I have to admit that my daughter, for the most part, is a really good eater. One of her favorite foods is broccoli and the girl actually requests to go out for sushi 🙂

Recently though we’ve struggled a bit when it comes to lunch…

I always have a hard time with that meal – I never quite know what to prepare for her or myself, and she isn’t a huge fan of the usual lunch fair such as PB & J or sandwiches of most kind 🙁

Lunch, in my mind, should be a fairly quick and easy affair so I can fill her little belly before she snuggles down for her nap. So, the question became, “How do I make lunch more fun?” The answer came to me in the form of cookie cutters and a game that I made up called “The lunchtime challenge”!

The Lunchtime Challenge

Basically I allow my daughter to choose any cookie cutter from our collection of thirty and I have to somehow incorporate that shape into her lunch.

It’s allowed for my child to participate in making her lunch, and I have to admit that I enjoy the daily creative challenge of preparing some sort of edible art. Maybe it’s just me, but she seems to eat more of her lunch now that it looks interesting, but hey…I’ll take whatever I can get 😉

So without further ado, here are some of my first “lunchtime challenge” creations (keep in mind, I’m no Picasso yet):

Hand holding balloon

Roast beef and mayo “hand” sandwich with carrot sticks, apples and peanut butter

Lil’ Lizzard

No cookie cutter, but still creative. Hot dog “lizard” with raisin eyes, carrot sticks, cheese and mayo and ketchup dipping sauces.

Dino dinner

Peanut butter and honey dinosaur sandwich with carrot sticks and blueberries and raisin eye

Summer sun

Round peanut butter and honey sandwich with cheese rays and strawberry and blueberry butterflies

Since we’re still having fun working our way through the cookie cutters I’ll keep documenting our delicious artwork and post an update down the line. This’ll give me some more time to fine tune my food art too 😉

What are some of your go to lunch items? How do you get your kiddos to eat their meal? Until next time, Guten Appetit my sweets!