Flower Power

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Ellie's bento from Wednesday. She didn't touch the wrap, other than to pick the cheese out of it, but other than that she was pretty happy with it!

Bunny Bento!

I have been making quite a few bentos lately, but sadly have not been photographing them since I've been making them right before scooting out the door! That said, I did manage to photograph Eliana's bento from Friday! Here it is!!

Seen one, seen 'em all...

Yep, matching bentos for Eliana and her best friend, Josie!

Peek-a-bento!

A slice of canadian bacon and a cookie cutter make this fun, especially when used as toppers for silicone cups filled with dipping sauce and chicken salad! Peek-a-boo!

Star Struck

I got these star silicone cups at World Market a little while back and I haven't been making bentos until recently again. I pulled these out and started playing. I like them! Kind of wish I'd gotten some of the other shapes they had, too.

You can see at the bottom of one of the stars that I put sprinkles in the bottom of the jello cups I made Ellie so she'd have a little bling and a surprise at the bottom! She loves it!

Nothing Fancy

... it's nothing fancy, but it's a bento. If I tell Ellie those are green bean fries, she'll dip them in the ketchup in the little container and eat them all! This bento disappeared completely, except for the very bottom of the blueberry muffin. The mac and cheese and beans were a hit!

Bento Factory

FlickrDroid Upload, originally uploaded by elizabethwickland.

In anticipation of a busy week, I have been making a few bentos ahead of time. Nothing too fancy, just stuff that can easily be stored in a bento in the fridge until it gets eaten. It's like I have my own little bento factory!

Summer Garden

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It's a summer garden bento! Apples, Almonds, Canadian Bacon, Cheese, and Peas. Yum!

Mommy Bento

This was my bento from our picnic the other day!

A couple sticks of string cheese are hidden underneath the pepperoni. The top includes yogurt and fruit salad. Yum!

Butterflies and Bananas

Today Eliana and I went for lunch at a park and took our bentos. She had butterflies and bananas. =D



And here's her box:

Rabbits!

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I don't know why, but the students I used to teach always said, "Rabbits!" on the first day of the month. So, here's a bento for the sake of, "Rabbits!"

Grown Up Bento

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Strawberry hearts with string cheese circles and leftover peanut chicken and veggies. Yum!

Orange Bear

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Fastest Bento Ever!

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We were in a hurry, but I told Eliana she could have a bento for lunch, so I grabbed my supplies and whipped together the fastest bento ever! Leftover pasta and balsamic vinegar, clementine, craisins, and trail mix cubes. Easy peasy, then we ran out the door!

3 Little Kittens

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I don't know if they've lost their mittens, but Ellie enjoyed them for lunch!

Bento Strap Cuteness

I am excited about these little bento straps! I've been looking for cute ones and can't find many, so I'm making them! I've made quite a little stockpile and started an etsy shop for them... now I just have to find time to get some good pictures and post 'em up there!

Bagels are Boring...

Some bagels are cute. I was in a hurry this morning, so this bagel is boring. =D

I'm seeing stars!

Testing out an idea for using cookie cutters to make designs on toast. Not sure I've perfected it yet, but it's coming along.

Here, Kitty, Kitty....

I am loving the mini-bagels from Costco right now. Perfect size for a bento, and easy-peasy to dress up using food markers!

The Three Muskateers

Technically, these are Easter eggs. Gotta love the seasonal things that can double as cute bento fodder!



I love them! They're too big to fit INTO the bento boxes, but they make a nice side kick and are the perfect size for filling with snacks!



(most recently they held grapes...)

The Masked Bandit

Josie and Eliana got bentos for lunch on Tuesday. All of our bento boxes were dirty (I need MORE, then, eh?) so I just used a couple glass dishes that are about the right size.



They had to be simple and quick, so the girls got heart pasta, bananas (with smiles =D), chicken, and black olive / green pea eyes! They also got some new containers full of grapes, but I'm going to make you wait for the post on those. I love them!

Goldilocks and the 3 Bears

Not the best picture, but we had a little extra time one morning, so Ellie got a cheese and pepperoni Goldilocks to go with her bear sandwiches! =D

Contemplating a little workshop...

I've been noticing some more local interest in bento-ing, and I'm considering putting together a little "how-to" workshop with some tips on putting together bentos, getting toddlers to eat through fun food, time savers when it comes to cute food, where to get supplies, etc. Nothing too fancy, but I think it would be fun.

I'm also considering trying to get a group of people together to place an order from Daiso. You have to order wholesale, so they come in boxes of 10 items. I don't know if we could get 10 people together, but I'd love to try!

I also had a little vision of opening a little bento shop where people could purchase supplies locally, but that's just a pipe dream. =D Still, it would be cool! And cute! And we could give lessons. Tee hee!

DANG! I just (for fun) entered a bunch of stuff into Daiso to see how much it would cost for shipping and all of that... Turns out if we could get 10 people together who wanted bento supplies, I could put together a COMPLETE bento starter kit for $25 a person, including shipping. It would include... 5 bento boxes (one for each day of the week, or a couple for kids and a couple for mom), a fork with holder, 2 sets of cute food picks, 2 sets of baran food dividers (grass and veggies), 2 straps, 4 silicone butterfly cups, and 2 boiled egg molds.

Bentos make me giddy.

Soooo.... anyone interested in going in on a bento order??

Eliana Banana

Pancake Fun

Ellie's lunch bento. We made some green pancakes (with food marker smiley faces and designs!) so she got 3 of those, a little container of syrup, clementine slices, applesauce, corn, and jello squares. She ate all of it but a few kernels of corn. Success!

Butterfly Fun

Since it's still LOVE month, I made Eliana some heart Jello jigglers. She's been having fun with them, and one morning I gave her a couple as a snack, made into a butterfly. Easy peasy, and cute to boot, all I had to do was draw some swirlies onto the hearts using food markers and, voila!, a butterfly with pretzel body! She loved it.

The month o' love....

February is the month of love, right? I hope so, because we've been big on hearts this month!!



Peanut butter and jelly heart sandwiches, a Clementine, strawberries cut into hearts, and peas.

Hurry Blurry

When you're in a hurry, this is what you get!



It's better than drive-through chicken nuggets, but it's a little plain if you ask me! I actually made 2 of these, though, one for Eliana and one for her little friend Josie since I was taking both girls with me. They thought they were fun, even if I thought they were plain!

Cheese / tortilla wraps, yogurt with sprinkles, carrots, and Ritz crackers.

I Heart You, Cutie Patootie!

Another bento with heart pasta, and a little teddy bear Peep! This one is a little better balanced than the last one, with clementine slices, corn, and almonds to round out the meal!

Blurry and Plain

Just a plain old bento, and a blurry picture, but here it is! Carrots, Chicken Curry and Quinoa, Applesauce, Olives, and Tapioca Pudding. =D

Happy Valentine's Day!

FlickrDroid Upload, originally uploaded by elizabethwickland.

I'm sort of embarrassed to post this bento, given its total lack of vegetable and overabundance of sugar, but it's just so cute for Valentine's Day! =D Heart pasta, Heart Peeps, and a clementine!

Mr. Snowman

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Spaghetti, Cheese, Chicken Salad, and Peas. =D

Let It Snow!!

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It has been snowing like crazy last night and today, so I thought this was a fitting bento for a snowy day! She is heading to a friend's over lunch, so I packed her a little something to eat while there.

- Chicken Salad (with a cheese snowman face =D)
- Spaghetti
- Apples
- Olive slices
- Cheese snowflake stars
- Peas

Grown Up Lunches are Boring....

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... but this was mine today. I needed to pack lunch so we could eat while snowshoeing, and I figured this was a good way to do it! Apples, kiwi, bananas, peas, and chicken salad. yum!