From the category archives:

lazy bentos

weekly feature | The Lazy Bento’er

January 7, 2012

in lazy bentos

lbwk1

So I’ve talked briefly on here about doing bento-style lunches for Emma. Now, lest you think “bento” is this new and hip way to make lunches, it’s not. The Japanese have been doing it for ages, and they call it eating.

Of course, the Westerners took it one step further and turned it into “a thing.” Don’t get me wrong – it’s “a thing” that I can totally get on board with, but I just don’t do it as whole-heartedly as others. But I do want to make lunches more interesting for my sweet girl. And selfishly, I want her to eat the things that I prepare for her. So I do what I do, and it works.

Let’s be honest … I’m a Lazy Bento’er. I’m SO lazy that I didn’t even take pictures of Monday’s lunch, so I only have two lunches to share this week.

Wednesday

IMG_9934

whole grain goldfish crackers, sliced strawberries, heart-shaped ham and mustard sandwich, and a pickle

IMG_9939

And for those of you curious as to how I pack these boxes for her to take to school, Emma has an insulated lunch bag that I adore, because of the snap-in liner, which makes washing it a BREEZE. I was going to link to it, but I can’t find it anywhere online. I think it was around 8 bucks at Target?

IMG_9941

I usually send Capri-Sun Roaring Waters [since her school collects the water packages for money] and one ice pack from the free formula bags the hospital sends home when you have a baby. If I send yogurt or a lot of refrigerated items, I may put an ice pack on the other side, but everything comes home still cold, so I think one ice pack is fine.

IMG_9942

Friday

IMG_0012

star-shaped strawberry cream cheese sandwich, whole grain goldfish crackers, rolled-up deli ham and cheese slices – I also included [but didn’t picture] a leftover baggie of sliced apples from when she took the snack bucket to school on Wednesday

IMG_0015

All of her boxes came from All Things for Sale, which is a super cheap online store for all things Bento. They didn’t send these things to me in exchange for a link … I bought everything and then gave it to Emma for Christmas. No freebies in this household! ;)

Next week, I’ll share my whole arsenal of Bento tools, but I need to find a counter-top box that will hold everything first. Needless to say, this is what my counter looks like at the end of the week.

IMG_9994

But the school trash can is empty! :)

Pin It

share or add to your own blog:

{ 27 comments }

bento lunches [week 1] and the vintage pearl giveaway winners

December 9, 2011

in emma,giveaways,lazy bentos,phone pics

So I’m not much for bandwagons, and “bento lunches” seem to be the latest trend. Cutting food into shapes, using cutesy toothpicks to hold food together, carving fruit, etc. I’ll be honest … I thought it was kind of nuts.

But then I noticed that Emma was coming home with the majority of her lunch still in her lunch bag, and she’d be hungry all afternoon. And if there’s one thing I hate more than bandwagons, it’s wasting food.

So I pulled out our Easy Lunchboxes and started loading them up with the same stuff I was fixing for her. But instead of doing a baggie of fruit, a baggie of crackers and a sandwich in a baggie, I put it all in a box.


[ham and mustard sandwich [I let her pick the shape], slice of cheese, goldfish crackers and grapes]

And lo and behold, she came home with a handful of goldfish crackers and 3 grapes.

Wednesday was much of the same …


[ham and mustard sandwich, olives, cheese, goldfish crackers, yogurt-covered raisins]

And today’s lunch …


[this week's letter is "J" so I made her a "jet" ham sandwich, a pickle, strawberries and goldfish crackers - not seen: pudding cup for a Friday treat]

So far, this is really working out great, and she is eating quite a bit more than she ate before. And honestly, it’s not any harder than what I was doing before. I still give her the same food, but for some reason, having it like this makes it more appealing to a 4-year old.

I look to Wendolonia.com for inspiration, because she makes beautiful “bento” lunches in a way that I prefer, which is making what I would normally make, but making it more fun for Emma.

And one more positive is no plastic baggie waste!

If you’re interested, here is what I used this week …

Now, before I forget, I wanted to announce the two winners of the Vintage Pearl giveaway!

Congratulations to …

#72 is Mrs. H

#14 is Laura H.

I will be emailing you both shortly – congratulations! And thank you all for entering. Remember, all items ordered from the Ready to Ship page by December 15 will make it in time for Christmas!

{ 13 comments }

Next Entries →