ethan's eats: a resurrection

Once upon a time, I had an Ethan's Weekly Eats feature on this blog that showcased all of the toddler meals we made Ethan back at a time when he was just starting to wean onto regular food. The baby days, if you will. The older he got and the more regular food he ate, the less I began updating the Ethan's Eats portion of this blog. The Ethan's Eats posts are some of my most popular on Pinterest and people have asked me why I post his lunches on Instagram but not on here and, well, I don't really have a good answer. These days I'm not really whipping up any unique recipes but instead just doing the whole Bento thing and it never occurred to me those would actually serve as some kind of inspiration for people seeking out lunchbox ideas. I pack Ethan a lunch every day when if we're not planning on going anywhere. Usually, though, we are planning on going somewhere and his lunches are typically eaten picnic style: the park, My Gym, etc. Wherever we happen to be at that moment.

I decided part of the reason I kept pulling back on the Ethan's Eats feature would be that deadlines stress me out. Oh, I had forgotten to photograph his lunch that day? Panic crisis freak-out mode. I thought I'd start up this new chapter of Ethan's Eats -- Bento lunchbox style -- with a little more leeway for slacking. Because there's a good chance I packed his lunch at six in the morning and I hadn't had my coffee yet and photographing it is the farthest thing from my mind or, you know, on the off-chance I opt to sleep instead of getting this feature posted on time and just taking a deep breath instead. Because, you know, it's just lunch. And sometimes I don't have it in me to be original. Still, I'm pretty excited to be bringing back the Ethan's Eats feature! And to my Instagram friends: sorry. This is just another place you'll be forced to stare at Ethan's lunches.

Lunchboxes: Easy Lunchboxes
Plates: Target

Peanut butter sandwich, cheese and crackers, carrots and hummus, apples and almonds.

Peanut butter sandwich, strawberries, blueberries, toasted coconut, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, hummus and cheese

Peanut butter sandwich, Trader Joe's powerberries, toasted coconut, strawberries, cantelope, cheese, hummus, broccoli, cucumber, carrots and tomatoes

Peanut butter sandwich, cheese, powerberries, cucumber, tomatoes, honeydew, strawberries, cantelope

Pizza bagel (spinach pureed into the sauce), cheese, crackers, watermelon, cantelope, sugar snap peas, hummus

Hummus roll-ups, cheese, crackers, almonds, walnuts, tomatoes, broccoli, strawberries, Pirate's Booty