Showing posts with label local find. Show all posts
Showing posts with label local find. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Vegetarian Toddler Lunch



This simple lunch for Emily was packed for her to take to her playgroup about two weeks ago.

Emily has a bunch of mini jam sandwiches cut with the FunBites cutter, and a few cheddar cheese shaped bunnies to add a little protein. They were sort of hard to cut out and they broke a bit at the ears. I should have used a little punch out tool to carefully remove them from the cutter. I also packed a leftover mini ear of corn, a clementine, strawberries and blackberries.

Emily goes to playgroup with her cousin and Emily shared her corn with her since she didn't seem to want it. She also left most, if not all, of the cheddar and the blackberries. Doesn't sound like she ate much, but there was plenty of food in there so I assume she just wasn't very hungry that day. If you are local I believe the FunBites cutter can be found at People's Pharmacy.


Here are some items that I used when making this lunch.
Disclaimer: if you make a purchase using the links on my site I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support!

  Japanese Bento Accessories Sandwich Cutter 4 designs Animal Food Sandwich Cutter set Small Fun Bites - Cube

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Monday, March 4, 2013

Heart sandwich in a new lunch container!

Great Local Find! I spotted this Fuel lunch container at Master's Ltd for around $5. In it I packed a simple vegetarian lunch for Amy.

carrot sticks, celery and peanut butter, 
plums, strawberries and a grape jelly sandwich

This was from last Friday . Amy was feeling unwell last week and was at home for a couple of days, Emily was also ill and appeared to have the Roseola virus.  I spent all morning at the school book swap on Friday and I made this little bento quickly in the morning so that Amy could have something easy to eat when she was hungry. My Mom stayed at home with the sick girls while I was out - Thanks Mom! Unfortunately, by Friday afternoon I was feeling unwell too and to add insult to injury my internet stopped working! The telephone company came today and fixed the DSL line as it was a hardware problem outside. Phew! I need the internet for work so that created some problems but what I really missed was using my favourite ipad apps and watching Netflix while I was unwell and resting in bed. I am spoiled by technology - can you relate?

Back to the new Fuel lunch container. This is what it looks like when it's closed.  It snaps shut and seems like it will stay closed pretty well.

If you want to check out some other vegetarian lunch choices click below!
BentoForKidlet


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Bento Lunch

Here are some of the items that I used to make this lunch. I have to say that I LOVE the Peach Wedger. It's so easy to cut peaches and plums into perfect little slices without fussing with the pit.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Simple Lunch for a day out


Amy had the chance to participate in a voice workshop with Voces8 and then give a free performance on the steps of City Hall. It was at 12:15 so we had to quickly rush over after picking up Heidi from school. You know how Heidi can't wait 2 minutes to eat her lunch after school so I packed her this little lunch to bring with us. I thought she might want to start eating it in the car so I used our lunchbots quad container as it's size is just perfect for her little hands and lap.


carrot sticks, pineapple, grapes, cheese sandwiches with cheese flower topper

I did pack a little cup of dip for her carrots after I took the picture (I forgot at first!)


Here's a little clip of their performance. Amy is in the very middle group (white shirts and khaki bottoms), in the second row. It was a bit windy and my video skills could use some work! 




Food Decorating Pick Puffy Pick Baby Flower 14 pcs

Sunday, December 9, 2012

North Pole Breakfast and our new Elf on the Shelf

I caved into the pressure. I bought the Elf and the kids LOVE it! They named their new elf Snowflake and this is the breakfast when he arrived for the first time. I had originally wanted to start on December 1st but Amy went to a friend's birthday party sleepover so we postponed 1 day, starting on December 2nd. I had a few other fun touches that were meant to be added but the special items didn't arrive in time - so I am saving them for some fun elf scenes in the coming weeks.
The girls had - raspberry mini muffins, snowballs (powdered donuts), Hot chocolate with marshmallows, whipped cream & sprinkles and a few elf kisses. Snowflake bought them all new pajamas and a book for Emily instead. I had printed up a menu and was planning on making these cute reindeer pancakes but they didn't want any! Another day then.
Each place setting had a little namecard, a fun plate and a new Santa Mug (from Gibbon's Company). The new plates that I had ordered did not make it in time so thankfully I had some fun holiday serving trays and I used those instead.
I typed out an introduction letter using these party printables and we also read the book in the morning. Well Amy read it to her sisters. I just cuddled on the couch with them :)


I think the hot chocolate was the highlight!

Rose woke up early, tried on her new pajamas and then promptly got dressed! 

I purchased this stationery set from PaperGlitter and set it up so that they could write letters to Santa. 
That was fun. Heidi wanted me to write for her. "Santa I really like you and please bring me these presents." Right to the point <3

All smiles! Those little blue 80's style glove things were a party favor from the birthday party. 
She wore them ALL DAY!


Snowflake has had a few adventures so far. Nothing too crazy. She took a ride on a dolphin, brought the girls the Elf on the Shelf DVD and watched it and tonight she is hanging out in our Christmas tree and decorated it with some reindeer candy canes. She is definitely a nice elf and I don't think she will get up to much trouble ;)

Saturday, December 8, 2012

New lunchbox -- LunchBots

Amy has been having trouble eating enough lunch on a Monday as she eats quickly and then goes to choir at lunchtime during school. I tried out this new lunch box and packed a smaller lunch that hopefully she can eat in the allotted time. I also sent a much larger morning snack to help even it out. This seems much better than the usual "pack a normal lunch and then she only eats a few nibbles and comes home ravenous and has to rush to ballet after school eating a snack in the car and complaining that she's hungry as we drive" scenario that has been playing out for weeks. These are also her favourite things so there are no excuses! Well so far it worked. Will have to keep this up for future Mondays.

clementine, half a sandwich, carrots and peanut butter, goldfish

I've had my eyes on the LunchBots for awhile now and I finally bought a few to try at People's Pharmacy. I think they are fun to pack but the lids were kind of hard to get off. I prefer stainless steel to plastic for lunches and was hoping that this might be another  style  that Heidi would like but she can't take the lid off herself and I predict a lunch flying through the air disaster when she tries. So for now these are going to be for Amy. If the lids loosen up a bit Heidi can try them too. The local price was very reasonable but selection was limited as they have been in stock for ages and have been picked over.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Jack O Lantern sandwiches and pizza

More Halloween fun lunches for the girls today. Emily was up playing in the middle of the night last night and my husband and I were both really tired this morning. Lunches had to be super fast and easy. Here's what I came up with.

Rose's Lunch
cookie (I didn't make these, my Aunt brought them over last night), string cheese with ghost rings,
gummy vitamins, apple pieces, honeydew melon
jack o lantern sandwich

The ghost rings were one of a few fun Halloween trinkets that I found at Party Plus on the weekend. 

Amy's Lunch
Amy's is the same as Rose's. Just a different cheese and no mustard on her sandwich. The cookie sure looked lonely in that compartment all by itself but there has been a little bit of uneaten food coming home lately, so I didn't want to overpack again.

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Heidi had a cookie, grapes, apple pieces and a cheese pizza.

For Heidi I still made her lunch in the morning, but I didn't heat up the pizza until she got home from school. I am sure that this is the first of many Halloween pizzas I'll make this year as the girls always request them once Halloween nears. The ghost cutter below also makes a great Halloween pizza, cover it with grated mozzarella and sliced black olives for eyes and a mouth instead :)

Everyone ate all of their lunch except Amy, who left some cheese.


Saturday, July 7, 2012

Elephant snacks & a local find!

Two snacks for my little swimmers! Heidi wasn't swimming today but she still had the same as Rose. She wants to have her turn everyday like her sister, but the little one's group lessons are only Monday and Wednesday so today we watched Rose's lesson.


Rose's after swim snack
strawberries, grapes,
half a ham sandwich with elephant cut out of mozzarella cheese

Heidi's snack.
the same except cheese sandwich. 



You might not know this, but Heidi is a Dora fanatic. She loves anything with Dora on it. When we were out shopping a week or so ago she saw this little sandwich container and a pair of Dora socks that she just had to have. I am pleased to say that it's a perfect little snack container, or hot lunch day "sides" container. It fits 4 silicone cups perfectly and the lid snaps on with more conviction than our other ones. It is also easy enough for her to open. They were $4.55 at Pheonix Kids. There were a few other characters too. 

Something was up with my camera. I couldn't take a decent photo. Hopefully I will have time to see if any of the settings are off before I use it next. I am not skilled in photography anyway so it's always on automatic. It was very weird today. These were the best ones and I took several!!!

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Thursday, April 12, 2012

Rainbow lunch for Rosie

A rainbow lunch to cheer up Rosie
Ham shooting star sandwich, apple stars
rainbow star boiled egg, plum slices
cucumber cutouts with orange pepper fill ins
carrot & celery sticks with ranch dip in the little cup

Did you notice that the food colouring markers look better? It's a new brand! I bought them at International Imports. They were a bit expensive and I was hesitant to spend money on them without knowing if they would be just as annoying as the others. It was a good decision :) The brand is Ateco. I've only used them today so no report yet about how long they will stay so bright.

Rose is still unwell. We've been to the Dr once this week and are supposed to call in to report tomorrow. I imagine they will want to see her again. This lunch certainly cheered her up and she wanted me to take a photo of her with her lunch. She still picked at her food - ate the whole egg and all of the apple stars plus a few bites of everything else. Success in my book.


check out Rainbow Connection for some other rainbow food, crafts and activities:

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Elephants - a new cutter

These were Rose & Heidi's lunches from the same day that I made Amy's read a thon lunch.  Notice the similarities :)


Rose's lunch
granola bites, clementine, carrots, ants on a log, PB dip for her carrots (like Amy!) 
honeydew melon and blueberries
elephant sandwiches

Heidi's lunch
granola bites, blueberries, honeydew & clementines
carrots sticks ants on a log, elephant sandiwches

The sandwiches are made using a new cutter that I bought from People's Pharmacy. It's the munchkin brand and cuts out two elephants at once on one slice of bread. They also had a 2 penguin sandwich cutter and I bought that one too. I can't remember the price but it was very reasonable. I made the sandwiches and then punched out the shapes - it worked very well! Dare I say it -- better than one of my faves, the lunch punch... :0 possibly because there is less detail.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Superfast hearts bento

This was a fast bento to put together with not many "frills". It's Heidi's rainy Saturday lunch to eat at home while her older sisters went to gymnastics.
  • grapes
  • carrot sticks & celery sticks
  • ranch dip in the blue mini cup
  • honeydew melon in the heart silicone cup
  • peanut butter sandwich with heart cheese toppers

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Mickey Mouse

Gymnastics day bento for Rosie

  • grapes
  • peanut butter sandwich
  • ranch dip in the orange cup
  • celery sticks, carrot sticks, grape tomatoes
  • honeydew melon
  • Mickey Mouse boiled egg



All packed up in her Sassy box and ready to go to gymnastics.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Froggies & Piggies

Gymnastics day bentos for the girls. I always pack a little lunch for them and we eat it in between classes outside on the little wall.

Heidi's
grapes, fishies & two cheese froggy sandwiches.
(new-ish frog cutter came from International Imports)

Amy's lunch
grapes, pineapples, two piggy sandwiches

Rose's lunch
pineapples, grapes, frog prince sandwiches


Saturday, December 31, 2011

First ever gingerbread house !


I wasn't originally too keen on making a gingerbread house with the girls. There was just so much going on in the house I thought it would be a bit of a disaster - finding a pattern, making the pieces, assembling the house etc. all while caring for sweet baby Emily. Enter the gingerbread kit! My Mom bought us a Wilton gingerbread house kit and nonchalantly gave it to the girls a few weeks before Christmas. That pretty much sealed the deal - we were making a gingerbread house!
I did a few Internet searches and saw some different ideas and a few tips on making gingerbread houses with children.  3 tips stood out: use a kit and save yourself any baking drama plus younger kids enjoy the candy part the most, not the baking and assembly and waiting part, buy candy that is NOT your children's favourites (so they eat less during the process) and put the candy in a muffin tin so it's easy to choose and also keep the work area tidier without a bunch of opened candy bags strewn about. Win, Win, Win. The kit came with some candy but I bought a few extras just in case - I fully expected some to be eaten as we worked and we all did ;)

Here's our candy all set up:
 I made 2 muffin tins to share between the 3 girls, I manned the royal icing bag.
Christmas dots, M&Ms, spearmint trees, traditional hard candy mix, fruit swirls, spice drops all bought by me. The kit included a few gummy trees, a few flat gumdrops, and the little colourful round candies.
I didn't get any action shots. I took a few on my phone which turned out terrible. It really was a pretty busy event and stopping to snap photos was not going to happen. Perhaps next time, now that I have one gingerbread house under my belt!

Here's our finished house:
Rose didn't want to stop decorating once we finished the house and walkway, so we added an entire front yard that she decorated. Can you see the little orange doorknob? Amy's idea - because how does the gingerbread man open the door!?!

The better side!
Rose was very proud of her Christmas Dots pattern on the roof.

The failed attempt at window curtains side - LOL!
There must have been a wicked storm 'cuz those trees are leaning :)

The back spice drop design

All in all I think I thinned the Royal icing too much. I knew that I was planning on doing the assembly one day and the decorating the next so I thought that *slightly* thinner icing would be better as I expected it to stiffen up a bit after being left in the bag overnight. Well it didn't really, so next time I won't do that. It wasn't a major problem I just had to get the kids to hold the items on for a bit before letting go. I think they did a great job overall.

This activity was SO FUN! I feel so silly for being afraid. The girls had a blast and we will make one every year from now on I'm certain. The kit made it really easy too. The pieces were precut, a base was included, all you have to do is add water to the icing mix and put it in the enclosed bag then assemble and decorate. Could. Not. Be. Easier.

Thanks MOM for *encouraging* me into a fun activity!

Monday, November 14, 2011

Local find!

I have been hoping that the grocery store would have something fun and seasonal soon. Lindo's didn't disappoint. I found these large Wilton cookie cutters. These are a good size for sandwiches. I haven't used them yet but I measured them on the bread and they are going to be great. The Santa works best on an angle and the snowflake just fits. They had some other smaller ones too but I must confess - I already bought them last year!



I also found these cupcake liners & picks. Good used inside out for lunches, MTMs and then of course right side out and as intended for some fun cupcakes!

I can't wait to use these. Hopefully soon - but I think it's a tad early for Christmas lunches.