Whats for lunch bento

Keep forgetting to 

1. Take photos of my bentos

2. Post them here  

3. Get more creative

....oh well.

Chocolate muffin, tortilla triangles with chicken and salami, 

assorted fruit and veg (whatever I had on hand) and bowtie noodles.

Clementines, cucumbers, strawberries, juice box, 

individual hummus (sold now in costco...whoot!) and a fruit snack stick.

Not pictured: pita chips for the dip!

Took these photos over the weekend, but didn't take a photo of what was in their bento.  We have had not trouble bringing these to restaurants.  The kids color and chat for a bit, then get down to the business at hand...eating.  It is a welcome break for me from cooking and a welcome break for my tastebuds (that crave cheese).   Could these kids get any cuter?

What's for Lunch Wednesday...bentos!

This one is for me.  I made a garden salad with tomatoes, radish and two types of salad from the farmers market.  In the compartments are leftover skirt steak and diced peaches.  The small white container has a homemade italian dressing.  The kids have some pita chips with their lunch, I will steal 2 and crumble for instant croutons.

 

The kids have hummus in a container, peaches, meatballs on a stick and tortilla triangles.  Not in the picture are their juice boxes,banana and pita chips. The hope is that they will make tiny meatball tortilla wraps and enjoy chips with dip.  But I have a feeling they will be tiny chefs and make their own creations.  Lately it has been hard to gauge how much they will eat.  So I always bring along fresh fruit that is uncut.  This way if they are hungry they can munch out more.  If not I haven't ruined the fruit by cutting it.

 Here is them enjoying their bentos with their friends at Ikea!

 This was another lunch on the go.  Easy, peasy!  Pretzels, grapes and whole grain rounds with cream cheese substitute and jam.

Back to Bentos

 Look: So I need to get back into bentos.  Simply put, more effort goes in therefore they get a better variety and eat better when we're out and about.  Each child had the same: hummus and chips, plastic cupcake cup of granola, apple slices, salami rolls and a chocolate chip muffin.  We went to Ikea and enjoyed lunch by the toys!
Learn:  I had forgotten how much I love doing these and how much the kids enjoy them too.  Thinking of doing these more (especially ahead of time when we have weekend guests) and even for when we are home.  A few times a week the adults are eating something else, so it makes sense to have these ready to go.
Love: There is a bit of a creativity outlet in making a bento box pretty.  I have not mastered it, but still it is fun to get my imagination going, even if it just for lunch.

What's for lunch Wednesday

Still love the bentos, just been forgetting to post them.  In fact many times I forget to take a picture. So here are a few I made this week.

Flower Show bento.  Flower shaped tofutti and jam sandwiches, apples cut into flowers, pineapple and bagel chips.

 

Restaurant Bento: Tortillas with marinated meat and lettuce, pineapples and graham crackers

WFLW...a sick bento

That title sounds kind of icky, right?  Let me explain.  At the end of last week everyone but my husband had a pretty nasty cold.  I made bentos for their dinner on Thursday (so I could head right to bed when Chris got home).  Late Thursday evening I had a small burst of energy while heading to the kitchen to heat up my heating pad.  I decided to make these bentos for lunch on Friday.  This way everything was organized, easy and right in the fridge for lunch.

Each child has leftover tomato bread strips (our "pizza"), a bear filled with life cereal, a muffin holder filled with tea biscuits and a fruit salad of kiwi, grapes and strawberries.  I put 3 jelly beans in the little hearts.  

My kids are loving the little dividers and containers.  I found most of these at Michael's Craft Store.

What is for Lunch Wednesday...for me!

Have you ever wanted to have dessert for lunch?  That is the mood I was in today.  So I reached for an old favorite.  Back in my teaching days, an awesome coworker of mine (Mrs. Susan Culp...she'll probably never see it, but deserves the credit) used to make a quick healthy lunch.  I didn't realize until I tried it is was also completely delicious.  Sort of feels like having dessert for lunch!

It's pretty simple recipe.  We keep frozen fruit in the freezer for muffins, smoothies and this decadent lunch.  Use one cup of your favorite frozen fruit.  Today I put half a cup of cherries and half a cup of blackberries into a bowl.  Then microwave for about a minute.  This left some beautiful juice at the bottom of the bowl.  Next use one serving of your favorite plain yogurt.  We can only have soy yogurt here, so silk it is!  Combine with half a serving of your favorite crunchy fiber rich cereal and one to two packets of whatever type sweetener you like.  This works with sugar, splenda, stevia or even agave nectar.   Mix up and eat!  Yummy!

Some stats...my lunch had about  350 calories (100 cal grape nuts, 100 cal fruit, 150 cal yogurt) and about 5 grams of fat.  But if you use lower calorie or lower fat yogurt that would change.  This treat had a whopping 15 grams of fiber....GO me!  And was pretty low in sugar.  So that is what I had for lunch.  And while I savored each bite I thought of my lovely grade partner, Susan. It reminded me of how much I enjoyed working and lunching at Stony Creek.

What's for lunch Wednesday

December has been a really busy Bento month for us.  I've already sung the praises of these to go meals. It is a necessity for us to bring meals with us, and these allow us to eat practically anywhere (as you will see below).  Yes, most of my bentos are just tupperware...but I'm having so much fun creating them. For the holidays I had the pleasure of making a few dessert bentos for our many holiday events.  I figure it's only fair to give my kids a little smattering of desserts like any usual Xmas party has.  They loved it...too bad I forgot to take photos.

This one has salted edamame beans, carrots, Xmas tree SB&J sandwiches, rolled roast beef, picks of grapes and grape tomatoes, shaped apples and cinnamon pita chips.  Can you tell I give Gavin way more vegetables?  Our goal with Chelsea is for her to finish her vegetables or make a good dent...so I don't want to make that an impossibility.  Good News: Lots of progress on the veggie eating front with my girl!

 Easy bento: Tofutti Xmas sandwich, carrot sticks, pretzel sticks a slice of ham, a marshmellow  and tangerines.  My pic won't turn, but it's meant to look like decorated trees with presents underneath. 

 A quick lunch: These have half a jam sandwich each, a homemade banana-apple muffin, mixed veg and raisins.

 We ate the quick lunch one at Wegman's after a productive grocery shopping trip.  They have uber cute little tables and a tv playing kid shows.  I usually grab a diet coke for myself as a treat and enjoy the break while watching my cuties munch away.  It's also a great incentive for good behavior on our trip!

 We ate the Xmas tree bentos at Panera's before an allergist appointment.  Chelsea and Gavin enjoyed sitting on the same side of the booth together.  To be honest there was a bit more playing than eating that day...but who cares?

 The last two photos are from going to Longwood Gardens.  I was psyched on this freezing day that we had packed our food.  The restaurant was on the other side of the Gardens and were very crowded.  So it was perfect to find a warm bench inside.  Chelsea ate in the stroller and Gavin did it picnic style on the bench.

What's for lunch Wednesday

So this is actually what was for lunch Monday.  My hubby had his flex off day, so we headed to the Please Touch Museum, for some fun with the kids.  From left to right my bento, chris's, then Chelsea and Gavin's lunch.  They had hummus and pita chips with fresh fruit and veggies.  I even threw in 2 chicken nuggets each.  Chris's lunch was two breaded chicken sandwiches on english muffins, with assorted fruit and veggies.  I had a bunch of veggies and a flat everything bagel with two triangles of laughing cow.

 We had  a terrific time, here are some more photos from two of our trips.  Gavin put on the helmet and ran over to Chris yelling "astronut."  Love him!

What's for Lunch Wednesday

This is one of my first  tries at "bento" like meals.  I  completely flipped over the idea of making adorable meals to go.   Because we bring most meals with us for Chelsea because of her food allergies, this was a fantastic idea.   Her brother is now able to eat off the menus, so I really needed something to make her feel special on our outings.  Of course I'll make them both lunches or dinners when we're not going to restaurants, but what could be better than a pretty little meal, for my princess? 

When I first saw the www.bentolunch.net.thanks to my blog stalking /www.musingsofahousewife.com, I spent hours searching through all the contributions of her readers.  Seriously every time I could slip away from the kids for a minute I'd look at new ones.  Then I got a few books from my library.  They had even more adorable bentos and recipes for how to make them.   It is such fun to see the kids face light up when they open them.  But I do have to be honest...I do get a bit more peeved when they barely eat.  I will have to overcome that one :)

These are crayola sandwich shaped plastic boxes.  I made two pita sandwiches for each child shaped as fish and butterflies.  They have tofutti filling.  There are cooked lima beans, raw chopped carrots and a hunk of banana bread.  I put some pretzel sticks to line the bottom of the container.  If I had been more creative I could have used the pretzels for a fence of some sort and done doggy sandwiches...maybe next time.