Lunch for Monday, February 28, 2011

Last day of February and into March we go.  Which for us around here means severe weather.  Even last night there was a tornado north of where I live and yesterday and today is rainy.  Dang I should have made a rainy day bento.  Oh well there is always tomorrow. 

For today's lunch I have white rice, chicken nuggets, an egg, green beans, carrots and a couple more of those mini banana nut muffins.  My grandmother always kept her banana nut bread in the frig and that is where I am keeping these muffins.  They last so much longer in there and the flavors just melt together.  mmmm 

Nothing too special about today's lunch except that I was able to use some of my new bento making supplies.  I was in a hurry this morning since the kid had to catch the bus 15 minutes earlier than usual.  The school is trying to makeup the 11 days they missed because of a blizzard a few weeks back.  So they decided to start school 15 minutes early and dismiss 15 minutes later.  The kid was not too happy about waking up earlier.

Lunch for Thursday, February 24, 2011

For today's lunch I actually spent a little bit of prep time in the evening to make myself a charaben.  I decided to make 2-D, the lead singer, from the band Gorillaz.  I love the Gorillaz even if they are a "virtual" band.  I enjoy the music and appreciate the talented people that sing and play in this band.  Maybe we'll see more band members in future bentos.

In this box I have white rice, carrots, green pepper, balsamic sesame chicken and a mini banana nut muffin.  2-D is made of beef bologna, cheddar cheese and nori.  Enjoy!

Lunch for Wednesday, February 23, 2011

The missing bento box has been found!!!  Yippee!!  I enlisted the help of the kids first hour teacher and she was able to locate it.  Mrs. Neumann you are our hero.  But then I found out the kid has been abusing his lunch account again and getting two cookies everyday with his hot lunch from school.  That means he is already out of lunch money for this two weeks.  Grrr. 

But enough of that, onto lunch for today.  Today I have leftover baked potato.  I cut it up and sprinkled some sea salt on it and added some chicks using a cookie cutter on sliced cheese, nori eyes and black sesame seed eyelashes.  Then I put some shredded cheese, butter, green onion and salsa in the other container.  I will just throw it all together and heat this up a little at lunch. 

My new chick container which came in a pack of 3 from the $1 store holds two eggs that I will probably eat for my breakfast.  The chick container is meant to be a candy container for Easter baskets but of course when I saw it I knew I could use it for a variety of things.  They also had bunny faces and carrots.  The bunny faces were not transparent but I still wish I had bought the other two styles.  When is too much stuff just that... too much?

Lunch for Tuesday, February 22, 2011

For lunch today I have a deconstructed sandwich using white bread, beef bologna and cheddar cheese. I am ready for spring so I wanted to make a flower garden.  I used a fondant cutter to cut the flowers and then added some small green ball picks. I separated my sandwich from the other items with some fake grass baran. Also in this box I have some green beans that were sautéed with garlic and green onion, carrots and a mini banana nut muffin.

And I am sad to say the kid lost his bento box when leaving school yesterday. I have emailed one of his teachers and hopefully they can find it. I am really upset about this because I don't think they make that color anymore. ugh. But that just means I will not make anymore lunches for him. Well, unless they find his bento box because I am not letting his use one of mine.

Lunch for Monday, February 21, 2011

This last weekend was such a whirlwind.  I went to visit my parents and got my hair cut, a manicure, my first ever pedicure, went out to eat with many family and friends and went shopping with my mother.  Glad to be home.

For today's lunch I am still trying to make them cuter.  I realized I needed to put just a little extra effort into them to make myself happy.  And while preparing my lunch this morning the kid decided he wanted a lunch too.  So I had to half some of my foods so that he could catch the bus in time and so I could get to work.

Today we have udon noodles, tamagoyaki, stem mushrooms with green onion, carrots, broccoli, mini banana nut muffins.  The picture of my lunch I took at home looked very bad so I retook a photo at my desk.  It's not great but it's a lot clearer than the other one I took.  I hope everyone else had a great weekend.

the kids lunch

my lunch

Lunch for Friday, February 18, 2011

For today's lunch have a sandwich, green beans, carrots, sweet gherkin pickles and a mini banana nut muffin.  I made the muffins last night and one batch made a lot.  I used a paw cookie cutter and turned it upside down to make my mushroom looking people.  Still waiting for my bento supplies to arrive to make better faces.

Lunch for Thursday, February 17, 2011

For today's lunch I made some white rice, chicken breast cooked in 7-Up Marinade, carrots, broccoli and grapes.  I made the flourish using a green onion.  Kind of looks like some wild grass behind a rock.  I hadn't made rice in a long time because I was trying to watch calories but it makes such a great backdrop for cute lunches.  Ugh the agnoy... cute lunch or less carbs.

Lunch for Tuesday, February 15, 2011

For today's lunch I have frozen chicken nuggets that will thaw out by lunch, carrots, broccoli, grapes and yes folks those are Girl Scout cookies.  Yum yum!  And hopefully soon I will get to making cuter lunches again.  I received some money for my birthday and I purchased a few items from my bento wish list.  Can't wait until they arrive!

Lunch for Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Being snowed in sure has taken a toll on my bento making.  I missed 4 days of work and we are suppose to get another snow storm this evening.  Ugh!  But for today I made it into work and I took the kid with me.  And I made us both bento's.  We have dumplings, red wine vinegar chicken, carrots, broccoli, grapes and strawberries.  Hope everyone stays warm!


my lunch



the kids lunch



Lunch for Friday, January 28, 2011

More leftovers for today's lunch.  Only difference is these are a lot less in calories and no pasta.  So for today I have roasted chicken, cut green beans, mashed potatoes with a cheese rabbit, a few grape tomatoes and some diced peaches.  The cheese is actually lactose free from Borden.  I was so excited to see this in the store since I am lactose intolerant.  And it taste just like regular American cheese.  Yipee!!  Now if they would just come out with some Swiss cheese that is lactose free.


207 Calories - 3.7g Fat - 23.2g Carbs - 16.6 Protein



Lunch for Thursday, January 27, 2011

Today for lunch I have leftover pasta bake, a salad and some sugar free jello.  This is a lot higher in calories than I like but if I don't eat the leftovers no one else in the house will.  I would love to get away from eating pasta for dinner but the rest of the family has been complaining about eating so much chicken.  Oh how I wish there was more support at home for my diet.  It wasn't even my idea to start dieting at the beginning of the year.  Oh well, at least I am the one following through with it and didn't give up after two days.

406 Calories - 15.7g Fat - 44.7g Carbs - 19.1g Protein

Lunch for Wednesday, January 26, 2011

For today's lunch I have frozen chicken nuggets (these will thaw out by lunch time), broccoli, grape tomatoes, grapes and a small container of Bar-B-Q Sauce.  I was tempted to make some faces and put on some of the grapes but I would have had to hand cut them.  I really need to get some nori face punches.  sigh

267 Calories - 10.3g Fat - 35.7g Carbs - 11.1g Protein



Lunch for Tuesday, January 25, 2011

For lunch today I pulled out some Balsamic Sesame Chicken from the freezer and made a tamagoyaki using egg white mix.  I always use the recipe from Just Bento but I think next time I make it using egg white mix I will omit the extra water.  It seemed too runny.  Oh well, I tried a little piece as I was packing it and it tasted just fine.  I also put in some grapes, grape tomatoes and a piece of broccoli.  It's been a long time since I had broccoli in my bento.  I think I was getting burned out on it.  But it has been a while so I'm ready for more. 

I will start posting the calorie count of my lunches.  I have been trying to lose some weight since January 1st.  New Year resolution and all.  I realized my lunches are not very many calories and I have been proud of that.  Even when I was not trying to diet they were nutritious.  Now I am sure some people will find flaws in my calorie counts but I measure, weigh and figure EVERY thing I put in my mouth.  And the calorie counts are as accurate as I can get them.

So far I have lost 13.2 pounds and I have been exercising every day.  A little at first and now I am working my way up to more a day.  I have lots of trouble with my legs so it is hard but I just keep going no matter how bad my legs hurt.


171 Calories - 4.5g Fat - 18g Carbs - 14.2g Protein



Lunch for Monday, January 24, 2011

Today for lunch I have salad, baked chicken and some Sugar Free Starwberry Jello.  The salad and chicken are leftover from last nights dinner.  YUM!

Lunch for Friday, January 21, 2011

There was no bento for me yesterday since it was snowing.  I knew it would take longer to get to work so I opted for a beef pot pie that I could place in the microwave at work.  But for today I have leftover spaghetti, chicken breast marinaded in 7UP Citrus Marinade and a cake ball.  The cake balls were made with the leftover scraps from when I made cupcakes last week.  I used Bakerella's recipe for them.  They are yummy little treats.  I just can't believe I got 12 cupcakes, 2 mini cakes and 25 cake balls out of one cake mix.  Score!  I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Lunch for Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Last night I made chicken nuggets using panko bread crumbs.  OMG they were so good!  What I have here is all that was left of a whole pan of them.  I also have some carrots and a boiled egg.  I had boiled a whole dozen eggs because Mr Man said he wanted those for breakfast.  I think there are still a half dozen left.  So I have been taking them for lunch.  How long do eggs last after you boil them?  Gonna have to look that one up.

Lunch for Tuesday, January 18, 2011

No leftovers from last night.  So for today I have teriyaki chicken, boiled egg and chicken dumplings.  I need to make a bento grocery trip.  I feel like there is nothing to put in my lunches.  sigh

Lunch for Monday, January 17, 2011

Leftovers again and that is OK with me.  For today I have Balsamic Vanilla Chicken, Steamed carrots, mashed potatoes, grape tomatoes and sweet gherkin pickles.  Mmmm...  And this meal is only 317 calories!  The other day I took one of those Lean Cuisine meals to work since I was in a hurry and it was a whopping 380 calories for 9 ounces of food!!!  I was so disappointed.  I knew that I could make a meal and it would be more filled and a lot less calories.  I was right!  No more grabbing one of those for lunch.

Lunch for Friday, January 14, 2011

Nothing special just leftovers.  But they were very tasty.  Today I have brown rice, spring rolls, green beans and some grape tomatos.

Dessert for Thursday, January 13, 2011

No lunch for today but I will post about some cupcakes I made for a friends birthday.  One of my friends that I work with is celebrating her birthday tomorrow and I was asked to make a cake.  Well I have been seeing all of my friends on Facebook post cupcake pictures and I wanted to make some too.  And I was trying to not have to make a trip to the store.  So I knew I had a box of red velvet cake mix in the cabinet, some cool whip in the freezer and some candy melts left over from Christmas.

I mixed all the ingredients for the cake mix and poured them into twelve cupcake liners and took the leftover mix and poured it into a 9-in round pan.  After they were cooked and cooled I took the Cool Whip and added some powered sugar and a unflavored geletin packets and whipped it up.  Once it was firm enough I piped it onto the cupcakes.  Then stuck those in the frig and started melting the candy melts.  I put the gooey mess into a pastry bag and piped designs onto some wax paper and stuck that in the freezer.  About 10 minutes later I pulled the candy melt designs out of the freezer and stuck them in the whipped topping.  Then I sprinkled them with cocoa powder.


Very cute, don't you think?

With the leftover round cake I cut it into circles.  I was able to get five circles out of the 9-in cake.  I took two of them and stacked them up and crumb coated the double stack and placed it in the freezer for a little bit.  Then I pulled them out and put the final layer of whipped topping on.  And of course I added a candy melt design and cocoa powder to the the top.


A baby cake!

Then I placed them all on a cake carrier.  And it actually looked like that when I arrived at work.  No disasters of smashed cake.  Yippee!


All together now

And I also made a card for the birthday girl.  I was going to match the card to the cake but I like this just as well.  Happy Birthday LaRinda!

The card I made.  Details for it can be found at http://www.paperscraping.blogspot.com/