Lunchbox look - Nov. 3 - 7, 2014 - This little piggy week

When I told my daughter about my plan to do a little piggy week, she immediately asked if I really could give her NONE on Thursday and instead she'd buy cafeteria lunch. It was genius and probably would have made her day, but instead her big bad wolf of a mother made her lunch on that day too. Life is so unfair.

This little piggy went to market ... to make his own soft taco.

This little piggy stayed in his graham cracker-covered home.

This little piggy had roast beef  ... err, bratwurst.

This little piggy had none ... until he looked in the other tier and discovered an abundance of tropic fruits and peeled vegetables. 

This little piggy cried "Wee wee wee!" all the way home, where he enjoyed breakfast for lunch.

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Lunchbox look - Oct. 27 - 31, 2014 Halloween

I usually make the next day's lunch either as I'm preparing after-school snacks and dinner, or else later in the evening. Never in the mornings - I get up early enough as it is! This strategy backfired on me twice this week, as my child had two unexpected sick days. Healthy little sister was happy to eat them, however, and before long I imagine I'll be up late making her lunches cute, too.

Crossbones! This box was an early Christmas present (for me as much as my child). It's easy to fill, though not terribly cute on this day. Meatballs, crossbones cucumber and carrots, tomatoes and a chunk of carmel apple. 

Black widow! I've been holding onto this black chocolate candy for a while and a use finally presented itself. Cutting the spider legs out of nori was a little tedious, but the rest involved tossing food into cups and on picks. Sandwich, cooked and cooled broccoli, watermelon, leftover chicken and a waxy cheese. 

Bats! I didn't put much effort into this one, since I'd already made one lunch that never made it to school.  Alas, this one didn't either. Most impressive is that I have three separate kinds of bat decorations. Cucumbers, chicken nuggets, tomatoes, waxy cheese, celery and a few cookies.

Mummy! This was another new box that I was eager to try out and the long segment on the side was perfect for a little mummy. I cut a piece of bread into thirds to make a triple-decker sandwich and wrapped it in a long strip of paper towel, with two candy eyes. Cucumber and carrots, grapes and strawberries plus a few little cookies.

Halloween cat! Isn't it funny how kids miraculously get better before Halloween? This sealed sandwich is a nod to my daughter's costume. Behind the sandwich is a checkered cucumber, waxy cheese and a few hidden grapes, plus a few carrots, cucumber chunks and black cat chocolate cookies in the front.

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Lunchbox look - Oct. 20 - 24, 2014 Halloween begins

With one (inspired but not cute) exception, this week turned into a Halloween theme. As you can see by this week's tablecloth, the inside of my house is already decorated, so bring on the holiday lunches!

Witch! The cute little broom-rider is a straw clip I recently found at JoAnn Fabric and they press perfectly into food. Here we have a homemade sealed sandwich with chocolate sprinkles, mini apple, Triscuits and cheese, grapes and a box of raisin spells.

Sand Witch! One good witch deserves another. Edamame at dinner looked perfectly witchy to me, so there's a piece of pod for the nose and the beans in a silicone cup. There's also checkered cucumber, raisins and carrots plus a few fun picks. Lettuce makes everything prettier!

Javelina! One of our favorite books is "Don't Call Me Pig" and I thought I'd recreate the main character in his spiffy glasses. It's a little obscure and perhaps not the cutest thing I've ever made, but my daughter immediately recognized it, so that's all that matters. Here we have a sandwich (the glasses are another straw clip from JoAnn Fabric), cheese crackers, waxy cheese, cucumber sticks and a mix of strawberries and grapes. I halved the grapes so more would fit. And now, back to the Halloween lunches!

Ghost! I had more elaborate ghost plans in mind, but we were out of white cheese (and who wants a Cheddar ghost?). Instead I packed a simple little sandwich with Wilton eyes and a chocolate chip mouth, celery, strawberries in a spider cup, grapes, mini apple and a waxy-cheese-o'Lantern.

Pumpkin! How easy is this? Peek-a-boo sandwich with sprinkles, cucumbers, grapes, Goldfish and a waxy cheese. An easy end to a very low-maintenance lunch week.

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Lunchbox look - Sept. 29 - Oct. 3, 2014 Disney week

In anticipation of a trip to The Happiest Place on Earth, I packed a week's worth of Disneyland lunches.

Tinker Bell! My favorite of the week, and the best part is hard to see in the photo - her mini M&M bun on top of her head. Her clothing is just silicone food dividers. There's also a grapes, strawberry hearts, cookie, carrot sticks and a waxy cheese. Even though it seems to have disappeared in her recent movies, I gave Tink a wand.

Small World! This one's a little obscure, but the little people picks completely redeem it. The cheese and sprinkle details of the Small World clock are on a decorative silicone coaster (it came precut - I'm not that crazy). This helps keep the sandwich beneath it dry with all of that steamed broccoli in the box. There's also grapes, a box of raisins and strawberries.

Mouse ears hat! You begin to question your sanity when you're cutting out mini Mickeys to put on a mini Mickey Mouse ear hat. I knew the seaweed wouldn't be eaten, but I still couldn't help myself. The hat is on top of a homemade sealed sandwich (I bought nice soft bread so it seals beautifully). Tucked behind the sandwich are grapes and a box of raisins, and on the side are carrot sticks and a checkered cucumber.

Sleeping Beauty's castle! This is traced from the Buena Vista logo and was a lot easier than it looks! I popped the fruit leather in the microwave for about 5 seconds before cutting it, which seemed to make the cutting easier. There's also a homemade sealed sandwich, grapes, leftover chicken and cucumber sticks.

Disneyland at night! I cheated and used the scraps from the previous day to decorate this lunch (who could throw away such a pretty leftover?). Because this meal needed to be disposable and room temperature, I packed it in a recycled salad container. There's a sandwich, apple slices, grapes, box of raisins, pistachios and two mini cookies.


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Lunchbox look - Sept. 22 - 26, 2014

A funny thing happened this week - my child grew an appetite. Except for one day, all of the lunch boxes came home empty. And she ate more than I did for dinner last night. It's a pleasant change - as long as she doesn't outgrow her school clothes before the end of the year. Only four meals for this short school week.

Ani-meal! Another simple Lunchable knock-off, made possible with a few cute picks. Cheese cubes, Ritz crackers and leftover chicken along the top. Grapes (halved so I could fit more), a box of raisins and tomatoes. Mini silicone cups keeps everything organized.

Pizza! The only cute thing here is the box. Inside are pizza (wrapped in deli paper), baby carrots, grapes and mini Lego containers with peanut butter pretzels and grapes.

Sheep! This was the only lunch that came back with food still in it. I tried a new sandwich - a replica of a restaurant sandwich that involves deli meat and honey mustard - and was kindly informed I should stick with peanut butter or cheese-based sandwiches. My sandwich sins were forgiven with the generous inclusion of a carmel apple Oreo plus tomatoes, apples and grapes.

Rattlesnake! These two-tiered bento boxes are so easy to fill. One side is filled with a sandwich topped with a Cheddar snake. (I first line the container with deli paper for easy removal, and fold the edges up over the snake so it doesn't stick to the lid.) On the other tier I toss a handful of tomatoes, another of carrots, box of raisins and container with the leftover fruit leather scraps.


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Lunchbox look - Sept. 15 - 19, 2014

A sure sign summer is over - there wasn't a berry to be found at any of my local groceries this week. It's hard to get excited about a season of apples, though I do enjoy carving their peels into checker boards. Everybody needs a hobby, right? This was a short week for us, so I only packed four lunches.

Autumn! Here's a leaf sandwich with a peek-a-boo leaf on the inside (I used the scraps to make the smaller sandwich tucked next to the carrots). There's also a hidden box of raisins, olives and grapes. Maybe I'm projecting because I don't like olives, but I always make sure they're well separated from other ingredients because I detest their smell. This lunchbox is actually a pencil container that looks like a box of crayons that I lined with deli paper.

Frogs! The left side contains cantaloupe and halved (gigantic) grapes. On the right are mini sandwiches (cut with a bear cookie cutter and detailed with sprinkles), plus the ubiquitous olives and carrots you'll seen all week.

Pizza! I saved a packet of Parmesan cheese from a pizzeria trip and tucked it into this lunch. There's also two miniature frozen pizzas, steamed broccoli, olives, carrots and grapes. Make sure to cool any hot foods before putting them in the box. Oh, and don't take pictures while you're on the phone or they'll end up crooked.

Tacos! It's not quite a pizza Lunchable, but this DIY taco kit came back completely empty, so I'll take that as a good sign. Leftover taco meat and beans plus shredded lettuce and cheese, olives and tomatoes were packed in the box, plus a flour tortilla on the side - how easy is that? To be honest, it was a little difficult for me since I forgot to include the tortilla in my daughter's lunch box and had to deliver it to the office in the morning. People give you strange looks when you deliver a single tortilla in a sandwich bag.

However, it is only the second Ziploc I've used this school year. A few weeks ago I bought a new reusable drink container but wasn't totally confident it wouldn't leap so I slipped it in a baggie. But as much as I'd like to get on my high horse about the virtues of packing low waste lunches, I have an embarrassing amount of plastic bento accessories, so I'm not sure how that would compare to the average Ziploc and snack pack lunch.


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Lunchbox look - Sept. 8 - 12, 2014 Sans sandwich

Even though I try to explain that the feeling is mutual, my daughter is very envious of other kids' lunches. Specifically, the dreaded Lunchables - even the name sounds amazing! And the cafeteria lunch kids get to have chocolate milk every single day and pizza twice a week! It's all so unfair! The jealousy was running pretty high this week, so I created a week of better-than-Lunchables. No sandwiches, fun presentation and by Friday she was happy to return to sandwiches. Mission accomplished!

Crunchable! That's pretty fun, right? I went for the obvious with this meal and made it as Lunchable-like as possible. The mini muffin cups hold a strawberry, yogurt raisins, grapes, crackers, cheese and ham, plus some celery along the top.

Tic tac toe! I wanted to change up the presentation of cheese and crackers, so I got out my X-acto knife and carved some game boards. Here we have ham, carrots, grapes, Triscuits, cucumber, mini grapes and teensy cheese cubes. I shave a little off the bottom of the cucumber so the lid can close.

Butterfly! This lunch got eaten twice. I left the box unattended for a moment before taking the photo and my toddler devoured half of it. There's a sidecar of watermelon plus carrots, crackers, grapes, mini cheese cubes and teensy meatballs. I thought the butterfly stood out fairly clear, but neither of the kids who ate it noticed. We'll assume they were too busy enjoying it.

Bunnies! This was definitely the cutest of this sandwich-free week. Lettuce dividers make everything prettier (and usually get eaten, too). Wheat Thins, mini meatballs, tiny cheese cubes, a checkered cucumber, grapes and carrots.

Crown! Not the cutest of the bunch but it signaled a return to the wonderful world of sandwiches. Inside the giant crown silicone cup are picks of mini cheese sandwiches. There's also grapes, containers of raisins and Goldfish, plus some delicious fresh pineapple.


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