3 Bento #265 - Butterfly Ham & Cheese

Lunch today is in a Lego lunchbox with some butterflies.  It's ham and cheddar on whole wheat, and in the butterfly shape with a LunchPunch. You can't really see the butterfly sandwich very well, but next to it is a cute silicone butterfly cup filled with organic cucumber wedges, and a mini banana.

Bento #265 - Columbus ham and cheddar cheese on whole wheat, organic cucumber, mini banana and an apple strawberry Crusher.

 

8 Bento #252 - Mom's Day Off Bento & Blog Hop

Today's bento lunch was packed by none other than Miss E and her daddy!  I didn't give them any guidance, they could just pack whatever they wanted. And here it is - a PB&J lunch and some yummy, unusual (for me, anyway) extras.

Bento #252 - Organic PB&J sandwich on wheat, Cheetos, organic carrots & dip and organic Gala apple.  Snack - Apple crusher and crackers.

And as I mentioned in the post title, it's a blog hop!  Click here to see what my bento-making mama friends are doing for Mom's Day Off, starting with Marie at Healthy Eating Starts at Home!

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.

1 Bento #245 - Garlic Potatoes & Chicken Sausage

Another Trader Joe's lunch in an Easy Lunchbox.  This is their really delish garlic potatoes in Parmesan sauce and sauteed, sliced spicy Italian sausage.  I cook the potatoes in a skillet with a little olive oil until they are crispy on the outside.  Yum!

Accompanying the potatoes is half a sliced sweet red bell pepper and some blackberries.  Next to it is the day's snack which is an apple-carrot Crusher and organic mini peanut butter crackers.

Bento #245 - Garlic potatoes and Italian chicken sausage, blackberries, red bell pepper and Vidalia onion dressing.  Snack - Apple-carrot Crusher and peanut butter crackers.

3 Bento #224 - Piano Recital Peanut Butter & Jelly Roll

Yesterday Miss E had her winter piano recital!  I'm so proud of her, she's been practicing very hard.  I made this lunch with some cute music notes.

I added a special chocolate treat and a cute note. =)

Here's my little pianist.

Her curtsy just melts my heart!  I'm biased, but I think that's about the best rendition of Yankee Doodle and London Bridge that I've ever heard!  ;)




Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing
Bento #224 - Organic peanut butter and strawberry jam on 12 grain bread, roasted potatoes and bell peppers, organic ketchup and fresh blackberries.  Snack - Goldfish crackers and apple-carrot Crusher.

0 Bento #218 - PB&J Rolls & Bell Pepper

Enter the Bon Ami Giveaway!

The PB&J roll that I made in the post the other day made it into this yummy bento lunch.  

Bento #218 - PB&J roll, yellow bell pepper, dip, fresh raspberries & an octopus mozzarella stick. Snack - Apple carrot Crusher and banana muffin.

3 Bento #217 - Heart Ravioli & Grapes

These cheese heart raviolis were the very last of the ones I picked up a while ago in my deep freezer.  They are so adorable!  I put some herbed parmesan cheese in one of the cups, and in the other there is dip for the carrots.

Love these heart picks.

All packed up!  The muffin fits perfectly in that small Snapware container.

Bento #217 - Pasta Prima red & white heart cheese ravioli with herb cheese topping, organic baby carrots, red grapes and dip.  Snack - Homemade banana muffin and a banana apple Crusher.

0 Bento #214 - Bacon Sandwich & Peaches

I am so excited, we finally purchased a gas grill for our deck!  It's been 6 years since we sold our house in Maryland and my husband decided to leave our grill.  So sad.  We've been limping by this summer with a very inadequate charcoal grill which I was fearful would burn our deck down.  This weekend I had the entire family over for grilled beer brats.  This thing is awesome!  So happy I can now go outside to grill.  What's funny is that I never actually grill steaks; I always use a cast iron skillet so that I can get a great crust on the exterior when it sears in its' own fat.  And now I can use the side burner on the grill outside and not gunk up my kitchen cabinets with airborne grease. Thank you!!

My mother-in-law brought over a bag of garlic bread sticks last night, and I thought they would be a convenient size and shape for a sandwich.  We had leftover bacon from brunch (scrambled eggs with cheese, fried tomatoes, potatoes & mushrooms, baked beans and toast!)  which fit perfectly inside one of the bread sticks, split down the middle.

There is a little bit of some black bean and corn couscous which I picked up in the fresh section at Super Target.  It's really flavorful!

I also peeled and quartered a fresh Georgia peach (just like little Miss E.)

Bento #214 - Bacon & Colby cheese sandwich, black bean couscous and a peeled fresh peach.  Snack - Apple Carrot Crusher and Kettle chips.

0 Bento #209 - Waste Free Wednesday Ham Sandwich & Bell Peppers

I desperately need to go grocery shopping after this long weekend; I'm down to my last fresh veg, and I think I only have a couple of oranges left.  I'm relying once more on some dried fruit, which is always nice to have around, especially since it's so portable.

By the way, this is part of E's school's Waste Free Wednesdays!  She received a tie-dye cloth napkin for packing a waste-free lunch!

Sandwich today is grilled baked ham and cheddar on rye.  The alphabet picks spell H-A-M (shocking, I know.)

I sliced half a yellow bell pepper and included a little piggy sauce cup full of ranch dip, and of course the aforementioned dried cherries with ring picks.  By the way, if you ever get a package of picks with these in there, tell your kids not to put them on their fingers!  We had a date with some dish soap and that ring last year.

I always say that you can find neat lunch containers in unexpected places.  This bento box came from a Crocs store!  They said that it was for storing Jibbitz, but it's a totally a 2-tier bento box, complete with a divider and an adorable bow band.  It even has space on top for utensils.  I think it was on clearance for $4.  I have been packing snacks in a drawstring bag one of my older bento boxes came with.  If something in her snack needs to be kept cold, I just stick it in her lunchbox with everything else.

Bento #209 - Baked ham & chedder on rye, dried cherries, sliced yellow bell pepper and dip.  Snack - String cheese and an Apple Carrot Crusher.

Speaking of bento boxes, AllThingsForSale is having a bento giveaway on their blog right now, check it out!

0 Bento #207 - Scrambled Eggs & Ham

I think one of the best simple meals in the world is scrambled eggs.  It's even better with a little baked ham and cheese (or cream cheese if you want to just die of bliss.)  I scrambled a couple of free-range eggies with some ham and shredded cheese.

Fresh kiwi and sweet corn-off-the-cob round out this lunch!  We also have some of the Indian Spiced Nuts as part of her afternoon snack.

Bento #207 - Scrambled eggs with ham & cheese, fresh sliced kiwi, and sweet corn.  Snack - Apple carrot Apple Crusher and Indian spiced nuts.

0 Bento #206 - Mac n' Apple Sausage

We have a Planetbox lunch today with Aidell's chicken & apple sausage and Trader Joe's organic white mac n' cheese.  Yummy!  The bell peppers didn't photograph too well, but they are cut in the shape of flowers.

Snack was an apple & banana crusher, (also from TJ's) which was completely new to us.  Also some organic baby carrots and dip.

Bento #206 - Chicken & apple sausage, organic white mac n' cheese, yellow bell peppers, dried blueberries and organic craisins.  Snack:  Organic baby carrots, dip and an apple banana Crusher.