Back To School!

Well, we survived the first week of school!

I am loving having Sophia in Kindergarten, because she's so excited to take her lunch every day!

Here's a recap of the first week's lunches! Wednesday of last week we had to leave earlier than usual, and I didn't get a pic of that day's meal... so there are only 4.

Minion Morning

Good morning! I know it is Wednesday but today feels shiny and new like a Monday. I think its because my husband came home last night after being gone for 9 days!! We missed him!

My girls are huge daddy's girls, so they were glued to him yesterday from the time he walked in the door until bedtime. :) I love my little family!

So far each kid has been enjoying school! Sophia has cried and didn't want to come home from school both days this week so far! She's not feeling very well this morning unfortunately. 

In Olivia's Lunchbot Uno today she has banana chips, babybel, trail mix, tiny grapes, broccoli, carrots, gummy minions, and sixlets. Its a smaller lunch because she hasn't been eating all of her food the last few days. I don't want to over pack and waste. 

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Glorious 55

This morning it is 55 degrees, y'all. FIFTY FIVE. In August. I think I'm in Heaven!

Since its the first week of school, I've been pretty on top of things, excited for a new year of bento blogging, waking up early. Olivia has been up by 0630 every morning so she can have time to straighten her hair (I mean, stop growing already please, miniature adult. Tweenager that she is!) I've actually been putting her lunches together in the evenings as I  put away dinner leftovers and clean the kitchen back up. Its easier to do it in the evenings when she's taking something left over from dinner; it saves me the trouble of putting it away and then getting it back out in the morning to pack her lunch.

Well, on Wednesday nights I take a yoga class, so there isn't any good light leftover to photograph the lunch when I get back home. So this morning I made her lunch and photographed it in the gorgeous, cool misty 55 degree morning. It was quite nice!

In the lunchbot we have peanut butter sushi, marshmallow twists, a babybel, dehydrated raspberries, and trail mix (almonds, cashews, dried cranberries). She also has an apple sauce and some blueberry crackers packed separately.

Yubo Wednesday

Good morning! Today it was so hard to get up and get moving! It is pouring rain, thundering, and lightening.. perfect sleeping weather! I'm so, so excited because the low tonight is 54 degrees. In August. Beyond giddy, actually! 

Today's lunch is packed in one of our three Yubo boxes! Yubo is probably my favorite. Ok, its a tie between Yubo and Lunchbots. They're my favorites for different reasons! :)

Olivia has 2 BBQ Chicken Rolls (same as yesterday, and recipe from 2 days ago), a couple of marshmallow ropes (found those at TJ Maxx the other day), banana bread from our so so sweet neighbor, gummies, strawberries and mini chocolate chips, and metallic sixlets, and a grapefruit. Those containers might LOOK small, but that is almost an entire grapefruit! Only one slice wouldn't fit. And, if I'd squished really hard, it probably would have.

The only thing I don't really love about the Yubo is there isn't a place to put a drink. I think they make an attachment drink carrier for the box now, but we don't have one and for the life of me I never think to order one until I'm sending the kids off to school with their drinks in their backpacks. Which is a lot, since we have 3 of these cute boxes!

Easy LunchBoxes Bento

Here we have in the Easy Lunchboxes container, our BBQ Chicken Rolls from yesterday, chocolate chip stuffed strawberries, 3 mini cookies, cheez-its, and spicy cheetohs. Not pictured Olivia has an apple sauce. I need to go buy more fruit! ;) 

Have a fab day! xo

Verde Chicken & Cilantro Lime Quinoa {KandiPie Kitchen}

Hi there!

Today I am sharing a recipe that I use for my health coaching clients.. and myself! :) It is currently one of my favorite meals. I love everything salsa, cilantro, lime, hot sauce, and so this is perfect for me.

I serve this on top of a salad, because I love salad and because #povertymacros. Well, if I was still counting macros. haha.

The chicken is super easy: in a crockpot, add 4 chicken breasts and 1/2-3/4 jar "my brothers" salsa verde (you can use any brand but that's my favorite). Cook on low 8 hours or high 4 hours. When the chicken is cooked thoroughly, use a large fork (I use a wooden spoon/spork type thing) to shred the chicken inside the crockpot. Let it sit on warm/low for another 20-30 minutes to soak up all the salsa and juices left in the crockpot.

For the quinoa, I have already prepped a large container of quinoa for the week, so I just use 1/2c red quinoa, cooked according to the package instructions. It doesn't have to be red quinoa, either. Mix the 1/2c quinoa with 1-2tbsp plain greek yogurt (depending on how creamy you like your textures). Also mix in the juice from 1/2 a lime, and a handful of fresh cilantro, chopped.

You can mix the quinoa and chicken together and eat it as a "one bowl meal" or you can use them for burritos, salads, etc. So many possibilities! :)

Happy eating!

DIY BBQ!

Fall is...

a zillion things. Leaves falling, jumping in leaf piles, pumpkin spice lattes, crisp morning runs, hot cocoa, decorating for halloween, apples, pumpkin EVERYTHING...

and crockpot meals!

ANDDDD crockpot LEFTOVERS!!!

Which means, lunch making is about to get even easier.

this lunch is packed in our Laptop Lunchbox container!

You only need 3 ingredients for the sauce!

- organic, high fructose corn syrup-FREE ketchup

- bragg's liquid aminos or some coconut aminos (or whats-his-shire (hobbits, anyone!?) sauce, but make sure you read the ingredients!)

- low sodium soy sauce (also make sure you read the ingredients)

Don't even worry about mixing these in a bowl, first. Shred your meat and then just put the 3 sauces in the bowl with it and mix together. If you like spicier stuff, toss in some red pepper flakes.

The BBQ wraps pictured above are on a spinach tortilla. Olivia also had hummus and carrots, kiwi berries, and banana bread (recipe here) with PB Crave Cookie Nookie for dipping, that I topped with a few Enjoy Life Foods gluten/dairy free chocolate chips. 

Oh Emm Geeeee

wow.
just. wow. It has been far, far too long!

We have been so so so oooooo very busy here in the Poirier household! I mean.. I haven't blogged in nearly two months!!!
Sorry!

Besides just making fabulous lunches, we've been working on our house, re-arranging our lives, trying to spend as much time together as possible! For what reason? Just.. that we love each other. My family is thriving. This is something I'm very proud of!

Ok, ok.. enough talking... time for some LUNCHES!

I'm going to post my favorite ones first, in my favorite boxes- our brand spanking new YUBO tall boxes!

When you see them and love them (and you will) you can grab your own right here: http://www.getyubo.com

Tell them Kandice Poirier sent you.... I don't get a reward or anything, but I want them to know how much I appreciate and love them! You will, too.

I love the Yubo so much, with its ice pack. Love love love. We're going to the pumpkin patch in a couple of weeks and our Yubos will be going along, too. But, not in lunchbox form. Well, in lunchbox form, but not in the traditional form. More like.. coolers. SO COOL. Get it... because I love the ice pack? :P hahaha

A couple of other lunches since the last time I blogged:

*whew* That is a LOT of lunches! 

Look out tomorrow for an easy-peasy BBQ recipe!! And if you're in Arkansas, make sure you check ArkansasPTA.org in a couple of days for the latest newsletter- and an article written by yours truly about healthy lunches for our kiddos!

xoxo

kP

Lunch & Go!

Its a simple little planetbox kind of day.

Bunny sandwich (pumpkin butter and easter sprinkles)

kale chips

orange wedges

Green Apple Popcorn from The Popped Popcorn Company

bunny marshmallows

We picked up the popcorn at one of our favorite local shoppes this weekend. My mother in law came to visit and we had so much fun being tourists in our own town with her. :)

Even though it was cold and so so windy, we made the best of it. We spent way too much time eating, playing with the dog (them, not me, haha), watching movies, and just driving around seeing our city. We found parts of Fort Smith we'd never seen before, and that is always so fun! :) 

Sweet Sophia bento

d'aaaawwww yeah, my baby is sweet! :)

Here's a sweet little bento for a sweet little baby.

In this Zak nibble tray we have

a bear and elephant sandwich made with Dark Chocolate Dreams by PB&CO

Sliced strawberries

blueberry goat cheese

black olives

cinnamon and sugar pita chips

a tiny chocolate bar from our ConsciousBox (review coming soon!)

We're leaving tomorrow to spend the weekend with my family, my cousin is getting married and I am so excited to see everyone! 

Rainy Day Bento

Only.. its not a rainy day. I am yearning for the days of spring! Cute skinny jeans, baggy tank tops, adorable wedge sandals... all of it splashed with ketchup and sidewalk chalk because you know, I'm a mom. Only kidding... kind of.

Today's lunch is in our Yubo!

In this lunch we have:

A tulip sandwich with PB & Co Dark Chocolate Dreams

Balsamic vinegar cheese rain drops

Grapes and yogurt covered raisins

strawberries

Its not pictured but I also sent along a Zbar. And a bottle of water.

Hope y'all have a great day!

Crazy Arkansas Weather

... where to start!? I haven't posted since Valentines' Day!

We have been super busy! It has been snowing like crazy for a couple of days, then 70 degrees and sunny for a couple of days.. then more snow, more sun, and so on! Yesterday was a gorgeous day, and today its raining and soooo cold- in the morning we're expected to have snow and ice! With all the weird weather, the school has gotten out early, or been closed.. or we haven't had groceries so I haven't made a photo-worthy lunch. We're all guilty of that, sometimes!

The week of Valentines' day, I made the trek to Mountain Home, Arkansas to get our sweet new puppy! I am very pleased to introduce you to Artemis. She is a french mastiff, and super sweet. My husband searched for her for months, we found a dog that was due for puppies around Thanksgiving. She was FINALLY ready to come home to us as our family Valentine! Mountain home is 4 hours away from my house, so it was a crazy long drive by myself. I enjoyed it though, listening to what ever I wanted to on the radio, and as loud as I wanted! It was so funny though.. it was nice and fine outside and on my way home it came a freaking blizzard! ha!

Here she is: Artemis!

And so today, when I finally got to make a decent lunch, I decided to go with a puppy theme.

"A mama peeeen-to!"

Sophia is growing increasingly aware that her sister has a gazillion lunch goodies. She is asking for "peentos" for lunch almost daily now! I love it L.O.V.E.I.T. love it! (haha Beth, you'll get that one).

Anyway, when I asked her today what she wanted for lunch she said she wanted a "mama peeento!" My heart melted! As soon as I opened the pantry, she started grabbing the lunchbot and yelling "yaya peentowwww yaya peentoooow!" (thats Sophie talk for Olivia's bento, Olivia's bento). ADORABLE.

Here's the little lunch I put together for Soph in Olivia's lunchbot. I need a lunchbot quad for Sophia size portions! :) You hear that, lunchbot?!

In this lunch you'll find:

The new PEAR CHOBANI (so good!) with hemp seeds and heart sprinkles

Honey graham sticks from Back to Nature

A clementine

Sliced grapes

And one of my favorite picks ever- my bumble bee! Thanks to my sweet Beth for the adorable bumble bee silicon cup!

i LOVE zak!

Zack Morris- is that what you're thinking?! Nah. Me, either. I was more of an A.C. Slayter kind of girl. Muscles, muscles, muscles!! hahaha :D

I am talking about my zak! nibble tray! I haven't used it in ages- what with all our moving around and most of my bento stash being packed up in a cardboard box. Well, bento is BACK, ZAK! in the Poirier household!

I made Sophia a little toddler bento- much to her delight! She has been saying "I want a pento-pock!" all day.. that's how she says bento box. I even have an adorable video, but we were in the car rider line and the background music is pretty silly. Maybe I'll post it another time!

In Sophia's Zak! tray:

wheat bread & sunbutter mini sandwiches made with FunBites

a sweet & spicy kale chip**

pepperjack slices
bran & sesame stix

black beans with cucumbers

I really, really love our Zak! tray. It was a gift from a very sweet lady I met on an online forum when I was pregnant with Sophia. She sent the sweetest message, about my lunch making abilities and how sweet she thought I was... and I will never, ever forget. Thank you, sweet Alison.

{{ I want to thank my amazing IRL friend Beth over at A Boy And His Lunch for my super fantastic blog re-design. My heart is with the ocean, and this nautical theme makes me soooo happy! She is also having a Go Green Lunchbox give away- you should enter! }}

**look for the kale chip recipe in my upcoming e-cookbook "Get Your Healthy Glow" :D

Monday Funday

Well, we are all moved in to our new place in Fort Smith! I haven't exactly worked out the lighting yet (its so dark in the mornings.... roll on winter, roll on!) so please excuse the sloppy photo!

In the lunchbot you'll find

raspberries

cheese

salami

hello! panda cookies

little tomatoes

strawberries

UNREAL unjunked! candies

and an adorable lunchbox love card!

Tiny trees

Hello! Happy Hump Day! :) It has been quite a while since I've posted. Don't worry, I've still been making cute lunches every day, I just haven't found them interesting enough to blog.

Today I want to show you a quick way to send your yogurt in your kids lunch. This idea was shown to me by my amazing BBF group, I can not remember specifically which one! I have several of my bento blogging friends' buttons on the right side bar, feel free to click through and see how wonderfully talented my people are! They're so amazing!

Ok, on to the yogurt!

I bought little Christmas tree ice trays at target last night. I spooned 0% organic plain Greek yogurt in the mold, then a dollop of honey, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Then I added a few sprinkles to look like Christmas "lights." So fun!

How do you send yogurt to school in your kiddo's lunch?

Trying Something New!

What are the rules for trying something new in your house? We have a 2-bite rule.. And usually the kids like what we are trying.

I haven't ever tried pumpkin butter, but when I saw it at the Ozark Country Market, I knew it just had to be a winner. I mean, I love a pumpkin spice latte, right?! Who doesn't?! So I bought it. And today it is in Olivia's sandwich.

Usually I try to sneak new foods in to lunches and surprise her at school. This morning she caught me making lunch and tasted the butter... And LOVED it! She requested it! :) I love when that happens.

Behold, the pumpkin butter sandwich! Haha! :) with cherry tomatoes, grapes, and corn nuts.

Halloween 2011

Halloween is my favorite time of year...
so I thought I would post last year's halloween lunches!! :)

Oh, and I wanted to link up with the BBF halloween linky! :)

wcw jackolantern sandwich, jackolantern babybell, jerky, olives, candycorn, pepperonis, Halloween Oreos, pine nuts, soy nuts, gummy caterpillars.

cheddar potato straws, turkey, pepperonis, almonds, animal crackers, string cheese, sweet petites, candy teeth, cupcake toppers, 1 thin mint.

wcw & strawberry preserves sandwich sushi, veggie chips, grapes, pepita trail mix, banana chips, Gouda Halloween shapes, balogna bats, candy corn, chocolate covered sunflower seeds, cupcake toppers, dried fruit. not pictured agave straw.

another 5 minute bento... I have to stop hitting snooze! strawberry cream cheese sandwich "sushi", strawberries, sweet petite grapes, mini pepperonis, tomatoes, laughing cow spreadable Swiss (under the gummy ear), 2 club crackers, a few football pretzels, one cupcake candy topper, one gummy worm, regular grapes filling in the spaces... & a few Halloween covered sprinkles over the sandwich.

salad, ranch, nutella sandwich sushi, animal crackers, cupcake toppers, sprinkles, beef jerky, veggie stix, goldfish, banana chips, gummy ear, grapes.

running super late... made this in 5 minutes! that's why the cheese isn't shaped or cookie cuttered. cheese potato sticks, football pretzels, turkey cheese & tomato kabob, babybel cheese, chocolate covered sunflower seeds, candy corn, gummy foot, cupcake candy toppers, grapes. there are more turkey slices under the kabob.

sandwich "sushi" white chocolate wonderful & strawberry cream cheese, goldfish, grapes, strawberries, mini pepperonis, pine nuts, Halloween cupcake candy toppers, candy corn, babybel cheese, gummy worm, gummy brain, candy teeth. Halloween :) love it!

last Halloween bento for 2011 :( mummy dog, gardettos, veggie chips, panda egg, banana chips, grapes, clementine, celery & peanut butter, a finger, an eye, sprinkles, candy toppers

Cute Z Cute

It's exactly what it sounds like... CUTE!! :) you can get one at allthingsforsale.com & if they're not available on amazon yet, they will be soon!

It's one cutter with four different faceplates- a panda, a kitty, a frog, and a piggy!

I LOVE IT!!! :) thanks so much JeeJee <3 you're fabulous!