0 Bento #256 - First Day of First Grade Bento

New year!  Miss Ella started first grade today.  How fast the summer flew!  Just look how adorable she is in her school uniform.  I got the cute bunting printable from Party On! Designs as a little first day surprise, and she loved it.

For back to school lunch we have an inside-out princess tiara turkey sandwich on wheat.

I cut out some red and yellow sweet bell peppers into flower shapes for her veg.

Served it up with some ranch dip in the panda container, along with a sweet Clementine.  The oranges I've been getting the last few weeks have been amazing!  Also a little snack of Goldfish crackers and some gummy vitamins for dessert.

Packed in her PlanteBox!  This year they aren't doing snack (at least that's what I understand right now!)

Bento #256 - Turkey & cheese sandwich on wheat, sweet bell peppers, Goldfish crackers, ranch dip, Clementine and gummy vitamins.

Don't forget to enter my Bentobloggiversary bento giveaway!  Click here to enter!

2 Bento #248 - Special Ham Sandwich

Today we have a Special Ham Sandwich in an Easy Lunch Box.  The ham is my family recipe baked ham, which is amaaaazing, and also why the sandwich is Special!  The Special Ham Sandwich is about the only thing my father can make to eat, and as little girls (and big!) we LOVED when Mom baked a ham, and Daddy pulled it out Saturday morning and made us all Special Ham Sandwiches.  He'd sit at the head of the kitchen table surrounded by his pot of tea, jars of mustard, mayo, pickles, pickled onions, lettuce and a loaf of bread with the cold ham right in the center of it all.  We'd watch Saturday morning cartoons in the living room while he'd watch the news, and make sandwich after sandwich to order...half for one of us, and half for him.  Love!

I'm not a fan of pickled onions, by the way, but Daddy is.  He used to smuggle jars of them back from England in his suitcase.  Also, I'm calling out my sister Liz for liking to drink the juice!  I've shared the Special Ham Sandwich with E, though it's not quite as special since her Obbie's hands didn't prepare it. :-)  This is how I always picture my dad, with his ubiquitous cup of tea (the very same china pattern I grew up with that is now mine - Royal Doulton Pastorale.)  He's holding a two-day-old Miss E in this picture.

Bento #249 - Special Ham Sandwich with cheese, Clementine, sugar snap peas & dip.  Snack - Macadamia nuts & carrot apple Crusher.

3 Bento #246 - Quesadilla, Pico de Gallo & Lime-Cilantro Crema

Sunday evening I made my delicious Baja shrimp tacos (and if you haven't tried them yet, you don't know what you are missing!)  For E's lunch I packed a small cheese quesadilla on a toasted corn tortilla, along with a small handful of chips.  Yummy and also vegetarian, and gluten-free.

Accompanying it is lime-cilantro crema, fresh cilantro and homemade pico de gallo, (roma tomatoes, white onion, cilantro, garlic, jalapeno, lime juice and salt.)  Dessert is raspberries!

All packed up.

Bento #246 - Corn cheese quesadilla and chips, raspberries, cilantro, lime-cilantro crema and pico de gallo.  Snack - Clementine and yogurt stars.

5 Bento #241 - Green & Orange

I am just in LOVE with these new all-natural food dyes from ChocolateCraftKits.com.  I had to order some after I saw Karen at What's In John's Lunchbag blog posting.  I have historically stayed away (in general) from artificially dyed foods.  These powders change everything.  They are all made of vegetables, and they are shockingly vibrant.  A little goes a long way!

I made some spinach ravioli and added some of the green powder to the cooking water (I used my "dumpling method".)  Look how emerald green they turned out!!  I went with a green and orange theme since they came out so well.

I also cut out some flowers in half an apple, and rubbed some of the green powder on the whites.  It's a little uneven, but I think it would have taken better and more evenly if I had pre-mixed it in a little water.  Live and learn.

Ugh, the lighting is atrocious!  I have a bulb out above the island.

We also have a brand new Hello Kitty lunch bag, compliments of my mom!  E is in love with it.

Bento #241 - Pasta Prima spinach ravioli, carrot coins, herb parmesan mix and an apple.  Snack - Clementine and Goldfish crackers.

17 Bento #240 - Dr. Seuss Bento Blog Hop The Lorax & Oh The Places You'll Go

As I mentioned in yesterday's Green Eggs & Ham post, this is Dr. Seuss week!  Some of my fellow bento-making-mamas have decided to do a Dr. Seuss-themed blog hop, so mosey on over to Nina's Mamabelly's Lunches With Love blog and see her Seuss bento too!

First of all, I want to thank my husband for making these most adorable humming-fish drawings on my pink-dyed gyoza.  I tried my hand at some, and they were atrocious.  I freely admit to stashing those rejects in another container which is also going to school, but in less fancy packaging.  I will have more on the blue rice "water" and my other natural coloring tomorrow, but suffice to say, I am HOOKED!

As you may imagine, this bento is inspired by The Lorax, and this being Dr. Seuss week AND the debut of the new movie with the same name.

I made two different types of Truffula trees, one being of mandarin orange and the other of a crazily-carved Baby Bel cheese.  The trunks are pretzel sticks.  Everything is laying in a pond of blue "water."

I also have a bunch of cherry "balloons."

I also made an after-school snack of naturally colored farfalle pasta tossed with olive oil and a side of basil pesto.  This one was inspired by "Oh, The Places You'll Go"

Bento #240 - Cherries, mandarin orange, pretzel sticks, jasmine rice, Baby Bel, and chicken gyoza.  Snack - Farfalle in olive oil and basil pesto.

Now don't forget to check out Nina's Mamabelly's Lunches With Love blog and see her Dr. Seuss bento too!

4 Bento #239 - Green Eggs & Ham

That's a green egg!  This is Dr. Seuss week, and also the debut of the new movie The Lorax (which we can't wait to see!)  I made these eggs very simply with some prepared basil pesto. Delicious!  I couldn't bear to color the "ham" green, (it's actually pastrami) so it appears here au naturale.

Bento #239 - Basil pesto deviled eggs, pastrami, carrot coins, and grape skewers.  Snack - organic peanut butter pretzel bites and mandarin orange.

2 Bento #238 - Cucumber-Bacon Sandwiches & Cherries

This idea was WAY cuter in my head!  I had envisioned thin slices of cucumber with a strip of bacon and topped with spinach artichoke cream cheese and rolled up and secured with a pick.  Unfortunately, my hand-slicing wasn't quite thin enough.  I really needed to bust out my mandolin.  In any case, we have cucumber sandwiches instead of rolls.

Fresh cherries, and a side of almond-raisin granola and Goldfish crackers.

Bento #238 - Cucumber, bacon and spinach-artichoke cream cheese sandwiches, cherries, granola and Goldfish crackers.  Snack - Clementine and roasted peanuts.

1 Bento #237 - Curried Chicken Salad & Purple Lettuce

I love chicken salad!  I happen to make a kick-butt chicken salad, but I love this curried chicken salad from Whole Foods - it's got red currants and slivered almonds.  So yummy.  I'm admittedly taking a risk giving this to E for lunch, because she's not the biggest fan of curry, and a container is a very dear $22 (don't tell my husband.)  What was I saying last week about extreme couponing?  I've gotta make a clone recipe....

The chicken salad is in a silicone cup nestled in a bed of purple artisan lettuce.

Bento #237 - Curried chicken salad, purple artisan lettuce, Stacy's Garlic & Parmesan pita chips, and a Clementine.  Snack - Apple banana spice muffin (not shown.)

Have a great weekend!

6 Bento #233 - Ham Rolls, Baby Bel & Cucumber Flowers

I did a crazy amount of grocery shopping this week.  I think I need to start watching one of those extreme couponing shows to get some tips.  I had heart palpitations when I added it all up.  Don't tell my husband.  ;)

Okay, so today we have ham rolls with adorable puppy and kitty picks, and a couple of Baby Bels in the main box.

In the side box there are cucumber flowers, fresh organic blueberries and some rice pilaf in cute heart cups.

Snack is a spiced apple & craisin muffin and a sweet clementine.

These are the boxes I picked up in a housewares shop in Chichester, England in June.  Love these!  They are really simple and easy to use.

Bento # 233 - Baby Bel, ham, rice pilaf, fresh blueberries & cucumbers.  Snack - Apple spice muffin & clementine.

4 Bento #158 - Spinach Ravioli & Clementine

We have one of E's favourite lunches - spinach ravioli, on a bed of spring mix lettuce.  The cute kitty container holds some herb Parmesan cheese she can sprinkle on the ravioli if she wants.  Today she'll be getting extra treats during morning centers, because I'm doing a mini rice cake snowman activity with the kids, which they will be able to decorate using cream cheese, dried fruit, Cheerios and sunflower seeds.  Yum!

Bento #158 - Spinach ravioli, organic spring mix lettuce and organic clementine.

18 Bento #151 - Moose Mac n' Cheese

I whipped up a batch of whole wheat mac n' cheese - so simple!  Takes 10 minutes, including the pasta cook time.  While the pasta is cooking, add 2 Tbs heavy cream, 4 oz cream cheese and a handful of shredded or cubed hard yellow cheese (I used cubed Colby Jack.)  Gently melt it together, and toss pasta in with it (about 1.5 cups.)  Salt and pepper to taste.

Today I picked up my first produce basket from Farmers Market Baskets.  I got so many great things for $20! I got a small organic basket which included 1 whole head each spinach & fancy lettuce, 3 stalks broccoli, 2 pears, 4 unripe bananas, 3 cameo apples, 3 oranges, 3 white potatoes, 2 tomatoes, 1 acorn squash and 1 onion, all organic or a 'clean 15'. It's really the perfect size for our family! Next time I will get extra apples, we eat tons of them in our house.

Last thing, I picked up a sweet masala dabba spice tin from World Market today, love it!  I can put any variety of spices and herbs in there I want, but I went the traditional Indian route and filled it with mustard seed, cumin seed, ground cardamom (don't have whole pods), curry, garam masala, coriander seeds and tumeric.  I get a hankering for one every time I watch Aarti Paarti on the Food Network.

Bento #151 - Whole wheat mac n' cheese, cherry tomatoes, organic steamed broccoli, clementine and a twin cherry gummy.

4 Bento #148 - Last Bento of 2010

Wow, I can't believe this is the last day and last bento of 2010, woo hoo!  I hope everyone has a wonderful 2011!!  We're on our way to go snow tubing!

Bento #148 - Mini meatballs, homemade dinner roll, organic edamame, clementine and cheese cubes.

6 Bento #141 - Oranges & Pinwheels

The theme is orange!  Or rather, sunny, since we are having a bitterly cold (23 degrees!), albeit sunny day today and it's too cold to play outside for any length of time.  We have some pizza pinwheels, simply made puff pastry with cream cheese and homemade veggie and Italian sausage spaghetti sauce mixed in as the filling, and baked until lightly browned and puffy.  Yum!

Bento #141 - Pizza pinwheels, organic baby carrots, Clementine and dip.

0 Bento #55 - Grilled Turkey & Cheese

It seems to be Clementine season yet again, and I have a few pounds of them sitting on my counter, so you'll probably see a few in the coming days (if I don't eat them all myself first.)

These crispy mini cookies are oatmeal raisin, and I get them at Trader Joe's.  First time I've gotten them, and they smell so good, like nutty Nilla wafers to me.  

Bento #55 - Turkey & cheese melt, carrot coins, Clementine wedges and crispy mini oatmeal raisin cookies.