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:

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!

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.