I’ve received several comments that bentos seem too time-consuming to make, but I only spend about 15-20 minutes on Charlie’s breakfast and lunch every day. Most of the time I don’t do anything special other than use colorful silicon baking cups. If I do something special, it’s usually cutting food into shapes like stars or adding decorative picks — two things that really take no time at all, and really help Charlie eat better.
A recent big breakfast + lunch for Charlie: pear juice, seaweed soup + rice in his thermos, raisin bran muffin, roast chicken, broccoli, peas, watermelon and pear stars, grapes, berry medley (it was a truly glorious day — he ate almost everything!)
As far as when it comes to time spent cooking, I am pretty darn lazy so I freeze a ton of food. I try to offer a lot of variety and pack a protein, grain, fruit and vegetable into Charlie’s lunch every day. Having a well-stocked freezer and pantry means that I can pack a well-balanced lunch quickly, even when I desperately need to go to the market and don’t have much in the fridge. These are frozen and pantry items we usually have on hand:
protein – breakfast sausage (bought fresh then frozen), Applegate Organic hot dogs (frozen), Applegate chicken nuggets (frozen), Dr. Praeger’s fishies (frozen); eggs
veggies – Cascadian Farm organic peas (frozen), Dr. Praeger’s spinach littles (frozen), organic broccoli (bought fresh, blanched then frozen)
fruit – Dole diced pear cups, dried blueberries, organic raisin boxes (Charlie loves the boxes)
grains – tons of frozen breads: blueberry bagels, croissants, french toast (this recipe sneaks in veggies and I make huge batches), pancakes, banana bread; Annie’s Organic Mac and Cheese; rice in rice cooker for fried rice, bread for sandwiches
snacks – Nature Valley Oats n Honey granola bars, Nutrigrain bars or Earth’s Best Organic Cereal Bars, Cascadian Farm raisin granola bars
dairy – yogurt, Organic Valley string cheese, Mini Babybel cheese
The main thing I must buy is fresh fruit, and I also pack a lot of leftovers. Then the rest of the variety comes from frozen foods and prepackaged snacks, which saves a lot of time. Breads freeze great and they’re easy to pop in the microwave or toaster oven for a quick breakfast. Since we’re a big soup family, I also make big batches of soup so I always have enough to freeze in individual portions for Charlie’s thermos. Getting a second freezer was the best thing I did, because it saves me so much time by allowing me to batch prep, cook, and freeze (check out our Pinterest freezer & crockpot board for inspiration).
Do you use any tricks to minimize food prep/cooking time? What types of foods do you always have on hand for your LO?
cherry / 115 posts
This is great! I love your bento boxes, by the way. Now that my kids are a little bit older, they eat what we eat. We started the one meal for everyone pretty early, which has helped cut down time.
blogger / pineapple / 12381 posts
Our lunches look very similar
BTW you totally got me and Mr. Jacks hooked on bentos. You should see all the supplies we got. We’re going for it!
Oh and we got two great books on bentos as well.
pomegranate / 3053 posts
Bentos are awesome. I’ve started to build a collection and have enjoyed making little bento lunches for Nicholas for preschool. And since his lunch has to be cold, I make them the night before so all I have to do is pop it in his lunch bag the next morning with an ice pack. I love freezing little muffins from the store. I used to make him banana carrot muffins but don’t have time these days so it’s Wegman’s rasin bran or corn muffins which are pretty good. I think they are good. LOL! I should try them but Nicholas gobbles them up so I’m assuming they are good. I usually give him four choices – grain, protein, fruit, and something crunchy (either something sweet like strawberry filled cookies or salty cookies/crackers like goldfish crackers). This is one meal he usually finishes! It’s probably b/c of the cute sandwiches or shaped food. I don’t normally do it at home all the time b/c I want him to look forward to his lunches at school.
Oh, and I always have fresh fruit (strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries) and carrots on hand. Carrots last a long time in the fridge. It’s hard to pack veggies for him since he only likes a select few. I might try some broccoli in the Fall when school starts up again. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that until now. LOL!
GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22646 posts
YUM! and by my minimal on my twitter comment, i can def do 15-20 min!!