Doggie Yumbox

I'm really liking the Yumbox. I usually rush on Tuesday nights to make lunches, and the Yumbox makes it very easy to pack a cute but quick lunch. This lunch took me about 15 minutes to make. I made the dog picks a few days ago by gluing food grade plastic picks to the back of buttons......yep! Those are buttons. They turned out so cute, didn't they? 

This lunch is packed in the Yumbox.

*dog bone shaped Applegate turkey

*homemade croutons (made from our leftover bread scraps)

*Pacific brand all natural cranberry sauce

*carrot rounds

*Craisins (yes, my child loves all things cranberry)

*Scooby snacks graham crackers

*Honeycrisp apple wedge

*sunflower seeds in the small green cup ( I'm not sure if Z will eat them but thought I'd give them a try today. They will more than likely come home.)

*linked to : Bentolunch.net/ What's for lunch Wednesday

Check out these super cute Yumbox lunches from Pixie's Playland on Facebook:

Pixie's Playland Yumbox

Pixie's Playland Yumbox2

Ribbit Ribbit.....

Well, I'm happy to report that Z loved yesterday's lunch of macaroni and cheese packed in the thermos. Woo Hoo!!!!.... so many more options for me to pack in his lunch now. He really liked this chip and dip container, too. He asked me to pack his lunch in it again today. So, today I'm using one of my favorite products....the CuteZCute Food Cutter.  It makes super easy and cute sandwiches a cinch. The sandwich is made using the frog cutter. This container is a bit on the small side, so I included a side cup of applesauce (which just happens to be a cute frog). Ribbit Ribbit!!

In this lunch:
*peanut butter and all-fruit spread CuteZCute frog sandwich
*pretzel snaps
*sweet baby peas
*red and green grapes
*applesauce in the frog cup
* black olives

*linked to:

Some of the things I used to make this lunch:
CuteZCute Animal Friends Deco Cutter and Stamp Set
Wilton silicone baking cup
Cute frog baran

Mac & cheese hearts....

I'm trying something new with Z today....macaroni and cheese in a thermos. He loves mac and cheese, but won't eat it in his lunch when it hasn't been heated. I pack a thermos with soup, spaghetti, and other foods in my oldest sons's lunch all the time, and he really enjoys having hot food at lunch time. I found this super cute heart macaroni and cheese at Whole Foods Market and thought it would be a great way to introduce Z to the thermos. Hopefully, he will love using the thermos, and I can then send soup and some of his other favorite foods for lunch. 

In this lunch:
*heart shaped macaroni and cheese
*carrot rounds with red pepper heart centers
*Yoplait Trix yogurt with heart sprinkles (the Trix yogurt has natural colorings and flavorings)
*strawberry heart kabob
*white cheddar cheese Nips
*baby dill pickles
*linked to:






Some of the things I used to make this lunch:
10oz. thermos food jar
Wilton silicone baking cup
Chip and dip snack container

Robot Hotdog Man....

Ok.....I LOVE this robot hotdog....so cute, cute, cute!! I wish I could take credit for him, but I saw him on Pinterest a few months ago, and I failed to 'Pin' him to my boards. So, there is a very creative individual out there somewhere whose creative effort is gonna make Z a very happy boy at lunchtime. He had a bit of a disappointing day at school yesterday, so I know this little robot will cheer him up today!

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
*Applegate robot hotdog with candy eyes and cheese mouth (he's held together with raw spaghetti noodles.)
*sweet corn with rocket ship pick
*strawberries and green grapes
*Ritz Bitz cheese crackers in the little suitcase food cup
*Rice Krispy treat with candy face-
*linked to:  Lunchbox Dad/ Throwback Thursday

Some of the things I used to make this lunch:

Leftovers for lunch.....

One of my kids favorite meals that I make is bow tie spaghetti.... spaghetti made with bow tie pasta instead of the regular spaghetti noodles. I saw this great lunch idea from Tiny Princess LunchBox (HERE) to separate the noodles and sauce to allow for 'dipping'. What a great idea! Z loves to to dip his food, so why not combine 2 of his favorite things! I know he's going to love this. Check out Tiny Princess Lunch Box for more awesome lunch ideas. Thanks TPLB!!

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
*bow tie pasta with homemade meat sauce for dipping
*Applegate bologna rolls
*carrot rounds, red pepper sticks (which will probably come home), black olives
*strawberries and blackberries
* Yoplait vanilla yogurt with a few sprinkles
*linked to:

Some of the things that I used to make this lunch:
Wilton Square baking cup
Cute animal food picks

Quick and Simple Yumbox

Tuesday nights are usually very busy for my family, so the Wednesday lunch has to be quick and simple. This lunch fits that bill.....quick and simple. A few happy face picks add a bit of cuteness to the lunch.

This lunch is packed in the Yumbox.

*Applegate hotdog slices

*cheddar cheese pretzels

*red and green seedless grapes

*black and green olives

*carrot rounds and cherry tomato

*Yoplait dye-free yogurt

*Craisins in the little treat/dip cup

*Linked to:

Some things I used to make this lunch:

Cute face food pick

Wilton square baking cup

Let's Have a Sock Hop

Well, I admit it......I spent waaaay to much time on this lunch. I usually don't spent a ton of time on Z's lunches, but this lunch was special. Today is the 50th day of school for Z, and his school is celebrating by having the entire day revolve around the 50's. The kids were allowed to dress like the 50's, and they get to attend a sock hop complete with RC Cola and Moon Pies. What a fun day this will be for all those kiddos!!! Of course, you cannot have a sock hop without a poodle skirt, right? So, today Z gets a poodle skirt sandwich for lunch. This was such a fun lunch to make.

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
*peanut butter and all-fruit spread poodle skirt sandwich decorated with pink Wilton Color Mist and black edible food marker.. The little poodle is a sticker that I cut out and left the backing on.
*pretzel snaps
*Oreo 'record' with red fruit leather center
*black olives, sweet corn, and carrot rounds
* strawberries and blackberries with homemade 'sock hop' pick
*linked to:    Eats Amazing/ Fun Food Friday
                     Following In My Shoes/ I Heart Lunch

CUTE KID ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!
My little guy looked so cute, I just had to include a pic of him, too. He was so excited about this day. I can't wait to pick him up from school and hear all about the fun sock hop.

Monster's University lunch...

We love Monsters, Inc. This is a lunch that I made back during the summer when the new Monsters University was released. We, of course, were some of the first ones at the theater the day it was released, and we were so excited that the theater included the cute cup and Pez with the kid's popcorn meal. This lunch went over very well with Z. The cute basket that it's served in actually came from my local dollar store. And I love the Mike apple....he is just crazy cute!!

In this lunch:
*Applegate hotdog slices
*veggie mix and black olives with homemade Monsters U pick
*Monster's U Cheese-Its
*granny smith apple Mike with marshmallow eye and teeth- I used a food safe marker to draw the eye and mouth on the marshmallow.
*peanut butter and all-fruit spread sandwich under the 'scaring school' pennant
*linked to: Lunchbox Dad/ Throwback Thursday


Some things I used to make this lunch:

Fun with Funbites

I'm always looking for cute and fun items to use in making Z's lunch. I found a great cutter. This lunch features quesadillas cut into cute and bite sized squares using the Funbites Shaped Food Cutter. I want to give a big shout out of thanks to Jenn Christ at Bento For Kidlet for passing the Funbites cutter on to me. Thanks, Jenn......you rock!!!! My little guy loves food served on a stick, and the little squares lend themselves perfectly for that. Jenn also sent me a Funbites cutter that makes heart bite size pieces, and I look forward to using it, too. Stop by and visit Jenn's blog at Bento for Kidlet for some more great lunch ideas. 

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
*bite size cheese quesadilla squares
*white cheddar cheese Nips
*strawberries
*Yoplait dye-free yogurt
*Baby sweet peas with carrot rounds
*green olives
*linked to:

Some of the things I used to make this lunch:
Flower shaped silicone food cup
Spiral shaped food pick
Wilton square baking cup
Funbites square cutter




My other bento buddies have also made some great Funbites lunches. Check these out:
Bento for Kidlet/ Shamrock Fun
Tiny Princess Lunch Box/ Brrrr.....It's Cold in Here!
Creative Food/ Funbites Giraffe

A mess of Monkeys.....

I was given the opportunity to try out CuteZCute's newest creation.... the Animal Palz mini sandwich and egg press. I really like this product. Like the original CuteZCute, there are several cute options in one kit. With this system, you can create a monkey, a bat, a panda, or a sheep mini stuffed pocket sandwich. Or, it can be used to mold boiled eggs into these same animal shapes. I decided to make the monkey pocket sandwich my first time using it, and they turned out adorable (even though I stuffed them a bit too much). I used the panda to make some molded boiled eggs (my hubby ate them before I got around to snapping a pic), and they were almost too cute to eat......almost!!!! I hate that Z doesn't eat boiled eggs......I'd sure be using this like crazy. The Animal Palz system works great, and we are definitely going to enjoy using it.

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
*3 peanut butter and all-fruit spread monkey sandwiches
*cheddar cheese pretzels
*carrot rounds and purple cherry tomatoes
*applesauce
*strawberries and red and green grapes

Some of the things I used to make this lunch:
CuteZCute Animal Palz mini sandwich and egg press
Baking buddies silicone baking cups
Monkey picks

Double Yumbox

I'm new to using the Yumbox, but so far, I really like it. My little guy really likes it, too. I plan to do a formal review of the Yumbox after I have used it a while longer. Today I have 2 Yumbox lunches to share from this week. 

I made this lunch in less than 15 minutes. Yumbox makes it easy to fix a cute lunch in very little time.

*Applegate brand hotdog
*strawberries
*Yoplait yogurt with red and green sprinkles
*carrot rounds and red cherry tomatoes
*pretzel snaps
*green olives
*M&M's
*linked to Bentos on the Bayou/ 15 minute Friday

The theme of this lunch is shapes.  
                                        
*peanut butter and all fruit spread square sealed sandwich
*red delicious apple wedge
*Yoplait yogurt with strawberry hearts
*sweet corn with carrot stars
*Applegate bologna triangles
*round Ritz Bitz cheese crackers
*round black olives
*round Oreo minis
*linked to Bento Blog Network/ Bento of the Week
This lunch was picked as "Bento of the Week" at Bento Blog Network!!



My bento buddies have been creating some fabulous Yumbox lunches, too. Check these out:
Bent On Better Lunches/ Pretty Yumboxes
Ladybug Lunches/ DIY Lunchables
Glory's Mischief/ Angry Birds

Egg Muffins

Here is the recipe for egg muffins. They are very good and are so easy to make. This is my personal recipe, but it can be tweaked a hundred ways to suit any taste, and they will still be delicious. You just can't go wrong with eggs, cheese, and bacon!!

My personal recipe- egg muffins-
Makes 12-13 muffins
 12 eggs
2 packages (4 oz). Oscar Mayer
      Selects uncured bacon pieces
 3 large green onions- chopped finely
1/2 med. red bell pepper- chopped
       finely
6 oz. shredded cheese- I used Kraft  3
       cheese blend
1/2 cup mushrooms- chopped finely
1/4 cup half & half
 salt
 ground black pepper
 garlic powder
Italian seasoning
Dash of hot sauce- sorry, I do not
         measure the spices

Directions-
Spray muffin pan VERY well with cooking spray to keep muffins from sticking. Mix
together the bacon, onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, and cheese. In separate bowl, beat eggs. Stir in
spices, hot sauce, and half & half. Add egg mixture to the bacon and cheese mixture. Stir well. Ladle
into muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake in a preheated 350* F oven  20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned on top and firm to the touch. Remove baked muffins from pan immediately to prevent sticking. Eat and enjoy!

Three bears for lunch

One of my family's favorite foods is what I call egg muffins. They are actually mini omelets that I cook in a muffin pan. Z loves these for lunch. He won't eat eggs boiled (oh, how I miss using the super cute egg molds out there), but he will eat them cooked other ways. These are just the right size for kids, and they are very easy to make. I make these pretty often because we love breakfast foods for dinner. I'll post the recipe for those of you that want to try them.

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
*egg muffin- recipe to follow
*white cheddar cheese Nips
*strawberries
*corn on the cob and red cherry tomatoes
*Yoplait dye-free yogurt
*Pacific brand organic cranberry sauce (Z loves cranberry sauce. Most brands contain high fructose corn syrup, which I try to avoid. I found Pacific brand at a Whole Foods Market.)
*mustard in the small green cup for dipping
*linked to Bentolunch.net/ What's For Lunch Wednesday

Things I used to make this lunch:
Silicone bear food cup
Wilton silicone baking cup
various bear food picks available at BentoUSA

Buzzy bees lunch

Well, I'm so glad to be back to lunch making for Z. Fall break is over, so it's back to school. My hubby, kids, and I had a wonderfully relaxing time last week at the lake, but now it's time to get started on the second quarter of school. Winter break will be here before we know it. Does anyone else think time is just passing too quickly??

Today's lunch has a bee theme.

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
*Bee shaped peanut butter and all fruit spread sandwich with bee shaped cheddar cheese on top (decorated with black and red edible food marker).
*white cheddar cheese Nips
*red seedless grapes and Honeycrisp apple wedge
*tomato salad (red and orange cherry tomatoes mixed with mozzarella cheese, Craisins, croutons, and Italian vinegrette dressing). Z loves this salad!
* linked to: Bento for Kidlet/ Meatless Monday
                   Lunchbox Dad/ Throwback Thursday



Some of the things, or similar things, that I used to make this lunch:

Ladybug lunch

 Back home now from our journey to the mountains this week, and I'm sooo ready to get back to making lunches for Z. I hadn't planned to post a lunch this week, but I had a fabulous surprise waiting on me when we returned...my Yumbox arrived!! Z was very excited to try it out, so I went ahead and made this quick lunch for him. He even picked out the theme of ladybugs. I think we are really going to enjoy this lunchbox. Well, back to the dreaded chore of unpacking. See you all next week!

This lunch is packed in the green Yumbox.
*circle Applegate ham ladybug sandwiches decorated with a light spray of Wilton red Color Mist and black edible food marker
*sweet corn with carrot flower and dill pickle stem and leaves, orange cherry tomato
*red seedless grapes and pear chunks
*honey wheat pretzel sticks
*applesauce and Craisins in the small circle cup
*linked to Following In My Shoes/ I  Heart Lunch

Things I used to make this lunch:
Ladybug food picks
Silicone food cup

I think I'm going to really like using the Yumbox. It's a very good size for my first grader. It holds plenty of food for him, and he really likes to have his food separated, so this lunchbox will work well for him. Yay for Yumbox!!

Rainbow lunch

We're having a great time on our little getaway....returning home tomorrow. Big shout out of THANKS to my mom and stepdad for staying at my house and looking after my fur baby. I'm anxious to get back to making lunches next week, but in the mean time, here's another lunch that I made back during the summer. This lunch is one of my all time favorites because I love rainbows. Z really liked this lunch, too. Hope the rest of your week is great!!!

In this lunch:
*orange- orange cherry tomatoes and carrot rounds
*red- strawberries
*blue- Yoplait blueberry yogurt with blue heart cupcake decorations
*purple- red seedless grapes
*yellow- Ritz Bitz cheese crackers
*green- olives
*pink- Applegate bologna flowers
*circle shaped Applegate bologna sandwich with rainbow baran on top
*Applegate bologna 'rainbow' colored with food safe markers
*Linked to: Eats Amazing/ Fun Food Friday
                    Lunchbox Dad/ Throwback Thursday

Some of the things, or similar things, that I used to make this lunch:

Tic Tac Toe

It's very unusual for me to post on the weekend because that's my time to spend with my family. But, my kids are on fall break next week (can't believe they have been in school long enough for it to be fall break time), and we are headed to Heber Springs, AR for the week for some R&R....last time before it gets too cold to enjoy. So, I'm posting a lunch that I made back during the summer break. I like making lunches in the summer because I can use things other than a lunch box....a plate, a cute platter, or dish. This lunch went over very well with Z. I'll see if I can squeeze in another lunch from back during the summer about mid week. Have a great week everyone!!

In this lunch:
*Applegate bologna tic tac toe sandwich with cheese x's and black olive o's
*Ritz Bitz cheese crackers
*black olives
*strawberries
*carrot tic tac toe
*Lifesaver's gummy o's
*linked to: Lunchbox Dad/ Throwback Thursday



Some of the things, or similar things, that I used to make this lunch:

World Animal Day

Today is World Animal Day so I chose to make a cute kitty lunch using one of my favorite tools.....the CuteZCute cutter set.

This lunch is packed in the Munchkin Mealtime Bento Box.
*CuteZCute kitty peanut butter and all-fruit spread sandwich
*honey wheat pretzel sticks
*red seedless grapes
*black and green olives
*corn and peas mix
*cranberry sauce

Things I used to make this lunch:
CuteZCute
Munchkin Mealtime Bento

Fire museum field trip....

One of the things that I enjoy most about being a stay-at-home mom is that I can volunteer and help out at Z's school. I'm so excited that I get to be a chaperone for a field trip to our local fire museum tomorrow. Z is totally obsessed with all things fireman, so he is crazy excited about this field trip, too. So, tomorrow's lunch is a special field trip lunch. The fire truck didn't turn out quite how I wanted, but Z will love it, so I guess that's what matters.

Z requested the twisty Fritos in his lunch. I normally wouldn't put them in a lunch but according to Z, "it's a special day, Mom. They will make my field trip better." How can you argue with the logic of a 5 yr old? So, twisty Fritos it is!

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
*Applegate bologna firetruck sandwich with black olive wheels (I used a light spray of Wilton Color Mist for the red.)
*Fritos twists
*corn and peas mix
*strawberries and seedless green grapes
*baby dill pickle
*dalmation yogurt- Dannon vanilla yogurt with mini chocolate chips (thanks to Mamabelly for the fabulous dalmation yogurt idea!)

Things I used to make this lunch:
Easy Lunch Boxes
Wilton 101 piece cookie cutter set

Pizza stuffed biscuits....

Today's lunch is pretty simple....mama was in a hurry last night. The little guy loves the chocolate mini wheats dry as a snack. I found cinnamon mini wheats at the grocery the other day and thought we'd give them a try today. I also bought these pizza stuffed biscuits. Z won't eat most things in his lunch that usually require heating like mac & cheese or pizza, but he will eat these. I'm still looking for some other foods that he will eat unheated. What are some foods your kids will eat in their lunch unheated?

This lunch is made in Easy Lunch Boxes.

*pizza stuffed biscuits

*pretzel thins

*carrot rounds, purple and orange cherry tomatoes

*red and green seedless grapes

*sliced peaches in the yellow cup

*Kellogg's Little Bites cinnamon mini wheats

Things I used to make this lunch:

http://www.easylunchboxes.com

Wilton silicone baking cups

Yay for Yumbox.....

So excited......the Yumbox is back in stock, and I ordered one this morning. I've been wanting one since the middle of summer, and I'm finally getting one!!!! Looking forward to some great lunches in it. Stay tuned......