Minor Distraction Monday

     A little distracted today by the appearance of a tiny stray cat in my driveway. She is at the vet now and will become a member of the (ever growing) family of cats that live with us.
So on to the bento. Veronica is taking one of the larger Hakoya boxes today. She needs it because she is taking leftover pizza. The bottom tier is large enough to accomadate the bulky pizza (two slices cut in half and arranged to fill the whole tier. She has some fruit and green salad in the top. Also, she has come to love the Light My Fire brand spork that you see here.

For me, I ended up eating lunch at the Indian buffet - a VERY kind PJ took me out to celebrate(?) my craziness in taking in another cat. So I stuck this bento in the fridge at work and will have it tomorrow. In the top tier, I have pasta salad and grapes. In the bottom tier, strawberries and a green salad with blue cheese. Yum, tomorrow will be tasty. Also, I really like this Hakoya box, it is the only bento box I have seen that has a little plate included. How useful is it? Occasionally very, but most importantly, it is really cute.

Give-Aways and Left-overs

One of the bento blogs I like to follow has a give-away going on. Cruise on over to Not Exactly Bento for a chance at chocolate and bentos! This is a nice blog to just look around and get some fun info and tips.

Today, Veronica took a hodge podge of stuff in the jaunty banana bento. She has hummus with garlic pita chips, tiny pbj sandwich stars (thank you Pj for the cutters!), a green salad, and a spot of tuna. In the lid, she has a few candy corns for color. This again points to the thrifty fun of bento. Everything here is just a bit or a dab. In the bento, it is a fun, tiny smorgasbord. You can have a lot of fun and use up all the little things left in the fridge putting together a healthy lunch. I do sometimes make actual food for bentos, but a lot of the time I don't.

Leftovers Again

My bentos feature left-overs quite a lot. This led me to buy a couple of Obento Ms. Bentos. Today Veronica took one of these. It has a small thermal container (with Chicken Lo Mein), and two small non insulated containers (with fruit and salad.) This is a cute presentation and it does a nice job of keeping the Lo Mein warm until she eats it.

Welcome Ruth and the Strawberry Bento

My guest bento blogger today is Ruth. She goes to school with Vanessa, K, and Veronica (they all range in grades from 1st through 8th). This is the first bento box for Ruth. Clockwise from top left it contains: chocolate, tune salad, a sliced peach, crackers. Thank you Miria and Ruth for sharing. I look forward to future bento pictures!

This brings the total of girls at school bringing bento to five. (Out of 190 students, that's not bad. We are slowly taking over one bento at a time.)

Vanessa's Bunny Bento

All of the kids are on Fall Break right now, but Angelina just got me pictures (after some technical difficulties) of Vanessa's new Bunny Bento Box. This is tied with the Froggie bento for my favorite.

Vanessa's bento from Tuesday. Chicken nuggets, cherry tomatoes, cheese cubes, and peaches. Bunny and cat cups with bunny and turtle picks. Vanessa is the tiniest, cutest 6 year old you could hope to meet and the Bunny is the perfect bento for her. Thanks Angelina!

The bunny is ready to go.

 

Bananas for Veronica

Today Veronica got her hands on the new banana bento. She also brought the utensil set even though everything she has is finger food. She has taquitos, salsa and cheese dip (in the blue containers), cauliflower with ranch dressing (yellow container), grapes, and Hot and Spicy Cheese Its (just enough room under the lid.)

I hear Ruth has a strawberry bento bako now. I am waiting to see pictures of her lunches and will share them of course. Also I am hoping Vanessa gets well soon so we can see her new bunny bento. She has been waiting to get to use it but then got sick and isn't at school. Get well soon Vanessa!

And It All Matches!

Today I am bringing my all new, YELLOW, Putifresh bento set - thanks again Angelina! You can see the box, utensils, and contents below. In the top tier I have a crudites (carrot, celery, and cauliflower), the one chicken nugget that didn't fit in Veronica's lunch, and some baked potato. In the bottom tier,  I have grape tomatoes, sun dried tomato hummus, pita chips, and a little ranch dressing.

And here is the bento packed in the MATCHING banana bag. Too very cute. And Veronica has dibs on it for tomorrow.

Veronica's lunch today is in the giraffe on tiptoe bento. In the top tier, she has some strawberries and cauliflower, and two small containers - ketchup and ranch dressing. In the bottom tier, she has chicken nuggets (with some of my new food picks - a giraffe and a bear), some chocolate cat shaped cookies, and some baked potato. I did the chicken and baked potato this morning first thing - thanks to the microwave and toaster oven. You just need to be sure to let things cool completely before you seal up the bento.

Angelina Saves the Day

Miranda is still sick today. I am tired and a little under the weather. After a false start involving meatballs (that emerged from the microwave a disgusting mess), I shoved $3 at Veronica and told her to buy lunch. Fortunately, Angelina did not fall down on the job and she brought pictures.

As an aside, she also brought me a lovely Putifresh bento set. It was complete with the cheerful yellow banana themed bento box, matching cutlery, a matching belt, and the cutest matching bag. Did I mention it all matches? I will pack and photograph tomorrow. Friends are a wonderful thing! Thanks so much Angelina.

Now for her lunch. In the bottom tier are radishes and Twice Baked Mini Potato Dauphinoise (I'll be needing the recipe!) In the top tier are cherry tomatoes, green salad, and peanut M&Ms. Yum!