Bento lunches

I've been reading a lot lately about Bento lunches. Their origins Japanese, but are becoming quite popular here in the states. I'm sure some of you are going to think they are a crazy waste of time, and I agree that some of these are a bit much. But I do think that the idea is neat and I think I am going to do my twist on a bento lunch for the kids most days. It would be something fun for them to see in their lunches and it would save on all the baggies and throw away stuff. Here's some examples of Bento lunches that were obviously not made by first-timers (Like me...)

Aren't they super cute? Baylie would D.I.E. die if she opened her lunch to find one of these masterpieces. My kids aren't what most people would call picky eaters, but I could see how something like this would help with kids pickyness. All those individual boxes fit into a bigger box that fits right into their lunch box.

I did a little trial run today with Bryce's lunch. I obviously don't have any of the supplies needed to make it in those nifty little boxes, so I improvised. Here's Bryce's lunch...

I used a cookie cutter to cut out the star and the letter 'B' to sit on top of his sandwich. (Turkey of course...) I used another cookie cutter to cut the apples into stars. I used the left over parts of the apple to make matchsticks. I cut baby carrots into matchsticks also to make it kind of look like shooting stars. I put the lid on this container and put it into his lunchbox (with ice packs of course!!) and there was just enough room to fit his drink box in. The only thing that will get thrown away from his lunch is the drink box. Compared to Baylie's lunch today which has a drink box and 4 baggies that will get thrown away.

Like I said, I'm experimenting. It is a bit more work in the mornings and leaves quite a bigger mess...

And yes, we ate those left over pieces of apple. Bryce and I sat down with our odd shaped leftovers and watched Sid the Science Kid, which is secretly one of my favorites too.