Wow, it's Oct already!

I don't know about the rest of you, but I can't believe it's October already! :o

Yesterday my glow bracelets arrived for Halloween - yay! I decided to 'upgrade' this year and went with the bicolor bracelets instead of the single color. Looking forward to my favorite Holiday :D

I ran out of salad, so I had Ahmetia (my 20 year old), stop on her way home from class and get a bag - unfortunately, I knew as soon as I picked it up that it wasn't good. It felt heavier than it should have felt if the lettuce were still fresh and good, so no salad in his bento for today. Ahmetia took the bag back and got a new one today, so hopefully it's good (I haven't checked it yet) for tomorrow's bento.

For today's I decided to use my pretty floral bento box. Since I rarely pack a bento for myself, it hasn't been used much, so I felt like using it :)

Oct 1 ---
Bottom Tier: Baby carrot sticks, Pine nut hummus
and macaroni salad w/ black sesame seeds
Top Tier: Pineapple, Kiwi flowers, globe grape halves
and pomegranate seeds
Apple and Muscat gummies in the lid

A Glut of Bento...

Holy cow do I suck at keeping up on my blog! :P

I keep up with putting them on my Facebook account, after all, I'm on there every day, but have really slacked off keeping this updated. I think a lot of that stems from being a little bored with packing almost the same thing the majority of the time - at least the salad. I need to expand the hubby's horizons whether he likes it or not ;) I do sneak in things here and there that are a bit out of the norm for him, and he rarely complains, but the daily (with rare exceptions) salad is getting really boring for me. Oh well, C'est La Vie!

So, here we go with all the Bento for the last 6 weeks or so:


Sept 30 --
Bottom Tier: The usual Mixed Spring Greens w/ bunny shaped boiled egg, ham, turkey & swiss pinwheels and home grown cherry tomatoes
Top Tier: Hummus w/ pine nuts (Sabra Hummus is the best ever!), Kiwi and Mac salad w/ black sesame seeds
Apple and Muscat gummies in the lid


Sept 29 --
Bottom Tier: Pulled BBQ Pork (leftovers from dinner - BBQ sauce recipe from my Mountain Measuers cookbook - A collection of WV recipes :), Pineapple, strawberries and pomegranate seeds, macaroni salad w/ carrot and parsley flowers
Top Tier: The usual Mixed Spring Greens w/ car shaped boiled egg, ham, turkey & swiss pinwheels and home grown cherry tomatoes


Sept 28 --
Top Tier: Macaroni Salad w/ black sesame seeds, Roasted German Almonds (from Celtic Fest on Sat :), Chex Mix, Pineapple and Pomegranate Seeds
Bottom Tier: Mixed Greens w/ Star shaped boiled egg, cherry tomatoes and ham & swiss pinwheels (used up my turkey making us club sandwiches for lunch yesterday - hadn't had one in years and it was so good, but forgot to save a slice or two for the bento)
Muscat, Apple and Mango gummies in the lid


Sept 25 --
Botom Tier: Mixed Greens w/ Ham, Turkey and Swiss pinwheels, carrot flowers and a heart shaped boiled egg ♥ ♥ ♥
Strawberries, Purple Peapods!! (Aren't they awesome?!), Carrot Sticks and Hummus
Muscat and Mango gummies in the lid


Sept 23 --
Bottom tier: Mixed Spring Greens w/ Strawberries, Pomegranate Seeds and Pecans (he had Lite Raspberry Vinaigrette instead of his usual Lite Ranch dressing for this :)
Top Tier: Kiwi, Babybel, Edamame, Chex Mix and Macaroni Salad w/ black sesame seeds
Muscat and Apple Gummies in the lid


Sept 17 --
Tier 1: Mixed Spring Greens w/ carrot flowers, cherry tomatoes, ham turkey and swiss pinwheels and an ice cream cone shaped boiled egg
Tier 2: Cucumber, Macaroni Salad, Carrot sticks, Clementine segments, Strawberry, Blueberries and Peaches


Sept 16 --
Top Tier: Wasabi Almonds, checkers Apples, Black Bean Orzo Salad
Bottom Tier: Mixed Greens w/ cherry tomatoes from our garden and ham, turkey and swiss pinwheels
Apple and Muscat gummies in the lid


Sept 15 --
Tier 1: Mixed Spring Greens, pumpkin shaped boiled egg, carrot flowers, cherry tomatoes from our garden and ham, turkey and provolone pinwheels
Tier 2: Macaroni Salad w/ carrot flowers, Fruit salad of raspberries, peaches, blueberries and clementine


Sept 14 --
Bottom Tier: Mixed Spring Greens w/ Southwestern Chicken Breast strips, carrot flowers and cherry tomatoes from our garden
Top Tier: Macaroni salad w/ fresh cilantro and carrot flowers, sundried tomato hummus w/ carrot flower ring, peach slices and blueberries
Mango and Muscat Gummies in the lid


Sept 11 --
Bottom Tier: Japanese Mochi Cake, Muscat Gummy and Brown Sugar White Gourd Candy, Strawberries and Black Bean Orzo Salad
Top Tier: Heart shaped Ham, Salami, Pepperoni and provolone sandwiches, baby carrot sticks, bold chex mix and pecans in the center for filler


Sept 10 --
Top Tier: Cottage cheese w/ blueberries (from a cottage double) and black bean orzo salad (yes, I made that - finally, something not store bought in his bento ;P)
Bottom Tier: Salad w/ cherry tomatoes, star shaped boiled egg and the usual ham turkey & swiss pinwheels
Side Car: Strawberries and bananas - a popular cut in bentos done on the bananas - ends treated w/ lime juice to minimize browning
Apple and Muscat gummies in the lid


Sept 9 --
Bottom Tier: Salad w/ carrot flowers, ham turkey & swiss pinwheels and bunny shaped boiled egg (I was a bit annoyed when a litle chunk got taken out of it there...)
Top Tier: Bold Chex Mix, checkered apples, strawberries, cherry tomatoes filled w/ shredded mozzarella, basil and italian dressing that Kat made and mac salad w/ a couple more carrot flowers
Apple and muscat gummies in the lid


Sept 4 --
Bottom Tier: Mixed greens salad w/ car shaped boiled egg, ham turkey and swiss pinwheels and carrot flowers
Top Tier: Olive hummus, babybel light and curry pumpkin seeds for filler, mac salad w/ carrot and cucumber flowers
Muscat gummy and japanese snack cake in the lid and he had pita for the hummus


Sept 3 - horrible photo...
Bottom Tier: Mixed greens salad w/ ham turkey and provolone pinwheels, baby carrot slices and bunny boiled egg
Top Tier: Mac salad w/ black sesame seed and nori face, peaches and olive hummus
skittles in the lid :)
He also had pita for the hummus






I hadn't grocery shopped since we got back from camping, but here is what Rob ended up with for his birthday Bento for aug 27 :)
Top Tier: Clementine sections, Bold Chex Mix, Mac Salad w. Carrot I ♥ You, Wasabi almonds and reeses pieces in a mini paper valentine's cupcake cup :)
Bottom Tier: Iceberg salad (from a bag), shredded cheddar, cherry tomatoes from our garden, southwest chicken breast and Happy ♥ Birthday carrots :)
Grape and Mango gummies in the lid



Now here are Kat’s Bento since she started college  She is an Art major, so we decided it made sense for her to attend community college for her first 2 years (as Ahmetia, my oldest daughter is also doing – though she’s in her 3rd year there – partially due to her doing a term in Scotland last year)

They are on campus for over 8 hours 2 days a week and on those days pack lunch and dinner bento. Kat forgot to take photos a few times and Ahmetia forgets and hasn’t packed them as religiously as Kat has. Kat tends to be much more conscious of spending money on food at school.

I am going to need to get them the small soft sided coolers like Rob uses for those long days, though the hotter days are over, so it’ll be something we need to remember to get before the weather heats up again.





Sept 30 -- Dinner
Top Tier: Rice w/ Furikake (rice seasoning) in the monkey, tea marbled quail eggs and spring greens
Bottom Tier: Baby Carrots, Tamagoyaki and Kiwi slices


Sept 30 -- Lunch
Bottom Tier: Pineapple, Pickled radish and strawberries
Top Tier: Tamagoyaki, Ginger Onigiri and baby carrot


Sept 24 -- Dinner
Top (Onigiri) Tier: Cherry tomatoes from the garden, Asian Jelly cup, Broccoli, Umeboshi Onigiri and baby carrots
Bottom Tier: Strawberries, Apples and grape halves


Sept 24 -- Lunch
Top Tier: Tuna and Umeboshi filled boy and girl onigiri, baby carrots and broccoli
Bottom Tier: Apples, Green Tea Cake, Kiwi, Grap halves and Spinach Namul


Sept 8 Lunch Bento -- First day of classes for Kat and she was stuck on campus from about 9:15am until 9pm :o
Top Tier: Clementine sections, apple slices and strawberries
Bottom Tier: Tamagoyaki, rice and cherry tomatoes from our garden stuffed with shredded mozzarella, basil and italian dressing


Sept 8 --
This was her dinner bento...
Top Tier: Banana, PB&J with flower cutout, broccoli and cheese dog cut up
Bottom Tier: Salad w/ craisins, walnuts, raspberry vinaigrette in the dog cup, mac salad and sweet simmered black beans she made



Now are the 2 days worth of Bento that Ahmetia packed and remembered to photograph 


Sept 9 --
Bottom Tier: Broccoli, Asian jelly and strawberries
Top Tier: Baby carrots, twice baked potato from Omaha steaks and peanuts


Sept 8 Lunch Bento --
Top Tier: Cheese Omelet, Rice w/ Furikake
Bottom Tier: Baby carrot sticks, Asian jelly, Muscat gummy and dragon fruit



Sept 8 Dinner Bento for her very long day on campus --
Bottom Tier: Baby Carrot sticks, Asian jelly and dragon fruit in cup of the peel
Top Tier: Ramen and broccoli stirfry





OK, For those of you who get the email update, I think I got all the pictures corrected. I'm too lazy to resize them :P

Happy Bentoing!

Ahmetia's Bedroom Redo

We recently had friends come in for a visit from North Carolina and decided to finally redo Ahmetia's bedroom before their arrival. I wish I had thought to take before pictures - so if I find any, I'll add them :) After all, she's 20 now and the room was more like a 12 year olds (she was 10when we moved in and decorated it originally and we still had the hearts and flowers border on the wall :o)

It's not bento, but I'm really happy with the results and just thought I'd share some photos :)

A quick travel bento for my Mom :)

Just a little Bento I packed for my mommy for her drive back to WV when she visited in July :) - and now she has this (and another) bento set for packing them for herself :) I didn't want anything that she'd have to worry about spoiling and that would be easier to eat if she wanted to snack while driving.

She has a Fruit salad in the thermal container in the center
Side cup 1 - Sundried tomato hummus, peanuts and cashews w/ a melon gummy on top
Side cup 2 - Dried banana chips and dried papaya
She also had pita in a sandwich bag for the hummus

Woah - I didn't realize I hadn't posted since June :o

Wow, it's been a while since I posted :o All I can say is it's summer and Bento packing has suffered for other activities! Even this week, I haven't packed one bento for Rob and only a few last week. So just so my blog is more complete, I am going to post the mostly lackluster bento that have been packed in July and so far this month :)

Next week we will be going camping, so it'll be another sparse bento week :)




Aug 6 --

Bottom Tier: Mixed greens w/ the usual ham turkey and swiss pinwheels, carrot flowers and hearts and a star shaped boiled egg
Top Tier: another Mitsuwa snack cake, sundried tomato hummus, macaroni salad w/ naruto kamaboko and yummy peach wedges (I ate the rest of the peach - it was a good one :)pita in the lid for the hummus
I have been getting lazy w/ the bentos - haven't been packing as regularly and have been getting bored w/ the same old things - need to change it up a bit!



Aug 4 --

Bottom Tier: Same ol' chef's salad w/ pumpkin shaped boiled egg - I'm getting a little tired of packing the same things all the time, but that's what Rob likes - lol
Top Tier: Mac salad w/ naruto kamoboko on top, baby carrots, snow peas and strawberries
2 Japanese snack cakes from Mitsuwa in the lid



Aug 3 --

Top Tier: Cucumber slices, carrot sticks, kiwi flowers and cherries
Bottom Tier - Mixed Greens w/ baby carrot flowers and cherry tomatoes from our garden, ham turkey and swiss pinwheels and a bunny shaped egg that I just couldn't get to show up in the picture very well - I still need to get around to making that light box...
Some sort of japanese cake thing from Mitsuwa market and a mango gummy in the lid



July 29 -- Perhaps the fastest bento I've ever packed...
Tier 1 - leftover antipasta salad from Little Italy
Tier 2 - Baby carrots, Strawberries and cherry tomatoes from our garden, mac salad, black bean corn salad stuff Rob made (leftovers) and seafood salad, topped w/ naruto kamaboko



July 24 --

Tier 1 - Macaroni Salad, Snow peas, Seafood Salad (also packed crackers in his bag for this), Pitted Cherries, Kiwi flowers and Strawberries
Tier 2 - His usual Chef's Salad of Mixed Greens w. Ham Turkey and Swiss Pinwheels and a sliced boiled egg in a star shape this time and cherry tomatoes from our garden
Hidden Valley Ranch Light for his salad and peas



July 23 --

Tier 1: Macaroni Salad w/ nori decoration :), cherry tomatoes from our garden :), snow peas, cucumber and red pepper
Tier 2: Kiwi flowers, strawberry slices, blueberries, plum slices, Asian jelly treat, peanuts w/ chocolate covered sunflower seeds and cashews w/ mor sunflower seeds
Side Car: Mixed Greens w/ car shaped boiled egg, ham turkey and Farmer's Gouda pinwheels, red pepper and another cherry tomato from our garden
(he was at a dealership that day too - up in CT so I made his lunch a little large knowing he wouldn't be home until late)



July 21 --

Bottom Tier: Mixed Greens w/ car shaped boiled egg, ham turkey and farmer's gouda pinwheels and carrot flowers
Top Tier: Mac Salad w/ Cucumer and carrot flowers, strawberry and melon gummies and greek olive hummus
Side Car: Pitted Cherries (love the cherry pitter Kat got me for Mother's Day - or was it Xmas?), Pineapple, strawberries, plum, Kusagi Peanuts (I think I'm remembering right - I love these things, but the bag's gone to double check...) and a babybel light
He also had a piece of pocketless pita in the lid for the hummus

July 16 --

Bottom Tier: A color lacking salad w/ ham turkey and swiss pinwheels and a car shaped boiled egg that had a big air pocket at the top - grrr

Top Tier: Cherries, Greek Olive Hummus and Macaroni Salad

July 15 --

Bottom Tier: Mixed Greens w/ grilled chicken tenderloin, grape tomatoes and carrot hearts and flowers

Top Tier: Pasta Salad in lettuce cup w/ carrot flowers, blueberries, kiwi and cherriesMango and strawberry gummies in the lid

July 14 --

Tier 1: Pasta salad w/ baran divider, blueberries and cherries

Tier 2: Mixed Greens w/ ham turkey and swiss pinwheels, carrot flowers and car shaped boiled egg

My new bento box that I just LOVE ♥ It is even lovelier than it looked online when I ordered it when I placed my final order from the now closed Ichibankan web store - there is a texture to the flowers that the photo just didn't pick up:

July 2 --

Top Tier: Strawberries and pineapple, cherries and pineapple, Mac Salad w/ Naruto Kamaboko and wakame flowers and black sesame seed 'ground' :)

Bottom Tier: Mixed Greens w/ ham turkey and swiss pinwheels, car shaped boiled egg (what a surprise :P) and grape tomatoes

A fairly quick bento :)

Yesterday we went to Target for some things (I got the new Dean Koontz book yay! :), then had dinner at the Muscle Maker Grill, so I didn't feel like spending a lot of time on today's bento.

The egg was already boiled, shaped and in the fridge from the night before - As I've mentioned, I often boil 2 eggs to save time the next day. I would only boil one extra egg for this as the shelf life for peeled boiled eggs is much shorter than that of an in shell boiled egg and that is shorter yet than raw egg in the shell as boiling removes the protective oil coating from the outside of the egg. On one web source I perused, a responder claimed that coating the boiled egg (unshelled that is) in oil or parafin would keep it fresh longer - not something I have ever tried...



June 30 --

Bottom Tier: Mixed Spring Greens w/ star shaped sliced boiled egg, carrot flowers, radish slices and ham turkey & swiss pinwheels

Top Tier: Macaroni salad w/ kamaboko & green onion flowers, sundried tomato hummus, blueberry mochi, green tea candy and chocolate covered sunflower seeds

Side car: Pickled veggies (Giardiniera) in lettuce leaf 'cup', pineapple and blueberries

He also had some rosemary garlis triscuits in the lid for the hummus and of course his light ranch dressing.

I happily managed to use 4 of the items I picked up at Mitsuwa last week, though they were all small contributions :) I started to use the carrot flowers on the macaroni salad yet again and then remembered the naruto kamaboko and seeing it used as a flower on an onigiri in my review copy of Kawaii Bento Boxes :) It does make a simple and pretty flower, doesn't it?





This evening I plan to get back into walking with my neighbor when she walks her adorable dog Beau, so we'll see how much time I feel like spending on tomorrow's bento after the walk (it's been at least 2 weeks since I was so sick). Hopefully the thunderstorms will have all passed by then (though I do love a good thunderstorm!)

You've seen this box before, but again, it is from VeryAsia.com and is one of my favorites and the single tier came from Pikko - she sold it on one of her blog posts a while back :)

Happy Bento-ing!