Happy 6th Birthday Lunch

My baby girl turned 6 yesterday!  I can't believe how fast she's growing up!!
Instead of cupcakes for her class, I made popcorn balls and decorated them like cupcakes with picks and liners!  They tasted pretty yummy too! Excuse my awful cell phone pictures!  They're way cuter in person! 
She also has a cupcake sandwich, strawberry with a birthday hat, organic fruit and veggie straws, carrots, goldfish and grapes!
We are planning a Brave birthday party for this weekend!  I can't wait to share the pictures!

I am making a comeback!

If movie stars and musicians can do it, so can Bento Bloggers!

I'm going to start with my main excuse.... look at those lunches!  Not so blog worthy. BUT, that's what we're doing these days! I finally figured out how to use the blogger app on my phone! This way I can spend spare time waiting for appointments,  ect posting about my mediocre lunches! And maybe this will encourage me to start getting creative again! Taia is so easily impressed that a sandwich with a pick in it is awesome to her.  Makes it easy to get in a rut!

This is my first mobile post so cut me some slack and please feel free to give me some mobile blogging tips!

A round up of sorts!

I haven't been posting very much....or at all...lately. And Taia dropped my phone and shattered it. So... I transferred all of the pictures to my computer. So here is a round up of sorts! All random... But it's something! 

 Here's a healthy-ish  lunch I made for myself one day. If only I did this EVERY day....

 These are my goodies from the Bento Bloggers and Friends Christmas swap!

 Taia's Trader Joe's gingerbread house! I highly recommend them!!!

A Hello Kitty ish lunch!  Sideways..... :)

I will try to post more often!!

CuteZCute sandwich cutter review!

Taia has a CuteZCute frog and pig sandwich along with some flower carrots and apples, grapes and animal crackers.

CuteZCute sent me this super amazing animal cutter to try out! Taia and I love it! It's so easy to use that even Taia can make sandwiches with it! She's been asking to make cookies with it! We'll have to try some soon! The all in one set includes a panda, frog, pig and cat! And even a little tool to get food out of the smaller crevices. That's the problem I've had with other food cutters! The cutter will cut bread, fruits, veggies, meat and cheese and much more! We love our CuteZCute! Even I can make animal lunches!

The CuteZCute is great for a beginner bento-er! You get 4 animals to start your bento collection!!

Check out CuteZCute on Facebook!

 

Spooky lunches!

Dean and I made lunch for Taia and her BFF yesterday. They thought having matching lunches was SO cool! They had grapes, trail mix, a bat sandwich (painted with all natural food dyes!) and some bat carrots and a candied grapefruit ghost! They also had applesauce and a banana.

This is Taia's lunch from Monday. Sadly, she liked this more than most lunches that I spend tons of time on... Good thing I have a stockpile of picks! She had two sandwiches (one Trader Joe's almond chocolate spread and one peanut butter,) carrots, trail mix, grapes and applesauce.


Check out the Bento Bloggers and Friends Halloween blog hop!

Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce Giveaway!

Anyone who knows me knows that I am OBSESSED with Country Bob's. I literally put it on everything. Fries, steak, burgers, brisket, eggs, hash browns... EVERYTHING. The most interesting thing we've eaten it with lately is Chicken Fried Steak.... We ran out of gravy and Country Bob's was awesome on it! :) We make breakfast skillet meals on the weekends and I love my Country Bob's on the side for dipping!

I'm not sure what inspired me to take this picture but it makes me smile!

 

I discovered Country Bob's completely by accident! I signed up for a free coupon and it sat in my purse for literally almost a year!! Once I tasted it, I kicked myself for not redeeming my coupon sooner! From that first bottle, I started buying them 2 at a time! Now I've discovered that Amazon sells 6 packs....that I can have delivered to my door.... AWESOME! (Links below)

I actually had a friend FaceBook me about Country Bob's the other day... And that's not the first time! Everyone that comes to my house is forced to try it. And I guarantee they go buy some for their own kitchens!

We keep 2 bottles at a time in the house at all times!  Dean panics if I run out. I don't eat ketchup anymore because this sauce has ruined it for me.  

When I was presented with the opportunity to review Country Bob's, I jumped on it! I was so excited! And to top it off, they are offering 2 bottles for 2 winners!!

I want to try some of the other Country Bob's products. I know I'll love them!

The funny part of this review is that some of my readers are going to think my gushing is completely false. But my friends and family are going to laugh because they know how in love with it I am!
 

   

Win 2 bottles of your own in the VERY easy entry Rafflecopter Giveaway! 

How we survive a busy week!

I know it's been a while since I posted and I apologize! I've gone back to work full time. I still manage to take pictures of Taia's cutest lunches so I am going to try my best to get back to regular posts! For now, here are some of the things that we are doing to make the nights and mornings easier!

 We made our own breakfast burritos! I completely forgot to get a picture of the finished products! But they were so yummy that we decided to make some breakfast biscuit and croissant sandwiches! It's nice knowing exactly what is in your breakfast! And Taia loved picking the different ingredient combinations!

 I've also started packing her lunches on Sunday nights for the entire week! It saves me time at night and in the mornings so I'm not rushing around trying to get everything ready at the last minute!

 I also have water bottles for each day of the week. It is so nice having them ready and available. She will go grab one during the day when she's thirsty also. I want another set of them! The best part is that her daddy obsesses over keeping them in the fridge and full at all times! So I don't have to worry about them being dirty or not in the fridge! My Easy Lunch Boxes are PERFECT for packing in advance! There are some great tips of at MOMables that I've found very helpful!

What tricks and tips do you have to make meals easier during those busy weeks?