Tagged: bento box

May 19, 2015

Rain, Rain Come and Stay Bento

Normally at this point in the year, rain is the last thing anyone wants to see. But when your state is in major drought, every single drop counts. Today it looks like rain! But it’s doubtful it will actually rain 🙁 So to encourage the weather, a little rain cloud and sky scene for lunch.

In today’s lunch:

Main PB&J cloud mini sandwiches. I don’t have a large cloud cutter, so I made this one out of small circles. They break apart into mini sandwiches. The trick is to start with one circle, then cut the one next to it with the same cutter so that it fits into the other. Keep going and five mini sandwiches later, voila! Eyes are made from chocolate chips with a non-pareil highlight and the mouth is a little bit of candy string. The rain drops from the cloud (and his happy tear) are candy coated sunflower seeds.
Sides Blueberry sky with white sprinkle stars and an artichoke dip moon (in a mini silicone cup) with black sprinkles and candy string for a face. Surrounding it are Pasta Chips for dipping.
Also included but not pictured Yogurt and string cheese.

Today, I used:

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May 4, 2015

May the 4th: A Lunch From the Dark Side

As is my custom on May the 4th, a Star Wars bento for the kiddo 🙂 Today, it’s one from the Darkside… Sith lord themed. Beware the Dark Side! They have cookies 🙂

In this lunch:

Main PB&J Darth Vader Sandwiches and a Darth Maul strawberry (on the back of a Darth Vader Easter egg), with details done with black edible dough (and yellow sprinkle eyes). I made his horns out of peanuts (cut them to points with a sharp paring knife.
Sides Trail mix with the front of the Darth Vader Easter egg (front) and large purple grapes.
Also included but not pictured Yogurt and pasta chips with brie.

Today, I used:

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April 30, 2015

Beauty and the Beast Bento

Beauty and the Beast is the kiddo’s favorite Disney movie, so today’s theme is Beauty and the Beast! I had plans to figure a way to sculpt out a Beast face out of the kiwi but that would have added a load of time to this lunch! I’ll admit that the painting was difficult because the kiwi is so juicy that the water-based food dye that I used to paint started to smudge a bit but I think it will make it to lunch. We will see! 🙂

In this lunch:

Main A PB&J “Book” sandwich and a banana with Belle carved on it
Sides The Beast is painted onto a kiwi and I used a tiny bit of white edible dough for his teeth. I also included a red rose made from a strawberry on a blueberry background.
Also Included but not Pictured Yogurt and mozarella

Today, I used:

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April 17, 2015

A Toy Story Bento

In this lunch:

Today, the kiddo asked what she was going to get for a special lunch and I decided to surprise her. Truth was, I had absolutely NO idea what to do. I was inspiration-less! And suddenly I looked into the toy, um, pile and saw a Mr. Potato Head sticking out. And so this lunch was inspired by my kiddos’ mess. At least it’s good for something!

Main PB&J sandwich with PB as on the face as well. The black parts (mustache, eyebrows, pupils) are all pieces of blueberries except for the bowler hat (that was wilton dough). Ears were slices of mandarins and eyes were made up of bread. The mouth was a small piece of raspberry.
Sides A green alien kiwi. I used a full kiwi and held it in place with the silicone cup. The ears are cut up pieces of kiwi (with the skin on, for rigidity) and the little antenna on his head is a piece of kiwi topped with a skinned blueberry on top. In the next compartment, some Pirate Booty with cheddar stars.
Also Included but not Pictured Yogurt and a string cheese.

Today, I used:

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March 24, 2015

Big Hero 6 Bento

With Big Hero 6 out on DVD, my kiddos have been watching it over and over again. I personally haven’t seen it (erm, I’ve used it as a babysitter while making dinner, though!) but I caught enough here and there to make up a lunch based on the characters. So here we go, a Big Hero 6 lunch!

In this lunch:

Main Not a sandwich for once! My grandma has a recipe for no-syrup pancakes which is great for lunch, as there is no mess. They are only very slightly sweet and taste good with a little butter (although I didn’t add butter here). So a set of Baymax pancakes (so easy to make!)
Sides Lol, a mini sandwich (PB&J of course)– I painted Hiro’s face on it; blueberries with a suited up Baymax made from a couple of strawberries, a bit of bread and a teensy bit of food dye– kept together with peanut butter.
Also Included but not Pictured Bunny graham crackers

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March 17, 2015

A Simple St. Patrick’s Day Bento

I was trying to figure out what I was going to do for St. Patrick’s Day’s lunch and thought up a few different themes. In the end, I decided to go really simple clover themed (with a couple of extra goodies in there!). I just love when a simple lunch comes together and practically anyone can make this!

In this lunch:

Main A PB&J heart sandwich with a cut out clover. The green under the cut out was a small spot of peanut butter with some green food dye. I cut out the clover with a tiny heart cutter.
Sides Trail mix with two little chocolate coins and green grapes cut into hearts (and held together with a toothpick) and arranged like a clover. The grape-clover sits on top of a piece of lettuce, but there are more grapes under that.
Also Included but not Pictured Yogurt and a banana

Today, I used:

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February 20, 2015

Mr. Peabody and Sherman Bento

It’s official: this house is Mr. Peabody and Sherman crazy. We love this movie — I love the history of it all and the kids love the jokes. It’s really funny for all ages and we’ve been watching it over and over again at this house since it premiered on Netflix. So to commemorate the awesome movie (and because of the fact that I can’t stop saying “DOS SHERMANOS!” — from the movie, you have to watch it!) I made a Mr. Peabody and Sherman bento for the kiddo. I’m not sure who is more excited about it, her or me 😉

In this lunch:

Main A PB&J Sherman with edible dough glasses. The sandwich is super simple with the Fred Bread Head Sandwich Stamp. Just make the sandwich and fashion up some glasses with edible dough!
Sides Trail mix, blueberries, a carved banana (with some heart sprinkles that make up Mr. Peabody’s tie), and a Laughing Cow cheese WABAC machine with a yogurt covered almond inside painted with a quick little Mr. Peabody.
Also Included but not Pictured Yogurt

Today, I used:

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February 2, 2015

Groundhog Day Bento

Happy Groundhog Day! Today, an oversized hamster sees or does not see his shadow and eerily predicts weather patterns in the forseeable future. It might work in Pennsylvania, but it doesn’t really work in California, land of perpetual springy weather… seriously, it’s 50 degrees when I drop off the kiddos at school and by pick-up, it’s 70. So, my large rodent friend, it doesn’t work here.

BUT it makes for a fun bento lunch. So today’s lunch is a groundhog peeking out of his hole 🙂

In today’s lunch:

Main PB&J groundhog in his hole. I did this by first cutting a circle out of the bread and then cutting a bear-head from the CuteZCute cutter out of the circle. I positioned the bear head ears down so that the bear’s ears actually became the groundhog’s paws; I wanted to make them a little more defined, though, so I added small circles for the paws. I put peanut butter over the top of it all. I used the same small circles for his jowls, two mini-chocolate chips for his nose, a little bread for his teeth, and a teardrop shaped mini-cutter for his ears. His eyes were store-bought candy eyes.
Sides Mandarin orange flower with a blueberry middle; huge red grapes with butterfly/flower picks for spring.
Also included but not pictured Yogurt and a banana.

Today, I used:

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January 27, 2015

Amazing Women Series: Frida Kahlo Bento

This week’s Amazing Woman is Frida Kahlo. My kiddo loves art and I wanted her to know an artist in her own right who was quite prolific in her lifetime. She had several adversities to overcome (childhood polio, problems with her leg, etc.) and she expressed herself through art by examining herself and creating tens of self-portraits. Frida had a strong opinion and voice at a time when women were not given much credit. She had beliefs and ideas and stood up for her ideals, so in that way, an interesting person to learn about. So far, she’s been my favorite to paint in the series because she has so many visuals to pull from.

Unfortunately, rushing around this morning, I forgot to add a note about her, but we’ll be talking more about Frida Kahlo when we read the book, Who Was Frida Kahlo?

In this lunch:

Main PB&J with a re-creation of self-portrait of Frida painted with food dye on mozzarella cheese. Around the sandwich, I put a “frame” of trail mix.
Sides Mandarin oranges with wafer flowers and Frida’s spider monkey, Fulang-Chang, done in a kiwi.
Also included but not pictured Yogurt.

Today, I used:

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January 20, 2015

Amazing Women Series: Coretta Scott King Bento

For this week’s Amazing Woman, I chose Coretta Scott King. Yesterday being MLK day, I thought Coretta was an appropriate choice, as without her, there would be no MLK day (she is the one who lobbied and won national holiday recognition for her husband). Also, Coretta was a leader and an activist in her own right and not just in reference to her husband. She did a world of good and I thought she was an amazing woman for the kiddo to learn about.

In today’s lunch, I put in a note about Coretta Scott King:

Coretta Scott King was a person who fought for all people to be treated equally. When she was young, she went to college to study music and then she became involved in peacefully protesting against those who wanted to separate people by the color of their skin. She married Martin Luther King, Jr. and with him, she changed the world we live in.

I’m still looking around to find a good book to continue the conversation with the kiddo about this amazing woman (so if you know one, put it in the comments, please!)

In this lunch:

Main PB&J with a portrait of Mrs. King in edible dough (this is a very thin piece) painted with food dye. It’s not visible here, but I have some luster dust in my decorating cabinet, so I put a tiny bit on her pearls for a bit of shine/contrast.
Sides Blueberries with mozarella music notes (to reference her music studies); a clementine with a peace sign written in Sharpie.
Also included but not pictured Yogurt and another clementine for an extra at snack time.

Today, I used:

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