Left-behind Basic Bento Lunches

Here are some school lunches I never blogged for reasons:

Cheese quesadillas for my little monkey Mia Bella, with honey ham rolled & secured with monkey bento picks, & cucumber slices, some cut with a flower shaped cutter, packed in our Leaflet tight bento box.

Ham roll-ups again, this time secured with cocktail swords, a mini bagel, grape tomatoes, carrots & celery sticks, packed in EasyLunchboxes. There was probably cheese in the bagel, but I don't remember for sure...

Cherry tomatoes, concord grapes, celery & carrot sticks, topped with cheddar cheese stars. I remember this one because she was still hungry when she got home, it would have been better as a side bento with some soup!

A classic Beanstalk's choice bento from ages ago, all fruit & grain. Quaker Whole Hearts cereal, Clif KidZ bar, & Granny Smith apple wedges. 

And, another fruit & grain Lock & Lock lunch. Grapes, star crackers, mini bagel, & harlequin apple. My boy's a creature of habit...

These are all pretty basic bentos, nothing amazing about them, but I think they're good examples of how basic doesn't have to be boring - small touches like a couple of cute picks, a little detail with a paring knife, something cut with a cookie cutter, or even just arranging the food in a pattern, can make an ordinary lunch a little more appealing :)

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Some stuff I used for these lunches:

Friends Share: UFO bentos... Out Of This World!

Today marks the 66th anniversary of the Roswell UFO incident... what do you believe crashed into that ranch? The truth is out there...

The sproutlets' grandparents are visiting today, so I'm not making UFO bentos, but I did make one last week, for World UFO Day. And here's a fun bento I made last summer, as one of my submissions for the Cooking with Trader Joe's : EasyLunchboxes cookbook. 4 of my bentos are featured in the cookbook, but this space alien one wasn't one of the chosen ones:

The fruit alien reminds me of Boinga from the Backyardigans; she may have been an unconscious inspiration :) My Boinga is made with a clementine, 2 grapes with raisins stuck in them, and one more raisin stuck in a slit cut into the orange peel. Beneath her are white cheddar cheese stars atop carrot asteroids. Her rocket spaceship, planet & stars are peanut butter sandwiches.

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Here are some my favourite UFO & space alien bentos made by others:

The adorable marbled cheese aliens in this space-themed bento by Cass of We Should Be Folding Laundry make me smile :)

I adore the egg UFO in this PlanetBox bento by the talented Lise of Veggie-Bento. Lise's alien & UFO creations are also featured in the Cooking with Trader Joe's : EasyLunchboxes cookbook!

I've loved Sarah of Bentoriffic's Happy Little Aliens since I first laid eyes on this cute little one-eyed guy & his three-eyed cohort.

I totally dig this colourful Alien and UFO bento by Ariani of Bebento-Kids! I've only just recently discovered her fantastic bento blog, and don't know how I've never come across it before - but I'm glad I finally have :)

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I Want To Believe

July 2nd is World UFO Day, a day dedicated to the existence of Udentified Flying Objects. The first World UFO Day was celebrated in 2001, which make this the 13th observance :) I made my little guy Pickle a UFO bento lunch:

Pickle "helped" make his lunch - meaning he got out the bread, peanut butter, yogurt, & cheese, then asked me to make him lunch :) Then he asked if it could be a surprise... so I added some grapes! He doesn't normally eat any fruit in it's original form (for those who aren't in the know, he has autism and sensory issues) but every now and then when he's in a good mood and we're in a comfortable environment, he will try something new, so, why not? Worst case scenario, I've wasted 3 grapes and endured a temper tantrum :)

Pickle's EasyLunchbox is packed with UFO peanut butter sandwiches made using cookie cutters & a candy eye,  mozzarella string cheese cut into chunks with an alien cupcake pick stuck in one, 3 green grapes, & yogurt topped with yellow sugar stardust & some fruit leather stars & UFO.

Pickle did not eat the grapes. But he did tolerate them being there, and still ate the cheese that was touching them, so if you know anything about kids with food issues, you'll agree with me - that's a good thing!

Some stuff I used to make this lunch:

4th of July Linky Party!

It's almost America's birthday, and all around me folks are getting ready to celebrate, decking everything in red, white & blue - and that includes the food! Last year the Bento Bloggers & Friends did a patriotic blog hop, but this year we decided to have a Linky Party & invite everyone to join the fun!

You're Invited!

What: A 4th of July Bento Lunch (& more) Linky Party!

Who: Anyone who's made any edible Americana and taken a photo of it :)

Where: Right here on the Bent On Better Lunches blog

When: Now through July 13th 2013 (4th of July is the theme, not the date)

Directions: You don't need a blog to join this party! All you need is a photo with a direct URL. You can even link a Facebook photo if the privacy setting is set to public - click the timestamp & copy that URL. Click the “Add your link ” button below the thumbnails & follow the prompts.

RSVP: If you plan to attend later, you're welcome to leave a comment saying so, and if you don't, you can leave a comment anyways, I love comments :)

Happy Canada Day!

We're trying to get our deck done while the sun shines, so the sproutlets' lunches have been mostly fruit & cheese lately, nothing cute, but they haven't minded. I did take a few minutes to pack a healthy snack for my hard-working Sailor Boy, in our PlanetBox Shuttle, for whenever he's ready to take a break:

He has mini raisin banana muffins, yogurt with red sprinkles, and watermelon. The muffins are truly Canadian, they were baked in Canada, by my mom ♥

Here are a couple of last year's holiday lunches, click the pic to see the post :)