Rockin weekend!!!

Well we had a busy weekend
but we always have time for Bento lunch!!! We had a weekend of fast cars and wild animals at the Dallas Zoo! Thanks to DFW Drive Your Dream my hubby got to drive aLamborghini Gallardo and we all got to sit in a few Ferrari's, Lamborghini's, and some other luxury cars!! Niiiice! We also went to the Dallas Zoo and had some fun with all the wild animals of the Safari!! With all that fun and excitement with the sports cars, Alexa wanted a bento that had a boy flair. So we have a rockstar guy with a guitar and amp!!! We had some help and input from out adopted child...Krazy Kandace! So a slice of pizza that was left over from Sunday dinner when we made our own pizzas, noodle hair, carrot stars, and a cheese tie. Then we have some blueberries topped with a fruit roll up guitar paired with a rice krispy amp with fruit roll up detail! Rock on!!!!


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A face only a mom could love....

Well my friends it is Friday. I must say my real job was pretty hectic this week and yesterday was a whopper. So last night at Target (pronounced Tar-jay at our house...ha) I was pleasantly pleased when Miss A wanted a mini bagel sandwich. I immediately saw big 'ol eye balls! So this took all of 10 minutes to put together, so that is a record!!! So here it is....a face only a mom could love. It has bagel ham cheese eyes, blueberry pupils, a tomato nose, natural puffed cheetos for eyebrows. The eyelashes are those grass divider things you usually see in sushi to go packages. Mmm sushi...I would kill for some sushi. Only sad thing about being pregnant. Anyway, bought those grass divider things at Shop Minoya in Plano. Nice big strawberry red lips, a pickle mouth, and yes I stuck corn for teeth....I was going to do two rows but I would have to really cut the pickle in half and that would suck. Who doesn't love a good pickle!!! haha! Happy Friday!!!

Lions, Tigers, and Bears...Oh My!!!

Last night I saw a preview for Wizard of Oz and was inspired to do Lions, Tigers, an Bears!! We did mini hamburger sliders last night for dinner so I had those miniature little buns left over that are so darn cute. Perfect for sandwiches with cute animal faces!!! I must admit...yes this was all me. I sketched it out last night about midnight and I don't sleep much already but add being almost 6 months pregnant and it is nothing but 4-5 cat naps at night! So we have two mini-buns with a ham and turkey sandwich with cheese, I used two pieces of turkey, 1 piece of ham, and 3 cheese slices. I probably could have been more resourceful with the cheese but made a mistake so there was a little waste. I try to use the minimum amount of food and utilize each piece. Then I made the train out of cantaloupe with fruit wheels, cut out the fruit roll up words "OH MY" and added a few tomatoes along the top to keep it all nice and snug!! Right before I packed it I added some animal picks that were Alexa's idea because she said the circus train needed animals..."mamma...the train needs animalssss....duh". Yeah...duh....I am in trouble some day with this one....

Nesting....

Well I have been making Bento lunches for about a month now and that checkerboard pattern on the apple slices got me!! I must say that is quite good for me. I have been banned from super glue, hot glue guns, any open flames, soldering and wood burning kits, fry daddy's, toaster ovens....well you get the idea. I have had the fire department at my house twice in my adult life but both were for smoke not actual fire! Anyway....the exacto knife I got for my birthday last year has been hidden from my husband and I pulled it out today and well....I cut myself. Haha. Oh well...the apples look pretty cool!! Like my pickle band-aid?? Also thought I would showcase two more of my fav books. Cute Yummy time and Yum Yum Bento Box. LOTS of great ideas! Again difficult because the art of Bento utilizes a lot of foods our little four year old little diva Miss A won't eat! Sooo I have to experiment. Boiled eggs in a nest of noodles with sprinkled corn. Carrot for beaks and hair/bow. Nori seaweed eyes cut with punch cutters. A mini loaf of bread along with blueberries and three checkerboard apple slices!

Hootie Hoot!!!

I discovered Darius Rucker is now a country singer. He was the lead singer from Hootie and Blowfish!! Hootie Hoot!!! Anyway it always makes me thinks of owls...so we had some meatball subs last night so with the left over meatballs we did Hootie Owls!! The moon cheese is tucked into the side so I pulled it out just for show. I also have a small container of ketchup for her meatballs. Alexa wanted some chips and decided on peas and cherries! This is my NEW Bento Box I got from Shop Minoya in Plano which is a Japanese shop with FABULOUS Bento supplies!! Not very expensive either!! So I added some pics so you could see how it stacks. Shop Minoya is off Parker and Independence in Plano. Check it out!!! Very nice and helpful people and just fun to try something new!!

Mexican Monday!!!

Happy Monday!

Inspired by my mother's homemade flour tortillas yesterday Miss A and I decided on a Mexican theme because she looooooves her Ma's tortillas! Of course with a little help from my mamma I snagged a few tortillas. Yes, yes yes...I don't make tortillas. While we are on the subject let's just also bring up I don't speak Spanish!!! I am a coconut!! Brown on the outside and white on the inside. Sad I know but true. Soooo the clip art designs were the pages we pulled up and Miss A marked the ones she wanted to express in her Bento lunch....ummm so I couldn't do all of them, but we tried!

Sombrero quesadillas with fruit roll up trim, corn because...ummm somehow it's Mexican, and Spanish rice! We threw in some olive maracas!! Then some cantaloupe with a fruit roll up cactus!! Hee hee. Adios Amigos!!! Hasta la vista...or something like that!!!

Shapes Caterpillar!!!

It's Friday!!!

Thought I would make a shapes caterpillar with green beans for leaves...and fruit roll up antennas!! Miss A wanted cantaloupe and cheese which makes for a very blah color palette soooo to add some color I tried a new technique from a book called Creative Carving of Fruit and Vegetables by Kikky Sihota. It is a tomato rose garnish!!! Yeah I know a garnish for a 4 year old...but really...is it that surprising from a crazy person like me??? Neh!!! Have a great Friday!!

Tip toe through the tulips...

Little Miss A looooves boiled eggs, I do feel sorry for her classmates. Hee hee.

I cut the boiled eggs into tulips and Alexa suggested green beans for the stems. Flower cheese, tomatoes with fabulous picks, and one of Miss A's favs mandarin oranges as a flower with grape center. I put some edamame along the bottom for grass because Miss A can eat it until she spews!! haha...gross but true. This one just makes me happy!!!!

Japanese sandwich cutters!!!

So yesterday in the mail I got my package from Japan!! They had these fabulous sandwich cutter/imprint tools! Only took 3 weeks!! haha

So I have a fabulous niece who is 25 and like an adopted crazy child!! She made a comment on my facebook that she wanted one with sandwich sampler, a swan out of fruit roll up with a berry border. Soooo sandwich sampler, TWO swans cut out of fruit roll up and we had not berries, so it is a cherry and tomato border!! haha. With some peas which she would not approve but Miss A likes!!! The swans are on yogurt pretzels!!

Tabby is Fabby!!!

No school Monday to celebrate and observe Martin Luther King Day!

Sadly my dream is in the form of food in a box...oh well. Not the most worldly but definitely fun!

My daughter Miss A we will call her wanted a boy Tabby cat. Soooo some leftover fabulous fried rice from a local place called Hot Wok made for a perfect Tabby Cat! Cheese face parts. Banana slices cut into flowers, cherries, green beans and carrot flowers. STILL cannot believe my daughter is eating carrots!! Sooo awesome!!

Jack and Jill...

Day 8 - Week 2 Nursery Rhyme Theme week Bento Blitz!

Jack and Jill sandwiches with organic cheese slice hair!! Edamame and mandarin oranges. The pail Alexa made and used a fruit roll up piece for the handle! She is sooo resourceful!! No school tomorrow for teacher inservice Friday...:(

Itsy Bitsy Spider...

Day 7 - Week 2 of Nursery Rhyme Theme... Bed of bowtie pasta and a wheat bread spider with a cheese face and eyes, mouth and bow cut out with Nori Seaweed punch cutter. Ham and cheese rolls and yellow tomatoes with swiss cheese for the sun rays. Pretzels and marshmallows my daughter convinced me were rain!! She is so sneaky...just like me.

Hickory Dickory Dock!

Second week...Day 6 Bento Lunchtime Storytime RhymeTime!!!

So no school on Monday due to the weather! Crazy snow and ice in Texas....go figure!

My daughters brilliant idea again...Nursery Rhyme themes!! Boiled egg mouse with cheese ears and tail with little ham rolls. Rice clock, butter beans, and grapes with some circle marble cheese garnish! The mouse eyes were done with a Nori Seaweed cutter (I got 4 of them!) that I found online on Amazon! I hand cut the clock accents with an exacto knife I use ONLY for my bento making!

Tribute to Japan...

In my daughters school she is studying about Japan!! COULD THAT BE MORE PERFECT?!?! Sooo I made a tribute to the Japanese flag and traditional kimono made of cheese! So red and yellow cherry tomatoes with flower cutter carrots and watermelon &blueberries. On a bed of rice I made a cheese and carrot kimono with a bell pepper paddle. The boat was cut out of Nori Seaweed and it sits on a bed of rice. The only part NOT edible is the circle of the Japanese flag headband which was the red rhine of Babybel cheese... Hee hee...this is one of my favs!! :)

Ahoy Matey!

Day 4 of Bento Bonanza!!!

Fabulous little food cutters found online at AllThingsForSale with themes. Won't say how many themes I got...ha

Octodogs, on a bed of macaroni and cheese, Babybel cheese in the ship, whale, fish, and life saver cutouts. Some fabulous raspberries with fish and starfish picks!!

Flower Power!!

Day 3 of Bento Mania!!

Flower theme especially picked out by my Daughter...I prefer animal faces....*sigh. BUT I have to keep focus that this is for me not her....I mean her not me!! ha

Sooo sandwich turkey bologna sandwich with cheese flower cutouts. These fabulous little picks I found online to use on the cherry tomatoes. I used a veggie cutter for the flower carrot garnish and mandarin oranges and grapes for a lovely flower design! She actually ate some of her carrots!! Never would even try before! Turkey bologna was not a hit....gave to my husband...who is Mikey reincarnated and will eat...well ANYTHING! :)

Day 2 of Bento Fun!

Day 2 of Charismatic Crazy Bento Box making....

I found these fabulous little tools from a website called AllThingsForSale in California. All the other true Japanese Bento Box tools are from Japan and with the bad weather on the East Coast shipping to little ole Frisco Texas will take 3 weeks! California on the other hand is much quicker and

cheaper. So I found these boiled egg shapers, a bunny and bear. The funny part is even though these items are from California they are all in Japanese!!! So thank goodness there were "how to" pictures on the back. Although I still had to rely on my facebook friends to help me figure it out!!! So Day 2 is woodland animal theme....animal shaped cheese and turkey, animal shaped boiled eggs, an oat muffin with little birds cut out of fruit roll up and some edamame. A great tip is using silicone cupcake molds as dividers! They also are perfect portion size control for my little toddler!!

Playing with my food....

My daughter was my inspiration but deep inside I am still a child that likes to play with my food! We moved my daughter to a new preschool and she had to start taking her lunch. I work full time am pregnant now and run around like a chicken with my head cut off but that is my life and I wouldn't have it any other way!! Full of passion and 100% all the time. I was simply terrified of having to pack lunch every day for her. Sooo I started googling and ran into this amazing idea of Bento Boxes!! Kawaii Bento which Kawaii means "cute" in Japanese. Not only is it a way of packing healthy lunches into a tight little cute box, but the food is so darn cute!! Food with faces!!! Soooo I started my journey like any other....very obsessive compulsive and researched all sorts of tools and books and websites to help create these amazing lunches. My daughter loved them immediately! She started spouting out her own ideas and the types of foods she wanted to have in her lunch. This turned a fear into a daughter and mommy time! My first Bento Box Americanized was all hearts to assure she knew on her first day of school I love her and am always thinking of her. I used a cookie cutter to cut the double heart sandwich and a smaller cookie cutter for the fig newtons and cantaloupe. A few grapes and some red and yellow cherry tomatoes!!