No glad wrap, nut free, packaging free, no junk food. The Kindy Lunch box rules were strict and enforced, with this naughty Mummy getting a note sent home in the first week of Kindy for not following the rules (I sent a home made muffin that broke the no sweets rule!) At first it drove me crazy but I now admit (very quietly) that a year of preparing healthy, environmentally friendly lunches has set up great habits for Master O and Mummy! We went a whole year without using a single piece of glad wrap, alfoil or snap lock bag. A year without a pre packaged biscuit, muesli bar or chip. A year without peanut butter, jam or Nutella on a sandwich. How? It’s all about the Bento.
Traditionally Bento is a Japanese cuisine that refers to food packed in a box of “Convenience” More recently in the world of Mummy made lunch boxes Bento is snack sized food arranged in a box cut, pushed and drawn on to make clever little novelty lunches! Our lunches were no where near as creative these Mummy’s lunches!
The novelty of Bento is a great way of getting fussy eaters to eat healthy food! So here’s to another year of healthy, environmentally friendly lunches, the Bento way!
Check out these and many more clever ideas on my Pinterest boards.
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What a great idea.
Love the idea of bento, but must admit, I’ve not really ever tried doing it before!
Wow , very impressive . I am glad our school just has a no nut , no egg policy. I am however going to be very creative if I have time.
I’ve never tried Bento before but I got stuck up there with the lunch rules! Wow. I’m kinda glad we don’t have those rules in our school because it would do my head in! Thanks for linking up this week x
I’m thinking some of those lunch rules are a bit ridiculous. I have no issue with the no nuts rule. I have no (real) issue with our daycare’s rule of no junk food (chips etc).
BUT. A homemade muffin? Bullsh!t. I maintain that they are still OUR children. And if we see fit to go to the trouble of baking for them, with no additives (so therefore probably healthier than half of the breads and yoghurts we buy), then dammit let him eat a muffin!
Sorry. My little peeve, as you can see.
I do similar to a bento thing, I guess. In that I use no plastic. I have a thousand different little containers for everything to go in. For Sammy, I cut his food into shapes.
But for Alexander, by the time he’d made it to year 2/3, he was harrassed for anything like that.
He still loved it (star shaped sandwhiches, little notes left by me etc) but the boys in his grade were soo horrible to him. Broke my heart, but I offered to stop – he would never have hurt my feelings by asking).
I loved just looking at those lunchboxes! They look good enough to eat lol
Love the look of the lunch boxes, but I will be honest and say that there is very little chance that my kids will get anything that fancy. We do use plastic containers so as not to use cling wrap etc, but I get a bit cranky when the food nazis start telling me what my child can and can’t eat. I agree with the sentiment of “healthy” food, but I would be unimpressed if I sent a homemade muffin along and got a note about it!
I’ve tried to create some shapes with the kids lunches, but alas…it actually looked easier than it actually was…well, with the sushi at least. I found rolling them easier. But it was a fun thing to try!
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So cute! I went through the cutting up sammies into cute shapes stage, but eventualy had to stop as my kids’ appetites got bigger. We all love a good bento box here!
Thanks so much for linking up to my weekly Pinterest party-I’m so happy you joined in and shared these sweet lunch box ideas! I wish my kids were more adventurous. They are happy with a nutella sandwich (we have no allergy rules at our schools) a piece of fruit and a home-made muffin (no rules about homemade goodies either!!)
Best wishes for a great week,
Natasha @ 5 Minutes Just for Me