Black Cats Bento

Another Halloween-y sort of lunch was on the agenda today. Black cats for lunch anyone? Okay, not actual black cats for lunch, of course, but you know what I mean. This one was a build your own sandwich in theory, but the kiddo likes to just eat the croissant plain and the fixin's on the side, which is fine too!

Smoked ham, orange jello, grapes, cucumber, mini croissant, and Muenster (aka Monster) cheese.

In this lunch...

(Products above contain affiliate links)

Batty for Bento

Just a simple, fun batty sort of bento lunch and snack today. That's the advantage of cookie cutters.. super fast and super cute. Done!

Red and orange bell pepper rings, grapes with Greek yogurt dipping sauce, and a bat shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

For a snack later, I also made some frozen yogurt bats. This kind was maple Greek yogurt (one of my favorites), and I managed to sprinkle one of them with black sprinkles. That's it. Just one. No way was I picking any more black sprinkles out of that bottle.. no way! But, if you have a single color sprinkle or sanding sugar, you can sprinkle some in the bottom of the mold. Of course, when the yogurt freezes and you pop it out, that bit of color sticks to the yogurt for a little extra fun!

In this lunch...

(Products above may contain affiliate links)

Butterfly Bento

Sometimes, most times even, lunch is pretty simple around here. But, put that lunch in a cute box, and the transformation is instant. And, what better to represent transformations than a butterfly, right? Speaking of butterflies, we finally ordered ours. I forgot to order was waiting for the perfect time to order them, and with summer finally in full swing in Michigan, it seemed about that time. Last year, we ordered ladybugs and a praying mantis egg case along with the butterflies. That was a lot of fun, too. I'd love to find walking sticks, though. They are my favorite!

Trader Joe's nacho chips, apple, cherries, cucumber, bell pepper, smoked turkey, and cheddar mozzarella chunks.

In this lunch...

(Products above contain affiliate links)

K Is For Kitty

As part of our projects at home and alphabet lunches, we featured the letter K today. I even bought kumquats, but do you think I could get anyone to eat them? Um, no. But, now I know that they are fantastic cut up in a pitcher of water or a tall glass of iced green tea.
We also took this opportunity to make kale chips. We have been picking up a beautiful bunch of it every week at the farmer's market, so I figured we should give them a go. They turned out great, so we are sharing our method.

Kale Chips
Ingredients - 1 large bunch of kale, ribs trimmed and chopped roughly, 1 Tbsp olive oil, 2 tsp soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste
Toss the kale with all the ingredients. Spread on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for about 8 minutes, tossing halfway through cooking time, at 375 degrees.
The pros? An easy, delicious, healthy, crunchy snack. The cons? Where the heck did all my kale go? I had a big beautiful pile of it. Now I have a couple of handfuls of dried bits. Hmpf.

Kiwi with a 'kiss' pick, homemade kale chips, a koala pick in Kalamata olives, provolone and mustard kitty sandwich, and a mini Kit-Kat.

And, our worksheets for the day? Here are just a few of them.

In this lunch...

(Products above contain affiliate links)

Zoo Day ... Hooray!

 

We are very fortunate to have a zoo quite literally 5 minutes from our house. So, thanks to that and an annual membership,  'Zoo Day' can be Everyday if we really wanted. And, it so happens that on warm days when we get a little stir crazy, it is often where we end up. When I was growing up, I went there quite a bit with my grandparents. Those visits and this zoo occupy some of the fondest memories of my childhood. In fact, this zoo has created some of my fondest adult memories too. I worked at the zoo for quite some time, first as a zookeeper, then in their education department, as a conservation coordinator. The experience was a rich and rewarding one. And, now, I get to take my own daughter there to create memories for her.

Cucumber, grapes, dry roasted peanuts in the container, and cheddar/mozzarella cheese stick. Turkey, lettuce, and mustard 1/2 sandwich not pictured, but also included for this lunch.
We almost always eat lunch down by the train at the concessions area called Train Whistle Cafe. I usually grab a bag of fresh popped popcorn while we're there, too. Yum!

In this lunch...

(Products above contain affiliate links)