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!

8 Beach Ball Goody Bag

Today's the day we're sending in treats for all the kids' end of the year beach buckets.  I went a little overboard with mine, but they are just so darn cute!

I bought a bunch of items at Oriental Trading and packaged them in these adorable beach ball bags.

A "porcupine" animal, (or alien, as the case may be) a bunch of tiny erasers, some glow-in-the-dark silly bands, a rubber bouncy ball and a Kindergartners are #1 bookmark with an activity on the back.  The bags are sealed with a sticker with Ella's name.  I hope the kids like them!

0 School Lunch

I know what you're thinking. She's about to launch into a diatribe, Jamie Oliver-esque, about the evils of the modern school lunch.

Not so.

I can't help but be impressed by the lunch offerings at E's school. I volunteered in her classroom today and as I often do afterwards, I join her for lunch at one of the special guest tables in the lunch room. E relishes helping me make my selections in the line, and I'm always flabbergasted by (and admittedly jealous, considering my own 100% processed school food experience growing up) the great selections they purvey.

Today they had fresh, real fried chicken, homemade chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese, with a plethora of fresh fruit and veggie options. I opted for a mixed green and spinach Caesar salad with a whole sliced orange and a frozen strawberry cup (ingredients: strawberries, sugar - tastes exactly like one of those expensive frozen fruit bars, but with MORE fruit!)

My only complaint is the "grilled" chicken they serve with the salads - it's not grilled and it's not whole chicken, it's molded chicken paste, like unbreaded nuggets. I don't eat them and I don't let E eat them either.

Some of the other delicious, diverse and surprisingly nutritious dishes offered throughout the week include popcorn shrimp with Mac n' Cheese and homemade cornbread. Squash casserole, sweet potato tots, cheese omelets, vegetarian bean quesadillas, beef and cheese baked potatoes, and of course - baked okra and Georgia peaches. Of course. There are always fresh whole fruit and veggies. I also love that they source their food from local farmers through the Farm-to-School initiative.  There is also the Fresh Fruit Friday program sponsored by WholeFoods where barrels of fruit are distributed throughout the day to kids as they want them.

I kind of want to eat here every day. $1.65 for kids, $2.75 for adults, which also includes milk.

Caesar salad with real shredded Parmesan cheese, whole grain croutons, Saltines and chicken strips, sliced whole orange and a frozen strawberry fruit cup.  As an adult, I also got unsweet tea.

So, do tell - what is your school lunch like?  Is it pretty impressive, or is there room for improvement?

0 Bento #198 - Chicken Gyoza & Bell Pepper

We are ramping up for Kindergarten over here.  Yesterday we had her screening for placement, and we also did a bunch of clothes shopping.  I'm in the poorhouse now!  I used to love getting all new clothes and school supplies when I was a kid.  I'm kind of bummed I purchased them through the school a few months ago and I don't have to go hunting for them.  School starts on August 15th, and then I'll be making school bentos every day!

Bento #198 - All natural chicken gyoza, half a sliced red bell pepper, fresh strawberries, ranch dip and three gummy vitamins.

1 Bento #183 - Earth Day Lunch

First, this lunch is in a Planet Box, and the pasta is Barilla PLUS with Omega 3s and a lot of other goodness.  I made a huge batch for the volunteers at school, and packed some for Ella as well.  It's tossed with roasted organic veggies in a balsamic butter sauce and Parmesan cheese.

Bento #183 - Vegetarian organic pasta salad, dried blueberries and cherries, pretzel sticks, roast turkey slices and vitamins.

Officially, Earth Day is today, but E's school had their Earth Day celebration on Wednesday, marked with a school-wide parade, awards, booths, activities and presentations.  It's such great fun, and so informative!  This year we had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Marcus Eriksen, co-founder of the 5 Gyres Institute.  He spoke about the pollution, specifically plastic, that is inundating the Pacific with huge floating garbage patches.  He and his colleagues built a raft out of thousands of empty water bottles and an airplane cockpit and floated on it for 3 months from California to Hawaii, braving the elements and studying water and sea life along the way. It was so interesting!  Certainly makes one think twice about using disposable plastics.  One tip he gave which I hadn't even thought about was to skip the plastic straws when you go out to eat.

Dr. Eriksen speaking in front of the Earth Balloon in the community center.

Showing some of the empty cigarette lighters he picked up on remote Pacific islands that wildlife is ingesting.

A sea turtle which grew around a plastic milk jug ring.

 Later I sat with E's class as they ate.  Her friend L also brought a PlanetBox lunch!

7 Bento Weekend

This weekend I was asked to present bento demonstrations at the High Meadows Indoor Farmer's Market sponsored by Harry's Farmer's Market (WholeFoods.)  I'm so grateful that two of my sisters were in town and threw their creative weight into it.  In fact, I talked everyone's ears off while they put together most of the bento boxes!  It was great fun, and we can't wait to do it again next time.

We met so many great folks who came by our table, and the entire market place was chock-full of amazing produce, eco-friendly and sustainable products. Over a thousand people visited! Check out the entire album on my Facebook page.

2 Apple Day

I spent the whole morning Friday at E's school for Apple Day!  I brought my Krupps tabletop convection oven, and with mini pie rounds and homemade apple pie filling (Granny Smith and Cripps apples, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, honey, nutmeg and cinnamon) in some silicone baking cups, I had the kids make their own "pinch pies" and they could add some fun sprinkles if they wanted.

After pinching the pies closed, they went into a 400 degree convection oven for 8 minutes.

I wish I had gotten a picture of them all sitting on the cooling racks, they were so cute.

After centers, I decided to stay and help take the kids to ponies, and then to see the animals, (sheep, goats, chickens, and rabbits) which is always a huge hit with the kids.

E running to the pony paddock through the lower meadow:

Mounting up on Silver Moon (who was dressed as a unicorn):

Having a turn on one of the new wooden ponies.

After we returned from the meadow, the kids ate the cooled apple 'pinch' pies with their snack.