3 Bento #278 - Bacon Heart & Toast

Who doesn't need a little bacon now and then...and in the shape of a HEART?! This was completely accidental when I started arranging it, but it turned out really cute. Some Texas toast to go with the bacon, and cubes of cheese make up the entree, with fresh organic kiwi, organic cucumbers and cherry tomatoes.

Bento #278 - Applewood smoked bacon, Texas toast, cheese, organic cucumbers, tomatoes and kiwi.  Snack - Organic black plum.

Items used in this lunch:

24 Bento #274 - Talk Like A Pirate Day Samosa Brigantine & Blog Hop!

Ahoy mateys! I be welcomin' ye aboard me ship, Black Bread's Revenge! This be the hour for our second annual Talk Like a Pirate Day blog hop! I fashioned a delicious midday meal fer th' hop - a chicken samosa brigantine ship made 'o red bell pepper, cannons 'o organic grapes, a mast 'o bitty organic carrot, starfish 'n barnacles. Yum!

Me ship sails past a tropical island, led by our beauteous mermaid siren masthead. We have a scallywag stowaway monkey lurkin' 'bout th' sword-speared grapes.

Yogurt starfish  'n tenacious barnacles o' chocolate-covered sesame seeds.

YAAAARRR!! Grub up, me hearties! Samosa brigantine all trussed in an EasyLunchBox, wit' a sea lubbin' walrus Squooshi pouch, Choomee Sip'n-topped carrot n' berry smoothie for snack.

Bento #274 - Suhki's chicken samosas, red bell pepper, baby organic carrots, organic red grapes, yogurt stars, chocolate sesame seeds, and organic carrot/butternut squash/berry smoothie.

Yo ho! Next lunch ahoy! Be sure to check out the next bento on me ship Black Bread's Revenge by clicking the pirate flag below!

After ye've sailed 'round this hop, hang on to yer sea legs! Click 'ere to board t'next ship fer another hop on The Flying Lunchman!

If ye liked me lunch, please be followin' Bentobloggy on Facebook! If ye be interested in last year's shipwreck pirate lunch, click here.

Used in this lunch:

1 Bento #273 - Breakfast for Lunch

Ella asked for scrambled eggs for lunch, and I obliged her with a full breakfast accompaniment.  Thick center cut applewood smoked bacon, mini organic blueberry waffles, and organic berries, when thawed can be eaten syrup-like with the waffles.

However, what I'm most excited about is the new lunchbag I found on Amazon. Ella's super-cute owl backpack started falling apart, which forced me into a search for a new one.  The one I purchased by Wildkin had a matching top-carry style insulated lunchbox (which is essential for bento) and I was THRILLED when it arrived and I discovered it fit perfectly accommodated my beloved EasyLunchBoxes.  Check it out.

The top is nice and roomy too.

We have used this bag almost exclusively since we got it!

Bento #273 - Scrambled eggs with cheese, applewood smoked bacon, organic blueberry waffles and organic berry mix.

2 Bento #272 - Cucumber Dill Finger Sandwiches

Am I the only one who just LOVES cucumber sandwiches?  I have been craving them a lot lately.  I made this one for Ella with a mix of cream cheese, mayo, dill and cracked pepper.

Isn't this Yubo lunch box completely adorable?  This is the custom one that I won from Cristi at Bent On Better Lunches!

Bento #272 - Organic cucumber, cream cheese & dill on whole wheat, Goldfish crackers and organic pear.

Psst...I'm so excited to be Food Blog of the Day over at Foodista for my Zuppa Toscana recipe!!

5 Bento #269 - Piggy "Lunchable"

First of all, have you noticed my FABULOUS new blog design?!  Shalon Estrada over at Pretty Lovely Design just completed it for me, and I'm super excited to show it to you all.

So today's lunch is in a Planetbox, and I've done it in the style of a Lunchable, but way lower in sodium and all that stuff, and no throwaway waste!

Here we have some Columbus roasted turkey with a piggie sauce container full of dip for the veggies.

The crackers are melba toasts, a couple of mini crispy oatmeal raisin cookies from Trader Joe's.

A couple slices of cheddar cheese cut into a piggie face using a Cutezcute cutter and a bunch of fresh broccoli, and organic green and red seedless grapes.

Bento #269 - Roasted turkey, cheddar cheese, broccoli florets, dip, melba toast, grapes and oatmeal raisin cookies.

  

1 Bento #266 - Panda PB&J

This panda face is sooo adorable!  It's a CuteZCute deco cutter from AllThingsForSale.  It's got four different plates for decorating!

Snap peas and dip round it out.

Bento #266 - Organic peanut butter and organic strawberry preserves, sugar snap peas, cheddar cheese, mini bananas and ranch dip.

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.

 

6 Bento #262 - Gyoza & Bell Peppers and Trader Joe's cookbook news!

First of all, I am so incredibly excited to announce that the cookbook I am featured in -  Cooking With Trader Joe's Cookbook: Easy Lunch Boxes - is now available for pre-order on Amazon! In fact, if you click "Look Inside" and check out the table of contents, Bentobloggy is listed on pages 157-162!! 

Just LOOK at this gorgeous spread!

Next, today is the very LAST day to enter for your chance to win the bento box starter pack I'm giving away, so enter here!

As for today's lunch, gyoza is the perennial favorite around these parts.  The brand we normally buy is Ling Ling all-natural chicken potstickers.  The sauce is in those cute flower sauce containers.

We also have sliced red bell pepper with ranch dip and frozen organic mixed berries.

The newly decorated Goodbyn Bynto!  Ella went all-out!

Bento #262 - Chicken gyoza with sauce, red bell pepper, ranch dip and organic mixed berries.

1 Bento #260 - PB&J Sushi

Yummy!  We have organic peanut butter and strawberry jelly on whole wheat today, rolled into sushi and some cheese cubes on leaf skewers.

Bento #260 - Organic PB&J on whole wheat, mozzarella cheese, carrot chips and ranch dip.

8 Bento #259 - Goldfish Ravioli Lego Lunch

I have these cute Nuovo goldfish-shaped "mac n'cheezy" ravioli for lunch today with some Bolognese sauce for dipping.  I made a sea scape using fish picks, broccoli and snips of green onion.

I used an apple slicer for the first time in almost a year! *gasp*  You know, I've been too scared to use one since my incident last year. It's an organic Pink Lady, which is my favorite variety, soaked in fresh lemon juice water to help prevent browning (and it really works!)

With the Lego sauce container top on, I just love it!

Two Lego bento boxes!  I tell you what, this pink Lego box has traveled all over the world to finally get to me, from England to California to Canada to Maryland and finally to Georgia!

Bento #259 - Goldfish cheese ravioli, broccoli, organic apple slices and Bolognese sauce.

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.

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!

4 Bento #251 - Turkey & Sweet Corn

I'm so tickled that I've been nominated for a Top 25 Foodie Moms award on CircleofMoms.com!  I'd be flattered if you'd vote for Bentobloggy here:

We had our last school field trip yesterday, to the Atlanta Zoo!  There were so many parent volunteers that my group consisted of only one of Ella's little girlfriends, so we had a really nice and relaxing morning exploring together.  We started out in the opposite direction of everyone else, so we got most of the exhibits all to ourselves.  The panda bears were really active, which was so cool to see. It was also supposed to thunderstorm but we escaped it all, and the high temperatures with some cloud cover.

Today's lunch was one of only about five that I've ever made in the morning.  I usually make them right before I go to bed, because I'm barely functional at 6:30am.  She has a whole wheat White Mountain bread turkey and cheddar sandwich in the first box.

In the second she has some grape tomatoes, fresh sweet corn sprinkled with a little kosher sea salt and a cheddar Babybel.

Packed up with snack - Cat cookies and an organic gala apple.

Bento #251 - Turkey and cheddar on whole wheat, sweet corn, grape tomatoes and cheddar Babybel.  Snack - Organic gala apple and cat cookies.