Happy 2012!  Well, we are finally back to a routine in our schedules after the long break so it’s back to bentoing.

For Christmas, Paige received an Angry Birds board game which the kids have been playing quite a bit.  It gave me the idea to make this bento (pictured above) with the pig surrounded by the blocks.  I used a couple of picks for his ears and sugar eyes both of which you can find at All Things For Sale.  I made the peanut butter and jelly sandwich fist and then cut out the pigs head using a small oval cutter.  Then I cut the top off of the sandwich and then the two sides to make the blocks.  Then I took a small slice of bread from  the leftover sandwich and cut a smaller oval for the snout and poked a couple of holes for his nostrils.

Bear chicken and veggie burgers with rice and a few veggies.  The hat picks are available at All Things for Sale as well!

Here are a few pics from our vacation!  The view from Makapu’u Light House trail.

Fun at the beach.

The new elephant exhibit at the Honolulu Zoo.

“Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace to men on

whom his favor rests.”

Luke 2:14

I can’t believe that Christmas is only a few days away!!!  With the kids on winter break, time just seems to fly by.  I hope that everyone is having a great Christmas break and happy holidays!

Here’s a lunch I made for Sean the other day- homemade minestrone soup and a few small Santa sandwiches made with roast beef and swiss.

Visit Parent Map for more Christmas inspiration!

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, Christmas is right around the corner!  Here is my first Christmassy sandwich bento.  To make it simple, I used a gingerbread man shaped cookie cutter for the turkey and cheese sandwich and added in a pretty snowflake pick.

I made this “Lunchables” style Fall bento a while back but never got around to posting it.

What kid (or adult for that matter) doesn’t love the game Angry Birds?  I can attest to the fact that the game is a lot of fun and incredibly addicting as well!

Today I decided to make the King Pig since he was the easiest to do.  I used a whole wheat bread that is much like a flat round bun (see picture below) for the pig’s head.  With another bread, I cut the snout and ears out; and for the eyes, I used provolone cheese and a couple of mini chocolate chips.  Hope you like it!

Whole wheat sandwich rounds, oval cutter for the snout, small round cutter for the nostrils, medium round cutter for the ears, and large round cutter for the eyes.

For some great ideas for Thanksgiving lunches, check out Parent Map’s 10 Thanksgiving Bento Box Lunch Ideas for Kids!

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Quick Halloween post today!  A few mozzarella and olive eyeballs are an easy and fast way to spookify your pasta salad.  I took a few marinated mozzarella balls, topped them with olives, and secured them with toothpicks.  Hope you like it!

Would anyone care for some worms with their chili?  Here’s a quick and easy way to make fun Halloween food.  Take a hotdog and slice it lengthwise into 8 equal strips.  Drop the hotdog strips into boiling water which will curl up as it cooks. To serve, I put a scoop of rice on the bottom, then the hotdog worms, chili, cheddar cheese, green onions, and finally another hotdog worm to top it all off.  Enjoy!

We love split pea soup even though it has a ghastly green color to it.  Top it off with a few cat croutons and it is the perfect food for Halloween!

To make the croutons, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut 2 large slices of bread with small cookie cutters and then cut up the scraps into small chunks. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter and drizzle over cut bread. Toss well and spread evenly on a sheet tray. Bake for 10 minutes and then toss the croutons around so that they will brown evenly. Bake for another 5-10 minutes until croutons are golden.

To make garlic butter croutons, check out this recipe at the bottom of this old post.

I saw this owl recipe from Pillsbury and thought it would be fun to make for the kids!  With store-bought croissant (or crescent) dough, the owls were very easy to make.  I changed up the recipe a little to make the owl croissants savory, instead of sweet, by omitting the cinnamon and sugar.  Instead I lightly brushed the tops with melted butter mixed with a little bit of garlic powder.  Finally, after they were completely cooled, I topped the owls with cheese and olives for the eyes and beaks.

The garlicky owl croissants made a great side for the chili along with a sweet Clementine.  Since the chili was loaded with veggies, I didn’t feel the need to put a side like I usually do.

Many thanks to Parent Map who has featured a few of my bentos for their back-to-school and Halloween articles!  Check them out!

Hi everyone!  Since I have been getting a lot of email requests on how to make some of the Phineas and Ferb characters, I will be doing a few “how to” posts.  The most requested has been Perry the Platypus as Agent P (today’s post) and Isabella, which I will be posting soon.  Thank you for your patience!  :)

To make Perry- you’ll need a picture of Perry sized to fit your sandwich, parchment paper (or waxed paper), a scissors, and a Sharpie.

With the Sharpie, trace Perry’s beak on the parchment paper as shown and cut it out.

Use a very sharp and pointed knife, cut carefully around the stencil. I used a slice of cheddar here, but any kind of cheese will work.

*If using American singles see this post on how to cut it with a toothpick.

Cut the bottom of the beak off the parchment stencil, place the top part of the beak on the cheddar slice and cut out.

Place the top part of the beak on to the first cut out and you have Perry’s beak!

For the eyes, use a small oval cutter to cut out two eyes.

Cut a little off the tops of the eyes to give it a slanted look.

 Next, use a rolling pin to flatten out a piece of dark bread.

Cut out two circles for the eyes and cut a little off the top of each circle.  Cut out two small, thin strips to place over the top of Perry’s eyes.

Assemble your sandwich and arrange Perry’s features on the bread.  I trimmed the crusts off of the right and left sides of the sandwich.  Attach all of the pieces with a tiny dab of peanut butter or honey.

Place in your lunch box and Agent P is ready to go!

 If you are worried about your child’s lunch being tossed around, carefully wrap Perry with plastic wrap so that his face doesn’t shift around.  Also make sure that the sandwich box holds your sandwich securely so that it doesn’t bounce around during transport.  I love these Fuel sandwich boxes because they are sturdy, secure, and easy to open.

Childproof Agent P!