A Meatless Monday with Bats

Happy Monday.  I was not going to participate in the Bento Blog Network theme of "vegan" this week.  However, my friend Sarah from bentoriffic posted a fun little banner add (see below picture) on facebook for a website  called Meatless Monday and it totally changed my mind.  I decided to play (aka enter) anyway.  Typically my family is sooo not vegan, but it can't hurt just this once or maybe every Monday!  We will see....

 

 

Top Box:  Applesauce in a pumpkin cup with cinnamon sprinkled on in the shape of bats (granted this did not turn out exceptionally),  yellow cherry tomatoes,  crackers with a *bat stamped on the top cracker, black olives, peanut butter in a bat head shaped cut with raisin accents (secretly it is really a cat head cup but for today its a bat).



Bottom Box:  Bat shaped honeydew, orange bell pepper bats, carrot bats, and more yellow cherry tomatoes.

**I found foam Halloween stamps at the Dollar Tree and I hoped that I could just color on them with the food dye markers and stamp on food, worked like a charm!**

Linking up at Bento Blog Network.
 

  Voting starts on Wednesday 10/3. FYI - I do really enjoy the Halloween season and have many Halloween bentos planned.  I will be doing at least one per week the whole month of October.  The week of Halloween there will be one every day.

What I used to make this bento.

Polka dot bento box.  Tokyo Discount.  $  (this box has been dressed up for the season with my new pumking belt.  Daiso Japan. $)  Thanks Auntie Gina :-)

Pumpkin silicone cups.  Hobby Lobby. (set of 6)  $$

Bat cookie cutter (Large).  Seasoned Kitchen. $

Bat cutter (mini).  Amazon.

Japanese vegetable cutter (some kind of leaf...bamboo maybe, but looks like a bat)  Allthingsforsale.com (set of 6) $$$

Foodoodler markers.  Sur La Table. $$

Halloween cupcake stencils.  Amazon.

Cat head shaped cup (or bat).  Daiso Japan. $

Bat stamp (set of 8 Halloween foam stamps)  Dollar Tree. $

Orange dot picks.  Daiso Japan. $  (thanks again to Auntie Gina)

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Spiders

It is getting super close to October.  When I think of October I think of Halloween.  Since Halloween is coming up, I have been searching for spider silicone cups  and I finally found them in my town this week (BTW I found them at Ross).  I have kept them secretly hidden, so my daughter has no idea I have them.  I am tempted to sneak in to preschool at lunch time to see what she does when she opens this lunch.  EEKKKK, I am such a mean Mama!

And YES, we will continue with the leftovers on Friday theme :-)

Top Box:  Leftover cheeseburger with spider shape cut out,  red and green grapes, honeydew and watermelon in the spider cup with raisin eyes.

Bottom Box:  Yellow cherry tomatoes, black cherry Chobani yogurt in the spider cup with candy eyes, green and black olives, and cucumber spiders.

What I used to make this.

Bento Box.  Chinatown Las Vegas. $$$

Spider silicon cups. (set of 6) Ross. $$

Spider cookie cutter.  Sur La Table. $


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Oink! Oink!

I got a package in the mail today :-).  New bento toys!  I received a set of the brand new CuteZCute animal friends cutter set.  I had to promptly use them!  They make bento lunch making as easy as 1-2-3!  Fun, quick, and easy lunches.

Top Box:  Blue corn tortilla with ham accents, yellow cherry tomatoes, black olives, carrots, and red bell peppers.

Bottom Box:  Watermelon pigs, ham pig face on tortilla.

I also packed a side dish of pretzels since my daughter seem to be eating more this week.

New cutters:

What I used to make this bento.

Polka Dot bento box.  Discount Tokyo. $

CuteZcute animal cutter set.  Allthingsforsale.com $$$

Mini pig cutter.  Kitchen Collection. (set of 6) $$

Pig Silicone cup.  Daiso Japan. $


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Johnny Appleseed Day

September 26th is Johnny Appleseed day.  In honor of this, we have an apple themed bento lunch :-)

Top Box:  Turkey, ham, and tortilla sandwich (No its not an alien!).  It is the inside of an apple after it is cut showing the core with seeds.  Yellow cherry tomatoes, cucumber apples, and apple slices. 

Bottom Box:  Red pepper apples, green olives, apple slice, and peanut halves (representing seeds).
Watermelon apples and green grapes.

More fun Johnny Appleseed Day lunches:

 

• Bento-logy
• Bent On Better Lunches
• Biting the Hand that Feeds You
• Zoe's Lunchbox
• A Boy and His Lunch

What i used to make this.

Clic-tite box.  Marshalls. $$

Plastic apple cookie cutter.  Bed, bath, & beyond.  Bucket of cookie cutters. $$$

Foodoodler marker.  Sur La Table. $$

Heart pick.  Dollar Tree. $

Mini apple cutter.  Sur La Table.  (set of 6). $


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The letter "H"

The weekly letter theme continues...this week is the letter "H" at preschool.

Top Box:  Left side - Hominy, hard boiled heart shaped egg, hoagie bread slices, and hummus.
 Right side - Honeydew melon and hazelnuts.

Bottom Box: Left side - Hoagie bread slices and honey oat granola bar.
 Right side - Havarti & dill cheese lower case and upper case "h", hazelnuts, ham hearts with the letter "H" cut out of the center.  Also, yellow cherry tomatoes which have absolutely nothing to do with the letter H, but I needed more veggies :-)

What I used to make this bento.

Bento box.  Marshalls. $$$

Heart silicone cups.  Daiso Japan. $

Mini heart silicone cup.  Kitchen Collection. $$

Letter H fondant cutter.  (set of letters & numbers)  Michaels. $$$

Green silicone cup.  Cost Plus World Market. $$

Plastic mini heart cutter.  Daiso Japan. $

Heart cookie cutter.  Bed, Bath, & Beyond.  (bucket of cookie cutters) $$$


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Fall

Well, it is officially fall now.  Saturday was the first day of fall.  Happy fall ya'll (have I mentioned that i grew up in the south?)!

 



 

Top Box: Ham, turkey, tortilla sandwich. (autumn tree drawn on)

 

Left Box:  Red & yellow pear leaves.

 

Right Box:  Red, yellow, orange bell pepper leaves.

 

 

What I used to make this.

 

 

Blue onigiri box.  Discount Tokyo. $

 

Dog box.  Allthingsforsale.com $

 

Fall leaves cutter (set of 9)  Sur La Table. $ *on sale*

 

Foodoodler markers.  Sur La Table. $$

 

Pairing knife.

 

 

Same or similar items sold here.

 



Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Happy Friday!  This lunch just kind of evolved from one theme to another.  At first, this lunch was just going to be a music note theme.  Then, I needed to use a silicone cup to put the leftover chicken and mushrooms in (because it is leftovers on Friday).  I ended up just grabbing a star cup.  At this point I had renamed this lunch to music star.  My daughter comes into the kitchen, takes a look at her lunch, and starts singing twinkle, twinkle little star.  Voilà!  Now, why didn't I think of that for the name of the lunch! 

Top Box:  Leftover chicken and mushrooms,  carrot stars,  leftover green beans (tucked behind the music note baran), turkey and tortilla roll ups,  green and black olive on music note picks.

Bottom Box:  Left-  Green grapes and star pears in a diamond cup (the diamond cup was added on at the end to flow better with the song).
Middle - Pineapple Chobani yogurt with crushed up graham crackers in a mini star cup.
Right - Mandarin orange slices and star shaped pears.

Happy Blogiversary to Diana at Bento Blog Network.  I have had a lot of fun learning new things through her weekly linky competition.  I always look forward to the upcoming weeks theme!

  What I used to make this bento.

Lock & Lock bento box.  (Comes with lunch bag & chopsticks)  Marukai.  $$$$

Star silicone cup.  Daiso Japan. $

Music note baran (heart baran pictured).  Allthingsforsale.com  $$

Mini silicone cups (star & diamond).  Kitchen Collection.  $$

Music note picks.  Daiso Japan. $

Mini plastic star cutter.  Daiso Japan.  $


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Salad in a Lego

Well, my daughter has been asking me to make her a salad for her lunch.  Today, the request is granted.  In fact she gets two salads.   I am feeling a little lazy today after doing all the planning and preparing for the pirate blog hop.  This was a quick and easy lunch and still looks appetizing!

Here is another view of the lunch with the lids.

Left side:  Anti pasta salad (spring salad mix, black olives, green olives, pepperoni, turkey, cucumbers, carrots, artichoke hearts, and a sprinkle of shredded cheese).

Right side:  Fruit salad (strawberries, grapes, bananas, oranges).

Small yellow leg box:  pretzels.

What I used to make this bento.

Lego box container.  The Container Store. $$$$

Small Lego box (used inside larger Lego box) The Container Store. $$ *red pictured, yellow used*

Vegetable cutter.  Allthingsforsale.com $$$  (set of 6)

Plastic mini heart cutter. Allthingsforsale.com  $ (comes in a set)

Same or similar items found here.

Ahoy, Matey!

Welcome to the "talk like a pirate day" blog hop!  Here are the rules..... Arrrr!

Every Blogger Buccaneer in this here Hop has a piece of the treasure map! You'll need to "collect" each piece and put them together in the right order to find the treasure! You'll want some parchment and a quill, to keep a log with each clue and each number, because there are 39 scurvy pirates running amok with 39 pieces o' the map to collect! 37 pieces will guide you to the hidden treasure (by spelling out the URL where you can enter to win!) and there are 2 bonus pieces with the "secret passwords" to get two chances to win some pirate booty!

Top Box:  Strawberries, cucumber pirate(raisin accents, olive eye patch, and orange peel bandana and gold earring) on top of purple lettuce, turkey and blue corn tortilla sandwich with ship drawn on with food markers, and black olives tucked into empty spaces.

Bottom Box:  Chobani blueberry yogurt frozen into skull with crossbones shape and pirate booty tucked in the sides of the box.  *I learned the frozen yogurt trick from veggie-bento.com via bentorrific's blog post*

Now, find my clue near the bottom of my post and hop on over to Food, Family, Fun to find the next clue.  Click button below.

What I used to make this bento.

Panda bear bento box (he has been piratized!)  Discount Tokyo.  $$$$

Silicone ice mold.  Michaels.  $

Foodoodler markers.  Sur La Table. $$

Mouth deco cutter.  Allthingsforsale.com $$

Eyes- cut off motrin syringe.  Free

Silicone cups.  Daiso Japan. $  (Pictured are the mini ones but I used the regular sized ones)

Blue mini silicone cup.  Kitchen Collection.  $$

Pairing knife.

This here's my piece o' the map! Good luck, Mateys!

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The Letter "G"

So, I just realized Friday that preschool has been going through the letters of the alphabet every week.  If this would have dawned on me earlier I would have started the letter theme much sooner!  We are going to jump right in today and join the class with the letter "G".

Top Box:  Green beans with garlic, ginger snap cookies, green grapes, and Gouda babybel cheese with the letter "G" cut out.

Bottom box:  Green olives, green grapes, goldfish, and grilled steak (this one is a stretch to make it fit with the "G" theme)

Pictured below:  I had to show that she will also be taking red Gatorade for her drink!

**Don't forget about the talk like a pirate day blog hop on Wednesday.  Follow the hop and collect the clues for your chance to win the treasure**

What I used to make this bento.

Green tiffin box.  Cost Plus World Market. $$$

Letter G fondant cutter.  Michaels. (set of all letters and numbers) $$$$

Silicone cups.  Bow, corner, & pink.  Daiso Japan. $

Green silicone cup.  Cost Plus World Market.  $

Green animal cup. (orange one pictured).  Marukai. $


Same or similar items found here.

Ballerina

This weeks theme at bento blog network is dance.  I thought I would submit mine earlier than usual this week.  It seems everybody is on the same page that dance equals ballet!  I am adding to this.  A bento for a little girl plus a dance theme has to equal ballerina!

Top left:  Strawberries with music note picks.

Bottom left:  Ballet slipper radishes with  cucumber bow. (I was not able to get them to match perfectly :-( &  my daughter has never had radishes so we will see if she likes them or not.)

Right:  Turkey and blue corn tortilla sandwich with ballerina drawn on with food coloring markers and a couple of olives.

Linking up at:
 

 

My bento blogger friends and I are having a blog hop and giveaway on Wednesday Sept 19th for talk like a pirate day.  Check out all of the fun pirate themed bentos and collect all of the clues along the hop for your chance to win the treasure!

What I used to make this bento.

Flower bento box.  Marukai. $$$$

Foodoodler markers.  Sur La Table. $$

Bow clay cutter (set of 3)  Hobby Lobby. $$

Music note picks.  Daiso Japan. $

Pairing knife.


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Leftovers on Friday: Shapes

My daughter politely informed me of what she did and did not want in her lunch today.  When I asked what kind of theme she would like she said shapes. 

Top Box:  Black olives (oval), cubed baked chicken (square),  yellow tomatoes (circle), black beans (star).

Bottom Box:  Corn, strawberries, raspberries.  This whole tier represents hearts <3


What I used to make this bento.

Bento box.  Daiso Japan. $

Heart & Star silicone cup.  Daiso Japan. $

Food picks.  Dollar Tree. $


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Kiss the Frog

Today's bento was inspired by my daughters pajamas!  Frogs kept on coming up tonight.  There were frogs on her pjs, frogs in the bedtime story, and even on the tv show my husband was watching (they were talking about eating frog legs though!).

Top Box:  Frog sandwich made from turkey, tortilla, and pesto on top.  He has mozzarella eye balls with black olive pupils.  His crown is a tortilla with peanut butter and yellow sugar crystals (to give it a little bling!)  The frog prince is sitting on top of sugar snap peas and grapes.  Also if you look really closely you can see the "fly" raisins (i cut little wings in them).  After all, a prince has got to eat!

Bottom Box:  Cucumber lily pads with strawberry and raspberry flowers.

What I used to make this bento.

Green Tiffin Box.  Cost Plus World Market. $$$

Cut off Motrin syringe.  Free

Colored plastic cutters.  Daiso Japan. $

Frog cookie cutters.  Sur La Table. $

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