April Showers Bring May Flowers: #13

She has a half day tomorrow, so she gets her April bento one day early.

The left side has a bed of Forbidden rice. The figures are made from provolone and cheddar. Her dress is the last bit of watermelon radish. (I'm sorry it's gone and they're out at the farmers markets.) Her face is a piece of red bell pepper and cucumber peal. This side was inspired by this Rainy Day post. I had planned on only making an umbrella and clouds, but sweetPea would have none of that. She wanted to be in the picture, too. The raindrops are little bits of provolone. I liked the sesame seeds in the inspiration box, but she's allergic to them so I made do.

On the right is a spinach salad with cucumber and red bell pepper tulips, orange carrot flowers, and a pineapple sun.

This lunch took me forever. Making the figures didn't take me nearly as much time and simply figuring out how to fit it all in there.I think part of it was because I only have two boxes: The smallest Lock & Lock and the second size up. I love the small one, but sometimes it doesn't give me enough room to work. I thought this one would be as shallow as the first, just increased in length and width. The depth of it makes it difficult. To fill it full enough that it stays tight and things don't move around so much, I've had to put in too much food.

This time I actually stacked several paper towels in the bottom. Then I layered some large romaine lettuce leaves to keep the food she'll eat off the paper towels. I figure I'll give the romaine to the chickens when she gets home. They chase each other around for green stuff.

So if anyone in the bento world has a favorite box they'd like to clue me in on, I'd be grateful. There are so many to choose from and it's hard to tell what will work for a small tummy.

Here are some closeups, although I didn't realize how out of focus one of them was.

The Verdict: This one was a hit at school. Apparently her teacher walked her around to the different classrooms so the kids could see it. I bet a lot of parents are cursing me right now. "Pea brings cheese shaped like a girl and vegetables shaped like flowers in her lunch!" 

She ate the cheese, the carrots, the cucumbers, the bell peppers, the radish, and the pineapple. She had a little bit of rice left and most of the spinach. I wonder if she's just getting tired of seeing the spinach? I think I'll switch back to romaine. .She seemed to eat more of that. 

One disadvantage to having everything sent back home is that often she forgets to put the tops back on things. She didn't use all of her dressing, nor did she drink all of her milk. So her containers were swimming in a sea of milky dressing. Mmmmmm-mmmm, good!