Bridgette (age 11) got mashed sweet potatoes, grapes, a dinner roll, green beans, ham flowers, and a bit of lettuce she probably won’t eat.
Benjamin (age 7) got mini chicken salad sandwiches, mashed sweet potatoes, grapes, and a Baby Bell cheese.
My other sister (age 16) got this adorable hamburger bento box for Christmas from me, but she rarely has time to pack a lunch before school so I helped her out last night.
Contents: half a green apple, carrot sticks, blueberries, white rice, meatball mixture with yogurt dill sauce, and vegetable flowers made from bits of red pepper, carrot, celery, and corn.
The whole box packs up like this:
How cute is that? I bought it on eBay for about seven bucks.
Late last night I got into a bento-making frenzy and packed lunches for my younger siblings to take to school.
Benjamin (age 7) got: carrot sticks, celery sticks, ranch dip, a slice of red pepper, strawberries, blueberries, corn niblets, white rice with soy sauce, and pepperoni slices.
Bridgette (age 11) got all the same things as her brother.
Tyler (age 14) is a burly teenager and quite picky about his vegetables, so he got black beans, white rice, corn niblets, sliced pepperoni, mashed potatoes with ketchup, a clementine, and some candy.
We have this huge collection of alphabet letter plastic cookie cutters that never get used, so I was excited to finally try them out! The cuts worked well, but the meat was very oily and made a mess. They’d work better with ham or cheese—or, you know, cookies.
Christmas-y bento! There’s a reason I don’t make charaben and it is because they take way too long to plan out and make, even with a simple one. I blame my being frazzled on being crazy enough to make five more for my siblings:
These bentos have bbq black beans, onigiri rice, inedible snowman face, cheese and red pepper scarf, roasted broccoli, and Christmas trees made from snap peas, sliced carrots, sliced grapes, and a sliver of wheat cracker.
I got great feedback from the kiddos, but six bento lunches at once is a project I most definitely will not be undertaking again!
My sister (11) isn’t excited about adjusting to my grain-to-vegetable bento ratio, but I’m pushing better nutrition on the whole family!
1. Grilled cheese sandwich cut into a heart shape 2. red grapes 3. corn niblets 4. green beans seasoned with garlic.
Lunch for my seven-year-old brother:
1. Green salad with tomatoes (with ranch dressing) 2. honey ham flowers 3. baby carrots 4. ramen noodles with sesame seeds and edamame.
The two of us shared a side of honeydew melon. He had some trouble eating the melon with his two front teeth missing!
I helped the school kids (my brother and sister) make lunches this morning—-in tupperware of course, because all my bento things are still in a box in my car.
His:
Clementine, two ham flowers, wrapped onigiri (rice), carrots and celery sticks (with ranch dip underneath), and a fortune cookie. He also had a container of juice.
Hers:
Green salad with walnuts, blueberries, feta cheese, and raspberry vinaigrette; wrapped onigiri; and clementine. I stuck in a ham flower after I’d taken a photo. She also put a banana in her lunchbox.
Mine:
Green salad with cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and wasabi-ranch dressing; clementine; baby bell cheese; wrapped onigiri.
My little brother (age 7) likes practically none of the foods that I do, but together we were able to come up with a lunch that he was excited about and was healthier than his usual fare:
1. Carrot sticks with ranch 2. peanut butter and apricot jelly sandwich with no crust 3. celery sticks 4. blueberries 5. half an orange.
I’m home for the Thanksgiving holiday so this morning I helped my younger sister (age 11) pack her school lunch bento-style. She has very little taste for fruits and vegetables, but we were able to come up with something she could enjoy:
1. Fresh green beans sauteed with garlic and italian herbs 2. leftover ziti pasta with parmesan cheese 3. half an orange 4. carrot sticks 5. cheesecake slice with blueberries.
While I’m here I definitely want to try making a ham blossom.
