Sailing Away

Arr! More pirate lunches, ahoy!

In this lunch:

Watermelon pieces

Blueberries

Greek yogurt

Sandwich with Udi's GF bread

GF pie piece

Van's GF cheese crackers

Our little pirate friend is hanging out on a gluten free ham and cheese sandwich. X marks the spot in a square of gf pie, which Beaker declared the best EVER (not homemade though - I can't remember the brand name, but they are little individual pies sold at a local store). And a treasure chest of golden crunchy 'coins' is tucked in below the X.

I really love the silicone tray I used to make this frozen Greek yogurt skull. It gets a ton of use here! I keep a bag of frozen yogurt shapes in the freezer, and when the kids want a cold snack they can just pull a skull or some bones out of the bag and enjoy. I love how freezing yogurt makes it seem like a sweet treat dessert, but it has a nice pack of calcium and protein, too! And freezing it into shapes is just an extra fun bonus.

Affiliate links to products used:

We Love a Parade!

Before the summer officially started was Parade Season. G-man and Bean were in three or four parades with their middle school band this year. Which of course meant that Beaker and I were there in the crowds to cheer them on!

These are a couple of our Parade Picnic Lunches from this year. Including the Junior Rose Parade, where my kids' middle school took top honors and marched off with the award for first place in their category!

Orange slices, ham and cheese sandwich, crackers, and chocolate cookies.

Apple chunks, Glutino pretzel sticks, ham and cheese rolls, carrots and cucumber with ranch.

Because of course Pandas should be invited to a Parade Picnic!

Beaker loved eating this one while watching the parade. He couldn't decide which part of the parade was his favorite!

And for Mom, cucumber slices with ranch, ham and cheese rolls, crackers, and apple chunks.

All of the above were packed into Easy Lunchboxes. They are our favorites! Fast, easy, convenient, and they make a great solid surface for eating with your lunch on your lap.

Affiliate links to products used:

Cute Koala

An adorably simple lunch for Lulu today!

This darling little koala sandwich was made with the new Cuddle Palz set from CuteZCute. These sandwich cutter and stamper sets are both super easy to use and super adorable. The set comes with the tools to make a little mouse, tiger, bear, or this sweet koala:

The outside shape is included along with the cutter/stamper for the details, a body shape, and an adorable little pick for pushing out leftover bits. We are loving the new set!

In this lunch:

Koala sandwich

Yogurt with sprinkles

Apple slices and grapes

Carrot sticks with ranch

Pretzel twists and mini Oreos

Affiliate links to products used:

James and the Giant Peach

Happy birthday to Roald Dahl! 

As a kid, I found his books super creepy. They were the first books to ever scare me. Especially James and the Giant Peach. Something about the mean aunts and the boy who ran away with person-sized bugs was chilling to child me. I blame the giant spider. 

Creepy, scary... but also very good. Dahl was excellent at imagery. I may have been scared by the books, but I still read them all and kept going back for more. 

Bean is starting to be interested in reading Dahl books, so for Roald Dahl Day and the BBF blog hop, I made her a lunch based on the book that inspired several sleepless nights and a lifelong fear of biting into insects in fruit.

Muenster cheese letters spell out the name of the orphan boy across - what else? - a peach.

Miss Spider spins her web across spinach dip, while the Glowworm snoozes on a bed of pretzels. There is also a few Buffalo chicken strips with ranch dip.

And a smiling Mrs. Ladybug crawls across half a chocolate zucchini muffin.

Click the button below to follow the hop through to the next blog and see what the lovely Keitha's Chaos has to share!

Affiliate links to products used:

ELBs for Three

I have a lot of bento boxes now. A lot. So many! But my very favorite? The one I usually reach for first, the one most versatile and easy to use for all of the ages I pack for?

Easy Lunchboxes.

I love these things! They are hands down our favorites.

What I love about Easy Lunchboxes:

* Easy to use. They are aptly named! The open layout and three section design make them super easy to pack lunch in. The sections are big, but not too big ~ just the right size! Also, the lids pop right on and are simple enough to remove that even Beaker can manage them without help.

* Great size. I use them for all of my kids, including the four year old, and also for the grown ups. It's easy to adjust the amount of food packed for different appetites. They are big enough for larger appetites, but small enough to not be bulky or make you feel like you need to fill up a bunch of empty space.

* Fantastic company. The customer service is stellar, and the owner is a wonderful, classy lady whom I have had the great luck of getting to know a bit. I have a soft spot for owner run businesses, and this one is a great example of how awesome they can be.

* Excellent price. At only $13.95 for a set of four, the price is affordable for almost any budget. And free shipping with orders over $25 if purchased on Amazon!

It's easy to see why these are my favorites! They aren't made to be leakproof, but packing things like applesauce or yogurt is super simple, just by putting a piece of Press N Seal over the section or packing the liquid-y food into a Mini Dipper or other small lidded container inside the ELB. 

They're also way easier to eat from than a bunch of small individual containers or baggies. The shape makes them into a perfect little tray for balancing on a lap, if necessary. 

Beaker and Princess loved the ease of use when they had a picnic lunch while at a parade over the summer. They were able to sit comfortably inside a wagon watching the floats and horses and bands march past, with lunches easily resting on laps and everything easily accessible. Can't do that with a bunch of fiddly little baggies! 

Princess had strawberries and cucumbers from the garden, pretzels, and grilled chicken with barbecue sauce for dipping.

Beaker took garden strawberries and cucumbers, carrot sticks, corn cereal, and chicken with ketchup for dipping.

And for me, a grilled chicken Caesar salad. The lettuce, cucumbers, and strawberries all came from my garden. I love my garden!

Affiliate links to products used:

Carnitas Salad Lunch

Yum! Around here, carnitas is a favorite dinner. And it makes excellent lunch leftovers! To make the carnitas, I use a recipe similar to this one, except for mine I skip the garlic (since Beaker is allergic to garlic) and use my onion powder instead, and my own homemade broth. And I add a generous pinch of black pepper and ground red pepper for a little spice. The results are delicious, and SO easy. I just have to drop the meat in the crock pot with the spices and broth in the morning and by evening we have a delicious dinner, almost ready to go. It is also really good with a beef roast instead of pork.

Another super easy way is to just dump the meat in the crock pot and cover it with a good coating of ground black and red pepper, cumin, coriander, a dash of cayenne, and a sprinkle of onion powder. No liquid necessary, just let it stew in its own juices all day. Then pull the meat out and shred it at the end of the day. Done! This method is fantastic with beef or chicken.

For dinner, I like to serve the shredded meat with cilantro, diced onions, lime, shredded cabbage, sour cream and guacamole, and black beans, with lightly softened corn tortillas. SO yummy!

For lunches, the leftovers make a great salad!

This is just shredded cabbage with carnitas on top. A few halved cherry tomatoes decorate the corners.

On the side is a cup of salsa and some seven layer bean dip, with a tasty fruit salad. The container lid fits pretty flush, but to be extra certain that the bean dip stayed where it's supposed to I dropped a couple of silicone baran pieces on top. I also included a smaller container full of crispy tortilla chips for crunch.

Delicioso!

Affiliate links for products used:

Fancy Salads

Alternately titled: Why I Love Gardening!

A vegetable garden can be an investment, both of time and of money. But the rewards are delicious! In high summer I can plan lunch and dinner by walking out into my backyard and grabbing a handful of this, a few of those, a bowl full of that... and voila, a great meal, just add protein!

And one of the best summer lunches is a simple (or fancy!) salad, full of fresh veggies and other tasty toppings. Here are a few of the yummy salads I have packed for lunches on the go this summer!

This salad is one of my favorites. It's a simple pear and gorgonzola with pear vinaigrette on the side. Just mixed greens, chunks of pear, and a handful of gorgonzola cheese crumbles. Yum!

On the side I have a handful of mixed berries and a scoop of yogurt with gluten free chocolate granola sprinkled on top.

For this salad, I started with a base of fresh greens from the garden. I added homegrown cherry tomatoes and a few sliced mushrooms from the store. A sprinkle of shredded cheese and some smoked pepper salmon finish off this delicious salad. There is also dressing on the side, and some berries and chocolate for later.

Smoked salmon salads are rapidly becoming the Dude's favorites!

This salad is a very simple garden salad. It's just mixed greens with cubed carrots, sliced cucumbers, and bits of diced cheese. I put the dressing on the side to keep the greens from getting soggy. Cut pears are a nice crunchy sweet dessert with no fat and few calories.

A pretty turkey rose with crunchy gluten-free crackers are tucked up to the side of the salad. The turkey and crackers were added to the salad before eating, to keep the crackers from getting soggy and the turkey from making the lettuce brown too fast.

This last salad could be called "clean out the crisper salad". I grabbed random veggies out of the fridge that needed to be eaten and tossed them all in a salad. There is broccoli, cucumbers, sliced pepper rings, carrot curls, mixed greens, and some zucchini strips all tucked in there. I also put a side of dressing and a heart full of sunflower seeds and small crackers for a little crunch. There is sliced grilled chicken for protein, and up in the corner are some pear chunks and watermelon flowers for dessert.

Affiliate links for products used:

Ninja Buns

A lunch for me! Pretzel bun-pastrami sandwich with broccoli, snap peas, ranch for dipping, and some kiwi slices.

Not only do these pretzel buns taste delicious... they're also ninjas!

The addition of a pair of candy eyes turns a regular pretzel bun into a ninja, hiding in the broccoli and snap pea bushes, just waiting for a chance to attack. Princess LOVED this lunch. Usually she eats only a little of her lunch at school or when we're out and saves the rest to eat when she gets home. She would rather talk and play at lunch time than eat. But this lunch she ate almost the whole thing, because "It was a ninja, Mom! I like ninjas. They're sneaky and fast. Ninjas are cool."

For her lunch, Princess has a ninja bun, broccoli and snap peas with ranch, a piece of chocolate, grilled chicken pieces, and fruit salad.

For the Dude, a pretzel bun sandwich with provolone and thin sliced roast beef, multigrain chips with 7 layer bean dip, and a handful of raspberries mixed with some chocolate almonds.

Affiliate links to products used:

Gluten, Soy, & Nut Free Vegan Pancakes

Since finding out that Beaker is allergic to a long list of foods, we have gotten pretty good at keeping his food safe for him while also serving him tasty meals that he will eat. We have done well at finding alternatives for him for most of the foods that he loves best. One thing I have struggled with is pancakes. Especially since the test results came back with egg and dairy reactions! How on earth do you make pancakes with no eggs, dairy, soy, wheat, or nuts that are still edible and tasty enough to eat?

Like this!

Gluten, Soy, & Nut Free Vegan Pancakes

Ingredients:

2 cups gluten, soy, and nut free all purpose flour

2 cups coconut or rice milk

1 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

3 Tbsp coconut oil + extra for cooking

2 Tbsp ground flax

1 tsp GF vanilla

6 Tbsp water

First, measure water and flax meal into a small pan. Heat on medium, stirring well with a whisk. When water comes to boil, turn off the heat and keep whisking another minute or two. The flax will develop a thick consistency, similar to raw egg whites. Set aside to cool.

In medium mixing bowl blend together flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Add milk substitute, vanilla, coconut oil, and prepared flax mix. Whisk together well.

In a small pan or griddle heat a small amount of coconut oil. Add a small scoop of pancake mix and cook until air holes begin to appear on top. Flip and cook until done.

The number of pancakes you can make depends on their size. I made them on the larger side of medium sized and was able to make 10 from this recipe.

These were a HUGE hit in our home. Beaker ate four helpings! They were delicious topped with a handful of thawed out frozen blueberries and a few sliced strawberries on the side. Light, fluffy, and just the right amount of sweet! The kids loved them and are requesting them for dinner again very soon.

They also made a great take-along breakfast for an early morning appointment the next day!

This took about five minutes to make. I used our CuteZCute frog sandwich cutter to pop out the pancake shapes, with organic fruit leather for the facial features. Beaker also has a little cup of halved grapes, two whole strawberries, and a Mini Dipper with a bit of syrup on the side for dipping. Easy, fast, delicious, and allergy safe meal on the go for an active little guy. Perfect!

Affiliate links to products used:

Random Grown-Up Lunches

Today was the last day of school for four of my kiddos! I had this cool lunch idea all planned out, with flip flops and sunglasses and all sorts of fun stuff. But then I realized that the kids had a half day (a lot of them in a row, actually), so no lunch at school. And then I thought I could just do it for at home, but then I got stuck running errands all day and only swinging home really quick to pick them up just as school let out before running back out again.

So instead of a fun Last Day of School lunch, I am making pizza (with gluten-free mini pizzas for Beaker) and popcorn with root beer floats for dinner and renting a movie for a fun family night tonight. And instead of a fun Last Day of School lunch post, here is a quick post with a few of the random lunches I have packed for the Dude and myself recently:

This one is the Dude declared to be one of his favorites. It's a salad of mixed spring greens with pepper smoked salmon and provolone cheese stars. He also has rice crackers with some soft jalapeno cheese spread and two mini chocolate bars.

The salad also has carrot and bell pepper stars for a little extra flavor, and Caeser dressing on the side.

This one is a little random. It has some crunchy kettle chips, a fruit salad of grapes and cantaloupe, and a main dish of fried rice with skewers of salami.

I thought the fried rice and salami flavors together would be a little odd, but the Dude said they were pretty good together. Go figure!

One for me! This lunch has Van's multigrain crackers, funny-face hard boiled egg halves, a peeled clementine, a handful of grapes, and some cucumber rolls ~ cucumber pieces cut in half, with the seeds removed, filled with cream cheese and stuffed with rolled up roasted turkey lunch meat. They were delicious!

Silly egg faces! The addition of a tiny bit of nori and a sprinkle of sea salt made the hard boiled egg taste delicious.

"Oh, dang. I'm out of bread. No sandwich then. Hmmm... hey, I'll just wrap it all up in lettuce leaves!"

And it worked! The leaves cracked in the center a little when I rolled them up, but they were pretty tasty. I stuffed them with a little creamy Caesar and a little spicy mustard, thin sliced roast beef, provolone cheese, and some bell peppers, then topped them with golden and red cherry tomato halves.

On the side is a handful of kettle chips, cucumber slices with creamy cheese spread, and fresh blackberries with cantaloupe chunks.

Speaking of random lunches...

This is one I packed when I looked in the fridge and realized it was probably time to hit the grocery store again. A little random, but it worked out pretty well. This lunch has a basic Caesar salad ~ romaine lettuce with Caesar dressing on the side ~ and a hard boiled egg, cheese stuffed green olives, leftover gluten-free cheese pasta bake, some Van's multigrain crackers with Laughing Cow cheese wedges, a handful of Trader Joe's jalapeno cheese curls, and a few Thin Mints cookies, all packed in a Laptop Lunches box. Okay, it's a little more than a little random. But the Dude ate it all and didn't complain! Better than no lunch, right?

We have some fun plans for summer, so maybe I'll have some of those to share later! I'm off to enjoy Fun Family Celebration Night with my kids for now!

Affiliate Links for Products Used: