Mini deep dish pizza...

Well, we've made it through the first week of summer break. My kids have slept late every day this week. Me...not so much. The Spoo has a bladder the size of a peanut, so I get a 6:30 A.M. wakeup call with a cold, wet poodle nose every morning. Unfortunately, for me, once I'm up, I'm up. There is no going back to sleep. It's actually nice, though, to have a bit of quiet time first thing in the morning because both my kids hit the ground running once they're up. It also gives me a good excuse to sneak in a short nap after lunch. YAY for naps!! We stayed pretty busy all week, so this is the only lunch that I had time to make for Z this week. Well, it's the only creative lunch that I had time to make.....and it's not really all that creative, huh? This was actually Fridays lunch. Z chose the picks for this lunch...I guess it's kind of a construction theme.

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
*mini deep dish pizzas
*Rold Gold cheddar cheese pretzels
*strawberries and red seedless grapes
*baby carrots, red cherry tomatoes, green olives
*Craisins cranberries in the orange suitcase cup


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

Yay for Summer!!!!

Yay!!!! Summer has officially started in the Meier house. Thanks to the hubs for letting the Spoo out this morning so that I could lounge in the bed until 7:30. Both of my boys were still asleep when I got up, so I was able to sit outside on my back porch, enjoy the cool breeze, and have a cup of coffee. We love the more relaxed mornings during summer break. We stay extremely busy, though....a good kind of busy. I'm hoping to keep the same schedule of posting a lunch twice a week. I love making fun lunches during the summer because I can be more creative by using different types of plates and boxes that aren't so school lunch friendly. Plus, I can use foods that may not work well in the lunchbox. I also have a really fun giveaway coming up in June, so please stay tuned for that. Hope you all have a great summer planned, as well.

I really like this lunchbox. My mother actually found it at a local thrift store and snagged it for me, so unfortunately I can't tell you where it came from.

In this lunch:
*Natural Selects turkey hotdog slices with smiley sun cupcake topper
*carrot rounds and black olives with flip flop cupcake pick
*Great Value pretzel balls with ice cream cupcake pick
*strawberries and Granny Smith apple wedges
*There's a baby dill pickle and a mini marshmallow tucked in beside the blue and purple silicone cups.
*linked to: Eats Amazing/ Fun Food Friday

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

Goodbye 1st Grade lunch

WooHoo!!!! We finally made it! The last day of school is here. We are all sooo ready for summer break. My little guy will be moving up to 2nd grade next year. Way to go, Z!! My oldest will be headed to high school. I have to admit....I feel a bit melancholy over this. How did this happen?? Where has the time gone? How have both of these boys gotten so big? Time passes so quickly, doesn't it, Friends? Before we can blink, it will be time to start the new school year, too. The summer break always flies by. We are definitely going to enjoy it, though!

I got the inspiration for today's "Goodbye 1st Grade" lunch from a super cute lunch from Dina over at What The Girls Are Having. You can see Dina's fun lunch HERE. Please stop by and visit Dina's blog and shower her with lots of comment love. Her lunches are so creative and amazingly yummy. You will find lots of great lunch inspiration.

This lunch is packed in a Easy Lunch Boxes.
*peanut butter and strawberry all-fruit spread sandwich- I cut the words "Goodbye 1st Grade" out of a piece of bread and lightly sprayed the letters with Wilton Color mist. I put a tiny dot of peanut butter on the back each letter so they wouldn't be flopping around in transit.
*Rold Gold pretzel rods
*strawberries and peaches with a few star shaped candies sprinkled on top
*white cheddar Babybel cheese- This is a new food like for Z. He is not a fan of most cheese that's not cooked into a dish. He will eat cheese on a sandwich, and on pizza, and quesadillas, and such. But, he's not likely to eat cheese if it's separate in his lunch. For him to like the Babybel cheese is a big deal. Yay for Babybel!! I wrote the words "U Did It!" on the cheese wax with a food safe marker.
*carrot rounds and green olives
*linked to: Eats Amazing/ Fun Food Friday



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

End of school...You're a Star lunch...

Well, the little guy has 3 days of school left. I can't believe how quickly this school year has passed. It seems like just yesterday we were buying all the new clothes and school supplies, anxiously awaiting that first day. And, now, here we are with 3 days left, and we have all lost our focus at this point. This is going to be a crazy busy week with school wrapping up, and everyday this week, the kids are having some type of fun event at school. Z has had a really good year in 1st grade, so I thought a star themed lunch seemed appropriate for my little star. I'm hoping to have time to make one more lunch before school lets out....a goodbye 1st grade lunch.

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
*star shaped Applegate bologna and cheddar cheese sandwich- I used a smaller star cutter on the top piece of bread for a window effect.
*Rold Gold honey wheat pretzel sticks
*baby carrots with ranch dressing in the star container
*Granny Smith and Gala apples- I cut the centers of the apples out with a small star cutter.
*Craisins cranberries mixed in with the apples
*linked to: Bentolunch.net/ What's for lunch Wednesday


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

Heart grape kabobs...

What an absolutely gorgeous day this is!!! It's the middle of May and the high in the M-town today will only be 67*. And, it's gonna be like this for the next week or so. Woohoo!!! The kids and I all have end-of-the-school-year-itis, and we are sooo ready to be outside playing, riding bikes, swimming, and eating Popsicles. FIVE. MORE. DAYS!! We can do it, we can do it!!

Today's lunch is very easy and simple. I spent maybe 10 or 12 minutes on it. It took me longer to get a good photo of it than it did to make it. HA!! Cute sandwich cutters make all the difference, and they  so quick and easy. I love, love, love these extra long heart picks, too. There are so many ways to use them. They are super cute. I actually clipped the pointy end off a bit just to make them more school friendly. I also used the heart picks in my Heart and Arrow lunch and Hotdog on a Stick lunch.

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
*double heart almond butter and fruit spread sandwiches
*cheddar cheese Ritz Bitz
*baby dill pickle
*red cherry tomatoes with ranch dressing in the green cup
*red seedless grape kabobs
*linked to: Bentolunch.net/ What's for lunch Wednesday



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


The cute extra long heart picks can be found HERE.

Playing cat and mouse...

Hi Friends!! Happy Tuesday to you. Well, the count down has begun in my house. My kids have 7 more days of school left before summer break, and you can bet they are COUNTING. EVERY. SECOND!! Actually, so am I. This mama is soooo over homework, early alarms, AND making lunches at this point. But, alas, the kidlets still want to eat lunch. So, from now til the end of the school year, Z's lunches will probably be very simple....(yes, I enjoy making these lunches for Z, but I am ready for the more relaxed summertime lunch making schedule.) Today, I chose to go with the CuteZCute Animal Friends deco cutter kit again. This is such a simple kit to use, and it scores a 10 on the cuteness scale. Earlier in the month, I made a CuteZCute panda lunch, and last week, I made CuteZCute frog pancakes and piggy mac and cheese. So, to round out the animal bunch, today's lunch has a CuteZCute cheese kitty sandwich. If you make fun lunches for your kidlets, please check out the CuteZCute Animal friends kit. It will quickly become your favorite lunch making tool.

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
*almond butter and all-fruit spread sandwich with CuteZCute Monterey Jack cheese kitty on top
*homemade kitty shaped Parmesan cheese crackers- Ok....these were definitely a cooking fail. I think I over baked them. They were very crunchy like a cracker and tasted pretty good, but definitely a bit over cooked. I will try to make them again, but adjust the baking time some. If they turn out better, I will blog the recipe.
*green olives
*carrot rounds and red cherry tomatoes with cat cupcake pick
*strawberries and blackberries- The strawberry mouse is just crazy cute. I saw the strawberry mouse idea on Pinterest. He is very easy to make. I cut the green top off the strawberry. The ears are 2 pieces of the Parmesan crackers that I stuck into the strawberry. (The Pinterest version used 2 almond slivers for the ears...I didn't have almonds, so I improvised with the cracker pieces.) The nose is a mini chocolate chip, and the eyes are a dot of gel icing. But, I could have used 2 mini chips for the eyes with the same effect.


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

CuteZCute Frog pancakes

We love breakfast for dinner. The hubs was working late last night, and the kidlets wanted pancakes and sausage for dinner. Well, this mama wasn't feeling the homemade pancake thing, so Eggo was my friend last night. So, since I skimped on the homemade, I figured I'd go the extra mile and cutify (yeah, it's a word) Z's pancake a bit. Enter the CuteZCute frog cutter. If you tuned in for yesterday's post, then you know how much I love the CuteZCute Animal food cutters kit. This kit really does have endless possibilities. My pancake frog turned out wayyyy cuter than I expected. Z was splendiferously happy with his frog, but not so much with the egg.

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
*Eggo buttermilk pancakes cut into the CuteZCute frog shape-  After I cut the frog pancake out, I tucked the leftover pancake pieces under the 2 frog pancakes.
*real maple syrup in the green cup
*strawberries and blackberries
*Yoplait yogurt with a few sprinkles
*1/2 of a boiled egg- Boiled eggs are not Z's favorite. He will eat them cooked other ways, but has never been a fan of boiled. He ate about half of this half.
After he finished all of this, Z came back for another pancake and a piece of sausage. I'm convinced he has a hollow leg.
*linked to: Bentolunch.net/ What's for lunch Wednesday



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

Three little pigs lunch...

I love using cute cutters to make a lunch special. And I especially love the CuteZCute line of food cutters and stamps. The CuteZCute animal friends deco cutter kit is definitely one of my favorite fun food tools to use. With this kit, you can cut a boring sandwich into the shapes of a panda, frog, cat, or a pig. They are all absolutely adorable, and this cutter is very easy to use (which is key for me as I don't like to create lunches that are difficult or labor intensive.) There are other great uses for these cutters, too. In this lunch, I have cut the bologna with the pig shaped cutter. It can also be used to cut cheese, tortilla shells, cookie dough, pizza dough....the possibilities are endless. The CuteZCute deco cutter kit is a really fun lunch making accessory. You can see another lunch that I made using the CuteZCute kit HERE.

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
*macaroni and cheese with Applegate bologna CuteZCute pig cutout
*Applegate bologna rolls
*baby carrots and sweet peas- ranch dressing in the piggy pot
*strawberries and blackberries with cute piggy pick
*half of a Lucky Charms rice crispy treat
*linked to: Eats Amazing/ Fun Food Friday



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