Bento #24

Uncrustables peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich with cheddar cheese leaves as decorations, cucumber flowers, baby carrots, grape tomatoes, and a clementine. Snack: green seedless grapes and a mini raisin bran muffin. Dessert: homemade oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookie (she'd made these with Grandma the day before).

Bento #22

This marked the arrival of two important additions to my repertoire: a new, smaller bento box (I realized I had been giving her WAY more food than she could handle!) and Uncrustables frozen PB&J sandwiches from your friends at Smuckers. Both items would frequent lunches for quite some time to come . . .

Uncrustables sandwich with cheddar and Monterey Jack leaves as decoration, Babybel cheese, baby carrots, celery sticks, grape tomatoes, and red seedless grapes. Snack: clementine, strawberries and mini raisin bran muffin. Dessert: mini chocolate cupcake.

Bento #17

Vegetarian turkey, cheddar and lettuce sandwich on mini hamburger bun, Babybel cheese, strawberry, clementine, cucumber flowers, grape tomatoes, baby carrots and snow peas. Snack: celery sticks, apple slices and peanut butter for dipping.

Bento #15

Black temptation seedless grapes, white bean rollups (my own recipe - canned white beans smashed up with some sundried tomato & basil cream cheese, a little olive oil and lemon juice, grated parmesan, garlic salt and white pepper - yum!), baby carrots, grape tomatoes and cucumber flowers with carrot flower decorations. Snack: gala apple (with checkerboard pattern) and Babybel cheese.

Bento #8

Peanut butter and honey sandwich with cheese flowers, Babybel cheese, black temptation seedless grapes, snowpeas, and bell pepper flowers and butterfly. Snack: clementine and mini blueberry muffin.

Bento #5

Peanut butter, honey and banana sandwich on whole wheat (in heart, fish, bird and tulip shapes thanks to one nifty cutting tool), Babybel cheese, baby yellow and red bell peppers stuffed with garden vegetable cream cheese, green seedless grapes. Snack: mini blueberry muffin, carrot and celery sticks with a little side of ranch dressing (not pictured) for dipping.

Bento #4

Clementine, fresh strawberries, snow peas with carrot flowers, Babybel cheese, vegetarian bologna & garden vegetable cream cheese rollups on spinach and garden vegetable tortilla. Snack: green seedless grapes and mini apple slices with peanut butter for dipping.

Bento #3

Blueberry skewers, cheddar cheese and vegetarian bologna sandwich with cheddar bear cutout (with bologna heart), edamame, green seedless grapes, fresh broccoli and cherry tomatoes.

Bento #2

My second attempt at least included bread! I used a triangle-shaped tool that cuts the crusts off and seals the edges of a sandwich - this one is peanut butter, honey and banana on whole wheat. A tiny black plum, baby carrots, Babybel cheese, a vegetarian link, snow peas and celery sticks decorated with a few cheddar cheese flowers rounded out the meal.

My very first bento

My first attempt at a bento left out important things like carbohydrates . . . but thankfully Em enjoyed it nonetheless. Orange slices, blueberries, Babybel cheese, a hard-boiled egg (sealed in a Japanese egg mold while still warm until thoroughly chilled) and small shaker of lemon pepper, raw broccoli and cherry tomatoes.

Why Bentos?

My daughter has been underweight her whole life, and doesn’t eat much even when she’s not completely distracted by a new environment, new kids, etc. – so when she started school last year I wanted to make her lunches something special she’d look forward to opening and relish eating. I was familiar with the concept of bento lunches from having visited Japan several times as a touring musician, and had come across photos in the last few years of cute (the Japanese term is “kawaii”) bentos that Japanese mothers were making for their children, as well as the efforts of some inspired American mothers on sites like Anna the Red’s Bento Factory (http://www.annathered.com/) and Happy Little Bento (http://happylittlebento.blogspot.com/). When I saw the simple yet still very cute bentos on Pigs Do Fly (http://www.pcgirl.net/blog/?cat=4), I first thought I might be able to pull them off. I was also inspired by the fact that they are “green” – since everything is packed in reusable containers (no baggies, plastic wrap or paper bags needed), we create a lot less trash. Lately it seems American versions of bento lunches are becoming much more popular (I’d even go so far as to call them “trending”), and there are many more online sources of inspiration available than there were when I first began. I want to pay the inspiration forward and pass on any ideas I have to other mothers who are looking for nutritious, delicious and fun options for their children's school lunches. This blog will primarily serve as a photo journal of my favorites of the 200+ bento-style lunches I've made since I first started this project over a year ago. All posted photos are my own exclusive property - please do not copy and paste them - please link to my site instead. Thank you!