A multi sandwich bento, with hummus

Turkey sandwiches for all, butr the real star is my hummus, which is under my carrots.

Garlic-y oregano hummus-

1 can garbanzo beans (chickpeas

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves of garlic

1 teaspoon oregano

Process in your food processor.

Missed Post from Thursday

I meant to post this bento Thursday, but things happened.

My husband had a deconstucted sandwich with turkey, mayo, and tomato on a mutigrain bread.

Since I was craving a southwest flavor Brittany and I had egg noodles with sausage, black beans, and salsa, along with a tomato salad.

Everyone had a clementine and a half.

Mine and Brittany's bentos were 207 calories a piece.

My husband's sandwich was 308.

Bento 101 For just bento, assignments one and two!

Thanks to Makiko Itoh for doing the Bento 101 series (^_^).

Here are the first two assignments as I have filled them out.

You can get this chart as a word doc from Makiko Itoh's blog, Justbento.com!

A note on rice, it needs to be frozen to be good the next day. and with pasta, you have to oil/butter it properly and put it in a sealed container for it to not dry out.

 Here is the bento on a plate. Some Pork and bell pepper stir fry with some of Maki's Sweet Pepper and Carrot Confetti added in for extra flavor and color, 1/2 cup of medium grain rice, Carrot sticks, and 3 baked Crab Rangoons.

And here is all that food in a box. Simple, tasty, and healthy, provided you do not fry the rangoons (I think baked taste better, anyway).

SPECIAL FRIDAY EDITION: A tex mex shrimp and sausage bento!

This is for my 3 hour trip to another town today, my mother is going so I made lunch for my husband, my mother, and myself. (My mom is making a sandwich for my step-father.)

The contents are:

Steamed medium-grain rice
Carrots (1 whole each, scrubbed then cut into sticks)
Shrimp(3 each)
Smoked Cocktail sausages (2 and a half each for my husband and I's)
a little of yesterday's stir fry that I hadn't put sauce on and froze (for mom)
And
Salsa (pick the heat you like best, I went milder today, because my mom doesn't like too spicy things)

Each bento is 266 calories.

Happy Bento-ing!

I admit, sometimes I want Japanese-style food.

Today its little sausages cut to look like octopus, fish, and crabs (a mold is easier than a knife, and my molds should be in soon), a one egg tamagoyaki (Japanese sweet omelette) split between Brittany and I, a pork stir fry with bell pepper (my husband hates bell pepper, so his was cooked separate , a small amount of rice, and a hard boiled egg (there are molds for these too).

For mine and Brittany's, they are 324 calories each. My husband's is 419, due to the extra sausages.

I do love my silicone muffin cups. they make everything easier.

they aren't hard to clean either, for non sweets.

A trio lunch again, this time with feeling!

Another lunch to split between my husband, myself, and Brittany.

The pasta is VERY lightly coated in a pork and tomato meat sauce.

Brittany's is on top with "usagi ringo" (apples cut to look like rabbits) and Carrots.

Mine is below that with egg salad and crackers. (for 537 calories)

My husband has tuna salad made with mayo and granny smith apple, the extra apple goes into the compartment next to the crackers.


NOTE: put lemon on your apples to hinder browning. I'm sure you can find a LOT of Usagi Ringo tutorials so I'm not going to put one here, because taking photos during food prep is a pain.

BIG NOTE/WARNING: ALWAYS USE ICE PACKS WHEN USING MAYONNAISE ESPECIALLY IN WARMER WEATHER/LOCATIONS!!!! DO NOT SKIMP!!!

I am using TWO large Icepacks with today's lunch!!!

Crab rangoons for the freezer

Crab Rangoons (makes 84)
2 packages of won ton wrappers
For Filling:
1 can of crab meat
2 blocks 1/3 less fat cream cheese
1 tub garden vegetable cream cheese

Drain crab. mix filling ingredients. Fill won ton wraps, fold in half into a triangle.
If Freezing, place on single layer on cookie sheet. Freeze until firm then place in a freezer bag. 
If baking, brush with a small amount of oil and bake at 450 for 8 minutes or until golden brown.

Shrimp Scampi Bento for Three

This is a very simple lunch.

You cook 1 oz dry pasta per serving.

You cook 3 shrimp per serving in a pat of butter with a touch of garlic.

Then you top the pasta with the shrimp and butter.

I have served my husband's (the bear / custard pick) and mine (cat / ice cream cone pick) with a carrot and half a pear each. My friend Brittany (the bunny lunch) has peanut butter and 2 carrots. I decorated mine and Brittany's with some bell pepper cut-outs I made with some cutters I bought a while back; I made the cut-outs ahead of time and froze them. (my husband hates bell pepper).

The ones for my husband and I are 299 calories apiece.

add 190 on to that for Brittany's.

Finally got a new camera, so here it is- the power protein bento!

At 902 calories, this is a HUGE lunch.

Here's the break-down of the calorie content as calculated by myfitnesspal.com-


As you can see, this is about HALF your calories for the day, if you live a sedentary lifestyle. If you are living a very active lifestyle, however, this may only be a third or a quarter of your daily allotted intake.

This bento is actually for 2 meals for me, so at 451 for each half, that's not nearly as scary.

The "taco pasta" is simply taco seasoning and ground pork that I made last night, tossed with tomato and penne.

I make huge batches and freeze uncooked crab rangoons, to bake later (the recipe I will post later today). There are four in this lunch.

There is also light yogurt, applesauce, fruits, and veggies.

I added one decorative touch today. A cat/ice cream cone bento pick. It has a practical use as well, I can use it to pick up the pear pieces without using the fork that was in the pasta.