Have you spotted the trailers for Early Man yet? It’s a brand new comedy adventure film from Nick Park and Aardman, the creators of Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the Sheep. Set at the dawn of time, when prehistoric creatures roamed the earth, Early Man tells the story of cave man Dug who, along with his sidekick Hognob, unites his tribe against a mighty enemy Lord Nooth and his Bronze Age City in order to save their home. It will be in cinemas from January 26th, and we can’t wait to watch it! To celebrate the new film I was commissioned to create an extra special prehistoric lunch, and I’m really excited to be sharing it with you all today!
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I have to admit that I don’t make lunches quite this elaborate every day but it’s a lot of fun to make the extra effort for a special occasion. You could get the kids involved to help make their own fun lunch too, they’ll love getting stuck in to create their own pointy edible spears, fruity boulders and Dug sandwich! If you’re heading to the cinema to watch Early Man, it would be great to make a fun themed meal together to eat before or after the film.
Early Man Bento Lunch
Ingredients:
- 3 pretzel sticks
- 2cm thick chunk of cheddar cheese
- 1 lettuce leaf
- small handful red grapes
- small handful blueberries
- chocolate ball
For the sandwich:
- 2 slices wholemeal bread
- butter or butter spread
- 1 large slice ham
- 1 slice gouda cheese
- 1 blueberry
- 1 carrot
Method:
Cut 6 triangles from the cheddar cheese. Break each pretzel stick in half. Push each half pretzel stick into the triangles of cheese to create the spears. Place in a small compartment of the lunch box.
Use pieces of the lettuce to line the other small lunch box compartment and the dip well. Fill the small compartment with red grape and blueberry ‘boulders’ (if serving to younger children, cut grapes in half first). Add the chocolate ball to the dip well for a chocolate football.
Finally, create the Dug sandwich. Start by cutting a small slice from the end of the piece of ham – this will be cut into the mouth shape. Making a sandwich with the wholemeal bread, butter and remaining ham (or another filling of your choice).
Use round cookie cutters, one large and one smaller to create the shape of Dugs face. Start by pushing the larger circle cutter into the bottom of the sandwich, at an angle so you don’t cut a full circle – you’re aiming for a semi-circle for the bottom of the face. In the same way, push the smaller circle cutter into the top of the sandwich, at an angle again, to create the thinner top half of the face (see the video above for a more detailed look at how to do this).
With a sharp knife, cut around the circles to create the face shape, then trim away the crusts, reserving one of the larger pieces of leftover bread for the bread nose (don’t throw the crusts out though, feed them to a passing hungry child or pop them in a bag in the freezer ready to whizz into breadcrumbs for future recipes!).
Place the base of the face into the large compartment of the lunch box.
Create the face features:
Mouth: Using a smaller circle cutter, cut a crescent from the reserved slice of ham. Using a small bento cutter, cut two ovals from the cheese slice, then cut each of them in half to create 4 teeth. Place the teeth on top of the ham.
Nose: Using a small round bento cutter, cut an oval shape from the leftover crusts. Punch 2 nostrils with a tiny round cutter or the end of a drinking straw.
Eyes: Cut 2 circles from the cheese slice. Cut the blueberry in half and place each half, cut-side down, on top of each circle of cheese.
Hair: Using a julienne peeler, peel strips from the carrot for the hair. If you don’t have a julienne peeler, use a normal vegetable peeler then finely slice each peeled strip length-ways with a sharp knife. Arrange the carrot hair on top of the sandwich to complete Dug’s face.
Add all of the face features to the sandwich in the lunch box to create Dug’s face. You can ‘glue’ them to the sandwich with a little cream cheese or mayo if wanted.
Enjoy!
Early Man comes to cinemas here in the UK on the 26th January and I can’t wait to go and see it with my boys. Why not join the tribe and book your own tickets here!
Grace
Disclosure: This blog post was commissioned by Studiocanal in support of the cinema release of the film Early Man. I was compensated for my time and the cost of ingredients, however all opinions expressed in this post are my own.
Early Man Bento Lunch
Ingredients
- 3 pretzel sticks
- 2 cm thick chunk of cheddar cheese
- 1 lettuce leaf
- small handful red grapes
- small handful blueberries
- chocolate ball
For the sandwich:
- 2 slices wholemeal bread
- butter or butter spread
- 1 large slice ham
- 1 slice gouda cheese
- 1 blueberry
- 1 carrot
Instructions
- Cut 6 triangles from the cheddar cheese. Break each pretzel stick in half. Push each half pretzel stick into the triangles of cheese to create the spears. Place in a small compartment of the lunch box.
- Use pieces of the lettuce to line the other small lunch box compartment and the dip well. Fill the small compartment with red grape and blueberry 'boulders' (if serving to younger children, cut grapes in half first). Add the chocolate ball to the dip well for a chocolate football.
- Finally, create the Dug sandwich. Start by cutting a small slice from the end of the piece of ham - this will be cut into the mouth shape. Making a sandwich with the wholemeal bread, butter and remaining ham (or another filling of your choice).
- Use round cookie cutters, one large and one smaller to create the shape of Dugs face. Start by pushing the larger circle cutter into the bottom of the sandwich, at an angle so you don’t cut a full circle – you’re aiming for a semi-circle for the bottom of the face. In the same way, push the smaller circle cutter into the top of the sandwich, at an angle again, to create the thinner top half of the face (see the video above for a more detailed look at how to do this).
- With a sharp knife, cut around the circles to create the face shape, then trim away the crusts, reserving one of the larger pieces of leftover bread for the bread nose (don’t throw the crusts out though, feed them to a passing hungry child or pop them in a bag in the freezer ready to whizz into breadcrumbs for future recipes!).
- Place the base of the face into the large compartment of the lunch box.
- Create the face features:
- Mouth: Using a smaller circle cutter, cut a crescent from the reserved slice of ham. Using a small bento cutter, cut two ovals from the cheese slice, then cut each of them in half to create 4 teeth. Place the teeth on top of the ham.
- Nose: Using a small round bento cutter, cut an oval shape from the leftover crusts. Punch 2 nostrils with a tiny round cutter or the end of a drinking straw.
- Eyes: Cut 2 circles from the cheese slice. Cut the blueberry in half and place each half, cut-side down, on top of each circle of cheese.
- Hair: Using a julienne peeler, peel strips from the carrot for the hair. If you don't have a julienne peeler, use a normal vegetable peeler then finely slice each peeled strip length-ways with a sharp knife. Arrange the carrot hair on top of the sandwich to complete Dug's face.
If you enjoyed this post and would like some more packed lunch inspiration, head over to the creative bento lunches section here on the Eats Amazing blog where you’ll find over 450 fun packed lunch ideas, enough to keep you going all the year around! You could also pop over and follow my lunch themed Pinterest boards for lots more fun and healthy lunch box ideas for kids; Kids Lunch Box Ideas & Packed Lunch Ideas.
Love this themed lunch idea? Why not save it to Pinterest so you can easily find it again!
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