The sandwich that ate... me?

I've been super tired lately, but I figured that I have to get this post out, no matter what!  So, I'm not giving much of an intro... but here are my monster sandwiches.  Watch out they may get your lunch!  BTW... do these look more like frogs, or just monsters.  The kids figured that they were frogs.

Oh, yeah... I got a new job.  So, it looks like I'll be doing even MORE bentos because me and all the kids will be going somewhere on a daily basis.  So, 4 bentos a night.  Man... I have to start doing this a little earlier!

Both Bentos have pretty much the same contents.  Bologne and cheese sandwich, grapes, tomatoes, snap peas, cukes, olive and cheese eyes, craisins (cranberry raisins) and watermelon circles. ... OH yeah... gummy worms in the boxes, and pocky in the lids.

Okay, G'night!

Mini Sandwich Days

The kids liked the mini burger buns so much, that I thought I would do it again.  Yep, I'm using them up, before they start growing.  Um... I mean, yeah... the kids liked them so much!  I'm hoping that in the near future I can convince the kids to have some rice in their lunches, and then it will be a better opportunity to do some cute stuff.  Yeah, I think that I'll need a little more time and imagination too.  Well, I guess I have to go shopping tomorrow then.  I have a limited amount of things that I can shop for, but I try to think outside the box... (or is that Inside the bento box?)

Okay, enough funny stuff, here's the bentos.

Box number one is my daughters.  These things all have similar contents, so here's the big list first! 
Contents:  Bologne and cheese sandwich on thin mini burger buns, grapes, tomatoes, nectarines, snap peas, cheese shapes and mango.  OH, not to mention the mini brownie muffin.

Box number 2 belongs to my son...about the same ingredients, except we included a few tortellini.  They were a hit, except for the fact it was Pizza day during second lunch break!  *doh!*  *head to desk*.  Yep, one day I'll remember the pizza day too!

Bento #3 is for the youngest who is almost 3.  Same ingredients.  I snuck in a few gummi bears after these pictures were taken.  The daycare owner said my daughter was telling *her* that she had to eat everything first, then the gummies at the end.  Hmmm... I may have her trained yet!

Last one is mine.  Same ingredients as the kids, but I also added some black olives and a gold coin, (for my chocolate fix).  I put in some leftover chicken which was Delish!  Hmm... love these kinds of bentos.  Even showed some friends.  I love that, because bentos are never seen here in Northern Ontario.  The ladies all loved it!  hee hee hee!


Anyway, I've gotta get going... super tired, and I have to do a little shopping tomorrow.

Gnight!

Seeing double... or quadruple.

Well it seems that bentos are coming back pretty empty.  The kids are really liking what I'm cooking up, and things are good.  I tell ya, I'm starting to run out of ideas.  I have drawn a major blank on how to make these things "cute", but who really cares?  The point is that the food is being eaten!  YAY! 

The only complaint is that yesterday my son opened both layers and had no idea what to eat.  So, I have simplified yet again, and made both layers the same (the kids have 2 short lunch breaks, not just 1).  This way the kids can pick one layer and eat everything just in that tier, and same the second one for second break.

Kids Bento contents:  mini thin hamburger bun made into Bologne and cheese sandwiches, pea pods, grapes, mini tomatoes, cucumber, apple and nectarines with a gold coin as a treat..  The pink one also has figs, but she decided at the last minute that figs were not good things to eat at school.  Okay... that's fine.  So, I ate them! :)

New Bentos! YAY!

I was so excited last night to create these bentos for my kids.  I really wonder who was more excited... me or them??!!  I really was wondering what to put in their bentos as a "first" bento, but in the end I decided to work with what was already working... good food that they love!  We'll leave the cute stuff until later.

So, fun stuff.. not too exciting.  Each bento is mostly the same, but there are a few things that are different.

Pink bento has (top) mango and fig, then cheese stars, cuke, carrots, grapes and cut up kiwi in the cup. Bottom: has 1 long wrap cut in 2,gummy worm. red tomatoes, carrots, and goldfish crackers.  Plus a pocky or two in where the chopsticks go.

Blue one (top) - Pocky in with chopsticks, cereal bar, fruit star, goldfish, tomatoes, kiwi pieces.  (bottom) cukes, grapes, carrots, wraps, and a few more carrots.

And, they are off!  wow, their lunchbags look so big, and the food so small.  But, in the end there were no major complaints.  Just a few to make sure that I don't put sticky fruit leather near REAL fruit then it won't get mushy.

YAY! Can't wait until they see this dish.  Hopefully they love it.

Edit: Added to What's for Lunch Wednesday

It's here! It's here!!

Okay I know that this will be a little longer of a post, so grab a coffee, and sit down.  I'll show you my bento, as well as my nice purchase from Texas! :)

So, lets start with the kids' bentos

 By Friday the fridge is getting a little sparse.  So, what kind of leftovers could I muster?
My daughters bento on the left has wraps, a gold chocolate coin, cucumbers, tomatoes, dried cranberries, black olives, grapes, and a few cutouts of mango.  Of course... the cheese face too! :)

My son's on the right:  the last of the meatballs, cucumbers, cheese stars, yellow tomatoes, bean sprouts, black olives, a little strawberry peeking out, grapes and dried cranberries, and a few pieces of apple with lemon juice and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar. 

Whew... that was a lot of food in a little space.  Believe me, I was looking for something good last night in the fridge, and kinda coming up empty, but at least the lunches came back mostly empty.  Well, my son didn't eat a few of the cheese stars, because they got into the cinnamon, and "didn't taste right". (so did 2 of the meatballs)  Well, that didn't stop my youngest from chomping on the apples!!  I wonder if it was just that he was full from eating all the other goodies??

Onto the other stuff.. MY PACKAGE ARRIVED!!!  My first bento stash!  The fitjp store was great sending me the package, it's was my mother-in-law who resent it to us... that's the point at which things slowed down.  That darn Canada Post! the fitjp store doesn't ship to Canada!   But, at least I've got it! Wanna see?

 Yes, there are 7 boxes.  One for each member of the family, but a slim one I wanted to check out, and an extra black one for my niece.  There are also 2 bento belts that I purchased - mostly to see what they looked like so I can sew up a few for myself.  I also got a bear and bunny egg shapers, elephant baran, and those wonderful picks that transform your mini tomatoes into balloons! :)  I've seen them everywhere!  Love them!

To give you an idea of how big these things are, I've included a couple of pictures with a ruler (sorry, metric only, I can't find the other one), and one with my hand.  Hopefully you can get the idea.

 

Yep, this black one is about 18cm long (approx 7 inches)

the biggest black one here is about 9.5 cm tall (3.5 inches). 

So, I knew that I would figure that they were small.  They are actually not too bad when you think about how much they will hold.  The largest holds about 1000 ml, and the smallest about 500 ml (when you add the two levels together).  Very cool!  I was so happy about the prices, and the quality of these items.  They aren't perfect, but they are really good for us to start with.  And I love how small they collapse to.  Basically the height of the top layer!  So, it shouldn't be *too* bad trying to find space in my small kitchen.

Okay, I'm going to play with these guys this weekend, and look forward to sharing REAL bentos next week.  That's not to say we won't use the lock and lock again, but we are certainly going to try these new ones.  Lets see how the kids feel about it come Monday afternoon!

**I get nothing from the store for suggesting to use them... I just love their prices.

Of Men, stars and Meatballs

Slowly I'm getting the hang of bento making.  According to my list, this is bento #36 & #37.  Wow.  I should do something fun when I hit #50.  Funny... I keep seeing other people with bento #814 or Bento # 97.  Hmm... will I make it that far? Possibly.  Especially if my new bento boxes ever decide to show up!  ARGH!  Sometimes my patience just goes out the window.  I'm hoping that they show up tomorrow, one way or another.  So, onto the bentos.

I didn't go to work today, so I only made 2 bentos for the kids.  Pretty similar, with only a few substitutions.  Bento on the left, contents:  Meatballs on my nail skewers, yellow mini tomatoes, crackers with cheese stars, fresh raw peas, craisins and grapes, leftover spaghetti squash with a red pepper and cheese butterfly.  I also snuck in a chocolate coin and later was requested to put in a brownie mini-muffin.

My daughters on the right is pretty much the same, but since she didn't want meatballs, she got her regular bologne and cheese wrap.

I'm really surprised how empty the bentos came back today (and they remembered to bring back the fork!).  I also packed the regular milk, applesauce (daughter) and granola bar (son) for the kids.  My son ate everything except the squash and red pepper butterfly and star.  He said that he "couldn't handle it".  Meanwhile my daughter's came back completely empty.  I really thought that the spaghetti squash would come back for both boxes, but I guess that when it's just that little bit, it okay.  Strange, my son really liked it for dinner the night before.  Oh well.  I guess some things are just better warm.  I'm glad that at least the red peppers were tasted!

I did a little research on some of the charaben and other fancy designs that I have been following.  I just don't understand how some things can come together - what food are they using!  Well, Anna the Red came through.  It's an egg sheet (some with colouring). It is seriously cool.  I wonder what the kids would think?  I have to put it into the back of my mind and use it at home first before I send it out there with the kids.  I mean, I'm all for making things cute, but in the end if the food comes back, then my whole reason for doing bentos is out the window.

Okay, gotta go!  I got some good news today - interview for a new job on Monday.  I'm really excited, but I'm starting to come down, and now I'm wondering what the heck I have to offer them!  EEK!  Anyway, goodnight!

Flowers and Bones

Making bentos is starting to get easier and easier, but I find that if I don't have something in my mind, they all start to meld together.  I think that I'm going to go on a hunt for a few different cutters, or maybe I just have to go grocery shopping with bentos specifically in mind.  There are a few things that I wish we had around here in the markets - snap peas that are not frozen (none at the market, only in my sister's garden!).  I wish my kids liked broccoli more, then I could stuff a few of them in the bentos.  We did try some "pot stickers" (what I figure Gyozas are like), and next time I'm going to make more, so there are a few for lunches!

Lately my bentos have been coming back empty - the kids are eating everything!  This is both good and bad.  They aren't complaining that there is too much, but neither are they saying about there being too little.  Argh!  Either way I'm not happy I guess.

Here are todays bentos.

 The bentos basically had about the same things in them.  I'll start with the left one (flower) for my daughter.  Contents:  Bologne and cheese wrap, with a fruit to-go "leather" and a cheese flower, grapes, strawberries, brownie mini muffin, nectarine and cucumber.  I added some milk and applesauce to this as a side by request.

Bento #2 contents:  Meatballs on nail skewers covered with cheese bones, cucumbers, nectarine and fruit leather dog, brownie mini muffin in the corner, strawberries and grapes.  I added milk and a granola bar to this for extra carbs.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of little munchkin's bento today.  No biggie, it was pretty much the same, except it was in a pig bento.

That's it for tonight.  Here'e hoping I see those bento boxes SOON!  ARGH!