I didn't intend it but this bento was taken over by crazy little monsters! Two rock kind of meatball monsters with wide eyes and giant pupils are in one tier. A bulbous orange monster with cherry tomato eyes stares dumbly out from the middle tier. The last tier must be their snack of cheddar leaves, marinated tomato with fresh garlic and a handful of whole wheat crackers. Hopefully they'll be nice and leave enough for Annie at lunch time!

Nissa snuggled in with me as I was putting Oskar to sleep and picked Totoro to watch. Shortly after he nodded off came the part in the movie where Satsuki makes a bento for everyone, including Mei, her little sister (Satsuki and Mei, by the way, are matching personalities for Annie and Nissa). Nissa insisted that when I go down to make Annie's bento tonight, I make one for her too, so I did! She gets a mandarin orange bow, meatballs with cheese flowers, sugar snap peas and some carrot hearts. She decided not to wait until tomorrow to eat it and took it upstairs to gobble up while finishing Totoro. She makes me smile!

Any flowers thinking of blooming in Minnesota right now would have to be very "hearty"! Tonight, Annie helped a ton. Corny as it may sound, it was special. She cut out all the decorative cheddar flowers and stamped all the nori hearts. The top tier has a whole wheat pasta salad with tomatoes, two kinds of olives, pickled garlic, with olive oil mayo and Annie's hearts and flowers. The bottom tier is fruit, fruit and more fruit with alternating apples and pears surrounded by strawberries and the final Annie hearty flower.

So I could spend all my money at Patina but instead, bought a new super cute lunchbag for Annie. Love it AND every bento box we have (minus papas) fits in it!

A little nod to Avatar and one of Annie's favorite lines (and foods for that matter!). Mandarin orange wedges, cherry tomatoes, and smiling mushrooms surround the middle tier of kalamata olives and a cheddar kitty covered soba carrot noodle salad dressed with a sesame oil/soy sauce dressing. Phew, how's that for a run on sentence!!

Flowers and veggies must mean spring is almost here, right? If the snow would just melt, then I'd believe it! This bento has some roly poly sandwiches made from sprouted wheat tortillas, cream cheese, smoked turkey and cheddar cheese. The little rolls are skewered and flanked by carrot flowers and cherry tomatoes while being surrounded by sugar snap peas. The fruity side is simply bright with strawberries and kiwis. I'm seriously back on lunch duty since tennis season has started which means an extra busy papa, go Eagles!

This one speaks to my inner sense of organization! Everything is in it's place... wonder what a psych would say about that, lol. Tomatoes, sugar snap peas, dumplings, carrots, grapes and oranges fill out this bento.

No utensils required! Quail eggs, cherry tomatoes, grapes, mandarin oranges, sugar snap peas and a schmecken of aged cheddar cheese. No time for decorations today due to the Fuji Ya birthday dinner last night, love the 8 year tradition of having her birthday in a tatami room at Fuji Ya, what a cool kid (how I ever got to be her mom is beyond me!).

Oh my, 10 came awfully fast. She requested dumplings and starfruit, so that's where I started. I added some grapes along with a few carrot and apple leaves and a couple of tomato flowers. Also, since it's her birthday, I snuck in some red bean paste mochi bites into the cover. She loves those and doesn't know they're in there yet. Should be a busy day - volleyball game after school and then rush to Annie's traditional Fuji Ya birthday dinner with at least a few other family members. I'm so excited to see the beautiful young lady Annie is becoming both inside and out! Love you booboo!

Look who snuck in with the kamaboko piggies; it's a little Piglet. Orange and apple slices, tomato and cheese flowers, and sugar snap peas round out this second "coming back" bento. I'm enjoying it again and hoping my creative juices start flowing again.

I must be getting back into my groove if Bentos are back. Baby Oskar and I only took 3 1/2 months to get going again. Annie is thrilled, she says she really missed her Bentos. Easing my way back, this is a super simple one with leftover stroganoff, kalamata olives, lemon rubbed diamond apples and grapes. Here we go!