Saturday, March 28, 2009

Panda Sandwich and a New Shmoo

The lovely people at LunchBots asked if I would give their product a try, so today I put their containers through the ol' shmoo review. I was babysitting today, so rather than making lunch for my grumpy preteen shmoo (I'm tempted to call him poo-poo shmoo...) I made lunch for my lovely little niece, Summershmoo!

Summershmoo is four years old and a princess-lovin', pink-wearin' girly girly girl. Therefore it's full-throttle cuteness today, starting with a Peanut-Butter Panda: I used cookie cutters and whole white wheat and regular whole wheat bread to make a panda filled with peanut butter and agave. The eyes and mouth are bits of grape fruit leather.

I used cupcake liners and Easter cupcake toppers to make the second LunchBot pretty (I trimmed the pointy ends off the toppers with sharp scissors). Summershmoo is very picky when it comes to fruit; I decided to find out if grapes and mandarin segments would work for her. But I know she loves sugar snap peas and baby carrots.

For dessert I continued the Easter theme with a container of Annie's Chocolate Bunny Grahams.

Verdict: Summer was thrilled with everything and immediately ate first the sugar snaps and then the baby carrots. She nibbled on the lettuce before eating most of the panda san ("Can I eat his mouth? Can I eat his ears? Can I eat his eyes?") She put a mandarin in her mouth and took it out again and maybe ate a couple grapes, then shared the bunny grahams with her little sister. 4 stars.

And the LunchBots? You can see from the picture that they come in two styles: one is big enough to fit a sandwich, the other has a permanent divider down the middle, for snacks and smaller items. Both have tight-fitting stainless steel lids; the lids are quite snug (but not water-tight) without any latches to hold them in place. I was worried that small children wouldn't be able to get the lids off, but both my son and my niece got them off without any trouble. I think the size is just right for a bento-style meal or for a child with a smaller appetite.

Spontaneous Contest: Who else would like to give LunchBots a try? (I like them, I just have a cupboard filled with lunch boxes.) Email me with your name and address -- first one gets the set! UPDATE: Wow, I think that took less than a minute. They're gone!

16 comments:

Dane said...

Panda sammy-do: clever! I find that the trick to making healthy foods appetizing is to put a little creativity and zing into the presentation. For adults, as well as kids! Nicely done!

~Dane
http://www.BionicButler.com

Sindy said...

SO CUTE! Love the cupcake liners-a girly girl's dream :)

Scuba Diva said...

Bento! That is such a Japanese panda-face!

veggievixen said...

that's adorable!

ooh, i'm really craving grapes....

M.E. Greene said...

I love the cute containers you always have here!

Laci said...

Adorable container, PANDA sandwich and lunch box (including the finnings!) aw pre teen shmoo is growing so fast! Looking forward to more lunches from your little niece :)

Heather J. Chin said...

Hey, you're mentioned on ChowMama: http://www.chowmama.com/2009/03/27/weekly-digest-7/#more-1404

=)

Jennifershmoo said...

Nifty! And right under a link to LunchBots, too!

Janet said...

Am I the only one who saw the headline "a new schmoo" and thought that you might have a vegan bun in the oven?? ;) Great post, thanks!

Unknown said...

Wonderful post! I love this lunch!

Jenn

Tami said...

We have the Lunchbots and love them!

Andrew Warner said...

I'm training to beat world record for sleep deprivation on a healthy vegan regiment. Any recommendations?

Check out the training here:

http://www.andrew-warner.com/index.php/magic/blog/

Meredith Peruzzi said...

Janet, I thought the same thing!

I'm not surprised she didn't like the mandarins...I think they are an acquired taste. I prefer regular oranges myself, just have never been a fan of mandarins! They definitely fit better into a bento or other box, though.

Elspeth said...

I love the more girly lunches. I have a picky eater starting kindergarten next fall, and I've been reading your site, hoping for inspiration for her lunches. Your cuter ideas will definitely be a bigger hit with her! Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

your vegan lunch boxes are so cute! Thats a good way to send a kid to school : )
I was vegan for a while but just went raw vegan, its amazing.......check out my blog I am making about being on raw foods for 50 days if you like
http://50daysraw.blogspot.com/

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