Bento: Chicken and Cheese, Please

Back in my nine-to-five working days I packed my lunch most of the time and I got into bento boxes. In the Bay Area I had easy access to Japanese "dollar" stores so my collections of boxes and other supplies grew, and I actually used them. Being gluten-free it always helps to have my own snacks on-hand for traveling aside from workday lunches. And when I was pregnant and eating everything in site, many days were a two-bento day, plus lunch.

But then I stopped working and didn't need them as much. Recently, though, I rediscovered bento boxes as a way to thrill a hungry toddler on the go. She doesn't care how attractive they look, although she does enjoy the cute pictures on the outsides. She mostly just wants yummy food, and she wants it now.

Here is the first official bento I've made in a long time.

On Thursdays Muffin has a toddler music class. (It's adorable!) That means she has an early lunch, goes down for a nap as soon as we get home, and wakes up famished for an early dinner. On this Thursday, however, we planned to go to Mike's office for the afternoon so the early dinner had to be packed up for the car.

It's not pretty or fancy, but it's filled with some of her current favorite foods and at this age I think that's what matters. I packed it up while she was napping so we could grab it and run out the door as soon as she woke up.

We had a roast chicken so I pulled off a leg and picked off some dark meat. (I threw in a little skin for texture and flavor. She picks at it and tastes it but rarely eats it.) I broke up some Chebe breadsticks that we'd made the night before (easier for her to bite if they're already broken into smaller bits). I chopped half a pear and a bit of cheddar cheese. With a bottle of milk and an apple juice box Muffin had a few hours' worth of fuel.

I remembered my old trick of tying a cloth napkin around the bento box to keep it from popping open in my bag. Now I need to get crafty and make a tote bag that isn't much bigger than the purse I already carry but can accommodate a bento box and a beverage or two. I hate bags that are too big and I hate carrying more than one bag.

I ate the leftover half a pear while I was preparing the bento and Muffin hardly touched the bread so I ate that on the ride home. Muffin chowed down on the rest.

Baby Eats

Muffin is nine months old and a voracious eater; I've been meaning to sit down and keep track of everything. I'm fascinated watching her try new foods and even more fascinated by the happy faces and yummy sounds she makes when she absolutely loves something -- which is almost every time she eats.

On Christmas Eve, on her five-month birthday, we gave her rice cereal mixed with formula for the first time. She'd licked pieces of fruit that we held up to her mouth before, but this was her first official meal in the high chair. We tried putting her in the chair several times in the weeks leading up to then but she just wasn't ready to sit up and eat yet.

I did tons of reading to get ready for Muffin to start eating. The books I read include Hungry Monkey, My Two-Year-Old Eats Octopus, and Super Baby Food. I went back and forth on cereal or not. Ultimately we decided to use it as her gateway food. She loved it but tired of it quickly. She moved on to mushed fruits and veggies, then chunkier mixes through the food grinder. We've done all the mushing and grinding ourselves rather than buying "baby food." As soon as she showed an interest I started introducing finger foods. We're not completely going with the Baby-Led Solids movement, but we are taking cues from BLS and from Muffin herself. She lets us know what she wants. She loves yogurt, so why should I deny her that just because she can't hold a spoon? She also loves being so proud of herself when she picks up a piece of food and is rewarded with a delicious taste. Two meals a day are generally a finger food combined with a spoon-fed food. She has another two or three meals a day of finger foods. (And between three and four eight-ounce bottles daily.)

Muffin's foods:
oatmeal with vanilla soy milk
rice cereal with vanilla soy milk
raisins
dried apricots
apples
pears
bananas
oranges
edamme cheese
parmesian cheese
cheddar cheese
gluten-free cheerios
gluten-free bread
yogurt
tofu stir-fried with ginger and garlic
paneer (ricotta-like cheese) in spinach curry
refried beans
plain rice
risotto
broccoli stir-fried with ginger and garlic
broccoli steamed and doused with lime juice
lamb
chicken
goat
beef
chili beans
cornbread
polenta
strawberries
cantaloupe
pineapple
watermelon
spicy dahl (lentils)
hummus
macaroni and cheese (both home-baked and gluten-free Annie's)
avocado
salsa
tomato soup
carrots
roasted potatoes
tomatoes
red pepper
yellow pepper
cucumbers
ground flax seed meal
almond meal
quinoa
chicken soup
scrambled eggs
gluten-free pancakes
green beans
dosa (a rice pancake stuffed with spicy potato)
gluten-free banana muffins

New foods on the menu for this week include potato-leek soup and gingered carrots. We are stuffing her with as many different flavors as we can now, before she becomes a picky kid. I was a picky eater so I'm prepared to face it with Muffin.