Little Elliot, Big City - a Literary Lunch

This lunch is also posted over at The Little Crooked Cottage as a Literary Lunch. Head over to the fabulous blog of four children's book authors and check out the wonderful Literary Interview with Mr. Pig himself!

Meet Little Elliot, the star of Mike Curato's new book LITTLE ELLIOT, BIG CITY. He is a polka dotted elephant living in a big city. Being small in a big city has it's downsides but nothing is impossible with a friend by your side.

Nina from Mamabelly made a fun snack plate perfect for reading Litte Elliot, Big City and sharing a sweet cupckae with a friend. The snack is made of 

• a cookie butter Elliot sandwich, 
• sprinkles, 
• a bento pick showing Elliot's new friend and a cupcake
• and melted chocolate decorations 

Trader Joe's Lunches

I live too far from the closest Trader Joe's to be able to go regularly but yesterday I was near one and had to stop for a few treats. Today's lunches are filled with some fun Trader Joe's finds - and that's ok since it's Friday!

My middle schooler has in his Easylunchboxes:

• two Trader Joe's Candy Cane Joe-Joe's
• Trader Joe's White Cheddar Corn Puffs
• a lettuce and cheese Turkey sandwich 
• a Trader Joe's Chocolate Chip Brownie & Oat bar and
• a fun Lunchbox Love Card with a joke

My Kindergartner has an Easylunchbox with:

• two Trader Joe's Candy Cane Joe-Joe's
• Trader Joe's White Cheddar Corn Puffs
• a bear shaped sandwich with Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter and
• a Trader Joe's Chocolate Chip Brownie & Oat bar

And my 4th Grader has an Easylunchbox with:

• two Trader Joe's Candy Cane Joe-Joe's
• Trader Joe's White Cheddar Corn Puffs
• two sandwiches with lettuce and turkey/ham on Trader Joe's pull-apart dinner rolls
• a Trader Joe's Chocolate Chip Brownie & Oat bar (not pictured since one of my kids grabbed it and ate it while I tried to take a picture. My tip: buy several packages! They are that good! I of course added a new bar to the lunchbox after the picture)
• and a fun Lunchbox Love Card with a Riddle

Disclaimer: This is NOT a sponsored post. I simply love shopping at Trader Joe's and wish I lived closer to one of their stores!

Picnic at Home

My daughter is home from school today and I thought it might be fun to pack lunch for a picnic at home (it is 24 degrees outside and way to cold to actually have a picnic outside).

My daughter helped make this cute and simple Thanksgiving inspired lunch:

• a "Turkey" cheese sandwich with mayonaise in our Fit&Fresh Lunch Sandwich Pod
• baby carrots and hummus in our Fit&Fresh 2 Cup Chilled Containers and
• orange slices in our other Fit&Fresh 2 Cup Chilled Containers. 

I packed my lunch in the Fit&Fresh Soft Touch Meal Carrier:

• chocolate Chex Mix
• baby carrots with hummus
• and a Turkey, cheese and lettuce sandwich

It was really fun to pack lunch together and picnic in the living room. Plus, my daughter was so excited she wants the same lunch again tomorrow for school!

For more Fit&Fresh lunch ideas head over to my friend Kristie from Beneficial Bento! She has a great round up posted today!

Skippyjon Jones Snow What - a Literary Lunch

This lunch is also posted over at The Little Crooked Cottage as a Literary Lunch. Head over to the fabulous blog of four children's book authors and check out the wonderful Literary Interview with Mr. Pig himself!

SNOW WHAT written by Judy Schachner is the new exciting adventure of Skippyjon Jones. This time Skippyjon Jones heads into a magical snowy forest of make-believe. Can the seven Chimichangos convince him to wake up Nieve Que, the frozen princess, by kissing her? You just have to find out by picking up your own copy of SNOW WHAT.

We packed a lunch to-go in our Planetbox Shuttle perfect for any closet adventure:

• cucumber trees
• a lettuce and carrot forest
• and of course a Skippyjon Jones sandwich

New Lunchbox Fun

I love lunchboxes. Period. And I love when they make lunch packing and lunch enjoying easier.

Here are a few new ones I am trying out with the kids this week and today's lunches. Which lunchbox is your favorite lunch box currently? Leave me a comment! I'd love to know what works for you!

This lunch is for my 5 year old daughter. She loves to have a choice but really only needs 1/2 a sandwich, fruit, veggies and a dry snack. I love that the Lock & Lock bento box only takes up a little more then half of her lunch cooler so I can add a thermos or reusable drink bottle and it still fits into her small Kindergarten backpack. Plus, the two inserts are removable and you can tailor the lunchbox to your daily needs. Great for small eaters. In the bento box today is packed:

• cucumber slices
• orange slices
• a 1/2 a chocolate spread sandwich
• pretzel crackers

My daughter also brings a daily snack and this Sistema snack box works great for us. She loves applesauce and almost daily brings an applesauce pouch and a small dry snack or veggies. Today we packed a GoGo Spqeez Apple Banana pouch and some left over homemade mud buddies. To make lunch more fun I added a cute topper to make her smile.

This is our new Fit & Fresh Lunch Pak Carrier and I already love the versatility! It fits a whole sandwich for my 4th grader in the bottom of the box and the top tray fits into the same box. You can attach an ice pack to the bottom of the top tray and the lid which makes this easy to pack and your food easy to keep fresh! We are also trying out the Kids' Squeeze Water Bottle. I love that the opening is wide enough to fit ice cubes and because it is a squeeze bottle it is ideal for lunch and for using it during during school in the afternoon. Packed today is:

• a Turkey and lettuce sandwich with a fun topper
• orange wedges
• cucumber sticks and
• homemade mud buddies

Did you spot the fun bento pick? I found it at bento USA and love that you can write on it with a food safe marker. Perfect for entertaining and adding a fun element to lunch!! 

For my picky 8 year old I love using the Goodbyn Bynto right now because it just works for him. It fits just enough food and has just enough space for a little variety. Well, and it perfectly fits our favorite Zbars. That is a good reason to choose a lunchbox right? We packed for him:

• cucumber sticks and two grape tomatoes (fingers crossed the bento pick actually makes it back home today ;)
• orange slices
• a 1/2 chocolate spread sandwich
• pretzel crackers
• and a CLIF Kid ZBar Protein

Here is where I got my new lunch gear (contains affiliate links):