Happy Hannukah!

Bella has a Hannukah bento today. We aren't Jewish but her American Girl Rebecca is, & celebrates the holiday in the book Candlelight for Rebecca :)

Bella's LunchBots Quad contains:

•  Whole grain peach Newtons, & chocolate pretzel mushrooms.
  I think upside-down they resemble dreidels, don't you?
• Baby carrots & a cocktail tomato on a dreidel cupcake pick.
• Star of David cantaloupe chunks
• Cucumber chunks topped with a Star of David cucumber slice. For the 3D effect, I sliced it thick, cut the star out of the center & set it aside, sliced the cucumber piece in half, then put the star back in.

She also has a LunchBots insulated container of soup, & cutlery, not shown.

I actually bought a box of matzos and was going to include some - crackers & soup, yum, right? But then this morning when Bella asked what she could take for the food drive, I impulsively changed my mind and gave it to her to donate. It was a really big box, and I don't even know if she likes matzo :)

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I Love You, Near & Far

Remember that Sesame Street segment with that loveable, cute & furry monster Grover running back & forth to show preschoolers the difference between near & far? I wonder if they still play that segment...  Anyways... these are not Sesame Street bentos nor do they teach near & far...  it's my lunch photo that got me thinking about Grover's lesson...  you'll see why.

Here's lunch for Birdie & Sprout. Birdie made her own cheese sandwich with our CuteZcute cutter! She didn't quite press hard enough for the kitty image to imprint well but she had fun making it & she's happy with it ♥

Usually I take the lunch's photo on the table on our front porch but Sailor Boy had some boxes on it so I put the lunch down on the porch instead, and took it from standing. Then I cropped in for this post. Now you see what got me thinking about Sesame Street's near & far skit!

I got a kick out of my toes peeking in because my socks match the lunch :) Kind of hard for those socks not to match something though, heh!

Anyways, they both have CuteZcute kitty sandwiches - Birdie's is cheese & Sprout's is Nutella & PB - carrots with one stuck through a heart cupcake topper ring, & apple wedges, packed in mis-matched Sassy boxes. I couldn't find one of the inner containers so subbed a silicone baking cup.

And here's that Sesame Street clip :)

Stuff used to make these lunches:

   

Happy Anniversary Doctor Who!

Today marks the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who! Such a milestone deserves to be commemorated with something special, so my littlest Whovian, 4 year old Birdie, helped me make a special bento for her lunch :)

TARDIS lunchbox from ThinkGeek (USA)   K-9 cookie cutter from Lakeland (UK)

Birdie's as much a fan of The Sarah Jane Adventures as she is of Doctor Who, & she loves K-9, the robot dog. She made her K-9 cheese sandwich all by herself ♥ ♥ He's only slightly wibbly-wobbly, she did a fantastic job!

Birdie made her sandwich using one of our new Whovian cookie cutters my amazing English friend Grace (of Eats Amazing) recently sent us.  She also sent the TARDIS chocolate mold I used to make the little blue K-9 sweet ♥ ♥

I packed the other half of the LunchBots Duo with yogurt in a LunchBots Dips cup, apples, & a TARDIS print cloth napkin. I swirled some blue sugar into the pink and blue Trix yogurt to represent the Time Vortex. The apple wedges are striped like K-9's collar (which matched the 4th Doctor's iconic scarf).

My little Whovian was thrilled with her K-9 bento. She's super excited about the 50th Anniversary episode that airs today. She's got her fez on and her sonic screwdriver ready to use when the Doctor uses his ;)

Now click the the button to hop over to Robot Squirrel & the Monkeys and see what the talented Eileen has made for her little Time Lords!

Some stuff used to make this lunch:

Look, Lunch : Fall Theme

Bella's lunch: Clif bar, spiced almonds, whole grain peach Newtons, tomatoes & mozzarella chunks, sweet peppers, packed in EasyLunchboxes.

Pickle's PB sandwich cut with a leaf cookie cutter.

yubo Shark Tank bento & giveaway!

In anticipation of yubo's upcoming appearance on ABC's Shark Tank Friday night, my friend Nina of Mamabelly's Lunches With Love & I are pleased to be hosting a giveaway for a personalized shark yubo lunchbox! And, we made shark-themed bentos in our own yubo lunchboxes :)

Sprout's bento is packed in her pink yubo lunchbox. I'd envisoned making her a rectangular (tank-shaped) sandwich with a shark shape cut out of it, and silver sugar sprinkles in the cut-out, like fairy bread, but my shark cookie cutter was bigger than I remembered - or the bread was smaller - either way, it didn't work out. Instead, I made simple shark-shaped sandwiches. The oval yubo container is the tank! And I ate the scraps :)

Goldfish crackers had to be included since I had the perfect Lunchbox Love card for them (you'll see).  Blue cotton candy Trix yogurt was perfect for the shark sprinkles to circle in. I had Tiger & Hammerhead shark cupcake picks, so I stuck them in some string cheese & apple cut in triangles - shark teeth!

Before I snapped the lid on, I tucked in some shark gummy fruit snacks, a spoon for the yogurt, & the aforementioned Lunchbox Love note :

No, I did not know that "Jaws" is the most common name for a goldfish :)

I was also going to make a lunch similar to one I made for Shark Week, but it was pancake day at school and I only needed to pack one lunch. So in case you were too busy watching Shark Week on TV to read my blog and missed it, and because I love how it turned out, here's the original lunch I'm referring to:

Another reason for re-sharing that lunch is because it's in a green yubo, and if you enter the giveaway you'll find out why :)

Yeah! Here's where you enter! It's easy :) If you've already been to Mambelly's Lunches With Love and seen her shark bentos, go ahead and enter via the Rafflecopter widget below. If you haven't seen her post yet,  go there now. You can enter on either page, it doesn't matter which, and you only have to enter once, it'll register on both blogs.

The giveaway is for one deluxe PERSONALIZED Sharks! yubo lunchbox!
Thank you, yubo, for generously sponsoring this giveaway!  
THIS IS A FLASH GIVEAWAY so you only have 3 DAYS to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Good Luck! And don't forget to watch yubo on Shark Tank, this Friday, November 22nd, on ABC!

Lunch Guest: Becoming A Bentoholic!

Hi everyone!  My name is Anna and I am a mom of two little ones ages 2 & 4.  My four year old daughter is in preschool and is primarily the one I pack lunches for.  Don't worry the 2 year old gets his fair share of fun snacks and muffin tin meals.  He also helps gobble up those bento scraps!  I would love for you all to stop on by my blog (Becoming A Bentoholic) or Facebook page and say hello some time.

Today I have prepared a quick, simple, and fun lunch.

In this lunch:  Carrot curls (I just used my peeler on the carrot, then curled them up in the lunchbox for prettiness), cucumber slices, peanut butter in the small pink Lego box, crackers, a few Lego block candies, clementine wedges, and red grapes.

Used as the photo background is one of my multipurpose Funkins!

This lunch is packed in our Lego lunchbox, the blue inner container is also a Lego box.

A special thanks to Cristi for letting me try my hand at guest blogging!  I hope you are enjoying some well deserved time with your family :)

Lunch Guest: Creative Food!

Hi everyone! I am Michelle from Creative Food.  My blog is all about presenting food in a fun and creative way for my daughter, Eliana. I'm so excited to be guest posting here on for Cristi while she is relaxing and enjoying well deserved time with her family!  I have always been such a huge fan of what Cristi does-- she packs the most gorgeous lunches and honestly sometimes I wish she could pack my lunches! :)

So without futher ado.. since we are in still in Fall season (although it is hard to tell because Christmas music is popping up everywhere!) I decided to make a Scarecrow lunch to share with you all today!

To make this Simple Scarecrow all I used my circle cookie cutter and some kitchen scissors.  His head I cut out with the circle cookie cutter and made a sandwich.  The hat and body I used my kitchen scissors to cut the bread crust.  His face is made of mini chocolate chip eyes, a carrot nose, confetti cheeks and a mouth drawn with edible food markers.  His straw hair is made of potato sticks that I stuck under his hat.

So when making him I had thought his hat was too plain so I decided to add some cheese and carrot decorations.. but now looking at him again he looks more like a pilgrim... So he is a Pilgrim Scarecrow! Perfect for Fall/Thanksgiving time  He was really so simple to make and Eliana loved him! She enjoyed her Scarecrow Lunch with some fruit on the side (not pictured).

Thanks again to Cristi for letting me guest post!  I hope you had a wonderful stay-cation!!

For more Creative Fun Food you can find me here:

Facebook :: Pinterest :: Instagram :: Twitter :: Google +

Lunch Guest: Food, Family, Fun!

Hello to all of the Bent on Better Lunches followers! I am Amanda from Food, Family, Fun and am thrilled to be guest posting today for Cristi. I hope that she is having a super stay-cation with her family.

Today I have made a fun panda themed lunch to share with you. 

This lunch is for my 4 year old daughter and is packed in her Planetbox Shuttle. Heidi has 2 strawberry jam sealed panda shaped sandwiches, babybel cheese with a baby panda cutout, a few grapes & blueberries, carrots and ranch dip in the mini panda cup, a single tucked away strawberry and a panda bear shaped boiled egg. These are pretty much all of her favourite things! 

I have 4 daughters ranging in age from 2 years old to 7 years old. I often pack similar lunches for them and I have also packed my 5 year old a panda themed lunch today. Hers is packed slightly differently and in a Planetbox Rover lunch container. If you'd like to see her fun lunch please click on my button below. I'll give you a hint about one difference- I've used the same CuteZCute sandwich sealer but in another way!

Thanks for having me Cristi. Enjoy your stay-cation.

Amanda

Lunch Guest: Loving Lunches!

G'Day, I'm Jackie from Loving Lunches (yes, I'm Australian). I'm loving the opportunity to guest post for Cristi while she gets some well deserved family time! To be honest I'm quite nervous, Cristi is one of my Bento idols and I still get a little giddy when I see her name pop up on my screen. I had intended to do a Monkeys in Suits lunch for you today, with lots of geeky references, but I'm afraid I'm only on geek level 1 and failed you there. I did however make sure I included some peanut butter for Pickle. Anyway, here's lunch!

Today's muffin tin was made for my Miss M, now 3 1/2 and contains

• banana/peanut butter/nutella smoothie (in a Take & Toss cup)
• bow-tie pasta (because bow-ties are cool... hey hey, I got one in there!) with tomato dipping sauce (using these silicon food cups)
• half a banana (I do keep wanting to sing *bzthhhhpppfft, half a banana*) with some almonds & yoghurt covered sultanas
• mashed banana/peanut butter monkey sandwiches with Nutella and peanut butter detail
• yoghurt and almonds (in a cute little banana silicon cup)
• monkey egg

When thinking on ingredients I knew I wanted to include peanut butter, and my inspiration for this lunch came from my new Animal Palz monkey, so banana was a must. Why not combine the two? I remember having banana sandwiches as a kid and earlier this year I rediscovered the joys of banana smoothies. So half a mashed banana and peanut butter it was.

I then added some Nutella and had a mummy sample with the bread offcuts.

The leftovers were wizzed with some milk and voila - smoothie. The other half of the banana ended up in the lunch so there was no waste there either.

Thank you for letting me share some Loving Lunches love with you today. I do believe you will be returning to your regular program by this time next week :-)

Lunch Guest: Feeling A Little Lunchy!

feeling a little bent on better lunches today...

Well, hello there to all of Cristi's loyal fans!  I'm a huge fan of hers as well.  In fact, I have been more than inspired by her amazing lunches...enough to start my own blog and attempt to make our food look as fabulous as hers...I try, but she's pretty talented with the food stuff and creativity and camera and cool fonts. I'm feeling a little lunchy, you can find me at www.feelingalittlelunchy.com and also on Facebook. I feel so honored that Cristi would let me hijack her blog for a minute to share one of my mustachioed lunches with you. I tried really hard to channel her creativity, but I still wasn't happy with the result...maybe you will like it anyways.

I have two daughters, ages 10 and 12 who are two very different people.  The 12 year old will not allow me to add any flair to her lunches anymore, but the 10 year old loves it and says she wants me to do this forever. Therefore, quite often, I make the same lunch, but two ways. One with flair, one without.

I do realize there's tomatoes in one lunch and none in the other, that's how my girls roll. They're both getting turkey and cheese with lettuce, carrots, a clementine and some pineapple chunks. They'll have some ranch to dip the carrots tossed in their bags. I always send reusable water bottles with them as well. They like me to freeze the bottles overnight so they will be good and cold all day. Basically, I just fill the bottles half way, freeze them, then in the morning I will too them off with water so they're not completely solid. They work well as ice packs, too. 

The flair-rific lunch is adorned with a couple of mustaches...mainly because we love them, but also because it's Movember, and we would love it if the men in all of our lives took the time this month to get a check up, avoid any cancers and just take care of themselves.

These lunches, as most of ours are, were packed in EasyLunchboxes. If you don't have any yet, they're great.  I'm sure you'd be able to hunt down a link for them somewhere on this blog. Look over there at the sidebar...go....buy some. 

Thanks again for letting me steal you from BentOnBetterLunches!

Lunch Guest: Bentos On The Bayou!

Hello readers! This is Rebecca from Bentos on the Bayou,  and I could not be more honored to be your guest blogger today.  Cristi is a sweet friend and someone I admire so much, so when I found out her Sailor was coming home, I jumped on the chance to step in and offer to do a post for her.

While I absolutely adore Cristi, her amazing husband Andy is kind of a super hero at my house, quite literally.  I hope this week is truly wonderful and beautiful for these 7 people that so truly deserve it.  Thank you Andy for serving our country.  I have so much respect for you and know that words can never express the gratitude I feel for you and your fellow sailors, soldiers, pilots, etc.  Thank you Cristi (and all 5 of your beautiful children) for supporting him and all you do as a military family.

The lunch I am sharing today is simple, healthy and fun!  I truly love the plethora of colors available in fruits and vegetables and love to use as many of them as possible in my bentos.  As you can imagine, I was thrilled when I cut into this Chioggia beet!  I didn’t realize it was this variety until I cut into it and saw the candy cane stripes.  I was absolutely giddy!!

What’s in the box?

Chioggia Beet Flower, Edamame

Fresh Pole Beans, Carrot Sticks, Cucumber

Clementine Orange, Raspberries

Rotisserie Chicken, Colby-Jack Cheese

Raw Corn w/ Nori Face, Cherry Tomatoes

Thank you for the pleasure of your company today!!  I hope you enjoyed this lunch, and I hope Cristi enjoyed a little extra time with her Sailor today.