2 Bento #275 - Bunny Bacon Bites

Simple, yummy lunch - a grilled bacon and cheddar sandwich, cut into cubes.

I bought these carrot and bunny accessories back in the Spring at Dollar Tree.  They are good for a few uses, and so cute!

I have them filled with carrots (natch) and Pirate's Booty! That stuff is seriously addictive.

Grapes and celery sticks round out the lunch.

Packed up:

Bento #275 - Bacon & cheddar on whole wheat, grapes, celery, carrots and Pirate's Booty

In this lunch:

0 Bento #253 & #254 - Sandwich Plates

Today we have a two-fer, because neither is really creatively worthy of their own post, haha!  Above is a bento plate with a turkey breakfast patty sandwich and one of the 4 tomatoes that my plant produced on my back porch. Yum!

Bento #253 - Turkey patty sandwich, homegrown organic tomato, organic celery sticks and ranch dip.

Next is another bento on a Greentainer stainless plate. The black beans are from a Mexican place near us, and they are super tasty, and E loves them.  I also tackled a huge watermelon that this slice came from.  I don't think I've cut up a larger watermelon in my life!  Good thing at least two of us in the house like melon.

Bento #254 - Turkey & cheese sandwich on White Mountain bread, fresh watermelon and black beans.

5 Bento #229 - Gyoza & Baby Bel

More Baby Bel!  I got myself an X-Acto knock-off (hello, it was PINK and retractable) and so I experimented a little.  I used some deco cutters to make a light imprint in the wax, and then traced it.  It's really not precise, but I think I just need some practice.  Or have my hubby do it.

And *gasp* another chocolate treat!  I fully blame my mom for this.  She sent us a HUGE - and I mean massive - box of chocolates in the mail yesterday.  So E got a chocolate nut cluster in today's lunch.

The gyoza are not actually burned, just FYI.  

Bento #229 - Chicken gyoza, ponzu sauce, celery sticks, ranch dip, dried cranberries, Baby Bel cheese, chocolate nut cluster and pretzels.  Snack - whole grain apple snack bar.

0 Bento #219 - Vegetarian Cheese & Crackers

Enter the Bon Ami Giveaway!

Me and my gimpy thumbs are back in bento business!  My poor kid had to buy her lunches all last week (thankfully they really aren't bad, and she will usually grab a salad anyway.)  I decided that I didn't want to pay a $50 copay for 5 seconds so that a nurse could remove my stitches, so I did it myself yesterday MacGuyver-style with a pair of new sterilized cuticle nail clippers.  One-handed, even!  Looks pretty good, but I'm still black and blue over my entire thumb.  

My last few lunches have been vegetarian, not wholly by design.  This bento also happens to be vegetarian.  She's got an assortment of fresh veggies and dip, along with some cheese cubes and saltines.

Dessert is sliced apples (NOT done with an apple slicer...in fact I bought these in one of those pre-cut packages...can you blame me?) and grapes.

We have a special snack of a bunch of yogurt star cookies and an apple sauce.

Bento #219 - Celery sticks, grape tomatoes, baby carrots, broccoli, ranch dip, cheese, saltine crackers, sliced apples, and grapes.  Snack - Yogurt Stars and applesauce.

0 Bento #199 - Chicken-Cilantro Wontons & Grape Pyramid

Oh my lawd, #199?  That's a lot of lunches.  Next week for #200 I'm planning to do a giveaway to celebrate, so be on the lookout!  It'll also be the first school lunch of the year, so it'll definitely be in a bento box.

I am just in love with this Cath Kidston food tray!  I'm so glad I popped into the shop and got it before they closed. It's so sweet.  The Pororo chopsticks are also super cute.  I piled the grapes into a 3-D pyramid with a fun little flag pick.

Bento # 199 - All natural chicken-cilantro wontons, organic celery spears, homemade pesto, and organic red grapes.

1 Bento #187 - Royal Wedding Bento

I am unapologetically enthusiastic over the royal wedding today (I draw the line at the collectibles, however.)  I did a quick bento with a [regal] nod towards the festivities, with small sausage wieners in puff pastry canapes (complete with tiaras and top hats) and a little Wills & Kate in the berries.  I was too tired to do anything any more elaborate, since I woke up four hours later to watch it all over at a friend's house - we are having canapes of our own, plus some mimosas.  Yum!

Bento #187 - Pups in blankets, organic celery sticks, and fresh blackberries.

4 Bento #154 - Chicken Naan Pizza

Here we have two slices of pizza I made from plain naan bread, with tomato basil sauce I made from some organic tomatoes I received in my farmers market basket, topped with a couple slices of roast chicken and cheese.

The other morning I made a special treat for E's breakfast - a yogurt parfait.  They are really fun, and a nice thing to start the day with.  It's just a waffle round in the bottom of the glass with layers of fruit and yogurt, easy peasy.  And heck, a few festive sprinkles to round it all out.

Bento # 154 - Naan pizza with chicken, red grapes, carrots, celery and a homemade chocolate chip cookie.

2 Bento #138 - Ham & Cheese Sushi

So, getting back into the swing of things!  Today we have ham and cheese "sushi" rolls, along with veg and some really yummy dipping sauce I made from this amazing new spice blend I've recently had a chance to try called Primo27, which is getting it's own post in just a bit.

I'm also extremely excited to be invited to take part in an upcoming collaborative event between E's school and our local Harry's Farmers Markets.  Perhaps some bento demos are in my future....  Can't wait to share more once the details are known!

Bento #138 - Ham & cheese on a flour tortilla, celery sticks, Primo27 dip and an Aussie apple.

1 Bento #129 - Shrimp Quesadilla

Two things today.

First things first, we ate out for dinner, and E's extra baby shrimp made it into this quesadilla for lunch, along with a side of salsa sour cream (just mix the two.)

Secondly, I discovered a trick for collecting and safely washing all your food picks and small bento items!  Up until now, I'd have a cup next to the sink and drop the picks in, and when I got around to it, I'd wash them all carefully by hand (trying not to let them slip down the disposal), then lay them all out on towels to dry.  No longer!  I happened to have my collapsible stainless steamer basket out, and realized that it might be the perfect washing basket for those items.  Now I keep the basket next to the sink, drop items in, and then I close it up and throw it in the dishwasher (top rack) with everything else.  I feel so inventive!

Bento #129 - Shrimp and cheese quesadilla, salsa sour cream, dried apricots, celery sticks and organic peanut butter.

2 Bento #128 - Princess PB&J

Today we have some of the super yummy bread I made the other night in the shape of a Lunch Punch princess which is slathered with organic peanut butter and organic strawberry preserves.  The eyes and mouth are jumbo non-pareils.  We have an all-day conference today, so I packed some extra in her bag for snacks too, some yogurt, mini peanut butter crackers and ducky cheese crackers.  Hopefully that'll hold her over until the end of the day.

Bento #128 - Organic princess PB&J, strawberry slices, macadamia nuts, celery sticks and cheese cubes.

8 Bento #127 - Steak & Ham Pocket

I made these little melty pastry pockets out of some leftover steak and ham, which I sauteed in a little butter, Italian herbs and a pinch of garlic powder.  Then I encased spoonfuls of the meat in some refrigerated dough rectangles along with some shredded cheese and baked for about 11 minutes.  Ella declared them to be delicious (she called them "pants pockets"!), and the rest we have here in her bento, along with a fresh batch of basil pesto, which is happily pine nut-less this time.  I used walnuts.  I also ensured that there were plenty of celery sticks.  A few days ago she complained that she only had four.

Bento #127 - Steak, ham & cheese pastry pocket, celery sticks, basil pesto, macadamia nuts, yogurt stars and fresh strawberries.

2 Bento #124 - Mac & Ham Flowers

Miss E requested her favorite organic mac n' cheese for dinner, and some went into this bento.  It's topped with cucumber and ham flowers.  The celery is topped with peanut butter and chopped pecan pieces for a nice crunchy bite.

Bento #124 - Organic mac n' cheese, cucumbers, ham, Aussie apple, celery and peanut butter pecan sticks.