Disclosure: This blog post was commissioned by Capri-Sun. I was compensated for my time, however all opinions are my own.
Recently I was absolutely delighted to have been given the opportunity to lead a workshop on one of my favourite subjects - packed lunches! Capri-Sun Fruit Crush asked me to host a workshop in conjunction with the #PackedLunchLove campaign and so last Saturday I got together with a group of mum bloggers to celebrate the love that Mums put into packed lunches, to share lots of lunch packing tips and to create an extra special lunch together.
I started the workshop off with a fun little challenge, for which I asked the bloggers to pull out their phones and time me making one of the 5 fun lunches from the #PackedLunchLove project, to prove how quick packing a fun and healthy lunch really can be. I packed the 5 minute dinosaur lunch, and I'm pleased to say that despite talking through every step of the lunch as I went along, I easily made it in under 5 minutes - it took me 4 minutes 2 seconds in fact, which is not bad at all considering that Capri-Sun Fruit Crush researched revealed that the average Mum spends at least 10 minutes a day making packed lunches!
Next I talked through the Lunchbox Life ‘Hacks’ - my list of simple tweaks or tricks which can help transform a lunch into something special in a matter of minutes. You can read more details about these and the complete list of my top 10 Lunchbox Life Hacks in this blog post.
Finally it was time for the mums to get stuck in and make their own extra special packed lunch. I chose a woodland theme for this lunch, which had four fun and healthy components - an owl sandwich, an egg mouse, grape acorns and carrot leaves, all served up with a yummy pouch of Capri-Sun Fruit Crush of course, which is made with 75% fruit juice and 25% water – the perfect addition to your child’s lunch box!
Below you'll find full instructions for each component of this lunch. I've also created some quick video tutorials to help you recreate this lunch at home, including an overview of me packing the whole lunch from start to finish, which you can watch below:
If you have trouble watching the video above, you can click here to watch it on YouTube. I've also created separate video tutorials of some of the individual lunch components, which you can watch on YouTube here: Owl Sandwich Tutorial, Carrot Leaves Tutorial and Boiled Egg Mouse Tutorial.
Woodland Themed Lunch
Ingredients:
- 6-8 green grapes
- handful dark or milk chocolate chips
- 1 egg, hard boiled and peeled
- 1 strand dried spaghetti
- 2 pieces wholemeal bread
- 2 slices cheddar cheese
- 1 carrot
- 1 Capri-Sun Fruit Crush pouch
Equipment:
- baking paper
- mini bento circle cutters
- small sharp knife
- edible marker pen
- nesting circle cutters
- edible icing eyes
Method:
Start by making the grape acorns. To make them, line a baking sheet or plate with baking paper, then microwave the chocolate chips in a small microwave safe bowl at 15 second intervals until melted and smooth. Dip the grapes into the chocolate to cover the bottom half of each grape, then lay on the lined baking sheet or plate and leave to set. You could pop them in the fridge or freezer to set quickly if you are in a hurry.
Next, make the hard boiled egg mouse. I've previously shared a tutorial for making these here on the blog, so if you'd like written instructions for this part, hop over to this post to see them: boiled egg mouse tutorial. You can also watch the video on YouTube. Don't forget to come back here for the rest of the lunch though!
Once your mouse is made and you've popped it into the lunch box (I put my egg mouse in a silicone cupcake case in the lunch box to stop it from moving around in transit), make the owl sandwich.
To make the owl sandwich, first cut two circles from your bread using the largest of your nesting circle cutters. Using a smaller circle cutter, cut a piece from the top of one of the bread circles. Repeat with the second circle of bread and then with a slice of cheese, placing the first piece of bread on top of the second bread and cheese circles as a guide. Butter the pieces of bread and put them together with the cheese to make your sandwich. Using your smallest circle cutter, cut out a round piece of cheese for the owl’s tummy. Assemble, popping the tummy circle on top of the sandwich and using the two extra pieces of bread as wings. Finish with edible eyes and cut a piece of carrot into a triangle for the beak. As I mentioned above, you can also see a video tutorial for the owl sandwich here.
Last of all, make the carrot leaves. I also used these cute leaves in my 10 minute Autumn Lunch. They are really easy to make and use minimal equipment - just a mini circle cutter and a small sharp knife. To make them, start by cutting the carrot into fairly thick rounds. Use the mini circle cutter to cut each carrot slice into a leaf shape. With the tip of a small paring knife, score a line down the centre of each carrot leaf. To get a deeper line, score a second line at an angle next to the first, and remove the resulting small strip of carrot. Score lines at an angle down each side of the carrot slice to create a simple leaf design. Repeat until you have a small pile of carrot leaves. As I mentioned above, you can also see a video tutorial for the carrot leaves here.
Pack everything up in your lunch box, then pop it into your lunch bag with the Capri-Sun Fruit Crush pouch.
Capri-Sun Fruit Crush also produced a fun video of the #PackedLunchLove event, which you can watch below:
If you have trouble watching the video above, you can also click here to watch it on YouTube. If you'd like to see the other five fun and easy lunches that I created for the Capri-Sun Fruit Crush #PackedLunchLove project, click here. You can also find out more about the project and my list of 10 lunchbox life 'hacks' by clicking here. For more information about Capri-Sun Fruit Crush, visit the Capri-Sun website.
Grace
Safety note: Knives should only be used by parents/guardians, or by supervised older children when safe. http://www.capri-sun.co.uk/our-drinks/200ml-fruit-crushTake care to show children equipment and decorations pictured are non-edible, and remove spaghetti 'whiskers' from the mouse egg before eating it.
Disclosure: This post contains some Amazon affiliate links; I may receive commission on items purchased through the links.
Woodland Themed Lunch
Ingredients
- 6-8 green grapes
- handful dark or milk chocolate chips
- 1 egg, hard boiled and peeled
- 1 strand dried spaghetti
- 2 pieces wholemeal bread
- 2 slices cheddar cheese
- 1 carrot
- 1 Capri-Sun Fruit Crush pouch
Instructions
- Start by making the grape acorns. To make them, line a baking sheet or plate with baking paper, then microwave the chocolate chips in a small microwave safe bowl at 15 second intervals until melted and smooth. Dip the grapes into the chocolate to cover the bottom half of each grape, then lay on the lined baking sheet or plate and leave to set. You could pop them in the fridge or freezer to set quickly if you are in a hurry.
- Next, make the hard boiled egg mouse. Instructions here.
- Once your mouse is made and you've popped it into the lunch box (I put my egg mouse in a silicone cupcake case in the lunch box to stop it from moving around in transit), make the owl sandwich.
- To make the owl sandwich, first cut two circles from your bread using the largest of your nesting circle cutters. Using a smaller circle cutter, cut a piece from the top of one of the bread circles. Repeat with the second circle of bread and then with a slice of cheese, placing the first piece of bread on top of the second bread and cheese circles as a guide. Butter the pieces of bread and put them together with the cheese to make your sandwich.
- Using your smallest circle cutter, cut out a round piece of cheese for the owl’s tummy. Assemble, popping the tummy circle on top of the sandwich and using the two extra pieces of bread as wings. Finish with edible eyes and cut a piece of carrot into a triangle for the beak.
- Last of all, make the carrot leaves. To make them, start by cutting the carrot into fairly thick rounds. Use the mini circle cutter to cut each carrot slice into a leaf shape. With the tip of a small paring knife, score a line down the centre of each carrot leaf. To get a deeper line, score a second line at an angle next to the first, and remove the resulting small strip of carrot. Score lines at an angle down each side of the carrot slice to create a simple leaf design. Repeat until you have a small pile of carrot leaves.
- Pack everything up in your lunch box,
Notes
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!
If you’re a Pinterest user, I’d love you to pin this post! 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.
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