Lasagna cups...

Hi Friends! Happy Wednesday to you. Do any of you have these jumbo silicone cups? Do they sit up in your cabinet all lonely, collecting dust, anxiously awaiting the day you decide to make some of those Costco mammoth-sized muffins? Well, if you are like me, mammoth-sized muffins aren't typically on your baking radar. However, aside from the typical use of making jumbo muffins and cupcakes, these lonely little cups can do double duty in other ways in the kitchen. How, you ask?

My favorite way to use them is in the lunchbox. They are great for keeping foods separated, which is important for Z because he's funny about his food touching. They add color, cuteness, and function to a lunchbox, too. And, they fit perfectly in the Easy Lunch Boxes. I love that. I also use them to make individual servings. You guessed it....portion control. These Casabella jumbo cups that I have are 3/4 cup capacity and are very sturdy. They are free-standing so they are easy to fill. They're oven, microwave, and freezer safe and can be placed in the dishwasher. Have I piqued your interest? I like to make individual lasagna (today's lunch), shepherd's pie, and quiche in the jumbo cups. I put them on a cookie sheet and stick them straight in the oven to cook. They are great for desserts, too....again, portion control. I have made individual trifles, banana pudding, and strawberry shortcake. I make fruit salad cups for my kids all the time in them. Cover the cups with plastic wrap and put them in the refrigerator or freezer. So, if you have these hidden jewels in your cabinets, why not get them out, wash them up, and see what creative uses for them you can think up!

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
*lasagna cup with daisy flower pick- These jumbo cups actually hold a lot of food. Z only ate half of this cup. You can find the recipe for the lasagna cups HERE.
*garlic cheese bread flowers
*corn on the cob
*strawberries and blueberries
I added a few fun flower picks for some cuteness.
*linked to: Bentolunch.net/ What's for lunch Wednesday
                 Becoming a Bentoholic/Leftovers on Friday


Here are two more lunches that I made using the jumbo cups:


 Fun Bites Fun                                   Smiley face kids

              


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

Alfredo tortellini with friends....

Lovely leftovers are for lunch today. My kids are pretty easy when it come to food. But, they especially love all things Alfredo. I could put Alfredo sauce on  liver and they'd gobble it up. Well, maybe not liver, but Alfredo sauce is definitely right up there as a favorite. I made Alfredo tortellini on Wednesday night and served it with some Olive Garden bread sticks. They were some happy boys.

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
*leftover Alfredo tortellini from dinner on Wednesday night
*Olive Garden bread stick- We have an Olive Garden that's close to our house, so I will often stop by and pick up a bag or 2 to go with our dinner. Z practically inhales these...they are soooo good!
*four bean salad
*red seedless grapes
*yogurt covered raisins
*linked to: Becoming a Bentoholic/ Leftovers on Fridays


I added a few fun animal picks to cutify (yeah, it's a word) the lunch a bit.


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

Monday night leftovers...

Leftovers are a beautiful thing....especially when you are in hurry and need to make lunch FAST!! Monday night was crazy busy. It was a special night for my family as we attended the annual celebration of the Lord's Evening Meal at our place of worship. Kids came home from school, and it was like a tornado around our house getting homework done, dinner prepared, and lunches made. Dinner ended up being quick pizza quesadillas which my kids love. I intentionally made a few extra so I could send them in Z's lunch.

My pizzadillas are very easy and quick to make as I serve the marinara sauce on the side instead of layering it on the quesadillas (cuts down on the messiness, too). When I make these, I layer  Monterey Jack cheese, pepperoni slices, mushrooms, and onions and then cook them in a large skillet on medium heat until the cheese is melty goodness, and the tortilla shells have crisped up.

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
*leftover pizza quesadillas
*sweet corn on the cob
*black olives
*marinara sauce for dipping
*strawberry and blackberry mix
I added a few fun picks to "cutify" the lunch a bit.
*linked to: Becoming a Bentoholic/ Leftovers on Friday


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

Tasty tuna salad lunch...

Happy Monday, friends! Friday's lunch was a very special and important lunch to me, but it did take quite a bit of time to make. So, today's lunch is easy leftovers....tuna salad from this past weekend. I added a few fun flower picks, and Presto!...an easy, but cute lunch.

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.

*tuna salad made with white albacore tuna

*Ritz crackers

*carrot rounds and black olives

*Halo mandarin orange and blueberries

*all-natural applesauce

*half of a Lucky Charms cereal bar

*linked to: Becoming a Bentoholic/ Leftovers on Fridays

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

Pandas and Potstickers for lunch...

Ughhhhh!!!! This has definitely been one of "those" weeks. Let me see. Crazy...frustrating...insane...circus...Yeah, that about sums it up. Oh, OK. So you moms out there know exactly what type of week I'm talking about..the "Calgon take me away" every night kind of week. I haven't posted a lunch all week. Whoa there....calm down everyone! I promise I've still been sending lunch for the little guy, just not anything worth blogging about. But, hopefully I'm past all the craziness (fingers crossed). Actually, I think I've enjoyed the mini break this week. (Although, I have not enjoyed the antics of a sock-eating poodle this week. Um, yeah. Long story!) 

So, I'm going pretty easy today for Z's lunch...last night's leftovers of veggie potstickers, EZ mac (yes, I know...loaded with artificial stuff. It's been one of "those" weeks, remember?), and green beans. 

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
*vegetable potstickers with a panda baran on top
*EZ Mac - macaroni and cheese
*strawberries with a panda pick and a Halo mandarin orange
*all-natural applesauce
*green beans with ranch dressing in the panda pot
*linked to: Becoming a Bentoholic/ Leftovers on Friday
                  Bento for Kidlet/ Meatless Monday

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

Red beans and rice leftovers for lunch...

Hi everyone! I hope you are all having a great winter break and are spending lots of special time with family and friends. I am loving my babies being home for the winter break. We always stay so busy, though.....not usually much time for cute lunch making. One of the things that I do love about my little guy being off of school is that I can make lunches for him with foods that don't normally go in the lunchbox at school. So I'm squeezing in a lunch today with some of last night's leftovers of red beans and rice with mini sausages. Z likes this served warm, and it's hard to put in a lunch box. So, I might try sending some in the Thermos the next time I make it. I added a few fun happy face picks for cuteness.

This lunch is packed in the ever-awesome Easy Lunch Boxes.

*red beans and rice with mini sausages

*Ritz crackers

*green beans

*half of a honey vanilla granola bar

*blueberries and half of a Halo mandarin orange

*Yoplait dye-free yogurt

*linked to: Becoming a Bentoholic/Leftovers on Fridays

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

Cute happy faces food picks

The "let's build a snowman inside" lunch...

Hi everyone! If you tuned in for yesterday's post, then you know my family and I were hoping for a winter wonderland outside when we awoke this morning. Well, no snow filled winter wonderland, but we did receive a fair amount of ice...not really garnering the same amount of excitement from the kids as the white fluffy stuff. However, the schools are closed today, so they were quite happy about that. Thankfully, the ice was not heavy enough to cause any damage to power lines or trees, so we still have electricity. So, we may not be able to build a snowman outside, but we can all have a big cup of hot cocoa with marshmallows and whipped cream inside. Oh yeah!!!

Since Z was disappointed that we could not go outside and build a snowman, I decided to make him a snowman for lunch. I know, I know.....definitely not the same thing. But, as parents, sometimes we just have to improvise, don't we? I had this cute snowman scrapbook paper and thought it was a really fun backdrop for a snowman lunch.

This is such a simple lunch to do.....no special cutting tools needed.

In this lunch:
*jumbo orange silicone cup with homemade tuna casserole- This is the sun for our happy snow family.
*blue "clouds" with blueberries and 3 blue organic fruit snacks
*sweet peas and Applegate hotdog with black olive "buttons" for the snowman body
*mini marshmallows for some added snow
*linked to:Becoming a Bentoholic/ Leftovers on Friday
*linked to:Eats Amazing/ Fun Food Friday

Some of the things I used to make this lunch: