The Week in Bentos: July 7-11, 2014

Hi lunch packers! This week I have five preschool bento lunches to share with you, along with a mini-review of a new lunch box cook book. Read on to see what Augie ate and get all the details:

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Monday

On Monday we hit the ground running with this cutie patootie lunch. I packed Augie carrots, cucumber slices, cherries, a few grapes and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that I cut with our new Cuddle Palz set. I used the hamster face plate for this, but the way I positioned the body made it look more like a koala, I think. I packed this lunch in a large, black single layer bento box and I removed one of the divider trays for the sandwich.

Tuesday

On Tuesday, I sent Augie to school with Hawaiian Puff-Wheels, a recipe from a new cook book I’ve been loving, The Best Homemade Kids’ Lunches on the Planet by Laura Fuentes. Laura is the mind behind Momables a weekly lunch planning service that I’ve used in the past and really liked a lot so I expected her book to be good. After going through the whole thing though, I’d rank it much higher than “good” — it’s excellent! These puffs — puff pastry packed with ham, cheese and pineapple — were one of the first recipes we tried and they got high marks from everyone in the family. I’d actually hoped that I’d be able to pack them in several lunches, but they were eaten too quickly. I had grab the two you see here and set them aside so I’d have them for the next day!

The rest of the lunch held blueberries, a chopped up plum, cucumber slices and hummus. This was packed in the PlanetBox Rover.

Wednesday

Wednesday I had leftovers from dinner to pack, so lunch was super simple. The main compartment of this EasyLunchboxes bento box had Mexican egg rolls (recipe from my Six O’ Clock Scramble subscription). The sides were cucumber slices and cherries. Augie wanted to jazz this up, so he added some Mickey Mouse picks and a Spiderman ring.

Thursday

Thursday we woke up late so I pulled together this quick and easy lunch in our Yumbox: a chocolate chip granola bar, cherries, grapes, cucumbers, turkey meatballs and a tiny piece of s’mores bar in the treat compartment.

Friday

And finally, Augie had a lunch packed in our little house bento box on Friday. One layer held wheat thins and ham flowers separated by a piece of baran decorated with a frog, pig and dog. The other layer had strawberries and cucumber slices with some panda, koala and bear baran. I also included a monkey pick for eating the strawberries.

Are you looking for more ideas for packed lunches! My book, Everyday Bento: 50 Cute and Yummy Lunches to Go is packed with ideas for fun, delicious lunches. With 50 brand new bento box lunches and step-by-step photo tutorials showing how to make them it will provide you with loads of inspiration when it’s time to pack lunch. Order today from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Powell’s.