Orange Rabbit Bento Lunch

Here's a little bunny bento I created for my son last week. I recently bought some of Amy's bunny cheese crackers just as a change from the goldfish and the kids ate them like crazy, so I only had a handful left for the bunny bento.

I perched a little bunny bento pick amidst the green grapes (BTW, why is it impossible to find grapes from anywhere other than Chile anymore?)

I added a little colby chese rabbit head atop some string cheese columns, and had just enough space for the adorable happy rabbit box. I tucked two chocolate chips and a mini marshmallow in there for a tiny dessert for my little guy.

I made a face in the orange slice using strawberry fruit leather. This was the first time I'd attempted that, and it turned out awesome! I wanted to make a bunny face on the orange, but I couldn't get it to work. Will try again another day, another bento.

Happy Bento'ing!
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Robot Bento Lunch

My son is obsessed with robots. In fact, occasionally he will lapse into the staccato-like cadence of a robot then pivot to superhero mode, so it's quite an interesting robot-superhero mashup.

It occurred to me one morning that a robot bento lunch would be a super cool thing to do, but I certainly didn't have any well-thought-out plans for how to create it.

I hit on the idea of using marshmallows and pretzel sticks to fabricate my edible robot, and I was pleased with how it turned out. More importantly, my little guy reacted to the site of the robot with the biggest grin I've ever seen that early in the morning!

As you can probably figure out, I simply constructed the robot using two marshmallows for the torso and head, and pretzels for the limbs and antennae. It is finished off with details drawn on using a food marker.

Mr. Marshmallow Robot stands amidst a pile of spare parts--pretzels, cheerios and mini marshmallows. The rest of this robotic bento lunch features mac and cheese and peas. Hey, that rhymes. Could be the beginning of  a cute kids' song...

The final touch was added with robot bento picks and the robot spelled out in cheese.

Happy Bento'ing!
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Taco Bento Lunch

It's a taco bueno bento! This bento reflects my daughter's limited preferences in Mexican food which is basically a taco with cheese and salsa only. For this bento lunch, I placed two tacos on their side and topped them off with a cheesy little message.

Beside the tacos, I tucked a serving of salsa in a pink flower-shaped silicon cupcake liner accented with a cucumber flower. (Keep in mind that most tomato-based foods will likely stain any container that's not glass.)

A large helping of shredded cheese rounded out this bento lunch along with ridge-sliced cucumber chips topped with a little grape tomato-and-cucumber kabob.

Maybe this will inspire your next lunch to be a taco bueno one!

Happy Bento'ing!
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Smiley Face Bento Lunch

It's a rainy Monday, and I'm a bit uninspired in the bento lunch department today. My efforts are produced this simple smiley face bento lunch. While not spectacular, it was impossible to suppress a smile when it was finished and packing it up for my little guy to take to school.

This all-smiles bento includes rice with steamed green beans. A medley of marshmallows and raisins are topped with a smiley face vanilla wafer. Apple flowers offer the final opportunity for one last smile. See the Lion Bento Lunch post to learn how easy those are to make.

Happy Bento'ing!
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