Bento #1 of the 2011-2012 School year!

And so it begins......my 2nd year of my journey in the world of bentos. What to make, what to make? I figured I would make a lunch with some of Bella's favorites: hardboiled egg, hummus, cheese, and vegis. Yes, not your typical diet of a 3 year old, but they are her favorites. Below, I have made a picture journal of how I made her first bento of the new school year. You will see how simple it is. It took me about 20 minutes from start to finish, adding a few minutes for picture taking. Here are a few key pointers:

1. Before you begin, decide what your bento will include and gather all food items needed.

2. Gather all of your cutters/tools you need to make your bento

3. Select your bento box

4. Make and have FUN!

I started with cutting block cheddar cheese into flower and butterfly shapes. The picture below shows the cheese cut outs, the negatives, and rectangle pieces. I used the cutouts and the negatives in Bella's bento for tomorrow and saved the rectangle pieces for another lunch.

I then cut flowers and butterflies out of cucumber. I used both the cutouts and negatives in Bella's bento for tomorrow. I took the skin off of the cucumber, since Bella does not like the skin.



Hummus was next. I used one of my cute little containers from allthingsforsale.com to scoop some hummus into.



The egg was next. Typically, I prepare hardboiled eggs ahead of time and have them in the fridge ready to go. But I did not this time. So, I boiled some eggs. After boiling the eggs, I immediately put them into my egg molds (from allthingsforsale.com). Usually, I then place them in the fridge and store them in their molds until I use them. But since I was not prepared :(, I did the quick way. After placing eggs in molds, I placed the molds in ice water. Left them in ice water for about 10 minutes or so. Sometimes, the egg will not mold completely, just depends on the size of the egg and how is molded. You can see the fish is missing his tail, but still a fish and cute to look at and eat :)








Add a crunchie snack of pirates bootie from Trader Joe's and a few grape tomatoes on fancy fish food picks and walla! A bento is born. I used my new bento box that I bought at Old Navy (wishing I bought more )and some silicon cupcake liners to hold the food in place.




I placed Bella's bento in her new lunch bag, with her cute name tag that Bella, herself, helped me design.



See, that wasn't too hard....right? Any questions, feel free to ask. Here is to a great school year of bentos!

Charlene