trip to grandma Theresa's

Aaron's mom watched the girls for us today so Aaron and I could go do Papa John's stuff...we ended up going to his friend Reza's store that is opening at Preston and Belt Line in Dallas. Reza is a funny guy and the store is really nice.

But anyways, these are the bento's I packed for the girls to take over to grandma Theresa's. This is Sara's...a puppy shaped mustard sandwich (her fav), cheddar bunnies, raisins, cantaloupe (in the foil cupcake holder) and some cheese.
Emma had her usual "sushi sandwich" of ham and cream cheese, cheddar cheese in the foil cup, and applesauce in the little Hello Kitty container. Then a smaller container with chocolate bunnies and cantaloupe.
I was talking to someone at the lego group about bento's and how much healthier my kids eat now that I make them. And she mentioned portion control. It is a great way to control portions! And I realized that these pictures really make some of these lunches look really big! And it's not so. For those of you who have these same containers, you know how small they are.

Going on the above pic of Emma's lunch...I used 3 slices of bread today for the sushi, normally I use 2. On each slice is one slice of lunchmeat. Normally if I were to make a regular sandwich, I would put 3-4 slices of meat on it. The cheese looks like a lot, but really I cut a thick slice about the size of a saltime cracker. Then I cut it into strips and then little chunks. The kids think they are getting a bunch of cheese, when it's not.

As far as the fruit, today we had cantaloupe, a lot of times we have strawberries. That is usually about 3, maybe 4 strawberries and I cut them up little.

Seriously, doing it that way makes it look like there is a lot more food there and we all know how much our eyes judge our hunger for us....there is a reason the saying goes "your eyes are bigger than your stomach". Well, not anymore. This has been great for the kids, especially Emma, since we do have concern about her weight.

Honestly, if the kids want to eat more cantaloupe or strawberries or apples and oranges, great! Once box of bunny crackers will last us 2 weeks, where we used to be lucky to have them last 2 days. So it has made a big difference to us.

And for anyone who wants to know, I get my "bunnies" from the Annie's brand. Here is a link to their site...http://www.annies.com You can get them at Sprouts, Central Market, Whole Foods, but the cheapest place I have found is Walmart. Seriously, go save $1!! They are only about $1.98 a box and they are in the organic food area. We also switched to using their macaroni and cheese to avoid any red or yellow dyes. The kids like it just the same and you can get it shaped liked bunnies or Arthur from the cartoon on PBS. They also have "spaghetti o's" which run about $1.29 a can, but it's worth it to keep the dyes away from the kids!

Anyway, good night everyone!!