Monday, November 1, 2010

Bento-tastic

And now, for your bento viewing pleasure...
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Here's a bento I made for Benjamin that had four different foods in it: apple chunks dipped in lemon juice; mini-PB&J sandwiches; edamame, and hard-cooked eggs sprinkled with paprika. I had high hopes for this bento, but it came back only half-eaten. I think that I got overeager and tried to cram too many things into that one tiny box. As a result, the Boo just ignored it all.
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This bento had only three things in it - baked yam cubes; egg, parmesan, cauliflower, and pea frittata; and edamame. Since I'd had great luck with giving him edamame before, I thought I'd try upping the portion. Smart thinking, right? Wrong! The fickle Boo suddenly decided that he no longer liked edamame ("Mama, too furry!") and didn't eat any of it. So the next time, I decided to...
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...pull the little suckers out and mix them in with some peas and carrots. This time, Benjamin ate all the veggies - except for the edamame. Foiled again!
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Finally, here's a bento that he did eat: thawed frozen berries; avocado dipped in lemon and sprinkled with a little kosher salt; and my old standby PB&J. Well, there were a few berries left over as well as a bread crust, but all of that avocado was gone. You know what that means, right? I'll be packing him avocado slices, avocado sandwiches, and avocado frittatas until he decides that avocado has gone the way of edamame and he's over it. Who knows what the reason might be this time? "Mama, too green!" "Mama, too bumpy!" "Mama, too packed with vitamin E, carotenoids, and folate!" Whatever the reason, it's his prerogative to change his little toddler mind. Just not until after he's finished that crate of avocados I just bought at Trader Joe's.

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