Making Our Own Lunch in a Egg Carton

Take the picture already! We want to decorate!

Today I decided we would do a little craft before lunch. This is one the the minions' favorite things to do. Luckily we have friends and family that save their egg cartons for us.

I needed this to be a quick craft, so I used my foam stickers. I purchased these at Walmart for about a dollar a bag. You can also purchase basic ones at the Dollar Tree. After each holiday I hit up the seasonal clearance area at Walmart and pick up the seasonal ones. My minions are younger, so they do not care if they are in season or not. Plus, then I also have extra for the next time the holiday season rolls around. I bought 2 small packs of pumpkins and acorns at Walmart yesterday for about $1.25. Sadly they did  not have any more. I have 2 shoe boxes full of these. I just kinda mix them all together.

 I took a few out of the box and made sure the extra bits were off them. If I put the whole shoe box out, we would be sitting there all day long. Not to mention they would some how migrate all over the house.

Colonel Sanders always has perfect timing. I had hopes she would remain napping during this. I have 55 minutes between getting Clark on the bus, feeding the other minions, and taking Tyke to school. Colonel Sanders fell asleep as I was getting Clark ready. She apparently decided a 15 minute power nap was all she needed. Here she is joining us at the table.

Normally I would add some paper to the top of the egg cartons so that you can see everything a little better. Also it allows the boys to use marker and crayons to help them decorate the top. I had planed on this craft last night, but decided I was to lazy to glue on paper.

See what I mean? They are having great fun, but it would be nice to not see all that ink.

In the mean time, I went to the kitchen and did some lunch prep work. I made the little sandwiches last night. Most of the veggies were already cut. One of the veggie trays was on sale at the store when I went shopping. It was near the sell by date so I got it for 40% off. I learned that for the most part, these are still good for a week. You can't beat buying one of these for $3.50ish.

I know the table is a mess. What can I say. Going from left to right, we have blackberries, ham, pomegranate, Biscoff sandwiches in the shape of a D & a duck also Hello Kitty & the letter C, cheddar cheese, figs, and a veggie tray.

I put one sandwich and the matching letter into their cartons. From there they took over. I told them to put a few bites into each spot. I know it does not seem like a lot of food, but if you filled this up and then emptied it out, you would have more than enough to feed an adult.

Tyke showing off his lunch. It looks like he grabbed a little bit of everything.

 Pork Chop and his lunch. I know he only picked some of the items because he wanted to be like Tyke. Either way, both of them had great fun picking out what they were going to eat for lunch.

Poor little Colonel Sanders was given leftovers. I don't think she minds though. She happily ate 2 pieces of ham, some cheese, one of the sandwiches, and then some pomegranate.

I know the boys really enjoy the chance to make their own lunches. Most days I make it before hand or hurry to do it while they play. I need to remember to set aside time and do more lunches where the minions help.

Meatloaf Wednesday

What do frogs have to do with this lunch? Absolutely 

nothing! I just felt like using them. Or maybe I should just say they went with the fudge.

Anyway, for lunch today, The Elder has mashed potatoes and carrots (don't knock it till you try it) and mini meatloaf stuffed with cheese. To the right he has a piece of fudge (not homemade, to lazy) and steamed cauliflower.

 

The minions have a mini stuffed meatloaf, carrots, cauliflower, snap peas, dried cranberries, mozzarella cheese, and an energy ball. On the side they have a Mini Dipper from Easy Lunchboxes filled with Italian dressing.

Why the funny faces on the 2 minions? I have no clue. Tyke insisted I take his picture and he gave me that lovely pose. Then Pork insisted I also take a picture of his dirty faced self. *sighs* I am still trying to figure out where the chocolate on his face came from.

Today's lunches used items from:
The Elder- Easy Lunchboxes
Minions: One tier bento from All Things For Sale and the Mini Dippers are from Easy Lunchboxes

cheater ravioli and kabob minion lunch.

Once again I had problems deciding what to make for lunch. The Elder is not a fan of leftovers. He says I can pack them, but I know him better than that. As I looked through my fridge, I remembered I had wonton wrappers. I swear those things are handy. They are pretty cheap too! I thought about making lasagna cupcakes again, but I was thinking of having those for dinner later this week. So I decided to make mushroom and cheese ravioli.

I know it sounds odd, but it is pretty good. If you are use to the thicker pasta ravioli, it takes a time or two to get use to. I cut up baby portabella mushrooms, added mozzarella cheese, and some Italian seasoning. Then I placed it in the wonton wrapper, used a little egg wash on the edges, and sealed it up. Then I placed them in boiling water for about a minute. I poured some tomato sauce into the bottom of my Easy Lunch Box and placed them on top. I made up some meatballs and turned them into octopus  Then I created a little sea floor using peas, mushroom, pearl mozzarella balls, carrots, and tomato pieces.

To the right of that I have the last of the apple and cranberry mini pies. I used a blackberry and a food pick to make a flower so it was not so boring. Below that is some steamed broccoli with some seasoning salt. 

The minions are not a fan of ravioli. So I made them 2 kabobs with nitrate free salami and mozzarella cheese. I also gave them some snap peas, baby carrots, mozzarella cheese pearls, a piece of broccoli, and blackberries.

Today is the last day to enter the giveaway! Click HERE to enter. The drawing ends at 11:59pm Eastern Time.

In a rush lunch

Look. Lunch.

I credit the above to Jenn from Bento for Kidlet for suggesting it, Cristi from Bent On Better Lunches for being an enabler, and Karen from Our Lunch Bags for being the original that we all want to be like. Even if she is a Whovian...

Don't forget to enter our giveaway! You can enter it by going HERE.  It ends tomorrow (Tuesday) at 11:59pm.

Stuffed Manicotti and Chicken

 Remember how I said we would have several lunches with that leftover chicken tenders? Well this is the last of it.  Like so many other times, we will start with the large compartment. You cannot see it very well, but under the chicken tenders and homemade tomato sauce, there are 2 homemade cheese and herb manicotti. I have small zucchini stars on top of the tomato sauce.

To the left we have a orange mini cheesecake. This time I remembered that it is hard for The Elder to get the wrapper off with his one hand. So I took that off ahead of time. Under that are green peas.

 For the boys I decided to use my Sassy lunch box. There are chicken tenders and matchstick carrots on the left. I have zucchini stars decorating this lunch as well.

On the right I have some sliced zucchini. Under that I gave the boys 2 cheese and herb stuffed shells. I added a little cheddar to their shells since they really enjoy its sharp flavor. I also have a grape tomato on a food pick. I know it is a little out of place, but I am trying to get the minions to eat tomatoes. I told them it was a red grape.

Colonel Sanders also has her own bento. She has sliced red grapes, steamed matchstick carrots, steamed thin sliced zucchini slices, and a cheese stuffed shell. The jumbo shells are normally left a little firm so they will hold up to being stuffed and baked. I made sure to cook her shell for just a little longer so that it was soft.


Today's boxes:
Easy Lunchboxes
Sassy On the Go Feeding Set
Small one tier bento from All Things For Sale


Don't forget to enter our giveaway! You can enter it by going HERE.

Pig on the Farm & 100th Bento!

Today we have a pig on the farm. The pig and barn are made from a Biscoff sandwich. The barn window and door are made from slices of grapes. I tried to use a green food safe marker, but it did not work to well.  This all sits on a bed of spinach. I made a fence out of matchstick carrots. To the left of that I have grapes and cheese.

In honor of making it to 100 bento lunches, I have decided to host a giveaway. All items are brand new. I had to take the egg mold out of its package in order to get a decent picture of it. Included in this giveaway is a package of food picks, a heart egg mold, a package of food separator sheets, and a Stitch cookie press. The cookie presses work pretty well to make cute mini sandwiches.  To enter the giveaway, use the Rafflecopter box at the end of this post. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Leftover Chicken Tenders

The Elder loves my fried chicken. I try to keep him happy and make some form of it once a week or so. This time I went way overboard. I had some chicken that sat in the fridge almost to long. It was cook the breasts or toss them. So I sliced them all up into tenders and fried them up. Needless to say, we not only had it for dinner, but we will be eating it for the next 2 lunches.

In the main compartment of The Elder's Easy Lunch Box we have homemade stuffing made out of the left over pieces from the Domo lunch. I added onion, carrots, mushroom, and some beef stock. On top of that sits my chicken tenders. I was a little to tired and not feeling to creative. The first picks I found were the umbrella ones. So I grabbed the grape tomatoes and added those to the picks. What can I use for rain? The only colorful item I can find is matchstick carrots.

To the left we have a mini apple cranberry pie. Below that we have great peas. Mmm... Peas.

 Are you surprised to see this bento box? I know, long time no see! We will start with the blue bottom tier. The boys have a mini apple cranberry pie, strawberries, and a spaghetti, egg, and cheese cupcake. I know that sounds odd, but it is really yummy! The spaghetti was a leftover from 2 days prior.

The top tier has some of our leftover fried chicken tenders and some red seedless grapes.

Colonel Sanders had her own bento. I took all the crisp pieces and top off the spaghetti and egg cupcake. I also gave her finely diced strawberries, finely diced chicken tender, and baby peas.

She was very happy to be given a good item larger than the small pieces she is use to. Colonel Sanders seems to think she can eat anything . She started to yell at us and refuse her puree food because she wanted something more. The Colonel wanted little chunks. So in efforts to please her, I feed her what we eat and just make sure that it is soft enough for me to smash easily between my fingers. The eggs keep the spaghetti very soft. Colonel Sanders very happily ate the spaghetti cupcake first.

WE ARE AT #99!!! Do you know what that means? Stay tuned for tomorrow!