Cute (Healthy) Lunches

My idea for yesterday's lunch came to fruition today. I didn't have any croissant dough yesterday (and just did not have the time or will to make from fresh). J stopped at the grocery last night and picked up some for me so that I could make some mummies!

This week it's all Halloween all the time. M & T both requested pizza for lunch today. Here's what I came up with.

Pulled out the Hello Kitty cutters I got a few weeks ago. They did not turn out nearly as good as they looked in my head, but for a first attempt I'm not too disappointed. At least M could tell what they were this time!

Two rocks, one stone.
One, today is Spirt Day. For More info go here.
"Millions of Americans wear purple on Spirit Day as a sign of support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth and to speak out against bullying. Spirit Day was started in 2010 by teenager Brittany McMillan as a response to the young people who had taken their own lives. Observed annually on October 20, individuals, schools, organizations, corporations, media professionals and celebrities wear purple, which symbolizes spirit on the rainbow flag. Getting involved is easy -- participants are asked to simply "go purple" on October 20 as we work to create a world in which LGBT teens are celebrated and accepted for who they are."


Two, M has been asking for a Justin Bieber bento theme. Making people is way above my pay grade, so I've been putting it off. But today inspiration hit and I decided that today I could combine purple (Justin's favorite color, so I'm told), music notes and some simple letters to fulfill the request.

Purple for Spirit Day and Justin Bieber. Win win.

I realized today that Halloween is right around the corner and I'll only be able to use all my cute Halloween cutters/picks for another 1.5 weeks. So, on with the Halloweening of the Bento!

...and in this case also food!
Well, at least I attempted to make fish. (M tells me they look more like mice.)

T asked for a bagel with cream cheese for lunch today. Short of making the bagel into a face I haven't come up with any other fun ideas. So, today I just cut the bagel into triangles, plopped into bear baking cups and then ran with the bear theme.

Last week was, quite simply, madness. I am a co-chair for M's school Fall Festival - which was held this past Saturday - and so this past week was lots of sleepless nights, running around picking up a million things, 5 hour long meetings, conference calls and (horribly) 2 McDonald's lunches for T. So needless to say, Bento Lunches were at the bottom of the "to do" list last week. But, the big event is over (Thank God) and I'm ready to start up Bento-ing again. (M is ready too, she was none too please that she got just "a regular sandwich and some fruit" all last week.)

Super crazy day yesterday. By the time I got around to making M's lunch last night it was crazy late and I was beyond ready for bed. So, it's super simple and not well thought out. But better than nothing, non?

I had a bit of the cat pasta left over that needed to be used up, so M had a dog & cat lunch today:

Darling it's better
Down where it's wetter
Take it from me
Up on the shore they work all day
Out in the sun they slave away
While we devotin'
Full time to floatin'
Under the sea

Today's lunches took on an underwater theme. I've been wanting to make these octopus hot dogs ever since I saw them on the Biting The Hand That Feeds You blog, but wanted to wait until M's Goodbyn boxes came. 

M's lunch today

ramen noodles dyed blue 

with some colby cheese fish swimming around

apple "star fish"

octopus nitrate-free chicken hot dogs

and ketchup for dipping

carrot "star fish"

And a few little goldfish crackers in the compartment next to her drink bottle. There isn't really any room to put in an ice pack to keep everything cool (unless I want to give up one of the food compartments, so I filled her drink bottle up with ice cubes that should be melted in time for lunch. Hopefully that works.

 T's lunch today:

 ramen noodles dyed blue 

& provolone cheese fish swimming around

 strawberry jam fish sandwich

cheddar cheese for the stripes & an icing eye

 green grape "fish eggs"

& a provolone fish

 cantaloupe "star fish"

 half of a nitrate-free chicken hot dog "octopus"

gold fish crackers

what was left over:

cheese fish & 2 stripes 

& about half of the ramen noodles