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.

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!