Bento (82) - Mastering Meat Rolls

I finally decided to try wrapping vegetable matter in lunchmeat slices (asparagus and carrot sticks wrapped in ham and/or turkey). I was so consumed with my new bento experimentation that I ran out of time - and while I finished the boys' bentos, I didn't have any time to make one for me. It looks pretty . . . but I have no idea how it tasted! LOL.


Goose's bento: strawberries, half a boiled egg with a carrot star topper, chicken nuggets, ketchup, and lots of little green things he'll refuse to eat (edamame ad asparagus).

Bento (81) - Lettuce Rolls and Imitation Crab

And now for something different . . . .

To kick off a new diet/fad/whatever, I created the following bentos using no rice or bread. The top level in mine is imitation crab, avacado, and pepperjack cheese squares. The bottom is lettuce rolls filled with ham and mustard over a bed of almonds, and yogurt topped with bananas. T.'s bento was identical - except he had an extra helping of imitation crab instead of cheese.

And of course mine's cuter . . . 'cause it has blue kitty food picks. >.<

Bento (80) - PB&J Natural Disaster

And the search for an attractive way to arrange pre-made frozen Jams sandwiches continues . . . :P :P :P This was an attempt at making a PB&J mountain range. And then my mountain range suffered some sort of natural disaster . . . . The top right is mandarin oranges and frozen cherries, and the bottom right is carrot flowers and a mini-cupcake holder filled with ranch.

Bento (79) - Pork Chop Bento

And today's lesson was . . . arranging meat attractively is a lot harder than it looks! I finally threw some pepperjack cheese flowers on the slices to make them look a little more appetizing! The yellow is potatoes au gratin topped with carrot flowers.

Bottom level is edamae with carrot flowers and mandarin oranges around a frozen cherry. When I went to eat this bento at work I turned the bottom level around so the edamame/carrot salad was on the right . . . and it looked much more photogenic. LOL!

Bento (78) - Free Form Kitty Bento

Does this count as a nekokoneko? :P Probably not, since I took the photo with the larger bento on top. LOL! Whenever I have ham, I start thinking of kitty ears for some strange reason . . . and so I built kitty bentos for the boys. I put down a ham-filled rice ball and decorated with ham ears and nose, then hand-cut pepperjack cheese eyes. The pupils and the mouth are nori. The green is edamame, the yellow and white is a boiled egg cut in half. The orange is honey-glazed sweet potatos, the red frozen strawberries, and the piggy/fishie are filled with dumpling sauce for the rice! MMMMmmmmmMMMMM.


Goose ate most of his yesterday (HOORAY!) - but T. forget his . . . so it is now MY kitty bento! Mu ha ha. . . . . I suppose 7:34 a.m. can't count as lunch, so I'll have to wait!

Bento (77) - Honey Baked Ham Sandwiches

And for today I present the not-so-cute Honey Baked Ham Sandwich bento . . . . which Goose forgot to eat and had to be thrown away. Grrrrrr.

That's what I get for taking a bento break. Not that I meant to take a bento break . . . but last week was filled with celebration lunches, farewell lunches, and "oh my gosh - I promised to do lunch" lunches . . . followed by my ex-mother-in-law gifting me with tons of delicious honey baked ham leftovers. Mmmmmmmm.

Long story short . . . the bento kitchen desperately needs to be restocked again, and I've gained 5 pounds. Though my wallet has lost weight. :P :P

Still . . . I thought of a way to make the sandwiches look cuter next time (shave off most of the roll and create four sandwiches instead of just two), but I did like how the yogurt/mandarin orange piece turned out . . . so it wasn't a total loss. Remaining bit is peas and corn topped with two chocolate Easter eggs as a treat.

Bento (76) - Mashed Potatoes and . . .

And for Friday's bento, I scraped together every scrap of leftovers and tossed them in my orange bunny box . . .which is how I ended up with mashed potatoes, edamame, and teriyaki chicken. I did take the opportunity to practice my new-found frozen cherry flowers. Mmmmmm.

Bento (75) - Five Minute Bento

For once, I was great at making bentos, and terrible at posting them! LOL! This is one of my standard five minute bentos pulled together from tangy chicken I had stored in my freezer and bento scraps. Oooo! Look. Mashed potatoes. Again. >.<

Bento (74) - Teriyaki Chicken

It's time for a deep dark admission. I have never cooked teriyaki chicken. My mother raised me on McDonalds and raviolis from a can . . . but now . . . I even made the sauce! WOW! The left side of T.'s bento is my totally unimpressive chicken, rice, edamame, and a sauce container with extra teriyaki sauce. To the right is cherry yogurt with bananas, and the bottom is mashed potatoes with an edamame flower. The red is a flower cut from a frozen cherry.

And yes - I made a little too many mashed potatoes. I've eaten them every day this week . . . and still have leftovers! ACK! Good thing I love them!

My bento was very similar, though I have a pickled plum instead of a flower topping my potatoes . . . and moved the cherry flower to decorate my rice. And blue kitty food picks rule!!