Bubba Bento

I haven't been making bento lunches since the baby I quit my job due to that whole I-don't-have-a-job-and-therefore-I-have-no-need-for-lunch-slash-I-have-a-new-baby-and-I'm-TIRED,-yo thing. Before that, I wasn't making them due to being pregnant and tired and developing an urgent preference for McDonald's and udon soup at the local teriyaki place. I suppose if I were a better housewife I would have risen early every morning to make one for my husband before he headed off to work. After all, that was how I started making them.

The fact of the matter is that sleep has been precious, and as a fellow fan of the sleeping in, luckily he understands.

Today, as we were heading to playgroup, I decided to pack some stuff for the baby to have for lunch. Since we've been mostly still doing purees, I have been just taking a Pediasure with us because dealing with purees and dishes and heating them while out is a pain. Pediasure is a bottle and a straw and a disposable bib, all of which can be tossed or recycled. He's getting a lot better at eating finger foods though as he nears his first birthday, so I decided an actual lunch was in order.

I could have put things into baggies or plastic storage containers, but then I remembered my lovely cupboard full of bento stuff. I got out a few things and I put this together for him:

Contents of baby lunch:

top tier - cut up maple glazed ham, peas and carrots, muenster cheese

bottom tier - yogurt melts, Ritz crackers, and the cutest, teeniest organic strawberries you've ever seen. I ate those. :) They're a choking hazard, you know, but I needed something pretty and small for that spot.

He ate all the yogurt melts and Ritz. I didn't give him that tier until he was done with the first one. He ate a little over half of the ham and a couple pieces of the cheese. I guess he wasn't feeling it today, even though he ate it last night. He ate all the carrots, and shock of shocks, he even ate all the peas!!! He even ate his veggies before he started in on the ham and cheese!

This kid hasn't eaten a green vegetable in months. He generally spits them out, makes faces, and gags.

One of the moms said my container was cute and asked where I got it. I felt like a total dweeb when I had to tell them that I ordered it online from Japan. LOL! It's authentic!

Sure, there still is a bunch of stuff I'm not going to be able to use for a while (sauce bottles, grass dividers, and furikake containers specifically) but for the most part, I think I'll be getting some use out of these again here soon.

Yay for bento's return!