Monday, November 26, 2012

Bento Lunch Notes!

I love to put little notes in Eliana's lunch box. Unfortunately, I am not really the "write a sweet note each day" kind of mom. In fact, I'm a "prepare as much as I possibly can ahead of time so the morning routine is less stressful" kind of mom. Thus the "5 bentos each Sunday night" routine. Because I am that way, I utilize pre-made lunch notes and just write things like "Love, Mommy" on them.

There is only one problem I've found... I like to tuck the notes into the utensil compartment of the bento, and most printables are not designed for that. They either have to be folded in half to fit, or I do something like this:



I am almost done with the printable lunch notes I got ready at the beginning of the year, so tonight I set out to make some that fit into bentos. Here's what I came up with...

Download them here.

I am excited to use these for her lunches! This will get me at least through 2 weeks, and, hopefully, that will give me enough time to think through some more over the Christmas break so that I have some for Spring! If you use them, give me a little shout out so I know they've been loved by someone other than me! Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Hello, hello!

It's been almost a year since I posted, which might make you think I've stopped bento-ing. Nope! I haven't! I just kind of stopped blogging for a spell there. Here's how bentos work at our house now...

On Sunday afternoon / evening, I pull out my bento supplies and make 5 (or however many days of school Eliana has that week) bentos, as well as prepare a morning snack for her to eat at recess, and an afternoon snack for her to eat when she gets home each day. The bentos are usually pretty similar, but not necessarily identical for the week. Here's what this week's process looks like... 


This week there are a couple variations on the food... Including (of course!) leftover turkey and cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie... 

So... I am still making bentos. occasionally still taking pictures. Rarely, still blogging. I'd love to blog a little more, but I'm not making any promises. Still, I've got an exciting post for you tomorrow... ;)

Monday, February 13, 2012

100th Day!!

Today was Eliana's 100th day of school, so they celebrated with all sorts of activities today! I volunteered to make bentos for her kindergarten class. Here's what they looked like!
From Bentos
They have studied the food groups, so I made sure to include something from each of the food groups, and they are currently studying mammals, so I included a mammal pick in each one, too! Here's the whole group of bentos...

From Bentos

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Four Circles...

From Bentos
This one ended up with more symmetry than I expected! 

Applesauce, pears, jello, muffin, carrots, canadian bacon and "cheese"

Monday, January 16, 2012

Pasta and Pears

From Bentos
Leftover pasta, pears, applesauce, and jello!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Shells and cheese with stars, please!

From Bentos
Shells and "cheese" was a big hit this week, topped with canadian bacon, star "cheese", peas, kiwi, and strawberry! This was a favorite!

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Moon and Stars...

From Bentos
This day Eliana got a moon shaped rice crispy treat, apples, shredded chicken, "cheese" crackers, and frozen peas in a star cup! How celestial!

Friday, January 13, 2012

Same song, different tune...

From Bentos
Kiwi, "cheese" crackers, nuggets, peas, and chocolate pudding!

From Bentos

Thursday, January 12, 2012

And another....

From Bentos
These must all have come from the same week, given how similar they are!! 

Kiwi, "cheese" crackers, pudding, shredded chicken, and peas

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Nuggety cuteness

From Bentos
Kiwi, "cheese" crackers, pudding, peas, and chicken nuggets, with a tiny container of ketchup. Fun!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Has it truly been that long?

Apparently so... I haven't posted bento pics in so long! But never fear, I have been sending them to school with my daughter daily. In fact, there is only one school day so far this year that she has not had her bento. Hooray! But it does appear that I have a backlog to post. So let's start with this one!

From Bentos
Kiwi, shredded chicken, chocolate pudding, and homemade "cheese" crackers!

Friday, November 11, 2011

She doesn't like corn...

From Instant Upload
She brought her bento home from school today completely empty... except for the corn! She doesn't complain about it, but she doesn't eat it!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Busy busy busy!!

I have been one busy beaver lately!! Not too busy to make bentos for my sweet daughter every day, but apparently too busy to post them to the blog!! Things will settle down after this month and maybe I can get caught up. In the meantime, here's her bento for today!!

From Instant Upload

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Tools of the Trade: Silicone Cups

Some people use paper cups in their bentos, but I like the silicone. Easy to clean, they don't get soggy, and best, I don't have to throw them away or buy more! Woohoo! Here's a peek at my silicone cup collection...

From Instant Upload

From Instant Upload
From Instant Upload
These cups are simply Wilton cupcake cups in flower shapes. They come in several shapes. Unfortunately, because of the lip around the edge, they don't fit in many bento boxes. Still, they're fun!
From Instant Upload
These shaped silicone cups I use all the time, at least the stars and flowers. They came from World Market and are pretty inexpensive.
From Instant Upload
Or, there are your standard cupcake cups in silicone. These are good, too. You can get them just about anywhere. And this? Well, it's an ice cube tray and I haven't yet figured out exactly what to do with it, but I like it. LOL!
From Instant Upload

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

This week's lunch bunch

This week you get all the lunches in one big bunch. I timed myself as I made bentos on Sunday... took me 30 minutes to make these 5 bentos, so approximately 6 minutes each. That wasn't even working quickly, that was just making them at a leisurely pace. I definitely like making them in a batch, because it would take longer than 6 minutes to make them each morning, I'm sure. Here's the lunch bunch for this week... (in no particular order)
From Instant Upload
From Instant Upload
From Instant Upload
From Instant Upload
From Instant Upload

Tools of the Trade: Bento Boxes

I have a lot of friends ask me where I get my bento boxes. I have gotten a few of them from the internet, but the website I used is no longer functional. The rest I got from Daiso in Washington, and, unfortunately for most of us, they only have stores in WA and CA. The good news is that I will hopefully have a chance to go to Daiso in November, and will be picking up extra bento boxes for those who want them.

Here's the basic anatomy of a standard bento box...

From Instant Upload
A bento box typically has 2 stackable food compartments, each with their own lid. Many bento boxes are oblong, though they come in many shapes and sizes. Many also have an additional lid under which utensils can go.
From Instant Upload
One nice thing about stackable bento boxes is that they are also nestable, which is space saving for storage. That also means that if you just want to use one layer of the bento box, say, for a snack instead of a meal, you can.
From Instant Upload
When using both layers, one stacks on top of the other, and the layers are held together by an elastic strap (not pictured).
From Instant Upload
Of course, as I said, bento boxes come in many shapes and sizes. I am one for more standard boxes, so I don't have all the cute novelty ones. It would be fun, I just don't. Here are the bento boxes I have...

From Instant Upload
These are some of my favorites.
From Instant Upload
These are pretty fun, too. =D
From Instant Upload
This was one of my first bento boxes and the only one I've ever had break. The lid has a crack in it. I should probably get rid of it, but I haven't.
From Instant Upload
Cherry pink!
From Instant Upload
I actually have a couple of these, one in yellow and one in pink.
From Instant Upload
These are the oddest shaped bento boxes I have. Not all that odd, but I probably use these the least, since they are the least standard I have. I like standard. =D And here's how I store my bento boxes...
From Instant Upload
From Instant Upload

Monday, October 17, 2011

Bento Storage - Tools of the Trade

From Instant Upload
When we built our house, I knew that I was going to want to have a cabinet for bento storage. I have lots of bento supplies that I use regularly, so it just made sense that they have their own dedicated home. It's one of the nice things about designing your own house. =D This is my bento cupboard.

I have 3 clear bins of bento boxes, one of cookie cutters, one of silicone cups, one of smaller containers, and 3 divided containers for smaller pieces. And, of course, I have them labeled because I *heart* my label maker!

Friday, October 14, 2011

Apple Applause

From Instant Upload
Very fall!! Apple shaped cucumbers, leaf shaped crackers, and leaf shaped tortilla sandwiches.
From Instant Upload