bento

Monday

Leftovers, baby! Veggie-flavored fettuccine with sauce and meatballs, broccoli and ranch (in the little lidded bowl,) cantaloupe and plum skewers (used the melon baller on them both….for the plum, cut in half and remove pit to ball,) and some parmesan cheese in the yellow egg.

Verdict: loved it, at almost all the pasta and all of the broccoli, left one skewer of fruit behind.

Tuesday

More meatballs please! A couple of meatball skewers, the much loved edamame, a mango jell-o, cut up cheese stick, some banana skewers, and a couple of carrots stuck in the middle. The balance of food groups and color was right on.

Verdict: surprisingly, there was a meatball and some cheese leftover. Not surprising, I don’t think he ate any carrots.

Wednesday

 Mac ‘n cheese! I cooked one of those Easy Mac bowls and added a cut up hotdog, then paired it with some shelled edamame, a peeled clementine, some Hello Panda! cookies and sunflower seeds.

Verdict: he did not eat hardly any of the edamame and none of the clementine, and left some of the mac ‘n cheese….but all the cookies and sunflower seeds were gone. I think that he likes the edamame pods just cause they’re fun to eat and the clementine was admittedly tart.

Thursday

 Dino-mania: Nate showed us how much of a big kid he’s become by proving that yes, he can be the banker when we play Dino Monopoly! To celebrate, I made some dino ham n’ mozz melties (I used pitas for the base, cut out the shapes and spread with some mustard, topped with diced ham and shredded mozz, and toasted til melted) along with a coordinating DINO, a hard-boiled “dino” egg, some carrot sticks and flowers (click hereto see how to make the flowers,) edamame skewers; in the shark are some banana chips and plums, and Hello Panda cookies in the yellow egg.

Verdict: he ate almost of everything, leaving just one of each behind. He totally missed the shark and ended up eating it for his after school snack…minus the plums. I figure one day he will eat them if I keep putting them in his lunch.

Friday!

Hooray for Friday! On the menu: tortellini with butter, with marinara sauce, olives and pepperoni to complete the pizza pasta feel. Toss in some green beans for color and some applesauce.

Verdict: he touched none of the green beans, and he mixed the sauce with the tortellini and ate some of it, but the olives and pepperoni were gone. He was pretty hungry that night!

Overall, I feel the week was a success! I’m much more successful at packing a quick lunch if I do it right after dinner, so I’ve tried to make that my new schedule. I might have overloaded him on the Italian foods this week, so I’m gonna try to keep it more plain this week.

On a side note, I discovered a new website that sells little bento kits. It’s called Little Lunch Box, and they sell two-tiered boxes in 6 different designs complete with a fork and spoon, 3 silicone muffin cups and a lidded sauce container. I thought it would be a great way for a beginner bento maker to get all the little supplies plus a box so they can start making cute and healthy…not to mention virtually waste free…school lunches!

My co-worker Amanda introduced me to this perfect bento find she picked up at Walmart. It’s by the Fit ‘n Fresh brand, and has two small containers up top for small items…and are you not LOVING the strawberry mouse? She used a halved strawberry with blackberry sections for a nose and eyes, then cut little slits into the strawberry and slid in leaves for the ears. So FREAKIN’ cute! Anyway, there is a cold pack underneath the top containers that acts as a divider between the larger bottom compartment. I believe she told me this was just $10, which is a killer price.

Okay, more bento news next week! Til then, happy lunching!

I love using my Bento Monday posts to share different blogs I’ve discovered and new ideas on keeping lunch fun. I hope that you have found inspiration to make your childs’ lunch exciting, not to mention healthy and more waste-free. To add to the fun, I’ve decided to post photos of Nate’s lunches each Monday, along with some of mine, from the prior week so I can let you know what works for me and how.

So here’s what Nate had for the first day of school!

First day's lunch

Biscuit pizzas (recipe below) with edamame, baby carrots, cantaloupe skewers with watermelon “1″s (for the first day…I know, right?!) and a grape jell-0 (from the Asian grocery store on S. University). One pizza and 3 of the carrots came back, everything else was devoured!

Close up of the "1"s in the cantaloupe skewers. The square-topped picks came from Hobby Lobby in the party section.

We went to Jo Ann’s on Cantrell and picked out some fabric for some cloth napkins for his daily lunches. He picked out Batman/Joker and Spiderman fabric, and I think they turned out wonderful. Simple to make:

• 1/3 yard, cut into quarters, iron and pin squares right sides facing
• Sew 3 sides, and 1/2 of the fourth side, 1/4 inch from the fabric’s edge
• Flip the napkin right side out and iron, folding inward the fabric edges on the opening
• Sew around the sides, 1/4 inch from the edges.
• Voila! Two kid-sized napkins ready for lunch!

Oh yeah, and biscuit pizzas! Another simple and quick idea for lunch:

• Preheat oven to temperature to cook the can of biscuits
• In a muffin tin, coat 10 spots with non-stick spray
• Put a biscuit in each spot, and cook for 5 minutes until they get a bit crusty on the top
• Dollop some pizza sauce on each on and spread evenly on the biscuit, and top with whatever pizza toppings you like. We made sausage/pepperoni, olive and cheese pizzas.
• Pop back in the oven for another 5 minutes, or until the toppings are all crispy melty
• Let cool before packing into the bento or serving 

Day 2

The second bento was almost an exact repeat of the first, using leftovers and a few new twists. More pizzas, carrots and edamame, but I added cheese stars and peanuts, and used his shark snack holder and filled it with a couple of watermelon whales, cantaloupe slivers and pineapple tidbits. He ate it all except 4 carrots and the pineapple.

Alright, that’s all for now. Next week’s post will be exciting….five lunches!

Thanks to Heidi of In the Family Way, and my cousin Tara, for the head’s up on this great set of 20 easy and healthy bentos to make for your kids using everyday food and simple techniques, from the Parenting.com website. Click on the photo to begin browsing through the seriously cute lot, including bunnies, sheep, pigs, trains, giraffes, and my faves the hedgehogs. I’ve already made ham flowers using the tutorial from the website!

All of the bentos are made by the seriously talented Anna Yamamoto…check out her whimsical blog here. I love what she says about making bentos, that “the most important thing about making a bento is to make it with love — and have lots of fun!”

I picked up a couple of school lunch bags for Nate this week, ones that I really like and this I believe will work for him and his bentos.

New school goodies!

The one on the left came from Walmart for only $3, so even though it’s pretty skinny I just could not pass up the combination of super cheap plus awesome robot faces! The one on the right came from Target, and I really like how it opens up.

Full o' goodies!

This is probably more than he’ll need to eat daily, but it will hold 2 boxes and a drink bottle. I’ll throw a napkin and some utensils in there too.

Here’s the robot one, that will be perfect for the small insulated bowl, full of soup or pasta, and a drink bottle.

Soup's on!

 Maybe we could throw a shark in with some crackers.

Shark attack

Perfect, I believe! We will find out on the 19th….

I also picked up some treats from the Asian Foods and Gift Store (3002 South University) that were super fun and very inexpensive. I think they’ll make some sweet additions to his lunches!

Mystery bad and jellies

The only word I understood on the top bag was “corn” but there were photos of hazelnuts and chocolate…they were like chocolate corn puffs! Pretty yummy chocolate corn puffs. The others are little heart shaped jello-like fruit flavored treats, that I’d seen on Maisie Eats Bento, and I’d hoped to run across them at the store.

Mmmmm.....

Hello Panda cookies are my FAVORITES…little cream filled cookies with silly pictures of sporty pandas on the front. The Yan Yan cookie sticks are so cute! You dip them into the icing that comes with the cookie sticks for even more sweetness.

Gallop Away!

Each little cookie stick had an animal and a saying….totally kitschy and why I LOVE asian sweets.

More mmmm......

And to wrap up this post, here’s a few photos of some of my own lunches I’ve made recently.

Tilapia tacos (click on photo for the recipe) with all the trimmings in a different container

Grilled sausage, shells 'n cheese, broccoli and onion soup potatoes

Hawiian meatballs with rice flowers...I should have added carrot centers to the flowers!

Yea for organization!

 Here’s everything I have. I doesn’t look like much, but at least it looks pretty! For my boxes, starting from the right and going left, I have 2 Laptop Lunches and 1 sistema lunch box cube from The Container Store. Next row from the bottom up, 1 clear lock-lid box (I don’t know the technical term!) from the Dollar Tree, 1 Batman box (bought off of Ebay), 1 small rectangle Bob the Builder box, and a shark shaped snack box (thanks Gigi!) Here’s a better shot of what is in the back left corner of the cabinet. 

From the bottom up, there are 2 lidded bowls from the Dollar Tree (the lids have animal faces on them), 1 screw top bowl, 1 small Bob the Builder bowl and 1 small insulated Thermos-type bowl with a spoon in the lid. I would say I’ve used all of these boxes for either a meal or snack. I don’t use the bowls as often as I do the rectangle and square boxes.  

As far as my boxes go, I feel that I am okay. I’ve been satisfied with the majority of what I have, and I probably won’t know which ones will be weeded out until I begin using them daily. I’m very interested in purchasing a set of Easy Lunchboxes; if you have not seen them or been to their website, check them out! They are divided plastic containers that are PBA free, sturdy and dishwasher safe….and fairly cheap! I’ll let you know if I get a set, and I’ll tell you what I really think! For a great review of several types of boxes, check out this post on Another Lunch.  

The accessories side

 Here’s the accessories side of the cabinet. On the very right is my set of IKEA cake place mats. I totally forgot I had them!! I’ve been using them as backdrops for my bento photos, just to spice it up. On the top are some of my cookie cutters. The rest have been relegated to Playdo cutting and have not been properly cleaned enough for food use. I also have a dinosaur sandwich cutter that I got at Kroger’s, and a set of star cutters that I got at the Japanese store below Mt. Fuji in Breckenridge Village. It’s a great little store for a few bento accessories, and lots of Japanese groceries….I *heart* Pocky sticks!  

All the little bits

 And here is my tiny collection of accessories: containers, picks, spoons…just a mix-match set of things I’ve had forever. My beloved Wrap-N-Mat is in the back, and those little yellow eggs are the from the inside of German Kindereggs. I never use them but nonethelessI hold onto them, thinking I’ll find a purpose for them someday! The bear cup matches the bowls from the Dollar Tree, as well as the box of picks.  

Looking over various bento websites, I’ve tried to find a list of crucial bento accessories, but the majority of the sites say that the cute accessories are not CRUCIAL to making a good bento. Bentos should be, honestly, about packing a good healthy lunch for you and your family, and about keeping plastic packaging out of the landfills. Just Bento is a GREAT website for all things bento, and has a wonderful Bento Basics page that will explain what a bento is and what you really need to make them.  

But who doesn’t love all those accessories….the little picks, cups, sauce bottles, dividers? It just makes bentos more fun. You can see many of these accessories hard at work in the Bento Flickr pool. So here is my attempt to explain bento accessories:  

Picks: These little plastic sticks are used to make food kabobs, as small forks for eating, and for decorating. Melissa from Another Lunch put together a great post about her collection of picks and how she uses them, for her Tools of the Trade series.  

Dividers: You use dividers (baran in Japanese) to keep your foods from touching each other, so your rice won’t taste like peaches so to say. I don’t have any yet, but I hope to get some soon. They can be reusable, but are typically a one use deal…which goes against the reason why I’m making bentos. But they can be so darn cute! Here’s an example here and here. Many people use lettuce leaves as an edible divider.  

Silicone muffin cups: I love these, and use them all the time. You can see them at work here, here, here and here. A must have for bentos! I picked mine up at Target in the spring, but you can get them with the cake supplies at Michaels or Hobby Lobby, or at most big box stores. The cuter, the better!  

Cutters: You can use cutters to make fun shapes for sandwiches, cheese, meat, fruit and veggies. Cookie cutters are the best to use…there’s thousands of types and you can find them anywhere. Check out Susan Yuen’s blog for examples of how to use your cutters.   

Wow, I think my head is going to explode now! I hope you’ve gained some insight into bento boxes and accessories. Let me know  if you run across a great blog with fun ideas!

OMG. Really. I’m dying here! This is why I love Flickr. How else would I have found a Strom Trooper and Death Star bento? Click on the picture to see more of Rena’s blog post from Sandwich Architecture….including a jawa bento! AAAHHHH!!!

I had a craving for the corndog version, so the other night I decided to whip up a batch of them, plus try out the pizza version. This is so easy, I’ll let the photos do the talking:

Mix up one package of Jiffy mix per batch

For the corndog muffins, cut up a couple of hot dogs into quarters.

Add to one of the cornbread mixes, along with a good handful of cheddar cheese.

Mix it well!

For the pizza muffins, grab a couple of handfuls of pepperoni and quarter.

Add the pepperoni pieces to the other bowl of cornbread mix, and throw in a handful of shredded mozzarella.

Mix it all up!

Spoon the mixture into into greased muffin tins; the corndog ones are in the back and the pizza ones are in the front.

I didn't add the sauce to the pizza ones, so I decided to spoon a bit on top of a couple of them before baking.

Follow package directions for baking time and temp. Here's the finished product!

Here's the pizza one, piping hot and yummy straight from the oven. I liked the sauce on top, but Aaron thought it was kinda messy.

And here's the corndog one...with some mustard on the side, lord have mercy, it is so good!!

Mmmm….flavors of summer….grilled hot dogs, purple hull peas, cucumber/tomato/onion marinated salad, steamed brocolli and apple slices, all organized in my Laptop Lunch!

I mentioned last Monday that I planned on making a 4th of July themed bento for picnic day at Nate’s preschool. Here’s what I came up with!

The apple flag was definitely inspired by my first post, except the blue was an apple piece covered in blue-tinted candy melts. My faves were the hot dog firecrackers! It really is so easy to make. Get a hot dog and slice in half. Being careful to only slice halfway down into the hot dog half, cut the end into halves, then fourths and eighths. Boil in water for around 30 seconds….the end will “blossom” into a  firecracker! I finished off the box with more broccoli “firecrackers” and carrot stick “sparklers”, grape picks, star-shaped sandwich and pepperoni (made with my star cutter set) and vanilla “boom” yogurt.

Nate ate most of it…I thought he’d eat the grapes since they were halved and stuck on cute picks and stuff, but no. I think the lettuce leaves went in the trash. His favorites were the sandwich, little pepperoni stars and carrots. It probably took me about 30 minutes to make this, so I wouldn’t get this cutesy for each lunch. But every once in a while it’s fun!

On Friday, the kids at Nate’s daycare are invited to pack a lunch and with the 4th of July around the corner I went a-searchin’ the web for flag-themed bentos. I found this one on Happy Little Bento’s Flickr stream, a stars and stripes spectacular with a star shaped salmon patty, kiwis and carrots, with a flag made of apple slices and grapes. Check out Sheri’s blogfor more tremendous inspiration and super, super, SUPER cute bentos!