Getting ready for a beach vacation with the family? Serve a lunch with an ocean theme to get the kids excited. Additionally, it’s a clever way to include some spinach (seaweed). Use cookie cutters to make other items for the bento such as baked fish crackers, grapes for sea pebbles, seaweed chips, and other ocean-themed items such as fish, turtles, sharks, stars for starfish, and lobsters. Remember to include that unique sweet treat. Swedish fish and gummy worms would also work good; gummy octopus was what I used.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 15 mins |
| Additional Time: | 3 mins |
| Total Time: | 28 mins |
| Servings: | 1 |
| Yield: | 1 bento box |
Ingredients
- ½ hot dog
- 2 cups water
- 1 (3 ounce) package ramen noodles
- 6 cauliflower florets
- ¼ cup chopped baby spinach
Instructions
- Place hot dog half on a flat work surface. Cut a slit from the bottom to within 1 inch of the top. Turn the hot dog half 90 degrees to the uncut side and repeat. Cut each of 4 “legs” halfway down the middle to make 8 octopus “legs”.
- Bring a small pot of water to a boil; add hot dog octopus. Cook until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain.
- Bring 2 cups water to a boil in the same pot. Add ramen noodles and cauliflower; cook until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in ramen seasoning until dissolved. Remove from heat; add spinach. Let stand until spinach wilts, about 3 minutes.
- Assemble bento box with ramen noodle mixture and octopus hot dog.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 152 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 13 g |
| Cholesterol | 12 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 6 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Sodium | 597 mg |
| Sugars | 3 g |
| Fat | 9 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |