1 Bento #174 - Turkey Sushi & Snap Pea Garden

So in our house we have a nice big 2 lb bag of sugar snap peas.  We love sugar snap peas, and it's both a blessing and a curse that they keep so long and hardy in the veggie drawer.

Here are the five stages of sugar snap peas.

Stage 1:  Hooray!  Sugar snap peas are back, good golly and joy to the world!
Stage 2:  Yum, sugar snap peas, they sure are sweet.  And snappy!
Stage 3:  Goodness, look at all these snap peas.  I'm thankful for the fiber.
Stage 4:  Wow, sugar snap peas...again?
Stage 5:  So, do you think we can plant these suckers outside?

Today's bento is a veggie and fruit garden on the left, with sugar snap peas as the flower stalks, yellow bell peppers as the flowers, a cheddar cheese butterfly and some grape "hyacinths" (...eh, it's a stretch.)  It was inspired by my trip to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens this weekend with my husband and friends who are photography enthusiasts (...or in my case, amateur.  E went to the zoo with her Nana.)  On the right we have turkey & cheese "sushi" tortilla rollups, also with finely minced yellow bell peppers inside.  E isn't hugely keen on bell peppers yet, but we are getting there.

Spring in the South!

Bento #174 - Sugar snap peas, yellow bell pepper, red grapes, turkey & cheese on a flour tortilla and salad dressing (not shown.)

2 Bento #167 - Mini Meatballs & Puzzle Class Snack

We have a smallish bento today, since it's a special day at school - 'Grandfriends' day.  Not only did we bring a special class snack for the kids and visitors, but my parents, Ella's Mumu & Obbie are visiting from Maryland!  We are so excited that they were able to come for a nice visit.

Here is our class snack (plus two other trays not shown) - they are just simple cheese sandwiches cut out with the puzzle Lunch Punch Match & Munch cutter, and assembled  using their nifty puzzle diagram (which had my mom and I scratching our heads more than once!)  Their's looks a lot nicer than ours, that's for sure, but it was still pretty neat.

Bento #167 - Mini meatballs, steamed organic broccoli, mini pretzel sticks, salad cream, and an almond butter-stuffed Aussie apple.

Enter the AllThingsForSale bento giveaway here!

19 Bento #142 - Beary Good Bento

Pardon the corny title, it's late and my husband is whistling "The Chicken Dance" as he does the dishes, and it's a bad influence on me.

Yesterday I was online browsing luggage stores and came across this totally adorable lunch bag!  I have a real soft spot right now for owls (E's class is called The Owls and their class mascot is named Whooo.)  This one's by Skip Hop, and has a matching backpack.  Hold me back!  Utter cuteness.

As for today's bento, as the title suggests, I have some cute bear friends holding hands.   Right now World Market has their cookie cutters on sale, BOGO free, and they are the perfect size for a slice of cheese.  I made a loaf of sandwich bread today and that's what the bread in this bento is, Mr. Brown Bear was made using the heel piece.

You'd think that buying a fresh fruit salad is a waste of money on a small scale, however I've found recently that they've been a very cost-effective way of getting a variety of fruit that I'd not otherwise get, especially this time of year.  It's a huge bonus that it's already cut and prepared.  I bought a 2lb fresh fruit salad bowl this evening for $5.92, and I know I spend that much on just one type of fruit, let alone the five or six types that are included.  It just makes sense!

Bento #142 - Homemade bread, Monterey Jack cheese, celery sticks, homemade chocolate chip cookie and fresh fruit salad.

8 Bento #97 - Princess Ham & Cheese

Today's is the first school bento of the year!  E specially asked for ham and cheese, and so that is what she got, but with a cute twist.  The "jewels" are jumbo nonpareils affixed with a tiny bit of cream cheese.

Bento #97 - Princess ham & cheese on 12 grain bread, cucumber flowers, organic green grapes and mini peanut butter crackers.

Here it is all packed up!

To illustrate how awesome the Sanrio HK lunchbag is - containers are stored and carried upright, so no spillage!  And plenty of room, too.

0 Bento #12 - Fish Sticks

Bento #12 - I decided to try out my mini cookie cutters for cheese garnish on tonight's dinner. Ultimate Fish Sticks (whole grain, whole filet, from Costco, arranged into an "E"), cheddar and carrots. Yeah, it's a little uninspired, but that's because my husband was begging me to come to the table and eat already. The adults had baked tilapia.