Little Bunny

This little bunny sandwich has a marshmallow tail and he is hopping over green grape grass.  His tail is staying in place place with a little peanut butter glue.  Yogurt with sprinkles is in the top tier of this two tier bento.  There are white bunny sprinkles in the yogurt that are to see.  We are getting ready for Easter with this lunch!

This is what the bento looks like all packed up :)

Frogs

I was inspired by a gift  I received from a friend to make a frog lunch.  She makes Snack Mats.  They are the perfect size to place a lunch or snack on.  One of the snack mats she made for me has a frog theme.  I had to create a froggy sandwich to match.  This frog was an ease to make using a Lunch Punch.  Mr. Frog is sitting on a spinach lilly pad.  The sunshine and cloud are made from cheese.

Vanilla yogurt displays the word "ribbit" cut out of fruit leather.  Green grapes with a purple grape center finish out the last compartment in this Easy Lunchbox.

Here is a photo of the Frog Snack Mat my friend made me.  I'm a lucky lady!



Muffin Tin Tacos

Add a twist to ordinary tacos by making them in a muffin tin!  I have seen various versions of this on Pinterest.  This is my take on it.  Make your taco meat the way you always do.  When I make it I always make double.  I use half for tacos and save half for another quick meal like taco pizza, quesadillas, taco salad, taco hotdish, or like today Muffin Tin Tacos.  My kids call them Taco Cupcakes. 

If the meat is already made ahead of time, it is a quick meal when time is running short.  I used small corn tortillas.  One of my daughters refuses to eat flour tortillas for some reason.  I think it is just to drive her mother mad.  Warm the tortillas up in the microwave first because then they are pliable and won't crack on you.  Spray your muffin tin so the tortillas don't stick.  After they are warmed up, gently stuff them into the muffin cups.  Then load them up.  I put taco meat and cheese in mine.  Next just pop them in the oven.  They are done when the cheese melts and the tortilla starts to get crisp.  A baked mine at about 375.  Here is what they looked like before they hit the oven.  

Go ahead and add any fixing you like.  I added spinach and tomatoes.  My kids prefer them plain of course.  Other great toppings include avocado, green onion, sour cream, salsa, and the list goes on.  Have fun with it!



Little food is always cute!  Back to the lunch.  I added some grapes and left over Spanish rice into an Easy Lunchbox.  Mmmm!  Looks good!

Hippity Hoppity

Hop Hop Hop!  This cut out bunny hopped into my Easy Lunchbox.   Candy eyes and sprinkles embellish his face.  A sliced orange looks like spring with sprinkles on top, and the bunny has his favorite carrots to crunch.  Happy Spring!

Bird's Nest Picnic

We had a picnic this weekend!  I'm in LOVE with this bizarre warm spring weather.  Bring it on Mother Nature!  I had to make three lunches for three daughters.  I decided to go with a spring theme to match the weather. 

Each container has a bumblebee and dragonfly sandwich on top of spinach.  I made the bee's stripes with Nutella.  Yogurt is on the bottom left and I made a bird's nest on the top left.



I have been seeing birds' nests on Pinterest and I thought I could try one out.  I did not use a recipe at all.  I just went with it.  I saw Kellogg's All Bran cereal and thought, hey that looks nesty, so I grabbed it.  I melted some chocolate and butterscotch chips with peanut butter in the microwave and then stirred in the All Bran.  I molded clumps of it on wax paper.  That was it.  I could have followed a yummy recipe, added a bunch of corn syrup and sugar, but my girls liked these just fine.  I used M&M eggs for you guessed it...eggs.

I packed the Lunches in Easy Lunchboxes.  Three boxes fit perfectly into an Easy Lunchbox Bag.  We biked down to the river and ate. 

How do toddlers sit like that?



Orange You Glad for Left Overs?

When I cook I usually make it up as I go and that was the case last night.  We had taco hotdish.  I opened the fridge and threw it together.  I first made taco meat (I always mix ground chicken and ground beef).  I added seasoning and garlic then reduced fat cream cheese, sour cream, and salsa.  Finally I added cooked pasta and some left over water used to boil the pasta and  VOILA ~ Taco Hotdish!  My oldest daughter loved it so I packed leftovers in a Thermos for her lunch.

On to the goodness!  I had ripe bananas and I found a recipe on Pinterest.  Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread!  Oh lordy it's good!  I am warning you to only try this recipe if you have a lot of people around to eat it or you risk eating the entire loaf by yourself and then beating yourself up with guilt for having no self-control.  You can find the recipe at  Lovin' From The Oven.

I added some eyes to a couple of orange slices and called it good.  Have a great weekend!  I'm going to see the Hunger Games with some fabulous friends.  Girl's Day! 

Tutti Fruity

Today it's a Tutti Fruity Salad Lunch inside a Lock and Lock container.  Nectarine, kiwi (my youngest calls it pee wee), and strawberries are ready to be dipped in vanilla yogurt. 

Salami and crackers are layered in the remaining container.  This is a great container for the snack attack style lunch!

GOODnight Lunch

I had left over pumpkin so I HAD to make Pumpkin Spice Pancakes.  You can find that recipe here at Annie's Eats.  They are so yummy.  We like to sprinkle the pancakes with cinnamon sugar. 

I cut left overs with a moon and star cookie cutter to pack inside this Easy Lunchbox.  I also tucked maple syrup into the little star container.  These guys look wide awake for a night time scene but I just can't help myself.  I have a habit an obsession of making faces on everything.

I packed a left over sausage patty in the top right compartment and grapes and strawberries in the bottom right.  Little mama is going to be crazy happy when she sees what's for lunch.  The daughter I packed this for is bananas for pancakes! 

Chomp Chomp!

Chomp Chomp!  Eat this dinosaur before he eats you!  This cookie cutter dino sandwich has peanut butter and nutella in it!  Sinful I know ~ makes me drool!  The word 'DINO" is cut out of cheddar cheese.  Mr. T Rex is standing on a Fiber One bar with spinach behind him. 

The side compartments of this Easy Lunchbox have grapes, strawberries, and yogurt.  This lunch is dino-mite!  (Forgive me.  I know how lame that is but I couldn't resist.) 

Smoothie and Miss Muffin

I have entered the world of smoothies!  Jill Dubien walked me through it with her Smoothies 101 post.  Go check it out.  She breaks it down and includes many easy fruit smoothie recipes.  To see it all click here.

I made an extra big batch of smoothies so I would have left overs to freeze.  I bought the Ball Plastic Freezer Jars like Jill suggested.  I poured the extra in and popped them in the freezer.  I put them into my daughter's lunch frozen solid and by the time lunch time rolls around it will have thawed enough to eat.  Mmmm! 

For today's smoothie I used this frozen fruit blend I found at Target with a banana, yogurt, and milk.  How easy!

I also had left over Banana Bread Muffins with Almond Glaze.  You can find that recipe here.  I of course had to add a face to it because that's what I do :)  I used fruit leather for Miss Muffin's arms, mouth, and bow. 

Carrots and spinach are layered on food picks.  If I was a kid I would love to pull this out of my lunch bag.  In fact as an adult I would like this to pop out of my lunch bag too!

Marching Band Bento

Deco Cutter

Baked Chicken Wings!

I don't like to curse but these babies are fan-freaking-tastic!  Ok, maybe I do curse but not in public :)  My friend made these and I forced her to share the love and give me the recipe.  Seriously make these!  I promise you will NOT be disappointed! 

This is what you need to make 12-16 wings:
(I ALWAYS double this recipe.  The wings are so mouth watering you will be sad when all twelve are gone in a flash.  Don't be sad!  Double it right away). 

I forgot the salt in the picture, but you know what salt looks like.

Marinade:
1/3 Cup Soy Sauce
2 Tbls. Oil
2 Tbls. Chili Sauce
1/4 Cup Honey
1 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Ginger
1/4 tsp. Garlic
1/4 tsp. Cheyenne Pepper

Mix all of these together and marinate the chicken wings for AT LEAST 12 hours.  I like to do 24!  I have laid them in a baking dish to marinate or sometimes I have a little helper shake them in a big plastic bag for me.

Every once in when I'm in the fridge for something else I give them a little shimmy shake to make sure they all get coated well.  Doesn't she make it look fun :)

When the wings are done with their bath in the yumminess, bake them ON FOIL at 375 for 30 minutes.  Turn them over and bake for another 30 minutes.  That is 60 minutes total.  I know you can do the math just making sure you are following me :)  I like to pour the extra marinade over the top of them to bake.

Ohhh Mama!  As my bento blogging buddy Keeley would say, these guys are AMAZEBALLS!  I make them for parties and when I have guests over so after they are done I put them in the crock pot.  That way the wings stay warm the whole time.  The meat falls right off the bone!  Ahhh!  Stick a fork in me!

Ain't No Thing but a Chicken Wing! 

Cupcake Lunch

What a happy simple lunch!  This two tier blue bento has yogurt with sprinkles in the top container.  The bottom container has green grapes and Quaker Oats Whole Heart Cereal.  My daughter likes to stir her cereal into her yogurt and eat it that way.

It's Friday!  This lucky duck got a cupcake in her lunch too!  Of course it is a healthier version of a regular cupcake from a box.  You can find the Better For You Cupcakes From a Box recipe here.  I packed the cupcake in it's own container to keep it safe. 

Butterfly Pasta

I found butterfly pasta!  I discovered it on my trip to World Market along with this new bento.  The divider is removable so there can be one large compartment or two. 

I was exited to find this pasta.  There was a giant barrel of pasta in the store.  I dug to the bottom, the heavens opened up, and there it was ~ striped butterfly pasta!  It is hard to read the stripes on the photos, but trust me they are there!  The pasta is simply tossed with a little extra virgin olive oil and dash of salt.  I added some left over pieces of sausage for a little protein and marinara sauce for dipping. 

Grapes and clementines are hanging out on the other side of this bento.

Here is what the new bento looks like!

Play Ball!

Take me out to the ball game.  Take me out to the crowd.  Buy me some celery and carrots?  Works for me.  I have three daughters, but we aren't just all about princesses and fairies at this house.  My husband coaches three different high school varsity sports and yesterday fast pitch started.  This of course lead to my girls playing ball outside until the sun went down.  We had an unseasonably warm record breaking weather day here in my part of Minnesota.  We were in the 70s!  Yay!

This inspired today's lunch.  A cap and ball sandwich are embellished with food makers and one sprinkle button.  The sandwiches are sharing a compartment with spinach leaves and carrots inside celery.  (We call it carrot and celery sushi). 

When you are a fan at a ball game you have to buy some popcorn and players are always eating sunflower seeds.  Of course I had to add these in a ball game themed lunch!  I sprinkled the popcorn with chocolate covered sunflower seeds.  No spitting shells in the lunch room I'm sure. 

Red and green grapes are also packed inside this Easy Lunchbox.

For it's one - two - three strikes your out at the OLD BALL GAME!

St. Patrick's Day Blog Hop

I picked up a new bento at World Market (as if I could just walk past it).  I tried it out with today's St. Patrick's Day themed lunch.  It is like a leprechaun made it instead of a mom.  Wait a minute. That's not a bad idea.  Note to self:  find leprechauns to make lunches.

Back to the lunch details.  The top tier of this new bento has a fruit rainbow!  Strawberries, oranges, nectarines, green grapes, black berries, and purple grapes are layered in rainbow order.  Shamrock sandwiches are tucked in the top tier too. 

The bottom tier contains a shamrock constructed out of cucumber slices and celery.  Dip for the veggies is in the four leaf clover container.  The yellow silicone container holds yogurt with green sprinkles.

Below is what the new bento looks like all put back together.  I like the size and the color is right for St. Pat's Day, but I most likely will not use it very often.  It is VERY hard to open.

This is a pic of one of my little leprechuns enjoying her fruit rainbow!

My friends and I are having a St. Patrick's day themed blog hop today.  Each blogger has a post that will connect you to another great bento.  Next up on the hop is Kristie at Beneficial-Bento.  (Hop starts Tuesday morning.)  If this is your first time visiting Bobbi's Bentos and you like what see click here to find me on facebook.

An Irish Blessing~

Wishing you a rainbow
For sunlight after showers—
Miles and miles of Irish smiles
For golden happy hours—
Shamrocks at your doorway
For luck and laughter too,
And a host of friends that never ends
Each day your whole life through!




divider sheets