House walkthrough tomorrow!

Life has been super chaotic lately...to the point where my husband has had to buy lunches for Monday and Tuesday, I didn't even have time to throw something simple together!

But, a positive note in all this craziness - I have an appointment to do a walkthrough in a potential rental house today! I'm excited!

(And yes, I'm still alive.) ;3

Bento #38 - Chicken Burgers and Onigiri

This is it - the last of the chicken burgers. ZOMG. :P

Hubby's lunch consists of cooked carrots and broccoli, two small chicken burger patties chopped up, an animal cuppy of ketchup, and three small, plain onigiri. Two animal bottles of soy sauce for the 'giri.

Nice to see a veggie in addition to carrots, I guess. :x

Bento #37 - Rotini with Meat Sauce

This should probably be titled Rotini with Meat Sauce + Encore. :3

I actually made it last night, but was too tired to upload my picture at the time. It was actually my own fault this time - I stayed up til midnight, playing Final Fantasy XI. I hadn't played in a while, so it was nice. :P

So, hubby's lunch roundup: Fish sticks, crinkle cut fries. Animal cuppies of ketchup. Wavy cut cooked carrots. Rotini with meat sauce, leftover from dinner, that dad made. And the last three perogies. >_< We go through them so fast, because they're sooo good, and better than any other option around the house these days. Goodbye, perogies. :( lol

Bento #36 - Fish Sticks

I know. Woo, fishsticks...thrilling, ne? I've had to raid the freezer for lunch material. But at least I'm halfass bentoing...better than none! >_< I miss having good stuff to use for bento, but I'm really excited to be moving...as soon as we can find a suitable place, which is proving to be much more challenging than expected.

My lunches for work on the weekend were boring, so I didn't bother taking pictures. Saturday's lunch was identical to my last post, with one exception - veggie section was half carrots, and half brussels sprouts. Today's? JUST brussels sprouts. I love those things, but I think my coworkers thought me odd. Haha :P

Anyhoo, hubby's lunch for tomorrow: Fishie sticks, crinkle cut fries, and carrots - cut with a snazzy wave-pattern cutter dealie my mom bought me! Animal cuppies of ketchup. I got SOME color in, at least! :3

Bento #34 and 35 - Perogies!

Mmm...perogies. They're sharp cheddar and potato filled, yummy goodness. Well, I'm sure they aren't all that great for you, but they taste awesome! I buy them from a former coworker's father - he makes em by hand, and damn, they're great! Best perogies I've ever tasted.

Yes, I know, my bentos are pretty meh, but it's enough of a stretch to find time to put them together. >_< House hunting is really aggravating - we keep calling to schedule walkthroughs, only to find out that the landlord had rented the place out that morning. So, obviously, considering we call as soon as we get the paper in the morning...people aren't even LOOKING at the places. What the hell? I mean, I want to move ASAP, but there's no chance I'm going to move somewhere without a walkthrough first...

Anyhow, on to the food! I'm doing my best, but with very limited time and funds...oh well, I'm happy enough that I found time to put something together!

Mine, in my snazzy new 500mL bento box: Perogies, and cooked carrots. Woo? Seriously, I never eat anymore! I need to call my doctor and make an appointment tomorrow; I'm almost positive I have hypothyroidism. I had borderline low thyroid hormone levels a few years ago, so it's probably to the point I should be on meds now. >_< I'm tired ALL the damn time, no matter how much sleep I get. I actually feel WORSE after sleeping than I did before. I'm freaking shedding - losing hair much faster than normal, good thing I have thick hair...I never really eat (because I don't need to, I'm not hungry very often), I'm supersensitive to the cold, etcetc...blah! So I'll probably have to go on meds, and it'll be for life. x_X


Hubby's bento (I counted it as one, even though it's in two boxes. It would be in ONE if I had a proper bento box big enough): Cooked carrots, perogies, ramen noodles and chicken burgers. Cuppies of salt/pepper/seasoned salt mix, and BBQ sauce.


I'm trying! >_< lol

Bento #33 - Chicken Burgers+

Between packing up stuff we don't use constantly, house hunting and viewing, work, and day to day life (not to mention the fact that Kaia is teething, AND she just got her 12 month immunizations...), I haven't even been eating lunch, nevermind bento-izing and photographing it.

But tonight, I put in a little effort for hubby's lunch for tomorrow. I have been making him lunches, but nothing with enough color/variety that I'd consider it photoworthy at all. :3

Roundy Lock n Lock with salad and dressing, square side dish of red grapes. Main container - plain onigiri with a chick soy sauce bottle, chicken burgers cut into chunks, with a container of BBQ sauce for company (yes, new containers! No more HK for hubby! I also got a new bento box, but haven't been able to use it yet), celery, and half a crunchy peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich.

I'll try to be better with my lunches (or at least actually EAT), but no guarantees, at least not until life calms down. x_X

On a side note, but still food related - I bought a new cookware set. Haven't cracked it open, and won't until we move (just one more thing to repack), but it's snazzy! It's bright orange - this picture I found doesn't really do it justice. Hopefully this works; I'm a total HTML n00b.

Bento #32 - Hammy Sammy

Yay, I found time to make a semi-bento lunchie for hubby! ^_^

Contents: Ham and cheese sandwich on a roll, carrots, plum wedges (that was one huge plum!), corn, and hot pepper rings.

Hopefully I can keep this up. I missed bentoing. :3

Kaia's Birthday Cakes!

I spent like 4 hours last night getting everything made and assembled for her party today. But these are the cakes I made. ^_^

The cupcakes and the heart cake are the same, pretty plain. But creamcheese frosting and star decors! The heart is the one I made for Kaia to destroy, if she so desires - it's all for her.

The spider cake is the GOOD one - devil's food cake, berry filling, cream cheese frosting. I'm not really happy about how the web pattern turned out - the tube of frosting I bought was REALLY stiff and hard to work with! :( Still, it turned out ok. And it'll be very yummy. :D

Homemade Mini Breads!

Normally, I make this recipe into two BIG loaves, but I wanted something a little more portable (for lunches!), so I divided it into 16 minis! I didn't end up getting to the store to get spring onions or sesame seeds, but this bread is pretty darn good all on it's own. There's something about homemade bread that makes it so yummy! It helps that the house smells like it now, too. Mmm...*stuffs her face*

If anyone wants the recipe, I'll post it. :P

I'm still alive!

...mostly. Kaia is teething, and she's normally a fusspot as it is, so I'm tearing my hair out a little. On a Kaia note, today is her first birthday! Her party is on Sunday, so I'm getting together stuff for the meal/cakes. I'll post a picture of the cakes I make her - I have big hopes for my designs! :3

Food - As of right now, there is NO fruit in the house, discounting Kaia's baby food. Veggies? Potatoes. A cabbage. And a rutabaga. Oh, and some frozen corn, which will be going into hubby's lunch. I used up the last of my frozen peas today. >_<

(Don't worry - Kaia always eats very well. I make all of her food, aside from her baby cereal. She gets the best of the best, and always organic when possible! I should stop being so cheap regarding my own diet, I think...)

I'm officially going to have to break down and buy groceries. There's tons of FOOD in the house, yes, but it's all starches! Rice, pastas, bread, etc. The pantry is packed, but aside from condiments, some soup cans, and pasta sauce, it's all starch! D: And that just isn't a healthy diet. :x

Maybe I can find something to make with my lentils that hubby will actually eat. Any ideas? I've never really used lentils much. I bought them meaning to try incorporating more non-meat protein sources into our diet, and never did find a recipe for them. I have red and green lentils. Just no idea how to use them! :3

A poster on the bentolunch community on LiveJournal posted a piccie of her lunch, and the bread looked SO good. I'm going to try and make something like it, I think. Just need to buy some sesame seeds and spring onions. So yeah, that settles it. Going to have to buy food. :P

It's been a while since I last baked homemade bread anyway, so it's overdue. LoveLOVE homemade bread, but Kaia being Kaia, it's damn near impossible for me to find time to do anything I can't do onehanded. Hopefully once hubby gets home, I'll get a chance. :3

No bento for tomorrow! :(

I made Rice-A-Roni Spanish rice as the main part of my lunch for tomorrow...and I totally hated it. Blech. I'm so picky...I will stick with my regular recipe from now on. I'll just have to buy a salad at work.

Next to no veggies in the house now (do potatoes count? I think there's some mixed frozen veggies, but I like to save those for "fried" rice...), and the only fruits are apples (which I dislike in general - it's a texture thing), and bananas. So my bento would have been boring anyway. x_x My parents are meat & potatoes-type people to the extreme. They buy a TON of starchy stuff, which really sucks for me. I'm a vegetarian, and I like my veggies, dammit! >_<

I'm grateful for what they're doing for us, letting us stay here and all...but I would go crazy if we weren't getting out soon. They are very hard to live with on so many levels...love em, but we don't see eye to eye very often. :3

Might have to break down and buy groceries...but I really hope we don't have to, as I don't want to spend money on anything I don't have to at this point. The more we save, the more we have once we move! D:

I did crack out my new rice ball mold though, and made a batch of little round onigiri! I also learned that one batch of rice, made according to package directions, makes exactly 12 rice balls. Which is perfect, really - I'll only have to make a batch once a week. Two per day for hubby's lunch, and one for each day I work, since I only work Saturday and Sunday.

Hopefully I can make a decent lunch for Sunday - I miss my bento already! :(

Bento #31 - The Onigiri Formerly Known as Sheep

See that pile of rice in the lower left corner? Yeah, that used to be a sheep onigiri. He broke in half when I was shifting it from the bowl I microwaved it in (was from my frozen stash)! :( Oh well, it'll still taste good. :P

Keeping my poor rice company is a few sprigs of broccoli, and an elephant soy sauce bottle. In the main portion of the Lock n Lock are two chicken burger patties cut into chunks, a few buttered brussels sprouts, a HK container of BBQ sauce for the chicken, and a pear, cut into chunks, topped with cinnamon. You can't really see it, but there's a cute soft green monkey food pick tucked in beside the pear chunks. I just received it today, along with a few others, and my rice ball moulds and green grapes kinchaku bag, to match my bento box! Yay! So after I use up the last of my handformed onigiri, it's on to the rounds! I'll make up a batch tomorrow, probably. ^_^

I know, not much color in this one. We're moving soon, so we don't want to spend too much money til then. :3 So happy to finally be moving, though! The LATEST we'll be out is December 1st - something to look forward to!

Bento #30 - Ramen and Burgers

Decided to test sending ramen noodles for hubby's lunch. I'm expecting they'll be a bit gloopy, but hopefully not too bad - I added a tiny bit of oil, let's hope that helps! Mixed veggies with the ramen. Mini burgers from the stash. Couple sprigs of broccoli. Chopped up plum, with an elephant food pick. Hello Kitty cuppy of ketchup for the burgers. And a scrambled egg brain.

Wait, what?!

Yeah, I scrambled two eggs, then formed it into a round. But, it looks like a brain, in my opinion. >_>; Appetizing!

Not shown, the usual side container with mini cookies and muffins.

Bento #29 - Bowtie Pesto Pasta

Back to work time for hubby tomorrow, so time for more bento!

Top tier has baby carrots, red grapes, and a couple sprigs of lightly steamed broccoli. Bottom tier has bowtie pasta with sundried tomato pesto.


Side dish - you can actually see my baking now! @_@ A few tiny peanut butter cookies, and some mini corn muffins.

Bento #28 - Turkey Rice!

Happy Thanksgiving, to any Canadians out there! Mom cooked dinner for everyone yesterday, so leftovers to the rescue!

I made turkey "fried" rice. I love this stuff - it tastes good, uses up any leftover meat you have kickin' around, and it's a FAST add to a bento! Other tier is cheese cubes, a plum, and carrots.

This one is actually for hubby, but I figured it would be ok to put it in my pink piggy bento, since he's just eating at home - no work for him, since it's a holiday. :P

Bento #27 - "Fried" Rice

WE GOT A NEW CAMERA! Haha, yeah, I'm excited. We recently got cell phones, and with each, got a $50 gift card. Figured that it was a sign we should invest in a new camera! Only ended up paying 70something bucks with tax, yay free gift cards! We got a Sony Cybershot, 7.2 megapixels. Not too bad! It's pretty user-friendly, but I'm still getting used to it (and I'm somewhat technologically challenged, so bear with me! But, pictures should be better now! :D

Hubby-bento contains "fried" rice a la Biggie with ham and mixed veggies, grapes and carrots, and mini burgers with yellow hot pepper rings.

I made more hand-shaped onigiri today too, towards my freezer stash. Really liking that freezer stash - so nice to be able to grab stuff to add to lunches without any more effort than microwaving for a couple minutes!

And on a totally random note - Shrek 3 is freakin' hilarious! We need to buy it when it comes out on DVD, I LOVE that movie! Haha

Random Comment!

I just had to post this. ^_^

My husband usually calls me while on breaks at work. He just called me a little bit ago, and mentioned that a few of his coworkers said his lunch looked great today, and that it was great that his wife took pride in her cooking. Hehehe, that made my day.

Hubby's reply? Just wait til I get a real bento box, then it'll be even better! He then went on to explain a little about bento meals in general, and they were all enthralled, and said they wished their wives/girlfriends would make them nice lunches. :P

Poor coworkers and their plain old sandwiches, or mediocre cafeteria food. :3

Bento #25 and 26 - Butterfly Onigiri

So, I've quickly learned that my new spot for taking photos really isn't any better than the others - anything light colored gets totally washed out, and with flash off, isn't very visible. x_x

I actually took the whole afternoon baking/cooking stuff in mass batches to freeze for bentos - mini banana bread muffins, mini corn muffins, supercute mini peanut butter cookies with star decors, randomly shaped onigiri, and a bunch of mini hamburgers. Alas, the cookies and such look lame as hell with this crappy camera, because you can't see all the little details I put into them. :(



Top is my bento - simple, I know, but I still feel like hell. This is the most solid food I've eaten since I got sick. I never feel like eating when I'm sick, the most I eat is soup. :S Consists of one mini banana bread muffin, some raisins, red grapes, and brussels sprouts and carrots with a little butter.


Hubby's for tomorrow. Mini burgers with a few yellow hot pepper rings, lion soy sauce bottle for the onigiri (you can't see it very clearly either, and it's CUTE!). Two butterfly onigiri stacked on top of each other (I even took the time to draw on yellow details on the top butterfly, using a hot pepper's juice), surrounded by red grapes, and brussels sprouts with carrots (with a little butter on 'em).

Side dish with 4 mini peanut butter cookies (the star decors make them SO cute, I really need to take a picture of them somewhere they can be seen properly! :( , two mini banana bread muffins, and one mini corn muffin. Also, a hello kitty container of ketchup for the burgers, and more soy sauce for the onigiri.

Recipe - Spanish Rice

I found the original recipe at allrecipes.com, but tweaked it a bit when I wasn't entirely happy with it. Oh - and the verdict is in on the rice-and-beef mix - he said he really liked it! :) Anyhoo:

~2 tablespoons veggie oil
2 tablespoons finely diced onion (or coarser chop, if you prefer)
1 1/2 cups white rice
2 cups chicken broth (I'm sure veggie broth would work too)
1/4 cup water (or more broth, if you feel like it)
1 cup chunky salsa (I'm a fan of medium, hubby prefers hot)
1/2 packet of taco seasoning (think the packet I use is 35g total)

Heat oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add onion, and stir around til tender. Toss in rice, stir around til it gets that translucent look - just a minute or two.

Add in the rest of the stuff. Stir, cover, turn heat to low - you just want it to simmer - and cook for about 15-20mins, or til liquid is absorbed. Then eat!

If you feel like adding beef, just cook your rice, fry up some beef (with a little water and the other half of the taco seasoning, if you want more of that flavor), and stir it all together. Simple!

Bento #24 - Pumpkins!

Yeah, I'm sure my hubby will be thrilled with this one. I told him, "Your lunch is cute!"...his reply? "Great..." >_>;

Halloween is coming, though! I decided to try making onigiri for the first time, be afraid! One is a pumpkin shape, one is just a roundie, and they both have raisin faces - I don't have nori yet. Green and red grapes surround them, and a couple pumpkin shaped candies are joining the party. A little soy sauce bottle is hiding under the pumpkin, for the onigiri. I resisted the urge to put one of my cute animal soy sauce bottles in, and used a plain one. It could be worse, right? :P

Peas and corn on the left side, more grapes and carrot sticks (again!) in a side dish, and the last of the corn muffins in a little ziplock bag.

I've been searching for alternate sites to buy my bento stuff from, aside from eBay, and J-List seems to be a decent choice. I've actually bought a couple animes from them in the past, and was very happy with the service, so I probably will try them next time. They have bento boxes and more - furikake too! I haven't been able to find any furikake with a decent price tag on eBay, so that's even more of a reason for me. Also, Japanese snacks sound good - I can't get much in the way of it here. Mmm... :3

Basic Corn Muffin Recipe

While I think about it, here's my recipe for mini corn muffins:

1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch salt
1 egg
1/8 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease two 12-count mini muffin pans (or use liners, if you prefer).

Mix together all dry ingredients. Toss in wet ingredients, stir just enough to combine thoroughly. Split evenly between muffin tins.

Bake til a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (I don't remember exact time, I'm going off memory here - no more than 15mins)

Makes 24 mini muffins.

Bento #23 - Spanish Rice (sorta)

I had a little Spanish rice sitting in a bowl in the fridge - leftovers from earlier. I fried up some ground beef, and mixed the two together. The result? I got my youngest brother to play guinea pig for me, and he says it's good. We'll see what hubby thinks tomorrow. :P

My last two veggie egg rolls and a mini corn muffin accompany the beefy rice. And, a side dish of grapes and carrot sticks.

I know, I repeat a fair bit, but I hate waste. D: Also, my dad bought a hugeass bag of carrots that I have to burn through before they go bad! (It's BIG, I think 10lbs?)

Bento #22 - Spanish Rice

Ok, that didn't last long. I feel craptastic, but I felt guilty about not making my hubby meals (especially to take to work), so I made him bentos anyway. I actually DID make one last night for his lunch today, but I was too out of it to care enough to take a picture.

This one is for his dinner, as I know he'll be very hungry when he gets home - he apparently didn't notice the side dish of carrot sticks or corn muffins when he took his lunch out of the fridge this morning, so his lunch is kinda small for him. I think this meal looks small in the picture, but it is quite large - I think that container holds close to 4 cups or so. It's just your average tupperware-ish container, but I wanted something square for a change!

New tweaked version of Spanish rice (I'll post a recipe if he deems it satisfactory), with carrot sticks (repurposed from the forgotten side dish), cherry tomatoes from the garden, and steamed broccoli. Not shown, three mini corn muffins.

Going to have to make more muffins soon - I make a batch of 24 minis, and freeze them for future use. I'll post the recipe later on. ^_^

My temperature is sitting at 102 degrees right now, so I apologize if this makes little to no sense - I'm trying! D:

Sick..

No idea when I'll have another bento made - I'm dyin' here. Started out feeling like a nasty cold - nasal congestion, sore throat, coughing, etc...now I have a horrible fever, feel nauseous off and on, chest congestion, and I feel like I'm just going to fall over.

Breathing takes actual effort, as does walking a straight line. You'd swear I was drunk if you saw me walking.

This came on really suddenly, too - I felt fine three days ago, and now I'm ready to fall over. x_x.

Really hope this doesn't end up as pneumonia. That would just be lovely.

I actually had to call in sick today, which I hate doing. My theory? I'll feel cruddy at home, may as well get paid for feeling cruddy at work. But, I'm a waitress in a busy restaurant. I don't want to contaminate people, and I know I'd end up passing out, being on my feet for that long.

This'll be a fun week, though - hubby working full-time now, so I'm stuck home with a teething crabface baby, alone. He absolutely cannot miss work for the next few weeks though, short of a total emergency - they have pretty hardcore training I guess, and really frown on anyone missing days.

More than me, though...I really hope she doesn't catch this, it's bad enough for me. If she caught it full-force, she'd likely end up hospitalized...which I might be too, if this doesn't stop getting worse.

*dies*

Bento #21 - Baked Potato Wedges

@_@ You can actually see this bento! ZOMG! New camera? New home?

Nope - I got sick of the lighting upstairs, and dragged this bento into the bedroom. It's sitting on my bed in this picture. :3

Contents: Two veggie egg rolls, baked, seasoned potato wedges, food colored bear-shaped egg (just as well that you can't see it too well in this picture, as he had a bit of an accident upon peeling - he has a crack in his head!), banana flowers, carrot sticks. Hello Kitty cuppy of dip for the carrots, little elephant pick for the bananas.

Side dish of cherry tomatoes (from the garden) and cheddar skewers, and three mini corn muffins. Not shown, juice.

Looks like I'm going to be dragging bentos into the bedroom for photo time from now on, til we move...yay? It's worth the annoyance, though - pictures are a million times better! ^_^

Hopefully hubby isn't embarassed to take out his lunch at work. This one is for him. :3

Bento #20 - Roast Meat and Veggies

Bento #20 already! Guess it helps that I'm bento-ing for two. (Three soon enough, Kaia's already closing in on her first birthday!) Pictures turn out so terribly at night, but that'll be remedied soon - moving in November, and we're definitely getting a brighter place. That, and I'm looking into buying a new digital camera in the near future. ^_^

It's my husband's first day at his new job, like I mentioned in my earlier post, so I wanted him to have a meal he'd really enjoy. And, while I rarely eat even poultry, my husband is BIG on his protein, especially red meats. So, I made a moose roast!

Yes, here in Canada at least, we eat moose. (Well, I don't, but others do.) It's a very lean red meat - almost no fat on it at all. So, it's good for those who are big on beef, but not big on fat.

I roasted it with some diced yellow flesh potatoes, and garden-fresh carrot chunks. Seasoned with dried red pepper and garlic, and a little black pepper. I diced it once it was cooked, to allow for easier eating. Not going to send him to work with a steak knife! D:

Also included is more concord grapes, kiwifruit hiding under said grapes, and a giraffe fruit pick. Side container of sliced navel orange, and another small kiwifruit, chopped up. And, last but not least, three mini corn muffins in a ziplock container.

Not pictured, juice.

Bento #19 - Chicken Chop Suey

Yeah, it's getting dark outside, can you tell? My poor little camera can't handle the lighting. At least you can see it, right?

Bottom tier is more banana sushi (yeah, I know, but it's good, and healthy enough) with kiwi filling in the blank spots, and an octopus food pick. Top tier is chicken chop suey from my mommy - they got takeout Chinese food, I guess. *shrug*

Normally, I'd post both mine and my husband's bento pictures at the same time, but then again, normally, they're pretty similar. His is totally different this time, and it's currently in the oven. I'll post it later tonight. ^_^

It's the first day of his new job tomorrow, hopefully he likes the meal I make for him to bring. :)

Bento #17 and #18 - Ramen and Carrots

Top tier: Pretty similar to yesterday, as that's the leftover pasta. I'm usually really good at just eyeballing the amount of food needed for whatever size portion, but I ended up with extra for once. I mean, it was totally deliberate, I made extra for today's bento! >_> Also, steamed carrots are keeping the pasta company.

Lower tier: Cucumber from my mom's garden (I have my doubts as to how good it'll be, I have a suspicion she took it out late again this year, post-first frost, but we'll see shortly!), kiwifruit, and my little penguin food pick again.


These are the Hello Kitty utensils I bought with that last round of eBay bento purchases, but I forgot to show them in my last post. They fit perfectly into the lid of my Putifresh box, too. ^_^



Hubby's bento: Ramen noodles with sakura-shaped steamed carrots, chicken nuggets, concord grapes, carrot sticks, and a Hello Kitty cup of ranch dip for the carrot sticks.

Bento #15 and #16 - Picnic Bentos

Hubby and I took Kaia to the park today. It's late September, and it's absolutely gorgeous outside - yay global warming? Seriously bizarre. A few days ago, it felt like it was going to snow, and now it's shorts weather again. Not that I'm complaining, it was so nice to spend time in the sun again!

Top bento is hubby's. Mini burgers with a few hot pepper rings on top. Bowtie pasta with sundried tomato pesto, with a little parmesan on top. Concord grapes and kiwifruit on the right side, with a little dolphin food pick and Hello Kitty containers of ketchup.

I got my eBay package in, can you tell? ^_^ Lots of cute food picks, Hello Kitty condiment containers, cute soy sauce bottles, an apple-print Putifresh kinchaku, and this:


Grape Putifresh bento box! Top tier of bowtie pasta with sundried tomato pesto and a little parmesan. Bottom tier of "banana sushi", with kiwifruit and a little penguin food pick.


This is it closed. Gotta love the Engrish.


Kaia, eating her snacks. She was good and stayed on the blanket while she was eating her snacks, but then she decided she was full (or bored) and attacked my bento box (by then it was closed, at least). Then, she decided she was going to attack the camera:


And then? She took off on the grass, grabbing dry leaves. She tossed most of them, but every once in a while, she'd find one she decided was edible, apparently, and tried to eat it...

Was a fun afternoon, though. ^_^

Bento #12, 13, 14 - Pasta with Pesto

Bentos for myself and hubby, for when we get home from work, and a snack bento for my break at work. ^__^

Top: Hubby's bento. Two small pieces of fried chicken (unhealthy, I know, but dad gave it to me and I'd feel guilty wasting it), tricolored fusili with sundried tomato pesto and chopped fresh tomatoes from the garden. Sidedish with fruit salad - kiwi, and the last of the blueberries and strawberries. Time to buy more...


Above, bento for me: tricolored fusili with sundried tomato pesto, and top tier of kiwi and sugar snap peas.


Snack bento for me at work: Last of my sugar snap peas (edible, but don't look so great anymore...), cucumber slices, and kiwi and strawberries on the other side of the divider.


My snack bento box closed. It's a 450mL Usahana bento. Perfect size snack box, and perfect size for my little one. She's already claimed it as her own...if I leave it out in the open, she lugs it around with her.

Looks like my eBay package of new bento supplies isn't making it here this week, so I should see it next week.

Bento #10 and 11 - Roast Beef and Egg Rolls

More pictures that were taken at night...can you tell? Best I can do, with this lighting and my mediocre digicam. >_<;

I finally got my flower-shaped veggie cutters in the mail today, so I had to play with them, of course.

My bento consists of two veggie egg rolls, sugar snap peas, cucumber and strawberry sakura-shaped cutouts, with a few blueberries scattered on top.

Hubby's bento consists of peach yogurt, with blueberries and sliced strawberries on top. Leftover roast beef, with broccoli and a cherry tomato from the garden, with two egg rolls.

Bento #8 and 9 - Fruit!

Top: Hubby's bento - blueberries, green and gold kiwifruit, and strawberries in the side container. Steamed rice, broccoli, and slowcooked chicken (cooked in orange marmalade, BBQ sauce and soy sauce).


Lower pic: Mine. Same as his, minus the chicken (I rarely eat any form of meat, and when I do, it's ONLY poultry, and in very small quantities).

Colorful, simple, healthy and yummy! ^__^

Bento #7 - Salad and Mini Bagels

Contents: Kiwifruit and tomatoes (from the garden), salad of mixed greens and julienned carrots with some deli turkey to add, and more mini bagel sandwiches.

Picture turned out slightly better than the last ones, at least...

Hoping my new bento stuff gets here soon. ^__^

Bento #5 and 6 - Mini Bagels

Sad - the bentos I'm happiest with to date, and the worst pictures ever. Made these tonight, and it's dark out, so the light in the house is even worse than normal. And normal is pretty bad. I even tried tweaking them with Photoshop...oh well.

I got sick of using the same lame stuff day after day, so I went crazy and spent $96 on groceries.

Our bentos are almost the same thing. Mini bagels with turkey, lettuce and cheese. Mine have mustard, his have Miracle Whip. Grape tomatoes, skewers of green and gold kiwifruit. Turkey pepperettes. And sugar snap peas in mine - he tried one, and said he'd only eat them if I steamed them first.

I'll try to make bentos during light hours from now on, at least til we get into our new place (November). It won't be viable soon though - winter is coming, and it's getting darker sooner. Yay Canada?

Bento #4 - Chicken with Spanish Rice for Hubby

Quickie bento of baked chicken legs (seasoned, with some parmesan cheese mixed in for the coating) on Spanish rice, with baby carrots and celery sticks on the side.

I'm still feeling cruddy, so not eating much in the way of solid food. Hence the general lack of bentos for me - plain ol' chicken soup just isn't bento-worthy. :p

Hubby just got a new job though, so I should (hopefully!) be making more bentos in the near future, since he'll definitely be away from home during lunch time.

Also, finally picked up a few new bento things on eBay! Have some sakura veggie cutters on the way, and a bunch of other things will follow - cute food picks, a new bento box and bag, a sausage cutter and more! Yay! Variety! ^__^

Bento #3 - Banana Sushi

So I was staring at the bananas this morning, debating how to use them up...then I remembered the flour tortillas in the pantry.

I'm a fan of peanut butter and banana sandwiches (toasted, yum!), so I figured I'd try this for a change of pace. That, and they look better than a plain ol' toasted sandwich. ^_^

I made a roll for my husband this morning for breakfast. I handed him the plate, and the first thing out of his mouth was "Banana sushi?", so I guess that's what it's called in this household now.

This is just a jiffy bento, so I have something waiting for me to eat after work. Strawberry yogurt in the top tier, banana sushi underneath. I had planned on filling in the gaps with the last of my red grapes, but unbeknownst to me, they were eaten last night. ;(

Go piggy bento, go! I really love this one, so cute! Planning on getting a grape Putifresh box from eBay this weekend (payday Thursday!), unless I can find another I'd prefer.

Bento #2 - Tonkatsu Bento for Hubby

My lameass attempt at tonkatsu...yeah, trying to cook anything with a teething, sick baby doesn't go so well. Slightly...overdone. But, I gave my husband some for dinner today, and he said it was "ok". I guess anything edible is "ok", but when asked what he'd rate it, he gave it a 7.

I didn't bother cutting it up for him, as he's just eating it at home.

It's on a bed of rice, with some peas and corn on the side. Also, a couple mini corn muffins are keeping the veggies company.

I know, boring. But hey, it's edible, and it's better than takeout!

Bento #1 - Mini Burger Bento for Hubby!

Ok, so it isn't much to look at - but it's a start, right?

Seriously though, if you saw what I had to work with, you'd applaud my lame bento...need groceries. But I'm cheap, so I'm making due with what I have. ^_^;

Just needed to make a bento for my husband, as I'll be at work during lunch, and I don't work long enough to warrant a break...so I'll just eat some salad or something when I get home.

I use a 1L Lock & Lock box for his bento, as I was unable to find a suitable (read: not pink and cutesy like mine) bento box for him without breaking the bank. This one cost me about 6 bucks at Zellers, for you Canadian folks. I like it, because it has three removable dividers, and is microwave safe. He likes it, because it's functional, and it isn't pink. Win-win, right? Ha ha.

Contents: Peanut butter (crunchy!) and grape jelly sandwich, plum, mini burgers, hot pepper rings and a mini tomato from my garden, and some steamed broccoli and mini carrots.

This is actually the first time I've ever made burgers of any sort, as I don't eat meat...but I'll cook it for my husband and daughter, so I figured it was time to make the effort. Result - he says they are "fine". Hmm...

I know, I know, the picture quality is terrible. But my camera needs to be replaced, and the lighting in the house could be better. I'm too cheap to buy a new camera just yet, though. Eventually...

New bento box and egg molds!

Sorry for the poor photo quality - I definitely need a new camera. But this just came in the mail today, I had to post it! Too cute.