Fabulous Food Friday

Wow! It has been ages since I have done a Fabulous Food Friday feature. This one has been in the works for a while. I have been super excited to show you the new bento lunch boxes Andy brought back from Japan...I haven't had much luck finding them locally (except online) and I am so glad I asked him to look for some, cause he (and Taly) found some great ones.

He also brought back some rice molds, dividers and picks to add to my growing bento collection:

Rice molds, sandwich cutters (found at Target and Uwajimaya) and lots of fun containers

Sauce containers and fun food picks

Since Natalie is really the only one who currently takes a lunch to school, she was treated to some fun lunches lately. She wanted me to leave all the labels and stickers on the boxes so all her friends could see that they came from Japan!

Here are my first attempts at bento lunch making:

Carrots and cheese and mini peanut butter and honey sandwiches cut like little flowers, rice with soy sauce.

This bento contains a hard-boiled egg, whole wheat tortillas, humus, carrots and strawberries

Here we have a rice bunny with a carrot nose, edamamme, apple slices and cottage cheese with a cherry on top
This one has a sticky rice ball with nori face and carrot nose and strawberry hat with edamamme, whole wheat Ritz crackers, cheese and pepperoni slices.

Although I am having tons of fun with these lunch ideas, I am really feeling good about the food she is eating. Not just pb&j all day every day...no convenience/processed food either...it's all healthy food.

One of my favorite things about this type of lunch is the fact that I am not using one single disposable lunch bag. I hate the thought of all that plastic wasted every day. I also have stopped putting juice boxes in their lunches. If you think about it, that is not only more expensive to purchase, but it really adds up to more garbage. It really hit me this year as I have been around the school more and seen how much really gets thrown out. Fortunately, Natalie's school has an amazing recycling program, but I feel better knowing I am not contributing to all the garbage...just wash and use over again!