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

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Circle of Love

Today, I used 2 different kinds of bread to create a design on her sandwich.

 
  • Circle sandwich made with whole wheat bread and letters and hearts cut from whole grain white bread and decorated with a heart pick.
  • Carrots with ranch
  • Honey crisp apple slices
  • Cheddar hearts
  • Hershey kisses
Here are some of the items I used when creating this lunch:



The heart pick and the sauce cup can be found at BentoUSA (just click on the ad on the right side of my blog.)

Quick and Easy Thanks to FunBites

I'm having one of *those* weeks.  So, today's lunch had to be quick and easy.   I grabbed my FunBites Cube It and put together this lunch in a jiffy!

  • PB&J skewers made using the FunBites "Cube It"
  • Tomato and cucumber slices with ranch and a heart ring
  • Red grapes with heart picks
  • Hershey Kisses
Here are some of the products I used when creating this lunch:


Click on the BentoUSA ad to the right to find the heart picks and sauce cups.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Love Bug

This lady bug lunch was one of the first bento lunches I came across when I discovered the wonderful world of bento.   It inspired me when creating today's Love Bug lunch.

 
  • Love Bug sandwich made using the Pampered Chef sandwich cutter and decorated with cheddar cheese and icing eyes
  • Peas
  • Red grapes
  • Brownie bite
Here are some of the products, or similar products,  I used when creating this lunch: 
 


The letter picks can be purchased at BentoUSA by clicking the ad on the right side of my blog.

Conversation Hearts

Talk about a quick and easy lunch!  I'm not sure how much quicker and easier  you can get than this one! 

By the way, I made this for my oldest daughter on the same day my younger daughter got the owl lunch, which is why it has the same fruit and veggie. 


  • 3 heart-shaped sandwiches with conversation heart picks
  • Raspberries
  • Broccoli with ranch
  • Dove Chocolate Promise
Here are some of the items I used when creating this lunch:


Click on the BentoUSA ad to the right to find the sauce cups and small heart picks.

Monday, January 28, 2013

Guess Hoooooo Loves You

My youngest daughter and I both love owls.  So, when Pottery Barn Kids put their owl PlanetBox Lunch box on clearance, we couldn't resist! 

She was very excited to see the first lunch in the new box!  I said, "I titled your lunch "Guess Hoooo Loves You!"" and she said "You, of course!"  She's right!!  (I think it's funny that she doesn't seem to think it's odd that her lunches have titles!)

 
  • Owl-shaped sandwich made using heart cookie cutters.   His eyes are provolone cheese decorated with food safe markers.  His beak is made from cheddar using a mini heart cutter.  His feet are carrots.
  • Clementine and raspberries
  • Broccoli with ranch
  • Pretzels
  • Dove Chocolate Promise
Here are some of the items, or similar items, I used when creating this lunch:




Click on the BentoUSA ad on the right and search "sauce cups" to find the cup I put the ranch in.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Luv You!

So, Costco sucked me in with their yummy samples and I ended up buying a big ole' bag of naan today!  It's really yummy and I'm excited to use it for grilled cheese and pizza.

But, for now, I just used a slice to make a sandwich!

  • 2 heart-shaped sandwiches made with naan, herb spread, turkey and cheese.  I used letter picks to spell out "luv you"...I'm not usually a fan of intentionally misspelling words.  However, the one and only bento pick that has been lost in the 3 years of packing like this was the "O" from one of my letter sets.  SO, I didn't have enough "O's to spell "LOVE YOU" correctly.  Did you even care about that?  Oh well...
  • Raspberries with heart picks
  • Sugar snap peas and a cherry tomato with ranch
  • Hershey Kisses
Here are some of the items I used when creating this lunch:



Click on the BentoUSA image to the right to find the heart and letter picks and sauce cups.  I think they may be currently out of stock on the exact heart picks I've used here but there are lots of other adorable options!

Valentine Roll-Ups

Today's lunch was super quick and easy!

 
  • Roll-ups made with a whole wheat tortilla, salami and herb cream cheese and secured with heart picks
  • Carrots and a cucumber slice with ranch.  I used a mini cutter to add a little carrot heart to the center of the cucumber
  • Strawberry hearts
  • Pretzel snaps
  • Dove Chocolate Promise heart
 
Here are some of the products I used when creating this lunch:
 



Click on the BentoUSA image to the right to find the heart picks and sauce cups!  I think they may be currently out of stock on the exact heart picks I've used here but there are lots of other adorable options!

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Salad!

My youngest daughter LOVES salad!  She was so excited when she saw the lunch I was making her...it was adorable!  It was nice to make something other than a PB&J for a change!  This is my second time using our new Yubo lunch box.   I have to say, I really like it!  It's on the large size, but the girls don't seems to mind and it gives me a lot of space to work with!

  • Romaine lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, carrots and cherry tomatoes with Italian dressing on the side.  I used small heart cutters to make the cucumbers and carrots into hearts.
  • Vanilla yogurt with a strawberry heart
  • "Healthy" chocolate muffin with "XOXO" sprinkles.   Note:  I made the muffins according to the directions in the link.   However, instead of a sugar substitute, I made them with real sugar.  I would prefer my girls to have the "real stuff", even if it makes them higher calorie. And, no, mine look NOTHING like the picture on the website but they taste REALLY good!
Here are some of the items I used when making this lunch:

It's Cold Enough for Snow

Baby, it's cold outside!!  So, a snowflake lunch seems to be in order.

  • 2 snowflake sandwiches, made with a cookie stamp and decorated with food safe markers
  • Peas
  • Clementine with a snowflake pick
  • Cheddar snowflake
  • Hershey Kisses
Here are some of the items I used in the link below:


You can click on the BentoUSA ad to the right to find the snowflake cookie stamp and pick!

Monday, January 21, 2013

Love You 4 Ever

Today, I tried a new technique that I had seen on Karenwee's Bento Diary to create sandwiches using egg molds.   The author just uses jelly in hers but I did peanut butter and jelly and it worked just fine.

 
  • 2 heart-shaped PB&J sandwiches with a "love" cupcake pick
  • Red grapes with heart picks
  • Broccoli with ranch with a "4 Ever" cupcake pick
  • Brownie bite
 My older daughter doesn't like PB&Js anymore.   I wasn't sure if the technique will work as well with meat filled sandwiches.  Plus, we have these mini buns I'd like to use up, so she got a similar lunch but her sandwich was made on a mini bun and I used a small heart shaped cookie cutter to cut a heart out of the top.


Here are some of the items I used when creating this lunch

Friday, January 18, 2013

FunBites Review and Giveaway

I was very excited when Bobbie from FunBites contacted me about doing my first review and giveaway.  She sent me the FunBites "Cube It".   I have to say, I REALLY wish I would have had this tool a couple of months ago when my daughter got her pallet expander and braces.   She had trouble eating for the first few days and we had to cut her food into small pieces.   This product would have been SO helpful!

This product seems to be well made and durable.   Using the tutorial I had seen on BentOnBetterLunches, I used the FunBites "Cube It" to make both my daughters' lunches.   It was super easy to use and the bite-sized pieces turned out great!  I just stuck them on a stick (you know, because everything is more fun when eaten off a stick!) and I was done!  Easy!


  • Ham, turkey, on whole wheat bread with honey mustard (cut using the FunBites "Cube It", of course), lettuce and cherry tomato kabobs
  • Strawberries and blackberries
  • Carrots and celery with ranch
  • Ferrero Rocher, for dessert
This was my first experience using a FunBites product.  So, check out some of the lunches my bento buddies have made using these products.

Does your little one have a wiggly tooth?  Look at this cute lunch Cristi from "Bent On Better Lunches" made for her little one:


Kendra from "biting the hand that feeds you" made this adorable Valentine's Day lunch using the "Luv It" cutter.
 
Karen from "What's In Our Lunch Bags?" made this yummy dinner for her son,
also using the "Luv It"
 
FunBites aren't just for meal time!  Look at the snacks that Jenn from BentoForKidlet made. 
 
FunBites has generously offered to give a FunBites "Cube It" or "Luv It" (your choice!) to one lucky reader!   All you have to do is leave a comment on this post, telling me which FunBites cutter you would like to have and "Like" FunBites  on Facebook.  If you want bonus entries,  you can "Like" Bento-logy on Facebook and/or repost about this giveaway on your blog or Facebook page. 
 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please remember to only enter with one email account per household and if you choose like/follow entries, you need to be a current liker/follower at the time of the drawing.  Also, the winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize.  If I do not hear from the winner within that time, I will pick an alternate. Thanks!

Do you want even more chances to win one of these fun gadgets?  Head on over to Tiny Princess Lunchbox and enter her FunBites giveaway too!

Here are the products I used when creating this lunch:

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

My first Yubo Lunch!

I recently purchased a new bento box...The Yubo lunch system!  Many of my bento buddies have this box and I have been envious!    I was super excited to try it out!

  • 2 heart-shaped sandwiches with a small heart cut-out and a few "XOXO" sprinkles to add a little fun.   My bread wasn't quite big enough to get 2 full hearts out of it.  But, I thought it was pretty cool how they ended up going together like 2 connected hearts.  I love it when things work out like that!
  • Heart-shaped cantaloupe
  • Vanilla yogurt with a strawberry heart
  • Sugar snap peas with 2 cherry tomatoes that is supposed to look like a heart (use your imagination and squint a little)
I used the following products, or similar products, when creating this lunch:

Happy Birthday - Mickey Style!

My oldest daughter turned 10 yesterday (sniff, sniff).  Since we had just been to Walt Disney World over the weekend, I decided to make her bento birthday lunch Disney-themed. 

 
  • Circle shaped sandwich and stamped with a Mickey stamper that I bought at Disney World and a "Happy Birthday" pick
  • Sugar snap peas, cherry tomatoes (which are on Disney picks that my friend bought me at Tokyo Disney!) and ranch
  • Blackberries
  • Cheddar "10" with "U" "R" letter picks so it says "You are 10!"
  • Hershey kisses
Here are some of the products that I used when making this lunch:
 
 

Surprise! We're going to Disney World!

In the fall, I found really good prices on airfare to Orlando.  My girls had a 3-day weekend this past weekend so we decided to plan a surprise trip to Disney World.  We are HUGE Disney fans but we haven't been in a few years because we took a Disney cruise last year and went to Disneyland in California the year before.   We had been waiting for them to finish the Fantasyland makeover before we went back.  ANYWAY, in a nutshell, we decided to surprise the girls.  So, we picked them up from school on Friday and headed straight to the airport.  The girls were in complete shock!  It was SO much fun!!!

Our flight was during dinner time so I packed the girls Disney bentos for the trip!

 

  •  3 mini Mickey and Minnie sandwiches decorated with food safe markers and a bow pick (on Minnie)
  • Peas (and a spoon)
  • Red Grapes with Mickey and Donald picks

 
Dinner and a movie on the iPad.   We were there before we knew it!
 
Here are some of the products I used when making these bento meals:
 


 

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

My Heart Belongs to You

I love it when I set out to make lunch and have NO clue what I'm going to do and then it ends up with something I'm really happy with.  This lunch was super simple, but I thought it turned out really cute.

 
  • 2 heart shaped sandwiches made with a heart sandwich stamp and decorated with food safe marker and heart picks
  • Celery and carrots with ranch (ranch cup is hidden under the veggies)
  • Strawberry hearts
  • Vanilla yogurt with "XOXO" sprinkles
 
In addition to the links above, I also used the following products when creating this lunch:
 


Lots of Love in My Heart

To early for Valentine lunches?  I think not!

 
  • Heart sandwiches made with this sandwich press (loving all my new gadgets I got for Christmas!) and a "love" cupcake pick
  • Cucumbers and tomato slices with ranch and a heart ring
  • Red grapes with heart picks
  • Hershey Kisses
 
In addition to the links above, here are some of the other products I used when creating this lunch:
 


Tuesday, January 8, 2013

CuteZCute to the Rescue!

I'm still getting back into the swing of things after the long holiday break.   So, today I was excited to make a cute and very EASY lunch with my trusty CuteZCute and a few presents I got for Christmas.

The CuteZCute was just named one of the 10 best selling kitchen tools and gadget sets on Amazon.com.   I'm not surprised.  It's super easy to use, very varietal and adorable!




- Sandwich made with the CuteZCute cutter and decorated with strawberry fruit leather.  Due to the size of this bread, I couldn't get 2 full cuts with the CuteZCute so I used a smaller bear cutter to make 2 tiny sandwiches, to avoid waste
- Raspberries in a bear cup with panda picks
- Peas
- Ferrero Rocher chocolate

In addition to the links above, here are some of the items I used to create this lunch:

Back to the Real World

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season.   We are back to the real world and back to making lunches.  



- 4 mini sandwiches made with these super cute cutters that I got as a Christmas present!!
- Blackberries with elephant picks
- Broccoli with an elephant pick and ranch
- Lindt chocolate

In addition to the links above, here are some of the items, or similar items, that I used when making this lunch: