Hip2BSquare - Lunchables-Style

For this day's lunch we had Movie Club with my MOMS Club, and I'd actually gotten to SEE the movie we were going to discuss! (Before baby, obviously.) Plus I had dishes to return from a yummy dinner brought over after Baby E had been born. Even though the hostess normally puts out a great spread (popcorn, fruit, random snacks, juice, etc) that Z and I tend to fill up on, I threw together lunches the night before (into our EasyLunchBoxes.) Because baby was actually sleeping and I found I had time to kill!

Hip2BSquare

Skittles w/pistachios, cheddar, ham, Special K Herb crackers,
black-and-blueberries, spinach w/carrot flowers

We've been loving these Special K crackers, and the few slices of ham we had left were about to turn, so I decided to make a mini-version of a Lunchables: meat, cheese, and cracker-stackers. I used my FunBites Cube It! cutter on the ham and cheese, which made it super quick and easy. I've found that for ham that wasn't custom-cut at double thickness at the deli counter, if I stack two slices together, it's much easier to shape and get out of the cutters. So that's what I did here too. The ham scraps are tucked underneath the ham squares.
She had a mini packet of Skittles left over from Halloween or  maybe Christmas or a birthday party bag or something, and I needed something to fill that fourth square muffin cup, so I used it and added some pistachios, which she's been loving lately.

Just for fun I added disposable heart picks to both our lunches. (From Dollar Tree Valentines paper muffin cup and pick sets from last year.) Normally I don't bother cutesy-ing up mine, since I'm not enthralled at the idea of hand-washing more crap just to make my lunches look adorable. But disposable, now. That's a horse of a different color! [Note: They are compostable, which we get to put in with our yard waste, so I'm not a total eco-nightmare here!]

Despite telling me that she hated blueberries, by the end of the day she pretty much had eaten everything. She ate some at our Movie Club/playtime (and also some popcorn from the hostess,) and ate again on the way home from school. Since she'd eaten all the perishables (cheese and ham) by then, I put the rest out at home for her to graze on until dinner. She did have seconds on the Skittles after we got home. But she ate all the carrots and spinach.

Baby E's Lunch (via middlemanMom):

My Lunch: Spinach salad w/raisins, almonds and Chicken McBites;
raspberry vinaigrette dressing in yellow container,
string cheese nibblets and cheddar scraps, Apple Straws chips

I had stopped at McD's the day before to help feed the gnawing emptiness that is my tummy now that I'm nursing. Z hadn't been in the mood for a Happy Meal, so I ordered her some of the new McBites to snack on if she wanted. She didn't want. So I saved them to put in my lunch another day. I thought they might be tasty cold in my salad. They were not. They're okay hot, but I lost interest after the first few. Cold they are chewy and too breading-heavy. I would only recommend them if you were sharing them with others, since they weren't delicious enough to leave me craving more, and they have so much breading they're more of a treat than a meal. So eat a few, pass the rest along. Or skip them. Kinda spendy at $3.

Yeah, I know. Other than a few raisins, no fruit in my lunch. I just wasn't in the mood to slice and slosh an apple. Besides, Apple Straws have fruit in them, yeah? And they were a big hit with a brazen little minx at movie club. When us MOMS went closer to the TV to watch a trailer for an upcoming movie, one of the toddlers climbed into my chair and helped herself to the lunch I had left unprotected at the table! Too cute! 

Yellow fork from a travel utensil set from Dollar Tree (BPA free! Plus came with travel case!) Yellow sauce container is a Tupperware Smidget, which are hard to find. They are only available from a special fundraiser selection, or at individual sales reps' booths at fairs, or eBay or Amazon. The lids are hard to get on, but they are very water-tight! Perfect for my vinaigrette!