Ham and Cheese Sandwich bites...

When I head to the grocery, I'm always on the lookout for new things to put in Z's lunch. I try to only send him foods for lunch that I'm positive he will eat (I save the unfamiliar foods for other times.). Lunch is such an important meal in the middle of the day for kids, and I don't want him suffering from that mid-afternoon energy crash from not having eaten his lunch. Yep...school is not the place for that! I found these cute mini ham and cheese sandwich bites at the grocery the other day and decided to give them a try. Since we had not tried them before, I gave him a few for his after school snack yesterday. WooHoo....thumbs up!! These little bites are really good at room temp, too. There were several varieties of these mini sandwich bites, so I think I'll try out the other ones soon.

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.

• ham and cheese sandwich bites
• Rold Gold mini pretzels
• Honeycrisp apple wedges
• sweet peas with balsamic vinegrette in the froggy bottle
• Yoplait yogurt with blueberries

Linked to: Eats Amazing/ Fun Food Friday

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

Cute can be quick...

Giving the Goodbyn Bynto a go again today. It was quite a hit the other day. The little guy really likes this lunchbox....he requested it today. I like that my jumbo silicone cups fit nicely in the Goodbyn, too. I love the jumbo cups....I can find so many great uses for them. I put this lunch together in about 15 minutes....no special tools or cutters needed. Just goes to show cute can be quick!

This lunch is packed in the Goodbyn Bynto .

• Natural Selects bologna spirals- I cut a round slice of bologna into three pieces and rolled each piece into a spiral. I then cut a stick of string cheese into thirds and placed the pieces between the bologna. 
• cantaloupe chunks
• Rold Gold mini pretzels
• Chobani yogurt
• Sungold cherry tomatoes with ranch dressing in the orange cup
• green olives
• Hershey's cookies and cream square

Linked to: Eats Amazing/ Fun Food Friday

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Ladybug Goodbyn Bynto

Eeeeeeek!! Isn't this a super cute lunchbox?! This is a Goodbyn Bynto. I have looked at this lunchbox a dozen times at my local Target and passed it up. I love my Easy Lunch Boxes and the Yumbox, but I have been looking for a lunchbox with a different interior design. So, on a whim, I decided to pick one up. WOW!! I love this lunchbox! As you can tell, it is very roomy, and I like having the 3 different sized compartments. There's a lot of room for creativity with the Goodbyn Bynto, too. At first, I thought it would be too big to fit flat in the lunchbags that I use for Z's lunches. But, to my surprise, it fits in every bag that I have for him. It fits well in the EasyLunchboxes Cooler Bag. I also have the Target Embark Personal lunchbag, and it fits great in this bag. The lid snaps on very easily, too, which is great for little hands. And, it comes in several fun colors...red, blue, green, and pink. Best of all, it can go in the dishwasher...and I LOVE that! So, I'm looking forward to making some super cute Goodbyn Bynto lunches.

This lunch is packed in the Goodbyn Bynto .

• Natural Selects ham sandwich cut into the shape of a ladybug- I cut a slice of cheddar cheese in the ladybug shape and placed it on top of the sandwich and added candy icing eyes.
• white cheddar cheese Nips
• baby carrots with ranch dressing in the green oval cup- I added a cute ladybug pick.
• red seedless grapes and strawberries in the ladybug cup
• rainbow popcorn- We picked this up when we were in Gatlinburg last week. It is delish! Each color is a different flavor. Not the healthiest choice, but oh, so gooood!

Linked to: Bentolunch.net/ What's for lunch Wednesday
                Beneficial Bento/ Fancy Sandwich Friday
                Eats Amazing/ Fun Food Friday



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Bologna, Blueberries, and Brownie Brittle

Well, Mamas!! Today's the day!! Are you doing the happy dance yet? The kiddos are back in school. I can hear the sighs of relief now. I know most of you are like me and really do enjoy having your kids home for summer. But, there's just something about being able to go the grocery store without having to threaten your kids fifty-two times for saying, "Mom, I want this! Mom, I want that!" Am I right? So, now it's time to start on that To-Do list that you made back at the beginning of summer and promised yourself  that you were gonna do while the kids were home for summer break. All together now....Yay for back-to-school!!

My kids have been back to school now for a month. We've gotten into our school groove, and things are going pretty well. We've made it through Labor Day, so now it's time to start looking ahead to the cooler weather and fall break. I am soooooo ready for the cool!! Come on fall!!

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes

• Natural Selects bologna rolls
• Monterrey Jack cheese cubes
• Ritz crackers
• baby carrots
• strawberries
• Yoplait yogurt with a blueberry smiley face
• A small piece of brownie brittle is tucked in beside the yogurt.

Linked to: Bentolunch.net/ What's for lunch Wednesday
                 Eats Amazing/ Fun Food Friday


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

Mini Meat Kabobs...

My kids love food on a stick. And why not?! Food on a stick is so much more fun to eat, right? I love the 5 inch long heart skewers that I have, but short food picks or cupcake picks make great mini skewers. I found these cute swirl picks at Party City on the clearance rack about a year ago, and they make super cute mini kabobs, huh? Any 2 inch (or a bit longer) food picks or cupcake picks will work as a mini skewer. Cupcake picks are really just blinged out toothpicks, right? Lunch kabobs are a cool (and easy) way to make lunch fun. Today, I made all meat mini kabobs. But, you could change them up everyday.....ham, cheese, and veggies one day and grapes, strawberries, and blueberries the next. The options are endless. So, why not give lunchbox mini kabobs a try, Friends!

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
*mini kabobs with honey roasted turkey chunks, mini pepperoni pieces, and Natural Selects hotdog slices
*cheddar cheese Ritz Bitz
*Kraft string cheese chunks
*sunburst cherry tomatoes
*red and green seedless grapes
*Yoplait vanilla yogurt- I added a spoonful of strawberry purée.
*Hershey's chocolate square
*linked to: Following in my Shoes/ I Heart Lunch
                Eats Amazing/Fun Food Friday


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A Puzzling Back-to-School lunch

I almost hate to say this, but my kids eat A LOT of sandwiches. They make for such an easy lunch and fortunately, my kids don’t mind them. However, sandwiches can be so B O R I N G!! It's a daily challenge to make a healthy and appealing lunch that kids will eat, isn't it? So, how do you mix it up so the kids don't pull the plug on your easy fix when you need to prepare something quick, simple and healthy for lunch? Try turning an ordinary sandwich into something fun and creative by experimenting with neat sandwich cutters.

Enter The Lunch Punch. "What is The Lunch Punch?" you ask. The Lunch Punch is a creative sandwich cutter set that cuts sandwiches into fun and interactive shapes while cutting off only the crusts. WOW... a fun lunch with minimum waste! The cutters are taller than regular cookie cutters which makes it easy to cut through two pieces of bread and the filling without smooshing (I love that word!) the sandwich. Awesome, huh?! They are also great for cheese, toast, cookies, and Play-Doh. The Lunch Punch  comes in several super fun sets sure to please the fussiest eater, and each set comes with 4 different cutters....a lot of bang for the buck. I love that! Here are some of The Lunch Punch sets. I'm using the Match & Munch set for today's lunch which is a set of puzzle shaped cutters.

So, if you have a picky sandwich eater, give these a try. You (and your kidlets) will really love them.

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
*Natural Selects ham and cheddar cheese sandwich cut into puzzle shapes- I cut the letters "A,B,C,D" from a piece of cheddar cheese using 1" alphabet fondant cutters.
*Rold Gold cheddar cheese pretzels
*baby carrots and ranch dip in the green cup
*strawberries with school chalkboard pick
*linked to: Following in my Shoes/ I Heart Lunch
                  Eats Amazing/ Fun Food Friday

Here is a graphic showing how The Lunch Punch cutter works:

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Froggy Yumbox Panino

Woo!!Hoo!! Lookie what I got! So excited to be one of the first ones to get my hands on the new Yumbox Panino. We love the original Yumbox. You can see my review of it HERE. But, the new design of the Yumbox Panino rocks!! The new Panino has a tray that has been redesigned to hold a full sandwich and more. Z has a full sandwich (I cut the crusts off because Z prefers that), and there's still plenty of room for more food. That green pea pod silicone cup takes up a lot of space. But, if I had left it out, I could have fit half of another sandwich. The treat/dip well is larger, too, and so are the 2 smaller sections. Yumbox has also reinforced the hinge design of the lid. It feels a lot sturdier now. The previous design of the Yumbox is perfect for younger kidlets with smaller appetites. But, the new Panino is great for older kids and bigger appetites. Great job, Yumbox, great job!

������ Just a reminder....my Matkins reusable placemat giveaway is still open for entries. Click the giveaway graphic on the right sidebar at the top to go right to the giveaway post. ������-------CLOSED GIVEAWAY

This lunch is packed in the Yumbox Panino.
*Natural Selects ham and Colby-Jack cheese sandwich- I cut an additional piece of cheese with a frog shaped cutter and placed it on top of the sandwich. I gave him candy eyes and mouth.
*red seedless grapes in the silicone pea pod cup
*pizza flavored pretzel thins tucked in beside the sandwich
*green olives
*tomato salad- Z loves this salad. It is red and yellow cherry tomatoes, shredded cheddar cheese, Craisins, and croutons mixed with balsamic dressing. I put the dressing in the froggy container for Z to add on his own so that the salad won't become soggy before lunchtime. He loves adding the dressing on his own so Win-Win!
*Yoplait yogurt with a froggy gummy on top- I don't usually include a sweet goodie in Z's lunch. Believe me, he gets plenty of sweet treats when he's at Mimi's house. He's pretty happy with yogurt or natural applesauce. But, on occasion, I will include a fun treat. These little frog gummies were too cute to resist.
*linked to: Bentolunch.net/ What's for lunch Wednesday


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Cuddle Palz Bear lunch...

Monday night, we had dinner at my mom's house (Mimi to my boys). Two things you should know about Mimi....Mimi is the most awesome cook, and Mimi doesn't know how to cook for less than 50 people. I obviously benefit from both of these, as my kids eat her cooking as if they've been starving for 2 weeks, and I get to bring home copious amounts of leftovers. YAY for leftovers!! Well, Mimi makes this great cornbread dish that my brother, sister and I have been eating since we were all kids. We have always called it "cornbread stuff". That's it...just cornbread stuff.  "What is cornbread stuff?" you ask. Cornbread stuff is cornbread with a layer of ground beef and sausage, creamed corn, onions, mushrooms, and a ton of cheese all cooked into the middle until it is ooey gooey melted goodness. Holy haberdashery Batman!!! My mouth is watering just thinking about this dish. It really is super scrumptiously delicious. Yes, my kids ate it Monday night as if I hadn't fed them all day. She made 2 huge cast iron skillets, and to my delight, cornbread stuff came home with us. Over the weekend, I made the Pasta  Fagioli, and it turned out very good. So, Tuesday's lunch was cornbread stuff and Pasta Fagioli. They were some happy boys!

🔷🔷🔷 Just a reminder....my Matkins reusable placemat giveaway is still open for entries. Click the giveaway graphic on the right sidebar at the top to go right to the giveaway post. 🔷🔷🔷------CLOSED GIVEAWAY

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
*homemade Pasta Fagioli with Colby-Jack cheese on top- I cut the cheese with the CuteZCute Cuddle Palz bear cutter and placed it on top of the Pasta Fagioli after it was heated so that it would get all ooey, gooey, and melty. This soup is delicious. My kids love it. You can find the recipe for it HERE.
*wedge of Mimi's "cornbread stuff"
*cantaloupe cubes
*Nonni's almond pistachio crisps- These crisps are a cross between a biscotti and a chip. My kids love them for a snack. They have no added color, no preservatives, no high fructose corn syrup, and are loaded with pistachios and almonds. I bought these at Super Target, and they have quickly become one of our favorite snacks.
*linked to: Eats Amazing/ Fun Food Friday



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Dining with dinosaurs...

We have this amazing place here in the M- town called the Pink Palace. It's actually a museum that has some really cool and unusual exhibits in it. It has a huge IMAX theater and a planetarium, and it's a great place to go on a hot summer day. My kids love to go there, and we could spend the whole day looking at all the neat and interesting stuff. This week, the Pink Palace has a special exhibit set up that's all about dinosaurs. There's a gigantic life size animatronic T-Rex that is so lifelike, it's unreal. My oldest son was absolutely obsessed with dinosaurs when he was Z's age, and still loves them, so, of course, we had to go see this exhibit. The little guy has never been quite as enthralled with them as my oldest, but he was totally amazed. So much so that he asked for a T-Rex lunch. I aim to please, so T-Rex lunch it is. A dinosaur lunch worked out quite well, actually, because I just received these super cute dinosaur silicone cups in the mail and have been dying to use them. Thanks to Grace from Eats Amazing and Anna from Becoming a Bentoholic for sending me these cute cups and some other great goodies, too. You girls rock!!! Please stop by and visit Grace's and Anna's blogs. You will be blown away at all the lunch making cuteness from them.

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
*T-Rex shaped peanut butter and strawberry all-fruit spread sandwich with T-Rex shaped Natural Selects bologna on top- I used food safe markers for his spots and gave him a candy eye.
*"D" is for dinosaur Babybel cheese- I used a "D" from a 1 inch alphabet cutter set.
*Rold Gold pizza flavored sticks for Dino the dinosaur to stand on
*sweet peas with carrot dino bones
*blueberries in the green dinosaur egg (The green egg had Easter candy in it at one time. I repurposed it into a dinosaur egg.) and raisins
*linked to: Eats Amazing/ Fun Food Friday

Here are a few fun dinosaur facts for you:
> The length of a T-Rex tooth was 8 inches- the largest tooth of any meat eater.
> The T-Rex could swallow 500 pounds of meat in one bite.
> The name "dinosaur" means "frighteningly big lizard".
> Stegosaurus had a brain the size of a walnut and was probably one of the dumbest dinosaurs.
> Most dinosaurs were herbivores, which means they ate meat.
> Some dinosaurs had more than 1000 teeth and could replace their teeth at any time.
> Dinosaur remains have been found on every continent, even Antarctica.
> The average dinosaur was no bigger than a station wagon. The smallest was no bigger than a robin, and the largest was 3 school busses long.


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Rockets in Space lunch...

Hi Friends!! Happy summer to you. I know many of you are just now ending the school year and your kids are starting summer break. I hope you all have a great summer. My kids have been out for 3 weeks now, and we are super busy. We are planning some beach time soon, and we can't wait. I'm sorry that I haven't been posting as much. But, I do have a fun review that I'm working on right now for the Matkins reusable placemats with a great giveaway to follow. Today's lunch features the rocket man themed Matkins placemat with a rocket themed lunch, of course. Look for the  Matkins review and giveaway very soon. I also used the Matkins placemat for the Space...It's Cool! lunch. Click HERE to see it.

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
*almond butter and strawberry all-fruit spread tortilla sandwich cut into a rocket shape- I used black olives for the windows.
*apricot half sun with happy alien food pick- I made this alien pick from buttons that I found at Hancock Fabrics. I used food safe plastic toothpicks and a hot glue gun.
*homemade star shaped Parmesan crackers with rocket ship pick- This is a homemade button pick, too.
*green grapes
*carrot rounds
*Babybel cheese alien- I decorated him with a candy eye and used food safe markers for his smile.
*linked to: Eats Amazing/ Fun Food Friday


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

Summer Beachy Crab lunch

WooHoo!!! So excited!! We love summer, and we are headed to the beach very soon. We can hardly wait. The first of July cannot come soon enough. I seem to have beachitis lately, so for today's lunch, I decided to recreate a lunch that I made last summer for Z. I call it the "beachy crab" lunch. He loved it, so I thought it would be fun for him again. I took some creative inspiration from a lunch that Michelle over at Creative Food made. You can see Michelle's fun lunch HERE. Stop by and visit Michelle's blog...you will be blown away at her lunch making cuteness ability.

In this lunch:
*I used a crab shaped cookie cutter for the tortilla sandwich (Natural Selects ham and Swiss cheese) and gave him candy eyes and a carrot mouth.
*The sand is Rold Gold thin pretzel sticks.
*The palm tree is made from a Rold Gold pretzel rod and a Granny Smith apple. The coconuts are black olives cut in half.
*The beach ball is a Babybel cheese. I cut the wax to give it the beach ball stripes and added a small candy piece for the center.
*The word "summer" is cut from carrot coins. I used 1 inch alphabet fondant cutters.
*I included a small gummy candy crab.
*linked to: Bentolunch.net/ What's for lunch Wednesday


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SPACE....It's cool!

I'm always looking for creative inspiration when it comes to Z's lunches. There are days when my wheels of creativity just aren't spinning. I saw this super cute space lunch from Selena over at How About Cookie and knew I had to copy recreate her awesome lunch. You can see Selena's great lunch HERE. I love how she repurposed the seldom used gingerbread man cookie cutter into a fun astronaut. Selena has an entire series of "gingerbread men on vacation", so stop by her blog and visit. Her blog is awesome, and her lunch making cuteness ability is off the chart.

P.S. Please note the reusable rocket ship themed placemat under today's space lunch. Yes, that's a reusable placemat. Super cute, huh?! The terrific people at Matkins were kind enough to send me one of their fabulous placemats to try out and review. This rocket ship pattern fits perfectly with Z's space lunch, doesn't it? I'm planning another lunch with it soon. Please stay tuned for an upcoming review and giveaway of Matkins in the next couple of weeks.

In this lunch:
*astronaut shaped peanut butter and strawberry all-fruit spread sandwich- I used a gingerbread man cutter for the astronaut and a piece of Swiss cheese for his helmet. I used black gel icing for his mask.
*Swiss cheese moon
*carrot stars
*apricot half for the sun
*letter shaped crackers spelling out "SPACE"- I lightly colored in the letters with food safe markers to make them stand out.
*all-natural apple sauce with a few star shaped sprinkles
*linked to: Eats Amazing/ Fun Food Friday

I found the cute "It's cool!" cupcake topper at Hobby Lobby, and it quickly found it's way into my shopping cart.



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Veggie dogs and mac

Dear Mother Nature,
       I understand that you have a responsibility to keep all the trees, flowers, grass, and lovely woodland creatures well hydrated. I agree this is very important job on your part. However, my children have been out of school for summer break for one week now, and you have seen fit to provide us with a healthy dose of rain every single day. My kidlets are ready for some pool time, park time, and zoo time. So, will you please move on to another part of the country?

Yes, I'm about ready to cut a deal with Mother Nature. We need some sun here in the M-town. It has rained 7 days straight, and again tomorrow, rain. We did, at least, get in an hour of pool time this morning before the downpour began. The only one happy with the weather lately is our Spoo, who loves the water, and rain is no exception. But, he's ready for some pool time, too. The hubs was quick to remind me that come the end of July, we will be begging Mother Nature for rain. I had to reluctantly agree. On the rainy agenda for tomorrow....Rio 2 and a big bucket of popcorn. What are some things you do with your kids on rainy days?

Lunch is simple today....veggie corn dogs and mac & cheese. Z polished this lunch off pretty quick.

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
*macaroni and cheese
*Morningstar Farms veggie corn dogs with mustard for dipping
*red seedless grapes mixed with yogurt raisins
*four bean salad
*linked to:Bentolunch.net/ What's for lunch Wednesday
                 Eats Amazing/ Fun Food Friday


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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: