October Bento Catch-Up

Monday, 10/3/11 - Mondays is our Barefoot Enrichment class, followed by co-op preschool. Since it was the first Monday of the month, it was our Parent-Ed day! I made myself a lunch with celery and cream cheese 'ants on a log,' but not only forgot to take pictures of our lunches at home, I forgot to snap a picture of mine in the car too! Ah well.

Her lunch: PBHoney, string cheese nibblets, trail mix, sugar peas,
peach/Granny Smith apple/blueberry fruit salad

We got the peach (or whatever. I'm not much good at identifying the pitted fruits) at the grocery store per Z's special request. She nibbled on about half of it the night before, so I chopped up the rest, along with a Granny Smith apple she had also chosen (sloshed in apple juice to prevent browning.) I tossed in some blueberries for color and variety.
Since there was a pick involved, she ate most of the fruit chunks, and most (if not all) of the cheese.
The pick in the fruit salad is from Wilton Add-A-Message Fun Pix which can be found at most party supply and craft stores. I think the pink silicone cups are from them as well.

Thursday, 10/6/11 - On Thursdays we have gym class, then drop-off preschool. Since I hadn't packed lunch the night before, and didn't manage my time wisely enough that morning, I had to toss together a last-minute lunch. I can't remember if I had packed myself a lunch as well, and just forgot to take photos (as you can see, I had to yank this one back from her after I had given it to her in the car, just to snap a quick shot of the lunch!) Maybe I had just planned on eating at McD's going back home for something healthy while she was in school.

Her lunch: peach/apple/blueberry fruit salad, string cheese nibblets w/
cheddar pumpkins, Ranch, green beans, ham sandwich.

The pumpkin cheeses and green beans were left over from the previous day's pumpkin patch bento. The fruit assortment was left over from the one above this. The cheese nibblets might also have been left over.

She enjoyed putting her own cheese on the ham sandwich, and used both kinds. I can't remember what-all she ate though.

Tuesday, 10/11/11 - We had our very first MOPS meeting, so I packed a lunch to eat between that and her drop-off preschool.

Top (my lunch): Onion bagel w/cream cheese, purple cauliflower,
broccoli, Ranch, blueberries w/grapes
Bottom (her lunch): Ham and cheese pocket, Colby Jack leaves,
nuts and raisins (in heart,) Carrot flower sticks w/Ranch,
Apples w/grapes

Since this was so similar to our Rainbow lunch the previous day, she was upset that this sandwich (made with Pampered Chef Cut-N-Seal) didn't have a face on it! And she wanted rice candy again! I told her that she could make her own face, using apples and grapes, or maybe tear up some cheese, since the grapes might be too roll-y.

"I made a 'me' out of sandwich!"

She made a face on her sandwich, all right. And far cuter than I could have done! In fact, she loved it so much she refused to eat it until after school.

Monday, 10/17/11 - For some reason I had resisted packing our lunch the night before, even though our Mondays have very little time to get ready before we have to head out for our Barefoot Enrichment class, which is roughly 35-40 minutes away. And then we have 60 minutes to get back in the car and drive to our co-op preschool, which means we'll be eating in the car. But THIS particular Monday our preschool was meeting at the pumpkin patch, which is an even further drive away. So instead of making a third pumpkin-themed lunch for our third pumpkin patch trip, I got up early Monday morning and only had time to toss together something simpler. I had even entertained the idea of skipping the field trip altogether and just going home after Enrichment class, thus negating a need to pack a lunch at all. Oh, the irony.

Top (her lunch): Toasted ham and cheese, cheese nibblets
and torn-up Colby Jack, Ranch, snap peas, apples w/blueberries
Bottom (my lunch): PBHoney, broccoli, apples w/blueberries

The toasted ham and cheese was a special request. And with the Cut-N-Seal (or KrustBuster) I can seal all the saved-up bento scrap bits inside and pop it into the toaster, rather than buttering it all up and heating up the stovetop! Super easy! And fewer calories, without the butter or oil! Plus I was able to just have it cooking on its own in the toaster while I worked on the rest of the lunches, rather than having to devote my time to watching it burn cook. *Special note: Our toaster slots are wide enough to toast bagel halves, so these pocket sandwiches might not fit in normal ones.
She enjoyed her toasted sandwich, and ate most of it. She did a fair amount of playing with her cheese bits (in a square Wilton muffin cup,) but enjoyed having the torn up Colby Jack (the remainder of the slice that went into her sandwich.) And she ate a bunch of them too. She ate her apples, but not the blueberries (kitty pick from a liner/pick set from Dollar Tree last Halloween.) And she maybe ate a pea or two. Mostly she smeared Ranch all over.
I had planned on sharing the Ranch, so didn't put one in my lunch, but I hadn't thought it out well, since it's hard to share a sauce container while driving. So I ate my broccoli plain. Blech.
As it turns out, I should have paid attention to my instincts. After racing down to the pumpkin patch (several minutes late,) I shelled out my $6 and last-minute permission slip just before our group headed off to the hay wagon to ride to the pumpkins. As we were getting off the wagon, a wasp started buzzing around Z's head, and freaking her out. She ended up bumping her head on the side of the wagon trying to avoid the wasp. Then, as I was reaching around her to pull her back into my lap to get her away from the stairs down from the wagon, since other people were trying to get down too, I apparently trapped the wasp between our hands and it stung her!
I then got to carry her the entire way back, to where the farm had their first aid kit. Z wanted to go home. We applied some hydrocortisone cream and a baking soda paste, then a band-aid, while I tried calming her down and seeing if she would really be willing to stay. No. By this time, our class was headed back in from the field, so I told the teacher we were heading home. Ah well. All that work to make a lunch, just to get her stung by a wasp!
The farm gave us a pass to come back another time. Which was super nice of them. Z fell asleep before I had even pulled out of the parking lot! Poor thing!

Tuesday, 10/25/11 - Had to pack a lunch to eat between MOPS (our chapter meets twice a month. Some meet only once) and preschool. Since I hadn't planned ahead the night before and MOPS starts at 9:30 AM, I didn't have time for anything fancy.

Top (my lunch): PB and apples, bagel w/cream cheese,
Halloween JoeJoes
Bottom (her lunch): Ham and cheese pita, Apple Straws,
string cheese nibblets, carrots w/green beans, grapes

I knew there would be tons of yummy food at MOPS, so I packed a light lunch for myself. Unka Seesee had bought some regular-sized bagels (the kind that come 6-to-a-sleeve, not the New York style.) Since they were so tiny compared to the New York ones I love, and I wasn't planning on filling it up with other food anyway, I used my Snapware box, since it's smaller than the EasyLunchBoxes. The pumpkin-face "Oreos" are from Trader Joe's (JoeJoes.)
Since she only gets a snack in the kiddie room (I tell her it's called "The Fun Room,") I made a 'real' lunch for her. The paper muffin cup is from Wilton's Halloween line this year (graphic on the bottom is a bowl full of eyeballs!) The eyeball picks came with them. The Apple Straws were found at Winco. They are a flour/apple puree formed into straw shapes and then baked, and quite tasty. Her mini pita is from Trader Joe's as well. I've only found the little ones there, but don't buy them often since they don't last long before they go bad, and I can't use up all twelve before I have to toss them out.
She ate most of the sandwich and all the veggies; some of the grapes, and all of the Apple Straws. Also one of my JoeJoes (as a reward for eating her green beans.) I can't remember how many of the cheese nibblets she ate.

Wednesday, 10/26/11 - We had Movie Club with my MOMS Club group, followed by preschool. (Movie Club is like a book club, but instead of reading the same book and talking about it, we watch the same re-chosen movie each month and discuss it.) I figured the Movie Club hostess would feed us fairly well, so I packed a medium-ish lunch. I was right. Z ate virtually none of her lunch. She was still full of grapes, popcorn, and "Witch Hat" cookies from Miss Mary's house! (So was I, but I'm pregnant and was able to 'power through' and eat mine up anyway!)

To (her lunch): PBHoney pita, Apple Straws, string cheese
nibblets, grapes, green bean and carrot
Bottom (my lunch): apples, green beans, 1/2 onion bagel w/
cream cheese, Apple Straws, Halloween JoeJoes

The witchy cupcake liners and pick came from a set from Dollar Tree last Halloween. Her carrot came from our CSA share. She really likes the small carrots we've been getting. It's pretty much the only thing she ate on the way to school. She ate the sandwich the following day, since I had this whole already-made lunch left-over, and didn't bother to make ANOTHER one for Thursday. But ate virtually nothing else. In fact, the green beans went into my lunch, and the cheese nibblets and grapes got rolled into her "Dem Bones" lunch the following Monday! (Halloween)