{Halloween} Bento Lunch Ideas: Week 7

With Halloween less than 2 weeks away (!) how's about a some fun Halloween bento lunch ideas for the littles! I have to admit we started in on the Halloween bentos the minute October hit...we just love Halloween over here! On a side note, I just bought fabric for the littles Halloween costumes the other day. Here's hoping Oliver will take some good naps for momma so I can get them done in time!

Lunch 1: Homemade applesauce, blackberries, baby carrots, orange and black Halloween tortilla chips and salsa (chips from Target!), and blueberry jam sandwiches cut out like little ghosts.

Lunch 2: Coconut flakes and dried blueberries, homemade applesauce, grapes, chopped cucumbers, pumpkin-shaped ham sandwich, pumpkin-shaped cheese slices, and pumpkin-shaped pretzels (from World Market).

Lunch 3: Baby carrots and ranch dressing, grapes, pumpkin-shaped cheese, pumpkin-shaped pretzels, pumpkin-shaped jelly sandwich with little bat-shaped pretzels, and a couple of those candy-corn type pumpkins for dessert.

Lunch 4: Orange and black tortilla chips and salsa, homemade applesauce, blackberries, and star-shaped ham sandwiches.  I was going for a starry night theme with the ghost pick and all!

Lunch 5: Homemade applesauce, blackberries, orange and black chips and salsa, and turkey and mustard ghost-shaped sandwiches.

Lunch 6: Cucumber slices, grapes, pumpkin-shaped pretzels, a few fall-colored m&ms, and a ghost-shaped jelly sandwich.

And there ya go! Hope you are inspired to put together a little Halloween bento lunch fun for your kiddos with these cute and easy ideas.

Thanks for stopping by today!

XOXO,

Bento Lunch Ideas: Week 6

More bento lunch goodness for y'all, who's excited! So last night we picked up Penny's cheerleading uniform (!!!) She will be a cheerleader for winter basketball, hehe. The uniform is so cute and true to Penny-form she had to try it on as soon as we came home and immediately started doing cheers with her poms, she cracks me up! Noah will also be playing winter basketball and we just found out one of his old buddies will be on his team so it seems like the cold winter months are already looking brighter for us which is always helpful when it starts getting dark at 5, yikes!

Okay, on to the lunches!

Lunch 1: Paleo chocolate pudding, homemade applesauce with cinnamon, cucumbers, apple slice, almond butter and jelly mustache sandwiches.

Lunch 2: Blueberry jam flower and heart-shaped sandwiches, goldfish, homemade fruit roll-up, grapes, blueberries.

Lunch 3: Goldfish, homemade applesauce, little square sandwiches of almond butter and jelly, blueberries, raspberries, raw cashews, raisins.

Lunch 4: Applesauce, paleo chocolate pudding, panda bear jelly sandwiches, apple slices, cucumber slices.

Lunch 5: Organic strawberry yogurt, raspberries and blueberries, blueberry jam kitty cat sandwiches, cucumber slices, apple slices.

Lunch 6: Organic strawberry yogurt, almond butter and jelly puzzle piece sandwiches, raspberries, blueberries, cucumbers and baby carrots with ranch dressing.

Thanks for stopping by today! Hope these inspire your lunch making :-)

XOXO,

Bento Lunch Ideas: Week 5

Week 5 of Bento Lunch Ideas is here, woot!  And ummm, dude, where has the week gone, how is it Thursday already?

Oh, and guess what? Last week it was our turn to bring snacks for Penny's soccer team and we totally forgot. Yup, that was us. Somehow it was NOT on the calendar we live and breathe by so we showed up to the game empty-handed. Soooooo. Totally not supermom over here, in case you were thinking otherwise. ;-)

Lunch 1: Blueberries with a mini elephant fork, cheese and crackers and almond butter and jelly sandwiches.

Lunch 2: Blueberries with a little bear fork, baby carrots and ranch dressing, cheese and crackers, and Tetris-shaped jelly sandwiches.

Lunch 3: Star Wars theme!  Light saber-skewered grapes, puppy chow made with almond butter, raspberries with leaf picks, baby carrots, storm trooper ham sandwiches, and storm trooper cheese slices.

Lunch 4: Clementines segments, raspberries and blueberries, Tetris-shaped ham sandwiches, organic animal crackers.

Lunch 5: Raspberries and blueberries, bunny and bear shaped hard-boiled eggs, baby carrots, cat-shaped cheese slices, crackers, clementines, and organic animal crackers.

Lunch 6: Goldfish crackers, applesauce, raspberries and blueberries, and a heart-shaped jelly sandwich.

And in case you like to pin horizontal pictures, here is one just for you! :-)

Thanks for stopping by today!

XOXO,

Bento Lunch Ideas: Week 4

Happy Monday folks! I just got back from a super fun girls' weekend at my friend Nicole's gorgeous lakefront home in Wisconsin. It was heaven on earth...and the first time I have ever been away from my little Oliver overnight! He did really well (yay!) so now the husband and I have hope for future getaways ;-) He was so flippin' happy to see me when I came home and my boobs were so happy to see him, holy engorgement...OUCH! 

It was seriously the perfect weekend. Good friends, good food, lots of wine, a beautiful lake to look at everyday, and blogging (!!) yup, we totally blogged and gave out advice and helped each other with ideas and chatted all sorts of nerdy things that bloggers love to talk about...it was so much fun! I am so grateful my friend Nicole let all of us come up and invade her cozy home on the lake, it was beyond words amazing. And we already have plans to head up again for another getaway, hee hee, I am so excited, now just to tell Mr. Smashed Peas!

Alright, so back to the real reason for this post...Week 4 of Bento lunches, yay! 

Lunch 1: Applesauce with cinnamon, strawberry cream cheese roll-ups with a little bunny pick, cheese cubes with a little puppy pick, grapes with a monkey pick, raw broccoli and cucumbers with ranch dressing.

Lunch 2: Blueberries with a mini giraffe fork, cucumbers and baby carrots with ranch dressing, kiwi with a monkey pick, Yoda ham sandwiches (using these cookie cutters) on top of a slice of swiss cheese (as requested by Noah!), and a Han Solo in chocolate carbonite (mold found here).

Lunch 3: Goldfish, kiwi with a mini kitty fork, blueberries with a mini kitty fork, flower shaped blueberry jam sandwiches, kitty cat molded cups with raisins and a hershey kiss.

Lunch 4: Applesauce with cinnamon, grape slices with a bear pick, blueberry breakfast bar from Trader Joe's, raw broccoli, heart shaped cheddar cheese slices, and heart shaped turkey sandwich.

Lunch 5: Ham roll-ups with animal picks, baby carrots, heart shaped cheddar cheese slices, orange slices with a mini kitty fork, and Enjoy Life! mini chocolate chips in a mini heart shaped silicone mold.

Lunch 6: This was one of Ellie and Oliver's lunches last week that we ate at the park! Sliced grapes, Annie's Cheddar Squares, a cheddar cheese stick, and trail mix made with raw pecans, walnuts, raisins, and dried blueberries.

And to sum it all up again, in case you need to pin this to Pinterest, here's another bento meal collage, horizontal-style.

 

Hope these help inspire you to make some fun Bento lunches this week!!! 

Thanks for stopping by today!

XOXO

Bento Lunch Ideas: Week 2

Here is last week's Bento Lunch round-up for y'all (and here is Week 1 in case you missed it!) So far I have been loving making bentos for the kids every day, I actually look forward to that little spark of creativeness I get to have right before I head to bed. For those that wondered, I make them at night before I hit the hay and I can bust out two completely different bentos in less than 20 minutes (including clean up) so if you have been hesitant to try making a bento lunch, fear not. They really don't take that much time and effort!

Lunch 1: Grapes with alphabet picks (spelling out Penny's name), Applegate organic ham roll-ups with alphabet picks, dried organic cherries, crackers, baby carrots, homegrown cucumbers, organic string cheese cut up into pieces with alphabet picks (spelling "HI") and hummus.

Lunch 2: **This just may be my all-time favorite Bento I've ever made.  Start Wars theme!!!
Light saber skewered grapes, hummus, homegrown cucumber slices, baby carrots (with Darth Vader decoration), crackers, Darth Vader ham and cheese sandwich (with storm trooper decoration), and the pièce de résistance: a Han Solo in chocolate carbonite! Yeah, Noah really loved this one! :-)

Lunch 3: Clementines with mini cat fork, strawberry slices with mini cat fork, teddy bear shaped Applegate organic cheese slices with crackers, baby carrots, snow peas, Applegate ham roll-ups with cat picks, and hummus.

Lunch 4: Sliced strawberries with mini giraffe fork, cheddar cheese cubes, Applegate turkey roll-ups with froggy picks, clementine with a leaf pick, raw broccoli, and organic tortilla chips with salsa.

Lunch 5: Sliced strawberries with bunny pick, applesauce with cinnamon, yellow bell pepper strips with a monkey pick, Annie's Cheddar Squares, baby carrots, Organic Valley string cheese pieces with a tiger pick, bacon jerky, and a Hershey Kiss for dessert!

Lunch 6: Grapes with an elephant pick, organic tortilla chips with salsa, mini cheese quesadillas with a panda bear pick, red bell pepper strips, dried organic blueberries, and a Hershey Kiss for dessert!

And here's another bento meal collage for ya, horizontal-style again, in case you like it better that way!

Hope these help inspire you to make some fun Bento lunches :-) 

Thanks for stopping by today!

XOXO,

Bento Lunch Ideas: Week 1

Since my Bento Lunch posts are always a hit on the 'ol Instagram (follow me here if you are not already!) I thought I would share a weekly round up of lunches here on the blog. My oldest two started full day school last week and guess what? I already have 5 lunches to share! I'll try to post a round-up once a week for those interested.  I'll give details on what I made and hopefully it will give you some ideas and inspiration for bento lunches in your home!

Lately I have been using the Rubbermaid LunchBlox containers and I love them! They come with a thin molded ice pack and lots of little containers to fill bento-style and the whole deal fits perfectly into your regular 'ol lunchbox! And for those that are going to ask, yes my kids can open them without spilling all the food out, the plastic lids are nice and flexible, not stiff like some plastic containers can be! I still use our other fun bentos (from this post here) for Ellie's lunch...I'll share a couple of her meals at the bottom of this post! I figure I will end up switching between the LunchBlox and the other bento containers a lot during the school year as I'm sure there will be days where I will not want to wash the containers by hand every night! ;-)


This bento was Heart-themed for Penny's first day of school! It includes diced fresh peaches with a heart pick, organic vanilla wafers, heart shaped blueberry jam sandwiches (with homemade jam!), pizza picks with Organic Valley string cheese and mini pepperoni slices, Annie's cheddar bunnies, a couple of Nut-Free Energy Bites (recipe here) and fresh raspberries.

This bento lunch was Bunny themed! It includes fresh raspberries with a bunny pick, bunny-shaped homemade blueberry jam sandwiches (with homemade blueberry jam--again!), bunny-shaped organic Applegate cheddar cheese slices, a few No-Bake Energy Bites with a bunny pick (recipe here) made with almond butter, grapes with leaf and stem picks, and a small portion of mini marshmallows for something sweet.

This bento includes fresh diced peaches with a mini bear fork, organic Applegate turkey and cheese sandwich cut into puzzle piece shapes, Annie's cheddar bunnies, organic vanilla wafers, baby carrots, ranch dressing, and a couple of Nut-Free energy bite (recipe found here).

Here we have grapes, broccoli, an organic Applegate ham and cheese sandwich cut into puzzle pieces, diced fresh strawberries with a froggy pick, and Annie's bunny fruit snacks with mini doggy fork.

This bento includes fresh diced strawberries with bunny fork, crackers, nitrate-free salami from Trader Joe's cut into flowers, broccoli, organic Applegate cheddar cheese cut into flowers, skewers of grapes, and Annie's bunny fruit snacks.

Earlier this summer I found these cute little cocktail napkins in the Target dollar spot section. I love the college-ruled theme paper design of them so I stocked up! They make the perfect napkin and lunch note all rolled into one!

I tucked them into their lunches last week cause I thought it would be a fun surprise and who knew that Noah actually really liked getting them! He is learning to read and I think he finds them fun to sound out!

Ok, here are a few of Ellie's bento lunches, since she is in preschool she still eats at home or at the park with me and Oliver :-)  

This one has diced apples with a bunny fork and a little cup of almond butter for dipping, a Babybel cheese round with a "P" cut out for Preschool, a few slices of nitrate-free salami from Trader Joe's, and a small cup of chocolate covered sunflower seeds for dessert.

This bento is Doggy-themed and has an Energy Bite, organic cheddar cheese cut out in the shape of a dog bone with a doggy pick, blueberry jam sandwich in the shape of doggy bones with a doggy pick, and grapes.

And in case you want another bento meal collage, horizontal-style, here is one I made just for you! 

Hope these help inpsire you to make some fun Bento lunches!!! Oh, and I'll try to do another round-up next week too!

Thanks for stopping by today!

XOXO,