I just like the colors in here and couldn't think of a name so I went with "pretty". Nissa went back to school but we skipped "after school activities" since I'm still on the tail - long, long, tail end of this cold/flu like thing. Annie has, thankfully, missed most of it and Norby was only mildly hit. So to the bento(s). The top tier has kiwi and apple slices decorated with cheese flowers and a few small cups of grapes. The bottom tier has pieces of grilled pork decorated with cheese flowers, edamame, and a few slices of corn on the cob topped with carrot flowers. We had a hot day here in the Midwest on our way to fall. On a side note, I've created a leaf monster in Nissa; every time we head out for a walk, she gathers more beautiful leaves to bring home. I like that kind of monster :)

So, I'd sworn never to do the hotdog octopus but look at me now, three in each bento, crazy! I admit, it's kind of fun. My aversion was because they aren't really the healthiest of foods but these ones are at least all whole chicken meat and like I said, it was fun. In the top tier, there are also some sautéed bananas and figs while the bottom has some zipper beans (edamame or soy). I'll see what Nissa does with the fruit, should be interesting. We kept her home today to get rid of that cough she has had and so she doesn't share it with her friends. She missed being at school, that's a good thing :)

Last night, Nissa sat next to me in the kitchen and did at least half, if not more, the work of making lasagna. She absolutely loves cooking and, get this, washing dishes! She's a keeper. So, in this (these) bento is the Nissa made lasagna decorated with cheese decorations and a container of poofs (Pirate Booty). The bottom part has decorated apple wedges and orange slices. On a side note, Oskar is now healthy but Nissa doesn't sound too hot and I'm getting groggy again. This is a crazy long illness. I wish it would get better or worse. This long drawn out in between stuff is un-fun!

First let me start by saying Oskar and I have been very sick these past few days but today his fever broke and now, at bedtime, I'm finally feeling pretty good. We made it through his first fever quite unscathed, yay! Norby took over lunch duty and, as you can see by the previous post, made bentos too. Yesterday, I couldn't get myself out of bed to take a picture so I've no idea what they had, but I'm sure it was yum. In this bento, I tried something new, baked tofu. I bought extra firm tofu, sliced it in half, cut out heart shapes, marinated them in soy sauce/sesame oil and baked it for about an hour and 20 minutes. An hour ten would have probably been better, but the girls don't mind the crunchy edges. Along the edge of the baked hearts are some mashed potatoes and stuffed tomatoes (that rhymed, hehe) with some herb and cheese garnish with nori decorations. A word on the nori: don't use the teriyaki flavored ones for punching, they're too sticky! The girls prefer the plain ones anyway. The top tier has mini wine grapes, a few ground cherries and a whole bunch of little bits of string cheese. I hope it's enough of the foods they'll eat, another wait and see.

I was exhausted last night after a day at the Renaissance Festival and just couldn't get it in gear to do the girls lunches so Norby took over and made them this morning. I don't know why, but it made me giggle with glee to see he was making bentos instead of sandwiches. I added the ground cherries and the picks but the rest was all him. Dumplings on the bottom, mini plums and mini wine grapes in the middle, and oranges, quail eggs and grape tomatoes for Annie with the ground cherries for Nissa on the top. Way to go papa!!

As predicted, Annie was worn out after fencing and just went straight to bed not, however, until she told me about her amazing new fencing partner. "Was she new?" I naively asked. "It was a boy and I've never seen him but he was good so he must have fenced before," said her glowing face. The wheels turned quickly in my head, "Oh and was he cute?". Her eyes twinkled and she said, "yep!". "Well that always makes it more fun doesn't it?" I said as my eyes twinkled back, hehe. Somehow, Norby's eyes weren't twinkling quite as much when I told him, lol.

I meant to just quickly throw these together since Annie wasn't working with me but in the end threw on some decorations... Why Not? :). Both have spaghetti with cheese and nori decorations (I really do love those girls), oranges, apples, grapes and mint. In the small containers, both have packets of seaweed snacks but Annie has more figs (Nissa's sideways thumb must have turned down, she didn't eat the ones I made yesterday) and Nissa has a fruitabu snacky thing. Well it's fun to watch Annie grow up and just as fun to have Nissa still at age 5. They are so much alike and yet light years apart!

Yeah, I had to say that in the title, haha.  Annie sat with me again and put together her own bento, I'm really liking this new habit! The entire time, she told me all about the graphic novel she's written in her head and has just begun to put to paper. I might be biased (you know, being her mom and all), but it's incredibly creative and very unique. I hope she finishes it.

So the figgy title is for the figs in the top tier. They are surrounded by chocolate mint leaves and orange slices. I wonder if my mint survived last nights frost advisory? The middle tier has four slices of Scandinavian tomagoyaki (a savory dill version of the japanese omelet), some carrots, sugar snap peas, mushrooms and two quail eggs.  As per Annie's request, I didn't peel them, not sure how Nissa will take to that but we'll see. The bottom tier has cucumber wedges and potatoes in Nissa's with the addition of grape tomatoes in Annie's and of course some oregano flowers to decorate. I'm sure the frost has killed them off but they were nearly gone anyway. Maybe Annie will join me again tonight but since it's a fencing night, it might not happen. Oh well, I'll take it when I can :)