Here is a collection of some of our funky lunches lately.
Muffin Tin Meals. They are all the rage right now. These work great for my preschoolers who are home with me all day. Or for quick dinners during movie night.
This idea has been making it's way around the craft blog since early fall. There are people that do whole themes with colors, and I have even seen one done with a twigs and leaves theme with leaves cut from green apples and pretzel sticks for twigs. We have even done big tins for breakfast that the kids all shared. One of my friends even does Muffin Tin Mondays!
Last night we watched the movie "Cars" on the basement big screen, so the kids had a "Pit-stop Plate." Nothing really theme like, it was just what I called it. :) My husband and I had a large lunch and we were not really hungry for dinner. So this worked great! Kids eat so much better when it is in something different. Sure enough they each had two plates full.
On to...
Lunch Box Lunches
I have been on the foe bento kick lately and my daughter is always a huge fan of PB and J Sushi. Don't let the name scare you, it is just PB and J. Flatten two pieces of bread with a rolling pin and spread on your PB and J or whatever. Cheese and ham would work fine too. Put the bread pieces end to end and roll them starting with one piece than when it is rolled put the next piece where the other left off and keep rolling. Then slice with a knife.
My daughter eats these better than just a PB and J sandwich. It is faster to eat because it is more compact. Sometimes time is an issue for these little ones eating lunch at school. Another funny bonus, she eats the crusts this way. But tends to leave them when in sandwich form. I know she is getting more food when it is like this, and it doesn't take up much extra time at all.
Rice Shapes. I recommend getting a rice shape maker. We have
this one. But
Little Seouls has a bunch to choose from. We also have a rice cooker. Just got it this year. My daughter LOVES rice and pasta. But we didn't have it too much at home. Mainly because of the mess. Rice on the floor is horrible to clean up, and for toddlers it gets stuck in their hair and on their hands. It can prove to be a pretty frustrating food to eat. But.. if you use the rice shaper it is sooo much easier for little ones to eat, and of course it is a fun shape so they even eat more than they otherwise would. You can see I even put a rice shape in the foe bento lunch above. Just wrapped it in plastic wrap.
Well for this next lunch I went all out with the rice. Decided to get colorful. I put a small amount of water like a tablespoon into a plastic baggie, then added some food coloring, then added my cooked rice. It colored it fairly nicely. Then I used it to make rice shapes.
This lunch had a piece of turkey bacon in it as well. It may seem like a strange lunch, but when you have a picky eater and know what she will eat, you will put anything in the lunchbox.
Tick Tac Toe Sandwich:
Make a sandwich any kind, then cut it into nine squares to make a tick tac toe board. I did this for my daughter she used carrot coins for "O's" and pieces of string cheese she used for "X's" she and a friend played a game of tic-tac-toe before she ate her sandwich. She got a kick out of it and I guess some teachers on lunchroom duty did too because my daughter came home with a smile and a story of the teachers all coming over to see her sandwich and saying. "Are you playing tic-tac-toe on your lunch??" You could easily use colored goldfish for pieces as well, or possibly fruit snacks vs gold fish. There are plenty of small foods you could use to play.
My original idea was to use a piece of dark bread and a piece of light to make the sandwich and turn every other piece over to make a checkerboard pattern. But my daughter would not be excited about dark bread. :)
