Category: Yummy

August 4, 2016

Girl Scout Camp Rocks Bento

It feels like forever since I made a bento! It has been a while; mostly because school ended in June but also because life. But today I got inspired by the dinosaur themed camp my kiddos are going to. Put on by our awesome Girl Scout unit, this is our favorite camp of the year. So I decided to go with a slightly Cretaceous theme.

In today’s lunch:

Main PB&J Sandwich with nutty Trader Joe’s trail mix
Sides Half an apple carved with a TRex head and grapes
Also included but not pictured Applesauce, a granola bar, water

Today, I used (please disable AdBlock to see what tools I used for this bento):

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July 7, 2016

Tips to Make an Ice Cream Rose

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. It’s been so busy here lately! But I’ve had tons of ideas about art and food whirling in my head and this ice cream rose was one of the things I’ve wanted to do for a bit. I saw a video on YouTube on how they had been done in ice cream shops in Asia and Europe, and said “I can do that!” It is often that innocent and slightly delusional mood that gets me started in these projects. So… I tried it.

It ain’t easy.

What I learned from making ice cream roses:

If it’s moderately warm outside, then either I have to go REALLY fast, or do this in parts. My first few attempts were no bueno because I took too long shaping the petals. For my best rose, I ended up doing it in parts; the middle petals first, put it in the freezer, then a couple hours later the next set and so on. Technically, this took me a few hours to make, but only working in 3-5 minute bursts. I went along with my day for the rest of the time.
Use the right tools. I bought an ice cream spatula thing for this but it was bulky. Instead, I ended up using a cheese slicer at the suggestion of someone else on the internet. I liked that it was thin and could make thin slices in the ice cream. I think there are better ice cream spatulas out there for this too… something small.
Oh yeah. The ice cream should be firm. REALLY firm if you want thinner petals which are more lovely but harder to place. I used Hagen Daaz ice cream for this but any firm ice cream should work.

Would I make this again? Eh, I don’t know. I would because I like to make pretty things (and I like to master technique), but seeing as they melt the minute you’re done, I don’t know how practical it would be to make them for, say, a party.

Today I used:

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April 21, 2016

A Girl Scout Treat

The oldest kiddo is in Brownies and due to a bit of experience making lunches, I was chosen to lead the meeting on healthy eating. It was fun! We set up three stations to make some healthy treats and earn our healthy snacks badge. The girls were very enthusiastic being a part of the fun.

Our first station was to make guacamole from scratch. A very simple recipe of mashed avocado, a lemon, some tomatoes, minced garlic, and salt and viola! Simple guac.

We had intentions to make mini pizzas out of naan, but somebody (um, me!) forgot the sauce and cheese, so instead, we cut up the bread for dipping in our guacamole.

For dessert, we decided to make raspberries stuffed with chocolate chips:

The girls were really excited about their bentos, especially since EasyLunchboxes sponsored our little event and gave each girl a set of three EasyLunchboxes for their lunchboxes.

And a final shot of the bento (with naan pizza!) There were also tortilla chips on the side.

Our Brownie Troop sends a sincere thanks to Kelly at EasyLunchboxes for her generous donation! Thank you!

In this lunch:

Main Mini-naan with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese (naan pizza)
Sides Guacamole and raspberries filled with chocolate chips
Also added (but not pictured) tortilla chips

That day, we used:

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March 24, 2016

Easter Bunny Bento

Ahhh the Easter bunny. I’m practically FORCED to make a bunny lunch for Easter, by the virtue of only using this cutter once a year 😉 So here it is, a different take on some frolicking bunnies and Easter eggs.

In today’s lunch:

Main 2 PB&J Sandwiches made with an inexpensive cutter I got from the Dollar Spot at Target
Sides A mandarin with a rabbit head cut out (I used a knife and eyed it although if you are unsure of your rabbit head, score it with the knife first before you cut); protein nut mix with Jelly Belly jelly beans
Also included but not pictured Yogurt, a banana, and water

Today, I used:

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March 17, 2016

Crazy Hair Day Mermaid

I’m not sure who made up crazy hair day at school but I’m wondering if that person was thinking that crazy really refers to how it makes parents crazy the night before. The request this time was: “Can I have a mermaid for crazy hair day?” I always try to pick crazy hair themes that are easy to dismantle so that the wearer can get comfortable after wearing it at school so long. So the kindergarten kiddo and I looked on the crafty mom bible, AKA Pinterest, and we found some fishtail braids made into mermaids for crazy hair day. We saw this one and thought about how to make it happen.

But last night, I was without Cricut to cut out the mermaid and without time to freehand one. So after a few more crazy hair day searches, I saw someone had used a cut-out of the Little Mermaid as the body. So off I went with an obviously easier solution. The pin above uses a fishtail braid, but I am not great with braids, so I went with a simple, plain braid, tied with a simple green hair tie. I put some hair wax on the ends to make the fins and some lime green hair chalk to “dye” it green. I printed Ariel on some photo paper (which was nice and heavy-ish and stood up well) and taped it to a long bobby pin which I then stuck in the braid. I then sprayed it with hairspray and sprinkled it with glitter. Yay for a successful crazy hair day and a happy kindergarten kiddo.

Today I used:

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February 12, 2016

Simple and Fast Valentine

Valentine’s day is a “required” day for bentos at my house… hearts and love is always appreciated at lunch. However, pressed for time, I was having a bit of a hard time getting a lunch together this morning. Finally, a very quick, quite simple Valentine lunch was the answer and this all took 7 minutes. We even got to school on time.

In today’s lunch:

Main PB&J triple stacked heart sandwich. I used a heart-inside-a-heart cookie cutter to shape it. Since it produced a small sandwich, I made it triple stacked. Also, because I had some extra bread left, I cut another set of sandwiches (half of the heart) and made it look like there were two hearts with one in front of the other. Inside the box, craisins with yogurt covered raisins.
Sides A mandarin with a heart and large globe grapes
Also included but not pictured Yogurt and water

Today, I used:

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February 5, 2016

Football Bento

One Crafty Thing… if you’ve ever wondered what the name was about, it’s about doing one thing, just one crafty thing whenever you get the time. I’ve been out of time lately, so the bentos have been few and far between (the lunches are being prepared, just “plain” lunches though — sandwiches that look like… well, sandwiches). But lately I’ve been getting more inspired. It’s Superbowl season and it’s here in my hometown this year, so it’s been EVERYWHERE! So after being bombarded with football everything for weeks, I suddenly had the bright idea to make a football bento (admittedly, it’s like thinking up a Mickey Mouse lunch in Disneyland, so sue me!) Anyhow, I made this for my youngest kiddo (preschool kiddo!) and he loved it.

In today’s lunch:

Main PB&J football cut with a simple circle cutter and using crust for laces
Sides Almonds painted to look like footballs and mandarins with football post food picks
Also included but not pictured Cheese stick and water

Today, I used:

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January 5, 2016

A Charlie Brown Lunch

First day of back to school after the winter break makes just *needs* a cheering up back to school lunch. After two weeks of vacation where we were really sick, we spent the last day of winter break watching the Peanuts movie, so I figured a simple Charlie Brown lunch was a good bet for some smiles. I’ll be honest, I’m going on my almost fifth year of making bentos and although it’s lots of fun for both me and the kiddos, the mornings are increasingly chaotic to be making bentos. So simple is the way to go!

In today’s lunch:

Main PB&J cut with a cutter (then trimmed to look bald) and drawn on with black food coloring
Sides Green grapes and homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
Also included but not pictured Yogurt and water

Today, I used:

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December 17, 2015

Peace on Earth Bento Lunch

After a bit of a bento hiatus, I was ready to get back (right before vacation!) and I was trying to decide what cute cartoon character I was going to do… maybe the Good Dinosaur, maybe a Peanuts theme, or something else. After being uninspired by any cartoon character, I thought about what I wanted for my kiddo for Christmas. And what I really wanted was peace on earth. No more mass shootings. No more violence toward any religious group. No more more hating refugees because they want a safe place to live. I just wanted peace. And so, today my wish is peace for everyone, anyone.

In today’s lunch:

Main PB&J triple stack with a heart cut out and a dove flying in the middle. The leaf is a sprinkle.
Sides Green and red grapes with the word “PEACE” cut out in bread. Also, strawberries.
Also included but not pictured Yogurt and water

Today, I used:

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October 29, 2015

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Bento

We’ve finally caught up to the masses and have started reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (I tried when the kiddo was younger but she wasn’t into it). Now my kiddo LOVES it, especially since I’ve been reading it out loud in bad, fake British accents. Anyhow, been dying to celebrate my love for Harry Potter for ages now, and now that it has the context of being a book she knows, my kiddo is in love with her lunch today.

In this lunch:

Main PB&J Harry made with a breadhead sandwich cutter/sealer with glasses, face features, and scar all outlined with a little bit of food dye.
Sides A green grape snitch on trail mix and raspberries with a crust-made Sorting Hat. I tried to keep this in Gryffindor colors, too.
Also included but not pictured Yogurt and a bottle of water

Today, I used:

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