Engineer I am not!

I was so excited to try my hand at something creative!  I took mozzarella cheese balls and made the little rabbits.  The salami was supposed to be a tree and the lettuce was grass.  Unfortunately, working with a semi-hard cheese and rice noodles (to keep everything together) wasn't as easy as I thought it would be.  So, after working 15 minutes on the bunnies MAC got "stuff" for the rest of her lunch.  A stuffed pepper, a few corn chips, cookie crumbs and yoghurt as well as some mini baguette.

Hubby on the other hand got a sleeping person.  The pillow is rolled up salami, the man is made from spicy hard salami and the head is a mozzarella ball.  He also got a stuffed pepper, some wine cheese, hummas, carrots and the mini baguette.

The bunnies didn't last past coming out of the 'fridge and the man was in pieces by the time hubby ate lunch but I showed them the pictures and they thought they were cute!

Creative? Nah...

One of these days I want some of the cute little cheese and bread cutters that I have seen in other bentos.  Of course, some of the reusable cutouts would be fun too.  Until then I have to work with just a knife and some re purposed cookie cutters.

This was Hubby's lunch today.  I used the mini baguette slices, they are easy and delicious.  The yellow next to the baguette is mustard.  Inside the front rectangle is lettuce, a few slices of organic roast beef (or as we call it at our house "Roast Beast" from Dr. Seuss) and organic muenster cheese squares.  He got half a blood orange, a slice of cucumber, carrots and some spicy hummas.

MAC told me exactly what she wanted (minus the fruit of course).  She got half a cheese burger sub, vanilla yogurt, some cookie crumbles for the yogurt and the rest of the blood orange.  For some reason I doubt that her friends will get much sharing today...

These will disappear!

We had Wegman's last night for dinner.  MAC loves their hamburger subs!  She is quite memorable to the employees behind the counter, and so these days they see her coming and she doesn't even have to tell them what she wants.

I told her she could get the large size and we cut it in half before dinner.  When I asked if she was going to share it with her friends, her response was a "you've got to be kidding!" look and a definite NO.  She got half an orange and some Parmesan cheese slices for her friends.

Hubby works a flex schedule, so he has off today.  I usually get the left overs from everyone else's lunches but made mine special today.

I took the other half orange, and some more of the Asian pasta salad.  My main course is a spicy shrimp spring roll, and tempura shrimp sushi.  I am so looking forward to lunch today!

Have a good weekend!

Oh No You Di'nt

MAC brought her bento home almost completely full.  Of course the two items that had disappeared were the bread and chips.  Being forgetful, she didn't put the box into the refrigerator when she got home so I had to compost all of it.  I told her that until she started eating the "good for her" stuff I wasn't going to put chips in her lunch any longer.

She got half a cheeseburger, strawberries, her favorite Braeburn apple, and homemade pasta salad.  She got the fish tooth pick for a little color.

Hubby had a horrible day at work so I went "cute" with his bento.  I used  cookie cutter to make a sandwich that looks like a bunny.  I used some slices of baby carrot for the eyes and nose and some very thin slices of green pepper for the whiskers.  The little container has mustard and the rest of the tray is filled with lettuce, mango, raspberries, and sides of the meat that I cut to put in the bunny.  He also got the homemade pasta salad and Braeburn apple.  I hope it will make him smile when he opens it.

Gluten Free?

MAC has been having so much fun sharing with her friends.  She came home and asked that I pack something gluten free for her one friend.  Both Hubby and I had to laugh.  It was a fast box due to my band practice.  She got her favorite sliced strawberries, and jalapeno chips which are both gluten free.  She also was given cucumber, carrot, and some green pepper slices with spicy hummus (all of which is gluten free).  I do appreciate that most packaging from Wegman's has a "key" on the side which tells if it is vegan, lactose free, gluten free and low sodium.  We as a family have been trying to go gluten free anyway since I have read that cutting it out can sometimes help with autistic behaviors.  I did leave a few mini baguette slices since those have been left on occasion and they will make a good snack if she needs it later.

Hubby got more store bought stuff than I would have liked, but it is still yummy.  Some of Wegmans sashimi and half a spicy shrimp spring roll as his protein and a small package of soy sauce.  I did give him some cucumbers and tomatoes for color and spicy hummus as dipping sauce.  The noodles is our homemade spicy Asian pasta salad with onion, peppers and carrots.  We used the whole package of noodles and probably should have only used half, which is why you can't see many veggies in it.  We used rice pasta to cut out the gluten but used soy sauce (which contains gluten) because I couldn't find my tamari sauce.

Typical Tuesday

Hubby got mango slices and strawberries as his main course today.  Do you see the heart shaped strawberry on top?  To go with the mini baguette he got Parmesan cheese, the spicy salami and the wine cheese.  He had asked for some different fruit so a slice kiwi and just a few raspberries finished everything off.

MAC got the usual strawberries with the cute flower toothpick.  (She has taken to wearing some pink blossoms behind her ear to school to look "anime".)  A few pieces of mango and Parmesan cheese go with the slices of lunch meat, and mini baguett.  The jalapeno chips were a little treat that she says she won't be sharing with her friends!

Manic Monday

MAC got big strawberries, pieces of Mini-baguette, and some vanilla cheese that Hubby swore reminded him of icing.  She was not amused.  Apparently one bite of the cheese made her not want the rest of her lunch so most of it was returned home.

Hubby got some slices of a new Wegman's organic salami that we found.  It's casing has crushed chili peppercorns and the salami itself has a nice kick to it.  There is German mustard in the little container with some carrots for added crunch.  I know the cheese looks kind of gross, but it is infused with wine and the best taste!  His lunch finished with cubed mango and a strawberry toothpick.  We found that the camping silverware we have fits nicely in the bento, so he now has a knife available.

TGIF!

 For Thursday's lunch Hubby got the last of the stuffed peppers, and mini Italian foccacia sandwiches.  I have been enjoying mixing and matching colors to give him something cheerful to look at.  The strawberries were a "sweet" and the carrots with blue cheese dressing was "crunchy".

MAC has been sharing her lunch so I tried to give her lots of pieces.  The apple pieces and mini turkey sandwich didn't go over too well, but as always the strawberries were gone.  The top right corner is her fish cake kimchi that she says no one else would even smell, and the last of the mini baguette disappeared.  She specifically asked for the pockey, which is a Japanese chocolate covered bread stick.  She says that everyone liked them and that she gave one of her friends 2 because it was his birthday.

Have a great weekend!

"I Forgot It!"

We got half way to school yesterday when MAC says, "I Forgot my lunch!  It won't go bad before I get home will it?"  After assuring her no, and that she could eat some of it when she got home as her snack,  I only had to refill her strawberries so no new pictures of hers.

Hubby got the above bento.  I tried to make the salami look like a flower and I think I mostly succeeded.  The cheese is a held together by a crab and turtle toothpick.  He got half an orange cut into quarters, to make it easier to eat without a knife.  A few slices of apple, two stuffed peppers to add color and slices of the mini baguette rounded out lunch.  You can't see it, but there is a small take out pack of mustard in the silverware compartment.

Do They Look Like Worms?

I was trying to make a cute curly q design with the fish and when I finished I think they may just look like worms.  What do you think?

The dark pink is tuna and the orangeish ones are salmon, they have a fish and turtle toothpick for ease of eating.  The top is cheese, a stuffed pepper, hard boiled egg and a mini baguette.  The rest of the bottom row is red onions and some radish kimchi.

We used to get a delicious dish from Hubby's favorite Irish Restuaurant (The Irish Channel) that was a smoked salmon platter.  It was sort of a "build your own sandwich" platter that I tried to recreate here.

MAC shared Monday's bento with her best friend so I tried to make today's a little bigger.

I gave her 2 toothpicks (both of them turtles), her favorite fish cake kimchi, and mini baguette slices.  Since there are two of them I gave them each a little treat of a mini cadbury egg.

A New Start!

Yes, I know it has been a long time coming and I apologize for not getting to this sooner.  I have been worn out and been unable to connect my old laptop to the internet.

I have decided, after many little reminders from my mother, to make this a more fun blog than just what MAC is doing/not doing these days.  Let's just say that high school is a challenge and she is growing up fast!

I have decided to make this a pictorial history of lunches.  Now I know that doesn't sound very exciting but stay with me...bento boxes are fun!  As mothers most of us have packed lunches since our kids first went to day care/school, and I know at times it can be boring but take a look!

This is the bento that I made for Hubby on Monday.  He has really been enjoying the different items and seeing lots of colors.  It is slices of a mini baguette, 3 slices of cappacoli ham sliced and held together with little toothpicks,  1/2 a braeburn apple, a strawberry sliced in half with carrots, and a tomato mozzarella salad with enough dressing to dip his carrots into.

This MAC's.  She doesn't usually eat lunch but decided her father's looked too good to pass up.  She has the other half of the braeburn apple wrapped in a wet papper towel to stop it from turning too brown, a few pieces of the mini baguette, some pop-chips and strawberries with a turtle pick for eating with.