Easter Bento Babies

Welcome to another month of beautiful Bento!

It was great to see so many link up last month and I feel inspired by all the different ideas.

The best thing about Bento is you can be as creative as you want or as time allows.

You don’t HAVE to be a creative genius, just empty packets! How hard is that?

Have you seen the cute divider plates? Start there. Bento is all about thinking about the way we present our food. So instead of a plate of foil and plastic wrapping, let your children really see what feast they have before them. 

We can all work up to Hello Kitty figures made from seaweed and rice!

I am a busy parent and I have no time to have to use tweezers in order to create a masterpiece, but I do have time to separate. Use silicon cups in a shallow lunch box to stop them rattling around, or lidded pots or even better as it’s Easter time, refillable eggs! There are also loads of different lunch boxes available which have pre divided plastic sections.

The boys helped me choose the ingredients for these ideas and then proceeded to eat everything like a tasting platter! Sammy’s eyes were as wide as the eye picks when he saw it all come out to the table, and that is my biggest inspiration for making meal times more fun.

And if you don’t think your children may appreciate the extra effort think about whether little things make a difference to you, in terms of presentation. I have no idea why but when I eat a sandwich that has been cut into triangles it just feels nicer than in squares and a cup of tea just feels more special, when the tea bag comes with a string in a little envelope of it’s own?! Am I mad?!

Last year’s Easter Bento Babies was full of colour and this year is no different!

5 ideas to get you through a holiday week.

Fresh coconut/Scotch egg/Pepperarmi/Pasta/Pistachio nuts/Blueberries

Sweetcorn rings/Bruschetta and hummus/Dried cranberries/Chunks of ham/Cocoa Snack bar/Kiwi and grapes

Pretzel mix/Strawberries/Green pepper,Cold noodles/Almonds and a chocolate egg/Babybel cheese

Salami/Yoghurt/Cucumber/Mango/Japanese crackers/Boiled egg

Pumpkin seeds, yoghurt covered strawberries, cashew nuts and cranberries/Carrot and mini sweet corns with a salsa dip/Pineapple and dried pear/Sweet treat/Fruit puree and bunny biscuits/Scotch pancake

It’s a hard job expanding your children’s palettes. But it’s even harder if we never try. It’s easy to get into a routine and I’m often guilty of serving the same 5 dinners on rotation, in amongst a few dinners that go ping. I’ve got into a bad habit of using lunch time to experiment and then it’s the same old spag bol or mince related dinner on the menu! 

I watched a BritMums video hangout the other day and was amazed at the kinds of meals the bloggers were talking about, that they serve to their families. There’s no reason why we can’t challenge their taste buds with flavour and spice and I am going to attempt a few new dishes over the Easter holidays to add to our family repertoire. 

Any suggestions?! 

Join in and share the love of Bento! Link up your lovely lunches and snack teas and let's all inspire each other. It's not about what looks the most fancy it's about sharing ideas to get our little ones eating better!

Linking up with #TastyTuesdays, #recipeoftheweek, Share with Me and Eats Amazing