7 Bento #232 - Stars & Pinwheels

Happy Friday!  Oh my gosh, craisins again??  This is the last for a while, I promise!  At least E isn't wholly sick of them yet.  These Colby cheese pinwheel roll ups are made with rolled out sliced bread.  They were falling apart a little, but they stayed together in their side of the box.  And salad!

The ubiquitous craisins in a star-shaped cup and yogurt stars!  The salad dressing is in the blue bear cup.

E and I made spiced apple muffins (Trader Joe's) with...craisins.  It's kind of a joke now, isn't it?

This is the bento box that I got from a Crocs store, totally perfect (it even came with the bow strap!)

Have a great weekend!

0 Bento #231 - Bruschetta Chicken Bowties

Dinner for lunch!  Fresh tomato basil bruschetta with a splash of vodka makes the sauce, seared organic chicken thighs and tossed with whole wheat farfalle pasta and Parm.  REALLY good, and easy.  I'm using my two-tier Greentainer, which holds a ton!

Side salad of artisan lettuce and dressing.

...with a LOT of focaccia croutons (I emptied the bag, and it was more than I had expected!) Craisins round it out.  It's craisins again because I keep forgetting to get different dried fruit for those times when I'm out of fresh...like NOW.  That's going on my shopping list as I type.

No snack because they are doing a special one at lunch today.

1 Bento #230 - 100th Day Bento

Today not only is it our 100th day of school, but it's also Friday - pizza day!  I decided to do English muffin mini pizzas with pepperoni, channeling the zeros.  The kids all enjoy regular visits from Zero The Hero who comes to school to help them learn how to count to 100! S/He also helps the kids learn the concept of zero being a place holder, and other place value concepts.

The pizzas are made with the aforementioned English Muffins, toasted first, then a large spoonful of fresh basil bruschetta, topped with mozz and the pepperoni slices, a special treat.

Our sides are carrots with dip and craisins with more 0s - Cheerios.

Again channeling the whole zero concept is the round container of applesauce.

Bento #230 - English muffin bruschetta & pepperoni pizzas, baby carrots with ranch dip, craisins and Cheerios.  Snack - Applesauce.

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.

1 Bento #211 - Mac n' Cheese & Watermelon

Ella wanted to have mac and cheese for dinner last night, but we ended up going out for burgers instead, so I made it for her lunch today.  It's her favourite TJ's white cheddar, to which I add some extra shredded cheese to make it extra good.  Lunch today also happens to be unwittingly vegetarian for Meatless Monday.

Fresh watermelon on skewers and those green beans she picked out the other day.  I just blanched them in some boiling salted water, and then dunked them in an ice bath.  I also included a bit of dip on the side.

Bento #211 - Macaroni & cheese, organic green beans, organic watermelon and dip.  Snack - Craisins and Goldfish crackers.

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.

2 Bento #177 - School of Fish

This elegant fish is a whole wheat tortilla filled with organic peanut butter, honey and dried blueberries, a blueberry eye and cranberries for the fish lips.  Pretty cute!  I made it with a heart-shaped cookie cutter and a round.

Bento #177 - Whole wheat tortilla, dried blueberries, craisins, organic peanut butter, salami, Colby jack cheese, and cucumbers.

8 Bento #175 - Shrimp Noodles & Mango

Here we have a medley of ceramic flower-shaped measuring cups I'm using as bowls.  They are just too sweet.  I made rice noodles and stir-fried them with shrimp and curry sauce, sprinkled with fresh cilantro.  Ella loves shrimp and noodles of any kind, so it's the perfect medium to introduce some Indian flavors.  She ate most of it [edit: this was a non-school day lunch.]

Bento #175 - Curry rice noodles & shrimp, fresh mango, dried cranberries, carrots and grape tomatoes.

5 Carrot Cranberry Bread

I happened to have class snack today, this last half-day of school before a whole two weeks vacation; vacation for whom, I'm not quite certain!  I made the kids this low-sugar organic carrot bread, in muffin form.  I didn't tell Ella that the secret ingredient was pureed carrot, because I didn't want her to say anything in class and dissuade anyone from trying it.  Good news is that every child, except one, (who is fundamentally opposed to muffins on principle) gobbled these down.  At least according to E, who is generally a reliable raconteur.  Until she's about 8, anyway.

I used the Spice Carrot Muffins recipe from Mommy's Kitchen blog, and followed it to the letter except for three changes (as I really try to do when baking things...otherwise things tend to go awry....)  The first change was insignificant, I changed the raisins to dried cranberries.  The second change was to halve the sugar.  The last change I made was entirely unintentional and was borne of my inattention.  I accidentally lost count when I was scooping the flour, and I believe I used 1/2 cup more than was called for.  Whoops!  But, they came out really nicely anyway, the texture was great, not too dry, but if you want to make my mistake, I'd recommend adding a little more spice.  I doubled the recipe and it made 24 muffins plus an 8x8 square baking dish.  The recipe below are the measurements exactly how they should be (including the full amount of sugar) for 12 regular-sized muffins.

You'll need:

1/2 cup sugar
1/2  cup brown sugar

3/4  cup plain yogurt 

4  tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 

1/2  teaspoon vanilla extract 

1  large egg 

1/4  cup milk 

3/4 cup pureed carrots
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2  teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2  teaspoon salt
2  teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2  cup raisins or dried cranberries, optional

Preheat oven to 375, and spray a muffin tin or line with paper cups.

In a large mixing bowl combine sugars, yogurt, butter, vanilla, egg, milk and carrot and mix well.  In another bowl mix together all remaining dry ingredients except raisins/craisins, if using.  Pour wet batter into the dry and mix until just combined, then add the fruit and gently fold in.

Scoop batter into cups and fill 3/4 of the way full.  Bake muffins for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  The 8x8 dish took 35 minutes.

And, voila!  I added used Hello Kitty cups and little jungle animal cupcake toppers to make them extra-fun for their last day of school.

I topped the square loaf with a little powdered sugar.

If I can get 16 unsuspecting kids to eat some carrots this way, so can  you!

6 Bento #144 - Moon & Stars

Aww!  I just love these cute moon sandwiches.  I made them from a new cutter I got from World Market last week.  I happened to have moon and star sprinkles, so I used a few to decorate, and they went really well with the star cups I have (also from World Market.)  My inspiration came from the snow we've been having.  It's been super cold (well below freezing) and snowing lightly almost non-stop, but it's so dry that it just drifts away so we barely have any accumulation.  The flakes are so tiny when they're falling that in a beam of sunlight they sparkle and shimmer like stars!  I don't think I've seen that happen before, usually they are too wet or it's too overcast.

Bento #144 - Grilled ham & cheese on homemade bread, organic baby carrots, homemade zucchini bread, craisins and sunflower seeds.

12 Bento #140 - Grilled Ham & Cheese Flowers

Here's a little experiment I tried today, and while it's not green eggs and ham, a green cheese flower will have to do!  Going into the new year my goal is to try some new techniques in my bentos, and since this turned out well, my confidence is bolstered.  It was really simple, I just dropped a dot of green food colouring on the cheese (provolone) and used the back of a spoon to coat it all over.  The color takes very quickly.  I blotted up the excess with a paper towel.  Voila!

Bento #140 - Grilled ham & cheese, coloured provolone flower, pretzel sticks, craisins, organic baby carrots and ranch dip.

8 Bento #139 - Veggie Rice Salad

The other night I made a batch of jasmine rice for dinner...and then realized I didn't have a major ingredient I needed (don't you hate that?)  I pulled it out of the fridge last night and thought I could make something good with it, and all these wonderful fresh veggies I have.  Maybe a rice salad?  I have to admit, I don't think I've ever tasted a rice salad, let alone made one, but when I get a food idea in my head, I just have to try it.  I started by finely dicing carrots, celery, asparagus, julienned some cucumber and chiffonade some baby spinach.

I tossed it with the rice, along with some freshly cracked black pepper and sea salt, a few dried cranberries, and tossed it all with a pinch of Pecorino Romano cheese, and about 1 tsp of salad cream.  It tasted wonderful!  It's mild enough for a kid, but if I was making it for myself, I'd add some really good brined black olives, diced tomatoes and a hard boiled egg or two and a splash of cider vinegar to give it more body and depth.  The raw veg gives it this fresh, crisp texture, and the cranberries are sweet and give it a nice chewy bite.

Bento #139 - Jasmine rice salad with organic carrots, organic baby spinach, celery, asparagus, cucumbers, and cranberries, mini meat balls and fresh raspberries.

0 Bento #134 - Ham & Cheese Crepes

I tried some savoury crepes for E's lunch - just prepared a simple crepe recipe (mine are more eggy) and while they were cooking I melted some shredded cheese on top, and finished with a couple slices of ham.  They were rolled up and sliced across like you see above.  Very good!  I also made these for my husband's lunch, sans the cute animal picks (though I was sorely tempted to hide one in there somewhere.)

Bento #134 - Ham & cheese crepes, guacamole, sunflower seeds and craisins.

4 Bento #115 - Veggie Shells & Trail Mix

Today I took some organic tri-color pasta shells made from spinach and tomato, and tossed in some frozen veggies - peas, corn, cauliflower and carrots, in a light herb butter sauce, and some shredded cheese and cream.  Very yummy!  The trail mix is just some banana chips, craisins, apricots, macadamia nuts and ducky crackers all tossed together.

Bento #115 - Veggie shell pasta, dried fruit trial mix, strawberry yogurt (not shown.)

12 Bento #93 - Octodogs & Jasmine Rice

E and I visited the Georgia Aquarium yesterday with some friends, and I packed this simple bento for her.  I had made jasmine rice as part of dinner, and it served as a perfect bed for the octodogs.  E has been in some kind of major growth-spurt, so I'm having to pack a bit extra for her these days!  The other day she ate an entire kid size pizza at La Madeleine, along with all the sides!

Bento #93 - Octodogs, carrot chips, celery sticks, jasmine rice, craisins, apple cereal bar snack and applesauce (not shown.)

3 Bento #83 - Turkey Meatballs & Veggie Fried Rice

You have until midnight EST tonight to enter the giveaway contest!

First of all, I'm so excited about choosing winners for the giveaway contest tomorrow!  There have been some wonderful ideas and recipes posted, such an imaginative group (and what good eaters!)  I have plans for more contests in near future, since this one has gone so well.  Thanks to everyone who participated!  I will post winners around noon tomorrow.

Using the tray again today, we have some cute tree animals in our broccoli forest and hanging out on our meatball boulders.  The meatballs are turkey, and they are from Trader Joe's.  E really loves them, she squealed "HMMM, these are soooo yummy!"  She thinks they are chicken, though, which is fine by me.  She is still quite wary of most meats, except chicken.

Bento #83 - Veggie fried rice, flame broiled turkey meatballs, steamed broccoli, marinara dipping sauce and craisins.

1 Bento #78 - Eggs, Cheese & Sprouts

More eggs!  E begged me for the hard cooked eggs I was eating with my salad the other night.  I always make about a dozen, so I had plenty extra for her lunch.  I decorated them with sprinkle dots for "eyes" but then ruined the whole "eye" effect with sprinkled paprika, haha!  I ended up giving everything a good dusting of paprika, it was so pretty.  Anyway, I was actually at school with her today (preschool play and then the teacher appreciation lunch I volunteered for) and wouldn't you know, she decided that today wasn't an egg day after all.  But she did eat all her sprouts, go figure.

Bento #78 - Hard boiled eggs, alfalfa sprouts, colby-jack cheese cubes on picks, tortilla scoops and craisins.

0 Bento #35 - Grilled Cheese & Trees

I was racking my brain trying to think how I could make a plain grilled cheese and broccoli more interesting.  Got it!  Bears and monkeys, playing in the "trees"!

Bento #35 - Grilled cheese, broccoli, spinach dip and craisins.

0 Bento #20 - CFA Nuggets, Cheese & Tomatoes

Today I wasn't sure if she'd eat any of her lunch.  Every once in a while she'll tell me she doesn't like chicken nuggets, she's very iffy on grape tomatoes, and also on the sunflower seeds.  I figured if she was hungry enough, she'd at least eat one of these items!  Turns out she was pretty hungry, because she ate all her nuggets, all but one tomato, and she declared she liked the sunflower seeds afterall.

Bento #20 - CFA chicken nuggets on skewers, cheddar cheese cubes, grape tomatoes, cranberries & honey roasted sunflower seeds and spinach dipping sauce

Tomorrow we are off to NYC, so I won't be posting again until Monday (which happens to be our family's turn to bring the class snack!  I have something yummy in store.)  Have a great weekend, everyone!

1 Bento #10 - Spinach Ravioli

Bento #10 - Spinach ravioli, ants on a log (celery with strawberry cream cheese and craisins), and more craisins. Boy, will she be surprised by the cream cheese! Hope she eats it.

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This was the first lunchbox that came back totally empty - she ate all of it.  I think I need to be packing her less like this, since the class gets a nice snack from a different child every day, which is usually crackers & cheese, yogurt or muffins, so she's probably not terribly hungry when lunchtime rolls around.