Hello Kitty Bento Lunch

Some new tools came in this week and I was excited to make use of them!

Tiny Bee loves Hello Kitty, so when I saw these, I knew we had to have them.

Bagel Sandwich Bento Lunch

I found some mini Bagels at the store and decided they would be perfect additions to our lunch rotation. 

For more about today's lunch click below!

You're a Star!

This week Tiny Bee is her class' Student of the Week! This means we had to spend around an hour and a half filling out a poster. Which, since she is just starting to read, meant I got to write the entire thing out in dot-trace letters for her. This is time consuming and hand-cramping work. I was actually really proud of some of the answers she gave though and I'm excited to hear how her presentation of the poster today goes.

In honor of her "star status" we have a special star themed lunch today!

Lucky

Conversations with Tiny Bee this week have included why do we wear green for St. Patrick's day and an in depth discussion on what lucky means. You can tell she's gearing up for the big day! 

This goofy looking little leprechaun adorned her lunch today!

Giraffe? Giraffe!!

Tiny Bee has always loved giraffes. We've been checking in with April the Giraffe's Live Feed often, but waiting for baby giraffes isn't easy. To make up for it we wore our new adorable Giraffe shirt and there's a little surprise waiting for her in her lunch box!

Read about the lunch, plus a bonus cute food write up at the end!

Aye Aye Captain?

Sometimes, when cooking, you create a beautiful masterpiece. Something that makes you feel like a beautiful kitchen fairy prancing from fridge to counter, sprinkling a little of this and a little of that to create a magical finished product. 

Today's lunch is not one of those times. I'm going to call this an Aye Aye lunch because that's what I think it looks like. But, please note: that's not what I was going for. I'm not even sure what I was going for. I just hope this doesn't cause nightmares for anyone later. I'm going to go to my happy place and repeat "If it has a face that makes it cute" over and over.

If today's art hasn't scared you away already, click to read more.

May The Lunch Be With You

Today's Bento was a Star Wars themed lunch. 

It features fun shaped sandwiches that couldn't be easier to make.

Out Sick

Tiny Bee missed school because of a slight fever. I'm sad that I don't have another Bento to feature this week. Instead please enjoy this sad face bunny egg. We'll be back with more Bentos next week and more Bento 101 posts soon!

How to Bento 101: Tools of the Trade: A Further Discussion on Containers

In the last How to Bento 101 we covered our favorite Basic Containers. Today we're going to go more in depth discussing  alternatives. 

Part One: Traditional Japanese Style Bento Boxes

The bento box style that comes to mind when I think of 'traditional' are hand made wooden boxes. Although beautiful, these styles can get pricey and are not as practical for every day use.

How To Bento 101: Tools Of The Trade: Basic Containers

This is a subject that a lot of bento sites cover in detail. If you're new like I was, you're not going to have a collection of cute bento making items. You're also not going to want your bento supplies investment to be more than a mortage payment. I'm with you there and I'm here to help! In this first installment of our ongoing series: How To Bento 101, we're going to cover basic containers.

Part One: The Box

Bunny Lunch

Today's lunch included a special request from Tiny Bee: Bunny Egg!

Pictures and a write up after the break! 

The Lunchtime Adventures of Tiny Bee!

Our Tiny Bee is five years old. She loves ballet, the colors pink and purple, bounce houses, and practicing kindergarten skills. When she grows up she wants to be a Museum Curator.

This year she attends preschool two days a week and will be starting kindergarten in the fall.
For each school day we pack healthy bento style lunches, with lots of fruits and veggies! I always knew that I would pack bento lunches for her, and when the time came I did a lot of research. How much total to pack, what to pack and how to make each lunch cute and attractive were all things I wanted to know. I found several sources that helped with parts of those questions. And then I pieced together a basic knowledge of how to bento.

I still haven't quite mastered the "how much to pack" part, but we're getting there. A food she'll gobble up one day, might go untouched the next. I tend to pack a little extra to makes sure she gets enough to eat.

This year, her school also has some food group requirements for packed lunch that we will be adhering to:

• Six fluid ounces of milk or juice
• One ounce of meat/beans
• Two ounces of grains
• One cup of vegetables
• One cup of fruits