Franny K Stein: Bento Walks Among Us!

 

My oldest was (and still is) really into the Franny K Stein: Mad Scientist books. Every time I asked for lunch ideas, she would request a Franny lunch. I stalled and put it off for months as I tried to figure out how I could make one without painting on food colors or cutting nori. No luck. So I finally had to do it the hard way. 

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Franny K Stein: Mad Scientist

Dye-free gummy candies, organic strawberries and carrots, GF PBJ w/ fruit leather, dye-free licorice laces, and nori

I made the sandwich head and shaped the top of the hair using a circle cutter. In hindsight, I should have used a slightly larger cutter on the fruit roll-up for the hair. Because it stretched a little when I cut it, it didn't quite fit right. Oh well. I gave up after two attempts.
I cut the bangs and pony tails using my kitchen shears. And tied some dye-free Candy Tree licorice laces into knots for her hair ties.

When I found the laboratory shot glass (also available from ThinkGeek) on awesome sale, I had to get them. Even though at the time, I didn't really have any use for them. I mean, what idiot is gonna send glass in a Kindergartener's lunchbox, amiright? *cough*
I put around 20ml worth of candy in there, to justify using it. Those fun little gummies are dye-free, and came with an assortment of other fun stuff from the UK, courtesy of my bento-friend at Eats Amazing. They were the perfect mad scientist treat!

Let me just start by saying that this was the most frustrating and time consuming lunch I have ever made. Nori is my Kryptonite. I don't really know what I'm doing, nor do I have the proper tools for working with it. Other than the hole punch for the pupils, I used big ole kitchen shears to hand cut all the facial details! My nori shapes not only broke into a zillion pieces as I worked, but they were also flying all over the place any time I breathed or moved. To say I cussed a lot that morning... would be an understatement!
I finally got all the little nori pieces glued in place with extra peanut butter, so it looks like solid lines. But really, that mouth was in at least 4 pieces. Several of which had to be cut again after parts of it broke off and flew under the stove. (Grrrr!) And don't even get me started on the eyes and eyebrows! I wanted to punch this sandwich in the face!

Igor the Dog

Organic tomatoes and strawberries, GF cheese crackers, root chips, GF PBJ

Franny's faithful lab assistant is her dog, Igor. So I made the toddler a simple Igor lunch using the dog part of an Animal Lunch Punch to go along with Big Sister's.

Tools of the Trade

   

Goldilocks and the Three "Berries"

Tuesday, 3/4/14 - Z got to go see a local children's theater production of Goldilocks and the 3 Bears with her public school Kindergarten class. So I put together some simple Goldilocks lunches for my girls! With three different kinds of berries. Get it? Bears... berries...!

Goldilocks and the Three Berries

Cosmos Creations Nuggets, GF PBJ; organic sugar snap peas, carrots, berries

I made a quick and easy Goldilocks for my Kindergartener using a circle cutter to make a PBJ sandwich head, and some nori face punches to make the face.
I skewered three assorted bear picks into three kinds of berries to represent the three bears, but was too lazy to make chairs or porridge or whatever. I did include three apple slices though. This one's juuuust right!

I couldn't find my little house pick, so I opted for a little woodland scene with a mushroom pick and carrots cut with tiny bug cutters.

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Baby Bear

Cosmos Creations Nuggets, GF Tinkyada fun shape pasta w/hemp hearts; organic carrot, tomatoes, berries

Little E got an even simpler Goldilocks using a girl-shaped cup. I packed some fun gluten free pasta (with dairy-free butter and hemp hearts) and used a silicone baran to separate them from some Cosmos Creations Nuggets to represent the golden locks.
For the three bears, I used a circus bear pick, a snip of carrot cut with a mini bear head cutter, and a mini bear cup filled with berries.

Tools of the Trade

The Last Unicorn

Wednesday, 11/27/13 - I packed Z a small lunch for the last day of school before Thanksgiving because her morning Kindergarten was having their Fall Feast party and I didn't think she'd have much of an appetite after.

One of my favorite movies growing up was The Last Unicorn by Rankin/Bass. Well. We didn't have a huge selection on VHS. We pretty much had that and Annie. I never really understood the movie, and when I was older and read the book, still walked away confused. So just the unicorn for Z. None of the weird boobie trees or fiery phallic bulls.

GF PBJ, organic carrots and apples

 Just a unicorn cookie cutter on some gluten-free bread. Done.

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I usually use a larger bag that holds an EasyLunchbox and her Lalaloopsy Funtainer Thermos. It's perfect for her lunches, but not cute. So whenever I use smaller boxes like the Lunchbots Duo, I try and use her soft Lalaloopsy lunchbox, which she loves. Little Sis was crazy jealous. 

Tools of the Trade