Bento for Baby 39: Zucchini Apricot Muffin and Rice Noodle Salad

Hmmm, just like yesterday, this bento isn't the most cute and colorful.  Oh well.  I packed all her food together in the U Konserve Rectangle, but I intended the food on the right to be for breakfast/morning snack and everything else for lunch.  For breakfast Baby Girl had a zucchini and apricot muffin from the freezer and half a banana.  For lunch I made a salad of rice noodles with grated carrots and edamame and dressed with homemade peanut sauce.  I made some spring rolls for dinner the previous night and Baby Girl was CRAZY for them, especially the tofu, rice noodles and peanut dipping sauce.  I thought she would love having some of those ingredients for her lunch, but she didn't touch the salad for some reason.  I also packed her some pear slices and a couple celery sticks with peanut butter.  The salad was packed in the smallest container from the Kids Konserve Nesting Trio, which fits nicely inside the larger container.  

Items used to pack this bento:

Bento for Baby 37: Zucchini Apricot Muffin and Banana Bread Peanut Butter Sandwiches

Baby Girl had a zucchini apricot muffin from the freezer with some organic strawberries for breakfast/morning snack on this day.  For lunch I made her a couple of sandwiches on whole wheat banana bread with organic freshly ground peanut butter and sliced bananas.  I also included some sugar snap peas and a few crinkle cut carrot slices.  This was a vain attempt to induce Baby Girl to try some carrot. Unfortunately she wasn't convinced.  We seem to be going through an 18 month regression, which has been limiting the number of things she's been eating lately.   To round out her lunch she also had a bit of trail mix - a combination of roasted unsalted sunflower seeds, raw walnuts and unsweetened dried apricots.   Everything was packed into the small and medium Kids Konserve Nesting Trio Stainless Steel Containers with Leak-Proof Lids. All in all, this lunch didn't go over very well, mostly because Baby Girl came down with something and came home early with a fever.

Bento for Baby 34: Banana Bread and Zucchini and Rice Crostata

I made some whole wheat banana bread with no added sugar over the weekend, so Baby Girl had some for her breakfast/morning snack on this day.  I usually make cream cheese sandwiches with banana bread, but decided to try a little peanut butter instead.  Why have I never done this before?  It is so delicious! With her peanut butter and banana bread sandwich, Baby Girl also had some organic strawberries.  For her lunch, I pulled a piece of zucchini and rice crostata from the freezer.   I also included some frozen peas and some blueberries and strawberries in the silicone cups.  This was all packed in my favorite small green tiffin from World Market.

Supplies similar to those used in this lunch:

Bento for Baby 32: Yogurt, Sunbutter Oatmeal Balls and Palmiers

We went out to dinner the night before packing this bento, so I packed this quickly with things I could grab from the freezer and fridge.  I am still figuring out how much food Baby Girl needs for morning snack and lunch, so I packed food for both meals together in one box.  The small container with the red lid contains some plain greek yogurt and blueberries.  I meant to take the picture without the lid, but I was a bit frazzled this morning.  I also packed two sunbutter oatmeal balls, half a pear, some organic mixed veg and two spinach palmiers from the freezer.  This container is the U Konserve 33-Ounce Rectangle Stainless Steel Container, which nicely fits the smallest of the Kids Konserve Nesting Trio Stainless Steel Containers with Leak-Proof Lids within it.

Bento for Baby 31: Whole Wheat Biscuits and Hoppin' John

Baby Girl had another new item for breakfast on this day - peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on mini whole wheat biscuits.  She also had some blueberries in the green silicone cup.  I made and froze a large batch of biscuits from a recipe on the 100 Days of Real Food blog.  They freeze really well and are great for quick breakfasts and lunches.  You may notice I used the previously prohibited peanut butter in her little sandwiches.  The rules have changed this year, so I can now include nuts in Baby Girl's bentos!  Most of her bentos will probably still be nut free, but it's nice to not have the restriction any longer.  I have been getting the freshly ground peanut butter that is just organic roasted peanuts (no added sugars or palm oil) at our local Earth Fare.  It is so delicious, I have no idea why I've been buying jarred peanut butter all these years, especially since it is the same price.  For the jelly I also use the Earth Fare brand organic raspberry conserves.

For the lunch portion of her bento Baby Girl had some leftover Hoppin' John (Black-Eyed Peas and Rice) from our dinner the night before in the red silicone cup. Also included in her lunch were some fresh green beans, half a pear and some organic cheddar cheese cubes.  The hoppin' john is a really delicious recipe from Saveur Magazine that we make fairly often.  We use the fresh field peas we get with our CSA share in place of canned black-eyed peas and brown jasmine rice in place of white rice. Using brown rice adds 10 -15 more minutes to the cooking time in the oven.  Also, since we are usually using fresh field peas instead of canned, we put them in the pot at the same time as the rice and cook them at the same time.  Baby Girl and her parents really enjoy this recipe.

This day's food was packed into the small two level tiffin that I picked up on clearance at World Market.  I love this box, it's a great way to pack two toddler-sized meals into one compact container, the depth is just right so that the food in the silicone cups doesn't spill if the container gets tossed around and Baby Girl can open it easily by herself.  I will be sad if this ever breaks or gets lost.  But, there does look to be a similar container available on Amazon, although it is about 4x the cost of my little clearance box:

Bento for Baby 30: Zucchini Apricot Muffin and Beet Risotto

For Baby Girl's lunch on the second day of the new school year she had some delicious leftover roasted beet risotto from dinner the night before.  The risotto was packed in a 4 ounce glass canning jar so that it could be reheated in the microwave.  I packed food for the rest of her lunch and snack together in the largest container of the Kids Konserve Nesting Trio Stainless Steel Containers with Leak-Proof Lids.  I gave her half a banana, one whole wheat zucchini and apricot mini muffin from the freezer, some sugar snap peas and some blueberries. I left it up to her teachers to decide what food to give her if she needed a little something extra with her morning snack of school provided fruit.  She ate everything in the large container, but didn't eat any of the risotto, which she had enjoyed the night before.  So, I'm not sure if she ate everything in large container for lunch and didn't have room for risotto, or if she just didn't care for the risotto the next day.  

Bento for Baby 29: Mixed Grain Blueberry Muffin and Tuna White Bean Salad

Here is Baby Girl's first bento for the new school term!  She has been going all summer, of course, but after a two week break she has now moved up to the toddler program at her Montessori school.  She will be going five days a week, so there will be more bentos to post!  She now gets a snack provided by the school in the morning, so that might change how much food I pack.  She usually isn't very hungry first thing in the morning before school, so I will still pack a little something extra for morning snack since the school snack is just fruit.

OK, now for the bento.  For breakfast I packed a Mixed Grain and Blueberry Muffin and half a banana cut into pieces.  Lunch was composed of some tuna and white bean salad, a couple wedges of 100% whole wheat pita bread, some edamame and some blueberries.  I made the tuna and white bean with a can of olive oil packed yellowfin tuna, some great northern beans, fresh Italian parsley, zest of half a lemon, a bit of fresh lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.  This was packed in the small green tiffin box from World Market.  She ate every bit of this bento except for a couple blueberries and three edamame, so I seem to have packed the right amount of food.

Bento for Baby 28: Pancake, Greek Yogurt and Panzanella

Here's the final catch-up bento, just in time for the new school term to start tomorrow!  In the breakfast portion of this bento, Baby Girl had one of Dan's Awesome Pancakes with a couple tablespoons of plain whole milk greek yogurt and some blueberries in the green silicone cup.  For lunch, I packed some leftover panzanella salad, or tomato and bread salad, from our dinner the previous night.  I left out the bread from the salad, but included everything else - beautiful heirloom tomatoes, garbanzo beans, cucumber and fresh mozzarella cheese.  I packed one of her favorite whole wheat Ak-Mak crackers in place of the bread.  She also had some halved and pitted bing cherries in the white silicone cup.  This was packed into the small green tiffin I got at World Market.

So, tomorrow Baby Girl is moving up to the toddler room at her Montessori school and will start going five days a week.  I'm nervous about the changes at home and the changes to this blog.  I'll try to keep posting bentos individually because I think it's better for the readers - I can catalog each bento individually and keep recipes and new foods in separate posts.  But I may need to move to posting a whole week of bentos in one post.  Considering it has taken me two whole weeks to catch up on a few bentos, that may be the direction I go.

Bento for Baby 25: Sun Butter and Honey Ak-Mak and Eggplant Chickpea Burger

Baby Girl had a treat for breakfast on this morning, a sunbutter and honey sandwich made with her favorite 100% whole wheat Ak-Mak crackers.  As I've mentioned previously, I bought a sunbutter without any sweetener or other additives and it needs a bit of honey to make it a bit less bitter.  She also had some blueberries in the red silicone cup with her breakfast.  For lunch I packed an Eggplant Chickpea Burger that I made for dinner a few nights previously.  I made a few extra small ones and put them in the freezer for future lunches.  These burgers are another great recipe from The Flying Biscuit Cafe Cookbook: Breakfast and Beyond.  They are a really tasty and satisfying veggie burger. And it's a great way to use the plethora of eggplant we get with our CSA share!  In addition to the burger, Baby Girl also had one pizza palmier, a few green beans and some cubes of watermelon.  This was packed in the small and medium Kids Konserve Nesting Trio Stainless Steel Containers with Leak-Proof Lids.

Bento for Baby 23: Sunbutter Honey Pita and Zucchini and Rice Crostata

And now for something a little bit different.  This bento breaks the rut we seem to have been in the past few days.  For breakfast Baby Girl had half of a 100% whole wheat mini pita spread with sunbutter and a bit of honey.  I bought an organic sunbutter with no added sugar or palm oil (I try to avoid palm oil - save the orangutans!), but it is a bit bitter, so it needs a little honey.  Also for breakfast I included a small silicone cup with organic blueberries and pitted and halved bing cherries.  For lunch I packed a square of zucchini and rice crostata from the freezer, a few cubes of organic cheddar cheese, some halved cherry tomatoes from our CSA and a few watermelon cubes.  Again, I packed this day's food into my favorite little tiffin from World Market.

Bento for Baby 20: Strawberry Tortilla Rolls and Spaghetti Carbonara

I packed breakfast and lunch foods together for this bento, with some leftover pasta in a separate glass container so it could be reheated.  For breakfast Baby Girl had some strawberry cream cheese tortilla rolls on a whole wheat tortilla.  In this container there are also some blueberries that could be eaten for breakfast and lunch and some sliced cucumbers and sugar snap peas to be eaten with the pasta for lunch.  This was all packed in the largest container from the Kids Konserve Nesting Trio Stainless Steel Containers with Leak-Proof Lids. The pasta is some leftover spaghetti carbonara I made for dinner the night before.  I made it using whole wheat spaghetti and some delicious fresh farm eggs we get from our CSA.  I also threw in some yellow squash from our CSA and frozen peas to pack a few more vegetables into our meal.  This was packed in a four ounce glass canning jar.

Bento for Baby 19: Pancake and Palmiers

Cruising right along with the bento catch up, we have Baby Girl's first bento from last week.  For breakfast she had one of Dan's Awesome Pancakes from the freezer, a couple sun butter oatmeal balls and some cut up strawberries in the green silicone cup.  For lunch she had two pizza palmiers, some frozen peas with a few garbanzo beans in the red cup and finally some blueberries and strawberries in the blue silicone cup.  This was all packed into the small green World Market tiffin.

Bento for Baby 18: The Inadvertent Patriotic Bento

The bento catch up continues.  My laptop was occupied the past couple weeks streaming Wimbledon and World Cup, so I didn't get much blogging done.  This bento is from July 3rd.  I started packing lunch for this bento first and realized I used red and white silicone cups, and then realizing the date I decided to go with it and used a blue cup to pack the yogurt, which I was planning to mix with blueberries and strawberries anyway.  So there you have it, an initially inadvertent, red, white and blue bento to celebrate the 4th of July.  Now for the details.  For breakfast, in addition to the homemade plain yogurt with organic blueberries and strawberries, I packed a couple sun butter oatmeal balls, a spoon for the yogurt and a couple cut up strawberries.  Lunch included leftover pasta from the night before made with some beautiful tomatoes from our CSA, basil and ricotta, some frozen peas and edamame in the white silicone cup and some cut red grapes.  This was all packed into the small green World Market tiffin.

Bento for Baby 17: Pancakes and Crab Cake - The New Chicken and Waffles?

I'm way behind posting bentos!  This is the first bento from the week before last.  My husband made us some more of his awesome pancakes the previous weekend, so Baby Girl had a pancake for breakfast with a sun butter oatmeal ball and some watermelon cubes and blueberries.  For lunch I packed a bit of crabcake from the night before.  Baby Girl LOVED having crab cake for dinner the previous night, but she didn't touch it for lunch.  She didn't go hungry though, because she also had some organic mixed vegetables, some organic grapes and one pizza palmier.  These were packed in the small and large Kids Konserve Nesting Trio Stainless Steel Containers with Leak-Proof Lids.