Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Three Tools for Wendolonia

I have greatly admired the beautiful lunches Wendy of Wendolonia makes for her children. I recently purchased her first book, Everyday Bento: 50 Cute and Yummy Lunches To Go.
http://www.amazon.com/Everyday-Bento-Cute-Yummy-Lunches/dp/4805312610/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

It is filled with cute lunches, easy to use tutorials, great information about bento box basics, techniques, and equipment. I especially love her list of foods by color. You can purchase her book HERE.

Wendy invited BBF bento bloggers to participate in a series of posts on her blog. Each post will showcase several bloggers using the same lunch making tools. The post in which I am participating will be using:
Easy Lunchboxes (ELBs),    IKEA Woodland Cutters,   and Food Markers - I use Americolor Gourmet Writer Pens

Usually, the lunches I make are inspired by the books I read with my son. We call them story-themed lunches. Most of the time, I base the lunches on whatever book my son happens to want to read with me. I have to admit that I specifically searched the library for books with characters to match the IKEA Woodland Cutters for these lunches.

Up the Creek by Nicholas Oldland
Bear, Beaver, and Moose are good friends but that does not mean they always get along. The three friends decide to set out for a canoe ride. Their journey is off to a rocky start when all three of them decide to sit in the stern to steer the canoe. After much arguing and several mishaps, the friends learn that teamwork is important.
In the ELB lunchbox: almond butter with jelly moose & bear sandwiches made with the IKEA Woodland Cutters, beaver drawn on a marshmallow with the Americolor Gourmet Writer Pens, red Babybel canoe, blueberry river, salad, and grapes.

Fox and Crow Are NOT Friends by Melissa Wiley
My son has already read the fable about the Fox and the Crow. This book tells what happens after Fox tricks Crow out of a tasty piece of cheese. The crow is very upset and vows to take revenge on Fox. Crow sets up an elaborate trap to get even with Fox. When Fox spies a tasty piece of cheese on the ground, he unwittingly steps into a rope trap set up by Crow. Fox was unhappy about being tricked by Crow so he decides to get even. Then, Fox sets up a trap for Crow. Just as Fox is about to sample the sweet taste of revenge, he and Crow are taught a lesson by Mama Bear. My son and I enjoyed seeing how each trap worked.
In the ELB lunchbox: ham & cheese fox sandwich with ham rope around his front paw, small slice of cheese in Fox's mouth, Zbar ground, spinach tree leaves, berries, and salad with radish FOX letters.

 
We Both Read Endangered Animals  
The book is made for parents and children to read together. Every two-page spread has one page for a parent to read and one page for a child to read. Boogs could have read the entire book to me, but he enjoyed both of us taking turns reading it. This book focuses on the fact that animals need food to eat, water to drink, and a safe place to live. If trees were cut down in a park, squirrels would not have a home and they would not have a place to hide if a dog chased them. It tells how regulation efforts and laws have saved humpback whales from becoming extinct. The book talks about many kinds of animals that are in danger and also tells how the reader can help.

In the ELB lunchbox: melting iceberg turkey, squirrel & whale (using snail cutter) quesadillas, cheese water spout, okra chips, dried apricot beehive, berries, and salad.


Be sure to check out the wonderful sites I link to on my sidebar!  If you want to see more book inspired lunches, click on the "lunches" label at the end of this post or go to My Story Themed Lunches board on Pinterest. I would love for you to leave a comment to let me know you stopped by. 

16 comments:

  1. These are all awesome! I love the marshmellow beaver from lunch 1, the cheese fox from lunch 2 and the humpback whale in the last lunch! Your books are always such great picks and I love getting them from the library after seeing your lunches!!

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    1. Nina, thanks so much for the sweet comment!

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  2. These are all so cute, Keitha! I had such a hard time choosing which one to use for the challenge. Thanks for participating!

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    1. Thank you for letting me participate in your fun blog series.

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  3. I've got those woodland cookie cutters from ikea and am going to make plain old boring, but yummy. cookies with the kids. I think the food in the boxes looks healthy and delicious but personally I like a sandwich to look like a sandwich. That's just me though.

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    1. That is funny because I make plain old boring round cookies. Thanks for stopping by.

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  4. These are really fun! The cookie cutter are super cute. Thank you so much for linking up to the Sunday Showcase.

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  5. These look delicious - what a fantastic idea! I love the way you cut the word Fox out of a radish :)

    #kidlitbloghop

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  6. These lunches are all wonderful Keitha - I love how you combined the challenge with book themes, so creative!
    Thank you for linking up at Fun Food Friday!

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  7. I love how you combine the books and the Bento lunches. It is very creative and must take a lot of time. We also love Nichalos Oldland!

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    1. Thanks, Bonnie! I usually spend about 15 minutes making lunches in the morning before school/work. Using cute cookie cutters makes a simple sandwich into something more.

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  8. So many great ideas here, I especially love the fox! I wish I could still do this with my lunch box today, and I'm in my 30's...

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    1. Thanks. There is no reason you can't make a cute lunch for yourself. :-)

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