad, cucumber, and oranges (I took the pics at the park, so that fork indent is totally from having been packed that way overnight with his salad fork on his sandwich)

And then lunch for me... I just had to be different... nah, really just trying to make sure I wouldn't get hungry when I shouldn't and keep things as low cal and high on the veggie end as I could.

I tore up leftover chicken after I loosely filled the main compartment of the zip lock container with salad, then added cucumber slices.  In the larger side compartment is leftover steamed collard greens, the smaller one has some crackers, and then I also had a container for dressing and a big juicy apple... which tasted even better than it looked (yeah, I loved that apple)

Dinner on the go

Okay, so THURSDAY (Jan. 10) was a busy evening.  The two younger kids had their regular therapy appointment and then we had to go straight from there to the middle school for all the pre-registration stuff for Ruthie's brother.  Problem?  When would we eat dinner?  What would we eat for dinner?

Solution - grab the containers and throw together something quick, healthy, and yummy!  Yep, my stash of containers comes in handy in times like this (and no last minute going out for baggies, not having lunch bags to put them in, or having needless trash)

First, dinner for the princess.... she'd had chicken salad for lunch, so I cut up some more cucumber and made her pb & strawberry jam sandwich bites.  I also included a banana.

For her brother and myself, I used our zip lock containers (seriously best clearance containers... they just hold SO FREAKIN MUCH... but not good for every day... they don't like to fit in a lot of lunchbags)

Jeffrey got peanut butter banana sushi/roll ups - he has asked for them since I showed them... and he declared them a big hit.  He also had carrots and cucumber slices.

I got a straight peanut butter & banana sandwich, carrots and cucumber, and ranch.

With it being winter and cold, we didn't even need ice packs... our water bottles and food stayed nice and cold... colder than when we put them in the car, in fact.

A bird of a different color

Okay, Ruthie's favorite is the RED angry bird, but I can only do that so many times.  This was my first try at another color and green worked with my round shape... I need to make the beak bigger, but my daughter was thrilled with it and that's what matters.

I may try to do cucumber pigs one day... but today was not that day and (as you might see from one top slice) this cucumber was SO juicy it was not going to work for trying it today.

The sandwich is a change... chicken salad... with honey mustard to feed the sweet tooth.

Cucumber Stars to make a wish on

Hey, it's hard to make every lunch all unique and cute... so a lot of days, and today was one of them, I grabbed a leftover hamburger bun for her pb&j (my child could live on pb and strawberry) and the last of the  salad greens... it just looked boring, so I whipped out a veggie cutter... some stars, some with the star cut out... and it becomes a cute little salad.

And yes, I love this box for holding so much so snugly and yet also being small enough that it reminds me who I'm packing lunch for... a child who does not eat a ton at a time most days.

Another Hello Kitty

Hello Kitty is always a fav... I used the top tier of her kotobuki panda box to cut out the bread in the face shape, then used food writer pens.  She requested pb & j, so that's what she got, along with apple and cucumber chunks in the baking cup liners.  All packed in our betty crocker boxes that are some of my favorite... they help me not overpack.

A reminder that I love you

Even though Valentine's Day is more than a month away, my little girl had a hard week at school and I thought that what she needed was a little reminder that her dad and I love her... even when she's not doing her best with her self-control and her temper.  

Two heart shaped pb & strawberry sandwiches (one says Be Kind as a reminder and the other I Luv You), cucumber chunks with two heart shaped slices on top to put some love in her veggies, and I tucked an apple in her bag with this lunch.  And if nothing else, the cute face of her panda box had to remind her of her stuffed animals at home who are great for hugging tight when you have had a rough week.

Simple and Small

Today's lunch is simple... with small portions and/or small bites... she said yesterday she asked to go sit at another table because she needed time to herself, so I also made sure to choose a container that would easily move all her food quickly, should she need that again to help control her little temper.

She has a half sandwich of peanut butter and strawberry jam, celery bites, 8 potato chips (I counted... lol), and 3/4 of a small apple cut into thin small pieces.

If she weren't eating less these days, I would have sent more celery and some pb for dipping or more sandwich.

Days like this, it's always water to drink... to help leave room for as much food as possible.

Back To School - 1st Lunch after Winter Break

After eating so much during her break from school and eating less the past few days, I knew a meal that would be eaten quickly and not overfill her was required.  I also colored her sandwich an angry bird to please her... she got plenty of angry bird stuff for christmas and is now forming a list for her birthday of what she wants... all angry bird things.

Her angry bird is filled with tuna salad (with mayo and a bit of spicey mustard) celery and some sprinkled frosted pretzels helped fill her up.

Please eat something healthy lunch

The last day of school before winter break is always worrisome to me.  I know my kids and none of them do well when they binge on junk food, but Ruthie is even moreso this way.  It keeps coming back to her acting in every way like she is hypoglycemic and yet always testing fine.  Diet (not dieting... just having good eating habits) is so crucial for her, as well as eating plenty and often.

So, this is one of those days where I know I need food to be small finger foods, easy to eat, and get that protein in her to really carry her through the day and her party with all that processed sugar she'll have put in her body.

And of course, when I'm packing that kind of lunch, I go straight for my Melissa & Doug box... it's just perfect for it.

She has DOUBLE the celery she had yesterday... peanut butter for dipping, spongebob graham crackers (79c for a 8oz bag at dollar store SCORE), and a clementine (yes, we got a small crate of these FREE because of the coupon we got on produce, so my kids are loving these and eating a bunch)

This container just works so perfect for these lunches because I can put the pb right in one compartment and it's one solid piece of plastic with no seams, so cleaning out the residue later is so much easier than other containers.  I usually put in more pb and send pretzels or plain crackers, but I didn't think she'd wanna dip graham crackers in pb... so I hope I didn't go wrong, but I thought the yummy cinnamon on them would be a nice treat and she DOES have a full 2Tbsp serving of pb.

She's got water to help keep her system hydrated so hopefully any sodas/juice boxes won't affect her too much, either.

Last Christmas Bento of the Year :(

With everything going on this past month, I just haven't done as many Christmas stuff with Ruthie's lunches as I wanted.  Tomorrow is the last day of school until the New Year, so I'm concentrating on making sure she doesn't just binge on the junk food that people will be bringing in for the class.

Today, I wanted to remind my little one that she needs to remember Santa is Comin' To Town... so I pulled out my sleigh cutter... she has celery chunks (could be reindeer food) because we finally got GOOD celery in the stores again and it's a favorite and a clementine, along with 4 of those scrumptious panda cookies for a treat... cause Santa brings presents.  I put an ornament pick in the santa sandwich, which is peanut butter & strawberry jam... 

Leftovers? No problem!

Yes, I love to stick leftovers in Ruthie's lunch whenever possible... last night, we had fried chicken for dinner (the horrible greasy stuff from walmart... so yummy once in a blue moon), so the leftover thigh became our lunches for today. (yes, one thigh easily made one light sandwich for her and one thick one for me)

Some leftover wavy chips, green beans, and then for a treat, four of the delicious panda cookies that I picked up for her in the dollar section at Target.  All packed in the zip lock container simply because I just was not in the mood to use a separate one for the green beans... once I had it packed, though, I wished I had, because the cookies could have gone in the middle of her multigrain bagel sandwich and that would have been cute... and then you just don't need that small compartment... but nice when you are in a rush and just wanna grab one container.

If you like the size of these, I would recommend buying the EASY LUNCHBOXES system (available on amazon) instead, because they are much higher quality for everyday use.

The set of two ziplock ones were a score for 79c and since this is the third time I've used one (1st time was in a previous post, second time was for Jeffrey to take leftovers... it's a great size for him... filled to capacity), I am happy with them.

The box comes with what is supposed to be two servings... which is like... 12 of them... yeah... no... she got 4 for her treat and because she hadn't had them before, I let her have ONE this morning after her cereal, which (no surprise) had her telling me to buy more.  Thank goodness for lots of containers, though, since I then had to put the foil pouch they come sealed in into one of my small containers... but that's fine.

Oh, she's gotten two water bottles that are new recently (score at a thrift store for under a dollar a piece) and I borrowed an idea from a previous blog I read that I'm trying to find before I post what I did with them to personalize them.

Pizza... AGAIN

Okay, yes, if my kids could, they'd live on pizza, so whenever we have it, Ruthie has to have it in her lunch the next day... yes, we have to have leftover pizza put aside for her for this.

Salad, an orange peeled and separated, and she was thrilled.

Today was actually cold and rainy out... the weather last week was pretty mild, so that made me think of my mitten cookie cutter... and I decided to make colorful mitten sandwiches.  I did roll the bread to get two out of each slice, which made them easier to color and look more like mittens.

Under the sandwiches (which are her favorite pb & strawberry) are angry bird crackers and not pictured is a small container of green beans.  She asked to take pink lemonade because she's been having "water, water, water" lately.

Okay, so I haven't posted any lunches for two reasons.  The main one, my computer decided to break down and we had to order replacement parts for it and wait for them to come and then install them.

Second reason, I've been lazy the past few days since my computer is back up and running.

Here are the lunches that I've made in that time. (minus the super boring ones or ones made by her dad on the days where he has let me snooze)

First, a Snowman... yep, there's actually two of them, stacked... the LAST pack of the halloween pretzels, salad, and a tangerine/manderin orange (which she can peel herself.. yay!) from Dec. 4

A Christmas stocking of ham and brown mustard, sea salt pita chips, green beans, and oranges  After seeing half her lunch come back for a second day, the next lunches contained less food as she's hitting a lull in her appetite again. - Dec. 10

a handful of angry bird crackers, an angry bird pb & strawberry "uncrustable" sandwich, and 3/4 of an orange. - Dec. 11

Another Round of Sandwich Rounds

My daughter seriously loves multigrain bread, which is fabulous.  She also loves the round sandwich thins.  So I was happy when we scored some on sale this week.  We are already out of them as they are a big hit in our house and there aren't a lot in a pack.

However, I always buy them when they are on sale, so there will always be more opportunities.

Today's lunch was just plain simple, but just by arranging it carefully, it looks so yummy and appealing.... yay for bentos!

We used rubbermaid single section containers that I scored a 3-pack of at Big Lots for 2 bucks... these are great because they are smaller than the Easy Lunchboxes I was thinking of recently and talked about in my last post.  Whether you get the ones with two sections or the single section ones, they are also much more durable than the ziplock brands.  So you've probably already seen the sectioned ones we've had for over a year in some of my other posts.

With the green container from her Hello Kitty set (minus the lid) and two silicone baking cups, it's easy to make sections it to keep her food snugly packed and only have her have to open one thing.

Her sandwich in question is ham and honey mustard... which I'm pleased to say she ate every bite of... yep, her love of mustard is new, but it's instant and on things other than just tuna/chicken/egg salad sandwiches. I am pleased because it helps keep the sandwich together.  I cut it in half and stacked it.  Apple chunks are in the green container... this was a big apple, so I got the leftover 1/6 of it and it was JUICY.  She has cucumber slices again today and, as a treat, some all natural baked garlic New York Style (brand) Pita Chips.  They are so yummy.  We also got a bag of the sea salt ones (they are at dollar tree.. SCORE!) and... BONUS... I looked over the ingredients and they are allergy safe for all except those allergic to wheat or who can't have gluten.

They also do not contain HFCS, which is always important.

What's also cute is that she was using her brother's DSi and insisted on taking her own picture of her lunch... so cute.  I haven't seen how it turned out as she said she was "adding stickers", but it's cute that she notices I'm documenting her lunches.

Wonder if Easy Lunchboxes are the right size for your child that doesn't eat a lot? Take a look - using a Ziplock lookalike to model.

We scored some great multigrain rounds at the bread store this week, but what we also scored were some ziplock containers that are like the Easy Lunchboxes so many people love.  I'd figured they were too big for Ruthie, but for 79c for a pack of two, I figured they'd be good to snag and see, to get an idea of if/when we should invest in some Easy Lunchboxes (they are higher quality to be sure and worth spending a little more) in the near future.  As you will see, for us, it's probably going to be awhile.

This box so easily holds all that my daughter eats on a regular basis, but would easily hold 2-3x that amount, making it a bigger container than she needs.  So for those wondering just how much my daughter eats... this can help show you if you use the ELBs.  Her owl sandwich and pretzels in the main compartment took up maybe half the space... with regular bread that is thicker, it definitely would.  her oranges took up half the small compartment and her cucumber slices (which were nice and thin... henceforth why there were so many) took up less than half of the space in the larger side compartment.

Her sandwich is a simple peanut butter and chocolate spread sandwich.

anyway... this box is overkill for her and will be reserved for the times we picnic, when I will use it for my oldest, who is not yet 13, but already taller than me and eats like there is no tomorrow.  I would also use one for me if I was taking salad in the main compartment, otherwise it would be a bit too big even for me.

So, while I can see where ELBs would be great down the line (like in high school maybe) they are definitely not in our future anytime soon.

DIY Lunchables

okay.. everyone does these, but hey, it's a cute lunch.

Seriously, aside from the fact that my daughter can't have the cheese (can you really call that stuff in store bought lunchables cheese?), she doesn't like artificial fruit snacks (even as a rare "candy") anymore (can you blame her?), and even the "healthy" option ones don't have the right meal portions, and all the HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) and other artificial additives just can't be good for you.

So... the cheaper, slightly better (hey, it's still deli meat and regular butter crackers that aren't whole grain, but everything in moderation) before the added sides becomes a super healthy lunch in the grand scheme of things when you make it yourself.

so in our rubbermaid takealongs container (I love them... seriously love them) she has 10 crackers with 4 slices of deli turkey cut into flowers and skewered on christmas/winter holidays picks (there's also one hiding in her peas... which were put in per her request)  The peas and oranges really make this a colorful lunch and I put foil in the main section to symbolize wrapping paper (and prevent moisture from spreading)... yes... Christmas is coming... and so are presents.

Panda Sandwich

Okay, so I've been totally oggling the new CuteZcute cutters, but just can't snag any yet as the holiday season is here.

This morning I pulled out one of our favorite containers - our kotobuki panda bento box - and was wishing again that I had those cutters to make a coordinating sandwich when I realized the top container was small enough at the top to cut a sandwhich that would still fit in the bottom.  Bonus, it uses almost all of the bread... I actually had to manually trim some crust from the bottom of each slice and there is crust on MY left on the ear, but it doesn't show or give the panda a beard the way the bottom crust would.

A black food-safe marker (I also used a blue one for the iris portion of the eyes because otherwise, they were NOT the same size) and I had the perfect panda sandwich for this box!

Ruthie deemed it... "cool!".. so while not super creative, it definitely pleased her.

I may use this way to make her hello kitty sandwich next time and see if I like the result better with having more set ears... I have not tried to see if it would seal the sandwich this time, but may in the future.

Her sides are celery (though I now realize they could stand for bamboo... that pandas eat) and mandarin oranges, which of course are grown mostly in China... so I didn't even realize how spot-on my theme realy was, with so little effort for decoration!

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day

My girl woke up to a cold, windy, gloomy day, so I wanted to make her lunch bright and cheery.  To go with her pretty average sides of cucumber and apple slice and a bag of pretzels, I colored her pocket sandwich yellow and drew on a big smile...

Hopefully it will bring some sunshine into her day.

It is filled with yummy egg salad, which is fast becoming Ruthie's new favorite sandwich.