Bento for Baby 82: A Hearty Lunch

I went a little crazy and made a Valentines Day themed bento for Baby Girl last week.  As far as themed bentos go, it's still pretty low key, so I didn't completely lose my mind.  I wanted to do a little something special for Baby Girl because it was Grandparent's Day at her school and she was one of the few kids there without a parent or grandparent in attendance.  We don't live close to grandparents and neither of us could miss work that day.  Plus, she's really into shapes these days, so I thought she'd get a kick out of all the hearts.

I packed it in a bit of a rush, so it's not as cute and neat as it could be.   Looking at this picture, it's driving me crazy that I didn't stick another strawberry on the far left.  But as we're all aware, that really doesn't matter. So, here's the info that really matters, what all the food is!  The main attraction was two heart shaped freshly ground peanut butter and raspberry conserves sandwiches on homemade bread.  My husband bakes all our bread using recipes from The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and white whole wheat flour.  This flour allows you to make bread with a nice light crumb, while getting all the benefits of eating whole grains.  With her sandwiches Baby Girl had one large strawberry cut in half and shaped a bit to look like hearts, a few grape tomato hearts filled with hummus and some snap pea crisps.  The snap pea crisps are really glorified chips, but they were a special treat (but she didn't really like them, anyway).  I made the tomato hearts by cutting the tomatoes in half on the diagonal, smearing a tiny dab of hummus on the cut ends and then putting the tomato back together with the pointy ends together.  It works best with the more oblong tomatoes.

Items used to pack this bento:

Bento for Baby 50: Multi-Grain Blueberry Muffin and Squash Ricotta Pasta with Spinach Cake

Baby Girl had a multi-grain blueberry muffin from the freezer and half a banana for breakfast on this morning.  For lunch she had some pasta leftover from dinner the night before.  We got some summer squash and squash blossoms with our CSA share, so we made the recipe for Pappardelle with Fresh Ricotta, Squash Blossoms and Basil Oil from the New York Times, using whole wheat penne in place of the pappardelle.  This recipe was very tasty; the basil oil was particularly nice.  With the pasta I packed her some edamame, half a spinach cake from the freezer and a couple of strawberries.

Supplies similar to those used in this bento:

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:

Bento for Baby 45: Blueberry Muffin and Butternut Squash Pasta

My husband made a lovely whole wheat pasta dish with grated butternut squash for dinner the night before, so Baby Girl had some of the leftovers for lunch the next day.  (I'd post a link, but I don't know what recipe he used. . .) I packed the pasta into a 4 ounce glass canning jar so that it could be reheated in the microwave.  I packed the rest of her food for the day in the top section of my favorite tiffin box.  For morning snack and lunch Baby Girl had a multigrain blueberry muffin from the freezer, one sun butter oatmeal ball, a couple organic strawberries, some organic green beans and a few cubes of aged gouda.

Similar items to those used in this bento:

Bento for Baby 27: Zucchini and Apricot Muffin and Quinoa Cake

Another new breakfast item for Baby Girl on this morning!  A Zucchini and Apricot Muffin, another recipe from the New York Times Well column that I made a few days before.  She really liked both kinds of muffins I made, but I think she liked these the most.  With the muffin Baby Girl had some organic blueberries and strawberries.  For lunch I packed her a quinoa cake from the freezer, some frozen edamame and peas in the red silicone cup and some halved and pitted bing cherries in the yellow silicone cup.  Today's food was again packed in the small and medium Kids Konserve Nesting Trio Stainless Steel Containers with Leak-Proof Lids.

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 13: Dan's Awesome Pancakes and Cheddar and Avocado Sandwich

Baby Girl was sick this week, so I only have one bento to post from this past week.  I used a new box to pack her food, a U Konserve 33-Ounce Rectangle Stainless Steel Container.  It is a larger, single compartment box, so I packed her morning snack and lunch together.  Her morning snack/breakfast is on the left.  It is composed of three small silver dollar sized Dan's Awesome Pancakes from the freezer with some blueberries and a raspberry in the yellow silicone cup.  For lunch I packed some sugar snap peas (with the ends cut off and strings removed) and wedges of a pita sandwich of melted organic cheddar and avocado slices.  The dividing wall of strawberries were for either meal as desired. I made the sandwich the night before by sticking some slices of cheddar and avocado in half a pita and slowly warming it in a saute pan.  The avocado was completely "encased" in the melted cheese, so it didn't brown before lunch time the next day.   Unfortunately, Baby Girl was just getting sick on this day, so even though these are many of her favorite foods, she didn't eat very much.

Bento for Baby 7: Dan's Awesome Pancakes and Avocado Tortilla Rolls

Today for breakfast Baby Girl had a couple whole wheat ricotta pancakes, some organic strawberries from Ambrose Family Farm and a quarter of an organic banana.  The pancakes were left over from a batch my husband made this weekend.  He made quite a few extra and we stuck them in the freezer for future lunches.  I am extremely lucky to have an excellent baker for a husband.  He makes fresh bread for us every week, fantastic pizza a few times a month and waffles or pancakes on the weekends.  He makes several different kinds of waffles and pancakes, and has tweaked the recipes to use as much whole wheat flour and as little sugar as possible, while still being delicious. I'll post the recipe for these particular pancakes later this week.  

For lunch I tried something new, whole wheat tortilla wraps with mashed avocado, smashed black beans and grated organic cheddar cheese.  They turned out a bit drier than I would have hoped, and I don't think Baby Girl liked them very much.  If I make wraps of this type again, I might add some sliced avocado to the middle in addition to the mashed avocado I spread on the tortilla to hold it all together.  She does love all these ingredients alone, so it might be worth another shot.  With the wraps I packed organic mixed veggies from Trader Joe's and some organic cheddar cheese cubes.  These were packed in the small and medium Kids Konserve Nesting Trio Stainless Steel Containers with Leak-Proof Lids.

Bento for Baby 6: Waffle and Love Cakes

On Wednesday for her morning snack Baby Girl had another leftover homemade yogurt waffle quarter from the freezer along with some organic strawberries from our CSA share (Ambrose Family Farm) and a pear wedge.  Lunch was composed of more leftovers, this time from dinner the previous night:  a black bean cake (aka love cake) and feta cheese cubes in the yellow silicone cup, quinoa pilaf in the blue silicone cup, some roasted sweet potato cubes and pear wedges.  Love cakes are a favorite dinner in our family.  They come from another favorite cookbook:  The Flying Biscuit Cafe Cookbook: Breakfast and Beyond. The Flying Biscuit is a very popular restaurant in Atlanta where I ate when visiting a friend almost 15 years ago.  She got me the cookbook and I've been making love cakes ever since.   As often happens when you make a recipe for that long, it kind of takes on a life of its own.  A few years ago I went back to the The Flying Biscuit Cafe, ordered some love cakes and found that mine were very different, and I much preferred mine.  I'll share my version of the recipe in a few days.  These meals were packed in the small and medium Kids Konserve Nesting Trio Stainless Steel Containers with Leak-Proof Lids.

Bento for Baby 5: Strawberry Tortilla Rolls and Swiss Chard Pasta

This "bento" is lacking a bit in the cuteness category, but makes up for it with tasty food. For breakfast/morning snack I packed Baby Girl half a banana and strawberry and cream cheese whole wheat tortilla rolls.  We have been getting tons of beautiful organic strawberries every week with our CSA share from Ambrose Family Farm, so Baby Girl has been enjoying them every day.  She wasn't the biggest fan of them for first couple weeks, but after offering them to her every day she now reaches for them enthusiastically.  This was packed in the medium sized Kids Konserve Nesting Trio Stainless Steel Containers with Leak-Proof Lids.

For lunch, Baby Girl had leftover pasta with swiss chard, sausage and pine nuts from dinner the previous night (more on this below), and cubes of organic cantaloupe and watermelon.  These were packed in 4 ounce glass canning jars.  I packed the pasta in the glass jar so that they could warm it up in the microwave at daycare.  They're a convenient little size, so I used one for the melon as well.  

The pasta is from a Martha Stewart recipe, Gremelli with Sausage, Swiss Chard and Pine Nuts.  This is a delicious recipe that I have made several times.  We got some beautiful swiss chard with our CSA share this week so I was excited to put this recipe on the menu this week.  I make the recipe almost exactly as written, so I'll just link to the recipe, rather than write it out.  I do use 100% whole wheat rotini instead of the gremelli, and I also use the swiss chard stems, rather than discarding them, because they are delicious!  I simply saute the stems for a bit with the garlic before adding the swiss chard leaves. Oh, and we often use cranberries in place of the raisins, because that's what we're more likely to have in the pantry.  It's great with either.  This was heartily enjoyed by the grown ups and Baby Girl for dinner and lunch the next day.  

Bento for Baby 4: Waffle and Hummus Tortilla Rolls

For breakfast in our final bento last week I packed waffle square that I had stashed in the freezer from the leftovers from the lovely Mother's Day breakfast my husband made me, two organic pear slices and some strawberries from our CSA share (Ambrose Family Farm). These waffles were yogurt waffles from Waffles: From Morning to Midnight. This cookbook was a wedding gift, along with our waffle iron, ten years ago and we have used it at least monthly since then.

Lunch was composed of hummus/carrot/tortilla rolls, organic cheddar cheese squares, organic frozen mixed veggies from Trader Joe's in the silicone cup, and more strawberries and pear slices.  I made the tortilla rolls with organic whole wheat tortillas (store brand, Earth Fare), which I spread completely (to every edge!) with a thin layer of my homemade hummus, then I sprinkled it with organic grated carrots (also from our CSA share, so sweet and yummy) on only one half of the tortilla.  I then rolled up the tortilla from the side with the carrot, rolling tightly and pressing the edge of the tortilla to the side of the roll.  I cut off the uneven ends and ate them for a snack and cut the remaining roll into four equal pieces.  Baby girl loves how easy these are to pick up and eat, and I love that she's getting some good protein and veggies.

I packed this in the little tiffin box I got on clearance from World Market a while back.  Lunch was in the top and breakfast was in the bottom.  I love the size of this cute little box, but I'm a little concerned about it's longevity. . .it doesn't seem particularly robust.  

Bento for Baby 3: Pizza Palmiers and Sunbutter Oatmeal Balls

On this day baby girl had two sun butter-oatmeal balls, pear chunks and sliced strawberries for morning snack.  I have loved nut butter-oatmeal balls since I was a little girl.  They were one of my favorite snacks, so I was really excited when baby girl got old enough to eat honey and chew oatmeal so that I could make them for her.  Her school is nut free, so I make them with sun butter, but they are still delicious!

For lunch I packed two "pizza palmiers," a creation of mine that that baby girl LOVES, organic chedder cheese cubes, pear chucks and a few sugar snap peas from our CSA share (Ambrose Family Farm).   I'll post the full recipe for pizza palmiers separately, but basically they are whole wheat pizza dough rolled out thinly, spread with spinach and other veggies, cheese (pretty much whatever you want to throw in there), rolled up, sliced and baked.  I think these are the perfect baby food - they're healthy, they freeze really well, and she loves them.  I can get her to eat any kind of vegetable if they are wrapped in pizza dough.  I give them to her straight out of the freezer when she's teething and the cold chewy dough soothes her gums. Or they are still tasty when I pack them for lunch they slowly thaw until lunchtime.  I've been feeding her these since she started out with baby led weaning.  They were easy for her to gum without any teeth, but she still loves them now that she has teeth.  I predict she'll still be eating them for many, many years.

These meals were packed in the small and medium Kids Konserve Nesting Trio Stainless Steel Containers with Leak-Proof Lids.

Bento for Baby 2: Waffle and Zucchini and Rice Crostata

Tuesday's breakfast and lunch bentos were made up of some yummy leftovers from the weekend. Breakfast was composed of a Belgian waffle quarter from my Mother's Day breakfast, half a banana and some sliced strawberries.  The waffles were yogurt waffles from the Waffles: From Morning to Midnight cookbook.

For lunch I packed some Rice and Zucchini Crostata, frozen peas and pear chunks.  I made the crostata for dinner the previous night. It's a fantastic recipe from another of my favorite cookbooks, Lidia's Italian Table: More Than 200 Recipes From The First Lady Of Italian Cooking.  It's delicious for parents and babies, and a complete meal with veggies, protein and grains.  It's also soft enough to feed younger babies starting out with baby led weaning. The recipe makes enough for several meals.  We took larger slices for lunch and I cut up smaller squares and stuck them in the freezer for baby girl's future lunches.

I packed these meals in the medium and large Kids Konserve Nesting Trio Stainless Steel Containers with Leak-Proof Lids.

Bento 1: Strawberry Tortilla Roll, Quinoa Cake and Turkey Meatballs

Morning snack and lunch packed in a tiffin from World Market.  I got this cute little box on clearance a couple months ago.  It is a great size, but I'm not sure how well it will hold up.  Breakfast/morning snack is on the top, and lunch is in the bottom.

For breakfast/morning snack Baby Girl had lovely strawberries from our CSA (Ambrose Family Farm) share and cream cheese rolled up in a sprouted grain tortilla, organic champagne mango and organic pear pieces in silicone cup.

We went out last night, so I grabbed a few pre-made things from my freezer stash to make a quick lunch.  Quinoa cake with carrot, spinach and onion, two turkey meatballs with spinach and carrots, peas and edamame in the red silicone cup, pear chunks in the yellow silicone cup.  I have been making the quinoa cakes and meatballs for my daughter since she got the hang of baby led weaning, maybe 8 months or so.  She loves them and they are a great source of protein and veggies.  They are easy to pick up and were easy for her to chew before she had many teeth.