Smashed Peas & Carrots

Inspiration For Living Creatively - DIY Crafts, Sewing, Recipes, Crafts & More

Become a Subscriber

never miss a thing!

You are here: Home / Back to School / Bento Lunch Ideas: Week 1

Bento Lunch Ideas: Week 1

| Filed Under: Back to School, Bento, Bento Lunch, Recipes, Tutorials

Since my Bento Lunch posts are always a hit on the ‘ol Instagram (follow me here if you are not already!) I thought I would share a weekly round up of lunches here on the blog. My oldest two started full day school last week and guess what? I already have 5 lunches to share! I’ll try to post a round-up once a week for those interested.  I’ll give details on what I made and hopefully it will give you some ideas and inspiration for bento lunches in your home!

Lately I have been using the Rubbermaid LunchBlox containers and I love them! They come with a thin molded ice pack and lots of little containers to fill bento-style and the whole deal fits perfectly into your regular ‘ol lunchbox! And for those that are going to ask, yes my kids can open them without spilling all the food out, the plastic lids are nice and flexible, not stiff like some plastic containers can be! I still use our other fun bentos (from this post here) for Ellie’s lunch…I’ll share a couple of her meals at the bottom of this post! I figure I will end up switching between the LunchBlox and the other bento containers a lot during the school year as I’m sure there will be days where I will not want to wash the containers by hand every night! 😉


This bento was Heart-themed for Penny’s first day of school! It includes diced fresh peaches with a heart pick, organic vanilla wafers, heart shaped blueberry jam sandwiches (with homemade jam!), pizza picks with Organic Valley string cheese and mini pepperoni slices, Annie’s cheddar bunnies, a couple of Nut-Free Energy Bites (recipe here) and fresh raspberries.

This bento lunch was Bunny themed! It includes fresh raspberries with a bunny pick, bunny-shaped homemade blueberry jam sandwiches (with homemade blueberry jam–again!), bunny-shaped organic Applegate cheddar cheese slices, a few No-Bake Energy Bites with a bunny pick (recipe here) made with almond butter, grapes with leaf and stem picks, and a small portion of mini marshmallows for something sweet.

This bento includes fresh diced peaches with a mini bear fork, organic Applegate turkey and cheese sandwich cut into puzzle piece shapes, Annie’s cheddar bunnies, organic vanilla wafers, baby carrots, ranch dressing, and a couple of Nut-Free energy bite (recipe found here).

Here we have grapes, broccoli, an organic Applegate ham and cheese sandwich cut into puzzle pieces, diced fresh strawberries with a froggy pick, and Annie’s bunny fruit snacks with mini doggy fork.

This bento includes fresh diced strawberries with bunny fork, crackers, nitrate-free salami from Trader Joe’s cut into flowers, broccoli, organic Applegate cheddar cheese cut into flowers, skewers of grapes, and Annie’s bunny fruit snacks.

Earlier this summer I found these cute little cocktail napkins in the Target dollar spot section. I love the college-ruled theme paper design of them so I stocked up! They make the perfect napkin and lunch note all rolled into one!
I tucked them into their lunches last week cause I thought it would be a fun surprise and who knew that Noah actually really liked getting them! He is learning to read and I think he finds them fun to sound out!

Ok, here are a few of Ellie’s bento lunches, since she is in preschool she still eats at home or at the park with me and Oliver 🙂  
This one has diced apples with a bunny fork and a little cup of almond butter for dipping, a Babybel cheese round with a “P” cut out for Preschool, a few slices of nitrate-free salami from Trader Joe’s, and a small cup of chocolate covered sunflower seeds for dessert.
This bento is Doggy-themed and has an Energy Bite, organic cheddar cheese cut out in the shape of a dog bone with a doggy pick, blueberry jam sandwich in the shape of doggy bones with a doggy pick, and grapes.

And in case you want another bento meal collage, horizontal-style, here is one I made just for you! 
Hope these help inpsire you to make some fun Bento lunches!!! Oh, and I’ll try to do another round-up next week too!
Thanks for stopping by today!
XOXO,

You may also like -

Cookie Cutter Mini Pizza Bento LunchCookie Cutter Mini Pizza Bento LunchBack to School Lunch Box Packing TipsBack to School Lunch Box Packing TipsEasy and Healthy Bento Lunch Ideas // SmashedPeasandCarrots.comEasy and Healthy Bento Lunch IdeasEaster Egg bento lunch or snack ideas…these are too cuteEaster Egg Bento Lunch IdeasSuper cute idea...St. Patrick's Day: Lucky LunchSt. Patrick’s Day: Lucky Lunch

Become a Subscriber

never miss a thing!

Comments

  2. Carrie says

    Thanks for sharing your great ideas! Do you know how the cut up fresh fruit- apples, strawberries, peaches holds up by lunch time? Do you “treat” them (esp. the apples and peaches) with anything?

    • Maggie says

      Hi Carrie!
      I don’t do anything to the peaches and I will lightly brush the apples with lemon juice (just barely so there is no noticeable taste) and so far I have had no complaints yet! 🙂

  3. Martisanne says

    Thankyou for sharing I am really trying to make my little ones lunchboxes more interesting and you have given me some fab ideas , can I ask where you get the little plastic skewers from ?, as I would love to get some , I am in the UK though. And brilliant idea re the apples and lemon juice , as mine are losing teeth I frequently get the requests for cut up apple.

    • Maggie says

      Hi Martisanne!
      I buy the little skewers at Bentousa.com check them out, their prices are great and they may ship internationally!

  4. Maikou L says

    Omg, these are so cute! My daughter doesn’t go to school yet, but I love packing her a lunch to take to grandpa and grandma’s house for the day. Makes her feel like a big girl. Thanks for the share!

  6. Anonymous says

    You are such a good mother. Thank you for being such an incredible and loving mother to your children.

  8. Candace says

    Thanks so much for sharing these ideas, Maggie. I try giving my son healthy lunches but he needs to expand his veggie palate. I think by making the presentation more fun then his friends will also emphasize how positive it will be to try new things.

    Thanks again,
    Candace

  9. Christy says

    GGAAHHHHH! I love this! Mine tiny people are just 3 years and 3 months, so not quite time for packed lunch. But I love it all the same!

    Thanks for sharing!

    • Maggie says

      Awwww, how fun. Your littles are so little!!! You will love making these when you get to this stage, it has been a total blast for me…and my kids… and their school lunch helpers (they loved to see what my kids had in their lunch everyday!!)

      Love,
      Maggie

  10. samantha says

    These are amazing! My little girl starts school this fall for the first time! I’m just wondeing where you buy the little muffin cup look likes.. thanks

    • Maggie says

      I have a ton of them 🙂 and I’ve bought them at JoAnns, Michaels, even Walmart! Just look in the baking aisles at each of these stores and you are sure to find a few options!

  11. Marion says

    I love the way these kind of lunchboxes look, but I wonder how they come out of the bag by the time it is lunchtime at school. I mean, my kids throw the box in their bag, throw the bag over their shoulder, run to school, throw the bag down in some corner of the school yard, until it is time to go inside, pick up their bag en maybe even toss it to a classmate or something like that and then hang the bag on the coat rack, where it will stay until it’s time to get their lunches. All these nice stacked foods and little bits must be one big mess by the time they open the box and look not half as appealing as they do in the photo’s….

    • Maggie says

      As long as you get a good container that separates the food sections and you fill it well I don’t think you should have a problem, we haven’t yet!

  12. Kate says

    These are too cute! I love the bunnies the best but the puzzle and others are really cute too. 🙂 We also use the Lunch Blox and I find them perfect for my daughter’s preschool lunches. Will look forward to more ideas. 🙂

  13. Kimberly says

    I love those lunch kits. I got mine at Kroger (supermarket). About 2 times a year they are 50% off. Also Walgreens discounts them randomly too. I have like 4 sets per child because it is hard to make sure you wash them each night.

Trackbacks