Candy Corn Pizza Bread

For a fun Friday lunch I decided to surprise my husband with a few treats in his Halloween Goodbyn.

A made him a simple deli sandwich, but used a groovy ghost cookie cutter to give it a little more character.  I also made some pretzels that I covered in white and milk chocolate and covered in Halloween-colored sprinkles.  They were simple to make and absolutely delicious (I won't lie - I made a few extra to eat myself!). 
My favorite little addition was the Candy Corn Pizza Bread.  I used the Quick Mix from my blog to make a simple pizza dough, spread some ranch dressing over it and put mozzarella cheese in the middle and orange cheddar around the edges.  I made it look like candy corn by cutting it into wedges. 
The middle section where your drink container fits I used to put an orange and some carrot sticks.  As well as some dip for the carrots, and some Reece's Pieces on the side compartments.  I also sent him with a small container of mixed fruit.  A simple and fun lunch, but one that made him smile with the addition of a silly little Halloween joke tucked in the corner.

I hope you all have a wonderful Halloween weekend!  Thanks for stopping in for our Ghostly Friday Goodbyns!  If you are wanting the recipes for either the chocolate pretzels or the Pizza dough you can find them both on my blog, Thoroughly Modern Me.

Nena

Quesadilla Ghosts

Jamie put the kids' lunches together today.  Ian feels he's a bit to old to have a Halloween themed bento, but Max and Emy are still game.  So today Jamie used our larger ghost cookie cutter to make some quick specters out of cheese quesadillas.

Cute and yummy.



Also included in the bento:  Capri Sun Roaring Waters, grapes, orange slices, strawberries lightly dusted in sugar, cucumber and carrot sticks with Ranch dip and marble cake.

Halloween Goodbyn for the Office

I've absolutely love all the ideas the other lunch bunch members have created this week. I can't get enough of the cute mummies - My lunch idea is a little more for the grown ups though - or teenagers perhaps - in fact this lunch is for grown ups who want to please their inner child!! LOL (I still like a little bit of cute to brighten my day!)

I take my lunch to my work, in an office. This is my desk and where I eat my lunch! Lunch is the best part of my working day!

I have found since I have owned my goodbyns that people are more interested in what I eat for lunch everyday! My colleagues ask me what I have, ask how I made things etc. It's a real talking point and as soon as I slip the lid off someone is peeking in! Most of the time they express how disappointed they are in with their own lunches, ooh and ahh over mine and I just smile and tell them to get a goodbyn!

Anyway, I digress! I am here to share my Halloween themed lunch with you!

For my sweet I have a small key lime cheesecake. Lime is a great for Halloween because of the bright green colour. I've also added a paper napkin with a Halloween design on. It's the little things that make lunch that little bit extra special!

For my main I have samosa which is filled with potatoe, spinach, peas and green beans with lots of lovely Indian spices. Again I chose this because it is mainly green and fits with my theme. The little Happy Halloween sign I picked up really cheaply - it is actually a cake topper but the perfect size to fit in the goodbyn. I also got some pumpkins and skeletons too and plan to use them for the rest of the week. Again, its a simple little touch that I think elevates my lunch from the "normal" and kind of states plainly what I was trying to achieve!

Its worth checking out your food shops for halloween themed items. I found these little crisps (potatoe chips) made in the shape of spiders webs.

And of course, it wouldn't be Halloween without a little candy! These little eggs are from cadbury and consist of a skull chocolate head filled with red caramel! Mmm delicious! :)

I've added to my goodbyn lunch with a fruit salad and some cucumber and pepper too.

I hope that inspires you to create your own Halloween themed lunch this week!

Pumpkin Time

Another bento filled with Halloween spirit!

We used leftovers from last nights dinner to stuff pumpkin-shaped biscuits.  I used the canned biscuits again to save time--they work so well.  We had Sloppy Joes last night and they were yummy.  Jamie's recipe is great for sneaking some vegetables into the kids' diet and they are never the wiser.  He chops up carrots, onions, spinach and celery in the food processor.  Mixes and cooks the veggies with ground beef.  And then coats the concoction with a sauce made of brown sugar, ketchup, Worcestershire and vinegar.

Delish I tell ya!

I rolled out the biscuit large enough to cut two 3.5" pumpkins, topped one side with a tablespoon of Sloppy Joe mix and layered the other side over the mixture, sealing the sides with a bit of water.  Jamie suggested I make steam holes, which I did with a toothpick.  After brushing over them with a little bit of egg, I sprinked some kosher salt and popped them in the oven per the package directions.

They came out so cute.  Thank goodness!



Also included in the bento:  Capri Sun Roaring Waters, strawberries lightly dusted with sugar, crackers, cheese stack, cucumber and carrot sticks with Ranch dip, and marble cake.

Halloween Inspiration

I love the world wide web . . . there are so many sights to see and so much inspiration . . . here are some great Halloween bento ideas I found recently.  Let us know if you try any of them!

• I came across some adorable Vampire Bats made of Cheese.  Who knew bats could be so cute?  I think I'm going to give them a try this week.
• I thought this Frankenstein Broccoli Rice Ball was too cool, and so easy to make. I don't think you'd even have to add facial details for the kiddos to recognize the character.  Just remember to use sushi rice to get the perfect sticky texture . . . and Jamie suggested using spinach for hair if there is no nori in the kitchen.
• It's all about the mummies this Halloween.  I'm totally digging this Cheesy Mummy using String Cheese.  How fun is that?!
• And for dessert, sweet! Yummy Banana Ghosts!  I have everything necessary to make these goblins in my kitchen right now.  They'd make the perfect sweet treat for this Friday's lunch.

Mummified Muffins!

OK, they are really cupcakes but how fun are these! You don't need to be a pro to make these either and they take no time at all. I whipped these up this afternoon as I was making supper.

What you will need:

1 cake mix (along with the ingredients listed on the box)

1 tub of white icing

Paper cupcake liners

Candy for the eyes (I happened to have a box of Wonka Runts handy)

Pastry bag with a flat tip (I used Wilton #47)

If you don't have a pastry bag or tips, you can definitely improvise and just use a plastic sandwich bag filled with icing. Snip off a small bit of one corner of the bottom of the baggy after you have filled it and voila, you have yourself a piping bag.

Bake cupcakes according to the instructions on the box. Let cool completely before icing. All I did was messily pipe icing into crisscross, haphazard strips leaving bare spot for the eyes and mouth. Adorn your spooky mummy cupcake with some candy for eyes and you are done! The whole family will love them! In this Goodbyn lunch I packed for my 9 year old son we have a thermos of chicken noodle soup, water container, strawberries, grapes, cheese round, yogurt drink, pretzels, dill pickles and a Mummy Muffin.

The Mummy

It's lunch time!  Our first Halloween Goodbyn of the year is packed with yummy mummies.

It's crazy simple to make dough, but I made this lunch even easier by using canned biscuits--rolled out with a wee bit of flour so they don't stick to the counter, and then quickly sliced into thin strips with our trusty pizza cutter.  I randomly wrapped the biscuit strips around a hot dog (you can use a tiny bit of water to help secure the dough edges so the strips don't unwrap).  I decided at the last minute make some eyes with bits of raisins, and baked them per the biscuit directions.

 


Just a little Halloweenie (D'oh!) fun in the Goodbyn today.




Also included in the bento:  Capri Sun Roaring Waters, grape salad, chips, Halloween pretzels (from Grandma, so I'm not sure what they look like), cheddar cheese cubes, cucumbers, and Ranch dip.

Welcome to the Goodbyn Girls Blog!

We're a group of friends who love our Goodbyns and want to help each other, and you, come up with some great ideas to fill up those bentos!

The five of us met online on a scrapbooking message board, so we have some similar creative interests . . . but we hope to bring our own perspectives to this blog considering we're making lunch for a variety of individuals. Something we'll probably always have in common is that we're all busy-busy, and we agree--packing our lunches bento style is good for the environment, good for our families, and good for our wallets.

This blog is geared toward our beloved Goodbyn bento, but we hope you'll bookmark us even if you pack your lunches in a different kind of box, because good food is good food no matter what type of container it travels in.

We plan to host a challenge every month so we can see your creative and delicious lunches, and of course, make new friends. We'll also be giving away a Goodbyn here and there so stick around for the fun!

A LITTLE ABOUT US:

Georgina :: I am from London in the UK. I purchased a Goodbyn (or 4 when I fell in love with it) because I wanted to pack my lunch for work in an environmentally friendly way and save some money at the same time. I love using long term food storage in my Goodbyn and am always on the lookout for new and exciting recipes to try. You can find my lunches here: http://www.goodbyn.blogspot.com/ or my personal / crafty blog here: http://www.itsjusttoorandom.blogspot.com

Lesle :: I hail from Houston, Texas in the U.S. We (but mostly my beau Jamie) pack lunches for me and our three kids. My focus for this blog will be menu planning; quick, from-scratch lunches for busy households; kid friendly; and something special for the holidays. You can read more about our bentos on my blog at http://www.leslemora.com/bento

Nancy :: I live in Pennsylvania. I actually own 5 Goodbyn lunchboxes! I started with three, one for each member of my family, and because we sometimes forget them at work, I bought some spares. Each day, I make 1-3 lunches. One is for very picky seven year old, and is usually a peanut butter or cheese sandwich, one is for me, and mine has to be on the light side, and one is for my husband, who is on a high fiber diet. I am excited to get started on the challenges and break out of my lunch rut!

Nena :: I'm from Saskatchewan, Canada. I was finally able to track down a Goodbyn after drooling all over my keyboard staring at photos online for a long long time. Needless to say I am VERY excited about it. I am a Beatles-loving hippie who promotes peace, love, and helping the earth stay green... as well as keeping more green in my wallet! I work from home and have a two year old son and another on the way, so I only pack lunch for my husband. I also live where there literally is sometimes snow 9 months out of the year. So my Goodbyn lunches tend to be healthy, hearty meals for the hungry husband! If you want to hear more about me and my crazy life, as well as read some other money-saving menu ideas you can check out my blog at http://naturallynena.blogspot.com/ but I will warn you it's pretty random - just like me!

Stacy :: I'm a stay at home mom of two from Southern Ontario, Canada. We, as a family, have been on a quest to simplify our lives and SLOW down. I enjoy vegetable gardening and preserving. I also enjoy cooking and will focus my lunches on leftovers and picky eaters. Lesle was the first person to introduce me to the Goodbyn and I have been hooked ever since she graciously sent us our first boxes. She had heard about how my son's elementary school is quite eco-friendly and promotes litter-less lunches. The Goodbyn has been my savior. No more washing 8 containers, no more losing lids and no more needless packaging and waste! If you want to read about my family's quest, come visit us at http://simplifying-the-simpsons.blogspot.com/ I will TRY to update the blog more often!