BENTO for the rest of us (alternately, My Bento Philosophy)

If you google “Bento”, chances are you’ll be overwhelmed by what pops up.   Seriously, I’ll wait while you peruse the Bento images.  If you do a search on YouTube, the results are even more complicated.

The things some people do with their kids’ lunches are amazing.  Mermaids with hair made of ramen and tails made of shrimp.  Perfect replicas of SpongeBob made of cheese.  Teddy bears made of rice.  It’s fascinating—so I totally get it when people say that Bento packing is overwhelming and they’ll stick with plastic bags, thank you.

I get it.  But you know what?  There are bentos for the rest of us.  Those of us who aren’t able to recreate Van Gogh’s Starry Starry Night with pasta can still make visually appealing meals that nourish our kids. 

Long ago, after watching my father-in-law scarf down some treat that I’d taken my time with, I swore, NEVER AGAIN.  Never again would the “making” of one individual item take more time it takes to consume said item.  And more or less, I stick to this principle.   I am still learning to keep things simple (and surprisingly, the simple things are usually more pleasing).

Ultimately, the bento boxes that I pack are a means to an end.  Elliott has to go to school. She needs to eat.   Her school does not have school lunches, so I have to pack a lunch.  Thanks to bento boxes, rather than having to shop specifically for lunch items, I can just shop like normal and incorporate whatever’s in the fridge into a cute, portable box.  This makes Momma happy—and somehow, the process becomes enjoyable for me.

Box. Food. Transport.

See? That’s how simple it is. That’s essentially all a bento is. Guilt is optional.

No need to get swept up in thinking you have to be an artist.  No need to hate on the ones who do it well.  A lot of comments I hear about Bento is that “those people have too much time on their hands”, or “I could never do that, so why try?”  Sure, some folks are awesome bento-packers, but that doesn’t make you less awesome—and it certainly doesn’t mean you can’t try the concept.  I have a few boxes and few fun accessories to keep visual appeal; ultimately the main point of lunch-packing  for every parent is nourishment for their kids.

I’m a firm believer that perfectionism impedes progress.  In fact, I hear those words cross my lips frequently.  Don’t let the Olaf-replicas formed out of rice hold you back. 

At the end of the day, you can buy a fun box and fill it with food that nourishes your family.  Bam. Mission accomplished.

Box.

Food.

Transport.
(You've got this!)

For inspiration for fun yet SIMPLE bentos, check out some of these sites:

Meet the Dubiens.

Food for Harper.

How about cookie.

Wendolonia.

Aldi Food Finds.

I have a love/hate relationship with Aldi.  On one hand, I just adore their growing selection and their prices, but then again, I despise the lack of consistency of what they have in stock and the fact that I feel uneasy buying many things there (like meat, for instance).  Their produce tends to be hit-or-miss, as well--which either leaves me feeling amazing for the deals and quality I've stumbled upon, or it leaves me with another stop to make to shop for produce.  Yeah, #firstworldproblems, I know, I know.

My Aldi hangups certainly are not deal-breakers, though--I shop there at least once a month.  It's the most affordable place locally to buy eggs, kefir, and canned pantry staples.

I thought touday I'd share some of my favorite recent Aldi finds.

Happy Farms spreadable cheese wedges - yes, it's a processed cheese product (yes, real cheese is better), just like the Laughing Cow wedges.  The ingredient list is almost identical--but the price is drastically different.  While Publix charges $3.49 for Laughing Cow wedges, Aldi charges $1.29 for this seemingly identical product.  Sweeeet.  For the record, I'd never pay $3.49 for the 6 cheese wedges, but I'm happy to keep some of the knock-off version in my fridge.

Lunch Mate Uncured Black Forest Ham, 7 oz.  The comparable product in a regular grocery store would be Applegate Farms Black Forest Ham, also 7 oz.  While the Publix price on the Applegate packages of lunch meat is $4.99, Aldi charges only $3.29 for the same weight, and the quality is identical in my opinion.  I  make every effort to buy uncured meats for my family in order to avoid the sodium nitrates/nitrites.  I'm not always successful, but Aldi having a low-cost alternative to Applegate Farms lunch meat is definitely a step in the right direction.

Cocoa Almonds, 12 oz.  I love snacking on almonds, cashews, and sunflower seeds and Aldi has been a great place to stock up on those items.  Their prices run consistently 30-40% less than most grocery stores.  This bag of almonds is $4.99 at Aldi, whereas comparable sized cocoa almonds run about $6.99 elsewhere.  There's a bonus here, though--the ingredient list is BETTER at Aldi.  Just almonds, cocoa powder, sugar and oil.  The major brand cocoa almonds contain sucralose (Splenda) and a longer ingredient list.  This, my friends, is a win.

So, what are your thoughts about Aldi?  Any successes for your family?

Small successes and simple lunches.

Lunches:

Banana-buttermilk muffin, cottage cheese, honeydew, crackers with peanut butter, carrot sticks.
Chicken salad croissant, fruit, cheese wedge and crackers.
Chicken salad croissant, fruit, cukes and hummus.
Apples, carrots and cucumber slices, crackers with P.B. and cream cheese for spreading.

I think kids in just about every part of the U.S. are back to school now since Labor Day has come and gone--so welcome back to the school routine.

I have to admit that though I love the routine of school, our mornings are often pretty stressful.  One of the things that's proven to be most difficult is breakfast.  While they claim to wake up ravenous, my kids seem to just pick at their breakfasts.  I've had a bit of success in two ways with our new school routine--first of all, breakfast is now the last thing we do before we leave the house.  I used to give the girls their breakfast immediately upon waking--but now we're getting dressed, including shoes, getting hair done, etc. and then having breakfast last.  This shift has been hugely successful.  The second thing is muffins.  I've been keeping homemade muffins around--and it makes breakfast a breeze.  A muffin is easy to pair with yogurt, fruit, or hard boiled eggs for a yummy, homemade and quick breakfast.  Those two things are worth mentioning as successful around here--what's working for you?

First Week of First Grade - Bento packing is baaaaack!

Unintentionally, I took the entire summer off!  I guess I don't have a whole lot to say when I'm not packing lunches.  Oh, who am I kidding, I always have too much to say.

I can't believe my Elliott is now in first grade.  She was not excited to go back to school, but she really enjoyed her first week and her outlook is now a bit more optimistic.  Yay! Ain't nothing more discouraging than a kiddo who isn't looking forward to first grade...I mean, she has A LOT of years ahead!

On to lunches.  

Mickey Mouse English muffin pizza, strawberries, grapes, veggies.

Oranges, carrots, peaches, Wheat Thins, pepperoni, ham & muenster.

PB& celery, watermelon, oranges, cream cheese and raspberry jam pinwheels.

Rainbow fruit & veg, organic white cheddar puffs, salami, Triscuits and a cheese wedge.

What are your kiddos begging for in their lunches?  Elliott was thrilled with the English muffin pizzas and the organic cheese puffs (an Aldi knock-off of Pirate's Booty).  

  

Last week in Bento.

The Goodbyn small meal containers have definitely surpassed the Goodbyn Bynto as my favorite.  I like that I can pack them to the brim and they come home empty, as if it contains exactly the right amount of food for my hungry 5-year-old.

Cheese stick, ham chunks, pretzels, honeydew.
Egg salad, Triscuits, hummus-stuffed pepper, kiwi, blackberries.
Blackberries, chips, homemade Catalina dressing and taco salad leftovers.

My kiddos have been enjoying berries and nuts a lot for snack lately, and I count it a huge snacking success.  The Goodbyn snack containers (and small meal containers) are on clearance on the company website, so stock up before they're gone--I promise you won't regret it.  (And no, Goodbyn doesn't sponsor my posts, I really just love their colorful and functional containers.)

Pictured in the snack containers is:
Pepitas & blackberries.
Raspberries and sunflower seeds.

Boring Bentos.

I know that bloggers are supposed to come up with super-exciting titles for their posts, and they're also supposed to post regularly and do everything cute-to-the-max.  Well, welcome to my real world.  Things are done with love, not necessarily cuteness, and definitely not perfection.  But done is better than not done, and anything done with love is worth mentioning.  In other words, please forgive the post title.  ; )

Here are the lunch deets:

1. Homemade naan, ham, cucumbers, cheese wedge, honeydew. 
2. Carrots, peanut butter, apples, ham sandwich, green olives, boiled eggs.

3. Plain yogurt with homemade jam, grapes, cheese wedge, Triscuits, ham, green olive.

4. Grapes, carrots, hummus, chicken potstickers.

   

This week in Bento.

I just scored a great deal on some Goodbyn Small Meal boxes and I've really enjoyed packing these bentos this week.  The boxes look small and to compensate, I've filled these small meal boxes to the gill.  They hold quite a bit of food--definitely enough quantity and plenty of variety, too.  Overall, I'm pretty stoked about these boxes. 

For some reason, Elliott has been uncharacteristically enthusiastic about her lunches this week.  While I'd like to take credit for the success, it's probably just the new boxes that have caused the spike in enthusiasm.  But a girl can dream, right?

1. Clementine, honeydew, fried rice, hard-boiled bunny egg, muenster slices.
2. Carrots and honey-mustard, grapes, cocoa almonds, Applegate Farms ham, crackers, cheese wedge.
3. Grapes, chia pudding, ham and cream cheese pinwheels, olives, carrots.
4. Ham, crackers, apple/craisin/sunflower seed/yogurt/cinnamon salad.

What lunches are your kids loving lately?

Yep, there are affiliate links in this post.

 

Using Dinner Leftovers in Bentos

Nerd alert: I still love packing school lunches.  By no means are my bentos the cutest, definitely not anything too noteworthy, but I seriously love packing these lunch boxes.  

One thing I've noticed is that I don't really "shop" for school lunch items.  The food I buy is basically all for the purpose of feeding the family--none is ever specifically purchased for the sake of school lunches.  Since I never have a plan when it comes to packing Elliott's lunches, she often ends up with dinner leftovers and odds and ends in her lunch.  As far as I know, she enjoys it--you know, the box comes home mostly empty, so I'm calling it a success.  Here are a few of the lunches she's had lately that have contained leftovers.

1.  Leftover grilled teriyaki chicken and pineapple, meunster/olives/goldfish, strawberries.

2. Leftover taco salad with Fritos and homemade Catalina dressing, clementine, prunes

3. Leftover BBQ pork, cole slaw, Triscuits and nectarines, honeydew

4. Leftover copycat Chick-Fil-A chicken nuggets and honey mustard, cole slaw, veggies and ranch, grapes

One concern is always food safety--I covered that in this post.  We're also still loving the thermos for sending leftovers in the lunch bag.  I hate food waste and utilizing leftovers in the lunch box is proving to be a time and money saver.  Yay!

   

Bentos and some Thermos Love

In the midst of my many long and unintended blogging breaks, a lot of life happens--and often this life is still documented with the intent of posting, but obviously you can see how far those intentions take me.  The ideas for content are endless, the inspiration is infinite, but the actual doing?  Well, you know how that goes.  

Every weekday I pack a bento.  Sometimes I even remember to take a photo.  Here's some evidence:

1. Chia Pudding, strawberries, Triscuits, Pastrami and Meunster pinwheels
2. Grapes, cottage cheese, Triscuits, apples
3. Pastrami, candied pecans, apples, Wheat Thins and cream cheese
4. Grapefruit, cottage cheese, 5-grain chips, pastrami & meunster pinwheels
5. Triscuits, apple/raisin/yogurt/honey salad, pastrami, strawberries
6. Strawberries, salted cucumber slices, leftover taco.

Throughout our short cold spells, Elliott really enjoyed taking a thermos of warm food for lunch. To prep the Thermos, I pour in boiling water and screw on the cap and leave it for 5-10 minutes, usually during that time, I heat whatever food I plan on adding to the Thermos.  Elliott has reported that her food is still warm enough to require blowing on when she eats it.  The crazy lady within me wants to take my laser thermometer to her school and check the food temperature at lunchtime--but I can assure you, I've resisted the urge.

So far.      ; )

1. Leftover lasagna (cut into bite-sized pieces), cucumbers, apple
2. Leftover pot roast over rice, grapes, strawberries
3. Leftover chili, crackers, strawberry yogurt, strawberries.
4. Fried rice, apple.

   

Keeping Lunch Safe

I'm starting this post with Cliffs Notes in case you can't stand paragraph after paragraph of my lunchbox ramblings and such:

-Igloo Mini Tote 8 Fits a Goodbyn Bento perfectly while keeping it horizontal
-There's plenty of room for water bottle and snack, too.
-It also keeps the food very cool and safe (see the last photo)

But if you're interested in lunch box ramblings, then hey, thanks for sticking it out with me.

I'll admit, I looked like a fool in Target when back-to-school time came.  In search of the perfect lunch solution, I headed over to the lunch box section and made myself comfy, trying to fit different bento styles into different lunch boxes.  It's a far cry from the days of my childhood where we all carried the same hard-sided Aladdin-brand lunch boxes with matching thermoses with our favorite TV characters on them--or brown paper bags.  You know what I'm talking about, right?  There are just so many choices and the reviews found on the internet only further throw me into obsessiveness in making "just the right choice".  It comes in part from just wanting to have the perfect solution and also, I really want to buy something that works and not have to buy anything again for a long time.

All that leads me to say that for the Goodbyn Bento, the Igloo mini tote 8 is a great choice of lunchbox.  Now, initially I chose the Igloo Leftover Tote 9, which is great, but as it would turn out it's rather large and cumbersome for an undersized five-year-old like mine.  I can't tell you how many times we heard "That lunch box is bigger than she is,"--and it was a totally correct statement.  When I ordered the Igloo Leftover Tote 9, I received the wrong item and what was sent was the Igloo Mini Tote 8.  The Amazon seller told me to keep the incorrect item and they'd send the correct one, so I ended up with two lunch boxes--but let me say--their mistake was a huge benefit to me because it helped me get the better lunch box, I just didn't know it yet.

The Goodbyn Bento nestles perfectly down into the Igloo Mini Tote 8.  I place two ice packs on the bottom before I add the Bento, and then I'm able to keep the Bento horizontal which was a requirement for me.  There are SO many lunchbox options if you're not concerned about your Bento going vertical, but I wanted to be able to place silicone muffin liners of multiple items into one of the compartments, so going vertical didn't seem like a great idea in our case.

The Bento fits snugly into the mini tote but can still be easily removed by small children with unrefined motor skills.  There is additional room in the top to hold a snack (including the Goodbyn snack containers) and a good-sized water bottle.  (We switch between a Nalgene kids bottle and a Camelback Kid's Eddy.)

Here's the best part of the lunch box solution.  Call us nerds, but we love our digital surface thermometer.  My husband bought it to measure results of some home improvement projects (insulation and the like) and it turns out, we use it a lot.  I even use it in place of a candy thermometer.  I digress (obviously, since this ENTIRE post is about something as lame as lunchboxes!) but this tool helped me to know that our solution is keeping Elliott's food safe.

The pic on the left shows a bowl of watermelon straight from the fridge at 7:30am.  To the right, this is the measurement of Elliott's leftover watermelon after school.  Mind you, the lunchbox has been removed for a period of time, midday, so that she can eat her lunch--and even still, the temp increase at the end of the day is only 8 degrees. Food safety experts tell us that the "Danger Zone" for food falls between 40-140, so all-in-all I feel like an 8 degree increase over the course of 8 hours is pretty impressive.  

I had to do this checking, you see, because I hate hate hate food waste and if Elliott hasn't finished her lunch, then her lunch leftovers are her afternoon snack when she gets home.  (Some things, even at a decent temp, I don't do this with, however--like leftover egg salad for instance--but in the case of this watermelon and many other leftovers, I feel perfectly fine encouraging her to just eat her leftovers as a snack when she gets home.)  Call me crazy, but do you know how much food Americans throw out every year?  I try to keep our grocery budget minimal and a large way that this is successful is by not wasting food.  Keeping our lunches within a safe temperature range helps a lot, in our case. 

In this case, I'd like to think my obsessiveness in finding the right solution has paid off in a number of ways.

  

Week #4 Bentos

Day 1: Craisins, corn dog muffins, sweet potato, yogurt, watermelon.
Day 2: Tortilla chips and bean dip, leftover broccoli/bacon/cheese frittata, watermelon.
Day 3: Apple slices, boiled peanuts, pastrami/meunster sandwich, chia pudding.
Day 4: PB&J Spirals, apple slices, full-fat large-curd cottage cheese (the only way to eat it!) and a banana.

It's official--I feel totally settled into school.  I'm not saying that things are running smoothly--it just feels like we're finding a rhythm.  Every morning, I play drill sergeant;  I start off really nice but at a certain point I'm barking orders and (gasp) sometimes shouting.  "Put your shoes on!" I promise, I sound really nice the first 6 times I say it, but by the time the 7th rolls around, I lose my cool.

I've made a "getting ready" chart to help Elliott navigate her morning tasks (it literally consists of using the restroom, brushing teeth, getting dressed, putting shoes on, doing hair and getting backpack prepared and by the door) but somehow we still end up pushing to make it to school on time.  A good talk with a pal of mine helped me realize that I'm not the only one, but seriously--any tips on helping a lolly-gagging 5-year old get ready in a reasonable amount of time?

I guess if this is the most I have to complain about, then life is good.  And most likely, it's a battle we're going to have throughout her childhood so I may as well learn to love it.  Elliott's just so funny--there are times in which I see SO many similarities between she and my older brother, it's just not even funny.  I find myself saying it more and more, and I love the constant reminders of him.

   

Week #3 Bentos

Day 1: Multi-grain Chips (the Aldi equivalent to SunChips), Blueberry Applesauce, Nyakers Pepparkakor Cookies, cheese stick, corn dog muffins, watermelon chunks.
Day 2: Multi-grain Chips, Leftover grilled chicken skewers with cucumber, cheese, 1/2 apple, celery and peanut butter.
Day 3: Blueberry applesauce, Multi-grain Chips, cheese & ham rolls, 1/2 banana, PB&J rolls using this method.
Day 4: Peanut butter on celery, grapes, sea-shaped pasta, cheese stick.
Day 5: She got to order pizza, and took some edamame and honeydew in our Goodbyn Snacks Box.

Taking pics of snacks seemed like overkill again, especially because most of the snacks this week were the Norpro Silicone Ice Pops filled with yogurt.  I always keep plain organic whole milk yogurt in the fridge so I can do with it as I wish--everything from adding it to smoothies to making tzatziki to granola parfaits.  The kids love it when I mix some plain yogurt with our homemade strawberry jam and freeze it in the silicone pop molds--and Elliott loves taking these as a snack to school.  It's like a homemade Go-Gurt. Or sometimes, if we have leftover bits of smoothie, I add them into the molds and it becomes a snack for another day.

What are your kids current favorite portable snacks?

   

Week #2 Bentos

Week two, and I'm still enjoying packing Bento lunches.  Nice.  This week I shared some dinnertime woes, but thankfully, Elliott hasn't complained about her Bento lunches.  I'm sure I'll rant the day that happens. ; ) Consider yourself warned.

Day 1: Ham and meunster rolls, green olives, chips and salsa, grapes.
Day 2: Goldfish, plum, egg noodles with cottage cheese, hard-boiled egg, cocoa almonds
Day 3: Yogurt raisins, blueberry applesauce, pasta salad (with grilled chicken, feta, tomatoes and olives), celery with peanut butter
Day 4: Cocoa almonds, honeydew, ham and meunster sandwich, carrots and ranch
Day 5: The school orders Domino's pizza and kids can buy by the slice.  Last week, Elliott let me know in no uncertain terms that "everyone except for me" got to have pizza.  So I sent some money and a snack container of fruit and veggies to round out her lunch.  Hopefully that scores some points for me.

We kept snacks simple so I didn't bother to document.  Each day, I sent either a granola bar or yogurt for snack.  I figured that her snack should be quite light so she'll eat more of her lunch--so far this is working.

It's so funny, because some friends and I were talking last night about how we didn't get snacks as kids--and now it's some sort of obligation.  Snacks, snacks, snacks.  Two of the friends who shared in the conversation are a couple from the Caribbean (the husband from Antigua, the wife from Grenada) and they went on to share not only their lack of snacks as children, but also the unique upbringing of Islanders.  And I've thought about it all day long... our kids are so soft!  Perhaps to their benefit and not to their detriment.  I guess we'll see as time goes by.

 

Week #1 Bentos

We made it through the first week of school!  It was easier than I imagined, thanks to a great staff and a little girl who never ceases to amaze me.  And call me a nerd, but I totally loved packing lunches this week.  Here goes:

Day 1: DIY Lunchables. Cheddar, ham slices, crackers, oranges, edamame, watermelon, and a cookie as a treat.
Day 2: Ham and cheese sandwich, oranges, cheese stick, and a cookie.
Day 3: Egg salad and baked tortilla strips, blueberry applesauce, grapes, and cocoa almonds.
Day 4: Corndog mini muffins, cheese stick, cucumbers and ranch dip, grapes, yogurt raisins.
Day 5: Heart-shaped PB&Js, strawberry yogurt tube, cukes and dip, cocoa almonds.

Worth mentioning:  I found a 12 oz. bag of cocoa almonds at Aldi for $4.99 and they're far more wholesome than the Blue Diamond cocoa almonds that most grocery stores sell.  The Blue diamond brand contains a long ingredient list including sucralose (brand name is Splenda) which I steer clear of, while the Aldi brand has cocoa and sugar and oil added to the almonds.  Better price and better ingredients?  Thanks Aldi.  I'm impressed.

I add a small treat to each lunch as incentive to eat--and she thinks this is awesome as I really don't incentivize good and timely eating at home--it's just an expectation.  Some days she hasn't finished her lunch entirely as I'm still feeling out how much I need to pack and she's learning to eat within the time allotted at school. Our deal is that if she hasn't finished her entire lunch, it's perfectly okay, but she can wait until she gets home from school to have the treat.  So far, so good.  But we'll adapt as necessary.

I'm loving the Goodbyn snack containers.  Seriously--they're perfect for a kids' snack.

Snack 1: Strawberries and homemade chewy granola bars
Snack 2: Whole grain goldfish and watermelon
Snack 3: Watermelon and chia pudding (I repeated this snack one of the days)
Snack 4: Cracker sandwiches with nutella and yogurt raisins

 

Bento #2 and a snack.

Number one, please excuse the wrinkles in the fabric.  It's killing my eyes, and if it's doing the same to you, well, I sincerely apologize.  It's a scrap from the Jessica Jones Outside Oslo fabric line and it's fabulous, but goodness, it needs to be ironed.  I'm playing around with formatting and styling and Bentos in general, so please bear with me.

Number two. I'm no good at food photography, but I'm letting it go because I don't want it to hold me back from just doing what I want to do.  Maybe I'll get better; maybe I won't.  Either way, I'm moving forward and I hope you'll be gracious in excusing my imperfections.

Now that's enough excuse making.  On we go.

Today's practice Bento consisted of a peanut butter and Nutella (ahhh, Nutella!) sandwich, apple slices, a hard-boiled egg and edamame.

Snack was Snap Pea Crisps (a guilty pleasure of mine--probably far from healthy even though they're made from peas and rice) and quick apple salad inspired by a side dish offered at Cheddars.  The apple salad simply consists of some diced apples, dried cranberries, a tablespoon of plain yogurt, a drizzle of honey and a dash of cinnamon. Yum. The yogurt helps to keep the apples from browning and it makes it more special for the kiddos so I'm calling it a win.

Do you have any quick snacks that are a win with your kids?  I feel like I'm going to need some new ideas soon. Lately mine have been enjoying hard-boiled eggs and smoothies.

My first bento.

I never in a million years thought I'd be one of those obsessive moms posting their kids' school lunches. For a myriad of reasons...like, for instance, the fact that kids weren't necessarily a "must have" on my Bucket List.  Or, for instance, the fact that I never imagined I'd get into homemaking as much as I do.  OR that I would've thought that I'd just send a few bucks and let my kids buy lunch.   But nooo... that's not how things have gone.

Somehow, others along the way have known it.  In high school, I was nicknamed "Martha Stewart".  And I don't think it had anything to do with my love of chinos and plain oxford shirts.  I really don't consider myself in the Martha "club" as my output is definitely not of Martha quality, but nonetheless, the passion is within me.

If only, my husband would interject if he wrote here, if only your housekeeping skills were on par with Martha's.  ((Get out of my head, James.))  They're not, for the record.

But Bentos.  They've been on my mind for a while and now that my sweet Elliott is starting kindergarten, I'll be sharing some Bentos--Tristin style.  Don't get me wrong, I love all of the cute shaped stuff and special picks and stuff that the cool kids have, but I just don't have storage for more stuff. In other words, we're going to be keeping it pretty simple--but even simple is worth sharing, right?

Today, one of our "practice" Bentos consisted of buttered mini bow tie pasta, ham and cheese skewers, edamame, and oranges.  It filled the young lady up with minimal complaining, and isn't that the point?  Success.