Bento #32

Bottom tier (back)
Tortilla roll with chive cream cheese and turkey
12 grain crackers
cheese
snap peas

Middle tier (right)
Mini salmon burgers (recipe here)
pepper kinpira (recipe from just bento cookbook)
grape tomatoes

Top tier (left)
deviled egg
carrots
strawberry
black grapes
snow peas (hidden under egg)

A bit of a mish-mash - had to put it together quickly this morning - got home too late last night, and I have to do a bunch of running around before work this morning - eep!

Bento #31

Today's bento is

yakisoba with cabbage
Mini salmon burgers (recipe here) with tartar sauce
mini cucumber sticks
baby carrots and a grape tomato arranged in "flowers"
snow peas (hidden under the sauce container)
apple bunnies
blood orange
black grapes
apricot slices (hidden under the other fruit)


Yakisoba recipe (2 servings for smaller tiers of a two-tiered bento box):

1 bundle soba noodles
handfull of shredded cabbage
dash of olive oil

Sauce Ingredients:
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
3/4 tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 tbsp mirin
1 tsp sugar
ginger to taste

mix sauce and set aside
boil soba noodles until tender, drain and rinse in cold water
in a frying pan, heat oil and add noodles - stir fry for a minute or two
add cabbage to pan, continue to stir fry until noodles just start to stick to the pan
add sauce and stir fry to reduce

you can add meat, fish or other veggies too!

Bento #30

Mexican!

Last night I made mini tacos for my husband's company potluck (use scoops tortilla chips and fill with taco toppings - they're super cute! unfortunately, I didn't get a photo). I had some leftover refried beans, shredded cheese and other things, so I decided to make myself a Mexican inspired bento this morning.

Quick Spanish Rice (recipe here - I used brown rice and scaled it down to 1 serving)
Refried Bean Roll (tortilla, refried beans, sour cream, cheese, taco sauce
Tomatoes, Snap Peas
Corn
Apricot, Blood Orange and Black grapes

I'm looking forward to lunch today ...

I really like the 3-tier bento - surprisingly, it's a lot easier to pack!

Bento #29

New bento box! It's a tiny 3-tier one, but it holds just as much as the 2-tier ones I use. I can fill the bottom portion with a much smaller amount of rice than if I was to use the 2-tier one and dedicate the whole bottom to rice.

Furikake Rice
Deviled Eggs
Sugar Snap Peas
Baby Carrots
Mini Salmon Burgers
Mini Bok Choy
Grape Tomatoes

Mini Salmon Burgers
1 Can Salmon (I used the one that's the same size as a can of tuna, also boneless)
dill, salt & pepper to taste
2 tsp dijon
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 c breadcrumbs
1 extra large egg
Mix all, form into patties, fry in a little bit of olive oil over medium heat until golden brown, flip, cook until golden brown.

Mini Bok Choy was stir fried with garlic in a little olive oil until it was just starting to wilt. Add a bit of beef broth (a tablespoon or so) and put the lid on to steam. Drizzle with a bit of sesame oil and toss.

Since we are moving in 2 weeks, we aren't really going grocery shopping and I'm kind of having to scrape together what I can.

Bento #28

Salad Bento - I made it last-minute in the morning, using the water from boiling the egg to also boil the hot dog.

Bagged salad with mushrooms and mini peppers added
grape tomatoes
snow peas
black grapes
hot dog cut into an octopus, a fish and a crab
deviled egg
rice crackers
honey mustard and salad dressing in the containers on the side (they fit into the box over top of the hot dog and grapes)

I used the Mister's large bento box so I could pack a lot of salad.
My manager at work loved the octodog - her roommate has a small child and they are trying to get him to try hot dogs, but he won't. She thought fun shapes might work, so I drew up a quick cutting guide to make one hot dog into the 3 sea animals and gave it to her :)

I haven't really had time to make lunches this week, because we've been so busy getting ready to move. We're almost done packing, so I hope next week will be better.