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Love Letter Bento Lunch for Valentine's Day by Wendy Copley for Alphamom.com

A Love Letter Lunch for your Child on Valentine’s Day

By Wendy Copley

Valentine’s Day is often packed with sweet treats, so it’s a good idea to make sure that your little sweetheart has a healthy lunch before the celebrations begin. But just because you’re sending healthy food for lunch, doesn’t mean it has to be boring. With just a little effort, you can pack a love letter in his/her lunch — an edible love letter to your child!

Ingredients you’ll need for this Love Letter Lunch

  • Large tortilla
  • Sliced ham
  • Sliced cheese (optional)
  • Mayonnaise
  • Grape tomatoes
  • Ranch dip
  • Red grapes
  • Strawberries

Equipment you’ll need

Bento box and tortilla on a cutting board

Let’s start by making the “love letter” tortilla sandwiches! Cut the tortillas into strips the same width as one of the larger compartments of the lunch box. I set the lunch box on top of the tortilla and used it for a reference when cutting. Save the scraps for another use.

Tortilla strips

Trim the tortillas down further so that the top is pointed like an envelope flap.

Cutting heart shaped ham with cookie cutter

Cut a couple of hearts from one of the slices of ham.

Ham and tortilla roll ups

Spread a little mayo on each of the tortilla strips, then top with ham and cheese slices (if using).

Tortillas shaped as envelopes sealed with heart shaped pieces of ham

Fold the strips up so that they look like little envelopes. Seal the envelope sandwiches by spreading a little mayo on the back of the ham hearts and “gluing” them onto the flap of the envelopes.

Love letter shaped tortilla wrap

Stack the sandwiches in the lunch box.

Dipping sauce in a spoon

Pack the rest of the bento lunch box with a few valentine-inspired side dishes. Red and pink fruits and veggies will make a lunch look like a giant Valentine without a lot of effort and raiding the Valentine section at the drug store can help you find fun accessories too. I found some cute heart-shaped treat boxes at my grocery store and I used one as a container for ranch dip in this lunch.

grape tomatoes in bento box

Pop it in the bento box along with a handful of tomatoes to dip into it.

cutting out heart shaped strawberries

Next, cut a few strawberries in half and use a small heart cookie cutter to cut them into perfect hearts. (You could also do this by notching the top with a knife.)

Love Letter Lunch in bento box for valentine's day

Put a handful of red grapes in the remaining section of the lunch box and lay the “heart” berries on top.

Put the lid on the lunchbox and send it off to school with your little sweetie. S.W.A. K (sealing with a kiss) is optional!

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About the Author

Wendy Copley

Wendy Copley is a cook, writer, crafter, lunch-packer, wife and mom. Whenever she goes too long without doing something creative, she starts to lose her mind, so she’s always working on some ...

Wendy Copley is a cook, writer, crafter, lunch-packer, wife and mom. Whenever she goes too long without doing something creative, she starts to lose her mind, so she’s always working on some sort of project. Her focus frequently shifts from sewing to baking to paper-crafting to creating with her kids but she is unwavering in her devotion to packing cute, mostly-healthy bento box lunches for her two boys.

You can follow her adventures on her blog Wendolonia or you can learn all her lunch box secrets from her book, Everyday Bento: 50 Cute and Yummy Lunches to Go.

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