The Letter B

Today, we talked about the letter 'B' and of course had some banana slices while Z completed some worksheets. Hmmm.. need 'B' food ideas to work on a bento. Bagel, blueberries, bell peppers, brownie, buttered bread, Bacos, etc. Ideas? In the meantime, here are some of our 'B' worksheets!

Happy Valentine's Day

It's finally Valentine's Day, so of course, it has to be themed as such, right? I got to use another new item.. lidded container from AllThingsForSale.com, although the lid isn't in the picture. It was a set of 3 and I love them! I also tried peanut butter and jelly again but my little one avoids it like the plague for the most part. Today was no exception, and I ended up eating them and handing her a half slice of toast with butter instead. Ah well..  Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Have a wonderful day with your families!

 In this lunch, there is mini heart peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, vanilla pudding w/ fruit leather letters, Babybel cheese, red pepper, salami, smoked turkey, strawberry, and in the candy container is a few M&M's.

Hole-y Hearts

So, this was mostly about what to do with leftover rice and shrimp from chinese last night. My hubby says the shrimp looks disgusting, but he doesn't eat shrimp, so what does he know, right? Looks yummy to me! I will say that while the rest was polished off, the little one sided with dad this time on the status of the shrimp. Oh well. You win some, you lose some.

 This lunch has shredded carrots, swiss cheese, cucumbers, salami, shrimp, and a fortune cookie in the top half. In the bottom half, there is a mix of steamed and fried rice, wonton chips, and strawberry fruit leather letters.

Lovebirds

I bought these cute picks at Joann Fabrics (is it even called that anymore?) and knew I had to do something to compliment the sweet little lovebird. This is what I came up with and the lunch was a big hit with the little one, which made it all worth while. Enjoy!

 In the bottom tier is egg salad, potato chips, a strawberry, smoked turkey and salami lovebird on rye toast. In the top tier in front is provolone and salami hearts, red bell pepper and cucumber skewers, and ranch to dip.

Heart-y Lunch

Seems after I really got a good look at this one, it was seriously lacking color to be a Valentine's theme Bento, but it was still fun and yummy, and it just reminded me that next time I'll have to be a bit more vibrant with my colors.

 In this lunch, there is a cheese quesadilla with American cheese letters, avocado slices, black beans, red bell pepper hearts, cucumber hearts, corn cake heart, and sour cream.

Bear-y Cute

Just a quick little snack set up with new cutters from AllThingsForSale.com. Too cute!

 In this box is smoked turkey, American cheese, pretzels, strawberries, and cherry yogurt.

Love is in the Air

Yeah for Valentine's day themed Bentos. This should be a lot of fun. I can use my new heart picks from AllThingsForSale.com too! Again, fantastic ideas out there and I'm not sure where I first and last saw the envelope sandwich with heart seal, but it was more than one place. Feel free to leave a comment if you know where it was. I'm thinking I really need to set up something for what blogs I follow so that at least sends some credit there way!

Smoked turkey, salami, provolone cheese, red bell pepper, cream cheese and strawberry jam sandwich w/ fruit leather heart seal, strawberries, and some mini butter mints.

The Letter 'A'

So working on letters every week with the little one. She knows her alphabet of course, but figured taking a letter and really going at it all week would be fun and help her really get the letter sounds down better. She has worksheets with tracing, painting, coloring, matching, phonics, etc. Then, her snack is about that letter and we find things that start with that letter around the house or some other game like that. My daughter just turned 3 at the end of January, so anyone with other ideas I'd love to hear from you! Figured I'd share a picture of her 'A' worksheets. Of course, her snack while we did them was apple! I think I'll do an 'ABC' Bento for her soon.. maybe in the style of the muffin tin ones. Those are neat! Hmm.. 'A' foods.. apple, avocado, arrowroot cookie, asparagus, animal crackers, alfredo on angel hair pasta, alphabet pasta or cereal.. yeah.. I think it could work!

Back to the Mediterranean

I really have to say I love Yasmeen's and the food is so vibrant and flavorful. It's an easy way to create a simple Bento meal for sure. Got to use some new picks again from AllThingsForSale.com too.

Tabbouleh, felafel, American cheese, hummus, pickle, cucumber, red lentil soup, and some pita chips.

Last of the Birthday Bentos

This is the last one of the 3rd birthday lunches. I was in the hopeful mood for warm spring air to be here soon too. Can you tell?

Ramen noodles, provolone cheese, salami, cucumbers, red bell pepper, mandarin oranges w/ blackberry center, and a mix of pretzels and mini butter mints.

Birthday Bento

This is the 2nd of the birthday Bentos I did for my kiddo's 3rd birthday. This one was in a new small Lock n Lock box. I like these boxes.. very versatile.

Multigrain toast w/ mustard and mayo, garden veggie cheese, cucumber, red bell pepper, ranch, and fruit twists.

Three!!

The day has arrived. She is three years old! Eeep! Last year, I did great, I baked a Hello Kitty cake and piped all those nasty little frosting stars with homemade, delicious buttercream. What a PAIN in the rear, or should I say hand and wrist and elbow and shoulder.. ugh. This year, I felt awful. I ordered a cake from the local bakery. She wanted Mickey Mouse this year and I had insane visions of cakes way out of my league and while I thought and thought about the route to go, I ran out of time to do what I settled on.. a buttercream transfer of Mickey Mouse. I just couldn't get it done. I know.. no big deal. The bakery did a nice job, but I really wanted to be able to make a special cake every year for her, so next year, I'll plan early and make up for it. She loved it anyways and it all worked out. Thought I'd share pictures of both cakes.

 

Homemade Hello Kitty cake for 2nd birthday.

 Bakery made Mickey Mouse cake for 3rd birthday.

The Big 3

I just cannot believe that our little baby is going to be 3 years old tomorrow. It just doesn't seem possible. I still can barely comprehend that I have a daughter, yet here she is growing up so quickly. It's exciting and sad all at the same time. I'm going to try to do a couple different birthday Bentos for her. I think she'll really like it. Here is the first one with a new box we got on Amazon.com.

Number '3' rye bread and American cheese sandwich, turkey bologna, red bell peppers, provolone stars, roasted cashews, star shaped cheese crackers, raspberries, and a bit of chocolate cake (Mickey Mouse is the birthday party theme).

This Little Piggy

I wish I could tell you where I saw the piggy idea, but I cannot for the life of me figure it out. If you know, please feel free to comment and share the link. I have to start keeping track of where I get ideas because there are SO many good ones out there!

Homemade garlic crouton round with turkey bologna piggie and mozzarella cheese, Trader Joe's veggie straws, roasted cashews, marshmallow twist, and red bell pepper with ranch in the container.

Orange Ya Glad?

So, yeah, I did orange already, but it was so simple, I had to go for it again with some variations.

Special K cheddar crisps, orange bell pepper w/ ranch in the container, homemade garlic crouton flowers, sharp cheddar cheese, cantaloupe, and vanilla pudding with orange mini m&m's.

Red-Y or Not

Liking this rainbow business. If nothing else, it gives me focus and direction. Next up is red!

 

Red peppers, heart shaped toasts with salami, provolone cheese, strawberry yogurt, raspberries, and a candy cane.

Orange Ya Happy?

Reading everyone talking about 'eating a rainbow' and working rainbow weeks into the way they feed their kids is a fabulous idea. I'm sure I'll be much more disjointed about it rather than having one color a day, but should be fun either way. I think later I may try letter or number themed lunches too. I'm starting with orange because I have everything I need on hand already, and I got to use more new things from AllThingsForSale.com.. in this case, the box itself, a Lock n' Lock and new food picks.

Buttered toast, extra sharp cheddar cheese hearts and letters, orange bell peppers with ranch in container, organic cheese poofs, cottage cheese and cantaloupe hearts.

Happy New Year

Had to do something for New Year's.. a little late but better than not at all, right?

Grilled cheese w/ American and provolone cheeses, spinach and tomato salad, cucumber, turkey bologna, Trader Joe's veggie straws, and a homemade Cherry-ette Christmas cookie.

Ribbit

Finally got a new/real Bento box from Amazon, who happens to have some great deals on some really neat products too, and decided to take it on its maiden voyage! The only thing I'll say is that the wrong band was sent and even after an exchange, we still got the wrong band, but it's still cute either way. Used some new food picks, silicone dividers, and cups from AllThingsForSale.com too.

 

Spinach salad with poppyseed dressing in the container, mini grilled cheese, mini strawberry jam & mascarpone sandwich, strawberry fruit leather, red peppers, mandarin oranges, mini marshmallows, provolone, salami, and organic cheese poofs.