Making Lunch Fun, One Box at a Time

ben·tol·o·gy (ben t äləjē) Noun : The study of making nutritious and fun lunches for my daughters.

I get a lot of inspiration from other blogs. So, in hopes someone might get some inspiration from me, I've decided to post some pictures here.

This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.Proverbs 3:7-9

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

I Love You to the Moon and Back

This lunch was fun for me for 2 reasons.  Firstly, it was designed around the Lunchbox Love Note that reads "I love you up to the moon and back again a million times".  This is a saying that holds a special place in my heart because it's something my daughter and I say to each other all the time.   I know that it will have special meaning to her as well.  The second reason why this lunch was fun is because it's a good excuse to share a sweet story about a wonderful company!   Lunchbox Love from Say Please pinned this card on Pinterest one day.   Thinking it was a long shot, I posted a comment asking if they could tell me what series this particular card was in, because I knew I wanted to have it for my daughter.  Jump forward a few days (maybe a week or 2), I got a mysterious package in the mail and low and behold, it was the set of Lunchbox Love Notes that contained this card!!  Isn't that super cool?!?!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE this company and my daughters love having these special cards in their lunches!

 
  • Moon-shaped sandwich decorated with icing eyes and a food safe marker
  • Strawberry hearts and a star cupcake pick
  • Broccoli with orange pepper stars and ranch
  • Vanilla yogurt with edible heart glitter
  • Lunchbox Love Note (in case your curious, this card is in Volume 22)
Here are some of the items, or similar items, that I used when creating this lunch:
 

This post contains affiliate links.

Kid Created Bento - Turtles!

While I was packing the disposable bento for my older daughter's field trip, my younger daughter asked if she could make her own lunch.  As one who never turns down a helpful hand, I happily let her!   Her theme was turtles.

  • PB&J turtle-shaped sandwich decorated with food safe markers
  • Blackberries with a turtle pick
  • Cucumber slices and ranch
  • Hershey Kisses
Affiliate links contained in this post.

Here are some of the items she used when creating her lunch:


Check out other kid-created lunches at:

Field Trip - Disposable Lunch #2

So, you might have a bento problem when you are out at a very nice restaurant with friends and you get super excited when they bring out the "to-go" containers because they will make PERFECT disposable bento boxes!!   I have great friends....they all saved their leftover containers for me so now I have extras ;-)

Today my 4th grader is going on a field trip and needed a completely disposable lunch.  So, I got to use my new perfect "to-go" box!

 
  • PB&J roll-ups on a drink stirrer "skewer"
  • Red grapes
  • Cucumber slices with ranch (from a fast food restaurant)
  • Pretzel sticks
  • piece of candy for dessert

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

M-I-C....K-E-Y

M-O-U-S-E!   

Why?  Because we love him!

 
  • Salami, herb cream cheese on a tortilla with Mickey Mouse picks
  • Strawberries with a Mickey Mouse cantaloupe
  • Peas
  • Pretzels
  • Hershey Kisses

  • Same as above but instead of the roll-up, there is a Mickey Mouse shaped sandwich
Here are some the items I used when creating these lunches:


Check out other fun lunches at:
Bento Lunch

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Field Trip Disposable Lunch

So it's field trip time at school, where you have to send a completely disposable lunch.  But, that doesn't mean you can't pack it bento-style!

Both of these lunches were packed in to-go containers from Bob Evans restaurant, using jumbo muffin cup papers.

 
  • 1 1/2 heart shaped peanut butter sandwiches (1 1/2 because that's how many I could get cut out of the sandwich)
  • Carrots with ranch (the ranch cup is from a fast food restaurant and doesn't need refrigerated)
  • Cherries (the heart pick came in a package of 100 so I'm ok that it will get tossed)
  • Cool Ranch Doritos (if you follow my blog, you know that I hardly ever send chips in our lunches.  But my daughter loves, I mean LOVES, cool ranch Doritos. So, as a special treat for her field trip lunch, I packed her a few)

I'm chaperoning so I needed a disposable lunch too.  Mine is pretty much the same (maybe a few more chips...blush) except I am having cheese, salami and crackers instead of PB&J.

Sandwich on a Stick

I follow many wonderful bento blogs and I when saw a sandwich on a stick over at Feeling A Little Lunchy yesterday, it completely inspired today's lunch:
 
  • Sandwich on a Stick
  • Cherries (I pitted the cherries so she didn't have to deal with spitting out the pits at school...that could either be super cool or mortifying to a 4th grader!)
  • Sugar snap peas with a cherry tomato and ranch
  • Hershey Kisses
In addition to the affiliate product links I've included above, here is an affiliate link another product I used to pack this lunch:


 
Bento Lunch

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Back to Bruschetta

The build-your-own bruschetta lunch I packed last week was a HUGE hit.  So, the girls asked for it again.

 
  • Easy bruschetta (chopped tomatoes with Garlic Expressions dressing on roasted garlic whole grain melba toast)
  • Hard boiled egg with flower pick
  • Orange and red peppers with ranch
  • Red grapes with flower picks
In addition to the product links above, here are some of the items I used when creating this lunch:
 


There are affiliate links contained in this post. 

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Lady Bug Lunch

When I saw these chocolate covered strawberry ladybugs on Pinterest yesterday, I knew I had to create a lady bug lunch around them.  My girls love chocolate covered strawberries!!

 
Affiliate links are included in this post.
 
In addition to the product links above, here are some of the other items I used when creating this lunch:


Bento Lunch

Chicken Salad

A yummy fresh lunch and a little twist to the standard sandwich:

  • Chicken salad sandwich on a pretzel roll (To avoid it getting soggy, I packed the chicken salad separate from the roll and included a spoon so she could build it herself)
  • Celery with peanut butter
  • Blackberries with flower picks
  • Hershey's milk chocolate Nugget
This post contains affiliate links.
In addition to the product links above, here are some of the items I used when creating this lunch:

Monday, May 6, 2013

You Are My Angel


  •  Morning Star Farms Veggie Corn Dog decorated with food pick halo and wings and food safe markers
  • Ketchup and mustard for dipping
  • Peas
  • Kiwi and blueberries
This post contains affiliate links.
 
In addition to the product links above, here are some of the other items I used when creating this lunch:
 

BYOB Bento Lunch

Continuing to think outside the sandwich box, we came up with something new for today's lunch...Build Your Own Bruschetta!   My girls love chopped tomatoes with Garlic Expressions served on roasted garlic whole grain melba toast.  It's a very easy bruschetta.  To give the lunch a little extra protein, I included celery with peanut butter. 

  • Easy Bruschetta (chopped tomatoes, Garlic Expressions, roasted garlic whole grain melba toast)
  • Celery with peanut butter
  • Clementine flower with a raspberry center
  • Hershey's milk chocolate nugget
In addition to the product link above, here are some of the items I used when creating this lunch:

BentoForKidlet

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Spring in a Trio

Another simple but yummy lunch:

In addition to the product links above, here are some of the other items I used when creating this lunch:

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Quick and Easy!

I'm sure you can relate...As the end of the school year approaches and "spring" activities get in to full swing, this time of year is SO busy!   Lunches have moved a bit to the back burner.  But, even though they aren't overly exciting or cute, a quick and easy lunch is just as tasty and nutritious!

 
  • Peanut butter/wheat cracker sandwiches
  • Goldfish/Pretzel fish crackers
  • Cucumber slices
  • Blueberries
Here are some of the items I used when creating this lunch: