fig peeky eyes

I have not been in 'cutesy' lunch mode lately... I did a bunch of fall themed lunches last year like this one or this or this.  But it's the halloween ones I really have fun with!  There are a whole bunch here.

I decided to skip right over the fall and do a sneak 'peek' for halloween.  I am going to try to 'sneak' in a pair of eyes with lunch each day as a countdown of sorts to halloween.  Funny thing is, I don't overly love halloween - but I love the themed lunches and it is one theme I can really have fun with!

Turkey and provolone on whole wheat tortilla, yogurt with (not so) frozen blueberries, fig 'peeky eyes' with blueberry center on a bed of walnuts, celery sticks.

dia de los muertos

I chose to finish the Halloween lunches with a día de los muertos styled skull.
This is the last of the rosemary bread I made earlier this week.  I decorated with fruit flowers, representing many of the types of flowers used at the 'ofrenda' alters.  The green are seed pods from inside some cooked green beans, the black is nori.

I really enjoyed this one, because we were able to talk about another culture and traditions.  Feliz día de los muertos!

5 little pumpkins sitting on a gate...

Since I have focused a lot on scary lunches for my son, this one was geared more towards my pre-school aged daughter.  Here are 5 little pumpkins sitting on a gate (ok, more like a fence).  The pumpkins are carrot chips with nori faces. The fence is leftover noodles from dinner.
Also are rosemary bread, raisins, yogurt with granola and blueberries.

For my son, I had made a tombstone the other day when I made the rosemary bread, and used extra rosemary to spell R.I.P which was my son's clever idea.  The 'grave flowers' (it needed some color) are cut from honeycrisp apples which don't brown as easily (Thank you Michelle for that tip).

If my son's lunches seem to be getting skimpier, it is due to the new fruit bar at school.  They have added a free, fresh fruit bar to the lunchroom.  Both bringers and buyers can help themselves to the fresh fruit.  I am sure it is not organic, but right now I am content with him having a fresh piece of fruit in addition to his lunch brought from home!  

I am so grateful that the Halloween lunched hit when they did - he has not asked to buy his lunch since!  I just need to keep the momentum going AFTER Halloween!

creepy crawly spiders

The web is cut from a bake it yourself wheat tortilla - if you can't tell, I love these things and use them all the time!  I cut a circle out of a larger tortilla.  Then I cut out just a portion of a circle all the way around the tortilla to form the outer edge of the web.  I used melted almond butter placed in a plastic baggie with the end snipped to swirl on the web design.

The large spider is made out of cut nori attached with almond butter to a 'late july' brand organic cookie (yumm, btw!).  The eyes and web silk string are made from cheese.  The mini spiders are cut out of nori using a small sun shaped cutter. The whole design lays on bed of sweet couscous (minus the raisins this time, after the mustache incident). 
I'd love to say I made the orange monster guy eyes... but they are plastic.  They came out of a pumpkin carving kit.  The orange monster guy is made with blood orange slices.  Edamame finishes off this lunch.

bloody fingers

The girl and I did a baking day today, and while making the rosemary bread rolls, I took the liberty to make some of the dough into fun shapes (more to come later this week)!

I made bread fingers with almond fingertips (honey used as 'glue' ), and raspberry vinegrette as the 'blood'.

ok, ok, some of you may think this is too gory for a 2nd graders lunch, but he thinks it is cool and if you have read previous posts, you know what I am competing against.  Well, lunch lady doesn't serve bloody fingers, does she (second thought, don't answer that...I don't really want to know that answer).

The kiwano (horned melon) just looked halloweeney.  I just had to get it.  I had never bought one before and had to read up on how to cut/eat it.  If unripe, the inside tastes like a fruity cucumber. If ripened, it has more of a banana taste.  I bought it because of the orange, spikey outside. Little did I know the inside looked like green slime.  We did a mini taste test with the kids tonight and they said they liked it.  They know to scoop it out and eat the insides, seeds and all.  We'll see how this one goes over... it does have a lot of seeds!)
Last are carrot chips and.. a cookie!

**my daughters lunch is the same, but without the fingers.   We saved her a finger for an afternoon snack.  Can you just hear that one?  "Mommy saved me a finger to eat when I get home today, teacher."  

jack attack

I went simple tonight.  An AB&J (almond butter and jelly) with a little chocolate peanut butter on top.
Yogurt with frozen blueberries, a homemade pumpkin raisin muffin, celery, and a blood orange (say it in the freaky voice... go on, you know you want to, muahahahaha ).

Witch scene lunch OR 'man-witch'

I am having way too much fun with the halloween theme this week!  Since it is still a week early, I hope that someone, somewhere is finding some ideas they can use in their own kid (or their own) lunches next week!

Here is the 'play by play' on the witch scene:

body - a tortilla ab&j (almond butter) sandwich

head/skin  - tortilla with cinnamon/sugar

eye - carrot and cucumber

hat, hair and grass - cut cucumber

broom - carrot

moon - blood orange

background - sweet couscous - raisins kinda look like bats (?!)

(sweet couscous - couscous made with cinnamon, a little sugar, and raisins)

Also in this lunch is the rest of the orange and some yogurt with some Kashi U cereal crushed on top.

The last few lunches were reported to have been all 'mixed up' by lunch time, (major bummer!!) so I am taking my friend, Michelle's advice and using press n seal to keep it in place!  I just placed the witch scene in the laptop lunchbox without the insert, then firmly placed the press n seal all around  it (pressing tightly to the lunchbox) before adding the other containers.  

Oh, and the man-witch part... after taking the pictures, loading them onto the computer, sealing up the lunch, etc., I then notice the raisin in the couscous right under the witch's nose, resembling a mustache!  OH WELL! lol

Skull and Peeky Eyes and a 2 for 1.

Both the boy and girl have school tomorrow - he is 7 and in public school, she is 4 and in pre-k at a fairly conservative private christian school.... where I also teach. Soooo, she won't be getting any spooky halloween theme lunches, only pumpkins and apples and leaves, etc. Anything too halloweeny would be frowned upon, and since I work there I am going to keep hers tame.
The boy on the other hand, hee hee...  he and I both are lovin' coming up with freaky, fun, scaryish lunches!

Here is his lunch for tomorrow....

HIS lunch has a skull made out of cucumber 'guts' with carrot and cucumber skin eyes, teeth and white of the eyes is made from bits of egg.  It sits on some lundberg brand organic mushroom risotto which was a dinner leftover tonight (and very tasty, btw).  The grilled chicken was also a dinner leftover.  The 'peeky eyes' are hardboiled egg halfs with carrot and cucumber eyeballs.  They are sitting on a bed of lettuce.  The small container next to it is his usual dressing - raspberry vinaigrette.

Lunch 2 is for the girl.  She has simplified eyes (mom tossed some carrots on last minute).  The outside shell of the cucumber from the skull cut out made a perfect carrot stick holder!
The small container has blue cheese dressing.
Notice no chicken or rice in her lunch??  It's cause she protested at dinner and gave them to the dog  the dog somehow got them off of her plate.  I figure an all fruit and veggie lunch for her wouldn't be so terrible!

I think she is turning vegetarian on me??  Great! It's cheaper!

worm eggs and 'monster dude'

In case you could not tell, this one is for the boy.
In reference to the my last post, here are some grandpa gummy worms in action, and no, these are NOT the organic ones!  Trust me, I tried to find some but I but figured it would be after halloween by the time I located some.  That just wouldn't do!  So, yes, I cringed as I added these regular gummy worms to the lunch!

The 'monster dude' is made from cucumber pieces, with egg eyes and teeth.  The pumpkins are carrots and cucumber.  The whole things sits on top the usual sandwich - almond butter and strawberry jelly.  The small containers are almonds and vinaigrette for his salad.

black cat

Well, not so much black... more purple, lol.  I used blueberry juice to change the color. I physically squeezed a few blueberries.  Not the smartest thing, my fingers will be purple tomorrow.  What oh what will my students think??!  Oh yeah, they are pre-schoolers... I'm sure they have worse things on their hands! And, I'm also sure the purple will soon be replaced with orange fingerpaint...

The black cat is a mini sandwich with the usual - almond butter and strawberry jelly.  Next to it is a special treat, a shortbread cookie from central market.  Yogurt with blueberries, edamame, and a blood orange (said in a freaky voice followed by muahahaha).

spooooooky house

Groceries are looking a little low in our house right now. Milk is gone. The only fresh fruit hanging around are lemons and a lone apple with a 'squooshy spot' (as proclaimed by my daughter). Needless to say, I plan to hit the store tomorrow.
The lack of stuff made lunch making a slight challenge today. BUT, my son LOVES quesadilla's. Just scroll through past lunchboxes and that should be obvious.

So, when in doubt, grab some torillas and cookie cutters! That is my motto!

Spooky house and friends made from wheat tortillas, shred cheese. The bat and faces are bits of nori. It is all resting on the last of the salad. Some applesauce with cinnamon, salad dressing, and the last of the pirate booty finish off this lunch.