Friday Flair - October Edition {#1}

Does anybody else LOVE October? To me it is the kick off of all of the upcoming holiday festivities that I love so much, so I just can't help but get excited. Not to mention pumpkin patches, apple cider, scarves, falling leaves....really, what isn't to love? 

With so may fun things to look forward to this month I wanted my Friday Flair lunches to focus on all October has to offer as well. For my kids, that pretty much means all things Halloween. So be prepared for a few weeks of lunches that I hope will get my little trick-or-treaters in the mood for the holiday.

The theme of this week was basically orange (how easy is that?!?!) and I threw in a slimy surprise just to make it a little more fun. Can you say WORMS?  Gross, I know. And my boys will LOVE it for sure. What you are seeing is oranges, carrot sticks, cheese slices, DIY Bisquick drop biscuits, and {slimy worms} also known as hot dog slices tossed in homemade BBQ sauce.

Please do not get thrown off by the DIY and the homemade labels. I know for busy moms that can be enough to make you look the other way but I am only adding that in there to show options and to prove that it really is that easy. Awhile back I stopped buying some of the boxed mixes when I realized just how easy and economical it was to make your own. But by all means, use the pre-boxed stuff....heck, use the biscuits in a pop can if that is what you have! And the BBQ sauce came about when we ran out one day and my hubby volunteered to whip some up from a recipe I had found. It turned out that it was a version that all my kiddos could agree on, even those who swore they didn't like BBQ sauce, so we keep that in a mason jar in the fridge now. But squeeze bottle away! Try them with ketchup if your kids prefer. Or leave them dry. Hot dogs are hot dogs any way you dress them, right?

This week I used free printable lunch box notes from Kiki & Company that have Halloween jokes on them. My boys are always looking for a new joke to tell.

That wraps up another week! Until next Friday.....

Lunch Round Up #3

I am feeling pretty pleased with the lunch line up so far...while some things show up in the rotation on a more regular basis than others, I feel like I have kept a decent amount of variety in his lunch box. I will admit that part of the reason for that is the accountability of sharing it here. Whatever gets the job done, right?

Apple slices with peanut butter, homemade fries and cucumbers with ranch dipper, popcorn and chocolate

Rice cakes, string cheese, celery sticks with peanut butter, carrots, banana

carrots, lunch meat, cheese cubes, cucumber slices, popcorn, banana

pumpkin cornbread, oranges, applesauce with cinnamon, carrots, rice cakes with crock pot refried beans

Made this lunch special for my visit to his school (all his favorite things!) carrots, cornmeal and cheddar biscuits, homemade mac n cheese, turkey rice meatballs

orange slices, celery, leftover chicken and fries with ketchup dipper from his brother's birthday dinner at Texas Roadhouse

banana, cucumbers, homemade tortillas and crock pot refried beans rolled up and fried with ranch dipper, carrots

Want more ideas? Check out past round ups:
Lunch Round Up #1
Lunch Round Up #2

I also have to be a little bit of a lunch container nerd and share how excited I am about the new dipping cups I got. I love, love, love the EasyLunchBoxes I have been using for 2 years now but couldn't find a dip container that fit inside. Imagine my excitement when they came out with their own perfectly sized dipping cups that have a snug lid and fit right inside the container!! You can find them here or on Amazon. (and no I am not getting reimbursed for this plug...I just truly love the product and wanted to share for any of you looking for the same kind of thing:)

Lunch Ideas - Jello

I realize that there is absolutely nothing revolutionary about Jello. But the other day as I was browsing Easylunchboxes Facebook page (check it out - even if you don't own the lunch boxes you will love all the great ideas!) I saw an idea for making Jello right in the lunch container. How brilliant!

Now the recipe they shared was all homemade and organic. The one I did is all cheap out of a box. I am hoping to try it the other way sometime but for now I am using what I already have. Here's what I did:

Make up your Jello (following whatever recipe you have):

Add fruit to your container (this is optional). I sliced up some bananas:

Pour desired amount of Jello on top of the fruit:

Put the lid on and refrigerate. Easy as that!

I love the idea that it is all set in the container and ready to go. And I am confident my Kindergarten kid will love it too!