(two times the) Laptop Lunches fun

My computer has been resurrected. Hip, hip, hooray!

The culprit was a Windows update that had just been done prior. Apparently there are tons of Windows users who have had massive computer crashes following this latest update. "The Black Screen of Death" they call it. Be warned!  I am hugely disgruntled over that whole thing - mega zillion dollar company's booboo causing mayhem for all its peon customers...do you think they will do anything to make their error right? Ha, yeah, me neither. *grumble grumble* 

On to some fun stuff. Two Laptop Lunches for my two littles. These were from a week or so ago...right before aforementioned computer distress.

A bit of fun news, we found our missing pink Laptop Lunches box! I had hidden it from myself on top of the kitchen cabinets. My search up there turned up all sorts of treasures I had forgotten about. Like stocking stuffers that never made it out of Christmas last year.  Oh well, 'tis the season (again) after all!


Paige's Laptop Lunch contained:
- two homemade granola bites and a mini container of sunflower kernels
- strawberries with cute lion pick (open up and say "ahh!")
- golfish crackers
- banana and peanut butter soft tacos (with raisins, too)

The banana/raisin/peanut butter tacos are in the container that comes with it's own sealing lid, ensureing that the rest of the food doesn't absorb the banana scent & flavor, which can be a problem with cut bananas in a bento box.



Tyler had almost the same lunch.
He had blackberries instead of strawberries (and no pick because I'm not about to give that crazy two-year-old a sharp stick), and I rolled his tortillas to be more of a wrap than a taco. This made them easier to hold and stuff in his mouth. :)



I ordered the little cases for sunflower kernels and the matching picks from ATFS.  Hmm, speaking of stocking stuffers.... :)
 

turkey snack & Lunch Punch giveaway winners!

Hey guys!  

I am so sorry for the delay in announcing the winners of the Lunch Punch giveaway! If you are a liker of the Another Lunch Facebook Page you might have seen the update I made the other day that my computer died. 

It is still dead. 

I'm not sure it can be resuscitated at all (sob!), but I finally found the charger for my old laptop so I could post. Half the keys are missing from the keyboard (the work of a baby Tyler...blazing the trail of trouble he still heaves today! Ha!!), so you can imagine how pleasant it is to type on. ;-)

Due to the continuing difficulty I don't have the spiffy little Photoshopped screenshots to do for the winning comment numbers. But, because of this delay, I am giving away a 3rd Lunch Punch Sweet Set - three winners! 

Three cheers to the following three lucky commenters...

comment #50, Karen! Congrats!!

comment #142, Leslie! Yay you!!

comment #17, SandyW! Woot!

Thank you to everyone who entered! 

The Lunch Punch Sweet sets are currently available for sale right here, at Amazon and some other online retailers, too.  Lunch Punch is now also being sold by Pottery Barn Kids! Lahdeedah and ooh la la! I am SO happy for Lunch Punch's success. It couldn't happen to a nicer company/person (I'm lookin' at you, Kiersten!). :)

And lastly, Happy Thanksgiving!! :)

Have a gobble-tastic holiday!!

Lunch Punch bento: one Sweet EasyLunchboxes lunch

More Lunch Punch fun happening with the new Sweet set!

So you've seen the gumball machine, ice cream cones, and cupcake sandwiches in action... that leaves the birthday cake! :)



This Sweet lunch consists of a bologna sandwich, deconstructed s'mores, and raspberries. My sandwich got a little lopsided. This cutter actually cuts the sandwich in half, and that wavy line is where the sandwich gets cut through.

The deconstructed s'mores are a mix of Teddy Grahams, mini marshmallows and mini chocolate chips. I'd have preferred to use regular chocolate chips (easier to pick up!), but I only had minis.


This birthday cake Lunch Punch bento was packed in an EasyLunchboxes and was lunch for my husband. It just so happens to also be his birthday. What a coinkidink! :)

There is only one day left to enter the giveaway for the Sweet Lunch Punch sets! Don't miss it! Two winners will be chosen at random tomorrow night!

 

school bento boxes: snacks and lunches

Three of Ethan's school meals, lunch and snack,  from this week.

I'm pretty sure this was Monday's lunch.


Packed in a "4 square" Lock & Lock bento box:
- pickles
- Wheat Thins
- raspberries
- turkey rolls and cheddar cheese (cut into pumpkin shapes)

His snack from the same day, packed in a smaller Lock and Lock box box.

- bugles ("mom! it's the season for bugles, remember the cornucopias!") and strawberries with a cute bento pick.


Lunch from either Tuesday or Wednesday...on one of those days I was running late in the morning and didn't have a chance to take pictures, again in the 4 square L&L.

- Whole Foods cereal bar
- homemade granola bar
- cornucopias o' plenty
- strawberries with a cute bento pick
- baby carrots

Snack from the same day.

Clementines in a stainless Kids Konserve container, and an organic Z Bar. Ethan is obsessed with these after getting one as an after-soccer snack a few weeks ago.

Lunch on Thursday. Packed in our panda Kotobuki box. Because nothing says "it's turkey time!" like a big panda face. Um.

The usual suspects:
- strawberries and carrots in the top tier, with a turkey cupcake pick
- turkey rolls, homemade granola bar, bugles

Snack from the same day, packed in a square Lock and Lock container.

Pears and a Z Bar.


The giveaway for the Sweet Lunch Punch sets is still going on. Make sure you enter!!

     

Lunch Punch Sweet ice cream sandwich bento

Another cute sandwich bento, thanks to the lovely new Lunch Punch Sweet set cutters.

I wanted to show the ice cream Lunch Punch again, because I think I decorated the first one so much you couldn't see all the cute details the Lunch Punch makes itself!



All bento'ed up:

Packed in an Everset sandwich box:
- ice cream sandwiches (with pb&j inside)
- strawberries
- cucumber slices
- clementine orange
- pretzels

The little ice cream sandwiches are topped with two pieces of candy from our lingering trick-or-treat spoils, "glued" on with cream cheese.

The clementine sits in a little silicone cup to keep any juices from seeping over to the pretzels, and a little bow pick is stuck in the middle for fun. I thought this silicone cup looked like a piece of wrapped candy. :)

Love Lunch Punch? Make sure you enter the giveaway HERE to win a Sweet set of your own!

     

Lunch Punch Sweet Cupcake bento

The fun with the new Sweet Lunch Punch set continues! :)

One sweet cupcake sandwich.



Swoon. Lunch Punch makes me weak in the knees. :)

Paigey Pie liked the cupcake sandwich a lot, but asked for it to be put in a bento. She also requested  more sprinkles. Alrighty then!



Personally, I think it looked better with less sprinkles, but it wasn't my lunch. :)

Alongside the cute cupcake are some raspberries and a little silicone cup of cheddar cheese, with the top piece being cut into a heart with a mini cookie cutter. Oh! And the cherry on top of the cupcake sandwich is a piece of fruit leather. By the way, the Lunch Punch sandwich cutter cuts the cherry on top into its own piece, so it is detached! Of course that's the first bite Paige ate!

If you love Lunch Punch as much as I do (which is lots!), then you don't want to miss the giveaway going on now! Win your own brand-new, just-released set of Sweet Lunch Punches here! :)

The Lunch Punch ~ Sweet set! giveaway!!

Yippeeee!!!

That's what I was singing when a box full of the newest Lunch Punch sets arrived at my door. Oh, yes. There was singing. And skipping. And dancing. And squeels.  It was a happy time!

Check out the cuteness!

The new shapes are all super sweet. There is a giant cupcake, a gumball machine, birthday cake and two ice cream cones.... yummy!

I have been having so much fun playing with these new Lunch Punch shapes! If you are into sandwich decorating, the possibilities are endless with this theme!

The first sweet sandwich I tried my hand at was the gumball machine.

The review from my four-year-old daughter, "it was dewicious! you weally need to put meminems on my sandwich more often!".

The next day she asked for another "gummy sandwich" for lunch. I convinced her that ice cream was also delectable... an ice cream sandwich for lunch. Heck, what kid would say no to that?

The Lunch Punches work beautifully. So easy to use, so easy to clean. So cute.

I'm in love all over again.

To share the love, I'm giving away two of the Lunch Punch Sweet sets! Two winners! Oh yeah!

TO ENTER:

1. comment on this post. You can blast out a lovely message to Lunch Punch, share what your favorite Lunch Punch is, share whatever you like! Just make sure there is a way for me to contact you, by email or through your blog or something. :)

That's it!
One comment/entry per person! 

This giveaway will run until Sunday night, November 20.

I'll announce the winner the following Monday morning.

If you just can't wait that long, you can order a Sweet set of your own on Amazon, right here! 
They are all ready and waiting to sink into a slice of bread near you!


disclosure: I received several Lunch Punch sets to dispense however my little lunch loving heart desired. No other compensation or payment was given. All gushing and reverent remarks are my own. To read about how my relationship with Lunch Punch started, you can read this love letter this past post. 

this little piggie bento box

I was looking for some other pictures and came across this bento that I haven't posted. It was from a lunch we took to the park. I guess that's what you might call a picnic.



Well, I'm posting it now! In this 2-tier piggie Kotobuki bento box Paige had applesauce in the top tier and a big mess of stuff in the bottom tier.



- butterfly crackers
- turkey rolls on heart picks
- cucumber
- cream cheese (in the little container)
- organic yogurt covered raisins in the little pink silicone heart

The little container is super cute, because it comes with a little paddle to spread the filling.



Paige thought it was super fun to spread cheese on the crackers from the little case. I didn't think it was so fun when I had to wash it. It would be easier to just stick a little wedge of Laughing Cow cheese in there next time. ;-)
(I ordered those from JBox a very long time ago, I don't see them in stock now).

Piggie, all ready to go! I looooove these critter boxes. :)



p.s. I'll be back this afternoon posting a Lunch Punch giveaway! For the brand new (not even released yet!) Sweet set!! So excited!

p.p.s. The winners for The Rusted Chain giveaway were announced! See if you are one of them! (scroll to the bottom of that post!) :) Don't forget you can still get 15% off your order by using the code LUNCH15, until Friday, November 18!

   

lunchbots squirrel bento

Over the weekend my little girl asked (repeatedly!) for a bento. Happy to oblige, this was her lunch on Sunday. :)



In a Lunchbots Duo box she had peanut butter and grape preserves sandwich on white-wheat bread.  I used  a dumpling maker to seal the sandwich into the fun shapes. There are a few honey wheat pretzels to the side and a couple pieces of fruit leather, cut into tiny squirrels with the help of a tiny cookie cutter.

In the bottom section of the Lunchbots are a couple strawberries and a silicone cup of clementine segments with cute squirrel picks.

It was a woodland pals kind of lunch. :)


p.s. Today is the last day to enter The Rusted Chain giveaway! Don't miss it!

   

Lock and Lock bento boxes: a few yummy lunches

Here are a few of Ethan's bentos from this week. Hold on to your seats, it's going to be an exciting time. (not really).



Clockwise from top left:
- organic strawberries (I'm guessing this is our last batch for the year. Boohoo.)
- Wheat Thins
- organic baby carrots
- peppered turkey rolls on cute picks




Clockwise from top left:
- organic strawberries with a cute bento pick
- organic baby carrots
- garlic parmesan pretzel thins (yummo!)
- peppered turkey and cheddar cheese, cut into a couple fun fall leaf shapes




Same type of box from above, but using only two of the inner square dishes and pushing them to the middle.
From left to right:
- organic cereal bar
- homemade granola bar (wrapped in wax paper)
- couple clementines
- organic baby carrots
- cheddar cheese cut into flower shapes and pretzel sticks


Yep, we love our "4 square" Lock and Lock box. A lot.  One of the first ones I ever got and still one of my most-used.  It's my bento crutch. :)

     

toddler bentos: nibble tray

For months and months now my nibble tray was missing. I emptied out my bento cabinets in search of it, and still, it was lost. And then the weekend before Halloween I was looking through my bin of sprinkles (it's a collection, yo) and there it was. I have no idea how it ended up there, but I imagine my toddler tornado (aka Tyler) had something to do with it.  I'm so glad to have it back, and it's been put to use a lot since being reunited.


A trio of bento-ish nibble trays...


Contents of nibble tray numero uno:
- apple pieces
- pretzle thins and carrot slices
- semi-thawed green beans and leftover mini whole wheat pancakes
- pastrami





Contents of nibble tray #2:
- mini peanut butter organic crackers (from Trader Joes)
- pumpkin seeds and ham
- grape halves (they were big ones!) and cheddar cheese scraps
- clementine segments





Inside the third nibble tray:
- strawberries
- jack cheese pieces and Annie's organic bunny snack mix
- carrot pieces and a couple organic yogurt covered pretzels with craisins
- cucumber chunks

Happily, Tyler seems to think the nibble tray is nifty too. Just yesterday he saw it sitting next to the sink and pointed to it while plaintively whining, "dat one! dat one!". :)


pssst! There is a super special giveaway going on for some fun feminine frilly fashion stuff! Wanna see? Four ways to enter, click here to try your luck at winning! :)

2 tier bento lunch: birdies and stripes

Yet another "new" bento box pulled from the depths of cabinet clutter when I did that big clean-up a few weeks ago. This is a really simple (and cheap!) 2-tier bento box. I've had it forevah, but I think this is the first time I've used it (as far as posting it on the blog).

Enough chitter-chatter. The goods:



The top tier: clementine orange and apple slices.
The apple slices were dipped in lemon juice to prevent browning and I flip-flopped the slices to make a visually interesting pattern in the bento box. The clementine is topped with a tiny fruit leather flower and secured with a bento pick.

The top tier: in one silicone cup there are grilled chicken chunks, leftover from dinner, in another silicone cup there are a couple cheddar cheese birds (the scraps tucked under them), with some pretzels squeezed in the gaps.

The bento pick is kind of neat, because from the top it looks like a flower (as seen in first picture), but from the side, surprise! It's a frog-esque turtle dude.


Ethan and I agree he kinda looks like a baby Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. :) This top tier comes with a really nice lid that seals it nicely, but it wouldn't fit with that pick sticking up so high, so the turtle dude had to come out and was just laid beside the orange (at Ethan's request) before sealing the bento up for transport.

This bento box and bento pick set were ordered from ATFS.


p.s. Did you see the neat-o giveaway that is going on now? Make sure you check it out - two $25 gift certificates up for grabs! Some pretty-ful jewelry to be had! Check it out HERE! :)

The Rusted Chain giveaway!

I'm very excited about this giveaway! 

Now, I haven't ever agreed to a giveaway that isn't in the "spirit" of this blog... that is, I keep things focused on what this blog is about. However, this time the giveaway has nothing to do with bento, lunch, or food.

But I am a woman, a mother, and I like pretty things. I'm (not really) going out on a limb to assume that 99.9% of Another Lunch readers are also women, family oriented, and enjoy pretty things. :)  Therefore, ergo, alakazam, spiffywiffy, I think you will also like The Rusted Chain.

The Rusted Chain is a mom-made jewelry company.  Very etsy-esque, without the actual etsy. In fact, each piece is hand made by stay-at-home mom Becki and shipped from her Kansas farmhouse!

The Rusted Chain is offering TWO gift certificates for $25 for their online shop to Another Lunch readers! That means two winners! Yay us! :)

Take a gander at some of this adorable hand-stamped jewelry...

There are personalized options, like this lovely sterling silver circle piece that jumped out at me (Evelyn is (one of) my Paige's middle names), sigh. :)

These personalized "two tabs" necklaces are pretty and nifty too...

Oh, did I say The Rusted Chain wasn't at all food related? I lied. A little. Look at this darling "life is sweet" cupcake necklace.



Maybe you aren't interested in hand-stamped or mom-crafted jewelry? Well, no bother. The gift-giving season is fast approaching! Perhaps The Rusted Chain could put a smile on the face of a special friend or family member! Or for the terrific teacher your tot is taught by...



The Rusted Chain not only carries a wide variety of necklaces, but also earrings, bracelets and even some items for men. I don't actually have pierced ears any more, but if I did I'd be happy to have these gems dangling from my lobes...

I'm also really fond of the Honeysuckle earrings. Even the name is scrumptious!

Now to the nitty gritty: HOW TO ENTER this rad giveaway.

• Mandatory entry: leave a comment saying "The Rusted Chain floats my boat!".  Bonus points if you visit their shop and name a piece you think is particularly dandy (that doesn't earn you a second entry, but it would be really nice of you!) ** 1 entry

--

• Optional extra entry: for another entry to this giveaway you can "like" The Rusted Chain on Facebook. Leave a comment saying you are a Rusted Chain on Facebook liker if you do this. ** 1 entry

--

• Optional entry #2: for yet another entry for this giveaway you can become a follower of The Rusted Chain blog and/or subscribe them by email. Leave a separate comment if you become a Rusted Chain blog follower/subscriber.  ** 1 entry

--

• Optional entry #3: tweet about this giveaway (with a link to this giveaway post). Leave a separate comment if you do this, with a link to the tweet.  ** 1 entry

--

So there ya have it... 4 ways to enter the giveaway. And there will be two winners. Those are pretty fair odds!

This contest will run until 11ish on Monday, November 14.  Winners will be chosen at random and announced on Tuesday, November 15.

The Rusted Chain has also generously offered a promotional code to Another Lunch readers! For a limited time, you can receive a 15% discount off your order by using coupon code LUNCH15. This promotional code will expire Friday, November 18, 2011.

Good luck, lunchers!

** disclosure: I was not comp'ed, perked, or paid for this giveaway. I'm just passing on a sweet offer from this company to you, cuz I likes you guys a lots. :) **smooches!

-- this giveaway is now closed. The winners of The Rusted Chain prizes:

 

Congrats, winners!

 

The Rusted Chain is offering a 15% discount to all Another Lunch readers through Friday, November 18, 2011.

preschool lunch: down on the farm bento

Moo! said the spotty cow, as the newly hatched chick and bunny family looked on. :)

In this farmtastic bento box there is a cowmooflaged boiled egg, ham and cheese half-sandwich on whole wheat, purple grapes, a few gnarly pickles and some Annie's organic bunny snack mix. The "moo!" letters are provolone cheese and cut with my mini sized alphabet cutter set.

An egg! Yep, that's what that cute cow is!


I used my Tovolo ice cream sandwich press to mold a boiled egg into a cow face, then colored the black spots on it with black food coloring. I wasn't getting nice covering with my black food marker, so I actually used Wilton black food gel and painted it on with a clean paint brush. That might sound crazy (and possibly, it may be) but it was actually really fast (and fun!). Much quicker than using the food markers, actually. The goofy eyes are candy icing decorations and I used a teeny straw to poke in holes for nostrils. :)

Are you new to shaped eggs? To learn more about the process, you can check out my tutorial: how to make shaped eggs. :)

Supplies used to make this bento:

InLinkz.com