I’m back from my fun weekend in New York and therefore, back to reality. Here are the boys’ bentos for this week:
Monday
I was not feeling creative on Monday at all, so Wyatt’s day camp snack was super simple: strawberries and a crescent roll. I was going to jazz it up just a little by putting jam in for the roll, but Wyatt was adamantly opposed, so we didn’t even get that excitement.
Tuesday
On Tuesday, August had peas, steamed carrots and some chopped turkey meatballs that I pulled from the freezer and reheated in the microwave. I also included some leftover spaghetti that I tossed with a little olive oil and garlic salt after I took this photo.
Wyatt’s snack was strawberries, snap peas and some flat bread that I spread with a little butter, sprinkled with garlic salt and toasted in the toaster oven.
Wednesday
On Wednesday the toddler’s lunch had leftover corn on the cob (that I cut off the cob), leftover chicken from dinner the night before, cantaloupe chunks and garlic flatbread (like his brother’s from Tuesday.
Wyatt didn’t have a snack box on Wednesday because I pulled him out of camp to take him to Six Flags for the day. I kept it a secret until we got there by telling him we were going to “a really nice library.” When we turned the corner and he could see the park for the first time, he asked “MOM? Are we going there??” I laughed and told him that we were, and I hope he didn’t mind me tricking him so he could have a nice surprise. Still totally stunned he said, “Oh my gosh, Mom! I’ve never been to a library with roller coasters before!!” Ha! His nutritious snacks for the day included a Starburst popsicle and blue cotton candy.
Thursday
Wyatt’s day camp snack on Thursday was blueberries, and turkey and cheese roll-ups.
Friday
I broke the cardinal rule of bento box packing with this snack: I didn’t pack the box tightly with food. When Wyatt opens this up later everything will be mixed together, but you know what? He totally won’t care. So…eh…whatever. I packed a stack of fake Triscuits with cheese stars on each layer and a cup of blueberries. Everything I thought up to put in those big empty spaces was given a thumbs down by my 5yo, so I finally just gave up and put the lid on the box. Life goes on.
Wyatt was swimming at camp on Monday so I wanted him to have an extra big snack. I packed tofu cubes, blueberries and whole wheat pretzel sticks. Gotta get that protein in him, don’t you know!
Tuesday
On Tuesday, the toddler’s lunch had turkey roll-ups, strawberries, mango chunks, shrimp fried rice (pulled from the freezer) and soy-catash (also from the freezer).
Edited to add: Donna pointed out in the comments that shrimp fried rice is not a dish that would be safe to pack in a lunch box and eaten at room temperature and she is absolutely right! It was safe for me to pack this for my little guy because his lunch is refrigerated at day care and then reheated for him at lunch time. I would not put this in a lunch box that was sitting in a backpack all morning though — with or without an ice pack!
Wyatt’s day camp snack was turkey roll-ups, pita crackers, clementine wedges and three (3) decorative blueberries.
Wednesday
On Wednesday, Augie had clementine wedges, deli turkey, a banana chocolate chip muffin (extra healthy with the addition of whole wheat flour and flax meal), grapes and soy-catash.
Wyatt was scheduled to go to a full day of camp on Wednesday, but ended up staying home sick at the last second. I packed his lunch the night before though: pita crackers, a banana chocolate chip muffin, strawberries, blueberries, snap peas and tofu with his name cut into it with cookie cutters.
Thursday and Friday
I am at the BlogHer conference in NYC right now, so I wasn’t home to pack the kids’ lunches, but my husband assures me he fed them. No pictures (though Daddy makes bentos for them too!).
For Monday’s snack, I sent Wyatt to camp with a cereal bar (cut in half and stacked), some blueberries and his beloved salami.
Tuesday
The main part of my toddler’s lunch for day care was a stuffed pepper half that was leftover from dinner the night before. I chopped the pepper up and mixed it in to the stuffing so it would be easy for him to eat. Blueberries and peas went along as the side dishes.
Wyatt’s snack was a biscuit (leftover from breakfast), some deli turkey and a yogurt tube.
Wednesday
On Wednesday, Augie had melon, strawberries, a banana chocolate chip muffin (pulled from the freezer) and leftover pasta and chicken in his lunch.
The five-year-old’s snack also had cantaloupe (his new super-favorite), a muffin and some deli turkey for protein.
Thursday
Augie had an extra day of day care this week to make up for last week when we were on vacation. His lunch had: chicken, green beans, a rice ball, blueberries and half an avocado. I dabbed the surface of the avocado with a little lemon juice and then wrapped it in plastic wrap to keep it from browning.
Wyatt (and Lego Woody) enjoyed blueberries and salami for snack. “There’s a blueberry in mah boot!” says Woody!
Friday
Seriously — this is so annoying! I took a bunch of pictures of Wyatt’s snack but I didn’t notice the memory card wasn’t in the camera. The snack today was pretzels, cantaloupe chunks and some deli turkey. You’ll have to use your imagination to visualize it, but I can assure you that it was extremely elegant in it’s graphic simplicity.
I’m late getting this post up because the boys and I are in Iowa visiting my parents. I was going to completely ignore my blog while we were on this trip, but I still haven’t adjusted to Central time so I’m wide awake while everyone else in the house is in bed. I’ve got my trusty laptop with me though so I decided I may as well share last week’s lunches.
Monday
Monday’s snack was a pile of blueberries and “ham-mers” (cubes of hams on pretzels). When I came to pick Wyatt up at camp, the head counselor told me she had to give him an extra snack because he was still hungry after he ate this.
The SHAME!
Seriously though, I can never tell how much that boy is going to eat. At least once a week I open his snack box to find it untouched.
Tuesday
On Tuesday, Augie’s lunch had corn, leftover rice, some grapes (I always half or quarter them to ensure he doesn’t choke — I’m not taking any chances), strawberries and some chopped turkey meatballs.
Wyatt had an extra big snack on Tuesday because I didn’t want him to starve at camp: whole wheat crackers, baked tofu chunks, strawberries and a few cat cookies.
He didn’t even come close to eating it all. There were even cookies left!
Wednesday
Wednesday’s toddler lunch featured ham chunks, frozen peas, little peanut butter sandwich crackers (Trader Joe’s version of Ritz Bitz) strawberries and some crazy good cantaloupe.
The five-year-old’s snack had salami, strawberries and some cat cookies.
Thursday
Thursday we flew to Iowa! I took two kids on two planes all by myself! It was just awful, but not nearly as bad as I expected. For example, there were multiple screaming fits and one of the kids ran away from me at O’Hare, but there were no blow-out diapers so that was a win.
I had to pack food for the plane, of course, because there was no way I was going to trust United to have something I could feed my kids (Augie’s got problems with dairy) or that I was willing to feed my kids (Wyatt would happily fill up on chips and cookies from a purchased snack box but that wouldn’t have worked so well mood-wise). So I made bentos for everyone. What I learned is that bentos are awesome for the plane for a five-year-old or for a grown woman but they are not so awesome for an almost two-year-old. There was no way at all that I could put a box of food down on the tray table in front of Augie, unless I wanted it immediately dumped on the floor and I couldn’t even have it on my neighboring tray table very easily because he kept trying to kick it. Bleh. I somehow got everyone fed though. (Though keeping them fed did involve a stop at McDonald’s at O’Hare where I bought two gigundo boxes of fries and told the kids, “Eat as many french fries as you want! Yay! Isn’t it fun to travel alone with Mommy??” O’Hare was kind of rough.
Anyway….
Wyatt got some salami, strawberries, grapes and a sandwich of home made plum jam on a half of a hamburger bun.
Augie had strawberries, grapes and PB&J on the other half of the bun.
I had whole wheat crackers (August ate all of them), grapes, one strawberry and a cream cheese and plum jam sandwich.
Back to my vacation! The cicadas are chirping and I am finally starting to get tired. I’ll be back next week!
Wyatt headed off to pirate camp on Tuesday morning with this snack box tucked into his back pack. It had plum from the tree that hangs into our backyard and some pretzel sticks.
Augie was home from day care because he had a fever on Monday, so no bento box to show.
Wednesday
Augie’s lunch was almost entirely made up from leftovers from dinner on Tuesday night. There were steamed snap peas (from our garden! They’re the only thing that’s growing worth a darn this year.), pork tenderloin, rice and then some farmers market berries. Check out the size of those raspberries — they’re almost as big as the strawberries!
Wyatt had some blueberries and sliced turkey wrapped around pretzel rods.
Thursday
Thursday’s snack was exactly the same as Wednesdays — just rearranged. Blueberries, pretzels and turkey.
Comments
bentos · food · kindergarten · toddler
