Love My Kids {lunch boxes} Gluten free Grown up or Kid friendly Lunch

I hope to share some of my ideas for fun lunch boxes with you all through out the next school year. I am a Gluten-Free eater and so many of my ideas will also be Gluten-Free.

This is a meal that I created for myself but I was thinking also of my Phia. I could easily fix this entire meal for her to enjoy at school. The thing I love about this meal is that it is packed with nutrients and good flavors. It will fill you up, give you energy and won't make you feel heavy or tired. Sounds like the perfect teacher lunch to me! You could easily through in some crackers, pita or pretzels along with this meal for a those that just have to have the bread carbs to survive! If you just hate pickles, I'd use carrots or peppers.

1. Roasted Chicken, Swiss, and Pickles "Sandwich Sushi" with Mustard for dipping
2. Sliced Apples & Nutella
3. Spinach Salad with Craisins and Walnuts with Balsamic Vinaigrette for dipping

• To make the Sandwich Sushi, lay two slices of roasted chicken flat, Add a slice of pickle and a "cube" of swish and roll. Cut in half or thirds to make bite sized pieces. Serve with Spicy Brown Mustard for dipping. One serving is three rolls: (six slices of roasted chicken lunch meat, three cubes of cheese and about 1 half of a pickle sliced)

• Slice up an apple and splash it with some lemon juice to keep it from browning or sprinkle with Fruit Fresh. Add 1 Tbs. of Nutella or Almond Butter, Peanut Butter or Sun butter.

• Add about a cup of fresh Spinach leaves and 1 Tbs.. of Vinaigrette.

• Add a few walnuts and a small handful of Craisins, blueberries, raisins or other dried fruit to sprinkle on the salad or eat on it's own.

Up-close look at the "Sandwich Sushi"

This Bento is a box that I found  at Gilt that just happens to be available again!

Goodbyn Original Kit

I hope that this lunch box inspired you!

Love my kids {lunch boxes}

Well, school is starting soon and this momma is feeling excited/emotional/unprepared for her baby to be starting Kindergarten (ack). One way I feel that I can calm my nerves is to think up great and healthy lunches that my Mighty will actually love  eat. This can be challenging because Mighty is a picky eater but I hope with the fun and creativity of bento he might try some new things. My princess on the other hand eats very well and I'm excited to use lots of different fruits, veggies and fun colors and flavors in her lunch box.

We will be making lunches for 4 people in my household. We are on a budget (saving for LB (little brother)'s adoption -anoceansizedlove for more on that ) so I make lunch for my sweet man, Mighty, my princess, and myself for school days. I would love to hear what you do to fix lunches ahead of time or the morning of. Please link your ideas!

Here are a few great blog posts I've found to inspire me as I plan for lunches...


This Lunch Rox

For the Sweetie ...

This Lunch Rox

How cute is this little froggie?

This Lunch Rox

I love this idea for kid made tacos at school! Sort of Lunchables with a healthy and yummy twist...


This Lunch Rox

Can you tell I'm in love with ThisLunchRox? I will be visiting this blog weekly for great lunch ideas.

Need recipes to fill your lunch boxes/bento boxes?

I love Weelicious for her healthy and fun toddler friendly foods. Many of her recipes make for great lunch box companions like the fruit leather and dips.

Fruit Leather


Red Pepper Dip

Here are some more blogs to inspire you while you plan meals for this school year:

• http://360lunchboxes.blogspot.com/
• http://susanyuen.wordpress.com/
• http://funlunchbox.blogspot.com/
• http://www.mybentolicious.com/

Bento's Mighty wants us to try:

Phineas and Ferb

More Phineas and Ferb

Perry

And for my sweet Princess:

Candace Party in a bento:-)

I hope to make this a regular post to share ideas on creative lunches and how to prep ahead of time for busy mom's like me. If you have ideas please comment and leave your links! I'd love to find some more fun bento blogs to follow!

-Sarah

Sweet sweet buns

For Father's day I decided to attempt the so cute dessert version of hamburger and french fries idea that I shared the other day. I found the original idea from Bakerella.

And here is my version:

If I were to do it again (which my dear hubby may request!) I would probably cut the circle brownie patty in half so that it wasn't so thick for a more proportionate looking "burger". I also had hoped to make a thick raspberry  sauce in place of the red icing for a more natural "red ketchup". I also think raspberry would add a yummy flavor to it all. 

Here are the recipes that I used and how I put it all together:

For the brownie layer I simply used a mix. I had one, it was easy. Enough said.

For the cake I searched online for a recipe with good reviews and I am happy with the one that I picked. I made some alterations to it and the cupcakes came out light, fluffy, and full of flavor. The original recipe comes from Magnolia's Bakery. Here is my version ( I only wanted 12 cupcakes so I halved the recipe):

1 1/2 cups cake flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 stick unsalted butter

1 cup sugar 

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

about 1 tbs. vanilla

Combine the dry ingredients and set aside. Whip the butter until fluffy. Add sugar, whip until pales in color. Add 2 eggs and vanilla. Whip for about a minute. Add flour mixture and milk at intervals on a low whip setting. Whip until smooth and fluffy about a minute or 2. Add cupcake liners to a cupcake pan and scoop dough in to each cupcake liner with a cookie scoop. Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes.

For the cookies I used my favorite tried and true sugar cookie recipe by Alton Brown. No need to alter this recipe! I use this every time I need a great cut out cookie recipe. It never fails and it's super easy to handle. I simply made the dough, rolled it out and cut strips about 1/4 to 1/8 inch wide and about 3-4 inches long and placed the cut "fries" into some sugar, carefully coating them (simply press very gently into sugar, being careful not to mess up the shape or break the dough) and placing them on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake 350 for about 10 minutes. When the cookies came out of the oven I sprinkled a bit more sugar over them for that "salty" fries look. 

This was a lot of fun to put together and the kids were really excited to give the burger and fries to their dad. We just might have to add this to our Dad's Day tradition list.