Tuesday, December 31, 2013

New Year's Eve Wrap Up - Bento Blogger & Friends Top 13 of 2013!

2013 has come to a close, and the Bento Blogger & Friends thought it would be fun to do a little round-up of our favorite 13 posts of 2013.  It was hard to narrow it down to just 13, but I managed to do it.

I have put my favorite posts into three sets.  Each set represents a kind of New Year's Resolution to myself for the blog in the coming year.

The first is special lunches.  I would love to do more lunches that are a little more than simply throwing food in the boxes - though there is nothing wrong with that, and I will likely continue to do elaborate decorations on a more special occasion basis.  In this set, I included one of my Rainbow week lunches - I picked the Red Day lunch, (which included some of my rainbow pain de mie - I hope to make this more often in the coming year), the lunches from the first day of school, my Frightful Fall blog hop lunches, where I first used wafer paper on sandwiches, my Star Trek blog hop lunches, in which I made a pretty decent Commander Data on cheese, and my Roald Dahl Day lunches, which I think may have been my favorite of the year - I was very very proud of my Mr. Fox.

The second set of posts is recipes and culinary adventures.  I have been a bit lax on posting recipes recently, and I hope to get back to posting them more often.  If you are a fan of mine on facebook, you should know that I do a lot of linking to recipes there that I get from other sites.  I will continue to utilize my facebook page in this way, as it is much more efficient, so make sure you visit my facebook page if you care to see what kind of things I am whipping up.  That being said, I have so much fun with culinary adventures, like the South African Baby Pineapple I got my hands on, and we had a ton of fun making homemade apple cider with my mom, and creating our own version of Fish Fingers and Custard (with souffle!) for our Doctor Who Blog Hop, and although I have fallen away from Wacky Worldly Waffle Wednesday, Sri Lanka was one of our absolute favorites.  I plan on doing my very best to make a return to our world travels with a waffle iron in the coming year.

Finally, 2013 brought fewer outings for the family.  Our summer was taken up by a play The Girl and I were in, and then she got Lyme Disease and was too achy for our customary hikes, not to mention the unfriendly weather we had in the summer - first it was too rainy for any fun, and then it was too hot!  Our hope for 2014 is that the summer weather will be more conclusive for lots and lots of hiking, and that in between, we have time to go on more outings to museums and the like.  I have included our lunches from our trip to the Shelburne Museum, lunches from our only really good hike of the season at Wheeler Mountain (and what a great hike it was!), lunches from our abbreviated hike around Silver Lake (we had planned on hiking on the The Falls of Lana, but then... predictably... it started raining...), and finally, picnic dinners we brought when Prairie Home Companion came to town.

I hope that you had a fantastic 2013, and that 2014 brings many more adventures to you (and to us!), culinary and otherwise.


Be sure to check out the Bento Blogger & Friends blog to see a link-up of some of the other favorite posts from 2013 from our little bento blogger community.  Happy New Year!


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Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Friday, December 20, 2013

Lunch: 12.20.13

It's the last day of school before Christmas break!
Sandwich: 30g, apple slices: 6g, applesauce: 15g
The Boy has a cut out sandwich with ham, salami, and cheese, along with applesauce and apple slices.  He has yogurt for snack (not pictured, 12g).


The Girl has a cut out sandwich with sunbutter and jelly, with a kiwi and applesauce.  She has yogurt for snack (not pictured)


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Thursday, December 19, 2013

Lunches:12.19.13

Only one more day before Christmas break!
Sandwich: 30g, apple slices: 8g. raisins: 16g
The Boy has a sandwich (with oatmeal bread and pumpernickel bread) with ham, cheese, and salami, along with apple slices and raisins.  I cut a snowman out of one bread and put it in the other.  He has yogurt for snack (not pictured, 12g)


The Girl has the other part of the cut out snowman sandwich with oatmeal bread and pumpernickel bread with ham, cheese, and salami, along with a clementine and raisins.  Her snack is a yogurt (not pictured)


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Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Lunches: 12.18.13

It's Pizza Day at school, and the kids sometimes ask if they can get school lunch.  (I don't let them.  Because I am mean.)

We had pizza for dinner, so I thought I would pack leftover pizza in their Easylunchboxes.
Pizza: 28g, apple slices: 3g, carrots: 1g, raisins: 16g, Dick & Jane Snacks: 18g
The Boy has pizza, along with apple slices, carrots, raisins, and Dick & Jane Educational snacks.  His snack is yogurt (not pictured, 12g)


The Girl has pizza, with apple slices, carrots, raisins, and a clementine.  Her snack is a yogurt (not pictured)


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Lunches: 12.17.13

Super quick lunches this morning for the kiddos.
Apple: 6g, Dick & Jane snacks: 16g, crackers: 12g, salami & cheese: 1g
The Boy has a tiny apple, Dick & Jane Educational snacks, Ritz crackers, salami, and cheese.  His snack is a yogurt (not pictured, 12g)

The Girl has a clementine, Dick & Jane Educational snacks, Ritz crackers, ham, and cheese.  Her snack is yogurt (not pictured).


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Monday, December 16, 2013

Lunches: 12.16.13

Time for Monday!
Ritz: 8g, Sandwiches: 35g, Dick & Jane Educational snacks: 12g, apple slices: 8g, raisins: 16g
The Boy has a couple mini sandwiches with ham and salami, as well as apple slices, raisins, Ritz crackers, and some Dick & Jane Educational snacks.  His snack is a yogurt (Not pictured: 12g)


The Girl has a couple mini sandwiches with ham and salami, with a clementine, raisins, Ritz crackers, and Dick & Jane Educational snacks.  She has a yogurt for snack (Not pictured).


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Friday, December 13, 2013

Lunches: 12.13.13

Today is St. Lucia's Day, a Swedish holiday.

I made lussekatter for breakfast, and sang the kids awake, but I also put a lussekat in each lunch.  I only got a picture of The Girl's lunch.. the carb count under the picture are for The Boy's lunch.

Sandwich: 40g, lussekat: 12g, Goldfish crackers: 10g, apple slices *not pictured*: 8g
The Boy has Christmas goldfish crackers, apple slices, a sandwich with hummus, salami, and ham, along with a lussekat.  He has applesauce for snack (not pictured, 15g).

The Girl has the same thing - Christmas goldfish crackers, a clementine, a sandwich with hummus, salami, and ham, and a lussekat.  She has a banana for snack (not pictured).


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Thursday, December 12, 2013

Lunches: 12.12.13 - Kid Made!

The kids made their lunches for Thursday.
Chocolate Cherry Raisins: 22g, goldfish: 20g, apple slices: 5g, freeze dried corn: 1g, freeze dried strawberries: 3g, sandwiches: 30g
The Boy has chocolate cherry raisins, Christmas Goldfish, freeze dried sweet corn, freeze dried strawberries,  apple slices, and a couple sandwiches on sourdough cocktail bread with hummus, salami, and ham.  He has yogurt for snack (not pictured, 24g)


The Girl has a couple sunbutter sandwiches on sourdough cocktail bread, apple slices, freeze dried strawberries, freeze dried corn, and freeze dried peas, with some Christmas Goldfish crackers.  She has yogurt for snack (not pictured).


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Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Lunches: 12.11.13

Quick lunches for Wednesday.
The Girl's lunch
Sandwich: 40g, apple slices: 4g. kale chips: 1g, blueberries: 5g
The kids have the same lunch for the day - kale chips, blueberries, a sandwich with hummus, salami, and ham, and apple slices.  They both have yogurt for snack (not pictured, 24g).

It's sometimes nice to just have a throw-together lunch, which can be made in just a couple of minutes.  Especially when I am tired and pre-Holiday frazzled like I am this week.  ;)  I love Easylunchboxes for many reasons - one of which is that they make this kind of lunch look less "boring."


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Lunches: 12.10.13

I was at the store and saw some cocktail sourdough, and I couldn't resist getting some for lunches.
Sandwiches: 33g, blueberries: 5g, chocolate cherry raisins: 15g, apple slices: 4g, Goldfish: 12g
The Boy has hummus, cheese, and salami on cocktail sourdough, along with blueberries, apple slices, Christmas Goldfish crackers, and chocolate cherry raisins in the little animal container.  His snack is yogurt (not pictured: 24g)


The Girl has sunbutter and jelly on cocktail sourdough, with blueberries, apple slices, Christmas Goldfish crackers, and chocolate cherry raisins.  She has yogurt for snack (not pictured).


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Monday, December 9, 2013

Lunching in a Winter Wonderland: A Winter Wonderlunch Blog Hop

It's time for the first of a series of Bento Blogger & Friends Holiday Blog Hops!

For this hop, we are having Winter Wonderlunch.

Wrap: 40g, Mandarin oranges: 15g, apple: 5g, Goldfish: 12g
I found some winter themed cookie decals that I got from King Arthur Flour (although I think they don't have them on the website), and thought I would put them on some of the food in lunches for the kids.  The Boy has a wrap with hummus, ham, salami, and cheese, decorated with a winter cookie transfer, along with mandarin oranges, Christmas Goldfish crackers, and half an apple with another cookie transfer.  His snack is a yogurt (not pictured, 12g).


The Girl also has a wrap with hummus, salami, ham, and cheese, along with Christmas Goldfish crackers, a clementine with another cookie transfer on it, and a large apple slice.  Her snack is a yogurt (not pictured).


Now, hop on over to Bento Days to see what she has in store for Wintery Fun!

*As a note, my post is going live at 7:30 EST - the remainder of the blog hop will be posted at 10:30 AM EST.  My lunch has to be up for the school nurse to check carb counts on The Boy's lunches.  Enjoy the hop when it goes up!*


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Saturday, December 7, 2013

Cookie Decorating Party 2013!

I held my annual Cookie Decorating Party today, and we all had a blast.






I made four different kinds of cookies to decorate - Vanilla Almond Sugar CookiesSpiced Eggnog Sugar CookiesRed Velvet Sugar Cookies, and Chocolate Mint Sugar Cookies.




To decorate, I made Joy of Baking's Royal Icing with Egg whites, and then made flood icing according to Bake at 350's method for decorating.  For the outline icing, I filled pastry bags, and for the flood icing, I filled Wilton squeeze bottles.



The kids did a really great job this year.  The Boy helped me make all of the cookies (the Girl was out with a friend).  This is our fourth year doing a cookie decorating party, so they are used to the method by now.



The Boy asked if we could make cookies like this more often.  While this kind of decorating is kind of once-a-year to me, it certainly was fun.







As always, I am always impressed by the imaginative ways that my friends and my kids decorate the cookies.  And I'm looking forward to next year.  It's a really fun tradition.


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Friday, December 6, 2013

Lunches: 12.6.13

Happy Friday!
Watermelon: 5g, apple slices: 4g, jelly-roll ups: 20g, goldfish: 10g, Dick & Jane snacks: 18g
The Boy decided he wanted a Red Lunch, so he has apple slices, watermelon, strawberry jelly roll-ups, red Goldfish crackers, and some Dick and Jane Educational snacks in a red Lego container.  He has a yogurt for snack (not pictured, 12g).

The Girl has leftover pizza and cheese bread, along with apple slices, and a clementine.  She has yogurt for snack (not pictured).


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Thursday, December 5, 2013

Lunches: 12.5.13

The kids were done with turkey sandwiches for this week (more turkey is in the freezer for when they are ready for it again!), so I made them non-Thanksgiving Leftover lunches.
Jelly roll-ups: 26g, carrots: 1g, Goldfish: 10g, Dick & Jane Snacks: 18g, watermelon: 5g, apple slices: 4g
The Boy has jelly roll-ups, carrot sticks, watermelon, apple slices, Dick & Jane Educational snacks, and Christmas Goldfish crackers.  His snack is yogurt (not pictured, 12g)


The Girl has jelly roll-ups, carrot sticks, a clementine, apple slices, Dick & Jane Educational snacks, and Christmas Goldfish crackers.  Her snack is yogurt (not pictured)


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