Balancing The Scales

A Back-Log Of Bentos.

Believe it or not, I have a back-log of bentos.  I've started taking the pictures from different angles because this straight overhead shot? I don't love it. These are all lunches from a while back, thus, straight overhead shots.

Welp.

You know how that goes, I suppose.

 

This is a bento(ish) snack that I took to work with me.  I worked for the afternoon & evening, so this is kind of two+ snacks, in lieu of dinner.  A babybel cheese, yogurt raisins, peanut butter cracker sandwiches, made on Back to Nature crackers and Newman's Own pretzels.

.

.

In my dollar store 'bento container' there is: veggie turkey slices with animal mini-forks, applesauce with two fruit-leather flowers on top (I love the way these look but my kid has consistently rejected the fruit leather. *sigh*) cheddar squares, pepper strips and grape tomatoes.  The smaller side contains part of an almond croissant, raspberries and giant white beans.

.

.

A silicone cup of beans & olives, cheddar squares, veggie straws, some Newman's Own alphabet cookies, tomatoes with a dolphin pick.  Cantaloupe & raspberries.

.

.

Two veggie chicken nuggets with a frog pick, pickles, cheese crackers (Back to Nature,) grape tomatoes, alphabet cookies. Cantaloupe & raspberries.

.

.

Black olives (part of dinner the night before, carrot 'circles' and a tomato, Babybel cheese, blueberries, raspberries, cantaloupe and some BTN wheat crackers.

.

.

Veggie turkey slices, red pepper rings, babybel cheese 'flower,' Fig Newman and some cheese crackers. Grapes on the vine and strawberries.

I have another post that's a week of bentos and then maybe I'll start posting them more frequently.

Maybe.

Week of Kind-Of Bentos

Who knows what I'm doing here, really?

Don't worry. It was a rhetorical question.

I suppose I'm posting pics of these lunches that I make my girl but I'd hesitate to call them 'Real Bentos,' if you know what I'm saying.  All I know is that it is fun and I enjoy it.  I think that for my girl, seeing a beautifully arranged plate that contains a modest amount of a variety of foods, holds her interest and stimulates her appetite.

I'm not even sure why I post them, except that for whatever reason, I like to look at other people's cute lunches that they prepare for their kids.

So, it's maybe...a hobby?

ANYWAY.

Here's a week of our kind-of bentos:

 

Applesauce with some cinnamon sugar, veggie turkey slices, organic American cheese flowers, yogurt raisins and grape tomatoes with what my kid calls the 'Hula Duck' pick. The small side contains raspberries & blueberries, cup of olives and a couple pretzels.

.

These all start to look the same, I think. Applesauce, veggie turkey, pickles, colby-jack triangles, yogurt raisins and veggie straws. The small side contains a rice fish (shaped in an egg mold) and raspberries and blueberries.

.

Trying different angles for the food because the straight-up overhead shot isn't always doing it for me. My girl has veggie turkey slices with animal picks, beet salad (yum) veggie straws, olives and a baby bell cheese with heart cut-out. The small side contains raspberries, blackberries and strawberries.

.

Veggie turkey, blueberries and baby bell cheese, organic cheese puffs and a cup of raspberries & blackberries.  Cucumber slices and grape tomatoes with a cup of homemade ranch dressing and a couple black olives.

.

A baby bell cheese, a few grapes and some apple slices. A Fig Newman cookie (which my kid inexplicably calls a 'Tin Tuman,' wth?) some cheese crackers, a silicone cup of sunflower seed kernels, grape tomatoes and a butterfly PB&J sandwich. (I made this lunch in a recycled Chinese food container, so..you know.)

.

Car-shaped hard boiled egg, some cheese crackers, a Tin Tuman, carrot sticks and a cup of Newman's Own Ceasar dressing and a couple grape tomatoes. The small side containes orange/strawberry slices and a few grapes with a cute little stem pick.

.

Veggie turkey slices, organic American cheese flowers, red pepper strips, cup of ceasar dressing, some Back to Nature poppy seed crackers (they are hexagons, which my daughter pronounces 'hoxagons,' which is so cute, I'm loathe to correct her,) and a cup of sunflower seed kernels.  Cut strawberries and some grapes fill the smaller section.

I love Bento Blogs that showcase things like themed bentos and the like.  I haven't been able to get myself past the 'Sorta Bento' phase but who knows? Maybe one day.

 

Another Week(ish) of Bento(ish)

Here is a week or so of bento(ish) lunches for my girl:

In this dollar store bento(ish) container, there are two pieces of Tofurkey with animal picks and a silicone cup of applesauce. In the big side, there is a silicone cup of blueberries, the ubiquitous grape tomatoes with a fish pick, a silicone cup of olives and some home cut cheddar-jack cheese sticks.

.

This picture looks like it's sliding off the computer screen. In the big section is a sliced apple (dipped in oj to prevent browning but that middle piece looks a little like it could've used some extra dipping,) a little cup of Annie's cheese bunny crackers, a Baby Bell cheese, two cherries and some yellow bell pepper slices.  In the small side are grape tomatoes and pickle slices.  That Zoe pick was actually a decoration from my daughter's birthday cake last year.  She found it and asked if it would work in her 'Pretty Lunches' and it DOES!

.

In the big part, there are pickle slices, jack-cheddar sticks, grape tomatoes with Zoe and a few Back to Nature round crackers. In the small part are some watermelon cubes and some blueberries. My kid is nuts about fruit.

.

This bento(ish) is way more Ish than it is bento.  Look at all the spaces!  I think I'd just gotten home from grocery shopping, so, whatever. In the small part are olives and a silicone cup of Snikkidy natural cheese puffs and one grape tomato, trying to hide that hole in the corner. On the big side are grape tomatoes with an octopus pick, yogurt covered raisins, mini whole wheat pita filled with hummus and raspberries and blueberries.

.

On the big side are organic American cheese animals, grape tomatoes with a little girl pick, some cheese puffs, mini whole wheat pita and a cup of hummus with two olives in it.  On the small side are apple slices (apparently, were dipped more effectively,) and strawberry slices.

.

In the big part, there is a slice of Tofurkey with a rabbit pick, jack-cheddar sticks, tomatoes with a bazillion picks, olives, a few Newman's Own pretzels and a silicone cup of mixed Annie's Bunny Grahams and yogurt covered raisins.  In the small part are sliced strawberries, blueberries and raspberries.

.

 

Here we have left over meatballs with an elephant pick, tomatoes with a duck pick, some cheese puffs, yogurt raisins and some green pepper 'birds' (if you make rings and then slice them, they look like little birds.) In the small part are blueberries and the last good cantaloupe of the summer.

I am WEEPING at the end of the summer fruits.  I mean, I like apples and pears all right, but MELON! and BERRIES! and NECTARINES! Every year. So sad.

A Week Or So Of Bento(ish) Lunches.

Even though I don't pack my daughter's lunch for school yet, I found lunch goes much more smoothly if I make hers in the morning while the kids are eating breakfast and I'm getting The Man a lunch together anyway.  It solves the 'We're just back from an outing and she's starving and I'm scrambling to get my shit together' problem.  We walk in and I set her up [with her videos] at the kitchen table and grab the lunch out of the fridge.

In this dollar store dish (that came with a lid,) in the big section is a silicone cup of cucumber slices, some grape tomatoes with three picks and a silicone cup of meatballs (left over from dinner) with another pick.  The smaller section holds a fruit salad of raspberries, cantaloupe and blueberries.

.

 

My food photos are wonky and not all that appealing, I'm afraid. I have to research how to do it better.  I was a photo major in undergrad (TFS!) and when we were assigned a 'Food Photography' lesson, I failed miserably.  At the critique, my teacher said my food looked like it was going to slide off the table.  Not much has changed, I guess.

In this container: silicone cup of apple slices (dipped in OJ to stop them from browning), carrot 'coins', raspberries, a babybel cheese with a cut-out shape and a few TLC crackers.  In the smaller side: some grape tomatoes on a pick and a silicone cup of pickles.

.

This was the first bento that ever made it out of my house!  It's a snack bento box that I ordered online.  It has a cute locking lid.  In it is a silicone cup of yogurt raisins, some organic turkey rolled up on two animal mini-forks, some carrot coins and some blueberries.

.

 

Are you noticing that my kid LOVES HER SOME GRAPE TOMATOES? lmfao. Also, that I have but TWO silicone cups?  (I bought very limited supplies, not wanting to invest a lot of money until I decided if I liked this way of serving food.)  Big part has grape tomatoes on a dolphin pick (my kid also loves her some picks!) A cucumber with the seeds HACKED OUT with what is supposed to look like a star, a silicone cup of Giant White Bean Salady thing from Wegman's olive bar.  There are some stars cut from organic American cheese. 

The small part has some olives (with American cheese star) and a piece of barran to separate out the OVER-GARLICKED pasta salad.

.

 

My girl is not partial to sandwiches, but I wanted to give it a try.  In the big part: strawberry slices, cucumber slices and a PB & J that I cut with a butterfly cookie cutter (cheapie from the dollar store.) I put a piece of fruit leather that I cut with a smaller cookie cutter.  (My daughter found it too hard and didn't love it, so I'm replacing it with some softer, only fruit in it fruit snack.) 

In the small part: the rest of the bean salad, some ever-present grape tomatoes (can't wait for our gardens' to be ripe) and a small cup of yogurt raisins.

All these are going to start to look the same, I think.  Anyway, there's a silicone cup with organic applesauce, with a little cinnamon sugar on top and some cheddar-jack cheese that I cut into teeny-tiny sticks (for whatever reason, this appeals to my kid,) some organic turkey that wouldn't roll, chunked up and held by animal mini-forks and some raspberries. 

The small section holds The Effing Grape Tomatoes, cucumber slices and olives.

Bento(ish)

I'm starting a new category and keeping track of my Bento [fetish] interest here.  I'll soon link up all the interesting bento blogs that I love.  There are a lot of great ones.  What *I* do, I don't think could be confused with ACTUAL bento.  My take, is [way half-assed], well, you'll see.

I bought some minimal supplies and I've been putting together what my daughter calls 'Pretty Lunches.'  It's increased her visual interest and her participation at lunch time, typically a pretty hectic time around here.  I take an extra 30 seconds to make a nice arrangement, add a cute pick and that's about all she wrote.

Here's one:

This is one of two little dishes that I got at a dollar store. (Before I decided to spend lots of money on boxes, I thought I'd try out the 'concept.'  You know.)  In the small section is a small silicone cup with yogurt covered raisins, some grape tomatoes with a duck pick and some cheddar-jack cheese that I make into mini-sticks. In the bigger section is a big strawberry, a silicone cup of cucumbers and a 'fake' chicken finger (vegetarian meat.) There are two star-shaped cut outs of fruit leather.

There are lots of spaces left and so, you know, Bento(ISH) but she loved the look of the stars, in particular.

Here's another:

In the small section is a silicone cup of blueberries and some grape tomatoes (one of her favorites) with a cute little tomato pick that you can't see because I am a conard and I didn't position it for the photo I was taking. In the large section, is a line of raspberries with some silicon barran between the berries and the rest. There is a baby-bell cheese with a little flower of the wax cut out (mini-cookie cutters, I let TLNG pick the shape) some cheese crackers (Back to Nature) a silicone cup of pickles and some carrot 'coins.'

I made this in the morning when I packed The Man's lunch and put it in the fridge and then when we got home from the library, I just whipped it out onto the table.  It was better that way and I'm trying that again today.  It honestly didn't take but a few seconds more to arrange the food this way and she really, really digs it.