Healthy Lunch 101 ;)

This is another simple bento lunch. The kids LOVED this one! ;)

Champagne grapes, mango, blackberries, cherries, blueberries, and pineapple chunks.

Cabbage (the kids liked it, surprisingly) broccoli and cauliflower. On top was some ranch dip, sweet pickle, olive, baby corn, and a few croutons. I made this the night before and then added some chicken the next morning. This was a definite hit! ;)

Lunchtime Again

Another bento lunch. This one is really simple and took hardly any time to prepare.

On the bottom was bismati rice with roasted black sesame seeds and a touch of braggs (soy sauce alternative).

A few veggies with dip, olives, pickles... yum. ;) I added a few extra veggies later.

And then we had some fruit: nectarines, cherries, golden & fugi apples.

The kids really like this meal! They asked for more, though so I think I need to make sure there is meat in every lunch. ;)

Bad Week To Be My Mom...

Well, this stuff actually happened last week, but I am just editing this post, so there ya go...

Several Days Ago:
My mom found out yesterday that she is diabetic, Type 2. Lots of diet/exercise planning and some medications and she will be on track to a healthy lifestyle. Not fun news, let me tell you! But at least it explains some mood swings and fatigue that have been plaguing her lately. ;)

My momma (step-mom) went into the hospital today... Appendicitis, no joke! Poor Momma has had some health issues as of late and she just deserves a break! She will be able to go home tonight, but has a ton of rest ahead of her!

My "adopted mom" (the kids' godmom) had a severe ear infection and is finally recovering. When I say severe, I really mean it! She had to get tubes in her ears... 1st adult the doc had ever performed the procedure on!

If you've ever felt I would make a wonderful daughter, I recommend dismissing the idea immediately!
Back to Real Time:
To top all this off Little Miss had a lung infection last week and now is running a fever. With only 1.5 days until her Bday party, I'm feeling really bad for her! Sometimes, you just wish you could take it all away!

A Happy Snack! ;)

Okay, so this was actually part of lunch one day for the kids, but it would also make a great snack! All of the parts are pretty obvious here: tomato ears, black olive eyes, carrot mouth... Veggies to dip: carrots, celery, broccoli... with fat free ranch dressing.

I stuck these in my kids' sandwich boxes. We don't have sandwiches all that often. ;) Anyway, the cool part is the little sauce cup! I found these at the grocery store. They were sold in a pack of 2 for $2 as a food prep item. The best part is that these are soft squeezy silicone, so they can easily fit into any container and fit around the other items. Mostly, their just fun! ;)

The kids love this one! What are your thoughts?

More Bentos! Lunch or Snack

You all might be getting sick of these, but I am having a blast. ha! This one was really easy and the kids' favorite so far. The bottom layer contains rice and cucumber shapes with veggie-bobs. I made these rice shapes with cookie cutters by pressing sticky rice into the cutters while on a flat surface. You want to squish it as much as you can and I got pretty sticky myself. Rice molds are a much better idea, but I just don't have any yet! ;)

The veggies are tomato, avacado, and black olives. Yum!

The top layer was for fruit... Green grapes, mango, fugi apples, and bing cherries. Oh so good! ;)

Once again, I used parchment paper to divide the layers. I'll have to do a post that is just about my materials some time. And perhaps some of you can give me some ideas! ;)

I haven't really ever taken pics of food before and I have to admit it is pretty fun! ;) So, what do you think of my artistic photos?

Dress Up Your Dip!

Okay, I know I'm a nerd, but I'm still laughing about my name for this post. ;) This is just some ranch dressing with grated carrots and grape tomato garnishes. I also cracked some peppercorn medly on the top.

This took just seconds to do and the kids thought it was AH-some! Miss Sass was particularly excited to start eating her veggies. Definitely good news, since she is so set on just carrots and spinach, all other veggies be darned! ;)

On another note entirely... I've been yelling at the kids all week because they got water guns as a special prize at the dentist. Naturally, they keep trying to fill them up and shoot them in the house! Really, they have been in time out more times than I can count and I took the guns away for two days.

So the hubster was home today and they were all running around screaming, slamming doors, and being their typical crazy! Miss Sass runs into my office with soaking wet hair. Oh no, they didn't! Just then, the entire crowd falls into the room in one big heap with Daddy on top, holding two water pistols and shooting at everyone. Yep, he did! Geesh, a girl just can't win around here!

Bento Success! ;)

I have made a few lunches since my last post that the kids were pretty with, but this was the first that I actually liked the looks of. So, I took some pictures! ;)

We have celery sticks with peanut butter, craisans, & All Bran Cereal. (These were a huge hit with all three of the kids, and Miss Sass doesn't even like celery! ha) We also had 1/4 of a nectarine and a frozen strawberry.

I made a top layer in their box by cutting a piece of parchment paper (not too precisely, I might add) into a rectangle a little bigger than the box. Then you cut slits in the corners, going in an inch or so toward the middle. This allows it to fit quite nicely. ;) Right, so we have some avacado slices sprinkled with "Musical Jumping Beans" which are actually peppercorn medly, freshly cracked. If your kids watch Little Einstein, you'll know about the "beans"... I added a sweet butter pickle and a fun pick with a grape tomato and two green olives. I don't have any kid picks yet, so I used these footballs we had left over from our Super Bowl party that didn't happen last year. heh.

This definitely would not be enough food for Mr. Cool, so I gave each of them a second box with rice and left over chicken and veggies from last night's dinner. Over all the meal was a super success! The kids loved it and ate almost everything! Miss Sass has even started trying some of the things she wouldn't try before. Yay! ;)

Packing lunches... practice makes perfect!

For some strange reason, I feel that it is my duty to pack lunches for my kids. Part of that might be that I have home-schooled for the last three years and feel a little like an outsider since they are attending public schools this year! heh. I know sandwiches, mac'n'cheese, granola bars, chips, etc. That stuff is really easy. However, I'd like to send meals that are creative and different so the kids don't get bored. I also want to include lots of fresh foods that will give the kiddos lots of long-lasting energy....
Anyway, today was my first attempt at filling their bento boxes. ;) I'm not completely certain I would call it a success, but it's food. Lol, the kids thought it was cool. I am not sharing pictures; it was way too disasterous for that! But I am certainly going to try again. I figure I have a couple weeks left to get it figured out before school starts and they are actually taking the lunches with them where I won't be able to fix things, add to, whatever... So, feel free to join me on this silly journey toward healthy lunches. ;)