Tagged: food

August 26, 2015

The First Day of Third Grade Bento

It’s the first day of third grade! I have to admit, it snuck up on me. We went abroad this summer and we’re still jetlagged so really, I feel like this minute it’s 3 in the morning. But alas, the kids are in school and the bigger kiddo is in third grade. CRAZY. I wanted to remind her that she has someone fun waiting for her at home, so I did a dog lunch for her today. We just got a puppy and the kids are insanely excited about her. So here’s to another year of bentos!

Main PB&J puppy shaped with with circle cutters and triangles for ears. The brown stuff is Nutella; the eyes are Wilton large eyes. The nose is a blueberry.
Sides Blueberries and a 3rd made out of cheddar. A chocolate chip protein bar I shaped into a dog bone.
Also included but not pictured Applesauce and water.

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July 17, 2015

Camp Bentos!

My big kiddo is a lover of camps. She loves the activities, she loves the camaraderie, she loves everything. Last week she went to a day camp that needed a lunch everyday. I didn’t bento every day, but I did do it a couple of times. The camp’s theme was books so I had a little fun with that theme. I also put in a robot lunch, just because I have been wanting to do another robot lunch for ages.

In the robot lunch:

Main A cream cheese robot sandwich with a string cheese decorated with cheddar gears. Black sprinkles in his eyes.
Sides Hard boiled egg with a cheddar wrench. Grapes and blueberries
Also included but not pictured Yogurt and graham crackers

And a bookworm lunch!

In the bookworm lunch:

Main PB&J sandwich bookworm made with a circle cutter and holding a cheddar cheese book. Eyes are candy eyes.
Sides Hard boiled egg, green grapes.
Also included but not pictured Yogurt.

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June 6, 2015

Spirit Week Bentos!

This last week has been spirit week at school for the kiddo. I usually only do one fun lunch a week (she gets a very simple bento type lunch every day with sandwich and fruit, cheese, yogurt, etc.), but there were all kinds of fun activities for spirit week so I added a couple of extra fun lunches into the mix. The first one below was for the end-of-the-year field trip to a bowling alley, one for mustache day, and one for Disney day.

The “real” fun bento lunch was this one, just for this field trip. In this lunch:

Main A bowling ball PB&J with a crust end on top to give the bowling ball some color. Bowling pin cheese stick (with bowling pin drawn in Sharpie)
Sides Blueberries with a star-shaped cheddar slice (I was going to put the word strike! but it was too long to fit) and a 10. Green grapes with two baby carrots that I carved into pins.
Also included but not pictured Yogurt.

A fun lunch, but much simpler. In this lunch:

Main A set of three little mustache PB&J mini-sandwiches.
Sides Strawberries with a little candy mustache, baby carrots with a little mustachioed friendly pick.
Also included but not pictured Yogurt and string cheese.

Another fun but simple lunch for Disney day! In this lunch:

Main A PB&J Minnie Mouse decorated with cherries for her bow.
Sides Blueberries on bow picks, cherries with a cherry pick.
Also included but not pictured Yogurt and string cheese.

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May 28, 2015

Sheriff Callie Bento Lunch

Once in a while, my middle kiddo (who usually gets her wonderfully balanced lunch from preschool) stays home and asks for a special lunch. So, seeing as she wants to be a sheriff when she grows up, a Sheriff Callie lunch (who is her favorite) was in order. I’ve been wanting to make it for a while but it’s too young for the older kiddo. Anyway, to the details!

In today’s lunch:

Main PB sandwich Callie. I used green candy covered sunflower seeds for eyes (lined with black food dye and finished with a white non-pareil highlight) and a heart sprinkle for a nose. The muzzle was just a little oval and the patches on her face are peanut butter (the gray parts are peanut butter with a tiny bit of black food dye).
Sides Carrots with a sheriff star and strawberries with a food pick to resemble the cactus, Toby with little carrot hat.
Also included but not pictured Yogurt and string cheese.

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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.

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March 26, 2015

Into the Woods… and Home Before Dark!

Another beloved movie! I saw Into the Woods in a play as a teenager and I instantly loved it. I loved the tongue-in-cheekness, I loved the characters, I loved the less-than-happy ending. Loved. When Disney put it out this last year, I took my husband out on a date to see it. It was great! I talked about it so much that my kiddos started to want to see it, and they saw it with their grandma. They loved it, too! One soundtrack and many many many repeats later, it’s the only album the whole family can agree on in the car. So when the kiddo asked me for an Into the Woods lunch, I had to do it!

This lunch was inspired by the Witch’s curse which needs to resolve itself through:

One: the cow as white as milk,
Two: the cape as red as blood,
Three: the hair as yellow as corn,
Four: the slipper as pure as gold.

In this lunch:

Main A cream cheese sandwich (by request) in the shape of Milky White– in this particular lunch, I guess it helped that my child will only eat white bread (booooo!).
Sides The cape as red as blood (or as red as a strawberry) with a little bread face. I used sprinkles for the eyes and mouth and a few peels of blueberry for the hair. For Little Red Riding Hood’s dress, I cut up a little piece of cupcake liner! Also included was a banana with the hair as yellow as corn, and a piece of bread shaped like a foot and painted with yellow paint for the slipper as pure as gold (over a mix of nuts). Also, two little trees with blueberry leaves.
Also Included but not Pictured Yogurt

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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

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February 19, 2015

Happy Lunar New Year: The Year of the Sheep

Happy Year of the Sheep! 😀 It’s a simple lunch for the preschool kiddo today 🙂 She wanted in on the fun. I thought a smaller Lunchbot box might be appropriate, since this one eats like a bird! Gung hay fat choy!

In this lunch:

Main Two mini peanut butter sandwiches
Sides Part of a banana carved with the year, a nut mix with yogurt covered almonds, and a couple of chocolate coins.
Also included but not pictured Probiotic strawberry smoothie

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February 12, 2015

One in a Minion Valentine’s Day Bento

Eventually the time comes when every bento-er must make a minion lunch! For me today is that day. I’ve been meaning to make a minion lunch for a while now, but when I saw a “One in a Minion” Valentine’s Day card, I knew it had to become a bento theme. What’s better than a silly declaration of love, in the form of a tiny, yellow henchman? And by the way, I was totally singing “One in a Minion” ala Boston More than a Feeling-style.

Main A PB&J sandwich with a piece of cheddar on top. Sounds a bit icky, but I attached it with peanut butter. My kiddo is happy to lick it off, lol. The way I made the main minion:

I cut a smile out of the piece of cheddar and I use a tiny cutter that I have to make little teeth from leftover bread.
I also used some crossed to back it and heart sprinkle for his tongue.
I also took a large Wilton eye and I drew a brown iris around the black pupil for depth.
I also took a heart sprinkle to make the eye highlight.
I used a black foodwriter marker to draw the goggle strap and a few hairs on top.
I also lined the eye with a little aluminum foil for the goggle.

Sides Minion graham crackers (with heart sprinkles on some of them — not all! I’m not crazy 😉 ), one small banana cut into two with drawn on details. The eyes are just the smaller Wilton eyes with irises and (one) eyelid drawn on. I just cut into the banana for the little hairs on top (naturally browning) and cut the mouths in the same way.
Also included but not pictured An unusually large cutie mandarin!

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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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