When my son was around one year old,he loved to eat fruits. Then lately he started to dislike the fruits he used to eat such as bananas, apples, and our favorite mango!! It really saddened me every time he would turn down some of the food I offer.

He became picky and it is so frustrating! 

So I searched on ways how to help my son bring back his love for fruits. I then found out about bento boxes. 

I know that crafting a bento is not an easy task for a first time mom like me especially that I’m not really creative when it comes to things like that. But still I want to try because I’m feeling frustrated already on his eating habits. I got interested and looked for shops where I can buy the tools needed for it.

Here are my BENTO essentials for a first timer like me:

• GRID LUNCH BOX

                                                 

There are many bento boxes available online. It’s better to choose one that has many divisions so it would be convenient to put a variety of foods. I bought this Grid Lunch box from Imperial5star in Shopee. I checked the reviews and a lot of people commended their fast delivery and good product quality. What I like about it is that it has four compartments and is spill proof.

• FRUIT PICK FORKS / FOOD PICKS

My son loves these food/fruits picks and forks! I would see him enjoying his food even though he would play first with them. I bought them from westcovina.ph in Shopee. 

• ONIGIRI RICE MOLDER, PANDA 2 IN 1, LONG PICKS, COOKIE CUTTER, SILICONE CUP

These bento tools are really nice! I bought all of them from Ms. Julie of Bento Tools. I recommend her online shop for all your bento needs. She is very friendly and accommodating. She patiently answered all my queries.  Her shop has a lot of cute and interesting tools that can make our bento eye-catching to our kids! I ordered through her FB PAGE: Bento Tools or you can click this link: https://www.facebook.com/MyBentoTools/

Surely I’ll be making another transaction with her soon for more tools. hihi

Here are my very basic Bento ideas:

This is my first bento artwork! I know, I know it doesn’t look good at all hahaha. Like what I said, I’m not creative in this kind of stuff but for my son I’ll give it a try. 

I prepared some broccoli , apples, and bananas. I used the onigiri rice molder here. But you see the Nori seaweed should be placed at the bottom part of the triangle not on the top. hahaha Anyway, he also has a piece of luncheon meat and lumpia. I served this for his breakfast.

 

Well my first attempt didn’t go well. When I showed it to my son, the first thing he said was a long “woowwwwwww”. Of course I felt happy because I can see the excitement on his face. But then my happiness lasted only for a short time when I saw him already playing with his food after eating only the luncheon meat and lumpia. Oh well! Long way to go Sheen! This is just the beginning!

CUTIE PANDA!

Ok what’s new is just the panda rice molder that I tried. Well isn’t it cute? My sister liked it. She even asked me to make one for her. Seriously? haha Unfortunately my son didn’t appreciate this cute panda (maybe because he doesn’t want to eat the rice hihi). But the good thing is he ate the mango and the okra! Yay!!!

First Goal achieved!!!

This is one of my latest artwork (hehehe kidding). I hope I made the Onigiri right this time. ^_^ Here I’m so happy because I have achieved my first goal of doing this Operation Bento: to bring back my son’s love for fruits. Yes! He ate all the fruits I have prepared. Indeed my labor is never in vain Lord!

 

I’m just so happy that even if being a mother takes a lot of hard work and effort (especially with this Bento stuff), God would always reward the good things your doing. He is always faithful. I know and I believe because I’ve experience his faithfulness in my life. 

Galatians 6:9  says,

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Like what I said, I still have a long way to go to improve on this. But I’m glad to know that my labor is never in vain. Yes that’s right! This is the hope that we should look forward as we continue to serve our Lord through our family.

1 Corinthians 15:58

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

How about you moms? How do you feed a picky eater? Do you also have bento ideas that you can share? Hope you can share some on my Facebook page : The Heart That Is Good.

Thanks!!