Trick Your Kids and Treat Yourself to a Lovely Halloween

The Hallowed Eve month of children acting like monsters is upon us. However, there is no need to endure the scary sugar-highs and lows of October. Make the Ninja Baker’s bento boxes and your kids will remain their almost angelic selves eating lunch at home or school.

Japanese bento lunch boxes and thermoses are treats in themselves. Visual delights designed to cater to the varied interests of children.
 

Whilst tricking your kids into thinking they are gobbling treats for lunch, their little bodies and minds will be properly nourished. And that will secure them scholarships to Ivy League colleges, loads of money and comfort in your old age…Well, yes, point two might be a bit of an exaggeration. But you will have healthy, smiling kids.

One of the stealthiest Ninja Baker moves is swooping up only organic, non-GMO and
non-BHT dairy products into the shopping cart. Scary Fact: Japan, Australia and members of the EU have banned BHT and GMO foods. Since the late 70s, however, America has allowed the toxic stuff.

Pictured: Preservative-free bakery bread and organic cheeses.
Click shopping easily for healthy ingredients for more info.

Also, if you want to win a $25 gift card from Wholesome Sweeteners for using their organic Fair Trade products, visit the Contests page at WholesomeSweeteners.com.

Perhaps one of the reasons I always felt nourished by my grandmother, Nona’s, baking and cooking was because I was eating chemical-free farm-fresh food. (Our family used to own farms in Colorado.) Of course, she poured many cups of love into her meals, too. 

Click here for the photo credit.
 

Lucky for us, a new crop of young, conscious cooks like Lindsay Nixon of Happy Herbivore, are springing up and educating thousands. Featured below in cat form is the Happy Herbivore brownie. Although, Lindsay Nixon, the genius behind the recipe never uses sugar, I did decorate the black bean brownie cat with a teensy-weensy bit of frosting.

The Ninja Baker’s Happy Healthy Halloween Bento Lunch
 

Using preservative-free bread and BHT-free cheddar cheese, I put my pumpkin cookie cutter to work. The organic cream cheese “tomb” (behind the open-faced sandwich) is sprinkled with grated veggies. And apples compliment the Happy Herbivore brownie cat.

In addition to food, costumes are a huge part of the American celebration of Halloween. With the worldwide popularity of the Japanese manga cartoon, here’s a bento lunch box homage to Sailor Moon.

Sailing away to the manga cartoon world of Sailor Moon.
 

Sailor Moon’s sage cat is an omusubi rice ball. The crescent moon and other distinguishing features were created by piping whipped cream cheese The omusubi rice ball cat was purchased from Santa Monica’s always-crowded Sunny Blue. Under the video tabs at NinjaBaking.com, you can see the interviews with owner, Keiko Nakashima, in English and in Japanese.

Behind the edamame green soybeans (which my nieces and nephews love to pop out of their shells) are two tiny circles of cream cheese with pineapple triangles. Yes, it’s kid-friendly food and it’s a nod to the circular odango hairstyle which Sailor Moon sports. The heroine’s real name translates to Rabbit Moon-Field (?????: Usagi Tsukino) so there is also a hard boiled bunny egg. (You can order the easy to use egg imprint contraption through J-List or check your local Japanese market.) For a touch of sweets I’ve added crystallized golden gingers as a nod to the gem caper in the first Sailor Moon manga.

For kids inclined more towards pirates, you can fix a Shiver Me Timbers bento lunch box.

Shiver Me Timbers: Happy Herbivore’s Creamy Carrot Soup accompanied by a pumpkin muffin, sliced apples, caramel dip and a treasure chest of organic almonds.
 

Hopefully you can now put Halloween food concerns away. I’d love to feature your creative and healthy take on bento lunch boxes at NinjaBaking.com

While you wait for the cute parade of princess, pirate and super-hero costumes, get that long-deserved mani-pedi or game of golf in. Need one more nudge to help you relax and stop worrying about sugar blues? Visit Halloween Candy Buy Back. The site is designed to allow kids to share their sweet selves and be of service by sharing their trick-or-treat candies with members of the U.S. military. 

Wishing you a week free of stress and Halloween scares.