So You Want to Pack Lunches: A Back-to-School Blog Hop & Giveaway

Though we are still in the full swing of summer, school is creeping up faster than we might like to think about.  With back-to-school shopping comes pondering about lunches.  I assume that you are at least thinking about packing lunches if you are visiting my blog... but who knows?  Maybe you found me by googling royal icing bees...

In honor of the Back-to-School season, I am taking part in a Bento Blogger & Friends Back to School Bento Basics Blog Hop and Giveaway, where we are taking the opportunity to give you some of our best tips for getting started in packing bento-style lunches.

For the most part, my lunches style tends to be on the less-decorative side.  My main tip is to get yourself some good bento boxes.  My absolute favorite is the EasyLunchbox.  They are my go-to box, and I love that they are dishwasher safe and amazingly sturdy.

I also like the Yumbox, especially for younger folks, and I really want to try their new Panino (with larger compartments).

For the larger appetite, the GoGreenLunchbox is one that I like.

Now that you have a box, what do you pack in it?

I love packing fruit.  The kids love eating it, and there is always a variety available.  I always look for something interesting in the produce aisle, and if it is small and adorable, that's even better.

I recently found some champagne grapes at Trader Joe's, and the kids and I are gobbling them up.  I pack vegetables, too, but I know that the kids will eat whatever fruit I put in their lunchboxes, but I will have more luck with different kinds of vegetables at other meals.  Therefore, some of my lunches might look a little fruit-heavy.  Rest assured, my kids are getting vegetables, but maybe just more under my watchful eye.

Packing leftovers - and lots of fruit!

Often, I will pack a sandwich or a wrap, but not every day.  There are times when I pack leftovers, or quessadillas made for lunches, or a hard boiled egg and some cheese... there are a lot of options.

One thing that I like to do is to make a list of available options and post it on the fridge.  I list what we have on hand in different categories - vegetables, fruits, dairy, protein, grain, and other.  The kids like to pick from different categories and let me know what they would prefer in their lunches.

Though I don't normally do a lot of decoration, it is nice to have options for doing fun lunches.  There are some very easy decorative options from Bento USA.  I have a large variety of picks on hand, and they make it simple to jazz up a lunch.

A tiger quesadilla

Another way to make a lunch more fun in an easy way is to use a sandwich cutter.  I just love the CuteZCute cutters - they are versatile and absolutely adorable.

Fun fruit - cucumelon!  And, a silicone cup. :)

A useful thing to keep on hand is some silicone baking cups.  They make good separators, and can add a pop of color.

When I have time, I like to make some homemade treats for the kids.  My most popular recipe is my rainbow pain de mie.  The kids absolutely love when I make this, and it makes even a plain sandwich more fun.

Occasional fun with food art - A Roald Dahl Fantastic Mr. Fox piece of cheese, colored with food markers 

Finally, don't be afraid to experiment!  Have fun, and your kids will be able to tell.  If you want to add more decorative elements, go for it.  Kids can tell when you pack their lunches with love, and that's what counts.

Want to see what other Bento Bloggers think about Bento Basics? Hop on over to Bebento. Before you go, don't forget your piece of the puzzle for the Bento Bloggers & Friends Back to School Giveaway. You need them all to enter and it's open worldwide! Did you know the grand prize voucher can be used towards shipping too?

And if you've collected all the pieces, you can enter right here using the Rafflecopter below! Good Luck!!!
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Here's my code!

Lunches for an Outing: Montreal Science Center - Caves of Lascaux Exhibit!

When I saw that the Montreal Science Center was hosting a traveling exhibit of the famous Cave Paintings of Lascaux, I immediately knew that we had to go with my mother.  My mother has always been fascinated with history (and pre-history), and she and my father raised me to love them, too.

The Girl loves art and was thrilled when we told her we were going to see some of the earliest art ever discovered.

The Boy preferred the more active part of our visit

The Boy doesn't quite have the history background yet to really understand how outstanding this exhibit was, but he will remember it when he gets older.  He also enjoyed the other parts of the science center - a big science play room.

We were floored by the exhibit.  It was amazing to see how sophisticated the artistic techniques were from 20,000 years ago.

Though the rest of the center was a bit of a disappointment.  I would not have made the trip to Montreal just for the science center if the Cave exhibit had not been there.  The Montshire and the Boston Museum of Science are far superior, in our opinion.

Lunches for our day

Making the pocket sandwiches with Cute-z-cute

For the lunches, I brought some tiny champagne grapes that I finally found at Trader Joe's (their season is very short, so we're gobbling them up when we can get them!), trail mix with crystallized ginger, rolls of black forest ham, apple slices, leftover Thai curry waffles, and a tiny pocket sandwich with some sun-dried tomato hummus inside, made with CuteZCute Cuddle Palz.

We can't wait for our next adventure - this one was sure one that we will remember for years to come!

Lunches: 10.15.13

I got a new CuteZCute Animal Palz cutter and still need to play with it some more before coming up with the best way to use it, but The Boy has my first try.

Apple: 6g, grapes: 5g, banana: 28g, sandwiches: 26g, grahams: 8g

He has grapes, apple slices, a banana, graham cracker thins, and CuteZCute panda pocket sandwiches with pumpkin cream cheese.  His snack is a granola bar (not pictured, 19g).

The Girl has grapes, a clementine, a banana, graham cracker thins, and a plain pocket sandwich with pumpkin cream cheese.  Her snack is a granola bar (not pictured)

Family Lunches: 9.11.13

Happy Wednesday!

Sandwich: 20g, graham crisps: 5g, grapes: 5g, cucumber: 1g, melon: 5g, apple chips: 5g

The Boy has a banana for snack (not pictured, 28g).  His lunch is a Cute-Z-Cute Panda with pesto, ham, and Cabot Cheddar, along with grapes, cucumber, some graham cracker crisps, melon, and apple chips, packed in an Easylunchbox.

The Girl has a yogurt for snack (not pictured).  Her lunch is a Cute-Z-Cute Kitty with miracle whip, ham, and Cabot Cheddar, along with grapes, some graham cracker crisps, melon, and apple chips, packed in an Easylunchbox.

The Hubby has a ham and cheese sandwich with miracle whip, ham, Cabot Cheddar, melon, and cucumber, in an Easylunchbox.

I have the same, but with pesto, also in an Easylunchbox.

Lunch: 1.14.13

The Girl's Monday snack is some applesauce in a SquishySnakPak, along with some corn chex. (Not pictured)

Her lunch is a clementine, apple slices, strawberries, pomegranate infused craisins, spinach and some ranch dressing, and a ham and sandwich with smoked gouda sundried tomato spread, cut with a CuteZcute cutter, in a new Easylunchbox Brights box.

Lunch for The Boy: 1.14.13

Applesauce: 10g, Chex: 22g

The Boy's snack for Monday is some corn chex and a Squishy Snak Pak full of applesauce.

Raisins: 16g, apple: 4g, radish & ranch: 3g, strawberries: 2g, sandwich: 20g

His lunch is apple slices, raisins, Valentine radish (which is the same thing as a watermelon radish, but they had it in the store as a valentine radish, I assume because of the season), ranch dressing, a couple strawberries, and a ham and sandwich with smoked gouda sundried tomato spread, cut with a CuteZcute cutter, in a new Easylunchbox Brights box.

Lunch: 11.16.12

The Girl's Friday snack is a mini whole wheat bagel with biscoff (not pictured).

Her lunch is a small banana, a CuteZcute cut ham sandwich with Cedar's hummus, Cedar's chickpea salad, and some apple slices.

Lunch for The Boy: 11.16.12

The Boy's Friday snack mini whole wheat bagel with biscoff (not pictured, 28g)

Banana: 28g, Sandwich: 26g, apple slices: 4g, watermelon: 5g

His lunch is a small banana, a CuteZcute cut ham sandwich with Cedar's hummus, watermelon, and apple slices.

Lunch: 10.5.12

Friday!

The Girl's snack is a homemade granola bar, a yogurt & fruit jelly, and some rainbow goldfish crackers in a spider shaped silicone cup.

Her lunch is a few smiley face tater tots, a kiwi with a Monopoly pick, a ham sandwich on a sandwich thin cut with a CuteZcute animal cutter into a pig, with a Monopoly pick hat, some Naturebox dried pineapples, and some mini Nilla wafers, all in an Easylunchbox!

Lunch for The Boy: 10.5.12

Happy Friday!

Granola bar: 15g, Fruit & yogurt jelly: 6g, goldfish: 15g

The Boy's snack is a homemade granola bar, a yogurt & fruit jelly, and some rainbow goldfish crackers in a spider shaped silicone cup.  The kids saw the cups in my drawer and were so excited they begged for them.

Smiles: 20g, melon: 5g, sandwich: 18g, pineapple: 14g, cookies: 10g

His lunch is a few smiley face tater tots, melon balls with a Monopoly pick, a salami sandwich on a sandwich thin cut with a CuteZcute animal cutter into a frog, with a Monopoly pick hat, some Naturebox dried pineapples, and some ABC cinnamon grahams, in an Easylunchbox.

Lunch: 10.1.12

How did it get to be October already?

The Girl has some dried fruit mix in a small lego container for snack.

Her lunch is a kiwi, some veggie straws in a silicone pumpkin cup, a tattooed banana, some carrots, and a pig shaped ham sandwich (ironic, isn't it?) on a sandwich thin, cut by the CuteZCute animal cutter, all packed in an Easylunchbox.

Lunch for The Boy: 10.1.12

Welcome, October!

I'm doing just a little Halloween festivities in lunches this early in the month, but there will be much more to come!

Dried fruit mix: 16g

The Boy's snack is some dried fruit mix I found at the grocery store - it looks delicious! - in a small lego container. 

Melon: 4g, veggie straws: 10g, sandwich: 20g, banana: 28g, carrots: 3g

His lunch is some honeydew melon cut into mini pumpkin shapes, with a jack-o-lantern pick, a pumpkin silicone cup filled with veggie straws, a tattooed banana, some carrot coins, and a panda shaped salami sandwich on a sandwich thin, cut with the awesome CuteZCute animal cutter, all packed in an Easylunchbox.

Lunch: 9.27.12

If you go to The Boy's lunch, you'll see another fun shape from my new toy, the CuteZCute - the panda!

Photo courtesy AllThingsForSale

It can do other shapes, too.  The Girl requested a kitty.

Her snack is a banana (not pictured).

Her lunch is a kitty CuteZCute sandwich, with jelly and some sprinkles in the holes (to keep the jelly from getting all over the box, and the jelly to keep the sprinkles on.  It's a reciprocal relationship), crinkle cut carrot coins in an Easylunchbox Mini Dipper, with some ranch dressing in a little sauce container, a blueberry yogurt jelly, a homemade granola bar, apple slices with a sun ring, and a kiwi with a kitty pick, all in an Easylunchbox container.


I can't wait to play with my CuteZCute cutter some more!

Lunch for The Boy: 9.27.12

I have a new toy!  It's the Cute-Z-Cute animal friends cutter.  It is TOTALLY adorable and so very easy.  I like that combination.

Image courtesy AllThingsForSale

It is available on Amazon and AllThingsForSale. 

So, I played with it for lunches today.  His snack is a banana (not pictured - 28g).

Cookies: 10g, apple slices: 8g, carrots & ranch: 5g, yogurt jelly: 6g, granola bar: 15g, sandwich: 27g

And his lunch is a CuteZCute cut Panda sandwich with jelly and some chocolate sprinkles, some crinkle cut carrot coins in an Easylunchbox Mini Dipper, with some ranch dressing in a little sauce container, a mango yogurt jelly, a homemade granola bar, apple slices with panda picks, and some alphabet cookies, all in an Easylunchbox container.