Choo-Choo!!

We just received our Vrrrmmm!!  Transportation Lunch Punch Sandwich Cutters last week and I have been dying to use them.  They are so fun and perfect for little boys lunch!

Ever since the ABC Muffin Tin lunch, T will only eat sandwiches in the shape of the letter A.  

So, today, I give you J's lunch :)

He's got a train & coal car.  The pieces are connected with carrots and the coal is dried cranberries.  Up to, he's got some Pirates Booty, an Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Cookie & some apple slices.  He downed the entire thing and then asked for a turkey roll too!

Muffin Tin: ABC

Today's theme is ABC

We've got a sandwich cut into letter shapes with the Wilton 50 Piece ABC & 123 Cookie Cutter Set

Under each letter, we have a corresponding side item

A = apple sauce

B = bananas

C = carrots & ranch

If you'd like to see more muffin tin meals, you can click on over to the home of Muffin Tin Monday to check them out!

I Love You!

For today's lunch, I dug out the 'I love you' sign cookie cutter that my fantastic hubby got me for Christmas as well as a little gift set of cutter the we received as a gift from my sweet friend Rachel.

On the top, they've got mango, some bell pepper cut the the same heart and the 'I Love You' set & some baked cheetos

On the bottom, an I love you grilled cheese & fruit leather 'I Love You' letters on a cracker

Here Fishy, Fishy

Today's lunch didn't have much of a theme, but did have some good variety.  Starting at the top and going clockwise, they've got:

Red bell pepper, carrots & simple hummus

1/2 a piece of Almond Bar

Strawberries (sliced and stacked)

Pretzel Crisps

Sandwich (cut with the fish/shark shape from the Wilton 101-Piece Cookie Cutter Set)

Muffin Tin: Tuesday Edition

Looks like we're a day late again :)

On the top row, we've got blueberries, carrots & simple hummus

On the bottom...Annie's Cheedar Bunnies, grilled cheese (cut with the  Lunch Punch Animal Shape Sandwich Cutters (Set of 4) & 1/2 of a Red, White & Blue Scone

If you'd like to see more muffin tin meals, you can click on over to the home of Muffin Tin Monday to check them out!

Circles

Today's lunch was full of circles.  Sorry for the lack of presentation, I had 2 hungry toddlers waiting not-so-patiently for mommy to 'take a picture.'

They've got sliced cucumber, bananas, cheese & crackers with cut turkey dogs

Dino Eggs

Today's lunch was another quick one...we seem to be barely making it home in time for lunch lately :)

Sliced plumbs

Pirates Booty

Grilled cheese (cut with the DynoBytes Sandwich Crust Cutter)

and some 'dino eggs' (yogurt raisins)

Muffin Tin: Tuesday Edition

We got invited to play with some friends yesterday, so we had our muffin tin lunch on Tuesday instead of Monday...and we loved it :)

Top Row

• Honey Teddy Grahams
• Red Bell Pepper
• Banana

Bottom Row

• Fruit Leather
• Star Shaped Sandwich (J had PBJ & T had grilled cheese)
• Pirates Booty

If you'd like to see more muffin tin meals, you can click on over to the home of Muffin Tin Monday to check them out!

Smile :)

This is a super quick lunch that I threw together earlier this week...

• Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwich (sealed with the Pampered Chef Cut-N-Seal) topped with a star shaped cheese slice. The happy face is made of 2 chocolate chip eyes, a yogurt raisin nose and dried cranberry smile.
• Small cup of yogurt raising (by request)
• Orange Bell Pepper & Ranch

Touchdown

This was actually Sunday's lunch:

• Wheat Thins & Celery
• Spinach Dip
• Turkey & Cheese (cut with letters from Wilton 101-Piece Cookie Cutter Set...I'm not sure where the little flower cutter was from)
• Grapes
• Grilled Cheese with Fruit Leather laces (the boys LOVED this)

Up, Up & Away!

Today's lunch is the first I am really proud of :)

We've got an airplane between 2 layers of clouds

On the top, 1/2 a small orange makes the sun with some mini marshmallows & banana slice clouds

Then, on the bottom, Pirates Booty clouds with a grilled cheese airplane (cut with the plane from the Wilton 101-Piece Cookie Cutter Set) and a stand alone cheese star complete the lunch

The boys loved it & ate it up...maybe because we ran late at the grocery store and they were starving, or maybe because it was adorable.  I'm going to choose to believe the 2nd!

(I've shared this post with bentolunch.blogspot.com you can see more lunch ideas on their blog)

Muffin Tin: Orange You Glad

Top Row

• orange bell pepper
• ranch
• carrot sticks

Bottom Row

• orange slices (1/2 a small orange)
• black bean & cheese burrito with their initial out of cheese using the Wilton 101-Piece Cookie Cutter Set
• other 1/2 of the orange

If you'd like to see more muffin tin meals, you can click on over to the home of Muffin Tin Monday to check them out!

Confession...

So, I've been trying my hand at consistent, somewhat creative lunches this entire week.  I took daily photos and everyday when I had time to upload them, some form of embarrassment or insecurity came over me, so I just didn't.  It just so happened that a dear friend of mine placed a post on her blog about the very thing I was dealing with.  The title was 'Inspired or Overwhelmed?'  In the post she laid out her feelings in regards to blogs similar to this (blogs intended to inspire ideas and creativity) and the way that as an observer, it's so easy to take yourself from being inspired to feeling like what you're doing is not good enough in any given aspect of life.

As I mentioned before, I wanted to add the creative lunch element to this blog after being inspired by others and really thinking I could easily do the same thing.  However, once I began, I started to second guess myself, my meals, my creativity, etc.  As I snapped pictures and thought of placing them up for the world to see, I began to question what I was feeding my kids.  This may be a good thing (as in motivating me to add more healthy choices) and it may just be my insecurities of having the world judge what is on the plate and in the tummies of my 2 year olds.  

I began to wonder if it was ok that my kids eat the same basic food repeatedly and if I should continue to give in when they continually request the same item day in and day out.  And, I began to question the level of 'professionalism' in the photos...were the plates clean of water spots and when I slid the bananas into place they left smudges...can I really post it? I began to feel insecure that what I had to present was not perfect.

Not perfect...that's really what it comes down to.  I started this recipe blog originally for all of us moms who are not perfect.  I snapped photos of food I had made sitting on paper plates rather than perfectly staged with the right background and perfect lighting.  So, I have decided that is what I am going to continue to do.  This blog is all about not being perfect. 

There are days when my pantry is lacking vegetable options...and that's ok!  There are days where we run late at the grocery store and get home an hour past lunch time as I scrounge to make a meal in record time for 2 hungry toddlers.  It's barely creative...and that's ok!

So without shame, I lay out what we ate this week with no long explanations or excuses.

• Cucumber & carrot slices
• Strwaberrys
• Bisquick garlic cheese biscuit (the recipe is on the box, but not on this blog...it was not a family favorite :)
• Dinosaur chicken

• Grilled cheese (cut with DynoBytes Sandwich Crust Cutter)
• Turkey lunch meat roll
• Grapes
• Mini Marshmallows

• Apple slices
• Hard boiled egg
• Girlled cheese (cut with the Lunch Punch Puzzle Shape Sandwich Cutters (Set of 4)
• Pirates Booty

• Pirates Booty
• Nilla Waffers Mini
• Peanut Butter Snadwich (cut with Lunch Punch Animal Shape Sandwich Cutters (Set of 4)
• Banana smiley face with mini chocolate chip eyeballs

By the way...I found the divided plates at our local grocery store this week for $1!!  I only got 4 and they are out now :(  I'm hoping some more come in soon because they are great!

Dog Days...

Today's lunch taught me a few lessons.

First, I need to invest in at least a few items to make this new lunch thing work....specifically, plates.  Right now we are using these tiny Ikea plates.  They don't fit much and the shape makes it very hard to arrange items since everything slides to the center.  I'm going to see what I can find this weekend...any ideas or suggestions are welcome :)

Second, I need to get some more variety and look differently at the foods I buy.  Today, I wanted to do a dog theme to make use of the dog in my Lunch Punch Animal Shape Sandwich Cutters (Set of 4), however, I didn't have much else beyond that.  I did rescue my Wilton 101-Piece Cookie Cutter Set from it's lifetime existence in the garage (ok, it's been used maybe once or twice) and found a large bone shape.  I would have loved to have a fruit leather or something similar to use it on, but that is not a staple in our house...yet :)  I also am not accustomed to offering vegetables at lunch, so I've already used up what I had and I really don't have anything that is new to add.  Next week when I shop, I'll be sure to throw in an extra produce item or 2 that I can offer daily.

Finally, I'm learning that having two 2 year olds sometime requires a change of plans and thinking outside the box (perfect training ground for creative lunches, right?).  This is a daily lesson, and really nothing new.  Anyway, I had the brilliant idea to cut the 1/2 a watermelon I had in the fridge width wise and use the bone cookie cutter to make it into a cute shape.  It would have worked really well, had my 2 year old not gotten a hold of the watermelon, dropped it on the floor and all but shattered it.  I was able to rescue it and do some 'cut & paste' to give the same basic idea.  I would have loved for it to work perfectly, but that's life with kids & one of the struggles of being outnumbered by little hands in the kitchen :)

So, in the end...here was our lunch

• Watermelon (cut width wise and cut -just like a rolled sugar cookie- with the bone cutter from the Wilton 101-Piece Cookie Cutter Set)
• Quesadilla cut with the dog/dog house from the Lunch Punch Animal Shape Sandwich Cutters (Set of 4) 
• Avocado slices
• Yogurt raisins in star reusable muffin cup
• And, because the boys HAD to have it Pirates Booty...a.k.a. 'pop corn'