Lunch for Isi

Here are a couple of lunches I've put together for Isi.
This was his lunch Tuesday:

I tried the spinach pie recipe from Katsbentolove.blogspot.com. It was supper good see the recipe here.
I did make a couple of changes; my frozen crust wasn't gluten free and I added two tablespoons of jarred green pesto! It is a delicious pie that my whole family happily munched on for two days! Delicious hot or cold it's definitely going to be a picnic staple! Along with a big slice of Spinach pie he had:

• Salad greens
• Sliced cucumbers
• Cherry tomatoes
• Grated Parmesan Cheese
• Carrot sticks
• A  Babybel Cheese
• Blue Cheese Salad Dressing in the green container.

He had about the same today!

In this spinach pie lunch the only things different were:

• Lovely Red, Orange, and Yellow Bell Pepper Slices
• A container of delicious pine nuts for snacking or sprinkled on the salad greens
• Caesar Dressing in the container with parsley

This is a lunch from last week.

Not all that healthy but delicious anyways! Lol

• Liver pate spread sandwich on Wheat bread
• Deli Pickles
• Cherry tomatoes and red bell pepper slices
• Lays Hot BBQ Chips! A Daddy treasure shipped from America! Thanks Mommy!^.^

These lunches have been linked to Bentolunch.net's  What's for Lunch Wednesday! Week 95

Arrrgh, It's still Pirate Month at Leikkikoulu

Arrrgh, It's still Pirate month at Leikkikoulu! Here are a few of the snack bentos Missy Lulu has taken to playschool.

A Pirate Ship:

• Whole wheat tortilla spread with Apple butter. Cheese nori and salami details
• A banana wedge
• Mozzarella cheese balls and two cherry tomato swords!
• Orange juice to drink and a chocolate gold doubloon for a treat!

A Pirate Boy...this little guy is all over bento world, and he's been done a million times...but he's easy right?

• A Pirate sammie of bologna cheese and nori.
• Red Bell Pepper slices
• Banana Yogurt
• Apple juice to drink

Ugh, woke up late...had no clue what to do! LoL

• Flower sammie spread with a pineapple pecan cream cheese.
• A big strawberry, blueberries, and carrot sticks. (The tiny bear container holds Tzatziki sauce)
• Orange juice to drink

(Today's snack bento )A Pirate Egg

• A boiled egg "Pirate" Nori and bologna details
• two strips of bacon..yummy, bacon. ^.^
• A big strawberry and blueberries

I've got one more pirate lunch left in me (with a lot of month left..) If any of you ladies have any Pirate theme ideas please share with me!

These lunches have been linked to Bentolunch.net's  What's for Lunch Wednesday! Week 95

Sesame Street bentos

These meals are inspired by my favorite childhood show Sesame Street!  I am still a fan of these characters and eagerly teach Missy Lulu who all my favorites are; since she's never seen the show! The first is her snack bento for today's playschool.

Inside this snack bento we have:

• Cherry Yogurt topped with rice crispies
• Simply a banana and half a clementine orange decorated as my favorite odd couple Burt and Ernie. They are stylized with nori, food picks and pre made Wilton eyes!
• Some blueberries are in there as well!

Note: Coming home today she told me that she didn't eat her fruit because she couldn't peel it herself.  Maybe this idea would be better for a older child...even though I know a teacher would of helped her if she asked! But she ate it all after she had me peel the fruit before her lunch.

She had spinach pie for lunch, as I had just baked it for dinner. So this next meal was really saved as a bento dinner to be shared with Baby sunshine!

It's Big Bird made from Macaroni and cheese. Big bird  has cheddar cheese and salami details for his beak, and his eyes are the Wilton premade eyes with slices of salami and blueberry for his eye lids. Big Bird's legs are carrot strips and salami. Along with the Mac n' cheese they had:

• Roasted Chicken drumettes
• Steamed frozen broccoli 
• A cherry tomato
• A Big Strawberry and blueberries

The girls loved the dinner, which I packed in the strawberry plastic packaging. A good lesson because if you're just starting in bento making, any small container can become a bento box. All you need is food and imagination! I sometimes save the fruit packaging from the cherry tomatoes as well, because they'll be great for picnic season once the weather is warm again. Here's the bento with the top on.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week this week! This bento is linked to Bento Blogs Network's Bento of the week. Birds

Two Pirate Lunches

It's Pirates theme at playschool this month, so I'm making pirate theme bentos a lot this month! These are the bentos from yesterday and today!

In Tuesday's Bento we had:

• A Captain's Pirate hat (Apple butter sammie with nori and cupcake sprinkles details)
• Bologna rolls 
• Cherry tomatoes
• Sliced cucumbers
• Bread sticks
• Sliced Kiwi and a big strawberry with a Pirate ship sticker pick

In Wednesday's Bento we had:

• A Pirate's treasure chest sammie (1/2  Wheat bread and bologna, 1/2 Apple butter sandwich with nori and cheddar cheese details)
• A cherry tomato with a treasure chest sticker pick
• sliced Kiwi
• One big strawberry with one green "Pirate" (She just went with that!)

Glad that St. Patrick's day is coming I need a Pirate break already! LoL
These lunches have been linked to What's For Lunch Wednesdays! Week 94

Hello Kitty Pirate

With this month being Pirate month at playschool everyone gets to be a swashbuckling rogue for at least a day, and today it's our favorite Kitty's turn!

It's A Pirate Kitty Muffin Tin Lunch! In this muffin tin we have:

• Pan seared tuna steak chunks
• Fried potato curls with sea salt
• Broccoli and a sliced up cherry tomato
• A blueberry mini muffin under a marzipan hello kitty pirate face
• Pirate punch  (OJ and mineral water)

For her playschool snack she also had a Hello Kitty Pirate snack bento

In this snack bento she had:

• A Pirate Kitty sandwich made with wheat bread and apple butter. The sammie had  marzipan details
• Half a banana
• Two cherry tomatoes
• Baby carrot sticks
• Cheddar cheese hearts 

This bento is so lovely! I really like the clear top so you can see what's inside!

Pirate Month at Playschool!

We have the wonderful theme of Pirates at playschool this month! I love Pirate lore and enjoy having a fun theme to play with! Here are some of what we've had so far.

Snack Bento

That day's muffin tin lunch

In these meals we had

• A Pirate cheese sandwich with salami, cheese and nori details
• A fruit treasure cup filled with clementine orange, mango and strawberry slices
• whole wheat alphabet cookies
• One chocolate gold coin
• Boxed OJ

In the muffin tin we had

• A serving of baked chicken spaghetti
• Baked butternut squash with maple syrup and cinnamon
• Tomato skewers with mozzarella and fresh basil
• A fresh baked Bisquick garlic muffin with cheese pirate face
• Slices Kiwis and a big strawberry
• Pirate Punch (OJ, and mineral water)

The following Day Missy Lulu took this snack bento to playschool

In this snack bento she had:

• A Pirate's parrot made from a quail egg  (even though he looks like a chicken..smh I tried)
• A roasted chicken drumette
• A Bisquick garlic muffin
•  Boiled edamame
• A big strawberry 
• Milk to drink
• Chocolate Pirate gold for dessert

Visit again for more pirate themes!

Kabob bento

Today Isi had a Kabob bento lunch. He loves the saucy mystery meat sliced roasts sold in sandwich form, from a dozen or more Turkish restaurants found all around here. I saw a frozen package of the same stuff in our local grocery store,  and decided to make his favorite take-away from home!

I pan fried the frozen meat with chili oil  to make it extra spicy! Instead of pita bread I used Finnish Lapland flat bread to hold his fillings. With this he had a small side salad of:

• Shredded carrots
• Red bell peppers
• sliced cucumbers
• Cherry tomatoes
• pickled Jalapeno peppers
• Lettuce and Tzatziki sauce with basil in the  small container

I had planned on serving a second container of thin sliced fried potatoes with sea salt along with his meal,but he and my oldest snarfed them down in the kitchen right as I took the ringlets from the hot pan to the paper towels for draining. Lol, I did the same as a kid when my mom made them! Overall he liked his lunch!

Fefe in Paris

Happy Monday friends! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I didn't do too much, but had a super time with my family none the less! Today I'm posting my entry for Bento of the week! The theme is dogs and my favorite dog is the poodle! I created a little french lady ready for a stroll all the streets of Paris; her name's Fefe, "Ooh, la la!"

Here's the full meal!

In this bento lunch we have:

• Fefe made of hand cut nori and rice balls flavored with a special rice coloring...(the names in Japanese but the flavor is salmon and it's lovely pink!) The Eiffel Tower is also hand cut nori all on a canvas of white sushi rice.
• Liver pate´ flowers with cheddar cheese detail
• Cherry tomatoes on washi tape toothpick flag
• Sliced cucumbers
• Cheddar cheese bread sticks
• Sliced Kiwi
• Castello cheese wedges
• A Strawberry and square of 81% dark chocolate for dessert!

I wish I were in Paris to eat this bento but it's a sunny today, so the living room sofa isn't to bad of a place to be either!! LoL

Puppy Sushi

This is another bento I made for the Bento Blog Network's Bento of the week. It's Sushi in doggy form...it was a practice run, but I think it came out pretty cute!

In this simple bento lunch we have:

• Two doggy Maki Sushi
• Cherry tomatoes
• Castello blue cheese wedges
• One soft boiled egg
• A Strawberry for dessert!

These were a challenge to make, but fun! I love practicing my skills with food art! If I do these a couple of more times, I think that these will be a signature bento item. I have a huge sushi instruction book and the things you can make from it are amazing!

Sumo Bento!

I had fun playing in the food today for Isi's lunch. I try not to make his lunches cute;  attractive is my goal usually, but when I saw some of these Sumo wrestler onigiri images, I new it would appeal to my sweetie's weird sense of humour! ^.^

 

 

In this bento we have:

• Two Sumo onigiri stuffed with a super hot tuna, srairacha, and spring onion salad.
• Salmon nuggets pan fried.
• Butternut squash sauteed.
• Salami Tamagoyaki.
• Sliced cucumbers and cherry tomatoes!            

He loved this lunch...he ate all the leftover tuna mix standing in the kitchen...(was going to be my lunch '-' ) Oh, well. And he showed off his bento to colleagues at work!  So cute!

Mickey Mouse Bento and Muffin Tin

Missy Lulu has had quite a boost in her appetite lately. It's quite shocking for me to here "Mom I'm hungry!" .."You?" is my usual reply, but the Mommy in me is happy to hear it really! Lol. I've started making quick, smaller snack bentos for school now; and a large full lunch for her to sit at the table and have with me. It's a wonderful change to the day because usually I had to beg her to eat what ever picked through items she didn't eat at playschool. Now the box comes home empty and she's looking for lunch! I love it!
Today she had a Mickey Mouse snack bento and Muffin tin for lunch.

In this snack bento she has:

• A "Mickey Mouse" Egg  "He's a mess, but I was sleepy this morning!" LoL
• Edamame on Mickey Mouse sticker picks.
• A sesame herb mix in the Mickey Mouse container to sprinkle on egg.
• Orange wedges and a big strawberry.

When she came home from playschool she had this muffin tin.

In her Mickey Mouse Muffin Tin she has:

• A  Mickey Mouse Onigiri with nori details
• Salmon nuggets in a lettuce cup.
• Sauteed butternut squash with cinnamon and maple syrup
• Fruit of Grapes and orange wedges
• Frosted Flakes for dessert
• Milk

Not only did she eat the whole muffin tin,  she asked me for another onigiri...(in Mickey Mouse form of course  '-') I'm still in shock!

BBQ Tofu Bento

On Tuesday Daddy had another vegetarian meal, barbecued tofu with a cream herb sauce topped with chopped basil.

With his main entree, he had steamed broccoli,  yellow cherry tomatoes, quick pickled cucumber and cabbage salad.          

Princess Crown and Three Lions

Tuesday's snack bento was a simple Bologna sandwich cut out with a crown cookie cutter.

She had a yogurt, carrot flowers and raisins with her sandwich. The little chick container held little sprinkles to add to her yogurt!

For lunch on Tuesday, Missy Lulu had bow tie pasta with a cream herb sauce, tomato and basil.

Along with the pasta, there was barbecued tofu and edamame on a skewer pick. For dessert she had kiwi, orange slices and a big strawberry.

Lentil Herder's Pie Bento for Daddy

I found a wonderful vegetarian blog with a months worth of healthy, tasty menus. My dear hubby is not a big meat eater and I just can't bear to be bored so this was a win win for the whole family! The menus also have each of  the weeks shopping list to make all of the months meals listed...I love that! Check out the site for yourself here. Today for lunch daddy had the Lentil Herder's Pie and a smoked Salmon salad.

Lentil Herder's Pie From Emily Springfield's Recipe
• 1 sm. Onion, diced. Sautee in some oil and add:
• 1c. uncooked lentils
• 3c. water
• 1 bay leaf. Simmer 30-45 minutes until the lentils are done. (I suppose you could use canned,
too, and skip these steps.)
• In the meantime…make mashed potatoes.
• When the lentils are done:
• Make a roux of 2 Tbl. Flour and 2 Tbl. Oil or melted butter. Add to lentils.
• Also add something salty and flavorful to the lentils: veggie bouillon (2 tsp), tamari (1 Tbl), soy
sauce (1 Tbl), Bragg’s (1 Tbl), or even just plain salt (1/2 tsp).
• Simmer until thickened. You want lentils in gravy, not soup.
• Layer lentils (use a slotted spoon and drain them a bit if they’re too soupy), diced cooked
vegetables (frozen peas and carrots, heated through and drained, are great), and top with
mashed potatoes.
• You can bake this to get a nice browned top, but if the veggies are warmed first, you can eat it
right away.

It's a delicious recipe and he and both girls loved it! I pared this with a big smoked salmon salad layered with zucchini, cherry tomatoes, spring onion, basil,  cashews and grass onion. With the salad (in the little tomato sauce bottle) is a quick Dijon mustard dressing. For a sweet end to lunch he had Navel orange slices. It's a great meal!  Thank you Emily for the idea!!! Yum

Not to Grouchy Oscar!

On Monday I tried to make Missy Lulu a "Oscar the Grouch" for her snack, I mean how hard could he be! From all the photo images I've seen online, nothing looks too difficult...but then why I just couldn't get his face right I'll never know! This project was a fail...but at least she ate him!

In this snack bento she had a rather pleased looking Oscar. (Made from spinach pancake, pepperoni, cheese and nori details.) Along with her Oscar she had a few whole wheat alphabet cookies and a strawberry.

For Lunch she simply had a individual serving Shepard's pie (but made with lentils instead of beef or lamb.)

It's nice to make one-pot meals like this, everything is all inside. Veggies like peas, carrots and leeks; also a rich protein filled lentil stew in a brown gravy sauce. Buttery mash potatoes are baked on top!

Daddy's Favorite is backs!

My hubby loves Chicken Nugget Caesar Salad to pieces! He could probably eat it everyday for months...but he's sweet enough to eat whatever I make for him,( like the zucchini pasta with peanut butter sesame sauce from the other day!) But because he ate it all, and is open to trying all my little experiments! (Haha) I made his favorite today...again.

Chicken Caesar Salad Bento  (Caesar Salad dressing not shown)

• Chicken Nuggets (from Lidl, they are the best!)
• Cherry tomato with basil (I gave them cute faces, couldn't help myself!)
• Bean Sprouts
• Grated Carrot
• Sweet red peppers
• Salad Greens under everything 
• Fried Onions
• Boiled egg
• Grapes for dessert!

It was a huge meal...even for my big man! He said "Cut back on the chicken...(a little)" Ok, Isi! ^.^

In Like a Lion!

Welcome March!! The promise of spring approaches and I have the faith, even though I'm surrounded by snow! Lol! The saying goes "If March comes in like a lion, it will go like a lamb" So though it's cold and snowy now I'm hoping for warm breezes and super sunny skies soon! So the Lion of March's arrival is today's theme!

I've redone the fabulously gifted Natakiya's of Bento Anarchy lion pancake bento. See her amazing work here. She is so amazing with her ideas and precise layout (which isn't my strong point and I desperately want to practice and improve; so I know who my guru's are! Lol!!  In my Lion pancake bento we have:

• A lion pancake made from Finnish carrot pancakes. They're really soft in texture and slightly sweet.
• Green grapes with the March Lion and Lamb picks
• Diced apple in a silicone cup
• beef sausages
• A quail egg decorated with a leaf pick and a carrot flower

For Lunch we continued the Lion and the promise of Spring theme:

In this muffin tin lunch we have:

• A lion made from toast and chicken nuggets
• Steamed broccoli with cute Spring icon picks
• Spring comes salad, with a tomato fairy, carrot flowers,lettuce and blue cheeses salad dressing
• Blueberry soup with cream stirred in.
• Sliced apples and a big strawberry
• Milk to drink

She's going though a growth spurt lately because she ate so so well! I am so proud of her!