Every year, I try to come up with a funky idea for Easter.
I've been longing for an excuse to buy some of these brightly coloured egg boxes in the supermarket, so my gorgeous
Easter Bento Boxes
gave me a great reason to do so!
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A bento box is a traditional Japanese selection of edible goodies packed beautifully into little boxes in single portion sizes. Some are simple, some very ornate.
I've come up with my own version especially for Easter- a savoury one, a sweet one and a mixed one.
You can go to as much or as little effort as you wish with these-I've used shop-bought dips, little crackers, fruit, vegetables, sweets and treats.
You could use homemade dips, make tiny little sandwiches-whatever takes your fancy. Just try to make them colourful and vibrant and you can't really go wrong!
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All of my Easter Bento Boxes work out to between 8-11sp/5-7pp/approx.230-320kcal per box-much less than most Easter eggs and much more fun!
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YOU WILL NEED
Colourful egg boxes.
(You could use plain ones and decorate them with pens or washi tape. (My favourite!)
Colourful plastic eggs.
These were from The Works and cost £1 for a pack of six eggs.
I washed them thoroughly in hot soapy water and left them to dry on paper towels.
Six eggs are enough for two boxes as you use both halves separately.
Fluffy easter chicks.
I would say these are optional but I don't really believe it. They are so cute and an absolute necessity!
This whole box was £2 from The Works.
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Simply pop the clean, dry plastic egg halves into the egg boxes. Try and use a variety of colours in each one.
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The Savoury One
Take a selection of goodies and decide what you are going to fill your little egg-shapes with.
I weighed the dips into the egg containers. Just pop the whole box onto your scales, recalibrate back to zero and dollop in the dips. The plastic egg containers I used held 30g of dip.
These lovely Tesco Healthy Living dips worked out to 2sp/1pp per 30g portion.
Add veggie sticks, slices of mini peppers and for a Springtime look, some chives and fresh mint.
If you have the time, decorate the lid of the egg box with washi/decorative tape and a couple of cheeky chicks!
The lid won't close fully once you've filled the boxes, but still look inviting and amazing like this.
I used:
30g Roasted Garlic Dip 2sp/1pp
30g Coronation Dip 2sp/1pp
30g Beetroot Dip 2sp/1pp
1/2 bag of Tesco Vegetable Crackers 2sp/2pp
Fresh veggies; cucumber, carrot & peppers
TOTAL: 8sp/5pp/approx.230kcal
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The Sweet One
Repeat the process with sweet treats and plenty of fruit.
You could make some little washi tape flags using cocktail sticks. These look gorgeous and also help to pick out the grapes and marshmallows-especially if you fill one of your containers with fruity yoghurt for dipping.
The flag picks make it more fun to eat too!
Egg boxes have perfectly-positioned holes to pop the flags into! It reminds me of a little sand castle.
Note the funky carrot-shaped paper napkins in the background! These were from Tesco's Easter range.
Decorate the outside of the box.
I used:
1 box mini smarties 4sp/2pp
1 mini packet iced gems 5sp/3pp
10g mini marshmallows 1sp/1pp
Fresh fruit;mango, grapes, strawberries
TOTAL: 10sp/6pp/approx.300kcal
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The Mixed One
If you prefer, you can pop a mixture of savoury and sweet goodies in one box together...snack followed by pudding!
I used:
30g Beetroot dip 2sp/1pp
30g Coronation dip 2sp/1pp
1/2 bag Tesco Vegetable crackers 2sp/2pp
1 small funsize bag Malteasers 5sp/3pp
Fresh fruit and veg
TOTAL: 11sp/7pp/approx.320kcal
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Remember, you can make these to fit in with any aspect of the plan you are following by using appropriate ingredients!
Have fun and Happy Easter to you all.
30g Beetroot dip 2sp/1pp
30g Coronation dip 2sp/1pp
1/2 bag Tesco Vegetable crackers 2sp/2pp
1 small funsize bag Malteasers 5sp/3pp
Fresh fruit and veg
TOTAL: 11sp/7pp/approx.320kcal
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Remember, you can make these to fit in with any aspect of the plan you are following by using appropriate ingredients!
Have fun and Happy Easter to you all.
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