Bento Lunches Jan. 27 - Feb. 6 - Valentine Style

These lunches are a mix of Valentine and non-Valentine themes. Some were eaten with great praise and others came home still half-full. You just never know, right?

*affiliate links used in this post*

January 27, 2014



I try to get my Monday lunch packed on Sunday night because Mondays are hard enough. This lunch was kind of thrown together, but it worked I think. All packed in the Laptop Lunch. He had leftover turkey sausage with ketchup for dipping, baby carrots, pop chips, grapes and apple slices. I threw a few little animal forks in to brighten it up a bit.

January 28, 2014



This was a silly little lunch for Andrew. He had ham roll-ups and raspberries packed in a little star cup with a few Cheerios on the bottom layer and an orange, star shaped naan and a few carrots on the top layer. I added an eye pick to the orange and he thought it was hysterical. :)



Caroline's lunch was cute and simple packed in the lock&lock box. She had cheerios and ham roll-ups, flower shaped naan and raspberries. I used two silicone cups for color, a little strawberry baran and flower picks in the raspberries.

January 30, 2014



Caroline's lunch was packed in the two-tier frog box. She had a turkey dog, but asked for a pig pick and I had to laugh at the irony. :) She also had yogurt melts, mozzarella cheese, raspberries, cheerios, and yogurt covered pretzels. The raspberries were packed in my new favorite flower cups and the hot dog was packed in a heart shaped cup.



Andrew's lunch was more clearly Valentine's themed with its heart sandwich and strawberries. It was packed in our PlanetBox. With the hearts he also had celery with peanut butter for dipping, an orange in an orange cup and mozzarella on another heart pick. The hearts on the sandwich are just a cut out fruit strip, stuck down with a little bit of cream cheese.

February 3, 2014



Apples seem to be my go-to Monday fruit. We've always burned through our other fresh fruit by Monday, and apples last a long time so they're a great option. I slice them and then soak them in a little bit of water with lemon juice and they stay crisp and not brown until lunchtime. The kids always eat them.

Along with the apples Andrew had peanut butter cracker sandwiches, popcorn, ham roll-ups, and celery with ranch dressing for dipping. The robot picks were a fun little addition to this lunch packed in the Laptop lunchbox.

February 4, 2014



Caroline's lunch didn't turn out very pretty, but she was so excited about it. She had turkey sandwiches stamped with Hello Kitty, heart shaped cheese under crackers, raspberries, goldfish, yogurt and a little heart gummy treat.



Andrew's lunch was packed in the stacking Lego box. He had turkey transportation sandwiches, blackberries in a flower cup, tiny kishu oranges, a cereal bar and a heart gummy treat. I used a little baran strip to keep the oranges away from the cereal bar.

February 6, 2013



This lunch for Andrew was a total fail. He ate the sandwich, pretzels and cheerios and left the blueberries and carrots...he almost never does that! The carrots weren't very sweet, but still...I was surprised.

The PB&J was decorated with a little bunny baran (using a dab of cream cheese to help it stick) and the blueberries were packed in a heart cup with a waving pink fox. The whole thing was packed in the Lego Box with a mini Lego block inside.



But Caroline's lunch was SO cute and she loved it, so that almost made up for Andrew's bad news. Her lunch was packed in an Easy Lunchbox and they are truly easy. Her little bear sandwich was cut and stamped with the CuteZcute cutter. I added heart shaped cheese and cheerios, both in heart cups and heart shaped strawberries with a Love pick. Adorable! She was so excited about this lunch and that's what it's all about. :)

Bento Lunches - January 13 - 23

Some weekends I wake up with this great need to get all the things done - clean, grocery shop, laundry, decorate, organize the kids' closets!

And then some weekends I just want to sit on the couch, read facebook posts on my phone and feed the kids nachos.

I'll let y'all decide which weekend we just had, but let's just say I was actually excited to see a Monday morning - I needed to feel productive again!

We didn't start back to school from Christmas break until January 13th. It was the longest break ever, but I'm not going to lie - the lunch packing break was kind of nice. It was fun to get back to it though, especially after I added a few new supplies to my bento stash.

Here's a look at our first three weeks of 2014 lunches:

January 13, 2014

This was Andrew's first lunch in the New Year. Superhero sandwiches stacked on top of each other with ketchup for dipping in the blue cup, and Scooby bones in the bottom tier. (The superhero cutters are from an old set at Williams-Sonoma and they don't have them anymore, but I'm always on the lookout for new sets.) The top tier of our frog box held blackberries in flower and star cups with superhero rings and cinnamon chex.

January 14, 2014

These eyes are from a new set I bought from BentoUSA this month. I just love them! Andrew had ham roll-ups (peekabo!), celery with peanut butter with a "Hello" sheet of baran, a bunch of winking strawberries, pita chips and cheese (which he didn't even open!) and a stack of delicious vanilla crackers from our NatureBox snacks.

Caroline's lunch was packed in our flat divided container. She had ham roll-ups with a little doggie sheet, strawberries with a kitty cat pick, pita chips and bear stamped cheese and a handful of yogurt melts.

January 16, 2014

Caroline had a little Hello Kitty sandwich, cut and stamped with the CuteZCute cutter, carrots, yogurt melts and colorful goldfish, both packed in heart silicone cups and finished off with grapes. This lunch was packed in our Lunchbots Duo.

Andrew also had a cat sandwich, but his had a party hat! He too got carrots, pita chips packed in a silicone cup, dipping ketchup in the blue cup, and grapes. This lunch was packed in the two piece Lunchbots steal boxes. These are great boxes. They have plastic lids that are easy for Andrew to open and are easy to pack. I really love both my Lunchbots boxes.

January 20, 2014

This was the I've been out of town and have very little fresh food lunch, but Andrew loved it! Peanut butter cracker sandwiches with a little dino baran sheet, a mini Lego box filled with cinnamon chex, a Halo with a leaf pick, a Go-Go SqueeZ applesauce and a handful of cashews were all packed in the big Lego box.

January 21, 2013

On his way home from school on Monday Andrew told me exactly what he wanted in his lunch on Tuesday and I complied: superhero turkey sandwiches, more peanut butter cracker sandwiches, ketchup for dipping in the blue dot cup, mini carrots and ranch, strawberries and mini M&M's all packed in the PlanetBox. He ate every single bite!

Caroline's lunch was packed in our Yumbox. (I so wish I'd bought the pink one since Caroline is the one who primarily uses this box. The pink is SO cute!) She had him rolls, colorful goldfish, strawberries, yogurt melts, fresh mozzarella cheese bites and mini M&M's.

January 23, 2014

I broke out the heart cutters last week! I love Valentine lunches - here are few favorites from last year. Not all of our lunches will be full of lovey dovey stuff between now and the 14th, but I decided we were close enough to get started. :)

Andrew had heart shaped strawberries, carrots with ranch for dipping in a pink cup, ham roll-ups with a heart shaped cheese topper, pretzels and another pink dipping cup with ketchup and a little gummy heart candy. It was all packed in the Lock&Lock box.

Caroline had a heartsy lunch too. Ham roll-ups with another cheese heart, raspberries on a heart pick, carrots and pretzels. She got TWO little heart gummies. :) I used these heart shaped silicone cups in her lunch.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Did you see my Guide to Bento Lunches post last week? Everything you need to get started packing adorable, healthy lunches! Any questions? Please let me know! :)

xoxo

*this post contains affiliate links*

Bento Lunches - A How To Guide

I have not always sent my kids to school with cool lunches. I started Andrew's preschool days feeding him pasta and chicken nuggets over and over again. I'd toss a few blueberries in a baggie and call it good. Poor kid. He didn't complain, but he was only two so he just didn't know what he was missing. :)

Now most of his lunches look something like this:



Or this:



After a small investment in a few (well, maybe more than a few, ha!) bento supplies and a little bit of digging for some inspiration I'm able to send Andrew and Caroline to school with awesome, healthy lunches that they really want to eat!

*this post contains affiliate links*



Here is what you need to get started packing a lunch your kids are excited to eat :

1. Bento Boxes



I use these compartment style boxes all the time. They make packing lunches so easy! You just need to find enough healthy foods to fill up the containers and you have a colorful well-divided lunch. My favorites are the PlanetBox, Yumbox and the Laptop Lunch.



These boxes are just plain cute! That dancing bear and bunny box has held some of my very favorite lunches. The frog box is a great size for preschoolers, and the Lego block box is Andrew's favorite. The Yubo inserts go with the Yubo lunchbox which is handy, but pretty heavy. The inserts though are awesome and the lock&lock box is great for days when you just want to throw some food in a container and get going.



Most of these containers will easily fit into your standard lunchbox that you're probably already using. I've found the only exception to be the PlanetBox, which comes with its own carrying case.

I recommend starting with a box in each of these categories - something practical and easy to fill and something more cute and charming.

2. Silicone Cups



There are lots of choices out there for silicone cups. I use these to hold food inside the open space style containers and also in the Laptop Lunch box. These are such an easy way to add some color and pop to a lunch and they're also very practical. They keep foods divided and separated which is pretty important to lots of kids.

You can find standard Wilton baking cups on Amazon or at your local Michael's. I'm always stopping by their baking aisle to see if they have anything new. I love some of the fun shapes you can find at BentoUSA like the flowers and hearts and the fruits and veggies.

These are easy to collect over time, and I often share cups from bigger sets with my sister or friends who are also packing lunches. No one needs 12 heart cups, but if you split them with a friend buying in bulk doesn't seem so wasteful.

3. Cutters and Stampers



These are great for adding a little whimsy to your lunches. The CuteZCute cutter is a must for any lunch packer!

This is a good example of what you can do with sandwich stampers:



I used this set of bunny, bear and flower stampers to make the adorable turkey sandwiches. Basic shape cookie cutters come in handy too because you can use them in so many different lunches. I love my stars and flowers.

4. Accessories - food picks, sauce cups and dividers



These are like the jewelry in your bento boxes. They're so cute and fun and can make your lunch really stand out. The sauce cups are great for ketchup, peanut butter and hummus for dipping. The elastic bands are needed to hold some of the two-tier boxes together. The leaf and other baran sheets are great for dividing food within boxes or spicing up a boring sandwich. :)

I could buy food picks all day long. I like to use different styles for various holidays and the standard animals and robots and hello kitty picks are just fun.





A few items from each of these categories are all you need to get started packing healthy and exciting school lunches for your kids.

So I've got my supplies - now what?

1. Make a list - what do your kids like to eat? Also, what can you include as an experiment to see if they'll eat it? I try to do one food a week that I don't think they'll eat and see what happens. Usually it's a bust, but I've been surprised before!

2. Make a plan - if you don't want to make your lunches the night before, lay out your boxes, your supplies and your pantry foods that you plan to use the next day. No sense winging it in the morning when everyone is rushed and trying to get out the door.

3. Fill it up - You need to make your boxes nice and full to keep the food from moving around in transport. I think this is key to good looking lunches, and I often look for shallow boxes to make it easier.

4. Involve the kids - if your kids are old enough to be interested, ask them what they'd like for lunch. I usually give two or three choices on an item or two and then fill in the rest on my own. It's nice for them to feel some ownership over their lunch. Also, I love these little notes from Say Please and as soon as Andrew's reading on his own I plan to send words of encouragement in his lunchbox.

5. Marvel at your beautiful work and wait for your kids to tell you how much fun lunchtime was! Okay - maybe this won't happen, but I bet your kids will enjoy lunchtime way more than before. And if you post your lunches on Instagram, please tag me (@MeaganMusing) I'd LOVE to see what you've created!

Getting started packing healthy and lovable lunches can seem a little daunting, but with just a little planning and investment you can be off to a great start before you know it! Your kiddos will thank you! :)

You can see all my lunches here on the blog, or you can see the photos all in one place on Flickr.

There's also lots of wonderful inspiration out there on the web. A few of my favorites:

Meet the Dubiens - she's a true artist!
Wendolonia - she has a book coming out this spring!
Weelicious - her lunches and cookbook are amazing!

Now go pack an awesome lunch! :)

Bentos & a Little Soapbox Talk

We're in a really busy season, and I'm trying to be more present with my kids. Less rushing, less catch up, less time wasting, more planning ahead. I'm even Facebook fasting this week, and on day two I don't miss it one bit. But I'll go back. Don't worry. :)

(Also, if you want to share this on facebook that would be great because I won't be over there to do so. Thanks!)

So today I just have another lunch post for you. At least they're cute and hopefully inspiring.

But before I get to them I do want to say that while I really excel at lunch packing, there are lots of other things I don't get right.

Like dinner. My kids had pizza twice last week. Also? They had two baths in six days. I don't do it all really well. None of us do it all really well.

We each have our own special talents and we should focus on them and love doing those things and not worry one bit about all that other stuff that we'll never get completely right all of the time. Just something to keep in mind as we head into the crazy rush of the holidays.

*steps off my soapbox*

So, want to see my crazy bento accessory stash?

I KNOW! I think it's a little out of control. It took a few years to build it up, and I'm currently on furlough - I'm not buying another thing for our lunches until the new year! (Well, okay, except the food.) Brian is very happy about that. ;)

Here's what my kids had for lunch the last two weeks:

Monday, November 4

It's time for some fun fall themed lunches. Andrew had turkey roll-ups on a fall leaf pick with a side of ketchup, celery with an acorn ring and a side of peanut butter, apple slices, a cutie and a mini cinnamon bagel with another leaf. To jazz the bagel up a bit I added a few silicone leaves underneath. This lunch was packed in our PlanetBox.

Tuesday, November 5

Andrew had a party hat cat sandwich cut with the CuteZCute cutter, apple slices, Scooby crackers, carrots and a pea pod with cashews and a few cheerios. There was peanut butter for apple dipping in the mini Lego box. This was packed in our two-tier Lego lunchbox.

Thursday, November 7

Andrew's lunch was packed in the lock&lock four container box. He had turkey rolls with a little robot topper, strawberries with another robot, carrots with ranch for dipping and peanut butter crackers.

Caroline's lunch was also packed in a little flat divided container. She had turkey roll-ups with cute face picks, strawberries, a cereal bar, a few yogurt covered raisins in a silicone cup and Monsters, Inc. Cheeze-its.

Monday, November 11

This lunch was packed in a new Lego lunchbox. I like it, but the jury is still out on how useful it is. It's tall, so you need to stack the food up to keep it from moving around too much. But Andrew loves it so I'm sure I'll get used to filling it.

And the little boxes fit perfectly inside and hold a lot of food. This one was packed with Scooby snacks. Andrew also had two half-cut turkey sandwiches with a leaf cheese topper. I drew the lines on it with a food safe marker. He also had an extra large silicone cup of berries with the cutest little squirrel and fox picks. :)

Tuesday, November 12

This is one of those lunches where having a colorful lunchbox makes all the difference. If I'd put this food in baggies and tossed it in a lunchbox it would have looked super boring. But just a little bit of creativity with the box and the organizing made a big difference.

My favorite silicone cups helped divide the ham and Cheerios, and the rest was just boring food. :) Celery with peanut butter for dipping and popcorn with a tiny peek-a-boo animal. I also threw in a GoGo Squeeze applesauce. It was all packed in the Laptop Lunchbox.

Happy lunch packing y'all!

Halloween Lunches

I've been meaning to post these all week!

Here are a few of our recent bentos - lots of Halloween fun if you're looking for some inspiration today! :)

This lunch was packed in our Laptop Lunchbox. Andrew had a cutie with a little leaf pick so it looked like a pumpkin, ghostly strawberries, spidery ham and cheese, Scooby bones, cucumbers with ranch dressing for dipping and monster eyed popcorn. Adorable!

Andrew asked for a monster Oreo so he got a little treat this day. :) He also had stamped jack-o-lantern sandwiches highlighted with an orange food marker, an orange cup with spider webbed cheerios, BOO! berries, cucumber with dressing for dipping and yogurt raisins. I made a little pumpkin pick with a puffy sticker and a toothpick too. What a super easy way to dress up a lunch! This was all packed in the PlanetBox.

We made it to Halloween day! Whew!

I made little jack-o-lantern chips out of tortillas, a pumpkin cookie cutter and a few little pieces from this face making set. You could also just use a knife, but it was nice to have the help with the cutters. Andrew thought the monster face on the left was super spoooooooky, which he loved! Ha!

(Here's a link to a full tutorial on the jack-o-lantern chips. Caroline and I are having ghost chips for lunch! You can do a lot using this technique.)

He had ham rollups with a ghost pick, spider web carrots, yogurt with ghost sprinkles and raspberries with candy eyes.

And that's the end of our Halloween bentos for the year! I'm a little sad, but kinda ready to get back to normal lunches too. I've got some cute fall ideas and then maybe a Christmas lunch or two, but I don't want to get too ahead of myself. Ha!

Have a super fun Halloween with your little ones today! I can't wait to go trick-or-treating with my little skeleton and bumble bee tonight! :)

Ghostly Bentos

Halloween style bentos are here! Sorry I'm a little late in sharing these, but you still have plenty of time to get your October creativity in gear! :)

You can also follow me on Instagram to see our lunches in real time. I don't post them all, but I do share quite a few. 

Tuesday, Oct. 1

Pumpkins! This lunch was packed in our PlanetBox and included a pumpkin shaped sandwich, carrots and hummus (which he didn't eat, but I tried), scooby snack bones, strawberries with a fall leaf pick and a few gummy snacks for a treat. The pumpkin was a little boring so I added the green leaf and a piece of green baran.

Thursday, Oct. 3

Caroline had ham roll-ups with pumpkin shaped cheese toppers, TJ's pirate's booty, apple slices and a mini cup filled with yogurt covered raisins. Her lunch was packed in this little apple box.

Andrew had another spooooooky lunch! He had turkey on ghost toppers, yogurt with two different kinds of Halloween sprinkles, apple slices and Triscuits.

Monday, Oct. 7

Monday mornings are crazy at our house and I bet ours is not the only one. This lunch was kind of a mess, but it was cute and Andrew was happy. He had a ghost sandwich with candy eyes, "monster" orange slices, strawberries, Truscuits and a cereal bar.

Tuesday, Oct. 8

Ahhh...much more together on a Tuesday. :) This lunch was packed in our two-tier panda box. Andrew had turkey roll-ups with a friendly fox pick, scooby bones, star shaped pumpkin spice bread in a star silicone cup, carrots and strawberries.

Thursday, Oct. 10

Caroline's little lunch was packed in our Yumbox. She had Hello Kitty sandwiches, pop chips and goldfish, carrots and apple slices and a few m&m's.

I sent Andrew with yet more scooby bones, a puzzle shaped ham and mustard sandwich, apple slices, celery and peanut butter in the blue cup with a few m&m treats in the PlanetBox.

Do you know the trick to keeping your apples from turning brown? Lemon juice! I think there are actually quite a few ways to keep them fresh, but I like to soak ours for a few minutes in a little bit of lemon juice water after I've sliced them. They'll stay nice and crisp and not brown for hours.

I gave a short talk on bento lunches last week at a friend's PTO meeting. I was embarrassed, and messed up the microphone a bunch, but other than that I think it went okay. :)

I'm planning to summarize my talk and put together a post on getting started with bentos - sharing my favorite boxes and where to start. Soon, I hope!