Lunch for Tuesday, December 13, 2011

It has been a long time since I've made a cute lunch. I don't know what kept me from it. I have been busy but that never kept me from it before. I guess I was lacking inspiration.

Last night The Kid asked me if I would make him a lunch today since the school cafeteria was having some emergency work done and there would be no hot food line.

Last night I cooked some rice and roasted some sweet potatoes. For the sweet potatoes I cut them up, added some oil, cinnamon and brown sugar. Yum! I was eating some as I was packing it away in the frig.

It sure was hard to figure out what to put in the lunch since I have not been shopping for bento lunches. But I think I didn't do too bad for what we had.

For The Kids lunch he has chicken nuggets & BBQ sauce, white rice with black sesame, roasted sweet potatoes, a Babybel cheese, quail egg and homemade banana nut bread.



And since I was making The Kid a lunch I thought I would throw one together for myself. I used the rice to make a snowman giving him a pepperoni scarf. Also in this box I have my own roasted sweet potatoes, carrots, bell pepper, a Babybel cheese, quail egg soaked in soy sauce, beef sausage and banana nut bread.



Lunch for Thursday, October 27, 1011

Today's lunch is spaghetti leftovers and a salad. Not much to say about it. Yesterday was a leftover hamburger that got plastic baggy'd with some chips. I need some serious motivation/inspiration.




Snack for Tuesday, October 25, 2011

This was suppose to be my lunch but the more I scratched my head and thought about what to put in there the more disappointed I became. So I changed it to a snack. I was kind of at a loss this morning. I need to get back in the groove. And why do my bentos that suck take the longest to make? For as ugly as this one is it took so long to put together.

In the failed bento I have a tortilla cut with a ghost cutter, a laughing cow cheese wedge, ham & beef flowers, cherry tomatoes, a quail egg I attempted to make into a pumpkin, a mini sweet pepper and a carrot cut using a pumpkin cutter.




Lunch for Monday, October 24, 2011

Today's lunch is leftover couscous that I purchased from the Amish store in Branson, MO this weekend. I also have some leftover baked beans, chicken nuggets, carrots, BBQ sauce and a Babybel cheese.




Lunch for Friday, September 30, 2011

Today for lunch I made some Rosemary rice. I took chopped onion and sautéed it then added some minced garlic, salt and rosemary. I then added some water and fast cooking rice. It smelled so good this morning and I can't wait until lunch.

Also in this bento I have some chicken nuggets, grapes, cherry tomatoes, and a Babybel cheese.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.




Lunch for Thursday, September 29, 2011




Today's lunch has some Rosemary bread I made last night. If you are interested in info about the tags click my "Other Blog" link.
I used a recipe I found online. It was easy to make an tasty.

I also made a quick veggie gratin cup, added some smoked beef sausage, a little bit of broccoli, grapes, cherry tomatoes and a Babybel cheese.




Lunch for Wednesday, September 28, 2011

In this bento I have white rice, scrambled egg, ground beef, carrots, and green onion. In the thermos I have some chicken stock that I added soy sauce, pepper, garlic and more green onion. And I grabbed an apple from the table.

My sprig of rosemary is from the same coworker that gave me basil. I need to bake some rosemary bread. That would be yum!








Lunch for Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Today's lunch was just quickly thrown together. I took a leftover hamburger patty, crumbled it up and placed some rice on top and sprinkled it with black sesame seeds. I then threw in a Babybel cheese, cherry tomatoes, grapes and a piece if broccoli.

I think I'm going to try and skip the broccoli for a while. I have not been wanting to eat it. Although it holds things so well in bento.




Lunch for Saturday, September 24, 2011

The Kid and I decided to try out Bento Asian Diner in Broken Arrow, OK. For $8.00 each you get to pick out a soup, sushi (4 pieces), rice or lo mien, a meat, eggroll/wonton/dumpling.




The Kid loved his miso soup. I had the eggdrop. My soup was thick and tasty.



The Kid had teriyaki chicken, eggroll, steamed rice, & California roll. He liked everything except the eggroll.



I had chicken dumplings, fried rice, spicy chicken & shrimp tempura roll. Everything was very good.



We also got a Dragon roll to share. It wasn't too bad. We should have skip this though since we had plenty of leftovers. But I did eat those for lunch the next day.

Overall opinion of Bento Asian Diner... We would go back if we were in the area.

Lunch for Thursday, September 22, 2011


Today's lunch is leftovers again. Last night we had roasted red potatoes with fresh basil and roasted chicken. A co-worker gave me a whole bag of basil and I plan on using as much as I can in every meal.

I took the leftover chicken and made some chicken salad with grapes, green onion and garlic. For my chips I took a flour tortilla and cut it with a cookie cutter, sprayed with cooling spray, sprinkled with garlic salt and baked the pieces in my toaster oven. Also I have leftover red potatoes, grape tomatoes, a piece of basil, grapes and a Babybel cheese.



Lunch for Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Today's lunch is leftovers from dinner. I made panko breaded chicken. Mr Man and The Kid thought it was amazing. lol The Kid kept singing the song from Karate Kid that has the line "the best around". I'm glad he was singing it in reference to me. Usually I don't get those kind of compliments from The Kid.

I just threw in the leftover chicken, leftover mashed potatoes, a mini sweet pepper and some grapes. Quick and simple.



Lunch for Tuesday, September 20, 2011

I am attempting to do this post from my phone. We'll see how it goes. If it works pretty good I'll be even more convinced to want an iPad.

Today's lunch was an attempt to make a Matryoshka doll. I even meant to added some cute picks that match but I got in such a hurry that didn't happen. I have got to get moving in the mornings. I get up in plenty of time, I just don't use my time wisely. lol

I made the doll using a boiled quail egg that I soaked in soy sauce. I then place the egg in white rice and shaped it. I covered it with soy paper in yellow and orange. The face details are sugar sheet and provolone cheese that was colored with food coloring. I really wanted to use ham but The Kid had eaten it all.

In the rest of the box is smoked sausage, broccoli, grapes, carrot flowers, a mini sweet pepper and Babybel cheese.



Lunch for Friday, September 16, 2011

Today's lunch was pure inspiration from LuckySundae.  I was browsing Twitter this morning and saw her post here of some cute elephants.  I was in awe of how cute and how simple it was.  She even gave a tutorial !  Mine is not as cute as her's but it was inspiration.

I took some white rice out of the freezer and thawed it out in the microwave.  Then I added a handful of frozen mixed vegetables to a pan, heated that up, added the rice, some curry powder and salt.  It was tasty.  My elephants are made using provolone cheese, a circle cutter, straw and knife.  I colored the cheeks and ears with food coloring.  Also in this bento are some chicken nuggets, broccoli, red beans and a mini sweet pepper.

Lunch for Thursday, September 15, 2011

Today's lunch has almost the same things as Tuesday's.  Yesterday (Wednesday) I did have leftover mexican food but it was just grabbed from the refrigerator in a rush out the door.  I also havn't figured out how to turn spanish rice and refried beans into a cute lunch.

So for today I have another pasta casserole in the Hello Kitty thermos.  This one has bacon in it.  Yum.  In the small bento I have broccoli, a mini sweet pepper, grapes, cantaloupe and a quail egg that I turned into Hello Kitty herself.  Sheri of Happy Little Bento has made several Hello Kitty quail egg bentos.  Here is one example.  And now that I found a store that carries them I knew I had to try it out.  For mine I cut a bit off the back of the head and cut ear shapes out of it.  Then I cut slits into the top and added those ear pieces.  I luckily have a bow pick that works real well for the bow.  The nose is a piece of yellow soy paper.  The eyes and the whiskers are sugar sheet.

Lunch for Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Today's lunch is leftover pasta bake in my Hello Kitty thermos.  I love being able to heat up some leftovers shove them in the thermos and it is still hot at lunch time.  In my small Hello Kitty bento I have some broccoli, a Babybel cheese, a mini sweet pepper, a ham flower, provolone flowers cut with a fondant cutter, grapes, cantaloupe and a quail egg that I turned into a bumblebee. 

There is a bee on the thermos that gave me the inspiration to make one.  I colored the egg by soaking it in yellow food coloring, added wings using provolone cheese cut with a heart shaped cutter, and added two balls of cheese for eyes.  All of the black accents are sugar sheet.  I will be glad when I use up all of this.  The color runs so badly by lunch but it was not cheap so I am determined to use it up.

Lunch for Monday, September 12, 2011

Lunch today was leftover BBQ Chicken, red beans, broccoli, grape tomato, a mini sweet pepper, cantaloupe and grapes.  I decorated the top of the chicken with provolone cheese that I cut with a leaf cookie cutter and colored with food coloring.

Hello Kitty Winner

Thank you to everyone who entered and left your email address.  I love hearing about where and how you store your bento gear.  I recently purchased a bookcase from Ikea and placed it in my kitchen and have organized my bento items that way.  It has made a big difference.  I don't feel like I am taking everything out of the cabinet just to get to one bento.

We unfortunately had a couple of people that didn't follow the rules so they did not get entered.  It's important to read and follow instructions.  Especially if you are entering giveaways.  OK enough of the lecture and onto the winner.

I gave the qualifying entries a number based on the order they commented.

1 – MewlKitten
2 – MushMo
3 – lissieanne
4 – Silverwing
5 – Mermaid B
6 – Diana – FreeStyleMama
7 – Shirley
8 – Amy
9 – arkonite_babe
10 – Natakiya
11 – Gia_Pet

Then I used the random number generator to have it pick a number for me.
 
So our winner is Melissa (lissieanne)! 
Congratulations!

Lunch for Friday, September 9, 2011

Today's lunch is just ham and provolone on a hamburger bun.  I also put in the rest of the leftover potato salad and added a Milo with wings.  And there are some grapes, a mini sweet pepper and grape tomatoes.

Lunch for Thursday, Spetember 8, 2011

My lunches are getting noticed at my new job.  People will walk by and ask about it.  It's fun to talk about and explain what everything is.

Today's lunch has some more leftover potato salad, broccoli, a Babybel cheese, Smoked Beef Sausage cut into fix with sugar eyes, a mini sweet pepper, grape tomatoes, cantaloupe and grapes.


Hello Kitty Giveaway info

Lunch for Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Lunch today got a little cuter.  I made some Spam fried rice with onions and carrots thrown in.  On top I fried two quail eggs and added the picks and faces.  In the other container I put some grapes and cantaloupe.  Yum.


Make sure you enter my Hello Kitty Giveaway

Lunch for Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Today's lunch was just thrown together.  I was still on holiday mode and didn't want to get up.   But I still made a lunch.  Inside this bento is some leftover baked beans, leftover potato salad, a beef smoked sausage, broccoli, a Babybel cheese, a mini sweet pepper, grape tomatoes and some red grapes.  The only cute in this is my little duckie picks.


Don't forget to enter my Hello Kitty Giveaway.

Breakfast & Lunch for Friday, September 2, 2011

Today I made myself a breakfast and lunch.  For breakfast I made scrambled eggs and sprinkled some shredded mozzarella on top to melt.  I also toasted an Eggo mini cinnamon waffle, added some fruit and filled a bottle with syrup.  I love these type of breakfasts.


For lunch I used my new Hello Kitty bento box.  It is very small but cute.  I placed some fruit in an additional container and filled up Hello Kitty with some mashed potatoes that I attempted to shape into Hello Kitty, some smoked sausage, corn pieces, carrots, grape tomatoes and a Babybel cheese.  Not bad for leftovers.



Don't forget to enter my Hello Kitty Giveaway!  And make sure you include your email address.  Comments on the original post without an email address will be rejected.

GIVEAWAY TIME

It's a Hello Kitty everything sort of giveaway.


One lucky random winner will receive

1 - Hello Kitty insulated lunch bag
1 - Hello Kitty icepack
1 - Hello Kitty Bento box with clear lid
1 - Hello Kitty pick set
1 - Hello Kitty tin dish
1 - Hello Kitty Cherry Sours Candy tin

I know there are some Hello Kitty haters out there but personally I love Hello Kitty.  I had been wanting the Hello Kitty Bento box and picks for awhile.  Then I found the insulated bag and other items and I knew I had to buy one of each for me and one of each for you.  Just like last time this giveaway is sponsored by me using my personal money so I can conduct it however I want.

Here's the rules...
Leave any comment on this blog post.  Tell me about your summer or write about where you store your bento gear.  Anything goes.

Include your email address (no email address will mean you are NOT entered) so make sure you put it in the comment.  If you are not comfortable leaving your email address then send it to me at my email address mylunchiscuter at yahoo dot com.

Unlike last time, I am limiting this to one entry per person please.

You have until Saturday, September 10th to leave your comment.  I will randomly draw a winner shortly after that and contact the winner via email.

Good luck to you all!

Lunch for Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Lunch for today is tuna salad on a croissant.  The Kid wants some croissants from the store when we were buying the last of his school supplies.  I took the can of tuna, drained it, added some onion and pepper mix and some miracle whip.  It was yummy.  The eyes and cheeks are provolone cheese with some sugar sheet accents.  In the rest of the bento is a cut fruit mix of mango, strawberry, grapes and apples and a Babybel cheese.

Lunch for Monday, August 29, 2011

Lunch today is fried fish, hushpuppies with onion and peppers mixed in, broccoli, grape tomato and a Babybel cheese.

Lunch for Friday, August 26, 2011

Today's lunch has some leftover spaghetti with provolone cut hearts on top, broccoli, some peppers and onion I chopped to put on the spaghetti, a Laughing Cow cheese wedge, grape tomatoes and a brown sugar mochi. 

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Lunch for Thursday, August 25, 2011

Today's lunch was inspired by Lia of Bentolicious's Pea Boy bento.  I have the same pick set and never thought of them as head accents.  I took my two lemon picks and added them to some rice I colored yellow.  I also used some provolone cheese and sugar sheet for the facial accents.

Also in this bento are chicken nuggets, broccoli, grape tomatoes, a Laughing Cow cheese wedge and a brown sugar mochi.

See the new bento box?  It's by Smart Planet and it's collapsible and also has a spork in the lid.  I bought two so look for the extra one in an upcoming giveaway.

Lunch for Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Today's lunch is SPAM sushi.  I'm sure it has a name but I'm just a mid-American girl so I don't know.  I used some soy paper to wrap them.  I also added sugar eyes.  Also in this bento is broccoli, a Babybel cheese, grape tomatoes and soy sauce.

Hopefully soon I will have my order in so I can post my next giveaway.  I have been also buying things for the giveaway after the one coming up.  I love to buy one for me and one for you.  Now if that blasted order would come in, we could have some fun.

Lunch for Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Today's lunch is just a sandwich.  A peanut sandwich at that.  I wasn't sure if I was going to go out to eat with a former co-worker or not so I wanted it to be something that I wouldn't be sad if it was tossed.  I used my circle cookie cutter and my large cupcake cookie cutter to make this face.  The hat is made using the top of the cupcake with an added small circle and some picks.  The face is a circle with sugar sheet accents (ugh) and ketchup for the cheeks.  Also in this bento are girl scout cookies, broccoli and a Babybel cheese.

Lunch for Thursday, August 18, 2011

I sure am eating lunch out at lot.  Either with new co-workers or former or both together.  So there hasn't been as many bentos.  I'm sure this will slow down once work is not that new to me anymore and we all get into our routines.  The funny thing is that there are no places to eat close by my new job.  It takes at least 15 minutes to get anywhere except for a subway, a slow hamburger joint and an awesome place called Pecan Porch.  Pecan Porch is a very unique place that has an amazing chicken salad sandwich.

This lunch has the last of my freezer stash 7-up marinade chicken.  I really need to make up some more chicken.  I did make 3 cups of rice and portioned it out and placed in the freezer.  I really never knew how much adding some mirian to my rice and washing it before cooking really helped the flavor until I was in a hurry one time.  This batch was definitely done right.

Also in this bento I have broccoli, a Babybel cheese, grape tomatoes, a brown sugar mochi, and a quail egg decorated with sugar sheet.  I have really got to stop using the sugar sheets.  They leave items looking like crap by the time lunch come around.  But I really can't stand the nori.  Maybe I need to try a different brand.  I did buy some more soy paper.  Too bad that doesn't come in black.

Lunch for Tuesday, August 16, 2011

I'm going to try and catch up on some lunch post.  Not having my very own computer is a strange new experience.  Also not being able to post from work is entirely new too.  I know I can use Mr Man's computer whenever I want but it's just not like having your own.

For this lunch I have leftover Vanilla Balsamic Chicken, white rice, carrots, a Babybel cheese, quail egg decorated with sugar sheet (this melted completely and looked BAD by lunch time), broccoli, grape tomatoes, ranch dressing and strawberries.

Lunch for Friday, August 12, 2011

For lunch today I tried to make the bagels look like a lake monster.  I cut a bagel in half and added some ham.  I took another piece to make the head and added a candy eye.  I have Nessie in a lake of broccoli.

Also in this bento I have a Laughing Cow cheese wedge, grape tomatoes, a beef hotlink, a mini sweet pepper and a strawberry.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Lunch for Thursday, August 11, 2011

Today's lunch has mushrooms made from quail eggs.  I cut the tops off and soaked in red food coloring.  Then I cut some provolone cheese for the white dots.  The steams are just pieces of the rest of the eggs.  I put mushrooms on some white rice that I sprinkled with black sesame seeds.

In the rest of the bento I have some chicken nuggets, a Babybel cheese, a mini sweet pepper, broccoli and grape tomatoes.  In the other container I have some strawberries and cantaloupe.  I left the lid on it since it matched my mini mushrooms.

Lunch for Wednesday, August 10, 2011

We finally went to the grocery store and I was able to get things for my bentos.  It seems like The Kid is eating things quicker than we can buy them.  Things I get for my bentos would suddenly disappear.  I will be so glad when school starts next week so he is not home all day eating whatever he wants (aka my bento items).  But then again he does get home from school before I get home from work.  Ugh!

In this bento I have a mini bagel (The Kid ate three of these during the day today), some deli ham, a laughing cow cheese wedge, carrots, broccoli, grape tomatoes and strawberries (last pack of strawberries never made it to any bento, thanks to The Kid).  I know I am harping on The Kid but we don't go to the grocery store very often and he seems to eat everything within the first few day that we have food.  The gallon of orange juice we purchased late last night is already half gone.  OK enough of the complaining.

I made the mini bagel into a baby by adding a quail egg in the center of the bagel and added a pick.  The eyes are just candy eyes and the cheeks are deli ham. 

This is the first time I tried quail eggs.  I purchased a can of them from the Vietnamese grocery store.  All I could find was the canned.  To me it seemed kind of dry.  But I will try and make sure to use up the whole can.  I wonder what I will make with them next time?

Lunch for Wednesday, August 3, 2011

This lunch was made using leftovers from dinner.  I have a hotdog, a mini sweet pepper, leftover homemade mustard potato salad, a sweet gherkin pickle and some cantaloupe.


I know I have been missing but I have been buying items for a BIG back to school giveaway.  Make sure you stay tuned and I will try to post more and also details for the giveaway when everything arrives. 

Lunch for Thursday, July 28, 2011

This bento is just a simple ham sandwich, chips made with a flour tortilla that I cut and baked with garlic salt on top, some salsa, ham flowers and some strawberries.  The butterfly pick is something I found at Michaels craft store.

Lunch for Wednesday, July 27, 2011

This lunch was inspired by all the new faces at my new job.  There are so many new people to get to know and learn their names.

In this bento are some SPAM sandwiches, a mini sweet pepper, a Babybel cheese, sweet gherkin pickle, cherry tomato and a strawberry.  The faces were made with provolone cheese, American cheese and sugar sheet accents.

Lunch for Tuesday, July 26,2011

No I have not dropped off the face of the earth.  I have been in the middle of a job change.  Things were unsure as for lunch plans and I wasn't sure if I was going to be walked out of work, eat out with friends from the old job, eat out with new co-workers, etc.  So I have not been taking the time to make a whole lot of bentos.  Also my laptop died and I am borrowing Mr Man's laptop to post right now.  I didn't realize how much personal business I did on the work computer until now.  lol

For this lunch I made purple jasmine rice, a tamagoyaki, teryaki chicken, pickled cucumbers and carrots, a mini sweet pepper, cherry tomato and a strawberry.

Lunch for Thursday, July 14, 2011

Last night I made some fried rice with SPAM in it.  And to make sure I would have enough leftover for lunch I made 8 cups worth.  There was a lot of it but there was only enough leftover for The Kid to have a small portion for lunch and for my lunch.  We love our fried rice, well The Kid and I do.  Mr Man didn't want any because of the SPAM and ate some soup.  But he did end up eating a small part of the rice after all.

In my fried rice I have SPAM, egg, onion, green onion, and a veggie mixture of peas/carrots/green beans.  It is very tasty and I can't wait to have some for lunch.

Also in this bento I have grapes, broccoli, carrots, grape tomatoes, a Babybel cheese and a frog made using provolone cheese that I soaked in green food coloring and added sugar sheet features.

Lunch for Tuesday, June 12, 2011

This summer has been one of the hottest I remember.  Every day has been over 100 degrees and there is no relief in sight. 


I have seen a couple of heat related jokes lately that made me laugh.
"It's so hot the squirrels are using potholders to lift their nuts."
"It's so hot I saw two trees fighting over a dog."

I found some small pickling cucumbers at a farmer's market and paid only .94 cents for about 8 of them.  I sliced them, added some cut carrots, poured in some vinegar, sugar and salt & put them in the refrigerator.

In this bento I have purple jasmine rice, teriyaki chicken, broccoli, carrots, a grape tomato, refrigerator pickles with carrots and some grapes.

Lunch for Friday, July 8, 2011 and my holiday recap

Wow it has been over a week since I made a bento.  With time away for the holiday and work providing lunch there was no need.

For the 4th of July holiday we went to Eureka Springs, AR.  It is a small touristy town that tries to keep a Victorian feel to it.  The buildings are but the people and shops are not.  There were a few stores that carried antiques at a reasonable price but most were charging too much in my opinion.  The restaurants were making lots of money on the tourist as well.  I knew that before we left but it was still a shock to see what someone would charge for a plate of food.

View of our building

We stayed in a wonderful old building.  There is only one room available called Twilight Terrace and it occupies one half of the entire bottom floor.  The room was wonderful except for the hard mattress.  I didn't want to stay in some old cottage that reminded me of grandmothers.  This place had modern furniture and the decor was more my style.





The details of this place were amazing.  From the handles on the doors, the furniture, the stone walls.  It was cleaner than a hotel room as well.  I could have lived there.

I was being nosy and in the top drawer of the desk were letters written by people who had stayed there.  They mentioned how much they liked the place, gave tips on where to eat, suggested things to do.  It was a sweet tradition and gave the room that much more character.

We ate at a few places in town.  The first being Casa Colina.  The salsa is wonderful.  We dined out on the terrace.  It may have been in the 90 degree range but it wasn't too hot under the trees.  I had the Casa Colina Crepes.  They were crepes filled with mushroom, shrimp and spinach and topped with pineapple salsa.  They were so good.

Another place in town that we just happen to run across is call The Dog House.  They serve up several style of hotdogs in three different sizes.  The largest being a footlong that is about a quarter size in diameter!  I had their medium KC Dog.  It had bacon, relish, onion, bbq sauce, and green onions.  It was delicious.

For buffet dining we ate at Forest Hill.  I can say for breakfast it is very tasty.  Especially the white gravy.  I could have drank the gravy.  But their dinner buffet was a disappointment.  They had a few items that were good and the dessert was fantastic but overall we wouldn't eat dinner there again.

Our last evening there we ate at The Rowdy Beaver.  Mr Man was unimpressed with the chicken fried steak but I absolutely loved my Honey Bourbon Steak.

Shopping in this town can be lots of fun.  There are so many unique places. 

My favorite was called Something Simple.  Everything in the old house was white, black and/or cream colored.  One of my favorite features of the house was the staircase leading upstairs.  There were old numbers and door plates positioned at the bottom of each step.  I also found a giant sock monkey in the bedroom upstairs.  I should have purchased him since he wasn't that expensive.  Ah but I can only imagine how the cats would have reacted to him.

Enough of my vacation adventures and onto today's lunch.  My bento stash is without many items at the moment and I really was surprised that I could come up with a bento at all.  I still have some fish leftover from Mr Man's catches.  So I fried that up and used a premade mixture to make some hush puppies.  I did add some chopped green onion into it before I fried it.  Also in this bento is broccoli, carrots, grapes, a Babybel cheese and grape tomatoes.


I hope everyone has a great weekend!