Silly Friday Lunches

I am so glad it is Friday! We had a hectic week and I am looking forward to the weekend! Sleeping in, casual coffee, pancakes and a family movie! I know the kids feel the same so I made quick silly lunches.

Our trusty Easylunchboxes are packed to the brim with:

• pretzel Goldfish
• applesauce
• grape tomatoes
• carrots
• a cute and silly mini container with chocolate chips
• and puzzle shaped mini peanut butter and jelly sandwiches

I added our new Joke Lunchbox Love Cards (Thank you, Bento-logy!)

Our other Easylunchbox is packed with:

• pretzel Goldfish with a cute and silly pig container with chocolate chips
• applesauce
• carrots
• grape tomatoes
• strawberries
• and two mini puzzle peanut butter sandwiches

I added the perfect Lunchbox Love Card to this lunch since my son LOVES Godzilla :)

Happy Friday!

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

Simple CuteZCute Lunch

The last two mornings have been so hectic that there was little time for creative lunches. Another reminder to myself that packing lunch at night will make your morning that much calmer ;)

But thanks to Easylunchboxes, our trusted quick and easy CuteZCute Sandwich Cutter and of course Lunchbox Love Cards - lunch was still fun!

Lunch is simple today:

• Goldfish crackers
• 1/2 an apple sprinkled with Fruit Fresh to keep from browning
• two Salami Frog CuteZCute sandwiches
• and an ecouraging Lunchbox Love Card!

What I used to make lunch today (contains affiliate links):

Easylunchbox Lunches

Lunches are very simple today! Packed in less then 5 minutes!

Packed in our trusty Easylunchboxes is:

• Trail Mix
• Strawberries
• a gluten free dog shaped Nutella sandwich
• Cashews
• a cereal bar
• and a sweet Lunchbox Love Card

One of my kids has been asking for Uncrustables since another child brings them every day. We did a taste test at home and he decided home made Uncrustables taste better! 

{Picture Tutorial is coming this week}

Packed in our Easylunchboxes are:

• Trail Mix
• Strawberries
• a peanut butter and jelly Uncrustable and 
• a Z bar
• and of course also a Lunchbox Love Card

Lunchbox Love Lunches and {Giveaway}

My Mom used to add a little note to my lunches when I was little and I always loved continuing the tradition. No matter if you are in Kindergarten or the last year in High School you are never to old for a little reminder that someone cares about you! And that is exactly why we love Lunchbox Love!

There are so many amazing volumes of Lunchbox Love and even some for Teens & Tweens!

One side of the card has a lovely message and the other side a trivia fact. My kids look forward to lunch just to see what today's card says! The joke addition has a joke instead of the trivia fact and my third grader cannot get enough of them! They are printed on beautiful card stock and even though they are disposable and sometime to get wet or damaged in the lunchbox, my kids always try to bring home their favorites and hang them on our fridge:

Having a Teen or Tween at home can be challenging (believe me!) and it is nice when you can slip them a sweet note tailored towards their needs. I love the Teen & Tween Cards and we will be getting more of these. 

The messages are tailored towards older kids and struggles and on the back are quotes instead of trivia facts. Thanks to the simple design my Tween loves finding these in his lunch.

I love having Lunchbox Love in my house and having one handy no matter if it is to cheer someone up, apologize or simply tell them how much I love them! And since they are only $2.99 for a pack of 12 it is easy to have them handy. 

This is how our window sill looks like right now - full of favorites from this week!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway is open to US Residents only. The winner will be notified via email. If I don't get a response within 24 h I will redraw a new winner. Good Luck!

Don't want to wait to see if you win? Use my code MAMABEL and save 15% today!

LunchBot Lunch

A quick lunch in our Lunchbot Trio:

• cucumber and cheese sticks
• salami sandwich
• veggie sticks and
• strawberries

I added a Lunchbox Love Card and marvel every day how far they have come this year!

Energy Lunches

Happy Monday! Hope everyone has a great start into the new week!

We made some no bake energy bites this weekend (recipe below) in preparation for state wide testing this week. They are filled with protein and a great snack for the days the kids need extra energy!

For my two older kids we packed no bake energy bites, all natural apple sauce and a chicken, mustard and salad sandwich with a Chobani Champions blueberry tube. They also packed ice water and a small orange juice.

My first grader packed a Chobani Champions blueberry tube in his yumbox as well as oranges, carrots, no bake energy bites, a protein cereal bar and a small treat.

We have been making no bake energy bites for a while and I first found them HERE. I still use the recipe from Smashed Peas and Carrots as a base recipe but I tweaked it a little bit.

Ingredients:

(it makes about 50 - 70 mini energy bites)

2 cups oatmeal

1 cup peanut butter 

2/3 cup honey

1 cup coconut flakes

1 cup ground flaxseed

1 cup mini chocolate chips

1/2 cup of sliced almonds or 1/2 cup of dried fruit

Add all ingredients into a large bowl and mix until a dough forms. 

Wet your hands slightly and roll into balls. 

I store mine in parchment paper lined tupperware in the fridge.

For a great picture tutorial visit Smashed Peas and Carrots :)

Lunchbox Love Winner

And the winner of my Lunchbox Love Card Giveway is...

Laura R. - please check your email! 

Lunchbox Love Review and Giveaway

If you read my blog on a regular basis you know that we love our Lunchbox Love Cards!
My kids love reading them and I love that they bring them back home to show me the trivia on the back and we always have a great conversation starter after school!

A Lunchbox Love Card adds just a little extra love to your lunch and puts a smile on your child's face!

This is a very simple lunch in an Easylunchbox containing strawberries, Goldfish crackers and a Pepperoni sandwich but the Lunchbox Love card adds the special touch I couldn't add with picks or designs that morning!

There are so many different sets and I always find just the perfect card to say what I feel!

This card was absolutely perfect for the National Peanut Butter Day lunch I made!

Lunchbox Love Cards also have seasonal cards like sets for Christmas and Thanksgiving but also for Valentine's Day! Wouldn't it be fun to add a special Valentine's Lunchbox Love Card to your kid's or loved one's lunch? Find out how you can win some at the end of my post and

Make every day Valentine's day with Lunchbox Love!

I have been thinking about Valentine's Day a lot. Because I have 3 boys. In 1st, 2nd and 5th Grade and they have already told me: no smootchy, girly lunches for Valentine's Day!

So, I was standing in my kitchen trying to think of a way to pack a lunch or snack for Valentine's Day without red hearts, doilies and lip picks. And then I stumbled upon Susanne Kaluza's post about crackerbread and knew what I wanted to do:

I baked some heart shaped crackerbread (thanks for the inspiration Susanne!), made some hot and crispy oatmeal bars (recipe on the blog soon!), grabbed the delicious Eleanor's Apple Crumble snack mix from our graze box and a red pear (which are my kid's favorites right now. They are incredibly juicy and sweet!). I also added a chocolate heart (it is Valentine's Day afterall) and cut a small heart into the pear. I did sneak one heart pick in there but I think overall it is a very sweet and manly Valentine's lunch!

Our lunch is packed in an ECOlunchbox and of course I added a Lunchbox Love Valentine's Day card to finish the Lunch with Love :)

But now the exciting part:

Lunchbox Love Cards generously is offering you the chance to win some Lunchbox Love Cards of your own! 

Just enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway below and Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Giveaway is open to all readers in the US and Canada. I will email the winner and you have 48 h to respond. If you do not respond to my email I will re-draw a different winner!

Holiday Lunches

My kids loved that I hid little Santa chocolates in their lunches yesterday, so I did it again today. It seems the little joys are sometimes the most important ones and the ones they remember :)

For my oldest I packed apples, popcorn, Wasa Crackerbread and ham and cheese on the side so he can make his own sandwiches. He also brought yogurt and ice water. I added a Lunchbox Love note as well since my kids love finding them and telling me after school what they said! What a conversation starter!

For my youngest I packed present shaped sandwiches, apples, popcorn, ice water and yogurt and of course a small Santa chocolate! There is a Lunchbox Love note in his lunch as well and if he cannot read it he will bring it home and we read it together :)

My second grader has present shaped sandwiches as well as apples and popcorn but I snuck in a special German Vanilla cookie as well since I knew he would love finding something special in his lunchbox. Besides having ice water and yogurt he also has a Lunchbox Love note. I love sending them and being able to talk about them after the kids get out of school. Plus, after last week it seems any love we can add to our kids' every day life is a gift in itself.

I had fun adding some sweets this week and even though I try to feed my kids very healthy foods it  was fun adding some sweets to their lunchboxes and see their excited faces after school!

For all those of you that have not tried the spring loaded cookie stamps on bread yet: It is fun, easy and worth it! They come out great and I will look for more shapes as the holidays end and the new year begins. I found these at my local Target.