A happy day starts with breakfast {Review and Giveaway of Bento Maker}

Posted by ~Summer~ on June 12, 2014
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I've always believed in the importance of breakfast. Even if it has been recently challenged on whether breakfast is the most important meal of the day, I still think that as much as we can, we should never skip this first meal of the day.

If that is the case for adults, it is even more so for young children. A good, healthy breakfast helps them to fuel up, recharges the brain, provides strength for physical activities, improves concentration in class and reduces fatigue. That said, while it is easy to tell my kids about the importance of having breakfast, making them eat is another thing altogether.

The first thing Angel does when she wakes up is to drink her milk. On some days, or rather most days, she tries to catch a little more sleep and will lay on the sofa or bed until I carry her to wash up. Yes, while I can still carry her, I like to do it sometimes especially when the easily-jealous-and-overly-possessive little sister is asleep. It's usually hard for me to find a way to make her open her eyes wide or look forward to anything when she wakes.

If I do wake up early and make breakfast for Angel, it doesn't always happen, it is usually a ham or cheese sandwich. You know, the kind of sandwich when you just put a piece of cheese on a slice of bread and fold it up diagonally. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Or, I simply wake her up earlier and bring her to school where breakfast is served at 8:30am. Or, which happens on most days, we wake up late, go out late and she ends up not having any breakfast.

When I got to know about Bento Maker, I was inspired by the breakfast tools I saw and I knew it was time to finally put an end to my boring looking sandwiches. The great thing is that it actually doesn't have to take me very long to make these breakfast sets - all I needed was probably 10-15 minutes. And the result? I get a girl who wakes up, opens her eyes eagerly, and flashes me a big smile when she sees the breakfast lying in wait for her. Definitely worth it.

Check out the products I've used for each of these cute-looking breakfasts. If I can do it, trust me, you can do it better.

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1) Hello Kitty Bread Punch

I put a piece of cheese between two slices of bread, placed the punch in place and pressed firmly. The Hello Kitty features were made by sprinkling cocoa powder.

Tip: For all the bread punches, you can use a small scissors to trim away any excess along the border. When sprinkling the cocoa powder, make sure the bread is as close to the bread punch as possible.

2) Frog/ Bear/ Panda Pop Up Bread Punch

This is a 3-in-1 set where you get to make your bread into cute animal shapes and pop up! This should only be done on one layer of bread (top layer if it is a sandwich) and when it is cut, push the two sides of the bread into the middle to act as a support for the pop up.

Tip: Use the stencils provided and add a ribbon, crown or bow to spice things up!

3) Mini Hearts Bread Punch

For kids, most often than not, food is made more appetising when it comes in small portions. I love how this mini hearts bread punch is easy to use and speaks of love!

Tip: Do not put a thick filling for this. I tried putting ham between two slices of bread and it was difficult to punch, so it would be best to stick to cheese or jam. You might also need to cut and trim the sides to make them neater.

4) Rabbit Bread Punch



This is one of my favourites and of course, Angel simply loves rabbits too and I was amazed that she could finish the whole piece!

Tip: Instead of cocoa powder, use Nutella and a chopsticks to create the facial features for the bunny and up the cute factor.

5) Animal Stencils

Although the packaging shows that these are used to wrap around rice, I decided they could be part of breakfast. I removed the crust from a slice of bread, cut it into half, spread Nutella and rolled it up. Then using the stencils, I cut out the animal shapes from cheese and wrapped them around the bread.

Tip: Give the animals some blush using chopsticks and tomato ketchup.

6) Decorative Pen Sets

Ever imagined that you could write on food? I didn't think of that and I must say it is brilliant. Thanks to the decorative pen set that comes with three different sized tips, I can now personalise the food with my girl's name or draw some hearts.

Tip: Use a semi-liquid that is not too viscous and can flow easily out of the tip, for instance ketchup.

7) Hello Kitty Waffle Maker

It has been longgg since I last made any waffles for the kids and this cute waffle maker just inspired me to do it again. I tried out this classic waffles recipe and it was easy to make - all I did was dump the ingredients into my Philips Jamie Oliver Food Processor and voila, the waffles even turned out to be crispy. To learn how to use the waffle maker, watch this video.

Tip: Remember to brush enough oil on both sides of the pan, if not you will end up with a sticky mess.

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Overall, I am really happy with how these bento tools have helped me to make breakfast more fun and enticing for my kids. I also wish to highlight that even though some of the products did not arrive in brand new packaging, they came promptly and in good condition. Considering how many of them are sold at below the market price, I think it is definitely worthwhile to have some of these handy and easy to use tools in the house.

 A happy day starts off with a good and healthy breakfast. Don't you agree?

Since we are in the June holidays, why not consider making creative, fun and unique breakfasts with your kids and turn eating into a bonding affair?

Bento Maker was started by Tricia, a mum to a 6-year-old who is extremely picky about her food. Having seen how her daughter gets fascinated by cute animal shaped tools and eats willingly without putting up a fight, she now runs Bento Maker as a hobby in the hope of encouraging families to bond over creating and decorating their own meals. 

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Good news! A Happy Mum is now giving away TWO sets of the above bread punches to two lucky readers residing in Singapore. To participate, leave a comment in this blog post with your name and email address, indicate in the Rafflecopter widget that you have commented and follow the rest of the steps if you wish to increase your chances of winning. Best of luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclosure: I received the above listed items for review purposes from Bento Maker. All other bento tools used in the pictures, including the Hello Kitty, bunny and bear moulds, animal picks and shape cutters are my own, same goes for all opinions and text.


48 comments:

  1. Wah this is such a great giveaway! I've been struggling to get Noah to eat more, and maybe, if he sees such cute faces on his bread, he might be motivated to eat more.
    Adeline / growingwiththetans@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Liked n shared on facebook
    Facebook name; cherry joanna
    Name; joanna heng
    Email: gekyong82@yahoo.com.sg
    My son loves rabbit cos he is born in the year of rabbit.
    Hope can win to surprise him :)
    Thanks for the giveaway !

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lorna
    lornat28@yahoo.com

    omg looks so cute and adorable :)
    thnks for sharing

    ReplyDelete
  4. Liked and share on facebook also.

    Dominique
    dominiquegoh(at) gmail(dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Christine
    christine.co(at)gmail(dot)com

    Hope to win!!! ^_^

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sheron Moey
    moeybb@yahoo.com.sg

    Tkz!

    ReplyDelete
  7. jazry chan
    jazry.shop@gmail.com

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  8. How super duper cute! I cannot stress on how tired I am of making peanut butter toasts! The girls are fine with eating it every day but I'm so tired of seeing it!!! I'm sure these fun shapes would make their eyes light up like Angel's! Or maybe we could even do this for an afternoon treat.

    Ooooohh waffles.... Mmmmmmmm

    Of course I've liked your FB page!!!

    Adora.tan.richer@gmail.com
    It's me! Adora from gingerbreadmum!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I hope that i can be as hardworking as you are in making these cutie breakfast set!- Meiyi (littledetour@hotmail.com)

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  10. jaime chan
    chueimei@gmail.com
    hello kitty bread punch

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  11. These are so cute!!

    Saralyn
    saralynlowsuluan@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. Wah can't wait to try all these!!

    Jess
    jesskoh@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. Cyvia
    cyviayam@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  14. Michelle
    Mich_khoo@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  15. Looking forward to doing this for my girl when she's older for she's still a baby now.
    Ivy
    ivykhoo@gmail.com

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  16. Been wanting to make such cute sandwiches for my kiddos. Yours looks so cute! I only have very simple shape cutter.
    Love to win these! =)

    Sharon
    Shaztanyt@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  17. Jamie chaw
    Jamiechaw@gmail.com
    Picky eater daughter as well :(

    ReplyDelete
  18. Lovely bread punch! Thanks for hosting this giveaway!

    Andrew Wong
    Andrew.wong017@gmail.com

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  19. So adorable!
    tabitha p.
    kayleefaith1228@aol.com

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  20. Just the right tools for my boy!!

    Evelyn Lim
    Elim220380@gmail.com

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  21. Being wanting to know how you do these. Joining this giveaway. Hopefully can help me win a set to prepare 爱心早餐 for the kiddos :) Thanks for hosting!
    Christy
    Christy.krs@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  22. Toh Pei Lin
    pei09lin@gmail.com
    So lovely! :D This would definitely make every meal a more fun and interesting one! ^^

    ReplyDelete
  23. Joeanne Shim
    joeanneshim@hotmail.com

    Wah!!! My two little girls sure love it !!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Lovely set!

    sakuraharuka at live dot com
    Ai @ Sakura Haruka

    ReplyDelete
  25. So cute! Love them!

    name : Shook
    email : Morpheus_gsh@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  26. Lovely! Thanks for hosting the giveaway!

    Waiwai
    mami(at)peipeihaohao(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  27. This is the answer to the problem that has been plaguing me for a long time! My kids don't eat or finish a slice of plain bread!

    Xgg Chan
    chanxgg@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  28. Lovely sets! Thanks for the giveaway!

    Winnie
    toddlymummy(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  29. Hello Kitty is my girl favourite. Hope i can win it!

    Jac
    keitsuho(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  30. Would love to win this for my picky eater
    Phyllis Tan
    sillyphy13@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  31. would love to get the bear/frog punch!

    -charlotte

    ReplyDelete
  32. Tiffany lim
    tiffanytanlim@gmail.con
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  33. So cute. Hope I can win this so I can make a nice bento for my girl 'Bento Lunch Day' end of the month in her childcare center. =]

    Belin Ng

    ReplyDelete
  34. Too cute to resist! Having loads of problems getting my gal to have her breakfast. I am sure this set will help!

    yunru
    bmaple11@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  35. Nice one.
    Ker Min
    magixn@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  36. This is so fun! I saw the breakfasts you made and I was thinking how nice to be your children!

    Ting
    tinkene@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  37. Elly (chomexxchome@gmail.com)June 17, 2014 at 11:36 PM

    I'm not a mom, but I take care of my cousins and wow they would LOVE these!

    ReplyDelete
  38. I can never resist bento tools, and these are so cute! Thanks for the giveaway Summer!

    Jus
    makingmum(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  39. Such cute bento tools to spice up breakfast making and eating!

    Csrol Lim
    Cmeilim@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  40. Ms Sim
    ssarone@yahoo.com

    The bento set would be perfect for my little fussy eater

    ReplyDelete
  41. JingRong
    lohjingrong@yahoo.com.sg

    ReplyDelete
  42. Neo Kwang Hui
    Annhocktpt@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  43. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  44. The bread punch looks so cute.
    I hope to win it as I cant cook at all.
    With this, I am able to make a sandwich that my daughter will like.

    Qiu Lian
    sakura6nov@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete

Yoohoo, thanks so much for reading my blog and leaving your comment! I am feeling the love! (^.^)