3 Quick + Easy Bento Box Lunch Ideas for Back to School
Back-to-school season is filled with so many emotions. For students, it’s one filled with excitement to see friends, thoughts of first-day outfits, and nerves about who to sit next to at lunchtime. For parents, on the other hand, it’s a time to get in gear for a full schedule filled with meal prep, math homework help, and after-school sports. No matter where your emotions lie, everyone could use a little help making these moments go even smoother. That’s why we’ve partnered up with Acer to bring you three super fun, cute, and easy bento box lunches that will take your back-to-school food ‘grams to the next level.
This time of year is chaotic no doubt, but the Acer Spin 7 can make managing your household (and life) that much easier. So, take a look at the school calendar, order your groceries online, and binge on your favorite show, all while preparing these tasty lunches. Get your kid to be the envy of the lunch room with these three easy recipes — scroll on!
Bento 1: Rainbow Dreams
For our first bento, we’re going to start high up in the air with cute smiling clouds and a rainbow of fresh fruit. Use seasonal fresh fruit for the rainbow, or if you want to skip the sugar, you can replace it with colorful vegetables, like peppers, celery, and tomatoes. The sky’s the limit with this lunch.
Pro Tip: Bookmark this tutorial on your Acer Spin 7 so you can refer to these simple instructions while prepping.
Ingredients:
- sliced bread
- cheese
- deli meat
- hummus
- strawberries
- nectarines
- mandarin oranges
- granny smith apple
- blueberries
- cloud cookie cutter
Instructions:
- Make a sandwich with hummus, deli meat, and cheese. You can always add more fixings based on your sandwich preferences.
- Use the cookie cutter to make the sandwich into a cloud shape.
- Add a face by cutting blueberries in half for eyes, and strawberry slices for a mouth and rosy cheeks.
- Slice up your fruit and arrange into the compartments in rainbow order: strawberry, nectarine, mandarin, apple, and blueberries.
- Put your lid on and you’re ready to go.
This one is easy peasy! We made turkey and cheese sandwiches with hummus, but if your kiddo is a diehard PBJ fan, that’s an easy option too (as long as your school allows nuts). You can spruce it up a bit by adding a face with blueberry eyes, and strawberry cheeks and smiles.
Here’s one lunch that’s shining rainbows over you.
Bento 2: Green Garden
Ingredients:
- deli meat
- cheese
- sliced bread
- baby leaf greens
- radish
- carrot
- cucumber
- hummus
- small round cookie cutter
Instructions:
- Make a sandwich with ham, cheese, greens, and sliced bread.
- Using the cookie cutter, cut five to six bite-sized sandwiches.
- Place the greens at the bottom and then arrange your sandwiches so they look like a caterpillar body.
- Cut two eyes and a mouth into a radish and place as the caterpillar head.
- Create cucumber, carrot, and radish strips using the thinnest setting on your mandolin and slice lengthwise.
- Arrange the cucumber and carrot strips in different ways and place around the caterpillar.
- Create radish flowers, by scooping hummus into one of the bento box compartments and placing the radish slices in a spiral.
- Once done, snap the lid on and send it on its way.
Create a *caterpillar* in your garden bento by cutting a sandwich into little circles using a cookie cutter. Place the circles on top of a bed of lettuce to form the body. Make the caterpillar head by cutting a face into a radish: two eyes and a happy smile.
Fill your garden with flowers and colorful elements with ribbons of cucumber, carrot, and radish. Create a radish flower using hummus as your base, and then place radish pieces in a spiral pattern.
Now, that’s one happy garden. :)
Bento 3: Under-the-Sea
What will you find in the depths of the sea? Well, in this bento box, you’ll find all kinds of mythical creatures, like a mermaid and sea monster. It truly is one of our favorites! The best part is you can use pasta leftovers to craft this, saving yourself an additional step.
Ingredients:
- linguini pasta and tomato sauce
- mozzarella cheese
- mushroom
- basil
- cherry tomatoes
- blueberries
- strawberries
- mandarin orange
Instructions:
- Build the mermaid directly in the main compartment of the bento box. Place the linguini down first.
- Cut a face shape out of mozzarella cheese and place into the linguini. Add small pieces of basil stems and a slice of tomato for the face and mouth.
- Make the body out of a slice of mushroom for the arms and torso. Cut a cherry tomato in half for the shell top.
- Use a large piece of basil for the tail and two smaller pieces for the fin.
- Fill the other two compartments with blueberries to serve as the sea.
- Place sliced strawberries into one side to form fish.
- To create the sea monster, make 5 cuts in an X pattern at the top of the mandarin orange. Only go halfway down the orange and try not to go deeper than the skin.
- Peel the skin back to reveal eight legs, four on each side.
- Draw on a face, place into the other compartment, and call it a day.
This is the most fun part! Make a mermaid with linguini hair. While your kid may not want to eat all the pieces together, they are sure are cute and edible! Cut a face shape out of mozzarella and tuck it into the pasta. Create a face with basil stems and a slice of tomato. Use a slice of mushroom and tomato for the body. Finish with a basil tail.
Now it’s time to fill your sea with other creatures. Use blueberries as your base and create fish out of strawberry slices. Then make a sea monster out of the mandarin orange. Cut into the skin at the base five times in an X pattern. Pull the peel cuts up, so it forms the creature’s arms. Draw on a little face and place him in the box.
This bento box is quite a sight to *sea*!
Now all together! These are some seriously fun lunches.
(Psst: Make sure the pens you use to write sweet lunchbox notes aren’t toxic.)
Ready to pack some back-to-school lunches? Grab an Acer laptop to order your groceries and head to the kitchen.
What are you preparing for lunch this semester? Share with us on Instagram by tagging @BritandCo.
