Best of 2013

Hi everyone! This truly is the last post of the year 2013 for The Lucky Lunchbox. I started The Lucky Lunchbox in September of this year, and I've had so much fun with it. I have met some very A-MA-ZING people in the bento blogging world, and I am proud to be a member of the Bento Bloggers and Friends.This group is such a highly talented and creative bunch. I could sit for hours and peruse each of their blogs. So, to round out the year 2013, the Bento Bloggers and Friends are having a link party where each member features the top 13 of their best lunches and posts. At the end of this post, you will find the link that will take you to the Bento Bloggers and Friends blog where you will find the link party. Please stop by and visit....you will be amazed at the creativity of this group.

Here is The Lucky Lunchbox's Top 13 of 2013. These are the 13 lunches that I chose as my favorites. They are not necessarily the most popular posts of this year, but they are the lunches that I personally loved the most. I have posted the links to each lunch below, so please take some time and revisit them or visit them for the first time. I hope you enjoy my Best of 2013!

  1.)   Robot hotdog man

This was my son's favorite lunch all year.

                   
  2.)   Let's have a Sock Hop

  3.)   Mac & cheese hearts

This was the first lunch that I sent a Thermos with Z to school. He loved it.

             
  4.)   Good Bites sandwich box

  5.)   Winter Yumbox

I love how the yogurt snowman turned out in this lunch.

                           
  6.)   Mini-pancake snowman

  7.)   Red beans and rice leftovers

      
  8.)   Puzzle pieces lunch

  9.)   Silly scarecrow

I used a clown cookie cutter to make this cute little guy.

10.)   Smiley face kids lunch

Smiley face potatoes are very popular in our house.

11.)   Ritz cracker snowman

12.)   A very heart-y lunch

I froze a small strawberry applesauce heart in this lunch, and Z loved it.

13.)   Rainbow lunch

Please visit Bento Bloggers & Friends to see some more amazing lunches!

Bento Bloggers & Friends Top 13 of 2013

Mini pancake snowman

Hi friends!! The end of 2013 is finally upon us. I cannot believe how fast this year has passed.  I am really looking forward to 2014 and much, much more lunch making cuteness.  But I want to finish out 2013 with one final lunch...well, breakfast actually. I think this may be one of my favorites for the year. I love this mini pancake snowman. My son had a fit after seeing Rina's snowman pancakes over at Bento School Lunches. You can see Rina's fabulous lunch HERE. So, I had to make these for his breakfast. Please stop by and visit Bento School Lunches and smother Rina with lots of love. Her blog is amazing and her lunch making cuteness ability is off the chart.

This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
*mini pancake snowman with mini chocolate chips for eyes and mouth, a piece of a circus peanut shaped into a nose, and sprinkles for buttons. I added his hat through my photo editing program.
*maple syrup with star sprinkles
*Granny Smith apple with homemade snowman pick
*Yoplait dye-free yogurt
*raisins in the small snowman box
*linked to: Eats Amazing/ Fun Food Friday
                  BentoLunch.net/ What's for lunch Wednesday
                  Funky Polkadot Giraffe/ Too Cute Tuesday
 


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

Winter themed Yumbox

Z wanted to use the Yumbox today. This is a 1/2 day of school before the winter break, so I thought I would give him a winter themed Yumbox for his last day. I love how the frozen yogurt snowman turned out. I used a silicone snowman Jello mold and added candy sprinkles to the bottom to make the eyes, mouth, and buttons. I then gently spooned the yogurt over the top of the sprinkles and froze it....perfect frozen snowman that will keep the yogurt cold until lunchtime.

This lunch is packed in the Yumbox.

*Natural Selects ham cut into mini snowflakes
*strawberries and blueberries with snowman pick
*honey wheat pretzel sticks
*green beans with winter scarf/hat pick- ranch dressing in the green cup
*Yoplait yogurt frozen into a snowman shape with sprinkle eyes, mouth, and buttons
*Craisins cranberries in the treat/dip cup
*linked to:

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

Snowman surprise lunch...

I am having so much fun with the winter themed lunches. So, I'm hoping you all won't mind one more. There's something about snowmen and snow that just makes me happy. Winter is my favorite season, so maybe that why. Today's surprise snowman lunch is inspired by a super, super cute lunch   from one of my blogging buddies...Sarah at Green Lunches, Green Kids. Her idea of making the little surprise under the cutout of the bread is so creative and fun. Yay, Sarah....you rock!!!!! You can see Sarah's great lunch HERE. Please stop by Sarah's blog and shower her with lots of love! She has TONS of  cute and creative lunches to inspire you, too.

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This lunch is packed in Easy Lunch Boxes.
*peanut butter and All-fruit spread sandwich with snowman cutout- I used a mini snowman cutter on
the top piece of bread only and filled in the cavity with white sprinkles, and then replaced the cutout piece of bread.
*white cheddar "snow" balls
*sweet peas with snowman carrots on top
*2 yogurt swirled mini pretzles
*strawberries and 1/2 of a Halos mandarin orange with snowman pick (Halos are so delicious- my kids devour them.)


Here is another picture of the snowmen.

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

 

Ritz cracker snowman...

My kids love the prepackaged Ramen noodles. And they really love having it in their lunches, especially when it's cold outside. Ramen noodles are not a usual choice in the lunch box because they are, let's face it, not very healthy (which is probably why they taste so good). I try very hard to pack healthy lunches for my kidlets, but, every now and then, you just gotta step outside the box and give them a lunch surprise. So, today I've decided to refrain from being the soup nazi (yes, I'm a Seinfeld fan), and pack some good 'ole belly warming Ramen noodles. Yummo!!

And nothing goes better with Ramen noodles than Ritz crackers. So, in keeping with the winter themed lunches of late, I made a Ritz cracker snowman.

In this lunch:
*Ramen noodle soup packed in a Thermos
*Ritz cracker snowman with sprinkles for buttons- the head is a homemade pick that I made from a holiday decoration
*applesauce with a frozen applesauce snowman in the middle- I added a drop of blue food coloring and mixed it in before I froze it.
*mini carrots, cherry tomato, and black olives
*red grapes and blueberries
*There are a couple of pieces of baked chicken underneath the red cupcake liners to add some protein.

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

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