Happy New Year Sisters Bento and Muffin Tin Meal

I thought it would be fun to make a special New Year's dinner for both my girls. Plus I had gotten cute cupcake toppers, just for the occasion! 

Happy New Year, Little Z!

Pomegranate arils, raspberries, yogurt, frozen peas, leftover Chicken Shawarma with rice and peas

Even though we were eating at home, I packed Z an EasyLunchbox, since they're really not much harder than a plate to wash (in the dishwasher anyway,) and they are often easier to eat from, since the food won't get pushed or spilled off the sides. Plus they're segmented, for the picky eater who doesn't like food to touch. And for the grown-ups, they help with portion control - you can only fit a healthy amount of food in there, and the compartments look full, even with small amounts of treats and foods to limit.

Pom-fetti: For the pomegranate aril "confetti," I chose a star-shaped silicone cup, since they don't hold as much, and her Dadda is stingy with "his" pomegranate seeds. I added a party hat cupcake pick just for fun!

Raspberry Berets: I chose the raspberries because they kind of look like party hats. And they were about to go bad.

Snow-Yo: For no particular theme-related reason, I chose YoToddler Raspberry Pear yogurt. I added some dye-free snowflake sprinkles (yes. even white sprinkles can have fake colors in them) because Z reeeeally wants it to snow. Plus they'd just arrived from Amazon and we were both keen to use them in something.

Pea-fetti: I put a noisemaker spreader/spoon cupcake pick in some frozen peas (she likes them frozen, and since we were eating at home, I didn't have to worry about the ice melting and leaking on everything else.)

Confetti and Streamers: I had some leftover Chicken Shawarma from a new Mediterranean place we'd just tried, and it came with a bunch of seasoned rice and short little brown noodles. I'm not sure if Shawarma normally does, as I've never had it before. I mixed in some more frozen peas before re-heating enough for all three of us (Hubby fended for himself.) I chose the Happy New Year pick for this one, mostly because it showed up best versus the peas and raspberry muffin cups. And I put a square muffin cup in the compartment to make it look fuller and add color, since I really didn't think she'd eat it, so I didn't want to waste a bunch on her.

Cheers!: I had some plastic mini champagne glass cake toppers, so I thought it would be fun to give her some "champagne." I couldn't find a lighter-colored all-natural soda, so I settled for a Hansen's All-Natural Root Beer.

Happy New Year, Baby E!

This is Baby's first real "beautiful lunch;" I've made her a snack bento or two, but never a meal designed just for her. I decided it was safe to use cupcake picks because most of them aren't sharp at all. And she was highly supervised. She did great.

The rest of Big Sister's yogurt, raspberries, Chicken Shawarma, seasoned rice with peas, tomatoes, blackberries

I chose a star-shaped silicone muffin pan because it seemed the most New Years-y. And I added silicone star-shaped muffin liners (I got my assorted colors on eBay and at World Market) to fill the spaces, since I thought she didn't need so much food. Plus they're pretty. And Hubby does the dishes. Teehee.

A Happy New Year cupcake pick and party hat spreader/spoon cupcake pick to make it more festive, plus gave her something to fiddle with in between bites so she didn't smear her paws all over me.


They both surprised me. Baby wasn't interested in the yogurt at all, and spit out the raspberries (after mashing them up first, so Mama was no longer interested in eating them.) Those are usually her favorites. But she was able to eat the blackberries. Last time she tried them, the centers were too solid for her to gum through.
Z decided she no longer liked peas at all, frozen or otherwise. But she gobbled down the rice and noodles, and ended up eating most of mine too. Baby finished off her own, plus the rice Z didn't eat. Mama had to fill up on extra cookies for dessert. Darn.

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