Another two-for-one special

Going backwards and starting with today's bento:

We made meatballs for dinner one night in the crockpot, and I asked to leave a couple out so I could put them in a lunch. Then I made some penne the night before, and put the two together with a little container of spaghetti sauce on the side.
Also in this bento:

• Bisquick biscuits (at this rate, I'll be out by the end of band camp)
• One of the last few egg rolls still in the freezer
• Red beet egg (We're not going to make it to market this week! I'm so upset, I love packing these in my lunch!)
• lots of grapes and an apple on the side

Now yesterday's:

In this lunch:

• salad with leftover chicken, some broccoli and carrot flowers
• bisquick biscuits
• apple, some cherries, almonds, red beet egg

4 days down, 4 to go! I have the sock tan to prove it.

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Two-for-One

I found one picture leftover from the end of last week that somehow got lost in transit...(my computer is in the shop, so I'm a little out of my element on someone else's) and I also have one for today's band camp.

Last week's bento:

Inside:

• little ham and cheese flower sandwiches
• potato 'chips' (cut/baked them myself, didn't get very crispy but were still good)
• salad with carrot and red beet egg
• some goldfish and apple

Band Camp Bento:

Inside:

• bisquick biscuits with cheddar and a slice of pepperoni. The cheddar was heart shaped too, but I microwaved them to make the cheddar stick, and it lost shape.
• salad and grapes
• red beet egg, apple, soft pretzel bites.

The camp bento took me about fifteen minutes, with prep the night before (cutting the cheddar and pepperoni and putting them with the biscuits), and it's actually one of my favorites. Maybe because all the cheese and pepperoni is so bad for me! ;)

Or because it actually somewhat resembles a bento lunch for once! Either way, this is going to be my link over on What's for Lunch Wednesday! :)

2 days of band camp down, 7 more (and 7 lunches!) to go.

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Muffin Tin Monday and first-day-at-band-camp bento

A very quick Muffin Tin Monday (and not technically in a muffin tin...oops)


Bottom row: part of a homemade baguette with turkey and lettuce
Top row: Carrots in dip, watermelon, Broccoli

Check out other Muffin Tin Meals here :)

In other news, today was the first official all-day band camp. Phew. I survived with a bit of sunburn, some wonky sock tan, and sore feet (better sneakers in my future). This morning's bento took me less than twenty minutes, with some minimal prep last night:

Turkey/lettuce/mayo sandwich on more baguette, with broccoli and watermelon, a red beet egg, grapes underneath sun chips. YUM.

Yes, it's pretty similar to the muffin tin meal. Can you tell I'm trying to use up certain foods? ;)

I've got the guinea pig running around here on the desk just begging for attention, so adorable.

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Quick Sunday Lunch

A quick Sunday lunch after we get home from the grocery store:


What's in my quick lunch bento?

• Turkey/Mayo/Romaine wrap with pre-cut carrot flowers
• Grapes and a red beet egg
• Sweet Potato Fries! I was hoping they'd get crispy, but instead they just got dark :) still good though!

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Today we officially went shopping for 'Back to School' supplies. It's dawning on me that the summer is coming to a close! I'm looking forward to the schedule and structure of school, but I also like having the kitchen all to myself over the summer ;)

Over the next two weeks, I'm going to finish testing all my freeze-ahead quick-bento foods, hopefully get my bento box (fingers crossed, remember?) and get ready for school (that means finishing the summer homework I haven't touched yet).

Faux Lunchable? and my list for the market

Ahh, Lunchables. I loved them when I was a kid. Why don't I love them anymore? Because now I understand the Nutrition Facts label. ;)

So I drew some inspiration from a childhood favorite, for a little lunch:

• Wheat Crackers (only ended up eating about half of these, eyes are too big for my stomach)
• Watermelon in a silicon cup
• Red Beet Egg
• Half a leftover hot dog over some turkey, cheddar cheese beside that

This is definitely a child-like lunch!

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We're going to the market in a few hours when my mom gets off work, and so far my list is:

• Broccoli/Cauliflower (broccoli for me, cauliflower for sister)
• 1 lb turkey
• 6 Red Beet Eggs (6 for $3 at my favorite stand)
• Red Grapes
• Romaine Lettuce
• 1/4 watermelon (last Friday we got a half, and it took us all week to finish)

That's pretty much it, unless something grabs our eye while we're there. Last week we got a block of cheese, which we're still eating....Everything else we buy at the grocery store on Sundays.

Clean out the fridge Bento

Towards the end of the week, it becomes very necessary to start cleaning out all the leftovers/anything that would go bad if it stuck around for too much longer.



















In this lunch:

• leftover crouton chicken (so good! probably not good for you though ;0)
• the end of a dole salad bag with dressing
• grapes and carrot sticks

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Band Camp Bento

AKA I'm-in-a-hurry-'cause-if-I'm-late-for-camp-they'll-KILL-me-so-I'd-better-get-this-bento-done. ;)

Still, I love packing a lunch and actually TAKING it somewhere!

Inside:

• Tuna on a sandwich round
• leftover egg roll (which was still mostly frozen when I put it in, but thawed out by the time we ate)
• baby carrots, grapes, and some almonds

In another small container, I also took some salad, and the only fork that would fit inside was this cute bunny fork! Dressing in the blue-lidded container.

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Also check out What's for Lunch Wednesday for more lunches!

I am a child at heart...and stomach.

Ever since I became attracted to bento-style foods, lunches, etc., I've also been leaning towards cute little bite-size foods.

This especially came through in one lunch in particular:

I was running a little late and wanted something quick and easy (but still with a peanut butter fix). I settled for:

• tuna wrap roll-ups
• apple, celery, and carrot sticks
• peanut butter
• goldfish

Always something sweet, and something salty :)

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Easy Breezy Peanut Butter Bento

Craving peanut butter? I sure am.

Today's bento:

• Tuna on a sandwich round
• Half an apple
• peanut butter for dipping
• animal crackers, carrot sticks, grapes

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Muffin Tin Monday

This is my first Muffin Tin Monday. I toyed with the idea of it since I began making bentos (a lot of mommy bento bloggers post MTMs) but this was the first time I seriously attempted. It will definitely not be the last!

I used a mini muffin tin since it was just for me, and inside I had:

• a leftover bisquick biscuit (say that five times fast)
• some failed mac n cheese (Note to self: basil is not good in macaroni and cheese, and milk is your friend) (edit: I made some more to see if I could perfect the recipe...and this time I added too much milk.)
• cheese flowers, with some great cheddar I got at the market (the orange pieces)
• turkey roll-ups (another market find!)
• baked tortilla chips. I burnt them. I'm not having a good oven day.

So, the next two mondays I'm at band camp all day, and after that...school (ahhhh!). But hopefully I can still do some sort of muffin-tin breakfast type meal?

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In other news, the bento box I ordered has officially been shipped out from Japan. They say shipping can take anywhere from 2-5 weeks, depending on where you live. In order to recieve the box before school starts, it has to come in 3 weeks, 3 days. Yikes. Cross your fingers for me!