A Picnic & A Fieldtrip

My son had an HOB (Hooked On Books) Picnic today. It is exclusively for students who were able to complete a monthly goal of reading for at least 20 minutes each day throughout the year. We were sent a note that lunch for today is on the house. Yay! for them, but I was kinda worried what they'd be fed, and how much. My son has a huge appetite, and a slice of pizza isn't enough for him.

 As an assurance that he won't starve, I packed an emergency afternoon snack.

Turkey & Cheese Bagel with Lettuce, some strawberries & a muffin cup of blueberries.

He said school prepared a BBQ burger with apple and cheetos for lunch, 

and so he ate his packed fruits for his pm snack.

He came home with a happy tummy and a leftover turkey & cheese bagel,

which he consumed at home.

Simultaneously, my daughter had a fieldtrip at Chuck E Cheese. I'm glad to be an active parent volunteer as I was chosen to accompany them in all events and fieldtrips. I love it because I witness all of my kids' preschool memories, with lots of pictures on the side.  I know that the big school doesn't allow parents to chaperone anymore unless required.

As per school's instruction, eat a heavy breakfast, as there won't be mid-morning snacks served. So I prepared her a toast with Nutella and some watermelons, which she didn't finish so I have to pack it, in case her tummy grumbled before pizza time.
My only regret to this was I forgot to make use of my FunBite cutter
for a more appealing lunch.

True enough, she chomped on them while waiting for all the kids to arrive in school.  I was assigned to drive 4 kids to the site, including my little girl.

The preschoolers had a grand fun playing arcade all to themselves with friends. 

It was the best trip ever.

Below are the preschoolers with Chuck E.,

Ms. Claudia & Ms. Michelle.

Have a great Thursday!

~Marie~

A Flower Garden Salad and Pizza

I was feeling inspired today and prepared a cute lunch for my boy. It was my first time to cut up carrots this way, and I could see a twinkle in his eyes. I was a reluctant bento designer because I was afraid I would embarrass my boy to school. So I have to introduce it slowly, and see how far he would let me. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

So today, I prepared him a flower garden fresh salad of lettuce and carrots with blueberries and ranch on the side. A couple slices of Cheese pizza for the main entree. With his lunch, he also had a yogurt drink, 100% juice pouches and water. Perfect! So tempted to doodle on those pizza but I held back. I believe that, "Patience is the key towards success" :)

But, today an unfortunate thing happened. This lunch went to the ground. And he came back home starving.  Apparently, a girl from school pushed his lunch aside, which went straight to the floor. We're currently investigating what happened and I hope it was just an accident, and nothing mean attitudes involved. My hubby suggested that maybe I should keep my lunches simple. It might have provoked the girl, out of jealousy, since her mom couldn't provide her a cute healthy lunch. I don't think so. And I'll keep providing them cute and healthy lunches for as long they would want me.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

~Marie~

Chili + Whole Grains = Healthy ♥ Meal

I get frequent requests of CHILI at home lately 

and I honestly ♥ it!

For one, it is a great opportunity to feed the kidlets with vegetables and beans at the same time. Two main items that my daughter only eats it on chili. Otherwise, I would have to make up a very good reason why she needs to eat them.

With the chili, I packed 1/2 cup of whole grain brown rice, strawberry hearts with panda food picks, and Annie's Homegrown Organic Bunny Snack Mix.  We love Annie's Homegrown Organic Products because they make use of the simplest ingredients grown from rich and healthy soil that hasn't been treated with chemical pesticides or fertilizers. Thus makes snacking even healthier.

My boy prefers warm Chili, so he doesn't taste any solidified fats from the beef. So I pack them on Thermos insulated containers to keep them warm for at least 5-7 hours from the time I packed it.  I always get empty lunchboxes with a happy tummy all the time.

Have a great Tuesday!

~Marie~

Bento Weekly Round 27

For the week of May 21-25, 2012

I can't believe the school year is almost over. We still have 2 more weeks to go. I must admit I've struggled planning school meals on some days, but felt great that I've kept up with our original goals at the beginning.  And my son has been eating healthier than ever. He's been choosy about the foods that he eats, and has stopped being a picky-eater since then.

These couple of weeks were pretty tough since the kids have been sick. My little girl just recovered from ear infection.  But the antibiotic just kept her appetite low. So she wasn't eating much than usual. My son developed sinus infection after a week of congestion. And he missed 2 days of school at the start of this week. He's been having diarrhea (excuse me), due to his high doses of AmoxiClav. So I have to keep the oily foods at the minimum to help him in school.  

He went back to school on Wednesday.  He brought with him oven-baked eggrolls, watermelons and double chocolate crinkles.

Thursday he brought with him turkey breasts with cheddar florets, oven-baked crackers, strawberries and Oreo cookies.

Friday he got steamed shumai, organic baby carrots, corn on a cob,

and mandarin oranges.

If you enjoyed this post, would you care to follow me? 

Have a great Memorial weekend ahead!

~Marie

Double Chocolate Crinkles (Recipe)

Have you ever had Chocolate Crinkles?

Bento Weekly Round 26

Still with Healthy Eats' Challenge, this week's goal is to cook daily. 

Since I do it for the most part of the week, it wouldn't be much of a work to do it daily for this goal.  After all, anything leftover would be packed neatly on the following day's lunchboxes.  Anything more would be good enough for my daughter and me.

Here's a week of cooking for my family that made it to the lunchboxes.

Minnie Mouse

Sandwich Onigiris

Lunch & Snack: Feverish Little Sissy

My little girl is sick today and missed school. She's been complaining of right ear pain for a while. I was thinking of an ear infection, so we're seeing a doctor this afternoon.

Sad but she managed to fix her own lunch. Blame it all on the lunch picks. She was so excited to make use of our newest picks, and was encouraging me to get more animal sets, preferably those horses, zebras and ponies. Her first love :)

Her choice for lunch was gyoza and crackers, which she never finished. Well, she finished the crackers, and left the gyoza, which made it to my grumbling tummy.

For snack, I fixed her strawberry-kiwi jello, apple slices and chocolate rice krispies. And loads of cold water to keep the fever down.  I also offer a lot of popsicles to keep them hydrated and cool, especially when they don't feel like drinking. Jellos & yogurts are good when they're out of appetite.

We saw the doctor today and found out that she only has a cough with a fever. Her ears and throat are still okay, but advised us to return when fever and ear pain worsens, or she generally worsens. We're hoping she gets better though without the need for any antibiotics. She's not big on medicines. So it's never okay when there's frequent weather changes.  It will sure hit her.

Mother's Day Off!.....A Blog Hop

KIDS Turn!

It's Mother's Day, and we deserve a treat on our special day!  My fellow Bento Blogger MOMS decided to take a rest and let the kids rule for a day. My little girl was thrilled when I broke the news. She's 5 and very much into Bento-making. Dad prepared everything (food & supplies) on the table. Her task was to put them together in a lunchbox.

Healthy Oatmeal Choco-Raisin Cookies

A Quest for My Little Chef and Me

My daughter has shown interest on baking at the very early age of 5. Well, at least, earlier than I did. She puts into practice what she learns from school. So far, she has brought me good recipes for Sugar Cookie, Fruit Jellos, and Fruit Salad.

We have been baking for a year now and has produced quite a number of brownies, cakes and muffins from scratch. Not all made it to the blog because it needs a little bit more of a perfection.

Bento Weekly Round 25

Eating More Whole Grains

This entire week would be eating more whole grains

as per Healthy Eats' Healthy Every week Challenge.

I will be featuring different grains each day as I pack school lunches.

Whatever my son brings is basically what I pack for my hubby to work as well, 

and what my daughter and I eat at home before I send her to preschool.

Whole Wheat Monday: 

Whole wheat Spaghetti Noodles with Tomato, Basil, Rosemary & Garlic Sauce, 

Hotdogs on it, Strawberries, Carrots and Parmesan Cheese on the spice shaker.

Sushi Love Bento

Wednesday would be Sushi day for us.

It was like any ordinary days except that there's something special about this lunch.

I added some love by giving it a little character.

I know I don't normally blog about my lunches on a daily basis.  But I thought of doing it once in a while since my little girl is up to having similar lunches with his brother lately.

Guess it's time to prepare her for bento-style lunches.

Pre-K Lunch: PB and Nutella Swiper

Swiper the Sneaky Fox from Nick Jr's Dora the Explorer!

Seafood Squash & String Beans in Coconut Milk

Tostadas

I am so glad to have served something Mexican for Cinco de Mayo. A fellow preschool mom generously taught me how to make Tostadas when she learned that it's one of my daughter's favorite food in school.  After all, she's her daughter's BFF, as the girls termed it. SO I'd like to thank her first and foremost.

Chinese Pork Hock

Bento Weekly Round 24

April 30 - May 4, 2012

I can't believe it's May already, which means just 4 more weeks of lunch packing for the kiddos. Woohoo!! I'm just ready to relax a bit and plan for our much-awaited summer.

I would absolutely miss my blog for a while but I'll try to post at least once in a while. Perhaps about the foods we ate for the entire summer vacation. 

Or it might be about my daughter's kitchen endeavor.

We'll see.

For now, I'd like to post about the lunches I've packed for the entire week.

My Lunchables Version Bento: Crackers, Honey Roasted Ham, 

Cheddar Cheese, Nori and Strawberries.

Tuna Sandwich

My Little Chef: Basic Sugar Cookies

I was meaning to post this last weekend but things just got so hectic. I barely had time to step into my blogs.  Usually I would upload picture and title my posts then save it as drafts.  Just so I wouldn't forget to work on it once I get my fingertips on my laptop.

The month of April was cooking sessions for the preschoolers. I'm glad we got a well-rounded PS teacher.  She touched base on almost everything, which I liked the most.

My Little Chef: Fruit Jellos

They made Fruit Jellos!

I was thrilled to see all the pictures sent to me by her teacher.

I decided to make a post about this to hallmark 

every kitchen milestone my kids would hit.