It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I promised myself I wouldn’t start making Christmas lunches until December, but when my tiny princesses saw that our new Christmas Yubo faceplates arrived yesterday, there was no getting around it for today’s lunch!! We only got one set of the Christmas theme so I just divided the set up and left the other side of our Yubos white. :)
Look at all this Christmassy cuteness!!!!

Now, we only got one set, so I just divided them up between the princesses and left the other side of their Yubos blank.
Now onto the lunches! YUM! Both tiny princesses had basically the same meal except A got grapes and K got applesauce. Other than that they each had… Vanilla yogurt colored with a bit of green food coloring so that it matched the sweet little Christmas Tree cup, I picked up at the dollar store. The tree star and presents are salami sandwiches that I colored with food safe markers. They also each got a couple of tree shaped white chocolate covered pretzels, some gingerbread men shaped mozzarella cheese, and a few snowflake shaped ritz crackers.

  

Some things I used to make these lunches…

Bigger is NOT always better!

I picked up these adorable princess boxes at one of our local dollar stores.

They are pretty small compared to some of our other boxes. In fact they really aren’t much larger than your average sandwich container.

Here they are stacked with some of our other boxes. From top to bottom they are… sandwich container, new princesses container, EasyLunchbox, Laptop Lunchbox, and a Planetbox.

See that? They’re pretty small aren’t they? Of course I could have easily used these just as snack containers for my tiny princesses, but I like a challenge. Today’s lunches prove that sometimes a small lunchbox packs a big punch!!

Today’s lunches in our new dollar store small snack sized box contained, vanilla yogurt with sprinkles in an Easylunchbox little dipper, mozzarella cheese flowers, (colby jack cheese for A) bread and butter roll ups, (I tired to add a bit of food coloring to the butter for a pretty rolled effect, but it didn’t really work) bow tie pasta with swirly candy food pick, “rose” rolled salami slices held together with a “magic wand” pick, small container of parmesan cheese, a couple of princess fruit snacks, and a Goodbyn sauce container of meatless spaghetti sauce for pasta dipping.

  

One of the best “tricks” I’ve learned from packing lunch for my tiny princesses this way is that when you purchase items from the grocery store that come in individual packets, it’s OKAY not to give your child the whole pack at once. When you add enough of a variety a little bit goes a long way. For example, the princess fruit snacks. Let’s face it, fruit snacks are not the most healthy of food options, but our kids love them. Am I right? Why not pack your child lots of other options and split up the pack of snacks. This allows your child to still get what they love and not to mention makes items such as this go a looong way! For this lunch I opened up a pack of princess fruit snacks and divided them (4 each) among my girls. They’re happy. I’m happy. My wallet is happy. Now a box of fruit snacks lasts us 2-3 weeks opposed to just 1! Win, win, win!!

Some things I used to make these lunches…

The frog prince

My tiny princesses are GIRLY!! They walk girly. They talk girly. They sleep girly. Heck, my littlest tiny princes even stomps away angry in a very girly manor. No joke. When she gets upset with the husband or I she turns around and does the cutest most adorable little, half stomp, half skip thing you have ever seen. It almost makes you forget why you were angry in the first place. You can only imagine that my poor sweet husband gets his fair share of all things pink and pretty. When the tiny princesses asked me yesterday if Daddy would get a “princess-ified” lunch, I decided to take a different approach. ♥

In the large section of an EasyLunchbox he had, a frog shaped PB&J, (cut with our sand-wishes lunchpunch) some smaller stamped circle sandwiches,  cheese with pink frog pick, few pieces of a beef stick on heart skewers, and some letter cheese crackers to spell K-I-S-S M-E. The top smaller section has some roasted edemene and the lower section has an EasyLunchbox mini dipper of applesauce.

Some things I used to make this lunch…

The new story of a tiny princess lunch box

Once upon a time in a cyber-land far, far way there lived a little blog. It was an ugly blog. One filled with strange graphics and too many polka dots. Tiny Princess Lunch Box, it was called, but the good queen who created it, felt it didn't quite live up to the royalty of its name. One day the good queen decided it was time for a change, so she set off to find the most perfect look in a glorious kingdom called Etsy. Just has she had hoped, Etsy did not fail. There were so many fabulous things to look at, but only few were able to meet the expectations of the queen. These few, the chosen few came together and with the swish of her magic wand the good queen transformed that ugly blog into an adorable, spectacular "site" fit for royalty.... of the tiny variety! And so begins a fresh new chapter in the story of a tiny princess lunch box. ♥

Did you like my story? Okay, so I'm not much of a fairy tale writer. But really, what do ya think of our new look? Isn't it sweet? Isn't it fitting? I think so!

Of course today's lunches could be nothing less than totally princess-ified! Yesterday my tiny princesses got boring lunches... I was still too busy working on the blog. :) Today, they are fun and pretty.
Packed in her favorite Yubo lunch box, (she is BEGGING for another color already) in the larger inner container Tiny princess K had some S'mores trail mix, (created in a little different way so that we could utilize our new heart picks from All Things For Sale!) a crown shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwich, (cut using a cutter from our girly LunchPunches). Just for fun I decided to add some letter picks to her sandwich spelling out her favorite nick name. Still in the larger container, she also had some princess fruit snacks, and some applesauce with sprinkles. The smaller side inner container holds some vanilla yogurt flavored and colored with a hint of strawberry syrup in an EasyLunchbox Mini Dipper. Finally she had some star  cheese chunks that I made by melting some shredded cheddar and transferring to a shaped silicone ice cube tray.

 
Just for a fun special treat today, she also received a 100% juice drink in a princess bottle and some super fun princess tongue tattoos. The tongue tattoos are awfully sour and don't really work that great, but my girls think they're fun and they adore the card that comes in the package. It has a princess on one side and a mirror on the other so that they can see they're tattoos once applied. ♥

As much as I would love to snap a picture of my tiny princesses every morning before they go to school it's just not possible. It's no fun having to catch the bus by 6:45am. This morning though, we miraculously had enough time and Tiny princess K looked too ridiculously adorable not to grab the camera. She decided that I should definitely take picture of her with her lunchbox so that I could "make her famous on the blog".  FYI she has been counting the days until after Thanksgiving because I told her as soon as it was over she could start wearing her Christmas clothes. :) Be still my heart, she has her daddy's dimples!

Unfortunately Tiny princess A was diagnosed with a massive ear infection yesterday and has been home from school the past two days. She was feeling a little bit better today and decided she would like to help me make her a lunch to add to the grand debut of the new blog look.
Also packed in a Yubo lunchbox. In the larger inner container she had, a fairy princess sandwich made with one of our sand-wishes lunchpunch cutters, some Brave fruit snacks, mini pop tart crisps, pretzels. The small blue sauce cup holds her new favorite pretzel dip, Nutella. The smaller side inner container holds a square silicone cup of fruit loops and a heart skewer of multi grain cheerios just for fun. The cheerios didn't stay on too well so we stopped them at the bottom with one mini marshmallow. The planetbox little dipper contains vanilla yogurt with strategically placed crown, glass slipper, and butterfly sprinkles.

And so not to be left out she also got a special 100% juice drink and some tongue tattoos.

We also came up with a great way to carry her Yubo upright so that the contents stay together better! All you need is a little bit of ribbon. :)

Daddy got a special prince-ified lunch today too. We couldn't leave him out of the grand debut. This post got pretty lengthy though so you'll have to wait til tomorrow to see that one.

Some things I used to make these lunches...

Not your average turkey sandwich!

The other day while the tiny princesses and I were doing our daily bento blog hopping we came across this ADORABLE “Turkey” sandwich from Jenn over at Bento For Kidlet! OMG!! She is seriously brilliant! She used a gyoza press to make peanut butter and jelly pockets that created the most perfect turkey feather fan! Pure genius! Thanks, Jenn! My girls LOVED this idea! So much in fact that they request grilled cheese Turkeys for dinner!
Now we don’t have a gyoza press so our turkeys aren’t nearly as cute, but we do have the cut and seal tool from pampered chef. This didn’t quite create as good of a feather effect, but my princesses were happy none the less.
So, here is our version of the not so average turkey sandwich!

Tiny princess A and K’s dinner 11/21/12

Here’s what they had…

• Checkered apple for A and Mott’s Medleys peach applesauce for K
• Goldfish S’mores mix
• A few BBQ potato chip crunchers
• Grilled cheese “turkey” sandwich. Made using the pampered chef cut and seal tool and cut in half. I also used candy eyes, a tortilla chip corner for a beak and some fruit leather for a gobbler
• I also added in a few stalks of celery which was a new food for both princesses and I’m sad to report I was the one to eat all of the celery. :( Princesses 1 Mom 0
• Packed in EasyLunchboxes

Some things I used to make these meals…

A wrap of my latest lunches… nothing to write home about.

This one really will be short and to the point! I promise!

Tiny princess K’s lunch 11/15/12 Fun with spelling words!

Here’s what she had…

• Spelling word cheese sandwiches
• A few BBQ crunchers potato chips
• Peanut butter crackers
• Nerds
• Applesauce with sprinkles
• Packed in an easylunchbox
• also included is a forever favorite.. Lunchbox Love note!

Tiny princess A’s lunch 11/15/12 No theme goin’ on here.

Here’s what she had…

• Brown cow maple yogurt with sprinkles
• Nerds
• Peanut butter crackers
• Apple wedges with peanut butter for dipping/spreading
• Ice cream shaped turkey sandwich made using Lunchpunch
• BBQ chips
• I can’t remember what was in the Go Green drink bottle, but I’m sure it was 100% juice of some sort.
• Packed in our Go Green lunch box

Tiny princess K’s lunch inner container lids off 11/16/12 Feeling a little fallish

Tiny princess A’s lunch with inner lids on

Here’s what they had…

• Brown Cow Maple yogurt with a bit of brown sugar sprinkled on top. Have I mentioned how my my princesses love this stuff! Seriously! It’s their favorite. In fact they have been refusing every other yogurt I offer them lately.
• A few watermelon pieces
• Granola bar halved
• Veggie straws
• Fairy bread sandwiches. A had plain butter today. K had her usual PB&J. I originally saw the idea for fairy bread on pinterest. Unfortunately I never pinned the pin. I did some searching and thought I don’t know if this is the original place I found the idea you can get the tutorial HERE.
• Packed in our ever faithful easylunchesboxes
• Not to forget our Lunchbox Love Notes!

Tiny princess A’s lunch 11/19/12

Here’s what she had…

• Maple yogurt yet again. No sprinkles this time so I covered it with the container lid. :op
• Veggie straws
• Half a cream cheese bagel
• Nerds
• some sort of 100% fruit juice in the drink container. Honest, I don’t give my girls random juices. We usually purchase variety packs of juice boxes so when I add them to the containers I never quite remember which kind made it in that day. :o)
• Packed in our fun Green Goodbyn Bynto
• Also includes some lunchbox love

Tiny princess K’s lunch 11/19/12

here’s what she had…

• Veggie straws
• Banana slices
• Boring maple yogurt (no sprinkles)
• Sour punch rope
• Leftover pizza with ranch
• 100% juice in the drink container
• packed in our fun pink Goodbyn Bynto
• and of course we didn’t for get some lunchbox love!

And finally wrapping up this week’s at school lunches with today’s pictures. No real theme. I think I need some new supplies so I can theme my lunches better. :op
Tiny princess A and K’s lunches exactly the same minus accessories. 11/20/12

Here’s what they had…

• Non healthy fruit snacks. I thought they looked kind of blah in here so I decided to cute-tify them with a little orange organza ribbon. <3
• Leftover tacos.
• String cheese cut
• Corn. Not sure how they will like this cold, but they both were willing to try it so who was I to deny it! ;)
• Goldfish S’mores mix. These are so cute and the princesses have never had them before. They were a special treat from Grandma cause she knows how crazy we all are about our s’mores! YUM!
• Veggie straws
• and our old favorite…. maple yogurt. With SPRINKLES!!! YAY! Confession… I ran out of fall leaf sprinkles so I stole some pumpkins from my Halloween stash! ;)
• Packed in our Planetbox lunch systems!
• Also included is some Thanksgiving lunchbox love!!!

Some things I used to make these lunches….

No, I don’t have too much time on my hands!

Last night was our first school conference night of the week. It went well, but I received a comment that I just couldn’t shake… “Oh, so you’re the awesome lunch maker! You must have way too much time on your hands.” Um, okay! Is that a compliant or an insult?
Let’s put this theory to rest. Just because I enjoy making lunch “special” for my girls doesn’t mean I have loads of unused time in my day. On the contrary I am a very busy mama! :o) As a matter of fact, making lunch fun doesn’t really take up anymore of my time than making lunch ordinary. Sure, sometimes the thought process is longer, but the actual lunch construction is pretty much the same. Adding things into individual containers takes no more time than adding them to individual baggies. Honest. It doesn’t. Especially if you have a plan. :) I think I’ll start timing myself. How long does it take you to prepare lunch for your tiny royalty?
Okay, rant over! On to some lunches…

Today was breakfast for lunch. YUM!! (leftovers from last nights dinner.)

Tiny princess A’s lunch 12/13/12

Here’s what she had…

• A few apple straws
• Scrambled eggs
• Brown Cow maple yogurt wit cinnamon on top
• Granola bar halved
• Sweet tarts
• Bacon
• Turkey pancake small container of syrup for dipping
• Packed in a planetbox lunch system

Tiny princess K’s lunch 11/13/12

Here’s what she had…

• Sausage
• T-U-R-K-E-Y pancakes. (this is a spelling word this week) Small container of syrup for dipping
• Brown Cow maple yogurt with cinnamon
• Granola bar halved
• Sweet tarts
• 50 cents for milk at school
• Packed in a Yubo lunchbox

Some things I used to make these lunches…

Yes, my girls are still eating lunch….

Oh My! I’m having such a hard time with blogging lately! Oh well, I’m here now and I’ve got lunches to catch up on! :o) I have to admit part of the reason that I haven’t been posting our lunches is because I haven’t been satisfied with my photos. Now, I know they don’t have to be perfect…. I just wish they would be consistent.
Hard to remember where I left off, but I think it was here.

Tiny princess A & K’s lunches 11/8/12

 

Here’s what they had

• Heart sandwiches. Turkey/Butter for A. Peanut butter and jelly for K
• Brown Cow maple yogurt with sprinkles
• S’mores trail mix
• Hard cooked eggs Bunny for A. Bear for K. Salt/Pepper on the side for A
• Pretzel twists and cheese. Hold the cheese for A.
• Packed in Goodbyn sandwich containers

Tiny princess K’s lunch 11/9/12

Here’s what she had…

• Peanut butter and jelly mini leave and acorn sandwiches
• Tortilla chips and sweet onion salsa
• Frozen strawberry
• Carmel apple trail mix. (Gerber fruit puffs/marshmallows/caramel bits) YUM!!

Tiny princess A’s lunch 11/9/12

Here’s what she had…

• Turkey/butter leave and acorn sandwiches
• Pretzel rods
• Carrots and ranch
• Brown Cow maple yogurt with fall sprinkles
• Frozen berry mix
• Caramel apple trail mix. This one uses Apple straws instead of fruit puff, which in my opinion is much yummier! K doesn’t like the apple straws. Strange girl!
• packed in Yubo lunch boxes

Tiny princess A and K’s lunches 11/10/12

Here’s what they had…

• “Turkey” sandwiches. A’s was chicken K’s was PB&J
• Pretzel rods
• Nerds Pink for A. Purple for K.
• Granola bar for A. Cheese for K.
• Almonds
• Brown Cow maple yogurt
• Thanksgiving lunch box love! Get them HERE
• Packed in easy lunchboxes

Some things I used to make theses lunches…

What is it Wed., lost puppies, lots of tears, lots of lunches, and happy endings!

Lots to post today so I’m going to try to keep it simple and short! (yeah, right! When have I ever kept anything short?)
So, did you all see the “What is it Wednesday?” picture on the TPLB fb page? If not, or if you need a refresher, here is the picture….

What do you think it is? Keep reading to find out.( Answer is at the bottom of the post.)

Now onto some lunches….

These may not be in the exact order they were received as a couple of them contain my what is it Wednesday item. I don’t want to give it away too quick!

Tiny princess K’s lunch with inner container lids off. 11/2/12

Here’s what she had…

• Ritz crackers in a silicone flower cup
• 2 sandwich cookies in a square silicone cup. Yes, these cookies are very unhealthy, though they are true weakness for everyone of my family members and every now and then Grandma sends them home with the girls. :) Who am I do deny a treat from Grandma?
• Star Colby cheese slices in silicone heart cup
• Fruit snacks of the unhealthy variety
• Organic Vanilla yogurt with crown and glass slipper sprinkles
• Veggie straws in dollar store container
• Packed in Yubo lunchboxes

Tiny princess A’s lunch with all inner container lids on. Plus a lunch box love note! (A had the same as K)

And here is my my sweet husband’s lunch from the same day. It’s pretty self explanatory. ;) and boring!

Packed in an easylunchbox

Tiny princess A and K’s lunch 11/6/12 both the same one minor difference.

inner container lids off

inner  container lids on

Here is what they had…

• Pretzels with cream chesse
• Chicken sandwich stack. Hold the cheese for A.
• M&M’s
• Brown Cow Maple Yogurt
• Fortune cookie
• Gerber Graduates Veggie puffs
• Packed in Easylunchboxes

Here is my husband’s lunch from today. Which explains my lost dog and happy ending title. Long story short our sweet pooch AKA #thebestdogever came up missing Sunday night. We were all devastated. He is home now safe and sound so all is right with the world. The tiny princesses of course had chicken sandwich day at school, but I just couldn’t resist this pup themed lunch for my guy!

Sorry for the even worse than usual photo quality…. oh and the water spots on our planet box….. #awkward

Here’s what he had…

• Mini cheddar rice cakes
• Colby cheese cubed
• 2 little dippers of apple sauce…. cause one is just not enough.
• Candy bones
• Granola bar
• a few veggie straws
• Dog in house chicken and cheese sandwich

Finally on to What is it Wednesday!!!!

Here is a photo of the first lunch in which it was featured.  11/1/12 (a no school day for my princesses)

Can you tell what it is yet? Still kinda looks like a Jelly Donut, doesn’t it?
Here is what they had…

• Green Beans
• M&M’s (remember this was an at home lunch… don’t worry there was no mixing of the green bean juice with the yummy candy!
• Cinnamon applesauce
• Organic french vanilla yogurt
• Pretzel sticks……….

And…. A Peanut Butter And Jelly Biscuit! YUM!!

hold the Jelly for A

Here is what you need and how we made them

• 1 package of pillsbury  Grand biscuits.
• Peanut Butter
• Jelly

Preheat your oven according to the directions on the biscuit package. Open up your biscuits and separate each one at the middle to form two pieces. Set one half aside  and one half on a baking sheet. Add about 1 table spoon of peanut butter to each half that is on the baking sheet. Replace the half you set aside to each one of your peanut butter halves. Crimp the edges to seal and form just one biscuit again. Use your thumb or rounded spoon to create an intent on the top of each biscuit. Leave some alone if you have a jelly hater like me. ;) Add just enough jelly to fill the hole. Baked as directed on biscuit package. If you want to fake people into believing these are Jelly donuts you can add a glaze. (just a mixture of powdered sugar and milk) Then top with sprinkles and a dusting of powdered sugar. :)

We also had these in Monday’s lunch 11/5/12. My pictures are bad cause the batteries in my speedlite died, but you can see the insides a little better in these photos since I halved them to fit better in our Goodbyn Byntos.

Both girls enjoyed basically the same items. K got purple nerds and A got pink nerds…. oh and of course no jelly for A!

Here’s what they had…

• Organic vanilla yogurt
• Peanut butter and jelly biscuit hold the jelly for A
• Green beans
• Mini cheddar rice cakes
• Frit puffs
• Nerds
• Roasted sunflower seeds with a few chocolate covered ones on top for color.

So, did you guess correctly? I’d love to hear some of your guesses. Feel free to leave them in the comments section!

Some things used to make these lunches