Owl Sandwiches Bento Lunch

I used some of our new cookie cutters today to make this owl bento lunch. I thought I'd share the whole process so you can see how the sandwiches are made, and how you can get your fixings to fit inside the sandwich. My sandwiches today were simple, just mayo and turkey, with lettuce as the "wings" of the owl. You can totally put in cheese and other things if you want, using the same method.

First, you have to find the best way to maximize the bread! I made two sandwiches from the two slices of bread. It's much easier to cut the bread first, before making the sandwich.

I'll post some recipes soon for using up all that leftover bread! I actually have a couple days worth of scraps saved in a bowl right now.

Next, you'll want to lay out your deli meat on a paper towel. Ours is from Whole Foods and it's an actual turkey breast that they roasted, so it doesn't have all that filler stuff and seasonings/water, etc to hold it together (so it's a bit dry). 

Just cut down and then use all the extra meat that's outside the cutter and pile it inside, so it fits in an owl shape.

Once they're in there, I just put mayo on the bread shape, put it on top of the meat (mayo side down, obviously), and flip the paper towel over.

That way, it fits perfectly onto your owl bread, it's all nice and even, and this way even the little ears have meat/fillings, etc. Yum!

I used my oval cutter to cut the wings out of lettuce, and a sharp knife to cut little triangles for the beaks. Almond slivers and (don't laugh) balled up bits of brownies are the eyes. Weird, I know. On the side, we have Rainier cherries from the farmer's market this week, black seedless grapes, and some pieces of skewered string cheese. Delish!

Garden Party Bento - Butterflies and Flowers!

Mike's a dude, but I can't help making the bentos pretty (and sometimes a little feminine). Who are we kidding? I'm sort of making these for myself. :) Today's bento is no exception. I was cutting up the pineapple and thinking, these look like butterfly wings! So it became a butterfly and the rest of the bento just built itself around that.

On the left, we have a butterfly with pineapple wings and a kiwi body. Below that we have watermelon flowers, accented with my favorite reusable silicone leaves and a little pineapple center (I used my tiniest circle cutter). On the right, we've got a turkey sandwich on wheat-oat bread, decorated with a little fruit roll up flower. There's organic hummus in the little panda and celery and carrots on the side. I just love the panda/pig/chick set I got, it's so useful and they are adorable!

Pineapple Butterfly with Kiwi body, Watermelon Flowers, Turkey Sandwich with Fruit Roll Up Flower

Close up of the watermelon flowers:

Watermelon Flowers made with Bento Flower Sandwich Cutter and Stainless Steel Vegetable Cutters

Elephants Everywhere! Flatbread Elephant Bento Lunch

I used my super handy elephant cutter set to make elephants out of flatbread. You may remember my other handy bunny cutter, which I used to make SJP's salad. I made three elephants in a vegetable enclosure, with hummus on the side for dipping. Kiwis and turkey/swiss roll ups round out this meal.

Three Little Flatbread Elephants with Turkey and Cheese Roll Ups, Hummus, Broccoli, Carrots, Cucumbers and Kiwi.

the elephant is four pieces put together to make a 3D animal

Here's a couple more close-up pics of the elephants. They came out so cute! Mike pointed out that the texture and appearance of the flat bread would be so perfect for a cow. If only they made a cow cutter set!

Close Up of Flatbread Elephant

You could also make these elephants out of vegetables; I had made the bunny out of carrots. But sometimes it's hard to find a veggie that's big enough for the body of the animal. I think I might try watermelon this summer, that would be pretty cute!

REVIEW: Everything got eaten except the cucumbers and the broccoli. Mike hates both so I wasn't surprised, but I am going to find a way to make broccoli so cute, he eats it! I did discover, through this bento, that he will eat cucumbers in sandwich form. So if your kid or favorite someone is a picky eater, keep trying it in different forms - you'll eventually find a way (and if all else fails, bake it into bread)!

Little Piggy Bento - Pig Flatbread Sandwich!

As I keep bento-ing, I learn new ways to keep offering variety with the lunches. One easy way is to change up the bread. This week we didn't buy any sliced bread and instead, we got bagels, flatbread, and butter rolls. It's like getting a new canvas! 

Today's lunch is a piggy flatbread sandwich with turkey, mayo, mustard, lettuce, provolone cheese, and avocado. YUM. I made the nose with ham and two sizes of my oval shaped fondant cutters. The ears I just cut with a knife, and the eyes were made from my tiniest round fondant cutter and the nori punch (I just put together a mouth and an eye together, overlapping, to make a round shape with a tiny hole in the middle). 

We have three kinds of fruit on the side - kiwi stars, two strawberry hearts, and honeydew flowers, with our ever-so-useful animal picks. Close up of the kiwi stars:

Mike also has celery sticks and peanut butter in the tiny piggy container. I love this container because it has a lid (no spilling, no mess) and it's SO CUTE! I also got a panda and chick with this set. 

REVIEW: This lunch got a "delicious!" rating and almost everything got eaten, although most of the peanut butter was leftover in the little piggy. Guess it holds a lot more than I thought.

Dress Up The Leftovers Bento

Today we are taking a mini vacation! So for our daily post, I have a version of Tuesday's bento that I made "adult style" for myself. I had leftover turkey tenders and sauteed brussel sprouts with green apple and almonds, cheddar cheese flowers and crackers, melon stars, and a few of the leftover strawberries for color, and a giant mango star. It's so easy to make your own lunch beautiful, even if it's just leftovers from last night's dinner! Don't forget yourself if you're making lunch for others (your kids or special someone) - it's very simple to just prep extra and throw it into your own lunch or dinner.