quick and easy kids lunch bento ideas



This is not remotely vintage related but I'm excited about this so I had to share. Very recently, I've become obsessed with bento lunches, as you may know, if you follow me on Instagram.  Last spring, I posted my facebook page,

"Who else thinks the adorable bento lunches all over pinterest are crazy? They look super tasty and are very cute but who are these people that have time to make kitten shaped sandwiches with carrot whiskers? Maybe I would be one of them if I spent less time on facebook...hmmmm...."



cute kawaii animal food picks leaves, circus, forest animals

My kids are not what I would call picky eaters but they have some less than desirable eating habits. They're snackers. They eat some tiny amount of food every half hour all day. They're always hungry, I'm always making something in the kitchen and no one sits down for full meals.
Drives. me. CRAZY!

So, last week, I made a bento-style plate lunch with things I had around the house. I cut some fruit and veg into shapes and made sandwiches that look like bunny faces with baby carrot ears and they both sat down and cleaned their plates! I couldn't believe it. They never eat sandwiches and they certainly never clean their plates but they did it.






I found a local market that has a very small selection of bento supplies so I bought a few things to tide us over till my online order arrived. I can't stand the waste of disposable products but they make reusable silicone cups, silicone food dividers and everything washable so I can buy it all once and be done with it. The only bad thing about making bento lunches is that the kids are having so much fun, they want bento boxes for every meal of the day! Now that we're wasting less food and eating more meals, I guess that's not a bad problem to have...and I even enjoy hand-washing all of the cute little picks and shape cutters.


bento lunch starter kit supplies

Next week, I'll share some of the bento lunches that my kids have been enjoying along with some bento tips and where to find affordable supplies for your lunches. In the mean time, check out my Pinterest board, "Bento" for inspiration