Lunch It

So Tuff has been having a bit of a lunch time struggle.  She loves to pack her lunch but things have been BORING lately.  She may or may not have eaten a LUNCHABLE this weekend..... So we decided to GO BENTO.

I remembered the cheap-o biscuit cutter I bought was a 3-pack so I already had the perfect circle cutter (above top left).  So we did some turkey circles (Tuff immediately named them turcles) in the blue cupcake cup.  And a "cowbell" next to it.  Some delightful fancy crackers and an orange pepper in the red cupcake cup.  A clemintine and an Aussie Bite.  A hershey's kiss for dessert.

And a Happy Day printable from here.

I'll let you know how it goes.

The cost breakdown?  Well... I think I happily managed to spend about $100 on things to make a LUNCHABLE instead of spending a couple of bucks on an actual lunchable....

Costco shopping....
Mini babybels are $9.99 for 28.
Aussie bites are $8.59 for 32.
Mini peppers are $5.49 for 1.5 pounds.
Crackers are $7.99 for about 5 boxes (8.8 oz or so each).
Kirkland honey smoked turkey is $6.79/pound.
Clemintine oranges are $6.99 for 5 pounds.

So any thoughts on adorable packaging, cute containers and fantastic tiny foods for lunch?

I know matchstick-cut carrots & "pickle dollars" will be a hit.  I'm also planning some "pinwheels" with chopped turkey, cream cheese, tiny diced peppers & carrots in a tortilla.  She loves nuts so we will do some little cups of almonds.  (I wish I had an adorable tiny container.... must think on that... surely there is a tutorial on pinterest to make one out of scrapbook paper or something....)  And I got her some of her favorite jalapeno-artichoke dip... so we will create a lunch around that.  I have a box of mini food picks (from the dollar store) that are handy for making cute lunches.  This morning I sent her with a cloth napkin to put everything on when lunchtime comes because my mom remembers a student who had a mom who took lunch making to an artform and that was one of her tricks.

She wants a pizza lunchable.  As near as I can tell that means making a mini pizza crust and adding a side of sauce and a container of shredded mozzarella... it isn't even cooked.  Here's an example of a homemade one.  Anyone have thoughts on that?

And a good old can of Campbell's chicken noodle in a thermos is an easy option.  Especially if I've got some delicious breadsticks to put on the side.  We've also done noodles with parmesan in the thermos.  Seems to work ok.... a bit of carb-loading.