Bento Blues

Remember when I had such high hopes for Nigel's lunches? Between you and me, it's a bit of a struggle. I find it difficult to be creative at the end of the day, after I've cooked dinner and washed the dishes. The bento concept — a little bit of a lot of different things vs. a large amount of just a few things — is working out well. He likes the variety of choices and the little surprises. The challenge is that I have to have many different items on hand. And when you're limited in terms of refrigeration and tiny hands (as in, I would rather his teachers enjoy their own lunch than help Nigel open applesauce or something), my choices don't seem that great. Most days Nigel gets some cheese or a sandwich in a cute shape, but I'm not creating edible masterpieces over here, folks.

I know it may not look like it from the pictures, but there's actually a lot of stuff in those tiny boxes; it's just jammed in there. Plus, the kid eats like a horse these days: breakfast at 7 a.m., snack in the car on the way to school at 8:40 a.m., snack at school at 10 a.m., lunch at school at noon and snack on the way home from school at 2 p.m.

His lunches remain very healthy, and he eats every drop, but I'd love to punch it up a bit. I need to get some more sushi rice so I can test out the new molds I recently bought. I also plan on making some corn muffins with veggies this weekend. What's your favorite thing to pack in a lunchbox?

(The rundown, clockwise from top left: mini peanut butter and honey sandwiches, M-shaped cheese (Nigel cut it out), pears, dried pineapple, green bean snacks, cherry tomatoes); sheep-shaped cream cheese and jelly sandwich, animal crackers, dried fruit, oranges, green bean snacks; snack bento... bunny cheese on top of pepperoni and crackers, grapes; turkey and hummus roll-up sandwich, veggie chips, animal crackers, dried fruit, Virginia-shaped cheese)