feeling a little lunchy: Funbites

we had a gorgeous weekend here in Atlanta and the grocery store is beginning to boast tons of produce. I couldn't avoid buying three crates of strawberries for $5 so this week is sure to feature the little beasts more than once...

here's yet another lunch in our lunchbots trio. I seriously love these boxes. and, as I'm always living on the edge, against their recommendations, I wash the lids in the dishwasher and they're fine. they're a little small for a whole lunch, so when I use them, I usually pack a thermos of soup on the side.

today, we've got strawberries easily cut like hearts, blueberries, a turkey and cheese cubed sandwich made with our Funbites Cube-It cutter, oyster crackers for the soup and some yogurt covered pretzels.

It's time for my first ever solicited review...I was given a Funbites Cube It to try out and tell you all about! I did not get paid to write this review, but I did get a free Cube It. Which was so nice of Funbites to provide me! Thanks, Funbites!

You can get one for yourself on their website www.funbites.com or through my amazon affiliates link right here: http://amzn.to/105U23y

I got some really great ideas from BentOnBetterLunches for cutting up peanut butter sandwiches (plus using chopsticks to eat them!) and also from Loving Lunches, who just so happens to be hosting a current giveaway of a Funbites...Go try to win one here: Loving Lunches Funbites Giveaway

First off, I'd like to say that it's a much sturdier piece of plastic than I had imagined when looking at the pictures on the internet. That's good since I went and tossed the thing in my dishwasher immediately after it came out of the package. Right after it washed, I chopped up some carrots and then an apple, and then some Gouda cheese. The Gouda was way too soft for this and while it came out in cubes, it kind of crumbled around the sides. I'm sure harder block cheeses will work fine...and I'm definitely going to use the Cube It for that instead of buying it pre-cut, which is quite pricy.

That Gouda was the worst of my experiences with the Cube It. The carrots came out great...so great they were eaten before I could photograph them.

I cored the apple, then sliced it into rounds, easily cubed it with my Funbites, then let soak in water with a little lemon juice for a bit to prevent it from browning. How awesome is it that the Cube It cut through the apple, skin and all? All you have to do is put the cutter on top of your food, push down and then rock it from side to side. The bottom of the cutter isn't flat, but rather bowed a little to allow for the rocking. And the plastic is quite sharp...I was again, surprised.

Now to make the sandwich...Just make one as you normally would. I did bologna and cheese on white for my wild child. No mustard. No mayo. Dry. *cough*

Cut it up and pop it out with the Funbites, feed the scraps to the annoying, begging dog at your feet who has nearly knocked you over 42 times since you started making lunches and you're all blocky and perfect for making a fun lunch!

I was a little worried that my bread my be crumbling at this point...But the block you use to pop the sandwich out took care of that when I pressed down on it!

With my little blocky bites all ready, I decided that everything in this lunch should be cubed. So I grabbed some of my Starbucks splash sticks, (thanks to www.MOMables.com for the idea!) which moonlight as (free!) food picks around here, and speared the slices of apple and sandwich alternately. I'm probably going to pay for that since the apples are likely to "soggify" the bread. In this lunch are also butter snap pretzels, square! the Funbitten apples and some chocolate Mini Wheats cereal...also square. Go figure.