These bentos are all about the mini versions of just about everything you see. The top tier has the mini apple pies Norby made with the girls yesterday (Annie is remembering how much she used to like to cook) and super mini oranges. The middle tier has two mini sized servings of mashed cauliflower and soba noodle salad each, one with a tiny quail egg and the other with a carrot leaf. They are each accompanied by a mini sweet pepper stuffed with a chipotle dill ricotta chicken salad. The bottom tier isn't really too mini but the veggie dumplings are rather small as are the carrot leaves. I gave Annie a second mini pepper in her bottom tier, no real reason, I just did. That's it for the minis bentos!

She did it, Nissa got well enough to finally return to school yesterday! She really had me worried there for a little bit. On our way into the building Nissa said, "It feels like the first day of school all over again." Then she saw one of her friends and the two of them grinned the largest grins at each other and just giggled and giggled. It was so nice to see Nissa so happy again. Anyway...

It's bentos for both girls again. I think a lot of the items in here are recognizable but just for the heck of it, I'll explain it all. They both have basically the same items; mini fresh mozzarella balls, dill tomogoyaki (japanese omelet), carrots, sugar snap peas, kiwi and mini orange slices. Annie has the addition of kalamata olives. I also put a princess pick into Nissa's but for some reason I didn't take a picture... my brain is kind of mush after all this sickness. Oh, another little Nissa tidbit, this morning she grabbed her lunch box and looked hard at it and then at me and said hopefully, "did you make me a halloween bento?" She's back!

My niece Ani made all of the creatures you see in Annie's bento (yep, Nissa is still too sick to go to school and, of course, now Oskar has the hacking cough, poor baby) for our Halloween Party last night. She made it a beautifully spooky party and I got to spend the whole day with her. Of course, my house was full of sick people (Norby caught the flu part too) which made it much harder for me to get the halloween happy juices flowing but Ani sure made it happen. With all her super yummy and cool treats, there were even enough left over for an instant and yet one of the best creature bento's Annie has ever had. There is a cinnamon apple jack-o-lantern tart, owl cupcake, meringue ghosts and probably the funniest of all, the mutant frog (candy covered strawberry... hmmm, I never asked what kind of candy... maybe white chocolate died green? I'll have to check). Along with those are a few cheddar bunnies, some orange/yellow tomatoes and the last of the "bat poop" banana bread bites. Annie loved it and gobbled the last of the halloween bento's all up. I think Nissa will be back at school tomorrow, she's getting tired of being at home and misses her friends. If her coughing is under control, then off she'll go (hey, that rhymed, hehe).

Happy Halloween!!

Norby made up a big batch of pizza crust dough and we all made individual pizzas for dinner. I made an extra ghosty one for Annie's lunch. It has bison sausage and kalamata olives on it and a cheesy ghost with an olive face trying to scare but is kind of cute. Yellow grape tomatoes and another olive round out that tier. The other has, what we decided to call "bat poop" in the corners (home made banana bread plops in mini bat muffin wrappers), mini jack-o-lantern oranges, some sugar snap peas and a few more orange grape tomatoes. Annie loved it and I have to admit, it was really fun to do an actual bento again. With all the sickness in our house, I've been off bentos.

Character Parade Day at school, a tragic story of Nissa.

Nissa didn't get a bento today because she is now home sick with the flu and a cold on top of it. Poor kid tried so hard to make it to school last Friday but thank goodness it panned out as it did. When we arrived, she tried to go in with Annie but felt sick so we left. Half way home, she said she thought she felt well enough to try to go back. Since it was her first character parade day, I rushed back so she could try. As soon as we got there, she said her tummy was feeling yucky again but she got out of the car (this is the thank goodness part). Suddenly the cries got more urgent and as I came around the back of the van, she lost it, poor sweet pea. Needless to say, she didn't get to be a part of the character parade. It was actually harder on me than her, she was too sick to really care after tossing her cookies. She just wanted to be home and I couldn't blame her, poor muffin. So she missed the character parade, has been sick all weekend and is still sick today, Halloween. Hopefully, we can get her to do some trick-or-treating. Then, all this sickness really needs to go away!

I have a shortcut option that I've taken a lot this year already. It's called a thermos! Yes, I know, they've been around forever but I've only used them for Annie when absolutely necessary. However, having been so sick this past week, I realized that their thermoses are my friends. I also love Annie's (the company, not the kid) ravioli, bunnie Os and Mac & Cheese for the easiest shortcuts ever. The girls love it too as a change. So, I couldn't just send them off with a thermos without some sort of side item too so here it is! You might not be able to tell from the picture but those are mini pears, about the size of plums. I put them in my Onigiri bento box and they fit perfectly. The bottom container are some sliced cucumbers and carrot hearts. It was really a quick lunch but not as quick as when I just add an apple and milk to the bag. Those are my easiest days of all.

A few of favorites of both girls in this bento. Every few weeks, I like to go to United Noodle and pick up some frozen items that make lunches a lot easier. Maybe someday, I'll make and freeze them myself but for now and the foreseeable future, these are great. In this bento is a large meat and vegetable bao (stuffed bun), some mini fresh mozzarella balls with a few tomatoes, and one of their current favorites, mashed cauliflower and garlic with dill (it's kind of stinky but they don't seem to mind). This went together very quickly this morning so I'll probably repeat it again soon. On to Halloween and hopefully a few halloween bentos! That is, after the big Colorado trip. We're meeting Norby after his man week and taking the grandparents and kids to a ranch in the mountains for a few days. I can not wait! Hopefully all this sickness will be done and I'll have a voice again. On the other hand, the whole husky voice is kind of working for me, lol.

Yay! My favorite time of year is finally really here, except for the return to summer we are having this week temp wise. The leaves are half way turned and just beautiful. And on October 1st, the kids and I lugged out the Halloween decorations and put them up. Annie put on her thigh high halloween socks and black accompanying outfit and Nissa went through about three or four costumes during the whole process but for some reason, I never snapped a picture... so unlike me.

The fall halloweeny theme made it's way to the Bentos today. The bottom tier has some shrimp shumai (dumplings) surrounded by carrot leaves. The middle tier is chicken fried rice with more carrot leaves and finally the top tier has mini plums and kiwi. Papa is gone for his man week and so far we're getting along pretty well, despite the backed up kitchen sink (now cleared), fallen closet rod (still fallen) and lost tv remote (which is actually kind of a good thing). We miss him but hope it's a fun trip to the mountains too.