Snacktime with LunchBots

This year my fifth grader will only have 20 min for lunch which - compared to Europe where kids have up to one hour for lunch - is very little. Thankfully the class is allowed to bring snack and now I am sending a bigger snack and a smaller lunch so there is still time to socialize at lunch and he eats enough during the day! I remembered that I won a LunchBots Trio a little while ago from Bobbi's Bentos and I knew that it would be the perfect size for a big mid-morning snack.

My son was thrilled with the LunchBots container and picked his own snack today: Somersaults sunflower seed nuggets, veggie sticks and an apple and SunButter sandwich, yum!

Happy TGIF!

We survived the first week of school ;)

A Fish-y Lunch

Today's lunch is all about fish. My son loves couscous and since I had some left overs I packed him couscous in a cute fish box. I also packed a Sunbutter sandwich in fish shape with UNREAL dye-free candy, Somersaults crunchy sunflower seed nuggets and grape and apple corrals. 

Things I used for this lunch:

Fish Box:

EasyLunchboxes:

Seashore Picks:

UNREAL candy:

Simply Lunch

Today's lunch is very simple. Broccoli, cauliflower, peppers and carrots with ranch dip and a ham and pickle sandwich on fresh bread. I also packed ice water. 

First Day of School 2012/2013

We started school :)

Everybody was very excited for their first day and I wanted to make sure they had some healthy lunches to fuel them through the first exciting day!

For my First Grader I packed sunflower seeds in a cute dog silicone cup, sliced mini peppers decorated with a crayon pick, four mini sandwiches with Sunbutter spread, a high protein power bar and a lunchbox note wishing him luck :)

For my Second Grader I packed broccoli, carrots, sliced orange and yellow peppers with ranch dip in a small bottle and decorated with a crayon pick, four mini Sunbutter and jelly sandwiches, strawberries with blueberries and of course a little note :)

And my fifth grader requested broccoli, carrots and orange peppers with ranch dip which I decorated with a crayon pick, crackers, a roll with ham and cheese, a small treat and the lunch note was tucked into his lunch bag :)

I hope everyone had a good start on their first day!

Things I used to make this lunch:

Chobani Raspberry Chocolate Scones {with Recipe}

It was a rainy weekend and therefore great for baking yummy treats for this week!

If you read my blog regularly you know I love baking with Chobani and using the yummy recipes from Chobani Kitchen. However, I mostly bake spontaneously and never have all the ingredients on hand needed so I tweak them to fit what I have at home.

This time we made Raspberry Lemon Scones with mini chocolate chips based on the Strawberry Scone Recipe! Find the recipe at the end of my post..

My kids love to help and my 5 year old son wanted to make the scones into fun shapes instead of just triangles. I did not mind so he picked a car and a firetruck cookie cutter and helped cut them out.

We had so much fun together in the kitchen!

Here are the cars and firetrucks my son made...

...I also made some round ones to use in our lunches this week! They smelled so good baking we could not wait to try them!

How amazing do these look! And they taste delicious! 

I had a hard time saving some for this weeks lunches. I think I have to bake some more!

Chobani Raspberry Lemon Scones with Mini Chocolate Chips

You will need:

• 3/4 cup Chobani Lemon Greek Yogurt
• 2 c all-purpose flour plus extra for dusting work surface
  (I added a little flax seed to the flour :)
• ¼ c sugar plus 2 T for sprinkling
• 2 t baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp kosher salt
• 4 Tbsp cold unsalted butter cut into ¼-inch cubes
• 1/2 c whole frozen raspberries
  1/4 c mini dark chocolate chips
  
  
  How to make the scones: 
  
  

  Step 1

  Preheat oven to 425°F (Gas Mark 7). In a large bowl whisk together flour, ¼ cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add butter and using a pastry cutter or your fingers, cut butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse cornmeal.

  Step 2

  Stir in raspberries and mini chocolate chips, then gently incorporate Chobani, taking care not to over mix.

  Step 3

  Turn dough onto a heavily floured work surface. Fold dough on top of itself to knead, 3 to 4 turns, then pat into 1½-in thick rectangle. Fold rectangle into thirds and shape into a 1-in thick circle. Cut into 8 wedges or use cookie cutters to shape your dough instead.

  Step 4

  Arrange wedges/shapes on parchment paper-lined baking sheet and sprinkle tops of scones with remaining 2 T sugar. Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack before serving.

  
  

  Happy Baking and a good Start into your week!

  
  
  
  

Beary Snack

I packed a quick snack to bring with us today while running errands.

I packed a bear shaped PBJ, half a PBJ organic cereal bar, no bake cereal bites and some strawberry hearts. Quick, easy and still cute ;)

Happy Thursday!

Flower Lunch

I found some ripe and sweet strawberries at the store over the weekend and had some left over whole wheat pancakes left over so lunch today is breakfast for lunch :)

I packed whole wheat pancakes cut into flower shapes and decorated with FruitaBü fruit strips as well as homemade strawberry yogurt, fresh strawberries decorated with flower picks and granola. 

Strawberry Yogurt with Chobani Non-Fat Vanilla Yogurt

(for 2 lunches)

6  TBS Vanilla Chobani

4 Strawberries

Honey/Sugar or Agave Syrup to taste

(I added 1/8 Teaspoon of Vanilla sugar)

Blend all ingredients in the blender until smooth.

Enjoy!

Kids' Lunch Pick

I love when my kids want to help make their lunches and we had a great time yesterday picking themes and decorations. It all started when my daughter found a bento pick that looked just like Miffy and wanted a "Princess holding Miffy" Lunch. You can see her lunch here. The boys were just as creative and we ended up with four amazing lunches yesterday.

The first lunch was designed by my 5 year old son who picked a steam boat, a dog, a boy and a saxophone.

He packed some watermelons with a steamboat pick, whole grain crackers with peanut butter with a dog pick and a big peanut butter and jelly sandwich with the boy and saxophone pick. He told me he remembered being on vacation this summer where he loved riding on the steamboat and visiting the free concert series at night listening to Jazz. The dog is for our dog :)

My 9 year old plays the cello and was excited to find a cello pick in my collection.

He packed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a cello and musical notes picks. He also picked cherries since they looked like notes and whole grain crackers with peanut butter with more notes. What a musical lunch :)

My 7 year old son had a great time picking through all my decorations and came up with a Safari Starwars Lunch.

He packed watermelons with a bear baran decoration, cheese crackers with peanut butter with a lion pick and a big peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a tiger and monkey pick, starwars light sabers and some cheese stars. The perfect Safari Starwars lunch :)

Last but not least my daughter's lunch:

She packed pretzels and cherries with crowns and a princess wearing a special dress holding a miffy doll. The sandwich is ham and cheese and the arms and stars are cut out of cheese.

I really enjoyed having everyone in the kitchen and watch their imagination as they sorted through my cake and bento picks.

I feel so lucky to have such wonderful kids!

Lunch Fit for a Princess

My daughter helped me pack lunches this morning before we went swimming. She picked her own bento picks and decided she wanted "a princess holding Miffy and some crowns" for lunch ;)

So we decided to make a ham and cheese Princess sandwich with royal cherries and royal pretzels on the side. She helped me make the stars for the dress out of cheese ( we used a mini star cheese cutter) and I cut the arms out of cheese for her to put on the sandwich.

We had a great time and now we are off to go swimming with a fun lunch in our cooler :)

Hope you are enjoying the summer,