Posts Tagged ‘Craisins’
Heart hands
Posted on: July 30, 2012
- In: bento | casein free | eating local | Foods | kids | lunchbox | raw food | snacks | Summer | Vegan | Vegetarian
- 3 Comments
It’s definitely the dog days of summer here in Florida. Hot! We’ve been doing a lot of swimming to stay cool in the 90 something degree weather every day.
I owe a giant thank you to my guest bloggers from last week for such fun and creative posts in my absence. Like everyone, I’m gearing up for back to school and trying to get into the routine while grasping on to the last bits of summer we have left. I am still making today’s lunches so I did make a few bento lunches while I was traveling with the girls.
This lunch is one I packed for the airplane. We had to travel a long distance so I packed one Easy Lunch Box container with as much food as I could fit for both girls. At 2 & 4 years old, they can be very fickle about what they eat. I used a cookie cutter to make smaller sandwiches. Often stacking them sideways allows more to fit in too. There are 4 almond butter and jam sandwiches on whole grain bread. Under the sandwiches are heart shaped strawberries, at the bottom left are dried mangos, and the bottom right are mini carrots . At the top left are blueberries and the top right are grape tomatoes, sugar snap peas and more mini carrots all packed in our Easy Lunch Box container.
Since our trip was so long I also packed some healthy bars and snacks for inbetween meals. I try to keep some in my glove compartment when traveling in the car, in my purse or anywhere the kids might need to refuel.
For this airplane ride I introduced some new snack foods. They loved both the dried strawberries and the pumpkin seeds. The animal cookies were a special treat for after lunch.
One of the staples in our house are Larabar fruit and nut bars. They are NOT a good option if you have a nut allergy. Most have cashews so they are peanut free. The reason I like them is they are simply dried fruits (apples, dates, pineapple, etc) and nuts. That’s it. There are no other additives so they are a great, healthy option for kids and adults and are filling enough that you only need one. We also recently found these flavor & fiber bars by gnu foods that have simple ingredients as well. And both of my kids are big Craisin eaters. Again, the chocolate rice bars were a special treat.
I hope everyone is enjoying a bit of time off to enjoy the summer. Looking forward to another fun school year and new lunch ideas. Thanks as always for reading!
Mini animals and a heart
Posted on: June 6, 2012
- In: bento | casein free | Foods | Holidays | kids | lunchbox | plant based | raw food | Spring | Valentine | Vegan | Vegetarian
- 2 Comments
I have a bento supply and accessory addiction. It’s no secret to anyone who knows me well. Here is a photo of my recent orders from Bento USA by All Things For Sale. In my opinion, they are probably the most complete and affordable resource for bento supplies that can be purchased on line.
In my most recent package, I had a gift from Bento USA by All Things For Sale to try out so I made little Miss A’s lunch with it. She loves the smaller sandwiches I make for her. They don’t last long! These cute cutters are a rabbit, an elephant and a bear. Her sandwiches are on Rudi’s Whole Grain bread with Tofurkey brand deli slices (vegan) and Vegan brand cheese. In the pink bunny container are dried cranberries, in the middle are green grapes with an elephant pick and in the blue bear are blueberries.
Here are the cutters I used. Please click on the photo to view more items at Bento USA by All Things For Sale.
And Miss G has a heart with a surprised face. At the top left are green and red grapes and at the top right are honeydew melon chunks with face picks.
Two more days to enter to win your choice of FunBites cutters! Click on the link here and be sure to comment separately to receive each entry.
The Mouse-Mickey, that is
Posted on: May 25, 2012
- In: bento | casein free | Foods | Holidays | kids | lunchbox | plant based | raw food | salad | Spring | Summer | Vegan | Vegetarian
- 2 Comments
And we’re off. School’s off, it’s Memorial Day weekend, and we’re using the last day of our 3 day passes to visit DisneyLand for the day. I think I’ve mentioned before just how fortunate we are. We live near one of the top beaches in the U.S. (Siesta Key) and we’re under a 2 hour drive from the Disney gates. The girls are excited, and lunches are packed. For the sake of simplicity, I am not doing a full description of sandwiches today since we are in a rush to get going early. I just simply loaded up all 4 of our Easy Lunch Boxes with as many fruits and veggies as I could fit. We will be there all day, and the meatless and cheeseless selections at the parks are few, very far between and not so reasonably priced. We may end up getting a small snack there, but I try to prepare as many simple, healthy options for us as possible. I also pack Larabars wherever we go.
Daddy Mouse gets the bigger sandwich and I fashioned girls’ mouse face sandwiches & ears out of smaller sandwich pockets (and leftover bread for the girls. The mouse containers all have Craisins in them. I’m the one eating the kale salad with cucumbers and red carrots (mouse in the middle). Wishing everyone a safe & relaxing weekend.
If you’ve been voting for me in the Circle of Moms contest, I appreciate it! I am struggling to stay in the top 25 so please keep voting every day. You can vote every 24 hours from an IP address. Just a click, and no registration. Thank you again!
- In: bento | Foods | kids | Spring | Vegan | Vegitarian
- 3 Comments
I was taking some pictures for a class to demonstrate how to make simple faces so I used the leftovers from last night to make Miss G’s lunch today. The hair ended up looking like a hockey helmet, but I am grateful that she’s 3 and doesn’t care! The sandwich is on whole grain bread, crinkle cut carrot hair & mouth, Veggy “cheese eyes with cucumber pupils and a raisin nose stuck on with agave nectar. Above the head is a pick of mini heirloom tomatoes and mini cucumber slices. In the blue cup are dried cranberries and a strawberry on top. Below in the red cup is a plum mouse with cucumber eyes & nose sitting on a bed of barley. Miss G’s lunch is packed in an Easy Lunch Box We are still keeping with the meat and dairy free theme in our house, and the kids are adapting surprisingly well!
Little A gets a flowery lunch today. She also has an almond butter and jam sandwich on whole grain with a cucumber slice in the middle. She doesn’t eat cucumber, but I keep putting in new vegetables and fruits for her to try. It can take up to 20 times for some children to decide they like and will eat a new food. I just keep the quantities small so I’m not throwing out a lot of food. The small green flower cup has dried cranberries in it and the large one has sliced plums and a sliced strawberry in it pack in her LunchBots Duo. Both girls get ice water each day with their lunches.
Hello Kitty and a pasta monster
Posted on: February 27, 2012
- In: bento | Foods | kids | Spring | Vegan | Vegitarian
- 7 Comments
So the Bento Blog Network is having Hello Kitty week. I put in a lunch from last year, but I am overdue for a Hello Kitty lunch considering how crazy Miss G is over her. This one would have been fabulous had I put it together last night. Since I did it in a rush this morning I had to patch a few botched cheese oopsies. The actual sandwich is cut from a circle biscuit cutter on Rudi’s 14 Grain Bread with almond butter & jam. The cheese for Hello Kitty’s face is Veggy brand “Mozzarella” cheese made from soy. It tastes just like cheese to me but it’s a lot more fragile to cut than real cheese (hence the tearing). I used a template and a tiny paring knife to cut her face out. The bow underneath was a bit mangled so I made a new one of a raisin in the middle and 2 Craisins for the outside. The whiskers are fruit leather strips poked into her face to stay. The top left cup has watermelon and strawberry flowers and the top right cup has spinach leaves for garnish, blueberries underneath and a plum slice flower.
Little Miss A has been a super picky eater as of late. The terrible 2s have really set in with her. She’s come out of her little shell chucking food and climbing furniture like a pro these days. Appropriately she gets a little monster today for lunch. On the right side are quinoa veggie curl pasta with eggplant meatballs. His eyes & nose are made from the same Veggy “cheese” slice, his mouth is a crinkle cut mini carrot and above his eyes are Daiya vegan “cheese” shreds. On the left are watermelon and strawberry flowers packed in her polar bear bento box by Gel-Cool.
Please don’t forget to visit the Bento Blog Network and vote for your favorite Hello Kitty bento! (HINT: mine are #20 and #23!)
Spring lunch in a hurry
Posted on: February 24, 2012
- In: bento | casein free | dairy free | Easter | eating local | eco-friendly | engine 2 diet | Foods | Holidays | kids | lunchbox | meatless | no waste lunch | obento | organic | plant based | plant strong | snacks | Spring | toddler food | toddler lunch | Valentine | Vegan | Vegetarian | whole food | yum
- 4 Comments
The girls are off to play this morning so mommy can get a few things accomplished this morning. I decided last minute to have them stay through lunch. Miss G gets a flower LunchPunch cut sandwich with almond butter & jam. She has red grapefuit in the purple cup and a peeled & sliced kiwi in the pink cup. The flower cutout has agave nectar in it and inside the heart container are Craisins all packed in her Easy Lunch Box.
Little Miss A has a smaller version. Her is an almond butter & jam in whole grain bread made from the new LunchPunch set. She got a little ice cream cone, agave nectar to stick sprinkles and fruit leather for the cone details which are SURE to fall off from all the shaking she does. She insists on wearing her “pack pack” and RUNS with it on so I’m sure it doesn’t look cute by the time she eats hers. On the right are dried apricots, sliced strawberries and Craisins in the heart container packed in her LunchBots stainess Duo. Both girls have ice water in kids CamelBak bottles with their lunch.
Creepy mermaid
Posted on: November 9, 2011
- In: bento | Foods | kids
- 4 Comments
So I think it’s nice to share failures, lazy weeks with little motivation and lunches that even a 3 year old can’t decipher. I had great intentions of making a lovely mermaid for the 3 year old. I used a cookie cutter I recently bought. The sandwich part was fine. I used carrot slices for the scales. They look ok, but they wouldn’t stay on for anything. The spaghetti hair was alright too. The face was another thing. With limited time in the morning, I am forced to live with my mistakes. So she’s in a side pose, but there’s no nose. I just couldn’t make this one look right so I’ve decided she’s a sleestak mermaid (just google sleestak, and you’ll see what I mean). She just looks creepy. Worse yet, my daughter thought it was a seal. Below her are grape tomatoes and goldfish crackers. She also had applesauce again, Lifeway Kefir and ice water with her lunch.
The 1 year old got more rolled up ham & cheese with snap pea crisps and craisins underneath. On the right side were orange slices and watermelon flowers on top. She too had an applesauce, Lifeway kefir and ice water.
- In: bento | Foods | kids
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This was from last week’s lunches. I’m just behind on posting. I was running late the morning I made this. I used a dinosaur cookie cutter. I used a chocolate decorator drop for the eye and the leftover crust for the plates and the spiked tail on the Stegosaurus. I added some wheat spiral umbrella cookies I found at the Asian grocery store along with the snack size Sabra hummus, whole grain pretzel sticks and Craisins in the stainless LunchBot bento. In the butterfly container, I cut strawberries with my stainless flower vegetable & fruit cutter and filled in the space with raspberries & blueberries.
Little sis got a smaller version of the lunch. She also had the hummus with mini bread sticks for dipping, cashews and in the heart bento she got raspberries, blueberries, flower shaped strawberries and a mini PB&J circle sandwich. Both girls had a Lifeway Kefir pouch and waters with their lunches.
