Week 37: Jake and the Neverland Pirates

Week 37: Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  Yo Ho!  Let’s Go!  If you have never seen the Jake and the Neverland Pirates cartoon, it’s pretty good.  My kids are really into pirates right now and they love this show.  It is on the Disney channel.  The show is loosely based on Peter Pan and also stars Captain Hook and Smee.  This is one lunch my daughter has been begging for.  Since this is one of the last lunch opportunities of the school year (I have one more coming next week!) I decided to finally tackle this one.  This was made in an Easy Lunch Box container.  If your kids like Jake, then try out this lunch, but only use your pixie dust in an emergency!

Ingredients:

--2 slices whole wheat bread

--2 slices red apple

--1 serving peanut butter and honey (or whatever your child likes in a sandwich)

--1 handful of raisins

--1 serving fat-free cream cheese

--1 handful of blueberries (or another fruit or veggie your kids like)

--2-3 strawberries

--1 slice of white cheese

--1 small handful Pirate’s Booty puffs

--Black and green food coloring

Directions:

1.  Cut a slice of bread in the shape of Jake’s face as shown.  Don’t worry about his hair yet, just cut up to the bandanna.  Repeat with a second slice.  Put whatever you want in between to make a sandwich.  Place sandwich in your container.

2. Cut spiky hair out of the large scraps of bread.  Spread cream cheese on the hair and cover with raisins.  Put his hair on top of his head.  Slice a piece of apple in the shape of the bandanna.  Slice a second piece that is shaped like the tails of the bandanna on the side of his head.  Place on head as shown.

3. Put two small blobs of cream cheese on for his eyes and a tiny amount for his mouth.  Draw on facial features using black food coloring (equal parts red, yellow, and green) and a toothpick.  Finish by making Jake’s eyes green.

4. Spread your child’s favorite fruit or veggies around the face as a background.  I used blueberries.

5.  In one side dish arrange sliced strawberries.  Cut out the words “Yo Ho” out of white cheese using a sharp knife.  Place cheese letters on top of strawberries.  Put Pirate’s Booty puffs as another side dish.

Have a great last week of school and stay tuned for a new summer project happening on lunchboxdad.com to make your family day trip meals super easy and fun!  “Lunchbox Dad’s Simple Summer” is coming soon.   Please spread the word and remember to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and any other social media link I have on the right of this page.

Week 36: A Lego Lunch

Week 36:  A Lego Lunch.  For this lunch I didn't want my daughter just to play with her food, I wanted her to build with her food!  This was such a fun lunch to make and I have been planning on doing it for awhile.  Make sure and check out all the pics in this post to see everything.  We love legos in our house so this is a special one.  The Lego shaped lunch box, utensils, and dipper containers all came from Bento USA.  You will definitely want to check them out as they have so many great tools to make lots of different types of meals.

Ingredients

--Non-fat yogurt, tinted different colors.  You could also use different foods with that consistency that your child enjoys such as applesauce, smoothies, pudding, etc.

--1 slice of cheddar cheese, 1 slice of American cheese

--1 slice of lunch meat, cut into flower shapes

--1 slice of whole wheat bread

--1 piece of chocolate bar to melt, if desired

--Broccoli

--Black food coloring

Directions

1.  Get Lego silicone molds.  You can find them with a simple search online.  Many sites sell them, including Amazon.  Freeze your child's favorite yogurt or sauce type food in the lego brick mold.  I made the the blue and green bricks from yogurt.  The purple bricks are made from all fruit smoothies that may wife makes.  They are very healthy and include things like frozen fruit, spinach (Yes you read that right!), non-fat yogurt, and ice.  Make sure and pack the lunch with lots of ice to keep the bricks frozen until they eat.  Arrange the frozen bricks in a fun design as shown in the picture.

2.  Melt each slice of cheese and place in the Lego figure mold.  Put in the refrigerator to cool.  Use a toothpick and and black food coloring to make the facial and body details.  It only takes 2-3 minutes, but it really makes the figures pop!

3.  Place bread in the background of container.  Arrange cheese Lego figures in the scene.  Decorate with flower-shaped pieces of meat (I placed these in the dipper containers).  All of these ingredients can go together to make half of a meat and cheese sandwich!  Fill in with pieces of broccoli to look like Lego trees.

4.  If desired you could also melt a little chocolate to make a dessert Lego guy.  You can see that in the pictures.  I didn't include it in my daughter's lunch for school, but she will eat it when she gets home.  

Another great thing about this lunch is that the molds gave me enough food for lunch for my son as well.  Have a great week finishing up school with your kids.  Stay tuned for some really fun stuff coming this summer and follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and YouTube!

Week 35: Monsters U, Sully and Mike

Week 35: Monsters U.  I love Monsters Inc. so I'm super excited to take my kids to see Monsters U at the end of the month.  There are only a few weeks left of school so I wanted to make this before my daughter is done.  The Sully sandwich actually took more time than I thought, but most of it was figuring out the tint for the cream cheese.  After trial and error, the trick is using a little bit of green mixed with blue.  Mike Wazowski was actually really easy and if you are going to try one thing from this lunch, try him.  I made this in an Easy Lunch Box. Have fun with this lunch and lets hope the movie lives up to the hype!

Ingredients

2 slices whole wheat bead

1 serving peanut butter

1 serving fat-free cream cheese, tinted blue

1 serving fat-free cream cheese, plain white

1 kiwi

1 serving fat-free all natural yogurt

1 handful of blueberries

2 slices of cheddar cheese

blue and black food coloring

Directions

Cut two slices of bread into the shape of Sully's head.  It is sort of pear shaped with horns on the side.  Spread peanut butter, or similar spread that your child enjoys, on one slice.  Press the other slice on top to make a sandwich.  Cover most of his face with the blue tinted cream cheese, leaving his horns brown.

Use two balls of cream cheese for his eyes and two small pieces for his teeth.  Draw facial features with black food coloring (mix equal parts yellow, blue, and red).  Use a toothpick to draw lines to make it look like fur.  Finish with a blueberry for his nose.  Place cheddar cheese for the background in your container and put the Sully sandwich in the middle.  Drop a few blueberries around as accents.

Skin a kiwi and cut it in half.  Trim it slightly to be egg shaped like Mike's head.  Use cream cheese for his eye and blue and black food coloring for the facial features.  Place it in a side dish.  Cut two small triangles from your scraps and place behind his head for ears.

In a second side dish, fill with yogurt, apple sauce, or any other healthy food of that consistency that your child will eat.  Cut the initials "MU" (for Monster's University) out of kiwi scraps.  Place these on top of the yogurt.

Thanks for checking out the blog and make sure and follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube!

Week 34: Memorial Day Lunch

Week 34: Memorial Day lunch, a little late.  My family and I were moving all weekend and my daughter was staying at my in-law's house, so I had to put off this lunch until today.  Even though this was a crazy weekend I didn't want her to forget about the real reason she gets some extra days of school off.  I wanted to make an easy Memorial Day lunch that everyone could feel they could make for this important holiday.  This could also work for a 4th of July lunch (another important holiday).  So take sometime when you are making this to remember those who gave their lives for our country.  This was made in an Easy Lunch Box container.  On to the details...

Ingredients

10-12 grape tomatoes (My daughter likes these because she thinks they taste like grapes!)

1 stick of string cheese

1 serving of fat-free all natural yogurt

Blue natural food coloring

Handful yogurt covered raisins

2 sticks of cheddar cheese (cut into 6 pieces)

2-3 pieces of lunch meat

1 serving of Goldfish crackers (Smokin' BBQ flavor)

Directions

1.  Tear a stick of string cheese into three long and two short pieces as shown.  Place in your container and alternate with grape tomatoes.  In a small square container put yogurt and mix with blue natural food coloring.  Place in the upper left hand corner of the container to make the flag.  Drop in a few yogurt covered raisins.

2.  In a side dish, place Goldfish crackers.  I used "Smokin' BBQ" flavor to go with the theme of Memorial Day BBQs.  

3.  Roll each stick of cheddar cheese in a small slice of lunch meat and arrange as shown in another side dish.  This doesn't have much to do with Memorial Day other than meat and cheese is on most appetizer tables or BBQs at this holiday's parties.

I hope you had a great holiday weekend, remember to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube for great updates, fun ideas, and helpful tutorials!

No new lunch today

No new lunch today because of Memorial Day.  Check back Wednesday for a special lunch!

Sea Turtle Lunch Tutorial

Sea Turtle Tutorial!  Check out how to make a whole main dish out of the sea turtle seen in the Finding Nemo lunch.  This sea turtle stole the show from Nemo and is so easy to make in 2 minutes!

Week 33: Kermit the Frog

Week 33: Kermit the Frog, it isn't easy being green!  I thought I'd bring a classic into my daughter's life.  She has seen the latest Muppet movie and a few of the T.V. shows, but its our responsibility as parents to raise our kids right with an appreciation for those who came before.  The school year is coming to end soon so I would be failing as Lunchbox Dad if I did not remind her of the classics.  In short, she needs more Kermit the Frog in her life.  To go along with the famous frog, I had to go with a theme that reflected his personality the best--Its Not Easy Being Green.  Ironically, this lunch is made in an Easy Lunch Box.

Ingredients:

1/2 a green apple

6-7 sugar snap peas

1 piece of white cheese

1 piece of lunch meat

1 serving of pasta

1 serving of shredded cheddar cheese

1 handful of blueberries

3 pieces of mango or other green skinned fruit

1 handful of green Goldfish crackers (found in the Goldfish Colors package)

1 strawberry

   Black food coloring

Directions:

Slice an apple in half and shape it like Kermit's head in the picture.  Cut his eyes out white cheese, mouth out of a strawberry, and tongue out of lunch meat.  Cut Kermit's neckpiece and hands out of apple.

Place face pieces where shown and draw mouth and inner eyes with black food coloring.  If desired, use fat-free cream cheese to help Kermit's eyes lift up and secure them to his head.  You only need a pea-size ball of cream cheese for each eye.

Place pasta in background of your container.  Roll up piece of lunch meat and place at bottom of container.  Sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese over pasta.  Put Kermit's head in the middle of container with neckpiece underneath.  Place hands as shown on lunch meat.  Border Kermit with snap peas.

For side dish number one, place blueberries in your container and place strips of mango on top.  Drop green Goldfish crackers in your container for side dish number two.

Have fun with this lunch and remind your children about the importance of the Muppets.  It may not be easy being green, but it is sure is fun making a green lunch!  Remember to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.  Also, keep an eye out for my next video tutorial later this week.