My Smart Planet Winner is......

And my Smart Planet Eco Lunchboxes winner is:
Kendra Peterson
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Smart Planet Eco Collapsible Lunch Container {Review and Giveaway}

As all of you know I have been using a small rectangular Eco Lunch Container by Smart Planet for Missy A's kindergarten snack box.  And it's been a great snack box that is big enough to accommodate both of her juice box/yogurt drink with her snacks of  choice, with more room for mini cold packs and utensils. Best of all they collapse compactly when transporting back home. So it doesn't really occupy so much room in her lunchbag. Everyone loves that one and only box in our household.  It has been put into good use each time.  My husband has success bringing chicken soup for work without a single leak.

So just imagine when Smart Planet sent me their round, tri-compartment box. I was beyond thrilled! It was gorgeous.  I love that it looks different from the rest of my lunch containers at home.  We love varieties.  It is round. It looks similar to the previous Rubbermaid lunch box of Mr. G. He was so excited too when he saw it.  Thought it was for him, but he was quite disappointed to see that there's only one, and it's PINK! You should see his face.  He was hilarious! Told him that it was meant for mom's use. But since mom eats at home most of the time, Missy A gets to try it out.

Day 11: Thank you for MRM

"What is MRM?" you might ask?

Well, it is short for Most Requested Meals.

Day 6: Thank you for the Seasons

Today's lunches have nothing to do with what I am thankful for.

I am thankful for the changing season.

♪♫♫♪ Summer - Fall - Winter & Spring  ♪♫♪

The season has given off so much colors in our life.  

Every season inspires us to celebrate life at its best.

It's getting to be tough to rise up in the morning lately especially the weather has dropped and it's getting darker earlier on each day. Fall has finally set in.  Well, at least for Californians, who always have a favorable warm climate all year round except on late Fall and Winter days.  But still better than any other state.  At least we could still wear our flipflops and sandals, summer clothes on warmer winter days. No need for warmers, beanies and mittens unless on freezing nights and snowy mountains.  At least in our experience.  It might be better or worse for other Californians.

Today's lunch was inspired by "Hotdog on a Stick". 

A Gyoza Lunch

It's the final week of October, and Halloween day is almost here.  We don't usually celebrate Halloween except for minor dress-ups due to our school-wide big Halloween morning parade.  Students are judged based on 3 different criterias with prizes in store. Most Original, Scariest, and Cutest. And everyone gets a treat after. This is the time, they have an additional break before dismissal to consume their sweetest treats of all, and pass out big bags of goodies. 

We haven't bought and carved our pumpkins yet.  We missed the pumpkin patch festival during the weekend.  We were at the Legoland/SeaLife the whole weekend celebrating their Pre-Halloween Event, which was a total blast.  Nothing beats celebrating it with good family friends.  It's always a huge hit.  We just have to get our pumpkins in our local grocer to complete the event.

K-Bento: Turkey-dog in a Bun & Eco LunchBox

Missy A requested for her favorite turkey dog sandwich last night for her lunch today.  It's always nice to hear request from my kidlets. It takes out the burden of brainstorming what's lunch for school.  As I always say, we plan ahead and draft our menus while we shop in our local grocer the weekend before, but there are last minute change of hearts as well.  For those days, I'm doomed to come up with something creative from what's available.  That's when you see the lunches were dressed up.
Otherwise, they can go as simple as they can be.

turkey-dog in a bun, green grapes, and ketchup on the pink cup

DIY Cracker Lunchables - The Bento Style

On Sunday, we were grocery shopping while planning their school lunch menu.  

I figured it would be easier that way.  We were at the freezer section where they could see all the frozen dinners for sale.  I asked them which among those would they want to be in their lunch boxes. My girl squealed, "Cracker Lunchables!"  My boy said, "Mom can do that.  Pick another."  Funny she loves those cracker meals in the box when she doesn't even eat the cheese.  So I told her I can make a better Cracker Lunchable for her without the cheese.  She agreed and here's what I came up with.

And she's extremely happy. Only her favorites are in the box.

 ☻

Breakfast Sushi & More

What is the easiest and simplest lunch to pack on your menu?

Believe it or not, it's sushi rolls for us.  I can make hundreds of them without any fuss.

And the kids love them no matter what the filling are. They eat them hot or cold.

No questions asked.

I know that I've been blogging about planning and preparing ahead of time is still the best policy on lunch-packing.  They cut the preparation process in half the time.  Making your mornings stress-free and more relaxing.  To be honest with you, that is not quite true in my case. I brainstorm at night instead and do all the preps the following morning. The kids preferred them packed fresh everyday. It must taste better and fresher.

But I still plan ahead of time by planning our weekly menu, and shop for the ingredients on weekends. I want ingredients available when the need arises.

K-Bento: Heart Bento

Missy A was at it again. She wanted White Chocolate PB shaped sandwiches again and this time she picked her own cutter. She's pretty much a girly girl and she loves hearts.  I must admit I was never successful at cutting breads with my shaped cutters.  They always crack on me.  But for some reason, I learned a simple technique that prevents the sandwiches from crumbling.  I know that not all blogs would tell you how they actually did it, but with little experimentation, I was able to figure out the way.

K-Bento: Hotdogs & Choco Pretzel Sticks

Missy A has been awarded with a Super Star Certificate yesterday so I thought of making one of her favorite lunches today, hotdog slices with the word STAR spelled out.  Also in there are pretzels with chocolate dip on the yellow cup.  It's a very simple lunch, and you can always make it look special with the use of bento accessories.  All of these, from All Things For Sale.