My Bento Launch

I attempted my first bento two nights ago (August 27, 2012) using a bento box that I bought at Goodwill for $1 (at half off!).  I think I got a pretty good deal, as it is a Laptop Lunch box, which retail at around $40 (though that includes a bag, utensils, two lids, and one extra lidded container).  We had an old bento container that I bought for $2.50 at Target, but we didn't have much success with it when we used to use it for Tiny's lunches.  The Laptop Lunch box is more versatile, and I was able to work with it pretty well.  Ted and I had talked about integrating a theme into each bento that reflects a history, spelling, or math lesson.  I packed Tiny an assemble-your-own pizza using sandwich rounds (flat bread), and I added the word "pizza" in cheese for a spelling lesson.  In a separate lidded container, I included additional shredded cheese.  I bought these cuties from Amazon, and I used the bear to store some pasta sauce.  I then packed Tiny some clementines, two split grapes, four blueberries, and a sliced strawberry.  I successfully poured some honey into one of the little sauce containers so that she could mix it into the Danonino that I packed.  I sliced up part of a carrot, and then tried to pour some ranch into another little sauce container.  I only filled about half of it because I didn't have a small enough funnel (upending and squeezing the sauce/dressing in puts wear on the little plastic bottles).  I tried to stamp out some flowers from the carrots, and I was successful, but I didn't have a place to really place them where they'd stand out while staying in place.  It came together fairly nicely, but not as nicely as I'd like.

I learned a few things though:

1. The Laptop Lunch box is way too big for a toddler's lunch.  I plan on using a square Glad plastic container for tomorrow's lunch.
2. Pasta sauce will not make cheese stick to the pizza crust.
3. Flat bread dries out if toasted in the oven even for a few seconds, and the cheese doesn't look very appetizing afterward.
4. I need to invest in a smaller funnel.
5. Baby carrots are cuter and taste better than large carrots.  May need to buy some if I'm not cutting out cute flowers.
6. Tiny doesn't like nori, so the nori punch may have been a waste. Not that I could have placed it anywhere in this bento anyway.
7. It is difficult to try to combine a history lesson into bento.  My choices for that day included the anniversary of MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech, and Tolstoy or Goethe's birthdays.  Hence, the word "pizza."

The next night's bento went a little better.