product review & a giveaway

So I am not the best about being green. I forget my reusable bags, buy way too many water bottles...

I love Bento's but am sooo not creative like other people are. Usually everything just goes in without any sort of creativity to it!

How cute are those boys?!

But in my efforts to be a little better about both, I look for containers that are affordable, but also sturdy. It is important for me that they seal really well. I am not a big fan of cleaning up spills in backpacks or lunch bags.

I found this great container at Target (the online price is $6.99). It is a Nuk container, but I *believe* that it is a Gerber brand. Sorry I know that is not that helpful but...

The top has this little tray that you can personalize. I put a picture of Ivan & his brother in. I think this is so much easier for him to find in a sea of lunch bags that are all very similar! If you don't want to have their photo on, you can simply put a piece of their artwork or something else in. Fun. In that small container on top is great for keeping a set of utensils and a napkin!

Inside there were 3 sections. One with a lid (that sealed BEAUTIFULLY!) and then the others don't. I loved this and it made packing his lunch so easy.

Ivan's peaches didn't go anywhere!!

While I liked this for lunches, I can see so many possibilites for this! Art supplies, a church kit, travel kit with little toys, a way for my boys to bring Legos, school supply kit...the possibilities are endless!

Because I am loving these boxes, I wanted to give 1 away! A long with a few other bento accessories. Easy shmeasy items, that take no creativity! (:

How to enter:

Leave a comment with your name and what you would do with yours if you won. Lunch or something else...

I am trying to move away from my California Clippin' fb page and just be on there as Martha Wannabe. So please be a follower of that one for an extra entry.

For additional entries, post it to your facebook page, post it on your blog...whatever you have. Every one will give you another entry. However, you have to do a SEPERATE entry for each one. I know it is annoying but I do it with a number generator.

Giveaway ends next Friday April 6th...sometime during that day (:

What's for Lunch?

Oh how I wish I were more creative. I love looking at Bento's but then get a little down on myself about what I have done. But what are you gonna do, right?


grapes, Christmas shaped pretzels, a Babybel, fruit snack, and a chocolate muffin



I try never to use baggies, but I didn't want to just put them in.



How I fit everything in (:

For more fun & fabulous lunch ideas, head on over to What's for Lunch?



$$ store bEnTo finds

ham sandwiches, carrots w/ ranch (in the yellow container) grapes cut in half

This year I have not been doing as well when it comes to creating fun lunches. ): I don't know why. Just lame I guess. lol Or maybe it is that my mornings are so crazy rushed? Yeah lets go with that one!!

My attempts have been kind of sad but I have tried to do something fun when a holiday comes up. Basically when an idea works itself out and I don't have to think about it.

One of my favorite parts of bento is all the cute little extras that go in. Picks, condiment containers etc.

not sure why this photo wouldn't turn

Since I am cheap, I like to look for fun things in the dollar section, or at the dollar store. While I was perusing the .99 store for Thanksgiving items, I was excited to find some fun little things for Christmas.

I grabbed 4 of these little containers. Because their sandwiches were on rolls, they fit in really well.

In the toy section, of The Dollar Tree, they had a little tic tac toe type of game, which had gingerbread and Santa (looking) picks to use. So instead of using them for the game...they were used as picks.

I also found a star sandwich cutter at the Dollar Tree. My kiddos love these (:

So have you found any fun bento items lately? Or things that can be used in lunches? I would love to know (:

What's for lunch?

My 9 year old is a sweet, quiet boy. He doesn't cause problems at school. And yet, he seems to be the one that always gets picked on!! Why is that?!

He came home from school one day and said, "Mom, people keep stealing things out of my lunch!" Apparently every time he looks away, he finds things missing.

But the final straw came the other day when he came home and told me, "Mom, someone took my lunch container, and kept shak ing it and putting it upside down!" I was so upset. Imagine if I was actually good at making Bento lunches. I would be pretty ticked off that all my hard work had been ruined by some little juvenile deliquent...I mean some young child at school who doesn't know better. He then added, "You know what else? They were GIRLS!" So I imagine that it was more to get his attention then anything. My husband's response to all this? "Quit making him such cool lunches."

My lunches are nowhere near as cool as the ones you can see over at What's For Lunch and I could only find one current picture...and it is from Halloween! Oh well, I will have to better this week (:

Even though Halloween is over, this is the lunch I made for them

What's for lunch?

image from http://www.bentolunch.com/

strawberries, cookies, ham sandwich on a bagel thin, applesauce, fruit snacks

strawberries, cookies, cheese and leftover chicken & fried rice



ham sandwich on bagel w/cream cheese, cheese cubes, crackers, strawberries and cookies

 With the end of September coming up fast...I have realized something.

My kids lunches have been less than stellar. Seriously! I mean I still describe my lunches as "bento-ish" because I lack any skill but, I have at least been doing better.

Not this month though!

Hopefully October will help inspire me a bit...pumpkins, leaves, Halloween...

Here is a look at some of the lunches I have made this past month.

For some AmAzInG ideas, go to What's for Lunch! Her site is seriously amazing. She is talented and so are her readers!

What's for Lunch?

Life has been CAHHHRAZY around my house lately!

I am busily preparing for Thanksgiving.

My Ralphs store is doing SUPER DOUBLES and so I have been practically living there.

And I feel a cold coming on! Just about everyone in my house has been sick so I guess it is my turn!

So I dug in my picture archives to find this picture! It is not "new". It is also just one of the boxes I used!

I made this for a day at the zoo! So picture another box with an animal shaped sandwich and animal shaped cheese!

Otherwise we have trail mix (for walking those zoo trails!), animal crackers, Scooby Doo fruit snacks (dogs are animals, not zoo animals but...) and pretzels. Round everything out with a bottle of water and we were good to go!

For more fun and much more creative lunches than I make, head over to Shannon's blog!

a very late What's for Lunch

(Ivan's lunch bag. He has a Sassy box in the back with his snack and a rectangular box that I got from Ikea in the front. The fork is also from Ikea.) (I know, I know not the worlds healthiest lunch. I was almost completely out of produce! So there are cheeto's, fruit snacks, a slice of banana bread, mandarin oranges, 2 cresant dogs with ketchup packets)

(snack is applesauce with orange and yellow sprinkles, teddy grahams, fruit snacks)

Even though it is almost dinner time, I am just now getting around to posting my kiddos lunch!

This past week was crazy, so this is not the best lunch ever. I did some grocery shopping though so they will look better next time. But for now, head on over to BentoLunch for inspiring and fun bento lunches!

What's for Lunch?

Harmony had pasta salad, strawberries, chicken and a string cheese. We added a few more things later!

Ethan had bacon, ranch pasta salad, strawberries and chunks of chicken in his lunch.

Connors snack box had strawberries w/ a jack o lantern tooth pick, mini choc. chip muffins, 3 cheese kabobs with owl toothpicks.

Ivan (aka Mr. Kindergarten) had a Lego guy shaped honey and pb sandwich, with a skull head, Halloween shaped cheese and pretzels. This was his snack box.

I missed last week, but I didn't really do anything all that exciting! Can I just tell you that people are AMAZING when it comes to Bentos? I am so impressed by people's ideas and creativity.

My kids lunches are certainly not works of art...but they are works of the HEART. Awww! In all honesty, it is so fun. I am learning as I go and hopefully, before my kids are in college, they will have some cute lunches!

Anyway, this is what was for lunch at our house!

For more FABULOUS bento ideas head over to What's For Lunch!

Bento Love

(Harmony's lunch on Friday. Tuna salad w/ crackers, cherry tomatoes, Hello Panda snacks, string cheese, juice and in the closed container is a dried fruit trail mix)

(the bento boxes)

My interest in healthy kids lunches has been festering for awhile. Having 5 kids (although only 4 that eat "real" food) I know that I will be making lunches for a long time. So I might as well make it fun right?

Well, a little over a year ago, I googled the phrase "ideas for healthy kids lunches" and I came to a site about Bento lunches. You can visit the site here

Bento is in laymans terms a Japanese brown bag lunch. Everything the Japanese do is beautiful right? So you can imagine what they do with their lunches!

I oohed and aahhed at people's creativity but knew I so wouldn't be doing that. I showed some of the most fun ones to Harmony and she loved them too!

Harmony finally convinced me to buy her one! I bought mine off of Amazon. Anyway I started making hers and the boys got jealous! So eventually *gulp* I bought one for them too. I am going to say it right now...not a cheap purchase. They better last forever! (:

We have had so much fun putting their lunches together. They are a fun way to use up little leftovers.

Now here is a disclaimer (lol) I use the term Bento very loosely when I talk about what I make. People have way more time and creativity then I do. I just like to look and get fun ideas!