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

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Leaf Lunch

Halloween is behind us but I'm stuck on the themed lunch - Tomorrow she'll have a leafy lunch.

Lunch: A ham and cheese on whole wheat leaf sandwich, a babybel cheese with a leaf cut-out, pineapple leaves with blueberries, a cucumber and roma tomato kabob (on a leaf pick) with ranch for dipping and (you can't have a lunch the day after Trick-or-Treat without a little piece of candy, can you?) a mini Milky Way.




Snack: I found these mini yogurt covered pretzels. Aren't they cute?! Her snack was an easy one - mini yogurt pretzels and a few banana chips.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Happy Halloween!

Tomorrow is the last school day before Halloween so this is the last Halloween bento!
A Boo-tiful whole wheat pita with turkey and veggie cream cheese, ghostly string cheese , carrots and cucumber slices with ranch and a few strawberries.

With the Harvest Day party scheduled tomorrow, there is no need to pack a snack. (Woo-hoo!)

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Bat Lunch

C'mon, how could you open your lunch and see this little bat staring back at you and not smile? He makes me smile :)
The girls have the same lunch except for the type of sandwich. Haley has 2 turkey and cheese bats (stacked) and Avery has PB&J (of course!). They also have a Babybel cheese with a bat cutout, a few grapes, peas and blueberry yogurt with some fresh blueberries that's supposed to look a little like a ghost's face.

Okay, so the only thing Halloween-ish about this snack are the picks but hopefully it will be yummy. Ranch flavored rice cakes and sliced strawberry flower with a blueberry center.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Frankenstein

I think this is the first lunch I've really been disappointed in. I tried to make a Frankenstein and he was SOOOO much cuter on my cutting board! But, he was too big. When I scaled him back to fit in the bento box, he turned out looking more like Yoda from Star Wars than Frankenstein. Had it not been a waste of food, I was really tempted to scrap it but Haley loved it and thought it looked "just like him!" so again, as long as she's happy, I am happy (or at least I should be).
Lunch: Turkey and Cheddar sandwich on whole wheat (body), kiwi (head and hands), grapes (feet) and carrots.
Snack: 2 (stacked) string cheese ghosts, teddy grahams and raisins.

Monday, October 25, 2010

The Haunted House

We're in the home stretch for Halloween themed bentos.
Tomorrow's lunch is a pita (H's with turkey and veggie cream cheese and A's with...can you guess it?...PB&J!), with a haunted house scene made from cheese with cucumber peel accents, strawberries and pineapple slices, carrots and ranch with a cucumber slice/cheese witch.
Snacks: Pumpkin shaped cheese and salami slices with wheat thins and a Clif twist fruit worm.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

The Cabinets are Bare!

After a long weekend away from home, I haven't had the chance to get to the grocery for the week. We drove all day and got home late this evening - with lots of unpacking to do, I was hoping I could convince Haley to buy tomorrow. But, when we saw the school is serving "Fish 'n Chips" tomorrow Haley said "Please don't make me buy that". How could I say "no" to that?
So here is what I came up with...Nothing too exciting but I bet it will be better than their
Fish and Chips.
PB&J on a whole wheat bagel thin, cheddar cheese leaves, carrots with ranch, grape kabobs on leaf picks and a couple of mini oreos.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

The Kissing Hand

This lunch was inspired by the book The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. I'm not sure it's one of the prettiest lunches I've made. But, I'm hoping it means a lot to the girls when they open it at lunch time.

PB&J "Kissing Hand", Babybel cheese with heart cutout, carrots and cucumber slices with ranch (the ranch cup is under the cheese), strawberry hearts and a couple of grapes.

Snack: Cheese bunnies, a couple yogurt pretzels (for stabilization) and an "I Love You" message on a piece of fruit leather.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Wacky Wednesday

Tomorrow Avery and I are going to the school to have lunch with my niece so even though it's Wednesday, they both needed a packed lunch. I saw a hard boiled egg witch on another blog but hers turned out way cuter than mine . I think mine looks like an elf. But, the girls knew it was a witch and seemed rather offended when I said I thought it looked like an elf. So, as long as they are happy, I am happy ;)
H's Lunch: Hard boiled egg witch/elf, carrots with ranch, strawberries and turkey and cheese pinwheels.

A's Lunch: Hard boiled egg/witch, PB&J gravestone and witch's broom (she got both because I could fit both out of one sandwich), strawberries and carrots with ranch.
Click here for even more inspiriational lunches at What's for Lunch Wednesday

Monday, October 18, 2010

Mr. and Mrs. Acorn

This is one of those cases where one thing leads to another. I found these cute acorn picks at Factory Card and Party outlet but I didn't have anything that really went with them. So, when I saw an acorn cookie cutter at Hobby Lobby, I had to get it :)

Lunch: 4 mini acorn shaped PB&Js (a.k.a. Mr. ad Mrs. Acorn), cucumber slices and ranch, and grape kabobs on the acorn picks.

Snacks: Haley asked to have some sunflower seeds. So, they have almost the same snack of a Clif twisted fruit and yogurt pretzels plus Haley has a little container of sunflower seeds.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Monday's Lunch

I got some new Halloween bento goodies over the weekend so it was fun to trying them out.
4 mini salami and cheese sandwiches (each with a different Halloween design), BabyBel with a ghost cutout, carrots with ranch (ranch cup is hidden under the cheese), kiwi and grapes with a cheese ghost accent.


Ranch rice cakes (she's never had them so I hope she likes them) and strawberries.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

More Halloween Bentos

Avery wanted the same "pumpkin sandwich with a celery stem" as she had on Tuesday. So that's what she got. (I'm wondering if she's going to want the same thing until October 31st!) But, I did come up with something new for Haley.

Haley's Lunch: Salami and cheese sandwich with a provolone ghost, carrots and ranch, strawberries and a mini caramel glazed pumpkin cookie.


Avery's Lunch: PB&J Jack-o-Lantern, orange slices, peas, a couple of grapes and a mini caramel glazed pumpkin cookie.



Snack: Cheddar bunnies and a Clif twisted fruit.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Clown'in Around

I had a lot of fun making this lunch. I hope it makes Haley smile too!


Lunch: Salami and herb cream cheese on a whole wheat pita. carrots and cucumber slices with ranch, strawberries and a mini milky way.

Snack: Yogurt covered pretzels and cheddar cheese flowers.

Monday, October 11, 2010

"The Great Cookie Cutter Give-Away!"

Check out this cookie cutter give away at: www.mealplanningmommies.blogspot.com

Halloween Bento


Steve picked up these mini wheat pita pockets at the store and they just screamed "Jack-o-lantern" to me! So, here is what I came up with:



They both have the exact same lunch, except for the contents of the pita...Haley's is ham
and cheese with honey mustard and Ave's is...can you guess it?...PB&J! They also have cucumbers with a few carrots (for stabilization) with ranch, strawberries and a few grapes.
For snack they have s'more mix (I snacked on some as I made everything else...I love golden grahams!) and a few grapes.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Happy Heart

Tomorrow's lunch is made up of some of the leftovers from our dinner at Genji (i.e. the BEST Japanese Steakhouse ever....mmmmmmmmm). Haley barely had any leftovers from her meal but luckily her little sister was willing to share.

Fried rice heart, 2 silicone heart cups filled of diced chicken, tub of yum yum sauce (Yum! Yum!), carrots with ranch, strawberry hearts and 2 cheddar hearts.
Her snack is banana chips and a pumpkin chocolate muffins...nothing exciting or worthy of another picture.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Finally Friday

We've finally made it to the end of the week. Here is Friday's lunch and snack:

2 Ham and Cheese twists with honey mustard for dipping, 2 cheddar flowers, cucumber and tomato kabobs and red grapes.


Snack: Banana chips and 2 pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Thursday's Lunch

I admit it...I'm glad it's almost the end of the week. I started strong but my creative juices were struggling tonight. I stood there and looked at everything with no ideas of what I was going to do. I decided on a moon and stars theme...didn't really execute it as much as I was hoping but hopefully the girls will like them.

A's Lunch: PB&J on a blueberry bagel (I know it sounds gross but she loves it) with fruit leather stars, string cheese, clementine with a strawberry moon, and peas.



H's Lunch: 2 turkey and cheese moon sandwiches (stacked) with fruit leather stars, secured by some red grapes, peas with a strawberry star for decoration, strawberries with a cantaloupe moon, and a start and moon cheese cut-outs.


Snacks: Raisins (Avery) and Banana chips (Haley) with granola bar bites.

Bonus Bento

So, Avery asked if we could go surprise Haley at school for lunch today. I quickly threw together a bento lunch for her to take to school.


PB&J jack-o-lantern sandwich with a cheddar cheese face, grapes with Halloween picks, carrots with ranch and a mini hershey bar (What's more Halloween than a piece of candy, right?!).

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Hoot's Hungry?

I got this new cute owl cookie cutter today at Hobby Lobby, along with some other Halloween cutters.

Lunch: 2 salami and cheese owls on whole wheat (stacked on top of each other), carrots with ranch, 2 strawberries and a grape, and blueberry yogurt.

Snack: S'more mix and a piece of string cheese.


Monday, October 4, 2010

Tuesday's Lunch

These lunches were an experiment. The "sandwiches" are a mix between inspiration from another blog and the recipe on how to make pepperoni bread twists from my sister. Hopefully they will like them!

A's Lunch: 2 pepperoni and cheese stuffed "bunnies" with marinara sauce for dipping, a salad with ranch dressing, 2 strawberries and a few grapes.


H's Lunch: I switched things up a bit with hers. She has 2 ham and cheese stuffed "bears" with honey mustard for dipping, cucumber, tomato and mozzarella cheese kabobs, 2 strawberries and a few grapes.


They both have the same snack: Yogurt pretzels, cantaloupe and watermelon flowers.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Monday's Lunch

If I had to title this lunch, it would be "My Heart Belongs to Haley". I hope she opens it up and it immediately reminds her how much I love her.
Salami and cheese sandwich made on a whole wheat "slider" bun, carrots and ranch, cantaloupe and strawberry heart kabobs, cheese hearts with strawberry centers, and as a special treat...2 fig newtons.

Her snack was quick and easy: Whole grain goldfish crackers and grapes.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Wilton Give-away

Interested in winning some Wilton products? I AM!!! Check out the giveway at the following site:

http://kpolizzi.blogspot.com/2010/09/awesome-wilton-giveaway.html