Mamas not doin’ so HOT!

I had just one series of simple tasks to accomplish this morning. Make two tiny princess lunches, take photos of two tiny princess lunches, and get said tiny princess lunches out the door and on the bus (with their rightful owners) ON TIME! 

Well, I managed the first, missed out on the second, and just barely made the last. By just barely, I mean I had negative seconds to spare. Our sweet bus driver may or may not have had to honk, not once, not twice, but three times as I hurriedly (and grumpily) put my camera down, practically threw our EasyLunchboxes at the girls and disappointingly admitted defeat. Some of you may not get this and some of you might, but I knew if I didn't redeem myself in someway,  I would be grouchy all day, and let’s face it, nobody likes an evil queen!

I decided since all my supplies were already out, and since it was due time I had a new blog post, I should make myself a lunch. So, I did. I was also encouraged by a great new linky party called Grown-Ups Gotta Eat hosted by fellow bento blogger Beth from A Boy And His Lunch! I really love this idea for weekly link party and hope to link up regularly from now on!

Here is my yummy lunch I am contributing this week…

 

Here is what I packed in one of our new EasyLunchbox brights containers…

• 2 heart shaped cheese quesadillas served over a bed of romaine lettuce. I included a taco bell hot sauce packet to use as a dressing for my lettuce and a dip for my quesadillas. I also think it was quite necessary seeing that my morning wasn’t all too “hot”! ;)
• Heart shaped hard cooked egg sliced in half and loaded with pepper
• frozen berries
• heart shaped carrots made using my FunBites Luv It
• a few raisins in the small blue sauce cup

I’m happy to report that this lunch was delicious! Yup, that’s right! I was so hungry, I decided to eat it for breakfast instead! ♥ 

Be sure to go check out all the other adult “happy meals” over at A Boy And His Lunch!

some things I used to make this lunch…

Sub zero temps outside, but it’s a hot summer day in our EasyLunchboxes!

When my tiny princesses came to me yesterday afternoon with this awesome idea for a lunch, we had no idea that school would be canceled due to the cold temps, but hey, we went with it! Plus it made for a fun blog post title!

My girls have had this idea in their heads for quite some time now, and I really wanted to save it for beach day at school, but they couldn’t contain themselves any longer, so I decided to give in and bring their idea to life!

Here is tiny princesses A’s lunch packed in an ever awesome EasyLunchbox ♥

She had….

• 2 bagel halves stacked
• grapes
• teddy grahams
• maple yogurt with a hint of blue food coloring
• carrots
• beach ball and shell molded trix yogurt. Tiny princess A asks for trix yogurt all the time! I’ve always told her no. Even though we have not eliminated artificial colors and flavors all together, we do try to limit them quite a bit. I have always just assumed that trix yogurt was filled with added unnecessary ingredients.  Guess what? While reading a recent blog post from Cristi of Bent On Better Lunches I learned that I was completely wrong. Trix yogurt is colored and flavored with natural fruits and vegetables.! A was so excited when she got home from grandmas and saw this yogurt in the fridge!
• BBQ chicken
• ritz crackers

Per her request here are somethings we did to make this lunch special…
In order to make the PlanetBox little dipper fit snugly inside the stacked bagels, we used it as a cookie cutter first to create a bigger holes in the bagels. We colored the maple yogurt with a bit of blue coloring to create the “pool”.  Each bagel has cream cheese spread and the top bagel is sprinkled with some crushed graham crackers to make a “beach”. So fun! ♥ She was very particular about what picks we used to create the summer scene. There is a little girl as well as a teddy graham having fun in the pool. She thought the flower food picks resembled life preservers quite a bit, so we added lots of them all around. The pink swirl candy pick became a beach ball and she was super excited when I suggested putting a “grape tree” on her beach. We also added some colorful silicone cups to keep food separated, and used a fun sauce cup to hold ranch for carrot dipping.

I wish I got a better photo of this, but I started to really loose light and my focus was off. At the last minute tiny princess A decided to look for a Lunchbox Love Note to put in her lunch. She found the perfect one…. as long as she added a porcupine to her pool! ♥

Tiny princess K’s lunch is much the same except she has no carrots and we swapped pineapple instead of grapes for her. Her yogurt molds are also different. She got a fish and a palm tree.

By the time I got to K’s lunch we were completely out of natural light. The photo quality really shows this.

A couple of funny things to mention about tiny princess K’s lunch. She is VERY definite with all of her decisions. Once she gets something in her head she rarely changes her mind. I tried really hard to get her to allow me to add just ONE grape for her tree. She wasn’t having it, and insisted I do a “pineapple tree” for her instead. I had to giggle silently, cause I’m pretty sure it resembles a lamp shade more than a tree. :) Oh well! Her lunch, her rules! Also, when we discovered this Lunchbox Love note she was very adamant that her swans remained on the  beach and stayed out out of the pool. Her bear was relaxing in a tube and apparently wanted a “splash free zone” ♥

In order to make these lunches school ready we had to do a little rearranging and all the swimmers needed to come out of the pool so we could put the “covers” on. Nobody likes a soggy bear! The girls were okay with this as long as I included extra teddy grahams so they could play with their food at school! Little did we know there wouldn’t be any school today anyway. :)

This photo also shows the other side of the Lunchbox Love Note. ♥

Some things we used to make these lunches…

Tiny princesses pack lunch!

My tiny princesses are home from school today in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. day. Well, actually they are not home. They are at grandma and grandpa’s house. They have been there since Saturday night. It sure has been quiet around here.

So, no lunches today, but remember the kid made meals I mentioned in my FunBites review and giveaway post? (click the link for your chance to win your own choice of FunBites cutter if you missed it) Well, today I’m going to share those lunches. BUT first I wanted to show you a photo of the delicious dinner my husband and I had last night……

Do those croutons look familiar? Yup! I couldn’t resist using my FunBites cutter to create crunchy, yummy, crouton-ey goodness once again! This time I used my Cube It cutter and it made the perfect most sophisticated crouton shape. Hmmm… can croutons be sophisticated? Yeah, I think they can. ;)

The rest of our salad consisted of: grilled chicken, sliced carrots, raisins, and shredded parmesan cheese, over a bed of fresh romaine lettuce. We also had some sun dried tomato vinaigrette dressing to go on top, but there were so many yummy flavors going on I opted for a dressing-less salad. I guess that would make it naked! YIKES!

Alright then! Onto the tiny princess packing…….

If you remember from the previous post I decided to let my tiny princesses have some fun with the FunBites Luv It food cutter. After that, I made their day and let them pack their own lunches! If you could have only seen their sweet little faces when I told them to choose any picks and silicone cups that they wanted! Too cute!

Here is K’s lunch. She was so excited to put peas in her lunch. Well, a peapod silicone cup that is. Since she doesn’t really like the real thing. And cherries too. Another thing not on her list of likes. Maybe someday she will like the real thing. I hope so. ♥

Here’s what she packed in her Yubo lunch box…

• frozen yogurt stars
• applesauce with a few too many sprinkles
• FunBites Luv It stacked bite sized sandwiches
• fruit snacks
• Mickey pretzels
• chocolate covered sunflower seeds
• multigrain cheerios

I chose the Lunch Box Love note cause her lunch did just that…. it impressed me!

And here is A’s circus sandwich lunch…

 

Here’s what she packed, also in her Yubo Lunch box…

• bear shaped hard cooked egg
• FunBites Luv It stacked sandwiches
• animal crackers with nutella
• fruit snacks
• grapes
• and I have no clue what was in the green sauce cup :)

Tiny princess A chose her own LunchBox Love note. I think it was fitting. ;)

some things we used to make these lunches…

FunBites Luv It… kid tested mother approved

It’s here! It’s finally here! Today is the day that we kick off the FunBites giveaway! Yay! ♥

Yesterday I introduced you to the FunBites cube it. In case you missed it here is a refresher picture. (click the picture to go to the post)

 

Today we will focus on the FunBites Luv It!

I have to admit that I had a little trouble coming up with a good solid idea for the Luv It cutter. This one takes bit more creativity than the Cube It! Naturally with Valentine’s day coming up, my first thought was a sweet little ♥ heart ♥ day lunch. Quickly I changed my mind. That wasn’t thinking outside the box. (or inside in the lunch making case) ;)

So I decided to do a little experiment to prove that FunBites was not only great for kids, but equally as awesome for adults!

My first test was with my tiny princesses. I used the luv it cutter to cut up a few pieces of bread and a couple slices of cheese. Then, I let the princesses have at it! They had a great time making shapes and building sandwiches. Don’t believe me? Check out the pictures to see for yourself!

*my oldest tiny princess is in the “Mom, don’t take my picture” stage. That’s why you don’t see much of her*

Tiny princess K had fun making various shapes and then turning her creations into stacked sandwiches. She decided to use some picks to make her initials and hold her sandwiches together.

Tiny princess A made her own creation and then turned it into a sandwich circus!

The fun didn’t stop there! When the princesses were all done with their creations I let them pack their own lunch boxes! We’ll save those for another day though.

Now we need to get to some FunBites Luv It, yummy goodness for parents!

You may be wondering how in the world FunBites cutters can make an adult meal special? Well, keep reading and I’ll tell you what I did to spruce up a salad!

CROUTONS

yummy, crunchy, crouton-ey goodness!

Here’s how I made them…..

First I used the FunBites Luv It cutter to cut up a few pieces of bread. Older bread works best here, but fresh bread will do as well. We only had fresh bread so that’s what I used.

See that? The FunBites cutter makes perfect crouton sizes!

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Add a bit of extra virgin olive oil and some minced garlic to a ramekin dish. Zap it in the microwave for a few seconds. Take it out and add a bit of butter and salt to taste. Zap it again. Next, spread your bread pieces out on a baking sheet. Use a silicone brush or similar tool to spread your olive oil, butter mixture over your bread pieces. Bake them in the oven for about 8-10 minutes, give or take a few. All ovens vary so this just a suggested time. Watch them closely. Remove your croutons when they are golden brown and to your own crispy taste.

I’m not sure why, but I don’t have a photo of the croutons before I added them to my salad. I don’t want to share my salad just yet, cause the FunBites fun doesn’t end there!

FunBites cutters are durable and tough! They can cut through a variety of foods, including hard crunchy vegetables. I decided to go one step further with my salad and added some carrot hearts cut with the FunBites Luv It! ♥

Here is my fun and yummy FunBites salad all assembled in a fabulous EasyLunchbox!

I’m happy to report that my salad was delicious and that my sweet tiny princesses ended up helping themselves to my extra croutons that I had packed on the side. ♥

So there you have it! Even though I struggled a little bit with my creative side when using the FunBites Luv It, all it took was a little bit of digging, and the brilliant mind of a child.

FunBites Luv It

Kid tested parent approved!

So to sum up my review of both Funbites cutters…. We love them, and they both earn the tiny princess stamp of approval!

Both the FunBites Cube It and Luv It are made well and durable. We have owned ours for about a month and use them often. (the cube it a tad more that the luv it) They wash well and are dishwasher safe. (we wash ours by hand) Both cutters are a really great product and would highly recommend them to anyone that likes to have a fun with their food!

We’ve decided to give the FunBites Cube It 5 out of 5 crowns and the FunBites Luv It 4 out of 5 crowns strictly because it was a little bit harder to come up with ideas for Luv It than it was for the Cube It.

Now, who’s ready for a GIVEAWAY????

Enter below for your chance to win a FunBites food cutter of your choice. All you have to do is leave a comment below and tell me which cutter you would choose should you win. (this is a mandatory entry and is worth 3 point) Optional, but highly recommended for more chances to win…. make sure you “like” tiny princess lunch box and FunBites on facebook!

Giveaway ends on Friday January 25 at 12:00am EST

(I guess that would really be the 26th then, wouldn’t it?)

Please make sure you leave an email address where you can be contacted if you win! I will email the winner by 12:00pm EST on the 26th. You then will have 48 hours to claim your prize before it goes to the next drawing.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Guess what? Want to know a secret? My friend Caren of Bento-logy is also having a giveaway for a FunBites food cutter! That's right! Click HERE for even more chances to win one of these awesome kitchen gadgets!
And if you can't wait to win and want to go purchase right away, head over to Funbites and enter code ValentineFun to receive free shipping!

Fun with FunBites! Big taste tiny bites!

I’ve decided to break my Funbites review up into two posts. I can get a bit lengthy at times and since there are two different Funbites cutters I thought it would be a great idea to focus on one today and one tomorrow! ♥

 All leading up to my big (and very first) giveaway! That’s right! One of my fabulous readers is going to get the opportunity to win their choice of 1 Funbites cutter, (cube it or luv it) courtesy of Funbites! Isn’t that awesome? You all are going to love this! I promise!

What are Funbites?

Funbites are a nifty little kitchen gadget meant for easily cutting food into bite size pieces. They were designed by a fellow Mom and her children. ♥ Funbites are made in the USA, are BPA free and dishwasher safe! It doesn’t get much better than that!

Funbites encourage kids to try new things and were designed with even the pickiest children in mind. The possibilities are endless for making food fun! Try it on: sandwiches, pizza, cheese, waffles, pancakes, tofu, cheese, watermelon, hotdogs, and so much more!

Funbites cutters come in two choices, Cube it and Luv it. Each cutter is made up of two separate parts. The cutter and the popper.

photo courtesy of Funbites

How it works

Instructions from funbites.com

Step 1: Remove popper top and set to the side. Place Funbites cutter on top of food.
Step 2: Grab cutter handles on both sides, press down firmly and rock 5-6 times to cut through the food.
Step 3: Lift the cutter up, insert popper top and pop out the bite-sized pieces!

Now, this method works fabulous with most food items, however my friend, Cristi from Bent On Better Lunches has truly perfected the art of cutting sticky sandwiches with the funbites cutter to eliminate the mess.

Here is her advice on getting the perfect funbites cuts, on ooey gooey sandwiches. (think peanut butter and nutella) actually any sandwich really! ♥

Spread your ooey gooey sandwich filling on only one slice of bread. Don’t top it with another slice just yet. Take a second slice of bread which will end up being your top slice, and cut it with the Funbites cutter. Don’t push the pieces out yet. Next take the cutter with the bread pieces still stuck in the holes and place on top of your ooey gooey bread slice. Cut down a second time and rock back an forth per Funbites instructions.  This adheres your plain piece of bread to your ooey gooey piece. :) Now, finally go ahead and grab the popper to push out the sandwich bites. No fuss. No muss. No mess!

 

 

Onto the cube it in all it’s bite sized goodness!

One of my favorite things to do with the cube it has got to be, sandwiches on a stick! Come on, you know food is always better on a stick, right?

Today my tiny princesses had a half day of school. I really used this to my advantage to take lunch pictures in some natural light!

Both of my tiny princesses are also tiny cheerleaders.

I think I’ve mentioned that before.

My girls LOVE school spirit and have lots of it! It doesn’t hurt that their school has awesome school colors. We love Purple and Gold! ♥♥

This lunch is actually a lunch I have made them before, but it never got photographed…. or at least I don’t think it did. This time we decided to kick it up a notch with Funbites!

Enter School Spirit On A Stick!

 

It doesn’t get much “fun-er” than that! Hey, if my tiny princesses can make up words than so can I!

Here is how we did them…

Following the above directions courtesy of Cristi from Bent On Better Lunches, I used our Cube It FunBites cutter to create little bite sized Nutella sandwiches. I then rolled alternating bites in Purple and Gold (Yellow) candy glitter. I found the sweet little heart skewers on Amazon (link below post) and the purple and yellow ones were perfect for this lunch!

Here is the rest of what was in my tiny princesses lunch boxes today….

Here’s what they had….

• grape jello
• fruit snacks
• bite sized nutella sandwiches
• apple sauce for K grapes for A
• corn with extra pepper
• animal crackers with nutella for dipping
• frozen yogurt stars

Some things I did to make these lunches special…

• silicone cups are great for adding color and keeping food seperated
• long skewers go hand in hand with the funbites cutters
• small containers are great for condiments and other things you think may not work so great in a school lunch
• smaller food picks are great for helping to eat fun finger foods
• sprinkles in applesauce are a fun way to keep with theme and add more color
• a little drop of food coloring in yogurt adds fun flair. step it up a bit by freezing in silicone ice molds. sure they may be melted by lunchtime, but I always show my princesses their lunch in the morning before packing it up and freezing yogurt helps keep it cold throughout the day.

To sum up my review of the Funbites cube it…. I really LOVE it! It’s a fabulous way to make food fun and keep it interesting! It’s easy to use, easy to wash, and most definitely earns the tiny princess stamp of approval!

Stay tuned, cause tomorrow we are going to check out the Funbites luv it! I really think you’ll enjoy what I have in store for you. And guess what? It will prove that Funbites is not just fun for kids! ♥

Don’t forget, tomorrows post will also include a giveaway of your choice of Funbites cutter. The excitement is killing me! If you’re like me and have a hard time waiting for things you can head on over to Funbites now and purchase one for yourself! Use code ValentineFun for free shipping up to $10

In the meantime have you seen my funbites igloo? How fun!

Some things I used to make these lunches…

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