Deconstructed Summer Salad Bento

Summer bento with fresh-picked squash blossoms, tomatoes, and pickled watermelon cucumber

Lamb and Peach Rice with Pickled Fruit and Veg

Lamb and Peach Rice

Pickled Fruit and Veg

This lamb and peach rice with yogurt mint sauce was leftover filling for our stuffed zucchini dinner on Monday. We spent the weekend making refrigerator pickles with apples, cucumbers and zucchini, so for our side we stuffed them into cold, fresh-picked cherry tomato halves. Mmmmm. A wonderful lunch of savory, sweet, tart and spice.

Potato Tart Bento w/ Mini Muffin, Brie & Fresh Strawberries

Potato Tart Bento

TGIF Bento: Feta & Spinach Meatballs

Feta & Spinach Meatballs, Focaccia Toast, Pickled Cherry Tomatos, Cucumber & Strawberries

Father's Day Bento

Pork & mash with mini-buns & goat cheese. 

Pork, garlic mash, mini rolls and goat cheese

Monday & Tuesday's Lunch for Two

Snap peas, corn on the cob & Italian cold cuts on pita

Brie and homemade flat bread with cold cut rolls and pesto

Geisha Bento Box

Our little Kotobuki Geisha Bento was purchased at Amazon.com.

Little Snack Box

Our little snack bento box from e-Bay proves you can pack a lot of adorable tastiness in a four inch square.

Pink Bento

This pink box started it all - our first! It is a pleasant little bento from JBox.com. 

Blue Box

A $9 box from BentoUSA

 I got this super inexpensive box from BentoUSA and it has become one of my favorites. Just the right shape and size. Below: cold cut rolls, peach and pear flowers, raspberries stuffed with white chocolate chips, and bunny cheddar crackers.

Red Bento

Panda

Zebra Stainless Steel

I was intrigued by this box from the moment I laid eyes on it. It reminded me of something out of Little House on the Prairie and Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away all at the same time. Yet it has a huge intimidation factor: this bento has a lot of space. A lot of space in a bento means a lot of room for food, and therefore a lot of of reasons to be super creative, or super frustrated, depending.

A Little Taste of Green

Stand on Tiptoe Box

Hardware
Stand on Tiptoe Giraffe Box	Amazon.com
Leaf food picks	JBox.com
Heart-shaped dividers	Marshalls (I had to cut these down ½ inch to fit)
Tiny dressing bottle	JBox.com

Bento Box Contents
Lettuce	Local grocry
Cheese flower	Kraft white and yellow cheddar
Carrots and Cucumber	Skaneateles Farmer’s Market
Croutons	Wegmans
Raspberries	Skaneateles Farmer’s Market
White Chocolate chips	Ghirardelli
Cheddar Bread Sticks
Trail mix	Crunchies
Veggie chips	The Real Deal
Vinaigrette Dressing	Briannas Blush Wine vinaigrette dressing

Box Notes:
My 15-year old LOVES giraffes so I was thrilled to find this box on amazon.com. The silicone heart-shaped cupcake cups were purchased from the discount bin at Marshalls and after I cut then down by about a half inch they are perfect for our bento boxes. Definitely explore your area kitchen supplier for similar discount silicone products as they work beautifully. I found the raspberries stuffed with a gourmet white-chocolate morsel idea on Pinterest, and its a hit!

Hello Kitty Bento from JBox

Hello Kitty bento box from JBox

Heirloom carrots, puffed green beans, rice chips, pear/apple flowers, extra sharp cheese flowers and mini club crackers.

Hardware
Hello Kitty Bento Box	JBox.com
Hello Kitty Ring	Amazon.com
Kitty fork	Bentocrazy.com
Flower cookie cutters – small	Amazon.com

Bento Box Contents
Heirloom carrots	Mother-in-law’s garden
Potato Crisps	PoPChips
Pear and Peach flowers	Skaneateles Farmer’s Market
Crackers	Keebler Club minis
Extra Sharp Cheddar flowers	Calbots Seriously Sharp Cheddar
Snap Pea Crisps	Calbee Snack Salad
Divider cups by Kawaii	e-bay

Box Notes:

I used a tiny veggie cutter to make the pear and peach flowers, then used a drinking straw to punch out and swap the centers. I make these with apple, too, and my 15-year old gobbles them up!

Be careful when you shop for this Hello Kitty bento box. I found it online on some sites for significantly more than others. JBox.com is the most reasonably price for this style, even with shipping from Japan. It took about two weeks for the box to arrive.