D is for Domo

 Aunt Agnes made some banana bread the other day. I have to say that I love hers. Not to much banana to make it mushy and it is not sweet either. It's perfect! Yet for some odd reason, the minions refuse to eat it.  They refuse to eat it even when it is sweet. So today, in preparation of me baking another bread to try, I decided to see if I could get them to eat it. Remember, I refuse to spend more than 15-20 minutes. I have 4 under the age of 5 and 3 are solid eaters.

I was talking to my anime friend and Domo came to mind. Yes! They are brown and would be perfect. There is not much I could do to mess this one up. So I cut the bread into a little bit more of a rectangle shape and added pretzels for arms and candy eyes. The mouth is made from strawberry cream cheese and mozzarella cheese for the teeth.

I have some not so ripe peaches, kiwi, and colby jack cheese helping to keep the arms steady for transport to the table. Minions are not to careful with their bento's. And we have bologna D's stacked up for their enjoyment as well.

Did they eat the bread? Yes! Pork emptied out his bento onto the table before he went after the Domo. Tyke ate them first thing while pointing to the peaches and telling me they were apples and how much he loves apples.

The frog bentos were purchased from AllThingsForSale.com . My Father-in-Law purchased the first one for me and the minions fought over it so much I had to purchase a second. Have I mentioned how much I love that site? Love cannot even begin to describe it.

Mama Bento #2 Yellow rice sushi

I must have been feeling my oats today! It only took me 5 minutes to get Clark out of the bath, dressed, coat, hat, boots, gloves and backpack on and out the door. I lost track of time and I did not want him to miss the afternoon bus. After putting a very fussy Porkums down for nap/quiet time, I made myself something. I was trying to figure out what to do with the rest of the yellow rice. I wanted sushi. Only I was pretty sure the yellow rice was not sticky enough. So I reheated it with a little bit of water and gave it a try.

Today's offering is yellow rice sushi with salmon, carrot, and red pepper (this would have been yummy with avocado too!). The veggies are carrot sticks, red pepper, and tomatoes. The bottom tier has 1/3 cup cottage cheese, plumbs (I think), carrot coins, and raisins. This ended up sitting for a little bit since Colonel Sanders decided she would like to be fed. I was afraid to drop food on her, so I waited till she was done eating and asleep enough for me to move. I was surprised how well the fruit kept the cottage cheese in place. Outside of the pieces touching it, nothing else had cottage cheese on it.

As you can see, the sushi came out pretty well. The only way I could get this to work was to make sure I rolled the sushi very tight and cut it double the normal length. As long as I did that, the rice stayed in the roll pretty well. Still, it was not very sticky. Next time I will be sure to have an avocado on hand.

This bento I have had for a while. Does anyone remember Bento TV ? Well, I got this bento from her. The more I think about it, I have had this one for 2 years (it spent most of that time packed in a box). I don't know if she still has this one, but she does have an Ebay store and you can always watch her movies on her site. She makes some simple things.

T is for Turtle

I don't know what I was thinking when I decided to make and bake a bread turtle. It turned out a little to crusty for something it's size. So I put it in a plastic bag while still warm and this morning it is much softer. Also, as you can see, my poor turtle looks more like a ladybug. Oh well, maybe I will do better next time.

Today's lunch is a peanut butter and jelly turtle. The "shell" is made from bologna, nori and had a "T" on it's back. The eyes are raisins. It sits on a bed of left over yellow rice. With that there are grape tomatoes, carrots, raisins, and part of a plumb.

This box is a Dora (I have a matching Spiderman too) "lunch pack" that I found at Walmart. There is a smaller box that comes with it.

 

C is for Cat

Today's lunch has kiwi, blueberries, berry yogurt, carrots, and a kitty face peanut butter and jelly sandwich with raisin eyes, grape nose, and carrot whiskers.

This was packed in my Gerber Meal Time Organizer.

F is for... Another lazy day

Another lazy day since I am not feeling well. F was a little bit of a far reach, but the minions picked up on it right away. So today F is for a peanut butter and cream cheese Face, gold Fish, Fruit, and then there is also some oh so delicious over processed chicken scrap nuggets. The little round dot is a piece of candy.

P is for Puzzle and....

 P is for Puzzle sandwich, Plumb Rabbits. The sandwich is Peanut butter and strawberry cream cheese. I know it is an odd combination, but I can't find my jelly. The day is always a huge rush to get lunch made before Clark gets on the bus and before one of the younger minions has a meltdown. I cut out bologna and cheese puzzle shapes to help decorate the sandwich. Also there are 4 puzzle pieces.

Here we have our cheese P on top of Popcorn, red Peppers, carrots, spinach, and Plumb cats with blueberries for balls.

I used Peanut butter to attach the whiskers and tails. Everything packed pretty tight and most of it did not move. Although the whiskers did fall off one of the cats.

W, 7, and crepes

Grape, Blueberry, and kiwi fruit salad, bologna, carrots, pudding filled crepes, tomato, cocktail onion, and green olive.

I had the bright idea to make the minions crepes today. Or what passes here as crepes. My mother always put fruit and yogurt in them. I decided it would be more of a hidden desert and put some pudding in them.

Lazy lunch day

Banana with PB and almonds, ABC pretzels, zucchini, apple rabbit, grapes (under it all), left over pizza, and cheddar cheese.

Today Clark had no school. To top that off the Elder was also home for the day (work holiday). So lunch was a bit on the lazy side. Oh, did I mention that 2 of the minions had digestion issues? Yes, it was lovely. Since no one wants to eat oats or rice here, I attempted to make apples and banana fun. Seems to have worked.

Yes, today's rabbits have one eye. Why? Because Tyke said so.



Today was a busy day with everyone home. We decided to go grocery shopping after lunch. So I wanted something quick, easy, and still including something to help the sick minions. Luckily they loves the cute rabbits and the interesting banana. I thought maybe it could pretend to be a log.

K on Friday

Peanut butter and jelly whole wheat tortilla rolls, more meat and cheese sushi, plumb bunnies, popcorn, applesauce, carrots, zucchini, and tomato with some dip in the cup.

I know I am a little late posting this. We have had a very busy week here with people visiting and what not. And yes, today Colonel Sanders joined us for lunch today!

I don't think Colonel Sanders is very amused by her "bento".

I decided to make the meat and cheese rolls again since Clark was home. He was not here the other day when we had them. Everyone tried them after they pushed out the red pepper centers. Pork was the only one who are a few of the centers. Everyone went after the dip first. Once again I remember why I do not offer dip very often or at all. Yes, Pork Chop is eating his veggie dip with a spoon.

Today's lunch was put in my Sassy On The Go feeding set. It has several compartments with tight fitting lids. I only used one of the removable compartments (applesauce). You can find them at Meijer and at Babies R Us.

C is for Clover

After a mini vacation I am back!

Today's number was 20. It lays on a bed of kiwi. Also we have ham and cheese "sushi" rolls. The centers are spinach and red pepper. Sadly those were not as big of a hit as I thought. Today's fruit is grapes and blueberries. and a skewer of green olives.

The 2nd tier had a peanut butter clover shaped sandwich with more of the meat and cheese "sushi", multi colored goldfish and the letter "C" made out of cheese.

This bento is new. I found it on Ebay and bought it for Pork.

Adventures in Space

 

 Today's lunch is space inspired. There are grape tomatoes in various places with peanut butter rocket ship sandwich, a bed of spinach with some Parmesan cheese crumbles and a cheese moon. The strawberry aliens (with carrot arms) are sitting on a planet made of bologna.

To the right are 2 more peanut butter rocket ship sandwiches blasting off from carrot sticks. There is a cheese moon (or sun) and the clouds are made from tempura seaweed. I found the tempura seaweed in the Asian market last time I went. I told the minions they were chips and after a few hesitant nibbles, they ate them.

Mama bento, not for minions.

 I made Onigiri (rice ball) for my lunch today. I am lucky to know of a really neat oriental market about 45 minutes away in Grand Rapids. It does not sell any bentos, but it does have rice seasonings, specialty noodles, and other things you will just not find in the supermarket.

The rice seasonings I used were shrimp, egg, and lastly salmon. I have to say while  I love shrimp, I was not to fond of the seasoning.  I hand made these. I would normally use plastic wrap to help me shape them, but I was out. I do have several rice molds, but none that size.

Below that is Tamagoyaki or a Japanese rolled omelet. This one just had cheese in it. I know it sounds kinda gross being cold, but if you add salt, pepper, a touch of sugar or vanilla and an open mind, it really was good. On top of that I have a dog made out of red pepper.

For my side dish I cooked carrots, mushroom, red peppers and half a slice of bacon.

The not so great kite idea.

Can you tell it is a kite? No? That's ok. Clark could. Tyke thought it was a pirate ship and Porkums could care less. He was to busy eating. Initially Tyke did not feel like eating, but when Clark mentioned apples, he changed his mind.

The kite is made out of wonton ravioli (better than it sounds) with a filling of chicken, cheese, artichoke and spinach. Only Pork tried it. The string is made from some turkey bacon I needed to use up. To the left there is tri colored pasta and sauce, raw zucchini, carrots, apple slices, and blueberries.

I think it could use some more... Pork.

This time half the box is leftovers from the night before. Last night it was not a hit with the younger crowd. So I gave it a second shot with some success! And yes, my goal last night was to eat something so fatty that I could feel my arteries clog.

We have a peanut butter pig with a ham nose, cheese nostrils, and candy eyes. Carrot sticks are to the left, bananas with red sugar sprinkles on top, and some grapes.

The rounds are bacon wrapped chicken stuffed with ham and 2 cheeses. Next we have bacon wrapped white asparagus and a sword pick with grape tomatoes on it. Today's letter and number actually go along with the box. There were 3 meat rounds and 3 grape tomatoes. P is for pig, pork, and pleasantly plump. If you notice, I never have any dips for the carrots. I learned that if I provide dip, the minions will eat the dip but not the veggies. If I have no dip, they will eat the veggies 70% of the time without encouragement.

Tyke actually ate the bacon wrapped chicken this time around. And Pork licked the asparagus several times. Once I turned my back he started to eat his bacon and chicken rolls. He is such a ham.

Pork trying the asparagus.

No bento, but Some new stuff!

Today I had the opportunity to go shopping alone! All I had to do was get my eldest on the bus and then drop the other 3 off. :-D  

While at Meijer (like a Super Walmart) I decided to check the baby aisle for the elusive Sassy On The Go lunch containers. Previous expeditions have proved futile. I really did not want to order one... Or three. This time I was in luck! I found 3 blue and 1 pink! Perfect! I put them all in my shopping cart and then realized that I had already spent all my "bento allowance" this month.  Sad, sad day. Until I remembered that Single Awareness Day is next Tuesday. We had not gotten the minions anything yet. So I picked up the 3 blue ones. I figured I could not get away with getting Colonel Sanders one since she is just shy of 3 month. I do have to say that these are smaller than my Gerber ones.  The divided containers are a nice perk too. I just have to wait 6 more day until I can take them for a spin. I only paid $5.99 each for them. That's not bad at all.

When I arrived home, I nearly tripped over a box coming in the storm door. Yes, beware, minions may block clear view of the floor. My mother had sent me a gift for my birthday. No, no bento there. Although I did have a package in the mail box plus an envelope from China! Two of my Ebay item had come.

I paid .11 total for this with free shipping!

I do realize that bentos can be in normal containers. I have some lunches in green Tupperware someplace on here.

This is for Tyke. He loves Cars. Don't worry, the other 2 have
some coming for them too!

Love

I was feeling a little left out. A few of my favorite blogs have had some holiday themed bento and I have had... none. So I made a heart lunch. Why is it in a pink box? Because Tyke wanted the kitty. How could I say no to my blonde minion?


My Pork Chop was asleep by the time I put lunch out. He was up extra early this morning and fell asleep in the 2 minutes it took me to go out the door and put my eldest on the bus. Oh well, they had their lunches separate.

Today we have a whole wheat bologna and cheese heart sandwich with Love spelled out in 2 cheeses and bologna. In the bottom we have strawberries, apples, a Energy Bite shaped like a heart, and 2 chicken and spinach gyoza separated by a cheese heart.



I am so proud of myself. I made the energy ball/bite things again and used next to no honey and used crunchy peanut butter. I really liked this better. The minions are convinced they are cookies. So I see it as a win win situation. They are eating something that is very healthy for them and they think it's a treat.

Pork telling me it was an O

"Cupcake" lasagna and apple rabbits

 

Today we have Apple rabbits with marshmallow tail and nose, raisins, blueberries, and a bologna 5. In the second tier we have lasagna "cupcake", chex mix, and a bologna P.

I first came across the apple rabbit in an episode of Cooking with Dog . Be warned if you click the link, you will become addicted! Needless to say, the apple rabbit looked pretty easy. Which really translates into semi easy with the chance of cutting myself because one or more of the minions are running about or pulling on me. A baby gate does no good. My 2 year old is a football player in the making. I am pleased to announce that despite 2 of them fighting over one of over 300 Hot Wheels they have, I did not cut myself and they look about 1/4 as nice as the ones on Cooking With Dog. And yes, they really have that many Hot Wheels. *sighs*

Also I have "cupcake" lasagna in their lunch today. The original recipe was from Emily Bites. I loved the recipe, but I changed it a little bit for the minions. They need all the fatty goodness they can get. The use of wonton wrappers is genius and I have to admit that they taste great the first day and even better the second day. For the minions (ok, only 2 out of 4 since Clark is in school today and Miss Colonel Sanders is only 2 months old) I used hamburger, cottage cheese, Italian seasoning, cheddar cheese, pasta sauce, and the wonton wrappers.

I have discovered that peanut butter makes really nice "glue". I used it to stick the nose and tails onto the apple rabbits today.


I am happy to say that it took a little coaxing but Tyke finally tried the lasagna and loved it. This is the 3rd time he has seen it. Pork on the other hand is more than happy to eat almost anything.

Yellow and white chick

The boys are still not wanting to eat rice for some odd reason. They use to love it. So today I thought I would try something a little different. I decided to use my rice molds on broccoli and cheese Rice a Roni. I have to say it held together rather well. To bad the minions still would not touch it. They just ate the cheese off the top.

Anyway, today's lunch consisted of Rice a Roni  chicks with a swiss cheese and cheddar cheese chick on top, apple "eggs", strawberries and blueberries on a sword skewer, and 100% processed chicken nuggets (yep, do you want to know how these are made? Ask and I am sure you will not eat them again). Oh, and spinach under the chicks. Today's letter was "U" and the number 8. Why 8? Because we had 8 chicken nuggets and it worked perfect to count with.

I cheated with the chick eyes. I think I will be doing that a lot from now on. Wilton makes candy eyes. How great is that? Give the minions a little sweet with their lunch and make my life easier.

Jellyfish and the pasta field

I have to say, looking back, I wish I would have made a cheese Spongebob. *sighs* Maybe next time. My little Miss Colonel Sanders was interrupting my not so creative juices with her cries to be the center of attention. Yes, 2 month olds can be very needy. Good thing they are so cute. I suppose I could have put her in a sling. Only I am sure she does not enjoy food being dropped on her. Or not yet anyway. I am sure she will once she can gum real food. Mama makes a mess when she is playing with her bentos. That is why I have a dog though. The dogs job is to clean up anything I may drop.



This is the maiden voyage of my Gerber Mealtime Organizers I picked up at Walmart the other day. Please see my previous post for my review on them.

Anyway, back to the bento and less about my issues. Today's meal consists of tricolor pasta with spinach (you can barely see it) and butter. There is a baby sausage crab sitting on some zucchini. The jellyfish are made from the baby sausages cut in half and whole wheat thin spaghetti. 

To the left of that is some unsweetened applesauce with the letter "C" made out of blueberries. Above that is yet another one of those yummy energy balls (which the minions still think are cookies) and some of the Kraft 3 cheddar cheese blend.




I used one of my silicone cups in this one. I think this will be the last time I do so. From now on, only paper cups. Pork was ever so kinda and gave the cup to the dog to clean when I was not looking. Needless to say, I no longer have a cup. Also I have decided that I "need" a nori punch. Making small eyes is just to much work for me.

Gerber Mealtime Organizer

I decided to give my new Gerber Mealtime Organizers a spin. I do have to say that they are a little large for the amount of food my toddler and preschoolers eat. Although when you are making a fun lunch, space can be a perk. They are a good size for teens and adults. I picked my Mealtime Organizers up at Walmart in the baby section. They appear to only come in blue and red. 

The Gerber Mealtime Organizers seem to open up with ease. My eldest has some very fine motor skill problems and cannot always open things. Yet he managed to open this up without an issue. Also my 2 year old was able to open them. That is always nice. Even though they did open and close easily, they seemed to remain shut quite well. Pork (2) was running around the table with his, tripped, and the box bumped against the table. It remained shut. That is nice, especially with little ones.

These are not leak proof. Although one of the small sections on the inside comes with a tight cover. So you could pack applesauce or yogurt. The large section on the inside is more than enough room for a sandwich.

The only issue we had was with the outside compartment on the lid. When the minions let the lid drop back to the table, the cover to the compartment would pop off. So if you used that compartment (I didn't) you would either need to be gentle when you put the lid down or take the food out of that compartment first. Either way, we did like the Gerber Mealtime Organizer and at $6.99 each, I think it was a good deal.