A Fun Din Din Platter Lunch

We have rediscovered the Innobaby Din Din Platter for ourselves. My preschooler is so busy these days she often gets up from snack or lunch (mostly after second helpings - we do require the kids to sit and eat with us) to play Frozen or feed her stuffed rescued animals and the food gets easily forgotten. Thanks to the lid however, she will put the lid on and the food will stay fresh until she has time to come back for more ;)

Our Din Din Platter Lunch includes:

• mini cucumber slices
• Minion cheese crackers
• sliced strawberries sprinkled with a pinch of sugar
• pepperoni slices and a 
• mini roll with mayonnaise (she loves putting together her own sandwich)

Things I used to make this lunch (contains affiliate links):

Squirrel's Fun Day - a Literary Lunch

Squirrel's Fun Day by Lisa Moser and illustrated by Valeri Gorbachev is the perfect book for spending time outside! Take a hike or walk and then read this funny book about a squirrel determined to have a fun day. He is trying so hard to make this day fun for everyone he doesn't always see that his "Gotta go. Gotta go. Gotta go, go, go" attitude does not work for everyone. In the end this is a funny and friendship filled book perfect for reading aloud!

We packed a lunch on-the-go in our Innobaby Keepin' Fresh bento box filled with:

• a Squirrel peanut butter sandwich
• almonds
• wild strawberries
• carrots
• corn and peas
• cucumber wheels 
• and hidden underneath the squirrel a sweet cream cheese and strawberry sandwich because underneath it all the squirrel is sweet and caring.

This lunch was previously published at The Little Crooked Cottage and if you liked this post go and read the hilarious interview with Lisa Moser's Squirrel HERE!

Things I used to make this lunch (contains affiliate links):

Snowy Day Lunches

It finally snowed yesterday and my kids were thrilled! We had a slight delay for school this morning but were so busy making pancakes and enjoying the slow morning that lunches are simple - but still fun:

Our Goodbyn Bynto is filled with breakfast for lunch:

• home made pancakes
• maple syrup
• strawberries
• and a Enjoy Life bar

Our Easylunchboxes are filled with:

• pear cubes
• pretzels
• a chocolate snowman
• and a Pepperoni and Salad Rudolph Sandwich

These Easylunchboxes are similar but filled with:

• pear cubes
• prezels
• a peppermint yogurt star
• and a plain Rudolph pepperoni sandwich

I also made a morning snack for my daughter in our Innobaby Din Din platter:

• crackers
• pretzels
• clementine
• pear cubes
• and yogurt with a few mini chocolate chips

Things I used to make these lunches (contains affiliate links):

Happy Birthday, Marc Brown!

Yesterday marked Marc Brown's 67th birthday! Happy Birthday! We love all his Arthur books and of course the Arthur Show on PBS. And since over 65 million Arthur books have been sold in the United States alone and his books, apps, e-books and TV shows are being enjoyed by children in 80 countries around the world - we thought it would only be fitting to celebrate his birthday with an Arthur themed bento lunch!

This lunch is a simple open faced peanut butter sandwich with melted chocolate, jelly and candy eye details. I placed another slice of bread at the bottom of the sandwich so my kids can easily make a sandwich out of Arthur and enjoy the jelly, peanut butter and chocolate filling.

Happy Birthday, Marc Brown!

P.S. Of course this lunch was served with yogurt and a second container with fruit and veggies to round out the meal. 

Please also visit The Little Crooked Cottage to see my guest post there, plus if you missed the hilarious round table interview on Mr. Pig Live! yesterday - a timber wolf, a lion and a great white shark from CARNIVORES where the guests, go read it now. 

Nugget And Fang - a Literary Lunch

Nugget and Fang is a lovely children's book written by Tammi Sauer that explores the friendship of two unlikely friends: a fish and a shark. A beautiful and humorous undersea story with amazing illustrations by Michael Slack.

post contains affiliate links

We packed a fun and colorful undersea lunch in our Innobaby Keepin' Fresh Bento to match:

• a Fang peanut butter sandwich with a carrot Nugget, 
• surrounded by cucumber, pepper, carrot, celery, corn and strawberry corals and underwater plants.

Head over to The Little Crooked Cottage for an exclusive interview with Fang and to see my guest post there as well!

Things I used to make this lunch (contains affiliate links):

Red, White & Blue Snack

Happy 4th of July!

We packed a healthy and fun snack in our Innobaby Keepin' Fresh Bento box today filled with:

• Red strawberries
• White piel de sapo or Santa Claus melon ( a new food we are trying today!)
• Blue blueberries
• red, white and blue Goldfish crackers
• gluten-free crackers with American Cheese letters

Enjoy your day! What are you packing for lunch today?

Thanks to the clear lid my kids can see the snack before opening the box. What a cute idea, Innobaby!

For more July 4th food ideas check out this linky hosted by BentOnBetterLunches:

Happy Birthday, Eric Carle!

Today is Eric Carle's Birthday and we are celebrating with a "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" lunch!

 This is our well loved copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar..

This book has been a longstanding favorite - first my favorite book when I was little - and now my kids' favorite! They can never hear enough of the little caterpillar eating through all this food until he had a stomachache.

We packed our Innobaby Keepin' Fresh bento box with:

• a watermelon caterpillar
• an eaten apple slice
• and eaten strawberry
• an eaten watermelon
• an eaten cheese stick
• an eaten hot dog and 
• an eaten piece of pie made out of a peanut butter sandwich

Happy Birthday, Eric Carle!

Check out the Linky hosted by Creative Food for more Eric Carle Lunches!

Mickey Mouse Snack

I packed my preschooler a morning snack today - that she can have anytime she needs it - in the hopes I can get a few things organized.

We packed our Innobaby Keepin' Fresh stainless bento box and matching drinking cup (review to come soon!) with 

• cucumbers, 
• carrots, 
• cheese flowers, 
• cantaloupe melon bits and pieces and one big Mickey Mouse melon and 
• two small peanut butter and jelly Mickey Mouse sandwiches. 

The smiles were priceless and I am hoping to get some thing organized this morning :)

Mama and Me Brunch

It has been a hectic week filled with doctor's appointments, errands and many meals on the go.
We woke up to a rainy, cloudy, dark day and I felt we needed a good long hearty breakfast today before we are headed back out to finish up our weekly errands and even seeing one of my sons in a school play.

I decided to make a German breakfast with plain yogurt, Swiss muesli and Kaiserschmarrn. Kaiserschmarrn is comparable to a thick pancake and a popular dessert in Austria and Bavaria. It was exactly what I needed today.

My daughter's Din Din Platter Brunch:

• an apple umbrella
• plain yogurt with a mini chocolate chips rain drop
• Naturebox Vanilla Macroon Granola
• Kaiserschmarrn with powdered sugar
• strawberries

My plate has also Kaiserschmarrn with powdered sugar, strawberries and a small bowl of plain yogurt with swiss muesli and apple bits.

Have a sunny day!

Mama and Daughter Lunches

Today's lunches are for my daughter and me.
We packed the boy's lunches and then some for ourselves as well :)

Mama's Lunch:

This post contains affiliate links

My lunch is packed in our Laptop Lunches bento box:

• a kiwi fruit
• left over fried rice with some carrot flowers
• left over chicken on a bed of spinach salad with mushrooms and some left over crackers ( I also packed salad dressing in a separate mini dressing bottle - not pictured)
• and carrots and celery sticks with a tablespoon of peanut butter

Girly's Lunch:

My daughter wanted lunch on her Innobaby Din Din Platter:

• mini cucumbers
• grapes
• an apricot
• Pirate Booty and 
• two mini heart shaped peanut butter sandwiches

Here are a few of the things I used to make lunch:

Innobaby Din Din SMART Platter Review

The folks at Innobaby generously provided us with a Din Din Smart Platter for review.

I was impressed immediately! The platter is made with durable stainless steel and the lid is made with thick BPA-free plastic. The color of the lid is beautiful and bright and the whole platter just looked and felt durable and fun!

My daughter loved this tray immediately. A pink bus shaped platter - just for her? Yes, please!!

And I liked that it is dishwasher safe, BPA-, Phthalate-, PVC- and Lead-free and I can serve warm

foods without worry! I also love that the sectional lid keeps the food fresh when I need to prepare lunch or dinner ahead of time and I can keep the platter in the fridge until needed. It is also convenient when we are on the go. It keeps the food in it's place until we are ready to eat - however runny foods like apple sauce or yogurt are only recommended if you can carry the tray flat since the lid does not make the compartments leak proof. 

The tray is shaped like a bus and has 5 compartments - perfect for introducing the 5 food groups.

There are three smaller and two bigger compartments. The compartments are slightly more shallow then a muffin tin. 

Offering different foods to your child is so much fun with this Innobaby Din Din Smart Platter.

It holds enough food for my 4 year old daughter and I think this tray would be perfect from the first solid foods up until Kindergarten age!

For today's snack we packed a carrot bear, bear shaped cucumbers, Teddy Grahams, Straw-bearies and two mini peanut butter bear sandwiches in our Innobaby Din Din Smart Platter. 

The Din Din Smart platter has been a great addition to our meal times and we have eaten several lunches while on the go as well as many fun dinners at home. My daughter loves this platter and it makes our meal times more fun for her and more convenient for me  :)

Pros:

• dishwasher safe
• BPA-, Phthalate-, PVC- and Lead-free
• made with durable stainless steel
• 5 compartments that keep foods seperate - great for picky eaters!
• great sectional lid for eating on the go
• fun and worry-free meal solution
• stain resistant - bring on the tomato sauce!
• stack easy

Things to keep in mind:

• the platter is not leak proof however I don't really consider this a real negative since you can always bring the applesauce or yogurt in a separate container!

Things I used to make today's lunch:

 

Will the mouse get the cheese?

We woke up to a thunderstorm and sick kids so there will be no school lunches today. Instead I packed my daughter a fun lunch in her new Innobaby Din Din Smart Platter:

I packed her some banana and strawberry yogurt, a radish mouse trying to steal her cheese cubes, a fruit salad with honey and two mini cheese quesadillas.

My daughter loved the radish mouse and wondered if she was hungry, too. Maybe they can share the cheese ;) If you'd like to find out how to make this radish mouse check out THIS tutorial!

Muffin Tin Lunch

We are again out and about today so an early lunch is packed in our Innobaby Din Din platter with lid.

We packed no bake energy bites, strawberries, apples, two jelly sandwiches and some carrots with ranch dip.

And thanks to the lid we can bring our early lunch with us if we are running late :) 

[Review to come - stay tuned]

Things I used for today's lunch: