Blogisphere meet the panda box! 

The introduction of this box is loooong overdue since it’s the one I picked up in China town in July.  It has two levels, the bottom is a shiny black bowl, the top is a shallow dish with a curved divider.  The latches aren’t super strong and it’s definitely not waterproof.  But, it was $10 from a vendor and it had a panda on it!  My Grandma made an elastic band that fits around it to help prevent it from popping open. 

To tell you about the fillings I have to tell you about our dinner.  Ara wanted to help make dinner tonight.  I had planned spaghetti which she doesn’t like so she asked if she could make her own dinner.  She also did all the lunch dishes!  It took her about an hour to clean about 7 dishes but still, that’s some sweet helping.  Ara chose to make herself Mac + Cheese, I did all the parts that involved fire of course, but she was thrilled with herself for being such an independent girl.  SOOO we had to pack her awesome mac + cheese in the bento for tomorrow!  

Doesn’t he look super happy to be carrying a 5 year olds lunch?

Every time I look at this picture I think it’s been stretched but it’s just the oval shape of the bagel!  Blog optical illusion!  I’m so fancy, aren’t I?  Oen of the cool things about Kindergarten has been the snacks that are supplied by the parents on a rotating basis.  One of the Mom’s served mini bagels with strawberry cream cheese.  Ara came home raving about it!  I promised we would add it to our breakfast foods but was determined to put my own healthy spin on it.  I found whole wheat mini bagels at Trader Joe’s (additive free).  I looked for a healthy flavored cream cheese but found nothing but dyes and high fructose corn syrup.  So I added fresh raspberries to plain cream cheese.  It did the trick nicely.  Ara was thrilled with her pink cream cheese and I was happy she wasn’t eating additives.  The bento also has some sea creature cookies (from Trader Joe’s), cherries, and 2 dark chocolate covered pretzels.  I garnished with mint leaves again but I took them out before I closed the lid.  Ara says the mint makes the food taste yucky.

It’s our turn to supply snack tomorrow and I’m nervous!  Watermelon and pretzels for 55 kids!  Wish me luck chopping up the watermelon into even pieces!

I’ve discovered a new joy; listening to Ara talk about her day at school.  She paints such a vibrant picture colored with her 5 year old perceptions.  I could listen to her all day!  I didn’t sleep much last night for the second night in a row.  Stress!  But, I’m realizing I don’t need to be this stressed, Ara is just fine and I will be too.  Thanks to my sleepless night I was a zombie today.  Even forgetting my sunglasses and hat for water aerobics class!  After school we had Ara’s new cousin and best friend; KT over.  Alex was working late so it was just a house full of girls.  We made pancakes for dinner.  I gave them each a bowl of batter and let them add chocolate chips and blueberries.  I cooked them up and we added our home whipped cream with a tiny bit of sugar and vanilla.  Then we added cherries!  There were lots of smiles at the dinner table!  It’s 9pm and I am ready for my pillow!

Ara Update:

She made two new friends.
She learned about bugs.
She drew pictures and learned to put them in her cubby.
She can’t wait to go back tomorrow.

Welcome back, bento hobby!  Ara is only in school for 3 hours in the morning so this bento will be waiting for her at home.  I tried making sealed sandwiches using a tutorial I remember reading somewhere about using a slightly smaller cutter to press the sides down.  I wish I could find a link to that exact tutorial, I know there is something similar on bento-box by Asfora using bottle lids.  Mine didn’t come out all that sealed, I think I was over stuffing them.  These are filled with peanut butter and jelly, an old school time fav!  I added a poorly checkered apple and pitted cherries.  The cherries are ripe and delicious but I found I could only fit a few in the little space so I took the pits out and sliced them.  I garnished with mint leaves from our hardly little mint plant (which smell so nice!).  I hope everyone is having a great week!