Bento #158

Grilled cheese on wheat, grapes & banana jelly.

Maisie just adores grilled cheese sandwiches and if I let her, she'd eat them breakfast, lunch and dinner so I knew this bento would be a success. Sure enough, only a one-inch piece of crust returned home uneaten.

Bento #157

Leftover lo mein, grapes, fortune cookie and jelly.

Only the paper fortune remained in Maisie's box after lunch.

Bento #156

Cheese pizza, grape jelly & grapes.

I swear that Maisie is trying to mess with my mind. She told me that she was too full to finish her bento but when I opened it up after school there was one lone grape. Maisie laughed and told me that she was teasing me...silly girl!

Bento #155

Chocolate peanut butter and cherry sandwich on wheat, grapes & jelly.

Maisie specifically asked for this odd sandwich so I went with it. Come lunch time she on the other hand decided that she didn't like it very much so she only ate a few bites. She did eat the grapes and jelly. Once home I thought that she'd be really hungry but she really didn't eat anything much for the rest of the day. So, I 'm not sure if it was the odd sandwich or just one of those days where she wasn't up for eating much. Either way, she won't be talking me into making that sandwich again.

Bento #154

Baked macaroni & cheese, Hello Kitty carrots and grape jelly.

I had packed a lot of mac & cheese into this bento and Maisie told me that she was too full to finish it all but she did well eating most of it and all of the carrots & jelly.

Bento #153

Mini quiche, Choco Boy biscuits, strawberry jelly and grapes.

Maisie loves mini quiche and she hasn't had them in ages so when she saw them this morning she was all excited so I knew it was going to be a good eating day. Her bento returned home with only a couple of grapes remaining uneaten which she finished after her no-nap nap time.

Bento #152

Lasagna, grapes, mango jelly & Choco Boy biscuits.

Maisie adores lasagna and even asked for a repeat of this bento for her dinner. Needless to say, she finished every drop of her bento.

The jellies that I use in Maisie's bento are shelf stable, no need for refrigeration and I purchase them at the local Asian market.

Bento #151

Saffron rice with minced pork chop (so that Maisie can't pull out or pick around the pork pieces), grapes, strawberry jelly and Choco Boy biscuits.

Mincing the pork worked as Maisie ate every drop of the pork, rice and everything else in her bento, woohoo!

Bento #150

Per Maisie's request, grilled cheese on wheat girl monster with banana/chocolate Pocky hair, peanut butter filled cracker eyes with M&M's, pink fairy sprinkle lips and a necklace made of grapes.

Another successful bento as her box returned home empty!

Bento #149

Maisie has been on a major grilled cheese sandwich kick lately and loves when I decorate them as monsters and if I allowed it, she'd eat them three meals a day.

Today she had a grilled cheese on wheat monster sandwich decorated with grapes for her hair and mini-marshmallow eyes and mouth. The grapes and marshmallows are held in place with peanut butter.

Maisie ate every last bit of her bento today!

Bento #148

Ham & cheese roll-ups, steamed broccoli, light ranch dip in the Hello Kitty container, grapes, banana jelly and Choco Boy biscuits.

Only a bit of broccoli stem returned home uneaten. Maisie said that she loved the Choco Boy biscuits which were new for her today.

Bento #147

Udon noodle soup, mango jelly, Laughing Cow light cheese & raisins. I really need to go shopping!

Even though it was a pantry mish-mash, Maisie loved it and finished her entire bento and that's all I can ask.

Bento #146

Mini Farfalle pasta tossed in some Creamy Tomato Soup Florentine, meatballs, steamed broccoli, lite ranch dip in the Hello Kitty container and a marshmallow ice cream cone.

Another successful bento as only a couple of small pieces of broccoli returned home uneaten.

Three days a week Maisie's school offers lunches that the parents can sign-up for, purchase and have delivered to their child. One day it's food from Chick-fil-A, another is pizza and the third is Quiznos (I think, or some similar sub place), honestly not the type of food I'd want Maisie to eat on any sort of regular basis. Thankfully I don't have to worry about her wanting the food as she doesn't eat fast food and I know that she wouldn't eat a sub, she really doesn't care for chicken nuggets and wouldn't eat a chicken sandwich. I have offered for her to have pizza if she wanted but so far she's said no to the pizza and has told me that she prefers her bentos. Isn't that just oh-so-sweet, I sure love my bento loving girl!

Bento #145

Lasagna soup loaded with lots of extra pasta, Texas garlic toast, mini-marshmallows & grapes.

There was a lot of food packed in Maisie's bento today and she did real well eating it, leaving only a small amount of pasta and a couple of grapes. After her nap she asked to finish her bento and she did.

Bento #144

Udon noodles with pork, leek & veggie dumplings, mango jelly, fig bar and grapes.

As soon as Maisie got in the car after school she told me to check her bento and I know, if she wants me to check her bento it means that she ate every drop and she had, woohoo!!

I've had some new questions:

Yana asked: "I'm just wondering whether the rice tastes okay when it's cold?"

Maisie likes food at room temperature or just warm. When I pack rice, meatballs, noodles, dumplings, anything like that, I heat it up in the morning and so when Maisie eats it they're not cold and everything tastes great...if you like food at room temp.

Karen asked: "Can you post a recipe for the cilantro cream sauce? I just found your blog and everything is so adorable, not to mention delicious-looking! Thanks!"

In Bento #52 Maisie had Five-Spice Chicken with Cilantro Cream Sauce which was served with wilted spinach & wide egg noodles. Here's the recipe:

Chicken tenders ~ 1/2 lb
EVOO ~ 2 TBS
soy sauce 1 TBS
salt ~ pinch
ground pepper ~ 1/2 tsp
5-spice powder ~ 2 TBS
cayenne pepper ~ 1 tsp

Mix all of the above together and allow chicken to marinate. Brown the chicken in a little oil until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken and set aside.

Sauce:
whipping cream 1/2c.
plain yogurt 1/2c.
cilantro 1/4c. coarsely chopped
lemon juice 1 to 2 tsp.

Mix sauce ingredients together and then add to the pan in which you cooked the chicken. Cook until sauce is thickened.

Enjoy.