The Letter H Lunch ingredients

Pick a food from each category. Put them together, and you have a homemade, Letter H lunch. It's that easy!

Breads/Grains:
Hawaiian rolls
Hard roll
Hominy
Hot cross bun

Dairy:
Halloumi cheese (like a salty mozzarella. Great if grilled!)
Havarti cheese (creamy cheese with small holes. Usually found in the deli case.)
Hollandaise sauce

Desserts:
Hazlenut torte
Heath candy bar
Honey buns
Huckleberry tart

Fruits:
Honeydew
Huckleberries (similar, yet smaller than blueberries)

Meats/Protein:
Hake fish (mild, flaky fish)
Halibut (mildly sweet, white fish)
Ham
Hamburger
Hard salami
Hard-boiled eggs
Hot dogs
Hummus (Here is my favorite recipe: Homemade Hummus, and here's how to make hummus smooth like the store bought brands.)

Vegetables:
Habanero pepper
Haricots (French for 'green beans')
Hash browns
Hearts of palm (edible inner part of a cabbage palm tree; tastes similar to artichoke hearts)
Herbs
Home fries
Hubbard squash

Combos:
Hawaiian pizza

Letter H Bento Lunch

Wow, this lunch was a bit hard to come up with! But I did it, and I have to say - it looks pretty AND tasty.

For the protein, I took a piece of Hake fish, encrusted it with bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese, and broiled it. In order to preserve its shape and integrity, I place the fish fillet in a flexible silicone dish.

Since we had never tried them before, I tested my luck by adding Hearts of Palm. Although pretty salty, they were not awful, but they were definitely not a first-time favorite. Haricot verts, the French word for green beans, add beautiful color to this Letter H lunch.

Honeydew melon and Huckleberries combine to create a gorgeous fruit salad. Actually I couldn't find any huckleberries in season, so I used blueberries. Don't tell my kids; they still don't know.

A Hard roll and Havarti cheese round up this delicious, fresh-looking lunch.

Cookie Cutters ... Secret Weapon for Bento Lunches

Wanna know my favorite tool? My secret weapon for creating fun lunches?
Cookie cutters. Yup, it's that simple. I purchased my Wilton Set of 101 Cookie Cutters at JoAnn's for about $14.99; however, I am sure that Michaels and Amazon sell them too.

I present: the full alphabet, plus numbers 1-8. At first, I thought it a bit strange 9 and 0 were not included. I'm guessing that you turn the 6 upside down to make it a 9, and you can use the letter O as the zero.

There is also an assortment of Easter cookie cutters. A cowboy boot & hat, along with a hand & a foot, are throw in for good measure. My son's favorite part? The plane, trucks, car and train. He can't wait for me to make a fun lunch out of transportation vehicles!

The Halloween and autumn collection includes a moon, 2 pumpkins, a cat and a house. For the sports enthusiast, there is a football and helmet, a baseball cap and a trophy. Two teddy bears are also included in this conglomeration of cookie cutters. SuperBoy's second favorite collection of cookie cutters: the dinosaurs. Be watching for a Dino Bento someday!

You cannot have a collection of cookie cutters without some hearts and circles! They come in several different sizes, and some of them even have crinkled edges.

Lastly, the Christmas cookie cutters. Please ignore the flour on the gingerbread people, candy canes and Christmas trees. I 'borrowed' these from my kids' cookie making so that I could take this picture.

By using the cookie cutter to create different shapes, lunch can go from 'Gee, it's lunchtime again" to "I can't wait to eat my lunch today!"

Mostly importantly, remember this:

Candy Cane Lunch

Wow, Christmastime has snuck up on me once again. How is that even possible? I mean, it happens the same time EVERY YEAR! But here it is again. Although I am prepared with the purchasing of gifts & mailing of packages, I forgot about making a Christmas-themed bento lunch. A few days ago, while I was trying not to panic about coming up with an idea, I glanced over at my kids who were cutting out sugar cookie dough with cookie cutters, and an idea struck me. A simple, red and green themed bento.

The main centerpiece of this festive lunch is the two candy cane-shaped, peanut butter-filled sandwiches. I used a Wilton FoodWriter Edible Color Marker to create the red stripes on the candy canes.

In the middle of the candy canes, I placed a silicone heart cup of shelled edamame. The heart signifies the Love that came at Christmastime, and the green of the edamame adds to the cheer of this seasonal lunch.

To further complement the colors of Christmas, I placed baby spinach around the sandwiches and edamame. The little blue container holds a creamy caesar dressing, in which to dip the spinach leaves.

Rounding out the lunch, I added raisins and apricots, not because it is Christmasy at all. It's because that is what I had in the pantry. :)

I wasn't sure if the small candy cane-shaped sandwiches would fill up my kids' tummies, so I threw in some sesame-and-wheat crackers.

Lastly, what's a Candy Cane Lunch without a cookie to go with it? Hence, the candy cane cookie lovingly decorated by my daughter, LoveBug.

List of G foods

To create a Letter G lunch, you need foods begin with G. There are some pretty obvious foods, like grapes (which I forgot!), garlic bread and green beans. However, those foods by themselves do not constitute a complete lunch. To solve this dilemma, below I have provided a list of G foods. I highlighted the foods that I used in my own G bento lunch. Get creative!

Breads & Grains:
Garlic bread
Gnocchi
Goldfish
Graham crackers
Goya crackers

Dairy:
Gouda cheese
Greek yogurt

Desserts:
Gingerbread
Ginger snaps

Fruits:
Grapefruit
Grapes
Guava

Meats & Protein:
General Tsao's chicken
Genoa salami
Grass-fed meat
Ground beef

Vegetables:
Garbanzo beans
Garlic
Gherkin pickles
Green beans
Green onions
Guacamole

Combos:
Gazpacho (cold veggie soup)
Genova pesto on top of pasta
Granola
Gyros

A Grape-less Letter G Bento

Ever have an 'Aha!' moment? As I was beginning to write this post, I realized that I could have include 'grapes' as a fruit, but I forgot! Oh well.

Here is my grape-less G bento.

The top portion of the bento is filled with Gnocchi pasta, smothered in Genova pesto. A big thanks to Trader Joe's for this delicious sauce.

Using toothpicks, I made mini skewers of Genoa salami. Simply fold up the salami accordion-style, and then thread it onto the toothpicks. 

Surrounding the skewers of deli meat are cubes of Gouda cheese, which is one of the best cheeses in my opinion. My favorite Gouda is found at Trader Joe's.

(I promise that I don't purchase everything there, just a few delicious items!)

Next to the salami and cheese is a silicone cup of Garlicky Green beans. I made sure to include a spoon!

Besides missing grapes as a fruit, I think it is a pretty balanced lunch.

What will you make?

Ps. Don't forget to include the grapes! :)

Foods that Start with F

As a follow-up to the previous post: A Lunch Brought to You by the Letter F, here is a list of foods that begin with the Letter F. If you create your own Letter F lunch, I'd love to hear about it!

Breads/Grains:

Falafel

Farfalle (bow-tie pasta)

Fettucine

Flour tortillas

French bread

Dairy:

Feta cheese

Fondue (cheese)

Desserts:

Fig newtons

Flan

Fondue (chocolate)

Fortune cookie

Fudge

Fruits:

Fig

Fruit salad

Meats/Proteins:

Filet mignon

Fish fillet

Fish sticks

Vegetables:

Fava beans

Fennel

Florentine ("served with spinach")

French fries

Friss (curly endive lettuce)

Combos:
Fagioli (Italian for "pasta and beans"
Fajitas
Finger sandwiches
French toast
Fried rice

Brought to you by the Letter F

Today's blog post is brought to you by the Letter F. (For all of you "Arrested Development" fans, I call this post ... "Bent-o F", set to the tune of "Mist-er F".)

I originally wanted to combine Fava beans and Feta cheese in a delicious-sounding vegetable side dish. Alas, Fava beans are nowhere to be found, since they are not in season. Instead, I sprinkled Feta cheese on top of spinach salad. The word 'Florentine' is Italian for "served with spinach". Therefore, I technically served Feta Florentine, "Feta served with spinach". I love using creative license!

Fruit cocktail adds a pop of color, while rounding out the meal.

The main course of the lunch is Farfalle, drizzled with olive oil, topped with Feta cheese, and sprinkled with scallions, salt and pepper.

The ending flourish is a dessert of Fig Newtons. Please notice that I placed the Fig Newtons into a silicone cup, in order to keep the dessert separate from the robust flavors of the olive oil and feta cheese on the noodles.

All-in-all: a light, delicious, packable lunch.

Everything E food related

Last post, I showed you my E bento, centered around brunch. But what else can you pack in an E bento lunch? Review the list below, and see what you can come up with.

Breads and Grains:
Egg bagel
Elbow noodles
English muffin
Ezekiel bread

Dairy:
Eggnog
Emmental (yellow, large-holed Swiss)

Desserts:
Eclair

Fruits:
Elderberry (small, round, bluish-black berry)
Ertrog (lemon-like citrus fruit)

Meats/Protein:
Egg
Egg salad
Escargot (cooked snails)

Vegetables:
Edamame
Eggplant
Endive
Epinards (French for "spinach")
Escarole

Combo:
Empanadas

Make your own Egg McMuffins

I love to healthify (yup, I made up a word) my favorite foods, like the Egg McMuffin. Delicious, but not terribly nutritious. For my homemade Egg Muffins, I opted for a whole wheat English muffin and reduced-fat cheddar cheese - a bit healthier and simply delish.

Here's a list of ingredients that you will need: cooking spray, eggs, shredded cheese, thin ham slices, and English muffins.

Let's begin! Spray a small, shallow, microwaveable container with cooking spray. Scramble an egg, and pour into prepared container.

Microwave the egg for 30-40 seconds, depending the strength of your microwave. Flip, and cook for 5-10 seconds more.

Slightly toast the English muffin halves. After that, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of cheese onto one English muffin half.

Top the cheese with a cooked egg.

On top of the egg, place 1-2 slices of ham.

Sprinkle with another tablespoon of cheese onto the ham. Once the cheese melts, it holds the sandwich together.

Top with the other half of the English muffin.

These delicious breakfast sandwiches are amazing when they are fresh, but the good news is that they freeze well too! Here's how: tear off a piece of a waxed paper, about the size of a 12x12 square. Place Egg Muffin in the middle. Match up the ends of the waxed paper. Fold down the ends around the centered Egg Muffin, until the fold is snug against the sandwich.

Flip the sandwich over, and fold in ends, like you are wrapping a present. Secure with a piece of tape.

Presto! Homemade Egg Muffins.

To eat: remove from waxed paper. Microwave for 20-30 seconds, until cheese has melted. Enjoy the healthified yumminess!

E Bento Brunch

When you think about the letter E, what food pops into your head? For me, it's an egg. Well, actually an Egg McMuffin.

Not wanting to merely make a lunch containing E foods, I created a brunch-themed box, in which everything begins with E.

The main component of this brunch lunch is the Egg Muffin on an English muffin. (Later this week, I will teach you how easy it is to make your own Egg McMuffins at home.) If you will notice, in the main compartment, I placed the McMuffin in a flexible silicone cup. This keeps it away from any moisture of the salad, which would make the English muffin mushy.

Surrounding the English muffin breakfast sandwich, is a salad of Endive, Escarole and Epinards, which is French for "spinach".

For the fruit component, I wanted to find elderberries, but they don't seem to be in season. Instead I opted for an Elderflower Juice box, found at our local IKEA.

As a finishing touch, I added mini Eclairs. These things are the BEST! You can usually find them in the frozen section at the grocery store; I bought the ones made by Delizza Patisserie. They come in a large square plastic box, with about 30 mini eclairs inside. Pack a couple in your lunchbox, and they will thaw by lunchtime. OR throw one in the microwave for a few seconds, and you have a perfect portion dessert for those times when you have the munchies. Less than 50 calories per mini eclair. (Can you tell that I like these A LOT!)

So, that's it for today. Think about what you want to put into your E lunch. AND look for a special post about how to make your own Egg Muffins at home.

Foods Beginning with "D"

Time for making a Delicious D Lunch. Here are the foods I have discovered that begin with the letter D. Now YOU can create a lunch for your kids OR for yourself!

Breads or Grains:
Dirty rice (Cajun rice, chicken, onions & peppers)
Ditalini pasta (little pasta tubes used in minestrone, etc)

Dairy:
Danablu cheese (sharp, blue-veined cheese from Denmark)
Devonshire cream (clotted cream from England)
Dip
Dolcelatte (blue-veined, soft cheese - like a sweet Gorgonzola)
Double Gloucester cheese (English cheddar-style cheese from Gloucester region)
Dressing

Desserts:
Danish
Dark chocolate
Devils food cake
Donut
Dulce de leche (Hispanic "candy of milk")

Fruits:
Damson plum (small, sweet plum)
Dates
Dragonfruit (bright pink skin, white flesh with black speckles)
Durian (Asian fruit with a thick, prickly husk and a stinky custardy inside)

Meats and Proteins:
Deviled egg
Duck
Dungeness crab

Vegetables:
Daikon radish
Dandelion greens salad
Dill pickles

Combinations:
Dagwood sandwich (tall, many-layered sandwich of bread, meats, cheeses)
Dal (thick Indian lentil stew)
Demi-glace sauce
Denver omelet (omelet with ham, onions, peppers & cheese)
Dolmas (Mediterranean dish consisting of meat & rice wrapped in grape or cabbage leaves)
Dumplings (Seriously, get them at Trader Joe's. Yum!)

Other ingredients to possibly incorporate:
Demi glace - rich, brown sauce that is the base for other sauces
Dijon mustard
Dill

An Asian-themed Letter D bento lunch

While preparing to create a 'D lunch', I reviewed my list of foods beginning with the letter D. A few items presented themselves as terrific food pairings. Hence, a loosely-Asian-inspired Letter D bento lunch.

Forming the base of the lunch is a layer of pan-fried Dumplings - many thanks to Trader Joe's! Tucked in between the dumplings are leaves of a Spring mix salad. Not only does this add color and vibrancy to the lunch, but it also bumps up the nutrition factor.

The main vegetable component is a Daikon Radish Salad, topped with chives for color. Personally, my family found it to have an unfamiliar tanginess; however, if we ate it more often, we would probably grow to like it.

For the fruit aspect, I planned to add dates to this bento. However, my husband (yes, I send these bento lunches with him too) is not a big fan of dates. But what man can resist something wrapped in bacon! Presenting: Bacon-Wrapped, Feta-Stuffed Dates!  My husband LOVED them! My kids thought they were 'different' and 'just okay', but hey, I got them to try dates!

The cute, little containers nestled n the middle of the dumplings contain: (1) a Dumpling sauce in which to dip the dumplings, and (2) the Dressing for the daikon radish salad.

Lastly, I tried to round out the meal with something a little special: a Dragonfruit Drink. It was my intention to include slices of dragonfruit in the actual lunch, but at that time, I couldn't find any in the grocery store. Of course, NOW I can find them! Oh well.

Later on this week, I will post a list of more foods beginning with the letter D. What Delicious Dish will you create? (Sorry, I couldn't resist using those D words.)

Foods Beginning with the Letter C

Earlier this week, I blogged about one of my creations - a Letter C lunch, which contained foods that ALL began with the Letter C. In hindsight, I should have put in a Chocolate Chip Cookie, which (if we were playing Scattergories) would have earned me 3 points. Alas, there were no cookies OR chocolate chips in my house this week. Oh, well!

Below is a pretty extensive list of foods beginning with the letter C. Choose an item or two from each category, and craft your own lunch. Perhaps YOU will even throw a CCC (Chocolate Chip Cookie) in for "extra points".

I'd love to hear about your creations. Leave a message to let me know!

Breads and Grains:

Cereal

Chex

Corn Chips *** Extra Scattergories point***

Corn tortillas

Cream of wheat

Croissant

Couscous

Dairy:

Cheddar Cheese *** Extra Scattergories point***

Cheese

Cream Cheese *** Extra Scattergories point***

Desserts:

Carob Chips *** Extra Scattergories point***

Cake (Chocolate Cake for more points!)

Cannoli

Caramel

Cheesecake

Chocolate

Churro

Cookie (Chocolate Chip Cookies for 3 points!)

Cruller

Cupcake

Fruits:

Cantaloupe

Carambola (starfruit)

Cherry

Clementine

Coconut

Craisins

Cranberries

Currants

Meats and Proteins:

Calamari (fried squid)

Canadian bacon

Cashew
Caviar

Cheeseburger

Chestnut
Chicken salad

Chicken nuggets

Chorizo

Clams

Cod

Cornish hens

Crab legs

Vegetables:

Cabbage

Caesar salad

Carrots

Cauliflower

Celery

Chickpeas

Coleslaw

Collard greens

Corn

Courgette (zucchini)

Cress

Cucumber

Combos:

Calzone

Casserole

Chili

Chimichangas

Clam Chowder *** Extra Scattergories point***

Club sandwich

Cuban sandwich

Crepe

Curry

C is Not Just for Cookie

Cookie Monster says, "C is for Cookie". But C is also the letter of the day for this bento. I didn't include a dessert in this lunch, but if we were playing Scattergories, I should get extra credit for the Cheddar Cheese - 2 C's in one item!

Nestled in between slices of Cheddar Cheese and Carrot sticks, lies a tasty scoop of homemade Chicken salad, topped with Cilantro sprigs. The other layer of this lunch contains a miniature, flaky Croissant, along with a fruit salad of Cantaloupe Chunks and Craisins.

In order to preserve the integrity of each lunch component, it is oftentimes necessary to contain or separate certain problematic ingredients. For instance, the mayo of the chicken salad would create a sliminess on the cheese, so I placed a baran divider between the two. (Baran is a "decorative food divider".) Similarly, I place the fruit salad into a silicone cup, so that the delicious juiciness remained contained, without making the croissant soggy. Because who likes a soggy croissant, ya know?

Let your Creative juices flow. See what type of "Letter C" lunch you can come up with. And I'll post a more extensive list of C foods later on this week.

List of B foods

A few days ago, I posted a picture of my Letter B Alphabento. Here is an extensive, though non-comprehensive, list of foods the begin with B. I highlighted the foods that I used. What kind of lunch will YOU create?

Breads and Grains:
Bagel
Bagel chips
Baguette
Barley
Biscuit
Bran
Bread
Brioche
Brown rice
Buckwheat
Bulgur wheat
Bun

Dairy:
Babybel cheese
Bleu cheese
Brie cheese
Butter

Desserts:
Baby Ruth candy bar
Baked Alaska
Baklava
Black licorice
Blintz
Blondie
Brownie

Fruits:
Banana
Bing cherries
Blackberries
Blood orange
Blueberries
Boysenberries

Meats and Protein:
Bacon
Barbecue chicken
Bass
Beef
Beef jerky
Bison
Bologna
Bratwurst
Brazil nuts
Brisket
Buffalo wings

Vegetables:
Baba ghanoush (eggplant dip)
Baked Beans
Baked potato
Bamboo shoots
Bean sprouts
Beans
Beets
Bell pepper
Bibb lettuce
Black olives
Bok choy
Borscht
Broccoli
Bruschetta
Brussel sprouts
Butternut squash

Combos:
BLT sandwich
Burrito

My Letter B Alphabento

Keeping in the theme of the Alphabet Bentos, I present to you the Letter B!

For the Letter B bento, I crafted a picnic-style lunch, the kind where you can pick at a little bit of this and munch on a mouthful of that. Yummy! Chewy slices of Baguette, on which you place slices of Barbecued chicken, top with a spoonful of homemade Bruschetta, or smear with Brie cheese. Baked Beans constitute the vegetable part of the lunch, while Blackberries and Brownie Bites make up the sweet portion.

That is what I put into my Letter B bento. Later on this week, I'll post a whole list of foods beginning with B. Start thinking about what to put in yours.

All Things Pumpkin

'Tis that season for all things pumpkin-related. So how does one make a pumpkin lunch? The good news is that you don't need to use all of these components in one lunch. Make a sandwich, add some veggies, along with with a jack-o-lantern clementine. OR create a faux pumpkin out of a wrap (see below), add some fruits & veggies, and PRESTO: your own pumpkin-themed lunch. No one said this had to be difficult. You can make it as complex or simple as you want it to be. Follow along to gather ideas to create your own.

Here are the ingredients that I used:
* Clementine
* Sharpie marker
* Sun-dried tomato wrap or tortilla
* Mayonnaise
* Deli meat
* Celery tops
* Rice
* Red & yellow food coloring
* Yogurt
* Pumpkin bread
* Pumpkin seeds

(1) Clementine Jack-O-Lantern: this one is easy! With a Sharpie, lightly outline a jack-o-lantern face on the side of a clementine. Once you're satisfied with your sketch, color it in. IMPORTANT: let it dry before placing it in the lunchbox. HELPFUL TIP: my kids have a hard time beginning the peeling process, so I cut into the peel (on the back side of the jack-o-lantern) to assist them in getting started.

(2) Sun-dried Tomato Wrap Pumpkins: Lay a sun-dried tomato wrap flat. Spread with mayonnaise, and layer thinly with deli meat. Beginning at one end, roll up the wrap, and slice into 1"-2" slices. Add a toothpick to keep the slices from unrolling. Cut the tops off of a celery stalk. Add a celery top, preferably with leaf attached, to the other end of the toothpick, thereby completing the 'pumpkin' look.

(3) Pumpkin Rice Balls: Two ways to do this.
* Method #1: Cook rice according to directions. Mix together red and yellow food coloring to create orange; then stir orange color into rice. This is the way I did it, and it made some rice really orange, and some a light orange. Not exactly what I was going for.
* Method #2: Another option that might work better: add the food coloring to the water as the rice cooks. I haven't tried this method yet; however, I would assume that you'd want to add more food coloring than method #1, since the water will dilute it.
* Once the rice is cooked, let it cool until you can easily handle it. To keep the rice from sticking to your hands, lightly wet your hands before handling the rice. Form rice into small balls; this will be your pumpkin. Poke a small hole in the top of the rice ball, and insert a celery top as the stem. Presto: pumpkin rice ball.

(4) To round out the lunch, I added orange (red & yellow) food coloring to vanilla yogurt.

(5) A slice of homemade pumpkin-craisin bread added some fruit (craisins) & veggies (pumpkin puree). HINT: Trader Joe's also sells a pumpkin bread mix that is yummy! And if you bake it at home, then it's homemade, right?!

(6) Lastly, I added a few cinnamon-sugar pumpkin seeds for a touch of sweetness. I think we used a recipe from AllRecipes.com, perhaps one like this: Sweet Pumpkin Seeds.

Then I packaged the components into a lunchbox in a pleasing way. So ... what kind of pumpkin lunch will YOU come up with?

Thinking Outside the Bento Box

First, let me say "I'm sorry" if all of my words don't come out correctly in this post. As I sit here in my husband's hospital room, I'm running on 3.5 hours of sleep. Here I sit: Typing on the iPad, chair positioned towards the window. A view of the skyline - the tall, stately buildings just a few blocks away. Watching the daylight trying to brighten the wet, dark clouds that are scurrying by. You see, my husband is having an unexpected appendectomy this morning. Went to Urgent care last night, got sent to the ER at 9:30, someone stayed at home with our sleeping kids. Appendicitis diagnosed at 11:30, got a hospital room at 12:30, surgery time got scheduled at 1am. I went home, relieved the babysitter, slept for 3.5 hours, got the kids up, took the dog out, did Starbucks drive-thru for breakfast & COFFEE, handed kids off to another friend, got to the hospital to be with my Love. Surgery was scheduled for 8am, and yet we still wait.

Back to the lunch that I created for our kiddos yesterday. Thinking outside the bento box, here is a packaged lunch (which is all that a bento lunch really is): thermos full of taco soup, carrots (veggie), mandarin orange (fruit). Tada! A non-traditional packed lunch.

Numerous times at dinner, my kids will incredulously exclaim to me, "Oh, Mom! This is SOOO good! Can I have it tomorrow for lunch?!" If your kid is one of those people that eat leftovers, then this opens up numerous possibilities for lunch-making!

Invest in a GOOD thermos, one that will keep the food hot until your child's lunchtime. The night before, pack the veggies and fruits in the lunchbox, and place it in the refrigerator. I always leave the lunchbox unzipped, so that I remember to put an ice pack or thermos inside before sending the child to school. In the morning, preheat the thermos with hot water. Meanwhile, reheat the food to a hotter temperature than you would normally serve your child. Then dump the water out of the thermos, and fill with preheated food. Lastly, don't forget to pack a spoon!

The Letter A, my first Alphabento

I had this crazy idea that I should make a bento lunch in which everything began with the Letter A. Then I could work my way through the alphabet via appetizing lunches. In doing some research, I discovered that hardly anyone had done this, and IF such lunches had been crafted, it was for the normal A, B and C letters. To this dilemma, I said, "Challenge accepted!"

It was also my hope that my kids would try new foods and perhaps like them. (For instance, I made kale chips for the Letter K bento, and they eat kale chips as fast as I can bake them!)

If you recall my first post How I Began Bento-ing, I mentioned that I include foods from each food group. I googled and researched A LOT, coming up with the following list; the highlighted portions are the foods I used to create my Letter A Bento. It is by no means exhaustive. But I wanted to give YOU the resources to make your own Letter A Bento.

Breads and Grains:
Acini de pepe pasta
Agnolotti (ravioli-like)
All Bran cereal
Angel hair pasta
Animal crackers
Anonlini (round, stuffed pasta)

Dairy:
Alfredo sauce
Almond milk
American cheese
Asiago cheese

Desserts:
Ambrosia salad
Angel food cake

Fruits:
Apple
Applesauce
Apricot
Apple juice
Asian pear

Meats and Protein:
Almonds
Anchovies
Abalone (sea snail)
Albacore tuna
Andouille sausage

Vegetables:
Artichoke hearts
Arugula
Asparagus
Avocado
Adzuki beans
Alfalfa sprouts
Aubergine (eggplant)

Combos:
Ants on a log (celery stalk topped with pb and raisins)
Alphabet soup

Without further ado ... here's what I put into my Letter A Bento.
Angel hair pasta, topped with creamy Alfredo sauce and spicy Andouille sausage, creates the base of the dish. Basil leaves add a pop of needed color. Asparagus spears add another dimension to the dish. For dessert - an Angel food cupcake topped with Apricots and a sprig of mint.

I gave my kiddos cold noodles and sauce in their lunchbox, but you could easily preheat a small thermos and place them hot noodles and sauce in it. Either way ... delicious!

What lunch will YOU create?

Sometimes Simple is Better

Have you ever looked at other people's blogs and wondered HOW they do it? I've often wondered that myself. And I've come to the conclusion that I don't always have the time, money or skill to craft something that amazing. And you know what? That is okay.

While I enjoy making a detailed lunch, sometimes my crazy, wonderful life just doesn't allow the necessary time. Sometimes, our budget doesn't allow for any extra purchases. And other times, I simply don't have the necessary ability to make my idea a reality.

When any of those hindrances happen, I declare that "simple is better". Bring out the cookie cutters to create a funky pbj sandwich. Throw in some veggies & fruit. And presto ... lunch! It's as easy as that.

YOU too can make a healthy, nutritious, eye-appealing lunch.

Autumn Leaves Lunch

Time has just flown by! This year, my household is adjusting to both kids being in school, plus learning how to balance their daily homework loads. Truthfully, it has not been a very easy transition. I'm not sure how it happened but ... it's already officially autumn - my favorite season. Perhaps it's my favorite time of year, because it's my birthday month. Or because I absolutely adore the fall colors of burgundies, oranges, yellows, greens, teals and browns. Maybe it's because I grew up on the East Coast, where the leaves dressed the trees in an amazing array of colors and, once fallen, crunched deliciously under your feet, while the crisp air nipped your nose. Even though I no longer live on the East Coast, I fondly remember the hues of the fluttering leaves, so of course, I had to make a bento lunch to reminiscence.

Wanting to create a lunch that included a full palate of the autumn hues - muted browns, bold greens, pumpkin-y oranges, vibrant reds, maize-colored yellows, I used the following ingredients: broccoli florets, butternut squash, craisins, red fruit roll-up, sesame-covered honey almonds (from Trader Joe's - YUM!), grapes, apples, shredded cheese, and spinach & sun-dried tomato wraps.

It was a multi-step process. Here it goes:

(1) The most time-consuming step: I microwaved the whole butternut squash, according to the directions on a sticker attached to the squash. Using oven mitts, I carefully removed the squash from the microwave, placing it on a cutting board. Peeling off the skin with a paring knife, I cut it into 1.5" slices. Placing the maple leaf cookie cutter onto the squash slices, I gently and FIRMLY pressed down to produce the desired shape. (I bought a maple leaf cookie cutter at JoAnn's.)

(2) I discovered that my football cookie cutter looked similar to the elliptic leaves found on a magnolia or a dogwood tree. So I set out to make leaf quesadillas out of spinach & sun-dried tomato wraps.

While I cut out football, er leaf shapes, I heated my griddle. After coating the griddle with cooking spray, I added one layer of leaf cut-outs, sprinkled on the cheese, added the top leaves and sprayed everything again.

When the cheese melted, I flipped them to toast the other sides, and then let them cool.

(3) Using my letter cookie cutters, I made the word "FALL" out of red fruit roll-up.

(4) Cutting up green grapes and red apples, I created a tasty fall-colored fruit salad.

(5) To begin assembly, I put out ALL of my components: butternut squash maple leaf, leaf quesadillas, fruit roll-up letters, almonds, broccoli florets and fruit salad.

(6) For actual assembly, I placed the butternut squash maple leaf in the center of my deeper of my 2 bento boxes. (I had to slice off some of the tips in order to make it fit. Shh! The kids didn't notice.) Broccoli florets and craisins filled in the empty corners. I then topped that section of the bento box with fruit roll-up letters.

(7) For the second half of the assembly, I made two stacks of leaf quesadillas, rearranging almonds in the nooks and crannies. Before spooning the fruit salad into the bento, I separated the quesadillas from the fruit salad with a layer of plastic wrap. No soggy quesadillas here!

Before I show you the finished product, I have to confess something. The fruit roll-up letters ... they deliciously dissolved into the butternut squash. The result: when my family opened their bento boxes, they did not see this beautiful bento exactly as pictured below. Oh well. It was still pretty tasty.

Back-to-School Bento

At the start of this school year, both of my kids faced numerous unknowns. Since we moved over the summer, my daughter was beginning third grade at a new school. My son began kindergarten. Neither child knew any friends or teachers at their school; plus, they were riding the bus, which was a new experience. Although I could not walk through these new experiences with them, I wanted to send a special dose of reassurance from home. Hence, this cute back-to-school lunch.

The 'notebook paper' consists a ham sandwich, made with white whole-wheat bread. I drew the lines on the bread with food markers. (You can find them at Michael's.) The base of the pencil is a cheese stick. With an apple corer, I cut a pink Starburst to make the eraser. For the tip of the pencil, I used a black food marker to color the tip of a Bugle. Both the Starburst & the Bugle were attached with toothpicks.

To round out the meal, I added the produce that I happened to have on hand. broccoli florets, baby carrots, cut-up peaches & raspberries.

My kindergartener told his teacher that the best part of the day was "eating the pencil". I had to interject with an explanation. I guess it was a hit!

How I Began 'Bento-ing'

During our daughter's first grade school year, I was packing pbj sandwiches for her lunch. She didn't complain, but I knew that I wanted to pack something more substantial for her noon-time meal. Something that would be satisfying, delicious, nutritious and fun!

Also during that year, I made a discovery. If I gave her a more well-rounded meal for breakfast, it kept her satisfied & more focused until lunchtime. Instead of simply cereal for breakfast, I began giving both of our kiddos a three-part meal consisting of a grain, a fruit & a protein. Sounds like a lot of work? It really isn't, especially when you see the results (i.e. content, satisfied, attentive kids).

That got me thinking ... how could I improve the nutrition in her school lunch? I began by trying to include all of the food groups - grain, protein, fruit, veggie, dairy and sometimes dessert. As I contemplated HOW to do accomplish this task, I discovered bentos. Wikipedia describes bento boxes as "single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine." (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bento) Basically, a bento box is a convenient, boxed lunch that focuses on nutrition & portion size. Check out Biggie (an expert bento-packer) at www.lunchinabox.net for her awesome chart on bento sizes for each person.

Recognizing that I did indeed have to make lunch every day, why not enjoy making it! Hence the "cuteness" factor. Additionally, I believe that my kiddos are more eager to eat fun-looking foods, rather than another blah baggie of veggies or a basic pbj sandwich. And honestly, I too also
look forward to lunchtime when I remember that I have a delicious & delightful lunch packed for myself!

So that's my goal. Nutritious lunches packaged in a fun, eye-appealing manner.

Last year, with my daughter in second grade, the lunch aides would daily anticipate and inquire about my daughter's creative lunch for that day. (P.S. I don't do this every day. At most, once a week.)

Please feel free to use my ideas to inspire what YOU can create for your kids' lunches, or even for your own lunchbox! Lunch doesn't have to be boring, tasteless or challenging to make.
Join my lunch revolution.