Bento Box Fever!

[sara]

I would love to know how you get your kids to eat all that stuff. My kids are so picky i can't stand it.

 

[Henrietta23]

Mine is incredibly picky. I tend to stick with things I know he likes, like rice, cheese, carrots, hot dogs, eggs. I made a boiled egg that looked like a rabbit. Sesame seed eyes, cucmber strips for ears. He ate it. The cuke and seeds came home. If it's cute he's more willing to try. He won't eat what a lot of people's kids on this thread will though. I wish he would!

 

[ninjapoodles]

Quote:
Well, she's an only child, so that might help--she only has our cues to go on, no siblings to set "Ewww, that's gross" examples.

We try to make new foods a "big deal" without making it look like we're trying to get her to eat them. If she asks, "What is that?" sometimes I'll say something like, "Oh, this is something that Daddy and I like, but I'm not sure you're old enough to appreciate it." Nothing like insinuating that she's immature to bluff her into trying anything.

It makes an ENORMOUS difference if she's involved with the growing or selecting and especially COOKING/PREPARING of the ingredients. She never ate onions until she dug up her own from the garden. Ditto chives. She helped me snap the bushel of beans and to hull the bushel of purple hull peas from the farmer's market, and that gave her kind of a pride in the process, and made her more inclined to eat the finished product.

She has her own little idiosyncrasies, though--will not TOUCH peaches. PEACHES! What is THAT about?

 

[Henrietta23]

Alex is an only too. It's just him. He eats what he knows he likes and tries something new when and if he feels like it. We've tried every trick we could think of. Sometimes they work, more often they don't. He usually will try a bite of something new if he's allowed to make a face if he doesn't like it. And there's times when he decideds he likes something before he's ever even had them. He heard a story on a library CD about clams and decided he wanted clams. We went to a lobster place for my birthday and got a big basket of steamers. He gobbled them up. Steamers! This a kid who thinks cottage cheese is disgusting! Won't eat apple sauce! But clams? Pile them on! (See picture under my lunch picture)
Anyway, here is MY lunch for tomorrow:
teriyaki soba noodles with edamame, sweet potato roulade, vegetable sushi, soy sauce with a little wasabi powder in the condiment container. mmmm

Eating clams~

 

[menageriemama]

Henrietta: Oh my, your lunch looks tasty!!! *sigh* It makes me want to get a job just so that I can pack a bento for MYSELF

Also, your little boy is just adorable. Too cute.

In our house, we eat breakfast all together as a family. Nobody has a picky problem with breakfast foods here, so it works. The kids will even eat frittata with all kinds of stuff in it. Lunch is made to order, whatever they want within reason, I will make for them. Dinner is mom's choice, and if they don't want to eat it, then they go to bed hungry. I refuse to make different dinners for different family members. They don't have to finish it or eat it, but they are not going to get anything else either (and no desert.) My oldest is great about food. He will try anything and loves very spicy food, just like me

Genna is more prone to be picky, but she eats what I put in front of her, and she usually likes it. Plus, like you said Ninja, she really likes to help me cook and will eat anything if she had a hand in making it. Sebastian is almost a food disposal unit. That kid will eat anything and everything. I guess my theory is that there is no such thing as "grown up food" and "kid food". They can eat the same things I do, and they should. Its better for them

 

[ninjapoodles]

Today is "Grandparents' Day" at Bella's school, and grandparents are invited to eat lunch with the kids and attend a book fair with them. My MIL is out of town, so it'll just be my mom there. Bella designed and planned this menu, and insisted the boxes be identical, of course!

Baby Spring Mix with Grilled Sesame Chicken and Raw-Milk Colby Cheese Salad
All-Organic Fruit Salad (peaches, strawberries, apples, grapes)
Homemade Granola with Fruit and Nuts

 

[Henrietta23]

Thanks menagerie! I don't typically cook him a special meal, but DH and I both like spicy foods but Alex doesn't. So I'll make some of what ever without the spice. I do keep veggie corn dogs and boca burgers and I will cook one for him if I really want to make something I know he won't eat. He'll get a taste of it anyway. I'm sure it's easier with only three of us!
Ninja, that is too cute!
I got some weird looks with my lunch, some questions and a few compliments. I was stuffed! I couldn't eat all the noodles so I ate them while DH drove us to gymnastics.

 

[havi]

Im in love..again!


Awhile back I was going through flickr pictures and saw these little boxes. I fell in love! But I never knew they had a name for it. I just thought it was some big craze in Japan or something. First thing tomorrow morning I know where I'll be

looking on ebay for these!!!

 

[ninjapoodles]

Just a note to say that Ichiban Kan online store has some things back in stock right now. Still short on most Clickety-Click stuff, but re-stocked on Putifresh and others...hurry, though, because they always sell out fast! Best of all, things cost a buck, buck-fifty tops.

I got a full set of the Putifresh "Apple" design for myself, super-cheap.

 

[Henrietta23]

Quote:
Haha! We've got another one! Bento Fever is contagious!!!
Thanks Ninja-I'll be checking that out asap.

Pfffft! ASAP ended up meaning now! Bought two two-tiered boxes and thermal bags and belts to go with them, some forks and chopstick and a laquer rabbit bowl, managed to stay strong on the cute picks which I know my son will just lose. All in all I spent just over $20 including shipping. Whoa!!