Quick Bento (#17)

This bento is just a quick put together of things that I had on hand and need to use up. The little chicken pot pie thing was a creation of my roommate. She basically combined chicken, peas, corn, and a homemade sauce to make the filling. A home made bread roll recipe was also used for the "crust," and the pies were baked in muffin tins. I'll track down the exact recipe sometime this week to share. I microwaved the pie before I ate it, so I'm not so sure how it would taste chilled.

I also am experimenting with frozen portions of spaghetti. This is one of Biggie's speed bento tips discussed on her website. I am pretty impressed with the visual results so far...and look forward to seeing how they taste!

Here we go a bento-ing... (#16)

After a tumbling first semester of graduate study, I have decided to start documenting my bento meals again. And I've been blessed with a graduate assistantship, which means I'll have really no choice but to pack a lunch to school everyday. This also means that I'll probably have to start planning my weekly menu out more thoughtfully. (Yikes!)

In today's bento:

Parmesan & Broccoli Couscous (with a happy face!)
Buttered Multi-grain flatbread (folded into a wedge)
Spinach & Romaine Salad with carrots and red bell pepper
Catalina Dressing on the side

My salads can get a bit monotonous after a while...but its my vow to use what I buy before I go purchase something else!

Piggie Bento (#13)

I went garage sale shopping over the weekend, and found something that would be perfect for bentos. They are ice cream sandwich molds in the shape of a cow and a pig. I couldn't help but see the potential in them, so I now have my first cute accessory for my bento lunches!





Here is today's lunch:

• Piggies sandwiches (homemade Sally Lunn bread, turkey, provolone)

• Spinch/Romaine salad, with carrots, cauliflower, celery, olives

• Cottage cheese with dill and garnish

I was very pleased with how today's bento turned out. The ice cream sandwich molds worked perfectly for sandwiches, and I can't wait to see if they can mold onigiri as well. Basically I lined the box with lettuce, propped the sandwiches on carrots, and put the rest of the salad stuff on the right. It was looking a bit too "white" at first, so I put the cottage cheese in a red dish, and moved one of the sandwiches over to the middle of the box.

Gyoza Bento (#12)

Another vegetarian bento. (Finally! I've used up all the tofu in the fridge!) I felt a tad bit creative today, so today's bento features something totally new: Gyoza. After poking around the internet a bit, I used store bought dough, and filled it with a mix of tofu, celery, carrot, soy sauce, parsley, and salt/pepper. I sauted them for a few min, then added some water and let them steam for several more minutes.

The rest of the bento features a romaine/spinach salad with avocado, cauliflower, and olives; a carrot "divider"; and two homemade oatmeal cookies with three cherries. I tried to take the picture before the avocado started to turn colors, but it was rather ripe and had other plans!