I wanted to end the week with with a fun St. Patrick’s Day bento for each kid, so I spent some extra time planning and scoping out other bloggers’ ideas to incorporate in the EasyLunchBoxes today.  I’ll give thanks and point you to where I found these ideas.  Let’s hope I don’t miss anyone!

My Girlie wanted a green lunch and was slightly annoyed by the orange carrots until I explained it was the tricolor flag of Ireland (a great idea I spotted at one of my favorite blogs: Lunch Made Easy, by Keely McGuire). They learned about Ireland at school this week, so she was happy to see the flag in her lunchbox, made out of green beans, mozzarella cheese, and carrots.  The cucumber chain idea came from Family Fresh Meals and I improvised by using a flower cutter instead of a circle.  I know girlie will have fun playing with that!  I also made a cucumber sandwich using the flower cutouts, an idea inspired by Veggie-Bento’s heart shamrock. She also had green grapes and green kiwis. This is a rare vegetarian lunch for her, but she insisted I don’t put anything that was not green in, so hopefully it will be enough to tide her over until snack and dinner.

My Girlie's St. Patrick's Day Bento

Little Dude is not quite as fond of all the green foods my Girlie got, so his lunch is totally different.  He’s got a cream cheese and jelly pot of gold sandwich on an english muffin.  I used food markers to draw the pot of gold and rainbow on top.  I attempted to cut a shamrock into his babybel cheese and I also colored it green.  I added some turkey slices.  His fruit is pineapple, green grapes, and kiwi.  He has multi-grain cheerios and raisins in the small compartment.  I hope he is excited when he sees this lunch, but the only real feedback I get from him is the empty container!

Little Dude's Pot of Gold Bento

I loved seeing all the festive activities my kids were doing at school this week.  St. Patty’s day is one of those holidays I love just for the simple fact that it is all about FUN.  No need to buy and write out cards, wrap gifts, or make a costume.  You just need a green shirt, a great smile, and maybe a lucky bento box!

Update on yesterday’s Lorax Bento post:

My Girlie was so excited when she found her ticket to go see The Lorax! Her teacher helped her read it and said that she went straight to nap after lunch because she wanted to have plenty of energy to stay out late with her mama later!  She loved her special lunchbox and was talking about it on the way to the theater.  She had a great time at the movie.  She had a few questions throughout, but having read the book a few times already prepared her.  She loved the 3D effects and the musical numbers, but thought the slapstick was the best!  After the movie, she commented that it was “just like Wall-E.”  Huh? Wall-E is about robots, right????  Well, according to my Girlie, “Wall-E and The Lorax are both about humans who destroyed the planet and had to protect the one last plant that could help the earth become healthy again.”   How about that?!? She understood that the message of the movies was the same.  I like how she makes a connection on that and I missed it!

After the movie, we went shopping at H&M, where she cleaned up and I left empty handed.  She always finds the cutest stuff there and it is so affordable! She insisted on trying on every single item and we had a blast doing that too! We walked around the mall a while and then headed Panera for her favorite Mac & Cheese for dinner.  She got to bed late, but it was so worth it.  We had such a blast!  I love these special nights when we get one on one girl time!

Here’s a cute picture of her post-movie, rockin’ the 3-D glasses:

Girle at The Lorax!

How is your family celebrating St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow?  We’re going to Baby Loves Disco in Philly and that should be a blast! I am also planning to make my kids shamrock smoothies (and avoid the McD’s trap!) that will be green from kale! I tested a recipe this week that had 4 leaves of kale, 2 oranges, 1 cup of pineapple, and a banana.  It was so fruity and tropical tasting and GREEN, but you could not detect the taste of Kale at all! I think they will accept it without question, but I’ll let you know how it goes!