Happy V-Bento Day! A Valentine Theme

Valentine's Day has been such a special holiday in our household.  This is the day that we celebrate our love for each other.  It's an anniversary for always being together no matter what the season brings. Like Christmas, it's another season of giving.  Nothing big and fancy, but everything sweet and not good for our teeth.  It's tough when you're the dentist in the family. I am very particular and conscious of anything sticky and chewy candies, that my children brought home each time from school.  That's a huge no-no.  They carry along sugar bugs that  cause decay when left unbrushed.

To celebrate ala bento way, I have prepared school lunches with a simple Valentine theme that anyone can easily duplicate for a week long.  You might be seeing familiar lunches from the past, that I decided to re-post to celebrate our love for bento.

Shrimp Fried Rice with orange wedges on Goodbyn Mix and Match Lunchboxes.

Beef Teriyaki Strips and Teriyaki Fried Rice on Easy Lunchboxes.

Whole wheat dinner rolls & heart shaped-hotdogs on Lunchbots Trio.

Quesadilla wedges with Hearty stamp on EasyLunchboxes.

Have you tried packing lunches with notes? Lunchbox Love Notes has a special way to send your love with food.  They are credit card-sized notes with positive thoughts that boosts self-confidence and sense of security when away from home. My children love them. Some were even passed out to their friends, who enjoyed reading them with facts and jokes on the other side.

Her Lunch

His Lunch

Have you seen this simple tutorial yet?
Click here to find out!

Have a fun Valentine Day!

Happy Heart's Day to all..

All bento accessories are purchased through Bento USA,

the cheapest and most complete online bento products in the USA.

Other tools are also available thru My Amazon Affiliate Link:

Thank you for your support!

Handcrafted Valentine Cards

Each year, we are requested to bring Valentine treats for everyone in their class.  I usually make it special, but this year is quite a rush. I have 2 classes to make, 52 kids in all. I just bought lollipops for them, since it is one of the sweet treats that surely won't go to trash. So I customized a Valentine note card that can go with the pops. 

Tools:

• paper cutter or scissors
• border puncher or craft border scissors
• index cards or construction papers (any color) cut into 3" by 2.5"
• label stickers
• punchers
• lollipops

Here's how:

• Pre-cut 3"x5" index cards into halves and border punched them to make appealing borders. 
• With a hole puncher, punch out on each side of the longer side, where you would insert the pop sticks to secure them well in the card. 
• Print your Love Notes on your choice of Avery label stickers.  Here's a template to help you print it out correctly.  Just choose the right label stickers you have, and customize your message.

I hope you like this mini tutorial that won't break the bank.  Just utilize whatever you have at home so there's no need to purchase anything other than the label stickers and lollipops. Or you can actually skip the label stickers and handwrite them all.  It's better because they're personalized with your mark.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

A Week of BIG and SMALL Bento School Lunches

It's been a whole week of crazy schedules last week, when blogging is not a part of it.  I was called to work twice during the weekday, and once on a weekend. Then the rest of the days were volunteer duties in school.  Well, like it or not, but I am that one of those crazy parents who love to volunteer their precious time for their children's classes, no matter what the duty calls for. And, I honestly LOVE it.  It feels good to be needed.  It satisfies me all the way.  What's worst? I was invited to be a part of the PTA-Board Committee the following school year. Of course, I finally accepted after constant invitations for a year now.  So get ready for the drama!

Asian Fried Rice

This lunch was inspired by Momables' menu plan.  I have been sending varied rice meals to school, but never thought of making use of Asian Seasoning which is an equal mixture of soysauce and sesame oil drizzled onto the rice as you stir-fry.

My girly-girl, Missy A adores flowers.  And, she eats anything shaped in florets.  So in her 2-tiered bento box, courtesy of Bento USA, I packed 3 Asian Rice shaped in florets by making use of a 4-shaped onigiri maker {found at the end of this post}, grapes and Oreo cookies on flower-shaped bento cups.

On Mr G's Aqua-lidded Easy Lunchboxes, he got a similar lunch and sides except its cuteness. No more cute shapes for my 4th grader boy. He just wanted me to toss everything in his box.  Glad I could still make use of my silicone cups though.

Breakfast Sushi Rolls

Sushi is one of the best rice meals sent to school without the need of any utensils.  May not be the easiest one to make for most, but once mastered, you'd be hooked like a PRO.  Right now, I'm challenged to make the inverted sushi rolls, which Nori sheets are placed in between the rice and the filling. Are you in?

 

On Missy A's Goodbyn Mix and Match Box, she had half of the amount of sushi roll Mr. G got on his EasyLunchboxes {below}.  Both got apples for fruit sides. The only difference was that Missy A got hers chopped up, while Mr G 's apples were chunked up. Broccoli florets for my veggie loving swimmer, and a choco chip cookie for my sweet tooth little fairy.

 

DIY-Pizza Bagel Lunchables

Addicted to pizza lunchables? Why not DO IT YOURSELF.  It's easy.  All you need is any type of bread. I have used pita breads, thin bagels, thin wheat round breads, and pocket breads.  I even tried Pillsbury's pizza dough, and they worked just fine.  I send them pre-toasted to get the crusty taste of a pizza crust. They taste better.  Then pack it with shredded cheese of your choice, meat toppings, marinara sauce, and a fruit.  Don't forget the spoon to scoop up the hearty sauce and spread them onto the bread crust.

On Mr. G's EasyLunchboxes, he had shredded 4 types of cheese (Mozarella, Parmesan, Cheddar, & Monterey Jack), spaghetti sauce, and turkey pepperoni.  On his other compartment, he had some strawberry hearts.

Bagels

Since we had a stash of bagels at home, I thought of sending in bagels for Thursday as well.  I worked on this day, so something quick and easy was highly favored.  Another easy and simple lunch to go by on rush mornings without compromising healthy nutrition.

Missy A's Goodbyn Mix and Match containers was filled with PB & J bagel thins, 2 heart bento picks of red globe grapes, and a strawberry on a heart shaped cup.

On Mr G's Easy Lunchboxes, a ham and cheese bagel was accompanied by some strawberry wheels and dill slices.  Best of all, it held a special Lunchbox Love Note to send this lunch with a burst of LOVE.

Leftover Dinner

I was called to work again, so Friday's lunch was just a leftover pizza dinner.  It was homemade though, so it wasn't that bad after all.  I was thinking of packing a different lunch, but the kids insisted on pizza.  So it was pizza all the way with a little fruit heavy for Mr G {Aqua ELB}.

On both of the kids' EasyLunchboxes BRIGHTS, they both had each one's portion size of pizza and oranges. On their smaller compartments, Mr G {aqua lid} had kiwi and Missy A {pink lid} had whole wheat fishy crackers swimming on a yellow cup.

It was a long and winding lunch making last week.

So glad you were able to drop by today.

Thanks for stopping by!

All bento accessories are purchased through Bento USA,

the cheapest and most complete online bento products in the USA.

Other tools are also available thru My Amazon Affiliate Link:

Thank you for your support!

LOVE Biscuits for Valentines

 

Now that Valentines Day is in the air, we thought of making some lunch ideas that you can pack to school and work for your family.  I like simple meals that can easily be recreated by busy moms.  But since it's V-Day, I'd like to add some special touch that our wee ones would enjoy while eating.  So I made this Love Bento that we could all share and enjoy.