Back to Basics Blog Hop and Giveaway

Here in Australia we are almost half way our third term and preparing for the last blast of winter. Some of us are booking into school for next year, including our Miss M who is entering Prep (Pre-School) in 2015! Where has the time gone?!?

What better time to revisit some back to basics bento inspired lunch packing, and perhaps inspire some of you to jump on the Bento train ;-).

And I'm not the only one, the Bento Bloggers & Friends are celebrating with not only a blog hop, but a giant giveaway as well! Details at the end of this post.



When I think back to the first lunches I was packing for Miss M, she had quite the variety while I worked out a system of not only packing, but what her appetite would accommodate. It's no secret we were blessed with a brilliant eater in her. That and I would prefer to send too much rather than have her hungry, especially when she was spending a full day at daycare. With kindergarten this year I've had to learn to pack less, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I've learned that her basic successful lunch contains:
Sandwich
Yoghurt
Snack
Drink
and Water.

So how do you make it fun? Well to start I would recommend *not* buying anything special. Try playing with what you have and see how it suits you. Trust me, once you start down the bento pick yellow brick road there's no turning back. You'll be re-purposing all sorts of things! When I started I had a few cookie cutters in the back of my Tupperware cupboard, but one of the first 'large cutters' I used was an egg ring. And one of Miss M's favourite sandwiches was a 'Pingu' sandwich. I haven't made one for ages so thought it about time I did again. And this time I took step by step photos.

Who would have thought you could have so much fun with these simple tools?

Vegemite, large circle cutter (I replaced my egg ring ^-^), mini circle cutter, raw spaghetti and sultanas. (The mini circle cutter is actually from one of those Christmas-Tree-Made-From-Star-Cookies sets, you know the ones.)

They were all I needed to create this lunch.

Here's some other lunches I've made in the past using a large circle cutter. I'd love to see your creations!

Wow, when you see them all together, I guess I'm rather fond of my circle cutter.

Want to see what other Bento Bloggers think about Bento Basics? Hop on over to What's For Lunch at Our House by clicking the (white) button below. Before you go, don't forget your piece of the puzzle for the Bento Bloggers & Friends Back to School Giveaway. You need them all to enter and it's open worldwide! Did you know the grand prize voucher can be used towards shipping too?

Hop this Way

Your Codeword Piece

And if you've collected all the pieces, you can enter right here! Good Luck!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Details of my tools & toys can be found on this page.
~J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written for Loving Lunches. No product was received for this post. I partially sponsored this giveaway. All opinions expressed are my own, based on personal experience with the product.

Chicken Noodle Soupmaker Soup

Ah, chicken noodle soup! Is there anything more comforting? I must admit I'd never made it before, but found the recipe in the back of our Kambrook Soup Simple instruction manual so thought I'd give it a shot. It was so nice I made it twice!

And you would think that between the two times I would have taken step by step photos, right? I didn't even take snaps on my phone to turn into an Instagram video. *sigh* Anyway, this is the first batch I made.

I decided the next batch I 'd crack the pepper. Now I'm undecided which version I prefer. The perfect excuse to make it again!

And I took it for 'lunch' on one of my night shifts in my new Compleat Energy Booster. I took it cold & microwaved there before adding the noodles. One word - Yum!







And a little thank you for reading right to the end - keep an eye out on the blog the next few weeks for two fantastic giveaways!

Details of my tools & toys can be found on this page.
~J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written for Loving Lunches. No product was received for this post. All opinions expressed are my own, based on personal experience with the product.

#TigerDay Lunch

Today is International Tiger Day, and you know that Miss M loves her tigers.

This lunch is from earlier in the year but for some reason or another I haven't gotten around to posting it yet. In our two tiered Tiger lunchbox we have mandarin in silicon cups, lamingtons and a sandwich decorated with Nutella and strawberry jam. I love the cute little ice pack that comes with this box, don't you?


Details of my tools & toys can be found on this page.
~J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written for Loving Lunches. No product was received for this post. All opinions expressed are my own, based on personal experience with the product.

Christmas in July

Oh what to do when you're not feeling like making lunch, have some just out of date biscuits to use up, and have a new toy to play with? Just so happens the timing was right for a quickie Christmas in July lunch last week.

Plum jam sandwich with cute picks. . . 

. . . Pepperoni with cheese and some Christmas tree crackers from the back of the pantry for a snack.  A Christmas tree strawberry on vanilla yoghurt made with this cute cutter I got from Affiliate Bento USA recently.


Details of my tools & toys can be found on this page.
~J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written for Loving Lunches. No product was received for this post. All opinions expressed are my own, based on personal experience with the product.

Dinosaur Lunch

Flashback Friday this week is a little dinosaur lunch I made for Miss M last year.

Leftover spaghetti bolognaise with dinosaur shape pasta and parmesan cheese.

I like how these single pieces look like they are roaming about :-)

Some crust offcuts make spikes for this ham & cheese sandwich, cut with a dinosaur cutter. Both served in Tupperware square rounds.

Not pictured yoghurt, savoury snack (salami, cheese & crackers), fruit and a mini muffin along with a popper juice.

Details of my tools & toys can be found on this page.
~J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written for Loving Lunches. No product was received for this post. All opinions expressed are my own, based on personal experience with the product.