Bento for 12/18

Getting ready for our trip so we had Chinese take out.

Spicy shrimp, rice with tamago furikake, extra sauce, clementine, banana almond oatmeal cookie

Bento for 12/14

Still getting the hang of the new camera. For today's lunch I have beefy noodle surprise--a lazy made-up-on-the-spot dinner that sort of combines elements of swedish meatballs, beef stroganoff, and hamburger helper into a delightful mélange. A mixed green salad with lemon tahini dressing and three (!) desserts. Oy! A cream puff from the Omaha Steaks gift we received from E.'s boss, two banana oatmeal cookies (sugar free!) and two clementines. Oink.

Bento for 12/12

Yay! We got a new camera!

So here I have smoked chicken (Ernie got a smoker. Stop snickering!), baked beans, haricot vert, banana oatmeal cookies. Yum!

Bento for 11/22

Finishing up as I type...

Half a patty melt (burger, swiss, fried onions on rye), waffle fries, baked beans, salad with smoked tomato dressing, two clementines.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Bento for 11/21

A new camera should be procured this weekend.



Mexican fiesta today. Smashed spiced pintos & chicken fajitas, muffin cup of guacamole and muffin cup of jack cheese, spanish rice, hot sauce, clementine. I brought a whole wheat and a chile tortilla with me and made my own burritos. This was really, really good!

Bentos for 11/13 through 11/17

I was in training all last week as well as experiencing one of the more difficult weeks I've had in a very long while. I just couldn't bear to take phone pics of my lunches last week however I did pack my lunch every single day. I'm pretty proud that I was able to do that and am planning on what to do with the $50 I saved by not buying breakfast or lunch!

Monday: Roast beef and gravy, mashed potatoes, broccoli, and homemade whole wheat french bread

Tuesday: Beefy cheesy noodle mix, salad w/ lemon tahini, almonds, grapes

Wednesday: Sloppy joe on whole wheat bun, cheese stick, salad w/ smoked tomato, almonds and grapes

Thursday: Ham, potatoes au gratin, salad w/ lemon tahini dressing, almonds

Friday: Leftover cheesesteak mixture (chipped beef, fried onions, and cheese), baked beans, small side of au gratin potatoes, salad w/ lemon tahini, apple

Bento for 11/10

Today's lunch courtesy of Trader Joes.



Chicken stir fry, veggie gyoza with gyoza sauce, veggie egg roll, curry noodles. Yum!

Bento for 11/9

Another contender for "most unappetizing picture". Fortunately it was delicious.



E. made everything. Yankee potroast using a cross-cut roast from our grass-fed beef share, CSA sweet potatoes, carrots and onions. Then he made creamed spinach, twice baked potatoes, and homemade french bread. Banana for snack. It was divine!

Bento for 11/7

More leftovers. I thought I was going out to lunch today but instead I'm in meetings for most of it so I just threw together what was in the fridge.



Leftover baked potato with a tablespoon of herbed chèvre, lemon tahini dressing, multigrain crackers, salad, almonds



In the food jar I had Creamy White Bean and Chorizo Soup which I hope doesn't kill me because, erm, I made it last week. A TJ's 100 calorie cookie pack so I don't eat all the Halloween candy my coworkers have brought in.

Bento for 11/6

Ugh. I really hope to get a new camera soon. Any suggestions for what kind?



Texas style BBQ today. Smoked pork loin, spicy texas BBQed beans, cole slaw, mixed veggies, BBQ sauce in the dip container and some TJ's chocolate cats cookies. Beans and slaw are in mini silicone muffin cups.

Bento for 11/3

Winner of worst picture!



This was really delicious though! Celery Root Risotto, mixed veggies, delectable ham from our pork share, with a roasted beet "face", dip container has sun-dried tomato pesto for the risotto, and yet another pilfered treat from my daughter's stash.

Bento for 11/2

Ugh. I can't wait to get another camera. These phone pictures are terrible!



Today I have braised chicken with celery root, a mini french salad, half a mini baguette, smoked tomato dressing and a pilfered treat from my daughter's Halloween haul.

It was really delicious but bone-in chicken is a pain in the butt to eat with a fork and spoon. I sopped up all the wonderful sauce with the baguette.

Bento for 10/30

Well the camera suffered irreparable damage so it's terrible phone pix for now. Will try to get a new camera soon because these pictures *do not* do this yummy lunch justice!

Today I had a French salad with baby romaine, roasted beets, grape tomatoes, & herb chèvre cheese. Cheesy turnips. Leftover grilled porterhouse steak atop mashed potatoes with a stuffed mushroom nestled amongst it all. Smoked tomato dressing in the dip container and three mini macaroons.

Best of all almost everything was organic and much of it was local. We just got the beef from our semi-annual grass-fed beef share. Turnips, beets & taters were from our CSA. Mushrooms, cheese, 'maters and greens were locally sourced.

I'm going to try and set up a recipe section once I figure out how. Those cheesy turnips were delicious and very easy to make.

I'm stuffed!

Bento for 10/25

Our camera is on the fritz. We finally troubleshot it as a bent pin in the memory card slot. Unfortunately that meant I had to use my crappy camera phone. Lunch was really yummy but I was unable to catch a picture of the soup which was the star of the meal.

So in the unpictured lunch jar I had some of my favorite artisan soup-maker's handcrafted Indian Corn Chowder. It was truly superb and I ate every last drop! It was silky and rich with clean flavors that were well balanced. It wasn't strained which I liked. I prefer soups tohave at least some "tooth" to them.



In the Laptop Lunch (clockwise) I had a green salad from CSA-grown greens, carrots and peppers; sliced local asian pear; Annie's Goddess dressing in the mini lidded container; a few Sweetzel's spiced wafers; a grilled raw cheddar and asian pear on whole wheat.

Bento for 10/19

Yay! My first lunch in the Laptop Lunch system. In honor of breaking it in I am bringing one of my most favorite dinners in the whole world, Chicken Adobo with Coconut Rice, Trader Joes's Organic "Green with Envy" mix, and grapes and spiced wafers for dessert. I'm in training so this will be a nice treat. I'm debating on whether to bring some miso in the lunch jar but I think again it might be too much food even though the LL box is much smaller than the tiffin.

Chicken Adobo is so amazingly yummy. I wanted to eat all of the leftovers right then and there but I held back and I'll be grateful to have it come lunchtime.

Bento for 10/11

Hey mon, caribbean bento! This was too much food. I saved the soup for another day. Top left is lunch jar with Caribbean Vegetable soup, going clockwise you can see my new groovy tiffin cozy, small tier of tiffin has steamed sweet potatoes with cardamom, jerk chicken breast, and caribbean beans and rice. Large tiffin tier has baked acorn squash, a container of Ernie's new "tickle sauce", and broiled carribean bananas.

Bento for 10/4

Well I woke up late, as did everyone else in the house, so I was tripping over the mad breakfast scramble to pack my lunch and hit the road. I had cute shapes and presentation planned but alas was lucky to throw it in the tiffin and GO! This was a really freaking tasty lunch though. It's a toss up between this and our rocking falafel feast we had for dinner \(^o^)/



Big layer of tiffin clockwise from top; roasted ginger maple kuri squash, TJs organic "Green with Envy" mix, mini pineapple rings and sliced banana.
Small layer of tiffin; short brown rice mixed and topped with nori tamago furikake and sliced mariated and grilled chicken.

Wish I could find a better way to divide food than foil. I need to pick up some sushi baran grass dividers or something...

Bento for 9/27

Today's lunch the camera was in the van so when I brought it inside it fogged up a bit so it's a crappy picture.



Clockwise from top left, crab stuffed onigiri, fresh pineapple, organic soyccotash, TJs 100 calorie chocolate cookie pack ( at least the crap ingredients are organic, heh heh), additional teryaki toasted nori strips and Hello Kitty furikake (rice seasoning).For my first attempt at onigiri this freakin' rocked. Loved it, loved it, loved it. Will make again.

Bento for 9/15

Clockwise from top left: kiwi, carrots, and a smattering of huckleberries my dad brought back from Maine. Chicken Korma with peas and onions over basmati rice. Topped with cute sweet potato slices and cilantro. Yogurt tamarind dip, papadum, one lonely samosa, half piece of garlic naan.

What's for lunch?

Instead of my big thread I thought I would break out into a blog. Makes it easier to upload from Picasa and I'm all about saving time. We'll see if this actually helps.

Matryoshka

"Matryoshka" by Monique Passicot