Snoopy Bento

Today I attempted to make my favorite Charlie Brown characters, Snoopy and Woodstock. I used to love Charlie Brown as a kid, but remember always being depressed by how depressed Charlie Brown was in most episodes. If it weren't for Snoopy and his sidekick Woodstock, I probably wouldn't of watched the show at all! My little ones don't know these characters, but Missy Lulu never met a dog she didn't love,"Aww cute dog mommy!" she said. "And what's the other yellow thing?" ( Me:) "It's a canary bird dear, but it's hard to tell." "Oh," she says, "Well it's cute too mommy, I'll eat him!" (Me:) "Good girl!" So here's Lunch and snack:

1. Snoopy, made from a boiled chicken egg with Nori details. Snoopy is served over Ramen noodles.
2. Woodstock is hand cut from a carrot pancake. He also has some nori details.
3. The usual veggies of cucumbers and cherry tomatoes
4. Green beans
5. Sliced Chicken nugget.

In the snack bento was served:

1. Snoopy nutella sammie with nori details.
2. Yellow & red cherry tomatoes make Woodstock with nori details.
3. Two mini sausages with flower picks
4. Sliced nectarines and plums
5. Boxed fruit juice

Everyone have an amazing weekend! Love Kiki ^.^

Finnish Tortillas for Daddy's Lunch

For Isi's lunch today I used Lapin rilla...or Lapland Bread, Finnish Tortillas. I spread them with fresh cheese with chives and smoked reindeer. (Yes as in Rudolf!) Lol Sorry Santa!

Here for lunch he also had:

1. Fresh salad with carrot, green pepper flowers,tomatoes huge olive and Babybel Cheese
2. Blue Diamond Habanero BBQ Almonds
3. Sliced nectarine

Linking this meal to Whats for Lunch Wednesday week 122

Bentos gone to the dogs!!

It's a overcast day today and baby sunshine is fast asleep! I have a cup of tea and my laptop, happy to have a few moments to myself to blog! We had nice lunches today using the Hello Kitty tins...

and

For lunch we had:

1. Homemade cream of chicken soup
2. cottage cheese with bologna doll! (instead of paper) cheese and nori details. Above skirt and hair is eggplant)
3. Steamed peas
4. Tomatoes and slice cucumbers
5. sliced chicken nuggets 

For school snack I picked dogs as the theme..my oldest loves dogs. She would make a wonderful vet someday!!

In this snack bento she has two poodles...I used marzipan again. I would love to try and make pink bread like what you see at Bentomonsters, remember that pink poodle? (It was super cute!!)But until I find a good recipe, Marzipan is my medium!

1. Poodle  sammie made of butter bread and marzipan (sausage and nori paw)
2. Tiny cheese and nori poodle face...used the tiny Carl craft punch.
3. Two sausage bows
4. Apple juice

The day before Missy Lulu took this bento:

1. A doggie apple muffin...homemade from our own apples!
2. Two sausage puppies with cheese details got this idea from the amazing Luckysudnae at her blog cuteobento. (Careful you'll spend hours drooling over her work!)
3. Sliced plum and nectarine
4. Apple juice

 Linking these meals to Whats for Lunch Wednesday week 122

Having fun with Steele Lunch trays

I love muffin tin lunches, with the bits of food in each section and the element of " bento style creativity," to make eating a pleasure to children. Foods in a muffin tin also has a  nostalgic t.v. dinner feel that was always a hit with me and my little sister growing up in America. The next step
are these  stylized Steele sectioned trays. For me they're perfect; all the fun of the bento and comfort of a hot oven meal. Here are a couple I've done for the girls:

This is a lovely steel tray is from the company Din Din. It's wonderful because it can go in the oven and dishwasher. Also the sections really encourage you to use all the food groups for healthy eating! Here, they had:

1.   a bowl of tomato soup with basil
2.  an orange wedge mouth, slice grape tongue, cheese teeth
3.  cheese eyes and a cherry tomato nose, 
4. two small salmon balls with cheese details and a taste of spinach hair 
5.  a little cottage cheese with cheddar cheese sliced head and ears. 

 The theme was parts of the body this particular week. (In the Elmo bento above was a fruit leather and peanut butter sammie, cheese and fruit for Missy Lulu's snack time at playschool.)

I couldn't resist this Hello Kitty steel tray set from Bento Craft. It even came with a cover (Shown up top) and a carrying case bag. But I will only use the trays for hot home meals for the girls. The food:

1. Beef Stew...still using plastic bowls till Baby stops throwing them. Smh
2. Oven fries
3. Ketchup for dipping
4. Sliced cucumbers and mozzarella ball on food pick
5. Strawberries

Another lunch here:

Served:

1.  Hello Kitty Pancake with fruit leather hair flower and cup cake decor nose 
2. Sliced oven potatoes, Ham and green beans
3. Wilton muffin cup with nectarines and a Hello kitty cupcake ring
4. Carrot hearts with a Hello Kitty pick
5. Apple sauce made from our own apple tree!

Afro Ballerina and Daddy's Po Boy lunch

I had originally wanted to enter this fluffy haired princess in for the dance theme at Bento Blog networks "Bento of the week challenge but when I saw everyone went with ballerina's I made a quick switch in plans. Instead I shared this little cutie with my girls for lunch today and entered her here!

She's the ballerina based off of the one in Susan Yuen's Hawaii's Bento Box Cookbook. It's the first Bento Book I ever bought! I kept everything the same but I gave my girl some "Divalicious Big" hair! Lol!

Here's the whole lunch...

Today we had rice and green peas with our "Ballerina girl." She's made from bologna, Edam cheese, nori and a few cupcake sprinkle embellishments. In the main box there's Tamagoyaki with nori, broccoli, tomatoes and a couple of meatballs. For dessert there's a ton of fruit; plumbs, grapes, nectarines and oranges.

I packed Isi's lunch in his brand new Laptop lunch box, which I bought last year but haven't used until now...but boy it is nice!! I made a favorite from New Orleans..a shrimp Po Boy!

Please forgive my lousy photography... I gotta start some research to get better...but that's after the laundry list of mommy duties I have to do! But the food was great..so says the Man!
He had a great big sandwich with spicy Remoulade sauce (In the container). Along with the sandwich he had two side salads; coleslaw and avocado, corn and red bell pepper salsa. For sweets he had huge black grapes, a ripe fig and his favorite treat Halva, a Middle Eastern sweet sesame fudge like treat! He loved it all!


 Linking both lunches to Whats for lunch Wednesday, week 121.

Donald and Daisy Dance!

I got the cutest new bento box from my local grocery store City Market. Fin's just love Donald Duck and my Hubby has collected the Donald Duck comic books since childhood! I've always loved Donald's cartoon and chuckled at his explosive temper!  But Mr. Duck is full of smiles today...guess he's got a date! ^.^

  My new bento!

   See why Donald's so perky, going out dancing with his lovely lady Daisy Duck!! 

In this bento lunch there is a simple All American Turkey Sandwich and Lays vinegar potato chips. I added grapes, plum tomatoes and a wedge of apple. For an extra treat there's a chocolate ball decorated with Daisy's signature hair bow.This little bento was shared by me and the girls!

The Drawing is made on slices of Edam cheese with food safe pens. I love these food safe pens... I was up at 6am this morning with my drawings and a cup of tea; the best mommy free time ever!


Linking this bento lunch to Bento Blog Network Bento of the week Dance.

Autumn Family Picnic!

My family and I had a lovely Sunday. Simply a little lunch and a play in the park is all it takes to make me fall in love with the crazy-ness that is daily family life! The weather was sunny, breezy and warm; my children happy and giggling; my husband kind and funny, (or kinda funny ha ha!) and a yummy bento lunch for us all!

I have been buying these "Tommies" plum tomatoes for some time. These are the bright red little tomatoes that are so small and sweet, my children consider them treats! I love the packaging they come in as well,(I've collected 8!) with the happy clown face and neat little tops...perfect for picnic packing!

These picnic bentos contained a Ramen noodle cold salad tossed in  thick dressings and extra veggies. (A spicy hot Buffalo wing dressing for my Hubby, and a slightly sweet peanut, sesame oil and ginger dressing I bought from the local Asian market for me and the girls.) On top of the salad  were the "Tommies", sliced carrot and cucumbers, chicken nuggets, a pile of cilantro, lime wedge and quail eggs dressed as the Tommies clown. I thought the whole thing turn out cute! ^.^

                   Fruit for dessert!

                   Every thing's packed and ready to go!

I'll show you how to make these little clowns. I used quail eggs, (easy to eat in one bite), but a chicken egg would work fine!

First I cut a large carrot into coins and cut out a lions mane with this quail egg cutter tool.

                Cut off the bottom third of this ring to make the clown hair.

 Then used the mouth from a facial expression cutter for the clown's large eyes.  Use a white cheese, I used  a slice of Edam cheese.

                   Cut out pupils out of nori.

                   Make a slice in the pointed end of your egg, about a third of the way through.

Pinching the egg with your thumb and pointer fingers, slide the half circle ring inside the egg, where you made the cut.

Dress your clown head with the eyes. Use picks for the hat and clown nose. I used a tiny nori cutter to make the clown mouths.

                   And there you have it!

I'm going to try and update my blog every other day. Doing a post each Sunday is too overwhelming, because I get so backed up with photos, and as you know I have tons to say! Lol! So I'll be back Tuesday!

 KIKI ^_^

Back to Leikkikoulu (Play school) week!

Yes it's back to playschool with Missy Lulu! It's been a wonderful summer for us, but my oldest was quite ready to head back to her playgroup/day school. I have her going later in the day so we can spend time doing art projects and playing together in the mornings. Also a added plus of having a late starting school day is sharing a nice bento lunch with her and little sister!

First day drop off with "Baby Sunshine"!



 Monday's Bento: Back to School Apples

On Monday for lunch the girls had "nalle-pasta" which is teddy bear shaped pasta with a cream sauce and a little cheese cut out apple shape. With the pasta dish they had steamed broccoli, a tomato wedge and cucumber slices. A tiny apple and a few red grapes added color and sweetness to the lunch.

Monday's Snack Bento

The girls both got a half of PBJ, a grilled chicken drumette, and a few grapes for their snack bento.

Tuesday's Pencils Bentos

On Tuesday the girls had sliced chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes, sauteed spinach with white sesame seeds and  another apple from our apple tree. I topped  mash potato with pencil shaped cheese slices decorated with food safe pen. For snack they had a PBJ with one nugget apiece, juice and grapes.

I've had a writing exercise time with Missy Lulu everyday when Baby Sunshine takes a morning nap. I love the Letter of the week exercises from the AMAZING BLOG Confessions of a Homeschooler I plan on having art projects and early learning exercises that correspond to our chosen theme of the week. "A is for APPLE." Fits perfectly!

Wednesday's Gold Star Bentos

For lunch Wednesday the girls had vegetable curry under a bed of cous-cous. I put a cheese "gold star" cut out with nori details on top of the cous-cous. Along with the warm curry they had steamed broccoli, a cherry tomato, mozzarella ball and slice cukes. For lunch's dessert the ladies had sliced nectarines and a one princess cookie!


Wednesday's snack

Here, the girls had a jelly star sammie, a meatball, and a few grapes.



Thursday's Bus Bentos

For lunch Thursday, they had fish sticks, tiny rice onigiri yellow school buses, steamed broccoli and a whole sliced nectarine. In the yellow container was ketchup for the fish sticks.

Snack was a cheese and garlic mayo sammie. Accompanying the Bus sammies were fish sticks, grapes and juice.

Painting with finger paint and apple slices for our back to school week theme!


Friday's Blackboard Bento

Friday's bento was my personal favorite! To wind up back to school week, the girls both had sliced minute steak and steamed rice. They had the usual veggies of steamed broccoli, tomato and sliced cucumber. For Friday's fruit there was sliced nectarines and a strawberry. To tie in  our back to school theme I made a simple butter cracker with nori to look like a tiny blackboard; the "writing" is sliced cheese.

Friday's Snack Bento

For Friday's snack both girls had a couple of crackers with nori, two tater tots with ketchup in the container, grapes and milk.

I think it's going to be a wonderful year! See you all next week! (^_^)