bentoriffic

Posts Tagged ‘LunchBots

I want to thank each one of you personally who voted for me in the Circle of Moms contest.  It ended last night, and I’m # 7 in their Top 25 contest again this year thanks to you.  I am overjoyed!  I don’t win any money, but I do gain a great group of new  people who look at my blog because of the list.  I also have made new blogging friends from last year when I was in the Top 25 for Foodie Moms.  Thank you again for your continued support.  I encourage you all to peek at the lists that Circle of Moms provides. There are some amazing moms out there blogging from home & creating masterpieces to share in the hopes that we’ll help you find healthier meal solutions.  We can’t do it without you so THANKS!

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Bentoriffic stars and hummus bento lunch

Miss G (my 4 year old) asked for stars in her Planetbox lunchbox today.   From the top left are cucumbers, cashews, grape tomatoes, and pistachios.  In the bottom right compartment are Laurel Hill brand peace sign pretzels.  Miss G is crazy about peace signs so she requests them every week.  An organic plum is in the bottom corner and the green square silicone cup has chickpea hummus with a cucumber star on top.  Organic kiwi and carambola (star fruit) are in the bottom left and above are blueberries and an apple star cutout.  In the center is a Hail Merry brand raw macaroon.  Miss G loves the small portions and lots of variety.  Her lunchbox rarely comes home with food in it!
Bentoriffic stars and hearts snack bentoShe stays a bit longer in school some days so I send snacks with her.  In her LunchBots Duo.  On the left are local Minneola tangelos sliced and in the I Love U container are currants (small raisins).  In the right compartment is a pink heart full of cashews and half and apple with a star cutout.

Bentoriffic-Dr.Teeth & toothbrush bentoThe end of dental week is today at Miss A’s (my 3 year old) school.  I wanted to fit in a set of choppers with a toothbrush.  When I got done with this lunch it was NOT what it looked like in my head.  I wanted something cuter.  Instead it reminds me of Dr. Teeth or Janice from the Muppets in the 70s.  It’s still fun, and she giggled when she saw the crazy face so I guess it serves the purpose.  I used heart shaped silicone cups to fill for the eyes. Inside are plum sections topped with more cucumber stars.  The nose is made of a few dried apricots and the mouth is her sandwich on Rudi’s Organic Whole Wheat bread.  I used a lips cookie cutter and sliced the mouth in half.  The teeth are peeled apples cut into sections and soaked in citrus water and then towel dried and placed in the mouth.  I also hand cut an apple to make the toothbrush and then with a paring knife, sliced the skin off to make it look like white bristles.  The apple pieces also soaked in citrus water for 5-10 minutes.

Bentoriffic spinach & stars salad bento

My husband took some leftovers not worth photographing so I made him a salad to go along with his lunch.  Baby spinach leaves are at the bottom of his Easy Lunchboxes container topped off with the cucumber cutouts from Miss G & Miss A’s lunches, grape tomatoes, carrot sticks and celery pieces down the middle.  In the top compartments are carambola (star fruit) and blueberries.  Everyone in our house takes a reusable bottle of ice water to go for the day.  Wishing everyone a fabulous weekend!

Things I used to make this lunch:

Heart fork picks

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Extra flossing and brushing are what’s going on in our house for some extra dental education.  Thank goodness Miss A’s teacher reminded me it’s Dental Week this week at her school and all month long is Dental Health Awareness.  They’re talking tooth care in the classroom which means I get to break out the molar picks and drill deep for my creative side!  Miss A just came back from a dental visit about a week ago with a clean bill of health and a new toothbrush. She is starting to enjoy her visits so I like to keep it all fun for her while she doesn’t have any stress attached to the visits.

Bentoriffic-Tooth bento for dental week

I don’t own any tooth cookie cutters so I had to think of what I could make.  I went the easy (and lazy route) for pancakes and used Bisquick pancake mix, which is vegan.  I didn’t say healthy, but it was quick.  I also added 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.  I used EnerG egg replacer and unsweetened almond milk in the mix in place of eggs and cow’s milk & poured it into a pancake bottle like the one below. In the top compartments of her Easy LunchBoxes containers are organic plums, blueberries and a strawberry on a “tooth” pick.  Get it?  I hand drew a toothpaste bottle, a molar and a small toothbrush.  I accented the tooth with 2 vegan (dairy free) chocolate chips and a fruit leather mouth.  Next to her lunchbox is an Easy Lunchboxes Mini Dipper container with organic maple syrup in it.

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Bentoriffic fruit snack bento

Snacktime today will be loads of fruit.  From the top left in her LunchBots Quad are sliced local strawberries, d’anjou pear pieces, pinapple chunks and sliced local Minneolas which are technically tangelos but look like a small orange.

Bentoriffic-Love pancakes bentoAnother flirtatious lunch for my husband today with I heart you pancakes.  The big stack underneath are all heart shaped pancakes and 2 small organic plums propping up the I and the U.  I also included a bunch of grape tomatoes and blueberries in his Easy LunchBoxes container today. Not shown is his Mini Dippers container with maple syrup.

Bentoriffic-dental bento for dental week

My other preschooler has the same lunch as above with dental themed pancakes, plums, blueberries and a strawberry on top in her Easy Lunchboxes.  Happy Lunch Packing!

Things I used to make this lunch:

Face cutters

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Oh, brand new Planetbox, how we love thee! Anything that makes my life a little more organized with less thinking is for me!

Bentoriffic- Lots of Love bento in Planetbox

I decided to start a couple weeks out from Valentine’s Day to get some ideas cooking. I love pastry/cookie cutters for preschool lunches. They make perfect bite sized goodness, and then kids have to fill up on fruits and vegetables. Muhaha! Sneaky mom! The sandwiches are Justin’s Almond Butter with small pieces of fresh strawberries inside. A few raspberries are in with the mini sammies. To the left are orange slices with grape tomatoes stuck in between. In the top left compartment are carrot and celery sticks and the treat in the center is a Hail Merry brand raw vegan vanilla coconut macaroon. The top row of tiny heart silicone cups are filled with blueberries and dried apricot hearts. Yum! This lunch is for my 4 year old packed in her Planetbox stainless lunchbox.

Bentoriffic- Hearts with love bento in LunchBots

Miss A (3 years old) has her hearts lunch in our new LunchBots Trio. In the left compartment are raspberries and strawberries. At the top are blueberries and carrot sticks and in the bottom compartment are the same mini heart love sandwiches.

Please click on each photo to see what I used to make this lunch:

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My favorite pasta place in town, Peperonata Pasta in Sarasota, FL has started making gluten free, egg free, soy based pasta, and we love the fun shapes!  I buy it at the Saturday Farmer’s Market fresh.  These creste shapes are made to look like a rooster’s comb, and my kids love them!

Bentoriffic G pasta bentoI cooked the pasta and then stirred in some seasoned black beans, steamed broccoli and topped with black olives.  Included are honeydew melon and cantaloupe balls and a silicone cup of red grape tomatoes in my 4 year old’s Easy LunchBoxes container.

Bentoriffic fruity snack bentoA simple fruity snack box went off with Miss G today too.  In her LunchBots Uno, she has watermelon, strawberries, pineapple and kiwi slices.

Bentoriffic gluten free pasta with rainbow fruitLittle Miss just turned 3 has a smaller version of the same gluten free pasta with black beans and broccoli with black olives and a rainbow of fresh fruit in her LunchBots Duo with sliced kiwi, pineapple and watermelon pieces.  Both girls have ice water daily with their lunches.

Just read a great quote that I loved so I’m sharing it below.  Happy Thursday!

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CIRCLE OF MOM’S TOP VEGETARIAN AND VEGAN BLOGS OF 2013

I ordered a new Planetbox lunchbox for Miss G.  She is over the moon about her new box and owl carrying bag, and she’s anxious to pack her lunch in it again all by herself.  Today’s lunches are vegan, gluten free and soy free (except the pretzels which contain wheat).

Bentoriffic pasta and fruit lunch in Planetbox

I packed the first lunch for her in it.  Clockwise from the top are slices of blood orange, Go Raw Pizza flax snacks, cashews, dried aprictos and dried cranberries.  In the round stainless container is gluten free, vegan pesto macaroni in it with black olives and heirloom tomato slices. The bottom left compartment has sliced kiwi and in the middle is a coconut covered date and raisin “snow ball”.

Cukes, almonds and guac snack

For her preschool snack today, Miss G has two small bento boxes.  The top contains mini cucumbers from a local farm, and Trader Joe’s brand marcona almonds with rosemary.  The bottom container has a Wholly Guacamole 100 calorie snack pack of guac with peace pretzel chips for dipping.  At the bottom are dried mango slices.

quinoa, black beans, peas & carrots

For Miss A’s toddler lunch, she has a LunchBots Quad stainless container.  From the top left are dried cherries, rosemary roasted marcona almonds, kiwi and watermelon slices, quinoa topped with black beans, peas, carrots and shallots, and in the bottom left are carambola (star fruit) and sugar snap peas.

Happy Lunch Packing!

Things I used to make this lunch:

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Birds make me happy.  I don’t have a specific reason.  They just cheer me up so I’m hoping that my kids find the same joy in them that I do.  All the lunches today are vegan (meatless and dairy free), soy-free, gluten-free and all ingredients are organic.

spinach pasta with stars & birds

Miss G’s lunch (4 years old) is spinach rice noodles with a small bit of Earth Balance coconut spread mixed in and Field Roast sundried tomato (meatless) deli slices on top shaped into stars and a bird.  In her Easy Lunchboxes container at the top are heart shaped strawberries and watermelon birds.

Oh my stars snack bentoAlong with lunch is her preschool snack in a LunchBots Duo stainless container.  In the left compartment are carrot sticks, blueberries and dried apricot stars, and in the right are sugar snap peas, a Crimson Gold apple and a “snow ball” made of dates and raisins rolled in coconut.

Matryoshka with stars bentoIn our fancy matryoshka bento box is little sister’s lunch.  On the left side she has raisins in the flower cup with star shaped dried apricots.  Below that is jasmine rice with carrot mini stars and sugar snap peas.  On the right side are watermelon stars and below are bird-shaped sundried tomato deli slices and cucumbers.

Spinach with black bean saladAbove is the elusive mom lunch.  I am usually on the run, but decided to make a salad today.  I had a giant pile of organic spinach, about a cup of black beans, bird shaped cucumbers and some daikon I found at my local Whole Foods.  I have to say that the daikon wasn’t a good match with the salad.  I read later that its taste softens with cooking which is what I’ll do with the rest.  It was a little bitter to eat raw. On the sides are avocado slices.  For my dressing I topped with a bit of red wine vinegar.

Things I used to make this lunch:

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Hi ho! Hi ho! It’s back to school we go.  Now you can envision the Seven Dwarfs and hear their whistling stuck in your head for the day.  This isn’t a Snow White lunch though.   I’m just happy that one of my kids is back to school today.  I love having them over the long weekends, but they are ready to go back to their friends after the long weekend.  These lunches are from last week when my laptop failed.  The best news for me is that I’m headache free now after 7 days off of caffeine.  Phew!  Last week was a long one.

Small square pocket sandwiches with carrots

For Miss G’s 4 year old lunch I used a new mini square pocket sandwich cutter that I have.  I filled them with SunButter and surrounded the bite sized lunch with mini carrots.  I have found that the more bite sized the lunch is, the more my kids eat.  If this were a normal sized sandwich cut in half, there would be some left when she returns from school.  Instead, it was an empty lunchbox that came home Friday.  In the top left compartment is an organic mini apple and in the top right of her Easy LunchBoxes container are sliced cucumbers.

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Click on the photo above to find where I purchase my lunch supplies!

Cucumbers, fruit & pinwheels by bentoriffic

Miss A (2 years old) went off to school Friday with Sunbutter and jam pinwheels on Rudi’s Organic Spelt Tortillas.  I stick them in the fridge or freezer to make them easier to cut before sending off.  The nut and seed butters can get runny and squished so I cool them down making them easier to slice.  Next to the wrap pinwheels are sugar snap peas.  Also included in today’s lineup are organic raspberries, blueberries, cucumbers and locally picked strawberries packed in a LunchBots Uno.

Have a great week, and happy lunch packing!


It’s a rainy, cooler day here in Florida today so there’s some sunshine inside the lunchbox.  I made Miss G some vegan BLTs for lunch.  I found these mini slider buns at Whole Foods in the bread section, and they’re they perfect size for preschool lunches.  I cooked some vegan tempeh (fermented soy) bacon.  I use a tiny bit of Earth Balance vegan mayo on the bun, then romaine leaves and sliced tomatoes.  Above the mini sandwiches are grape tomatoes and pineapple pieces.  In the top left of her Easy Lunchboxes container are honeydew melon pieces and in the top right is a sunshiny face clementine.

Mini BLTs with happy orange by bentoriffic in ELBs

My girls also love sliced avocado or guacamole on their BLTs.

Side view blt

Miss G’s snack today is freeze dried mango pieces, a Crimson Gold organic apple and roasted cashews in her Happy Tiffin stainless bento box.

Freeze dried mangos and apple snack bento

Vroom!  Miss A is off with her LunchBots Quad filled with cars.  From the top left are pineapple pieces with 2 honeydew melon cars on top.  In the top right is chickpea hummus with a pita bread car on top.  In the bottom right corner are honeydew melon pieces with dried apricot cars on top, and in the bottom left are Laurel Hill brand peace sign pretzels for dipping and mini carrots.

Car and hummus bento by bentoriffic

Happy Lunch Packing!

LunchPunch flower by bentoriffic

Welcome to Wednesday.  I’m on day 2 of a diet cleanse and exactly 2 days that I’ve had a headache.  I cut out a number of things.  By far the hardest are soy and caffeine.   It’s a great way to find out how addicted to caffeine I am.  My answer was VERY addicted.  We’ll see how I do at the end of two weeks.  Just hoping the headaches don’t last that long!

Miss G is off to school with a flowery sandwich made with a Lunch Punch Sandwich cutter on Rudi’s Whole Wheat bread.  Click on the photo below to find more fun sandwich cutters.  The flower in the middle is made with the heel of the bread loaf.  In the top left of her Easy Lunchboxes container are kiwi and blueberries and in the top right are grape tomatoes.

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Snack time for my 4 year old is in her Happy Tiffin stainless bento with raspberries, mini carrots and dried cherries.

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My two year old has a LunchBots Quad with mini chickpea burger halves in the top left and bottom right compartments with mini carrots and at the opposite corners are kiwi slices and pineapple chunks.

Trying new foods is my thing.  Of course, these days it includes crazy seeds, fruits and things I’ve never heard of since dropping meat & dairy from our family diet.

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Soy curls couscous and chia bento

I made my own version of vegan barbeque last night which means it becomes lunch the next day.  I found a product called Soy Curls made by Butler Foods.  You just soak them in warm water for 10 minutes and add the desired flavoring.  Once hydrated, I added these to a skillet with about 4 tablespoons of water, 2 teaspoons of liquid smoke and about 3 tablespoons of soy sauce and cooked over medium heat for about 10 minutes.  I add water a tablespoon at a time as necessary to keep it moist.  For this lunch I poured it over whole wheat Israeli couscous in her Easy Lunchboxes contianer.  In the top left compartment are local strawberries we picked this past week from Eden Farm.  The top right compartment has a chia seed pudding I made with almond milk.  Chia seeds are high in Omega 3 acids (more than salmon or flax seeds), calcium, potassium, fiber and protein.  Click here to read more about these amazing little seeds. Benefits of eating chia seeds

CHIA SEED PUDDING RECIPE

1 cup almond milk or other non-dairy milk

1/3 cup chia seeds

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 teaspoons honey, stevia or agave nectar (depends on your preference)

Soak for 20-30 minutes until thickened like tapioca. Stir every 5 minutes to eliminate clumps out of mixture.  Pudding will thicken like tapioca.

I’ve also added cinnamon and raisins as a variation on this recipe.

Sabra & peace pretzel snack bento

For her afternoon snack, my 4 year old has a serving size of Sabra hummus, Laurel Hill brand peace pretzel chips, blueberries, strawberries and dried apricots packed in a LunchBots Uno stainless lunch container.

Happy Lunch Packing!


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