Wednesday, March 07, 2012

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.

3 comments:

M&Co. said...

Lunch is a constant struggle for us; the BoyChild's meds make him not hungry but when he doesn't eat, he gets cranky. He has been taking those tiny ritz crackers and peanut butter and Fiber One 90 Calorie Chewy Bars which are a hit. Do tell what is an Aussie Bite?

Elle said...

This is the time of year when the brown bag blues set in for sure . . . . costco is my best friends when creating awesome lunches. I must do okay. I create lunchables all the time . . . . some of the favs are:

baby premium crackers
portable pickle packs
cookie-brownies for dessert
mini sandwich rounds w/ nutella
strawberries stuffed with nutella
salads . . . i have big salad eaters & they like a salad for lunch . . i can even disguise protein inside

also, quinoa and pomie aerials . . such a hit . . .

Christal said...

The NY Times had some great articles about bento lunches Some moms are over the top about it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/dining/09bento.html?pagewanted=all

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/09/08/dining/20090909-bento-slideshow_index.html

And I think I remember there being some pretty good links within the article. At least you didn't succumb to the Bento box lunch bags at Real Food ... I am so tempted by them (for me).


Try the pizza lunchable with English muffin pizzas (or the Alaskan version with Sailor Boy Pilot bread).
http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/rural-alaskans-pilot-bread-soul-food