More on Bentos

I have had several friends email me for more information and tips on Bentos so I thought I'd do another post for others as well.

We still have had great success with lunches this week. The one problem is that Grace wants to see it when I'm done. Then she wants to eat it right then. This has started bento boxes for breakfast as well - ha!

There are a couple of great blogs out there where the moms take weekly or even daily pictures of their bento boxes. These serve as huge inspiration for me especially since their kids eat basically like Grace. They also have posts dedicated to getting started.
http://wendolonia.com/blog/
http://bentolunch.blogspot.com/

One of the tips I read was to get a box shallow enough so that if tipped over, everything doesn't come out of your silicone muffin liners. Then you want it small enough so that all the food is "tightly packed" and doesn't slosh around. The smallest I found at Target was a snap and lock type storage container (measuring 7 in long x 4.5 wide x 2 deep). It is a little bigger than I'd like so that is why I fill the extra space with her toddler size Juicy Juice juice box (seen in previous post).


When I saw that Grace was going to love these and they were easy enough for me to prepare, I ordered her a real bento box (seen in the pictures above). At first, I thought it was way too small, but it works - you just have to be creative and "tightly pack".

I got the boxes from the pictures above from Bento Crazy online.

top picture:
goldfish crackers, star shaped ham and cheese sandwich with extra star shaped cheese on top, carrots, grapes, Earth's Best strawberry snack bar cut into 1/4s with a fruit leather star on top, and a Laughing Cow cheese cube

bottom picture:
babybel cheese with a flower cut out of the wax, cup full of crackers, shelled edamame skewers, blueberry oatmeal mini muffin, Laughing Cow cheese wedge, and grapes (half green and half red)

My plan is to start with basics that I know Grace will eat and gradually start adding in different foods. I'm hoping with the fun of it all, she won't notice that it is something she previously didn't like.

Can I Borrow Some Jewelry?

New School Year, New Lunch Idea

At the end of the last school year, I definitely felt like Grace and I were in a rut with her lunches. By the end of the summer, her teacher at camp told me she hadn't even eaten much of her lunch. With the beginning of the school year approaching, I started looking for ways to get her to eat the staples she used to like while introducing new foods. I did a google search for "toddler" and "lunches" and came across a whole blog world dedicated to the bento box type lunches. They seemed to be my perfect solution.

I made a quick trip to Target and Hobby Lobby picking up a basic, plastic tupperware-type container, silicone muffin liners, and cookie cutters. Using the same foods Grace had previously ignored, I cut and packaged them in the box using the "tightly packaged" concept of the bento box. The result at first glance from Grace was a "Thank you, mommy!" and ended up with the entire lunch consumed.

This week has been such an improvement in her once, finicky eating. When we get in the car after school, she asks me for her lunch box and will finish off what she didn't finish during lunch time including the previously hated cucumbers and carrots now cut into flowers. What I learned was to keep the lunch interesting and never the same while presenting a variety of colors and textures.

1st Day of School

Grace had her first day of school today. This is her 2nd year at Mi Casita, but she is still in the same class since it is Montessori. Some time this fall, she will move up to the class that is 3-6 year olds and will stay there through kindergarten.


As I always seem to say, what a difference a year makes - this year in size and attitude.

I had to wake her up at 8:10! We were running around like crazy to leave by 8:30.

She was so excited. She hugged her friends that she hasn't seen since May and happily ran to the classroom.

Yesterday, when she woke up from her nap, we let her open her Back To School gift - a new tshirt, a Back to School themed book, and an apple shaped cookie.



Grace also gave her friends apple cookies to wish them best this school year.

And look who is so happy to get Momma all day to herself!

Summer is Almost Over

I can't believe summer is almost over and school starts on Monday - wow!

We have had such a fun summer. I was worried, at first, about finding things to do to keep Grace active and stimulated. But with 3 weeks of camp at Mi Casita, 1 week of art camp, trips to Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, and numerous trips to the beach and indoor bounce house, we've had a great summer.

And looking at this picture of Grace, you would think we went somewhere exotic. Nope, we took a jetty boat over to St Jo's island from Port Aransas. She loved her first boat ride. And the island was covered in seashells with water that wasn't too rough and not too deep.