Back to Basics Blog Hop and Giveaway

Here in Australia we are almost half way our third term and preparing for the last blast of winter. Some of us are booking into school for next year, including our Miss M who is entering Prep (Pre-School) in 2015! Where has the time gone?!?

What better time to revisit some back to basics bento inspired lunch packing, and perhaps inspire some of you to jump on the Bento train ;-).

And I'm not the only one, the Bento Bloggers & Friends are celebrating with not only a blog hop, but a giant giveaway as well! Details at the end of this post.



When I think back to the first lunches I was packing for Miss M, she had quite the variety while I worked out a system of not only packing, but what her appetite would accommodate. It's no secret we were blessed with a brilliant eater in her. That and I would prefer to send too much rather than have her hungry, especially when she was spending a full day at daycare. With kindergarten this year I've had to learn to pack less, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I've learned that her basic successful lunch contains:
Sandwich
Yoghurt
Snack
Drink
and Water.

So how do you make it fun? Well to start I would recommend *not* buying anything special. Try playing with what you have and see how it suits you. Trust me, once you start down the bento pick yellow brick road there's no turning back. You'll be re-purposing all sorts of things! When I started I had a few cookie cutters in the back of my Tupperware cupboard, but one of the first 'large cutters' I used was an egg ring. And one of Miss M's favourite sandwiches was a 'Pingu' sandwich. I haven't made one for ages so thought it about time I did again. And this time I took step by step photos.

Who would have thought you could have so much fun with these simple tools?

Vegemite, large circle cutter (I replaced my egg ring ^-^), mini circle cutter, raw spaghetti and sultanas. (The mini circle cutter is actually from one of those Christmas-Tree-Made-From-Star-Cookies sets, you know the ones.)

They were all I needed to create this lunch.

Here's some other lunches I've made in the past using a large circle cutter. I'd love to see your creations!

Wow, when you see them all together, I guess I'm rather fond of my circle cutter.

Want to see what other Bento Bloggers think about Bento Basics? Hop on over to What's For Lunch at Our House by clicking the (white) button below. Before you go, don't forget your piece of the puzzle for the Bento Bloggers & Friends Back to School Giveaway. You need them all to enter and it's open worldwide! Did you know the grand prize voucher can be used towards shipping too?

Hop this Way

Your Codeword Piece

And if you've collected all the pieces, you can enter right here! Good Luck!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Details of my tools & toys can be found on this page.
~J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written for Loving Lunches. No product was received for this post. I partially sponsored this giveaway. All opinions expressed are my own, based on personal experience with the product.