Go RED for heart health...

Hi Friends! I hope you all are having a great first week of February. I am so excited to share today's lunch with you. Most of you know that February is the American Heart Association's Heart Month. The AHA promotes Heart Month to raise awareness about heart disease and how people can prevent it. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in the United States. Every year, 1 in 4 deaths is caused by heart disease. Today, February 7th, is set aside as National Go RED day where the AHA urges people to support the fight against heart disease by wearing (or promoting) the color red.

This month has very special meaning to me for a couple reasons. A few months ago, my older brother had an episode with his heart which resulted in his being diagnosed with heart disease and several blocked arteries. He also had an arterial clot in his heart which very well could have ended his life.These 2 issues resulted in his having a double bypass operation.While a double bypass alone is terrifying, my dear brother took a stand for his faith and chose to do a bloodless double bypass operation. I am happy to say that he has recovered well from this and is taking his heart health seriously now (um, yeah, he better be!!). I am so proud of my brother for his courage and conviction during this time. He is a very wonderful awe-inspiring man.

I also support Go RED day for another wonderful man that sadly succumbed to heart failure over 12 years ago. This man happened to be the father of my very best bestie in the world. I spent many fabulously fun days at my bestie's house as a kid, and I have very fond memories of him. I will forever miss his dry sense of humor and his terrific penmanship.

So, in keeping with the Go RED theme, today's lunch features all red foods (well, minus the pretzels). Today's lunch also honors 2 very great men....my brother Tony Howell, and my bestie's father Keith Arps.

The Lucky Lunchbox encourages all of my readers to "know your numbers". The five key markers below are good indicators of your heart health. By keeping these numbers within a healthy range, you can greatly improve your heart health and reduce your risk of heart disease.

1. Blood pressure

2. Blood sugar

3. Cholesterol
4. BMI
5. Weight

Now, on to the lunch!
This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
* heart shaped peanut butter and all-fruit spread sandwich with cheddar cheese 'know your numbers' (I used a light spray of Wilton Color Mist in red on the sandwich.)
* pretzel balls
* heart shaped red bell peppers with homemade 'Healthy Heart Healthy You' pick
* heart shaped red delicious apple with mini heart cutout in center
* red Hershey's kiss
* linked to: Beneficial Bento/ Fancy sandwich Friday

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

Superheroes week....

This week is superheroes week at Z's school. This entire week is devoted to all the kids' favorite superheroes. On Tuesday, the kids were invited to get up in class and tell who their favorite was, and why they like that superhero the best. I was privileged to attend this tell-all. First graders are some of the most creative and funny little people ever.Who knew that Aquaman was a superhero! And I never knew that Wonder Woman's car was made out of bubble gum. Her jet is invisible so this makes sense, right?? On Wednesday, the kids went to art class and drew pictures of their faves. Today, the kids get to dress up like their favorite superhero, and have a superhero party in the afternoon....so much fun for the kiddos. Of course, today's lunch had to be a superhero lunch. Z chose Superman as his favorite superhero, but I already had these cute Batman cupcake rings. So, Batman got the lunch honor. Z was quite happy with Batman, though.

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
*bat shaped almond butter and all-fruit spread sandwich with Batman cupcake ring in the middle
*white cheddar cheese Nips
*green beans with Batman cupcake ring
*black olives
*strawberries and 1/2 a Halo orange with the word "BAM" spelled out with letter picks
*linked to: Eats Amazing/ Fun Food Friday
                  Bentos on the Bayou/ Fifteen minute Fridays
                  Sun Scholars/ For the kids Friday

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

The footless turkey lunch...

Today is day 3 of my week of fall themed lunches. I've seen many of my blogging friends create these amazingly cute turkey sandwich lunches, so I was inspired to do one myself. I have to admit, my turkey didn't turn out quite as I had envisioned him. And, I didn't notice that he was footless until it was time to pack him up in the lunch bag and send him off to school. A footless turkey......there's just something not right about that. Sorry Mr. turkey! Oh well...the little guy will like him no feet and all, so I guess that is what matters.

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
*Applegate bologna "turkey" sandwich with candy eyes, cheese beak, and fruit leather wattle (I had to Google what the turkey hangie down thingie was called. It's called a wattle. Who knew??).  His feathers are bologna pieces that I colored with food safe markers.
*pretzel rod "logs" for turkey to stand on (Well, he would stand if he had feet.)
*sweet corn with acorn shaped carrots
*strawberries and blueberries with cute turkey pick
*linked to: Bento of the Week

Some things (or similar things) I used to make this lunch:
Wilton square silicone baking cups
Turkey food pick
Easy Lunch Boxes


Check out these great "turkey sandwiches that are so much better than mine" lunches from my blogging friends:
Bentology/ Turkey bento
Lunchbox Dad/ Happy Turkey Day
Green lunches Green kids/ First Thanksgiving lunch of the season
Bento School Lunhes/ Turkey bento

A very Heart-y lunch...

February is usually the month with lunches full of hearts, hearts, and more hearts. But, I love hearts all year round. So, today's lunch is a very hearty lunch. Get it....heart-y lunch?? I like how this lunch turned out especially the frozen strawberry applesauce heart. Hearts just make you happy no matter the time of the year, don't they?

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
*double heart peanut butter and all-fruit spread sandwiches with heart pick in the center
*honey wheat pretzel sticks
*heart shaped carrots and black olives
*heart shaped Red Delicious apple
*all natural applesauce with frozen strawberry applesauce heart in the middle (the frozen heart will have thawed by lunchtime.)
*one pink conversation candy heart (yes, this is from a box that I bought when all the Valentine's Day candy was marked down 80%. I found this unopened box 'hiding' in my pantry. The expiration date  was still good, so Z and I did a taste test on them, and they got a thumbs up! Gotta love marked down holiday candy!!)
*linked to : Lunchbox Dad/ Throwback Thursday

Some of the things I used to make this lunch:

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

First fall lunch...

Well, fall is here. There have been so many great fall lunches from other lunch bloggers that I figured it was time for a fall themed lunch. However, it's still 80* here, so putting a fall lunch together was a bit difficult. Cooler weather is around the corner, though. Next week our temps will fall into the lower 70's, and I am ready!! Bring on the chili and sweatpants!!

This lunch is made in the Rubbermaid LunchBlox flat lunch kit.
*maple leaf shaped PB and all-fruit spread sandwich with cheese maple leaf
*Ritz Bitz cheese crackers
*corn on the cob, cherry tomatoes, and black olives
*red and green seedless grapes, sliced peaches in the yellow cup
*acorn shaped Applegate bologna pieces
*Sixlets candy pieces


Things used to make this lunch:
Rubbermaid LunchBlox