Tagged: lunch

September 17, 2014

A Farm Day Inspiration: A Peacock Bento

Every week I take my middle and youngest kiddos to the farm while my eldest is at school. It’s a fun and safe place to play and explore and they have story time and a session of cracking corn as well as feeding the animal of the week. It’s a good time to be had while waiting for the eldest kiddo to get out of school. Every week my eldest asks when she gets to go to the farm. So this week, I tried to give her a little farm in her lunch! It may not seem like peacocks are very farm-like animals, but our farm has a nice-sized flock (or an ostentation, as they are collectively called) of peafowl (cocks, hens, and chicks included).

In today’s lunch:

Main PB&J pocket sandwich with Nutella and sprinkles details. To pipe the bird, I put it in a sandwich bag and snipped the corner, for a makeshift icing bag.
Sides Tail feather made with galia melon, watermelon, and a grape: I used some nesting oval cutters to nest the watermelon in the galia and then the small one to cut a notch out of the grape. Around it, cantaloupe, galia melon, and watermelon balls (finally found a use for my tiny melon baller!). Also more grapes in the other compartment. The grapes were called peony grapes on the package and they’re very fleshy and sweet, perfect for hot end-of-summer days.
Also included but not pictured Even more melon (my leftover scraps). I have a ton of melon here, and it needs to be eaten!

Today, I used:

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September 3, 2014

Maleficent!

Today’s lunch is Maleficent themed. My kiddos loved the film and so did I! So a much promised Maleficent lunch was in order this week 🙂 I admit that I used more “candy” on this lunch much more than I had intended… I used the edible dough again. It really does hold its shape super well and is easy to use, so it’s hard NOT to use it. And the truth is, I couldn’t find the nori that I had planned on using for everything black (her horns/headress) in this! Oops. Oh well, I have all this edible dough left over from the dog/dolphin party and it’s just an occasional treat. Anyhow, on to the lunch! Here is what was in it today.

Main PB&J sandwich with edible dough details; purple lettuce for her neck piece. Colors used for the details: White, red, and black. I used a little food dye to get the green in the irises in the eyes.
Sides Green grape and blueberry salad and fresh blackberries picked yesterday from our local farm. The crow details were done in (what else?) edible dough!
Also included but not pictured Yogurt

Today I used:

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August 27, 2014

Back to School Koala Bento

It’s back to school time and this week’s lunch is back-to-school themed. It’s been a short/long summer, full of ups and downs, but thankfully we’re back on a set schedule now that school is in (we’re soooo much better with a set schedule AND I’m so much more dedicated to lunch during the school year!) The kiddo is in second grade now (as you can see!) and I gave her the choice of “regular” lunches or “pretty” lunches. She adamantly said: “PRETTY ONES!” So here we go again!

Main PB&J sandwich. Cheated a bit on the Koala’s backpack 😉 as I made it out of edible dough, but it worked out really well!
Sides Green grapes, blueberries and a bus-shaped cantaloupe wedge
Also included but not pictured Yogurt

Today I used:

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July 18, 2014

Lego Bento

So I haven’t been making very many bentos. I know, I know. But it’s summer and hardly any take away lunches are needed. But this week has been a week of simple bentos (I didn’t photograph them) for summer camp culminating in this! I didn’t see the Lego movie but my kiddos did and they yelled “Everything is AWESOME!” for a really long time after that. And then this past weekend we went to a lego birthday. I ended up saving one of the cupcake toppers (hehehe) for my best bento of the week but lo and behold, it got smushed. Anyhow, since my friend was the party host, she lent me her mold and I made another little lego man for the last day of camp lunch. Anyhow, I ended up making the girly main character Wyldstyle and Unikitty. My kiddo loved this lunch and it was pretty easy to make — just cut the head with a knife and some straight cuts. Also, the hair! I had planned on making my own modeling candy clay from this tutorial for the hair but ran out of time. I, once again, have to give the credit to Lunchbox Dad’s WyldStyle lunch for inspiring me to use Wilton’s Edible dough for the hair. I’ve been trying out several different doughs out to see what works (marzipan, bread dough, etc.) and this stuff is great — just like play dough but edible! I have it here in black and dyed up some white in pink and blue for the hair. On to the lunch!

Main PB&J with edible dough for the hair, eyes, and mouth. Dragees for the eye highlights.
Sides Goldfish crackers, blueberries, a candy lego minifig, and a marshmallow Unikitty. I used a stacking smore marshmallow, which comes in a rectangle shape) and used foodwriter markers for the face details. Some more edible dough make up her mouth, nose and horn. Candy eyes doctored up with edible markers for the eyes. Little bits of marshmallow for the eye highlights.
Also Included (but not pictured) Two mandarins

Here is a nice closeup of Unikitty, too, which I particularly loved!
And today I used:

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June 11, 2014

A Frozen Bento: In Summer!!!

It’s the last week of school and the fervor for Frozen has only *minimally* died down here. We’re almost in summer and the kiddos can’t get out of winter 😉 So today, I made my last Frozen lunch of the (school) year, inspired by “In Summer,” the song by Olaf the snowman. If you’ve never seen it, DO SO. It’s hilarious.

If you still want to see more bentos, come back during summer! I’ll still be doing some for my kiddos who hang out at home for the summer — some really fun ones!

In today’s lunch:

Main Chicken salad sandwich in a whole grain white bread pocket. I used this awesome tutorial to improvise my pocket sandwich. All the outlines are made from nori, while the whites of the eyes and the tooth are made from some flattened pieces of bread I had left over from cutting off the crusts. Nose is a real carrot!

Sides Strawberry flower on blackberries with cheddar bee. I used nori for the black stripes on the bee and almond slivers for the wings. Also, green grapes.

Today I used:

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May 28, 2014

A Frozen Bento: Sven

Will the Frozen mania ever stop? It’s been ZERO days since someone hasn’t sung a Frozen song, asked to see Frozen or thought a Frozen thought in this house. I am not against it, but instead ran with it for today’s lunch. Also my younger kiddo was so super sad that I only made the Elsa lunch for her sister that she asked me pleadingly for a lunch for her. So here it is, inspired by Frozen (and participating in Wendolonia’s 3 Tools, 4 Lunches series) Today’s lunch is all about Sven. The challenge with the 3 Tools, 4 Lunches was to use an Easy Lunch Box, the Ikea woodland cutters, and a edible markers. This is what I came up with!

Main Cheese sandwhich (Mozarella on whole grain white). Ok so the Ikea cutter is a moose. I know that. I believe, though, that there are certain little bits that make a reindeer silhouette different from a moose silhouette:

Problem 1: The Dewlap. The flappy thingy at a moose’s neck makes it look very moose-like, but a reindeer doesn’t have one. Solution: Cut it off.

Problem 2: The antlers on a moose look pretty even (or at least, on the moose cookie cutter). Solution: Push and prod the back antlers forward until the bread gives and stays so that the back antlers are higher than the front of the antlers.

And BOOM. Reindeer.

For details, I added some crust to the brown part of his brow (with a little hair cut into it) and used it to shape his eyebrow, which is just drawn on with black edible marker. His muzzle is also crust, with edible marker. His eye is a little piece of mozzarella, also colored with edible marker and accented with a white non-pareil for a highlight. The rest of the eye is just outlined in black edible marker. The white fur around his neck is also mozzarella.

Sides Mini marshmallows cut into snowflake shapes (just cuts straight into the marshmallow all around its circumference) and carrots!

Also Included but not Pictured Grapes and a yogurt

Today I used:

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May 23, 2014

World Turtle Day

Today is World Turtle Day! A day to celebrate our fine chelonian friends in the sea and on land. Today’s bento was much simpler than yesterday’s, but I’m kinda loving the way the baby turtle turned out 🙂 Happy World Turtle Day!

Main PB&J cut up with a cookie cutter that does custom messages. Also, on top, little turtle sprinkles.
Sides The little turtle is made from a cantaloupe ball (used a melon baller) and green grapes. His eyes were just parts of the grape stems to make them a little bulgy. Also included were blueberries and strawberries.
Also Included but Not Pictured More melon and grapes and a yogurt

Today I used

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May 22, 2014

A Frozen Bento: Elsa

Catching up with some of my favorite shows last night, I was getting a bit restless for some creative time (watch shows/do something with my hands) and so today’s slightly complicated bento was born. I chose Elsa, the snow queen from Frozen because my kiddo, like every other kiddo under the age of 10 has been singing “Let it Go” for about six months straight now (I won’t even get into how we duet “Love is an Open Door.”) Anyhow, I have been wanting to do an Elsa lunch since Frozen came out, but Lunchbox Dad beat me to it, so I gotta give him credit for the great hair idea (he used Yummy Dough, though, while I used marzipan).

I must admit the hair and the eyes took the longest because the marzipan needed to be done in layers and the marshmallow is sticky to work with. It was fun to see her come together though. Next time, Anna 😀

Main PB&J sandwich, details drawn on with a foodwriter pen; eyes are cut marshmallows with blue M&Ms. The pupils are drawn on with the foodwriter, and the white highlights are just bits of marshmallow. Hair is marzipan, dyed with a little food coloring.
Sides Blueberries with snowflake shaped marshmallows (used a cherry blossom cutter on a marshmallow and then drew a snowflake on top) and snowflake sprinkles; green grapes on “crystal ice” food picks.
Also Included but not Pictured Applesauce, yogurt

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May 15, 2014

Fly Guy Presents Dinosaurs!

Today’s theme was chosen at random by my kiddo. Yesterday morning I had a little extra time (woke up too early!) and decided to do a bento and I asked the kiddo to pick a theme. She happened to be holding “Fly Guy Presents Dinosaurs” in her hand and she loves him, and so I went to work.

Main PB&J Dino sandwich. Fly Guy mini sammie: PB&J for the body and black antennae made with black licorice; eye detail made with a teensy bit of black icing and wing detail with a food marker.
Sides Blackberries and blueberries
Also Included but not pictured Applesauce

Today I used:

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May 4, 2014

May the 4th: An Imperial Lunch

I haven’t blogged in foreeeeever! It’s because I’ve been really busy with work and although I’ve been making lunches (and sometimes even photographing them), the will to blog has just eluded me. This week, I took the opportunity that the Bento Bloggers and Friends blog hop for May the 4th, one of the geekiest days of the year when all things Star Wars is celebrated (May the Fourth be with you, get it?) Anyhow, despite having never watched the films, my kiddo loves Darth Vader (and the Dark Side) and has decided he is her favorite character (she knows he’s the bad guy).

So this was my May the Fourth lunch for the blog hop! Stormtroopers and the Death Star in space.

In this lunch:

Main PB&J triple stacked Stormtrooper sandwiches
Sides Carved pink apple Death Star (red because it’s about to explode) and blueberries with star sprinkles
Included but not pictured a banana

Today I used:

Hop on over to the next May the 4th blog post in our hop:

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