1 Baked Apple-Cheddar Quinoa Balls

BBWow, these are so delicious, and they are baby-approved! 

I came across this recipe by recommendation from one of the moms in my mommy group. Turns out it's from the Little Grazers blog: http://littlegrazers.com/apple-and-cheese-quinoa-balls/

I made our own today. I adjusted it slightly for American measurements. I also misread the cooked-quinoa amount and used the entire yield from 1 cup of UNcooked quinoa. But it worked out great. 

You'll need:

Yield from 1 cup of uncooked quinoa (so, cook 1 cup of quinoa according to package directions.)

2 medium Pink Lady apples, grated and squeezed of excess water (save the juice for a yummy drink!)

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 beaten egg

olive oil or coconut oil

1/2 tsp salt

Pre-heat oven to 350F. 

Combine all ingredients and mix in a bowl. Portion out into balls.  I used a measured scoop. Brush with some melted coconut oil or olive oil.

Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown!

Devour! They taste like Cream of Wheat (which I absolutely love) with a hint of apple sweetness and cheddar.  So good!

2 Bento #275 - Bunny Bacon Bites

Simple, yummy lunch - a grilled bacon and cheddar sandwich, cut into cubes.

I bought these carrot and bunny accessories back in the Spring at Dollar Tree.  They are good for a few uses, and so cute!

I have them filled with carrots (natch) and Pirate's Booty! That stuff is seriously addictive.

Grapes and celery sticks round out the lunch.

Packed up:

Bento #275 - Bacon & cheddar on whole wheat, grapes, celery, carrots and Pirate's Booty

In this lunch:

2 Bento #271 - Forgotten Lunch Non-Bento

Do you want to know what to do when your child forgets their lunch, lovingly prepared by you, when you can't get home and go get it?

This morning, I wanted to know too!  The moment before the carpool attendant opened my daughter's door, I heard a forlorn, "Mommy, where's my lunchbox?"  With quick promises to bring her lunch and not to worry, I headed to the closest grocery store that was open at 7am.  Walmart.  You see, it's not really practical for me to go all the way home, since it's an hour round trip with morning traffic and carpool lines.  Plus, I'm pregnant and exhausted.  So, Walmart.

The other day I posted a homemade version of a "Lunchable".  Today I was SO tempted to grab an actual Lunchable and call it a day.  But...I couldn't do it.  Could not.  I stood in the aisle for about 10 minutes looking over what pre-made lunches exist today.  Plastic bread, meat loaded with nitrates, preservatives, HFCS. tons of sodium and everything else artificial.  Even the so-called "healthy" brand option "Active Pack" had added corn syrup and lots of preservatives.

I seriously considered grabbing a pre-made salad bowl, but they all had cubed meat in it which is basically the same as Lunchable meat.  I don't trust it.  That meant it was up to me to piece-meal it.  Literally.

So, here's what I ended up with.

Produce aisle: Snack Fresh fruit/veggie pack.  Includes sliced apples, cubes of cheddar cheese, carrots and a pack of crackers. - $1.98

Deli aisle: Double pack of hard boiled eggs. - $.98

Dairy aisle: Activia strawberry yogurt smoothie drink. - $.88

Total cost: $3.84

Interestingly enough, this is just a little less than hot school lunch costs at E's school.  We attend a public charter school, but we don't get the same government subsidies as other public schools, so all food is ordered in advance and costs $4 per DAY.  And unfortunately, it's not all that great for the price.

This is also the first time in probably two years I've purchased paper lunch bags!  We ran out a few weeks ago when I packed the last disposable field trip lunch, so I did actually need a new package.

So there you have it.  This was a much better collection of foods for lunch than grabbing one of those pre-made lunches.  Though convenient, they will do your body no favors!  And now that I know exactly what to buy and where to get these lunch components, I'll be in and out in 5 minutes, instead of reading labels for 45 minutes!

[non] Bento #271 - Apples, cheese, carrots, crackers, hard boiled eggs and strawberry yogurt smoothie.

5 Bento #269 - Piggy "Lunchable"

First of all, have you noticed my FABULOUS new blog design?!  Shalon Estrada over at Pretty Lovely Design just completed it for me, and I'm super excited to show it to you all.

So today's lunch is in a Planetbox, and I've done it in the style of a Lunchable, but way lower in sodium and all that stuff, and no throwaway waste!

Here we have some Columbus roasted turkey with a piggie sauce container full of dip for the veggies.

The crackers are melba toasts, a couple of mini crispy oatmeal raisin cookies from Trader Joe's.

A couple slices of cheddar cheese cut into a piggie face using a Cutezcute cutter and a bunch of fresh broccoli, and organic green and red seedless grapes.

Bento #269 - Roasted turkey, cheddar cheese, broccoli florets, dip, melba toast, grapes and oatmeal raisin cookies.

  

26 Bento #268 - Froggie World Animal Day Blog Hop

We're hopping again! ;)  Today is World Animal Day and my bento friends and I are each doing a different animal-themed lunch today.  I selected the noble frog.

The past few days we have been enjoying some delicious deli meats courtesy of Columbus Salame.  Today we're using their applewood smoked ham, which has this really savory, smokey taste.  It's great quality and flavor!  I've been having it grilled with melty cheddar and a smidge of deli mustard.  Delish!  I've prepared it today in E's lunch as ham spirals with cute froggie picks, with a side of carrots.

We have another CuteZCute cheddar sandwich, and this time I used the adorable froggie plate for the face.  I was able to emboss the bread as well with the tool, which is such a nifty feature!

Bento #267 - Columbus applewood smoked ham spirals, carrots, cheddar on whole wheat, mini bananas and Willamette Valley Granola chips.

Pssst...I have a Willamette Valley Granola giveaway going on, click here to enter!

Now, check out what Astrid has for WAD at Lunch Fit For a Kid!  Click below.

1 Bento #266 - Panda PB&J

This panda face is sooo adorable!  It's a CuteZCute deco cutter from AllThingsForSale.  It's got four different plates for decorating!

Snap peas and dip round it out.

Bento #266 - Organic peanut butter and organic strawberry preserves, sugar snap peas, cheddar cheese, mini bananas and ranch dip.

3 Bento #265 - Butterfly Ham & Cheese

Lunch today is in a Lego lunchbox with some butterflies.  It's ham and cheddar on whole wheat, and in the butterfly shape with a LunchPunch. You can't really see the butterfly sandwich very well, but next to it is a cute silicone butterfly cup filled with organic cucumber wedges, and a mini banana.

Bento #265 - Columbus ham and cheddar cheese on whole wheat, organic cucumber, mini banana and an apple strawberry Crusher.

 

32 Bento #264 - Talk Like a Pirate Day Shipwreck & Bento Booty Blog Hop Giveaway!

Yaarr there mateys!  Today be talk like a pirate day!  All ye scallywags be in fer a real treat!  There be TREASURE at the end of this blog hop, so grab yer quill and parchment and use yer letterin' skills to record in yer captain's log the clues on the treasure map that lead to the booty! Persevere me hearties, the treasure rivals ol' Blue Beard's!

(Translation: Grab a pen to write down the puzzle pieces in each blog in the hop!  It'll reveal where the treasure is located. Every blog in the hop has a piece of the map to the bento booty treasure - a giveaway! As you go through the hop, collect the pieces and put them in the right order to find out where to enter! You'll probably need something to write with, because there are 39 blogs to visit, so 39 pieces to collect! (OR print out our handy dandy worksheet!  Click here.) 37 pieces will spell the URL, and 2 bonus pieces with words on them will get you 2 entries to win!  Stick with it, the prizes are AMAZING and sponsored by AllThingsForSale!!)

So, today's bento lunch is a pirate shipwreck in a Planetbox!  Fresh green grapes are on palm tree stirrer skewers.

Next are our inside-out starfish pirates, yaaar!  They are having an altercation amid the palm trees.  With pretend plastic swords, of course!

The buzzword of the day in cucumber.

A treasure map hard boiled egg!  With the obligatory dagger thrust through the X on the map.

Details on my most awesome pirate ship centerpiece.  With a sneaky monkey and a Siren mermaid in the waves!

A tropical banana snack in a festive pirate sack.

Isn't it fun with the pirate parrot napkin and mermaid Sigg water bottle??

Bento #264 - Cheddar on whole wheat, organic cucumber, hard boiled egg, green grapes and yogurt star.  Snack - Banana.

Okay mateys! This here's my piece o' the map!  Hurry and collect them all, the treasure hunt ends on Sunday, 9/23 at the stroke of midnight!  

If you liked this lunch, please follow my blog here, and Like Bentobloggy on Facebook!

To find your next map piece, click here to visit Myra at Mommy and Me Lunchbox!  Happy huntin' mateys!

Print out the treasure hunt worksheet here.

5 Bento #263 - Salami Sandwich & Grapes

Hellooo there!  I'm finally getting back to the land of the living!  I've been battling a severe chest cold, and I'm finally starting to feel better.  Of course I never stopped packing lunch for Miss E, but I just didn't have the energy to document.  We've also been really busy getting new furniture and moving all sorts of stuff around, getting the nursery ready for baby's arrival in a few months, so it's been rather hectic.

Today I made a hard salami and cheddar pocket sandwich with The Pampered Chef Cut-N-Seal tool.

Ella asked if she could have salami every day.  I replied that I didn't think her doctor would approve of her cholesterol levels if I did.  Funny story - last year at her 5 year check up she had to have the obligatory cholesterol blood test.  The nurse came back and told me that her cholesterol was really high, and was rather concerned.  It struck me suddenly that on the way to her appointment she had grabbed a container of sliced salami and had eaten all of it moments before arriving. I swore that it was just an anomaly and she didn't actually eat cured meats all day long!  They had me bring her back in a week for a re-test, and naturally her levels were completely normal, but how embarrassing!

In the small container we have fresh green grapes and sliced orange bell pepper served with ranch dip.  I'm giddy with excitement over my new EasyLunchboxes Mini Dippers that just arrived in the mail!  They are the perfect size for dips and sauces, and have a leak-resistant top.  Yay!  They come in a package of 8, so lots of bang for your buck.

With tops affixed.  It's a princess-y kind of day.

Bento #263 - Salami and cheddar sandwich on wheat, Goldfish crackers, bell pepper, grapes and ranch dip.

11 years, never forget.

4 Bento #251 - Turkey & Sweet Corn

I'm so tickled that I've been nominated for a Top 25 Foodie Moms award on CircleofMoms.com!  I'd be flattered if you'd vote for Bentobloggy here:

We had our last school field trip yesterday, to the Atlanta Zoo!  There were so many parent volunteers that my group consisted of only one of Ella's little girlfriends, so we had a really nice and relaxing morning exploring together.  We started out in the opposite direction of everyone else, so we got most of the exhibits all to ourselves.  The panda bears were really active, which was so cool to see. It was also supposed to thunderstorm but we escaped it all, and the high temperatures with some cloud cover.

Today's lunch was one of only about five that I've ever made in the morning.  I usually make them right before I go to bed, because I'm barely functional at 6:30am.  She has a whole wheat White Mountain bread turkey and cheddar sandwich in the first box.

In the second she has some grape tomatoes, fresh sweet corn sprinkled with a little kosher sea salt and a cheddar Babybel.

Packed up with snack - Cat cookies and an organic gala apple.

Bento #251 - Turkey and cheddar on whole wheat, sweet corn, grape tomatoes and cheddar Babybel.  Snack - Organic gala apple and cat cookies.

1 Bento #249 - Gyoza & Pico de Gallo

I'm back from my sister's wedding in Maryland!  It was beautiful, and she was absolutely radiant!

For lunch today we have some homemade pico de gallo with chicken gyoza.

How CUTE are the little containers?!  I got them on clearance at Target in the seasonal aisle.

All packed up in Greentainers.  

Bento #249 - Chicken gyoza, ponzu sauce, tortilla chips, fresh pico de gallo, cheddar cheese cubes.  Snack - Yogurt stars and carrot apple Crusher.

I'm so happy for the new couple, and I hope they are enjoying their tropical honeymoon. A shot of all the girls in my family in the bridal room - my three gorgeous sisters, our stunning mother and my adorable little Ella. :-)