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Thursday, January 29, 2015


Layered Hearts Valentine's Lunch

The weather is getting cooler here in FL, and it's time to get out those jackets and sneakers. I am a sandals person, and I'd prefer to wear sandals all year long if possible, but today it will be something different.

For Nikolai's lunch I made this layered hearts sandwiches using a collection of heart shaped cookie cutters and one for the winking face. The intention is to have his lunch winking at him invitingly when he opens it.

Layer of hearts Valentine's lunch, bento school lunch
In this bento lunch:
  • Top tier: Heart shaped sandwiches (stacked).
  • Bottom tier: Seedless red and green grapes in a silicone cup with a heart shaped cupcake pick. Broccoli florets with small heart shaped carrots.
This lunch is linked to EatsAmazing Fun Food Friday

Here are the supplies or similar that I used to create this lunch.

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Tuesday, January 27, 2015


I Love You Valentine's Lunch

Valentine's day is approaching soon and this is the time of the year that I love filling Nikolai's lunch box with lots of heart shaped foods. Here is the first Valentine's bento of the year and it was easy and quick to make, but says, "I Love You", in so many ways.
It was a joy to make and was packed in an Easylunchboxes container.

I am sure he will be surprised to see salad in his lunch box. Lately, he has not been too keen on lettuce or any salad dressings, but I know that he'll at least eat the cucumber slices, tomato and carrot slices and, maybe, a bite of the lettuce.

I Love You, Valentine's Bento School Lunch

In this bento lunch:
  • Main compartment: A sandwich with heart and letters cut from mild cheddar cheese and a salad in a silicone cup with cucumber, carrot, and tomato cut into heart shape.
  • Top left: Halos mandarin orange with a cupcake pick.
  • Top right: Seedless red grapes in a pink silicone cup.
This lunch is linked to EatsAmazing Fun Food Friday 

Here are the supplies that I used to create and pack this lunch.
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Monday, January 26, 2015


Roll-ups/ Pinwheels lunches in Easylunchboxes

Happy Monday, and I hope you had a great weekend. It's raining and gloomy this morning, but I am thankful for the nice weather during the weekend. Today I would like to share with you how some of the lunches I made did not turn out looking how I wanted them to be. But hey, I've learned that as long as it is not school lunch, Nikolai doesn't mind at all. I don't always make cute lunches and many days the lunches that I packed did not make it to this blog, they may have been leftovers from dinner or some simple ones like these.

Nikolai loves Asiago cheese and turtles, but I was in a hurry and decided to make roll-ups with a turtle cup and cupcake pick but these roll-ups did not turn out quite right. The cheese was too thick and was a challenge to roll. On the bright side, he came home with an almost empty lunch box except a few baby carrots.

These simple lunches were packed in our Easylunchboxes container.

Roll-ups lunch, Quick and Easy bento school lunch
In this bento lunch:
  • Main compartment: Roll-ups sandwiches and seedless red grapes in a turtle shaped silicone cup. (I always flatten the bread slightly with a rolling pin whenever I make roll-ups sandwiches).
  • Top right: Goldfish crackers.
  • Bottom right: Organic baby carrots with a turtle cupcake pick
Here is another roll-ups lunch which took me less than 10 minutes to pack.

Roll-ups lunch, Quick and Easy bento school lunch

In this bento lunch:
  • Main compartment: Roll-ups sandwiches, organic kiwi and strawberry slices in a silicone cup. Chocolate covered sunflower seeds in the mini-dipper.
  • Top right: Organic baby carrots.
  • Bottom right: Popcorn with a cupcake ring.
Here are the supplies that I used to create and pack these lunches.

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Thursday, January 22, 2015


Puppy bento

Perhaps I have written earlier that we have a little poodle. He is a very cute little fellow and others who meet him when we are out for walks continue to think he is just a puppy. In actuality, he is fifteen years going on more. His intense curiosity earned him the name Snoopy.

This puppy bento is quite easy to make and one day I will probably make a special poodle theme bento. For this one I simply decorated a sandwich with part of the bread crust for ears, a slice of cheddar cheese cut to a circle shape and raisins for a face. This lunch was packed in a Fit & Fresh bento kit.

Puppy, bento school lunches

In this bento:
  • Main compartment: Puppy sandwich, cucumber sticks with pick and organic baby carrots in silicon cups.
  • Upper Left: Yogurt covered stars.
  • Lower Left: Strawberry slices with puppy pick
Here are the supplies that I used to create and pack this lunch.

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Tuesday, January 20, 2015


Smile Lunch and A Simple Lunch in Yumbox Panino

First of all, I would like to thank my friend Ming of Bentomonsters for getting me some super cute Disney themed picks when she went on vacation to Disneyland Tokyo.
Second, I'll confess that I did not send the pick to school with Nikoali. After taking the lunch picture and before I closed his box, I decided to remove the pick, lol. You will be seeing more adorable Disney picks in future lunches. In fact, I used the Donal Duck pick today.:)

Like probably everyone else, I also have days when I just don't have the time or inspiration to make an elaborate lunch, but I still try my best to include healthy basics. Here are a couple examples that have no special theme and took very little time

Both of these lunches are so easy to put together. The first one was stamped with a Smile cutter which I purchase from a dollar store few years ago. The second lunch was spruced up with a couple of cute picks. These lunches were packed in a Yumbox Panino.

Smile school lunch
In this bento lunch:
  • Main compartment: Smiley face stamped on a sandwich.
  • Center: Choc covered sunflower seeds.
  • Top right: Organic baby carrots.
  • Bottom right: Strawberries and mandarin orange segments.
Roll-ups, quick and easy bento school lunch

In this bento lunch:
  • Main compartment: Cheese bread slices, organic ham roll-ups with a couple of picks.
  • Center: Crackers
  • Top right: Organic baby carrots
  • Bottom right: Seedless black grapes and apple slices. Packed in Yumbox.
Here are the supplies or similar that I used to create and pack these lunches.

 
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Thursday, January 15, 2015


Polar Bear bento

I guess lots of kids like bears, and Nikolai especially likes polar bears. Once my hubby made a Herbert P. Bear bento honoring one of his favorite characters from Disney's Club Penguin game which can be found here.

I used a circle cutter for the sandwich and another smaller one for the snout which is cut from provolone cheese. The ears are marshmallows and the other face features are made from raisins, packed in a Planetbox rover.This coming Monday is a public holiday here in the US and I can't wait for the long weekend. You have a nice Friday and a wonderful weekend! :)

Polar bear, bento school lunches
In this bento lunch:
  • Main compartment - Polar Bear Sandwich
  • Upper left - Popcorn
  • Lower left -Organic baby carrots and grape tomatoes
  • Center - Choc cover sunflower seeds
  • Upper right -Seedless green grapes
Here are the supplies that I used to create and pack this lunch.

 
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Wednesday, January 14, 2015


LunchBots thermal lunches and Tips for packing hot food {BBQ steamed bun and Mac & Cheese}

Sometimes Nikolai requests warmer foods such as stews, fried rice, pasta and others, especially during the cooler months. A stainless thermos will keep food warm for hours and is a good choice when it comes to food safety.

Here is how I prep in the mornings when I need to send him a hot meal: First I fill his thermos with boiling water, place it on the counter with the lid on and let it sit for five minutes or more while I am assembling his side dishes such as fruits, veggies and a little snack. Then I pour out the hot water and fill the thermos with the hot food.

Here are a couple of lunches which I packed in my favorite Lunch Bots insulated thermal.
The inside of the lid, which could be in contact with the food is also of stainless steel, one of my favorite features and the bowl like shape is easy to use and clean.

I heated up a bbq steamed bun which I purchased from our local Asian grocery store and added some facial accents so that it looked like a Panda. It stayed warm in his LunchBots insulated thermal till lunch time, according to Nikolai. His side dishes were packed in a LunchBots quad. It contained organic baby carrots, hummus in small Panda container, whole wheat crackers, granola bar, seedless red grapes and a bear cut-out babybel cheese.

Bbq steamed bun, Panda bento, Tips for packing hot food

Here is a Mac & Cheese lunch which he enjoyed on a different day. It was also packed in his Lunch Bots insulated thermal. His side dishes were also packed in a LunchBots quad. It contained grated cheese in the blue container for him to sprinkle on his Mac & Cheese, animal crackers, granola bar with alphabet picks, organic baby carrots and seedless red grapes.

Macaroni & Cheese bento, Tips for packing hot food

Here are the supplies or similar that I used to create and pack these lunches.
Shop LunchBots Shop LunchBots
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Monday, January 12, 2015


Music themed lunches (3)

Happy Monday everyone! Before I get to the bentos, I would like to introduce you all to the 'Resources' page that I have created where you can find bento supplies that I love and frequently use. Over the years I have used all the products listed there and I recommend them because I feel they are great products, helpful for my bento making, and are made or supplied by companies that I trust. Now, back to the bentos!

I made these music themed lunches for the days when Nikolai had music class. They are basically simple lunches to which I added a few picks and some lettering to give them the  music theme.

The first lunch was inspired by the 1965 movie, The Sound of Music, starring Julie Andrews. Have you watched the movie before? It's a classic and this Do-Re-Mi bento may get you singing.;) This lunch was packed in his Easylunchboxes container.


The sound of music, do re mi, school lunch
In this bento lunch:
  • Main compartment: Crust-less sandwich with mild cheddar lettering and some music note picks, and yogurt covered stars in silicone cup.
  • Top left: Cucumber slices
  • Top right: Strawberry slices and frozen blueberries in a silicone cup with another pick.
I intended to cut more music note strawberry pieces for the lunch shown below but ran out of time that morning and ended up with only one slice of strawberry note above the grapes, lol. This lunch was packed in a Goodbyn Hero which is a pretty deep lunch box.

Music, bento school lunch
In this bento lunch:
  • Main compartment: Pita pocket sandwiches (stacked) with cheddar cheese lettering. Popcorn and choc covered sunflower seeds.
  • Top left: Seedless green grapes and a slice of strawberry music note cutout.
  • Top right: Cucumber slices with a music note pick.
Here is another simple music themed lunch, I used a heart shaped cutter, a couple of music notes picks and packed it in a Fit & Fresh bento box.

Music notes, bento school lunch
In this bento lunch:
  • Main compartment: Sandwich with picks, organic baby carrots and a spoon for the Greek yogurt.
  • Top right: Seedless black and green grapes
  • Bottom right: Greek yogurt.
Here are the supplies that I used to create and pack these lunches.

Continue Reading »

Thursday, January 8, 2015


Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Bento

Nikolai and my hubby love gazing at the stars and they have a collection of telescopes to do so, I have joined them several times but I am not as interested in space happenings as they are. I do, however, remember singing to Nikolai the Twinkle twinkle little star song when he was younger, as my mom also sang it to me when I was little.

I was happy to have star fruit on hand to be included with his lunch and this lunch was packed in a Laptop Lunches bento box.

Twinkle little star song,bento school lunch in Laptop Lunches

In this bento lunch:
  • Main compartment: A square shaped sandwich topped with star shaped cheddar  cheese and fruit leather facial details, moon shaped sandwich with icing eyes and some popcorn in a silicone cup.
  • Top right: Organic baby carrots and ranch in small container.
  • Bottom right: Starfruit slices.
  • Far right: Mozzarella string cheese
This lunch is linked to Eats Amazing Fun Food Friday

Here are the supplies that I used to create and pack this lunch.

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Wednesday, January 7, 2015


Star Wars Bento

While I was looking online for Star Wars presents for my friend's son, I came across some Star Wars themed fondant plunger/cutters. They were reasonable in price and I of course was tempted and ordered a set.
Nikolai is not a huge fan or Star Wars, and this is the first time I made a Star Wars themed lunch for him. He ate it all up and told me that he loved the cool looking sandwiches.:)

I love plunger cutters and they are so easy to use, all I needed to do was cut and stamp the bread.
Note: One of my kind followers brought to my attention that yoda is upside down. LOL. I believe I was in a hurry and quickly gathered the sandwiches in the box.

Star Wars bento school lunch

In this bento lunch:
  • Top Tier: Sandwiches shaped with Star Wars character plunger/cutters.
  • Bottom tier: Seedless black grapes, organic snack size sandwich bar, sugar snap peas and a couple of Star Wars cupcake rings.
Here are the supplies that I used to create and pack this lunch.
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Tuesday, January 6, 2015


Bear Donut Bento

I have seen some really cute donuts which are popular in Japan, and how I wish there are shops near me that make those cute donuts.

For his sandwich I made a modified version using whole wheat bread, which I think makes it a healthy school lunch for Nikolai. Once in a while we do indulge in donuts though, everything in moderation right? I used a couple of circle cookie cutters, with the smaller one also used to make the ears. I used my CuteZCute bear face cutter for the nose, and added raisin bits for the eyes. This lunch was packed in an ECOlunchbox.

Bear donuts, Bento School Lunches
In this bento lunch:
  • A couple of bear themed donuts.
  • Seedless black grapes, sugar snap peas and seedless red grapes. A cloth napkin.
This lunch is linked to Eats Amazing Fun Food Friday

Here are the supplies that I used to create and pack this lunch.
Continue Reading »

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