Today I was working all day at Weight watchers, so I brought along my trusty bento!

In the lower tier, I had curried couscous on one side, and a sauteed made with sliced onion, bell pepper and edamame. I spiced the sauteed veggies with cumin, salt, pepper and garam masala.

In the top tier, I had cucumber and red bell pepper sticks, steamed lentils (TJ), and 2 boiled eggs, shaped and halved.

It was plenty of food, and very tasty!

I shaped the eggs with my two egg molds I found at Daiso. The star looks more like a flower (I need bigger eggs!) but I like the way it ended up looking. Here's what the eggs looked like before I put them in the bento:


My husband has about the same thing. I perched the lentils on top of the sauteed veggies. I also didn't shape his eggs, he had to leave quick so I didn't bother with it.

I added his trusty baby carrots as usual, but otherwise, he has the same food I had in my own box.


Lunch was successful, I brought along an apple and an orange for snacks during the day and it was plenty of food!

That was a "put together in minutes". We're starting renovations tomorrow, so I don't know how lunches will fit in this mess!!

Happy bento!!!

Butterflies again!

Yesterday I made some yummy Mediterranean Hummus, and I decided to pre-pack some for the bentos. With hummus comes cut veggies right? Ok, so then we had left over bulgur from last night, but no proteins. Oops!

I had to scramble a little this morning (literally) to make it work, but I did! Here's our bentos for the day:


In my own bento, I have:

Lower tier: Sliced red bell pepper and cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and hummus in my little green kitty container (isn't it cute?).

Top tier: Bulgur mixed with lentils and red kidney beans, and scrambled eggs (bettern' eggs actually) with Indian spices.



When I make cucumber sticks, I peel them in one big peel. Today I decided to wash the peels and cut out butterflies out of it and it turned out to be perfect for cutting shapes! I added butterflies in both tiers of my bento. That's my cutsiness of the day! I used the two butterflies cutters, no dog bone today!


My husband's bento has to be more manly n stuff so I limited my cutsiness there. ;op

On the left: Vegetable sticks with a little container of hummus (isn't that elephant container just cute? I had to sneak some cutsiness in there!), his trusty bag of baby carrots.

On the right: Bulgur with lentils (I skipped the kidney beans for him cause they weren't cooked, and he's not a huge fan of that) and scrambled better n' eggs.

I was afraid it wouldn't be enough proteins for mister 6'2" man, so I rolled up some deli ham and put it on a little sea critter skewer.


There's a bit of spaces in both bentos today. It was my husband's workout morning, so he leaves 30 minutes earlier. That gives me less time to put things together.

I think it'll be fine anyway, but I need to find fillers. Of course he needs a smaller box, but he won't let me buy him one cause this one is "just fine"!

MEN! I want to shop for more stuff, and I can't justify buy ME more... Spoilsport! He he he

Happy Bento everyone!

I made myself a bento today. I skipped yesterday and had some soup instead, but I didn't want to keep skipping it! So here's today's fare:

In the lower tier I have the last of my rice balls (Onigiri) and steamed vegetables with spices.

In the top tier I have a legumes mix (red kidney beans, chickpeas, lentils) with carrots and cucumber. For dessert I added a 1 pts Dark chocolate and raspberry bar (Weight Watchers).


The whole thing was fairly simple. I didn't have much ambition this morning as I know I'm not working this week (spring break).

Tomorrow I shall give the cutsy curse a new installment. I can't keep slipping into laziness like this! ;op

Happy bento everyone!

Today's leftover n stuff bento

I just finished posting yesterday's bento. If you want to look it up, read my previous post.

Today I'm home. I still made myself a bento since I've decided that I would make one every weekday. See? I'm sticking to it! Here's the whole thing:


In the lower tier, I have steamed broccoli (with various spices) and cut up pepper and cucumber (again spiced). I divided the two with sushi grass but it doesn't show really against the broccoli. I used tiny broccoli florets to decorate the cut up veggies.

In the top tier I have left over potato salad from last night. That one's a favorite from Savoring Summer (Weight Watcher's cookbook). With that I spiced and sautéed shrimps and added them for proteins.


Here's what it looked like all packed up:


It's fairly simple, my husband didn't bring a bento to work today since he's eating out with buddies.

I'm having a vegetables attack these days. Bet the couscous is going to reappear soon. :o)

Happy Bento!

Catching up on my posts

Yesterday was nuts and by the time I got home I was too tired to bother. So here's my bento for yesterday:


I kept it simple since I was in a hurry to go to work.

In the lower tier, I had rice balls, resting on cucumber slices. I also put half rounds of cucumber around them and sprinkled the whole thing with shredded carrots.

In the top tier I had a hard boiled egg that I tried to shape in my new molds, but my eggs were too small! Too funny, my star became a flower. With that I mixed steamed broccoli and carrots with lentils.

Would you look at this? My new little "bento fork" fits between the lid of the top tier and the lid of the whole thing!


My husband had about the same thing in his bento. He had only 2 rice balls, but they are much bigger than my cutsy ones. I added little skewers with cucumber and rolled up ham to make sure he wouldn't go hungry! Of course he also had his trusty little pack of baby carrots.


So that was lunch yesterday. I was also working early evening, and by the time I got home I was starved (and cranky!). I need to better plan for those long days so I don't go overly hungry.

Lunch was still good, the mix of steamed veggies and steamed lentils was very good!

Happy Bento!

Simple things

Today I kept things simple. I didn't have much time to work with, but then I had some good stuff at hand, so I made it up as I went. Here's my bento:

In the smaller lower tier (on the right), I have left over roasted chicken, that I sprinkled with minced red bell pepper and cucumber for a bit of color. With that I have a mix of steamed lentils and chickpeas, again with pepper and cucumber mixed in.

In the top tier (on the left), I have steamed broccoli and carrots on a bed of lettuce, sprinkled with red pepper and cucumber bits. For the fun of it, I made 2 skewers with cucumber and carrot pieces. I had planned to put them over the chicken, for decoration, but it didn't fit in my box.


My husband has about the same thing, just presented differently. On the right side, you can see the chicken on top, and lentils on the bottom (he's not a fan of canned chickpeas unless they are in a recipe). I didn't think he liked lentils like that, but he's planning on heating them up and pouring them over the steamed veggies. Good idea!

On the left side he has steamed veggie, and his faithful pack of baby carrots. Again I sprinkled red bell pepper and cucumber bits over the veggies and chicken to make it look "happier".


It was one of those morning when I "don't wanna" and still it turned out pretty nice. Everything is either pre-cooked (like the roasted chicken from Raly's, or the steamed lentils from Trader Joes), canned (chickpeas) or quickly steamed in my handy microwave steamer (veggies). Isn't that a hoot? Talk about speed cooking!

I eat my bento fare cold, my husband warms it up, and it works both ways. It works for us!

Happy bento!

The Cutsiness never ends!

Today I was teaching, I knew it last night so I started ahead. I steamed some veggies so that I wouldn't have to do it in the morning.

I used my good ol' yellow box as usual. The little fork is new, I got it at Daiso yesterday. The coolest thing is that it fits between the top lid (yellow) and the lid of the top tier (black), that way it literally disappears.

Here's the whole thing:

In the smaller lower tier (on the right below), I have 3 onigiri (a heart, a star and a bear) resting on a bed of lettuce. I lined each sides with cucumber slices and sprinkled minced red pepper for a dash of color.

In the bigger top tier (on the left below), I had steamed broccoli and carrots, sprinkled with minced red pepper for color. For proteins I cut strips of Canadian bacon and rolled them. Each little animal or sea critter skewers (that's the new ones I bought yesterday!) has one piece of red pepper, 2 rolls of Canadian bacon, and a piece of red bell pepper at the end. I used sushi grass to divide the steamed veggies and the skewers.


Here's a better view of my little picks/skewers:


Once closed, I put my box in my new little cooler bag. It's just the right size to put my box and a little ice pack.

Once it was all neatly packed, I used my bento cloth to make a little cloth basket. The idea is to be able to pack a fruit and my little napkin container without having to fit them in the cooler bag. Here's my wonderful husband showing off my little cloth basket. As I said, the cutsiness never ends!


There you have it, it's today's bento. I'm starting to feel pretty darned confident with this. I need to cook ahead, since I'm out of everything, but I've got to the point where I can throw a bento together in very little time and still have it look like something. I'm all happy!

Happy Bento everyone!