Bento for Baby 68: Yogurt with Granola and Zucchini and White Bean Canneloni

Baby Girl had some of her favorites in today's bento!  She hasn't been eating very much at school lately, so I thought I'd stack the deck to encourage her a bit.  I packed most of her food for the day together in a U Konserve Rectangle container, but I intended some for her morning snack and some for her lunch.  For snack, I gave her some plain greek yogurt in the smallest container from the Kids Konserve Nesting Trio.  To eat with that I included some homemade granola and some frozen blueberries.   Our entire household has become a bit obsessed with homemade granola the last few months.  We all love it for breakfasts and snacks.  I make a slightly sweeter one for the grown ups and a version with little to no added sweetener for Baby Girl.   I much prefer it to store bought cereal.

Anyway, back to the bento.  To eat for lunch I included a zucchini and apricot muffin from the freezer and some frozen edamame and peas in the U Konserve Rectangle.  I also gave her some leftover zucchini and white bean cannelloni I made for dinner the night before in a 4 ounce glass canning jar so it could be warmed in the microwave .  This is a fantastic dish where sautéed grated zucchini, white beans and spinach are wrapped in whole wheat crepes and then baked in a creamy ricotta based sauce.  I will post the recipe when I have time to type it all out.  It's not a quick and easy dinner, but it is so delicious it is worth the effort!

Items used to pack this bento:

Bento for Baby Recipe: Grown-up Granola

I've been making granola at home for a few months now.  My husband is a bit obsessed with it.  I like it a lot better than any store bought cereal.  For the adults, I make a recipe that combines a recipe by Melissa Clark from the New York Times where she tested how little sugar you can use in a popular recipe for olive oil granola and still end up with tasty results, and a great recipe by David Lebovitz that uses unsweetened apple sauce in place of some of the oil.  For Baby Girl, I make a granola with unsweetened apple sauce and no added refined sugar.  She loves it.

You can certainly adapt the nuts and dried fruit to your tastes, but this is our favorite combination.

Ingredients:

5 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup organic unsweetened apple sauce
5 tablespoons real maple syrup
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (heaping)
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup walnut pieces
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup grated coconut
1/2 cup flax seed meal
1 cup sweetened dried cherries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all the ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl.  I like to mix in the flax seed meal after stirring everything else together.  That keeps the finely ground flax seed meal from coating everything and inhibiting clumping.  Clumps are the best part of granola!

Spread mixture out on a sheet tray and press it into an even layer with a spatula.  Bake in oven until lightly browned, about 40 minutes.  Stir the granola every 10 to 15 minutes, compressing with spatula after every stirring to ensure granola clumps together.

Cool completely and then mix in the dried cherries.  Store in an airtight container.

Bento for Baby Recipe: Kiddo Granola (Sugar Free)

This is a very low sugar version of the grown-up granola that I make.  It can also be made without nuts in case of allergies or if your child can't eat nuts safely yet.  The apple sauce makes the granola clump together nicely, so it is easy for kids to pick up with their hands.  My daughter LOVES this for breakfast and snacks, alone or with plain yogurt.  I have made it without the maple syrup, and my daughter still enjoys it, so you can make this completely sugar free if you desire.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup organic unsweetened apple sauce
1 tablespoon real maple syrup (optional)
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup unsweetened grated coconut
1/4 cup flaxseed meal
1 pinch kosher salt
1/4 cup sliced almonds (optional)
1/4 cup walnut pieces (optional)

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.  Spread mixture out on a sheet tray and press it into an even layer with a spatula.  Bake in oven until lightly browned, about 30 to 40 minutes.  Stir the granola every 10 to 15 minutes, compressing with spatula after every stirring to ensure granola clumps together.

Cool completely and then store in an airtight container.

Bento for Baby 49: Yogurt with Granola and Red Pepper Hummus with Pita

Baby Girl had some plain whole Greek yogurt, some homemade granola and a couple organic strawberries for her morning snack on this day.  I've been making granola at home for a few months now.  My husband is a bit obsessed with it.  I like it a lot better than store bought cereal.  For the adults, I make a recipe that combines a recipe by Melissa Clark from the New York Times where she tested how little sugar you can use in a granola and still end up with tasty results, and a great recipe by David Lebovitz that uses unsweetened apple sauce in place of some of the oil.  For Baby Girl, I make a granola with just unsweetened apple sauce and no added refined sugar.  She loves it.  I'll post the recipes separately in the near future.

For lunch, Baby Girl had some homemade roasted red pepper hummus in the blue silicone cup.  To eat with the hummus I packed some 100% whole wheat pita wedges, some cucumber slices and a few sugar snap peas.  She also had one sun butter oatmeal ball to round out her lunch.  

Supplies similar to those used in this bento: