I laughed hysterically this morning as I started this post.  This is a not lost nor forgotten bento that I just had not gotten around to posting yet.  In fact, it is the last bento I made between then and the one I will post tomorrow.  The one that I’m eating for lunch today.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.  Why did I laugh so hard?  Because I started the draft for this post on July 13, 2010.  That’s when I ate this bento.  What a long, crazy, fun, mixed-up month it has been.  I might have been absent, but I hadn’t forgotten my ol’ blog here.  My plan in September is to be around with more bentos.  Not because I’m trying to turn over some new leaf.  Not for health reasons.  Not for any of those altruistic things. 

The reason more packed lunches MUST enter my life is because I’ve had another life change that resulted in my working in an area that has little to none eat-out/fast food/plate lunch type places.  I’m super excited about this change and am highly looking forward to it.  I’m also excited that it might force me back into the bento habit.  I’ve missed it but just allowed myself to be too lazy to keep up with it. 

And what about that long-ago bento.  Well, it was my first ever pot roast.  It was tasty.  It was seasoned well.  It was slightly overcooked.  Ah well.  Not bad for a first attempt!

It did  make a lovely bento with lemon mashed potatoes, steamed green beans, carrots, and the best deviled eggs I’ve made so far.  OMW, those were tasty, tasty.  I’ve finally figured out how to make them the way I like ‘em.  WHEEEE!

So hello again to all of you out there!  Here’s hoping I’m around with ALOT more bentos this month.  Otherwise, I’ll be unintentionally fasting.

As is usual with June, I become absent at Not Exactly Bento as work becomes super busy.  And super busy it has been.  But so fun.  With mid-July, I’m finally finding a bit of time to come back and say hello.

I didn’t even worry with packing bentos in June too much.  It was a mainly eat out month with a few spots of eating at home.  I packed a few bentos just so I wouldn’t “lose my touch” so to speak.  Though this first bento leaves alot to be desired.

When so busy, it is sometimes hard for me to think of quick things to cook.  In came Albertsons to the save this past month.  They have pork chops and steaks they will pre-marinate for you.  During June they ran a big sale on these, and I stocked up.  And they become my meals in June.  I brought them all home, cooked them that weekend, and then froze.  Popped one out for lunch or dinner when needed, and voila, near instant meal.  Was so easy and helpful.  In bento 303, a pre-seasoned pork chop is paired with Pasta Roni (herb variety) and some steamed vegetables.

Bento 304 was better planned.  A box of black beans and rice made a tasty side dish to the pre-seasoned pork chop along with grilled zucchini and hard boiled egg.  I also packed orange slices a bit of chocolate and a salad.  The only problem with this lunch is that it was WAY too much food.  I didn’t end up eating the salad portion.  I brought that home for lunch along with the orange slices.  A review of the black beans and rice will come on a Tuesday in the not so distant future.

I’ve had a great bento week this week.  I’m super pleased about that too!  And I’m super pleased about how today’s bento turned out.  It’s not often I use my Lock & Lock bento set, a set I happened to stumble across on Ebay one day.  I hear these things are a near urban legend in the U.S.  Last night, I had breakfast for dinner with eggs, ham, and biscuits.  A leftover biscuit found its way into today top tier along with a tangerine, toasted walnuts, and dried apple rings.

The bottom tier contains today’s main meal: frozen turkey meatballs, green beans, and carrots.

I’m already ready for lunch!  How about you?  The recipe for the turkey meatballs will post at noon today!

Be the bento everyone.  And don’t forget to have a great weekend too.

This morning was all about the quick fix for lunch.  I grabbed a vegetarian burrito from the fridge, whipped up some pseudo-tamagoyaki (that nearly fell apart on me argh!), and quickly made a bit of carrot kinpira in the same pan after the eggs were finished.  A cut up blood orange rounds out this bento.  The hardest part about this packed lunch?  Trying to find the right box to fit what I’d chosen to bring for lunch.  I tried out three boxes before settling on this one.  Which just means even more to wash this afternoon.  LOL!  I crack me up.

What’s for lunch on your end today?  Let me know below.

Be the bento everyone!

Here it is.  April 30, 2010.  The last day of the 30-Day Bento Challenge.  It’s been a busy two weeks with too much work and not enough life going on; but it’s not a complaint.  I like my work.  It just hasn’t left me enough time for bento-ing.  Though I have been eating in instead of out!  YAY!

I couldn’t pass up this day though without a bento.  Not on the last day.  I woke extra early to put a little bento together, took my picture, then went off to work.  It’s now evening time, and I’ve got some time to post about today’s bento.  One of the things I avoid packing is a sandwich.   You don’t seem them here too often on Not Exactly Bento because I feel that they are hard to pack.  While looking at the bread section of my local A/G grocery story yesterday, I noticed the packages of bagels, and it was a like a lightbulb went off in my head.  A bagel sandwich. Ooohhhh.  That would pack so much easier for me!

One reason I can’t stand to pack a sandwich is I don’t like what bread does when you make the sandwich and then refrigerate it.  I’m a wuss.  I don’t like to take the chance that something might go bad while I’m waiting to eat my bento lunch.I know the food safety guidelines on Biggie’s site.  I’ve read them.  I understand them.  I just have a mental block about it all.  But a bagel.  A bagel doesn’t have that same problem. It’s sturdier. 

I don’t think about buying bagels too much.  Finding a decent bagel in South Louisiana can be a hard things to find.  And my idea of a decent bagel is probably quite far from someone else’s.  I’m looking for something that comes prepackaged and tastes decent enough.  Gourmet bagels are not on my radar (or in my vicinity).  That’s why I was so excited when I found these little multi-grain wonders.  Their taste is good, and their size is perfect.  A few chips and carrots complete this bento box.

This weekend, I plan to tally up comments and get ready for the drawing for the bento boxes.  So look out this weekend for my post on how everything went for me, my thoughts on my challenge, and the announcement of winners.

Be the bento everyone!

Where do I begin with today’s bento?  I feel like I have so much to say that I don’t even really know where to start.  I guess I’ll start with saying how pleased I am with how it looks.  It is not often that I feel like I’ve packed a true bento box and not just a packed lunch.  But today, today I’ve hit my own personal bento nirvana.  Let’s take a look at what this box holds.  On the left is a panini with just plain old honey wheat bread with mozzarella cheese, spinach leaves from the farmer’s market, and some of the last of this week’s meatloaf.  Ahhh, I have high hopes that this thing is going to be overly tasty!  To the right of that bento-licious looking sandwich is a wedge of roasted cabbage with a small sauce bottle of lemon juice.  Roasted cabbage is a new-to-me item that will be featured on next Tuesday’s NTM post.  I’ll wait to say what I thought of it until then, but I will say that it appearing in my bento box is a positive sign.  We also have a few steamed carrots, a hard boiled eg, orange slices and two little pieces of dark chocolate.

This is beyond beyond.  I was looking for another different way to use the rest of that meatloaf and this sandwich came to mind.  Packed with the roasted cabbage, which is also my new recipe this week, and other leftovers from the fridge, I’m more than ready for lunch now!  Oh my!

When preparing to pack this lunch, I was really unsure of how to pack it.  I do not often pack sandwiches because I find them difficult to pack.  They don’t ever seem to fit right into the box and are always to high for the box I”m using.  However, this little plastic lunch container by Sterilite I found at Wal-Mart awhile back for $2.50.  They looked perfect for lunch so I had purchased two at the time.  Ever since then, I’ve used them often, and they have become a permanent fixture here on NEB.  Today, I realized that maybe this box would work.  While everything sits a bit too high for the box, that’s not a problem.

The top for this box is domed and curved around everything beautifully without smooshing everything down to bits.

And if you’re reading this on your blog reader, pop over to the post on Not Eactly Bento and take a look.  There is a new gallery feature with up close shots of different parts of today’s bento.  It isn’t something I plan to do for every bento, but this one deserved it.

This is for Day 1 of my 30-Day Challenge. What is the 30-Day Challenge? Check it out here.

This past weekend, I prepared for lunches this week.  I purchased brussel sprouts and red potatoes at the Farmer’s Market; they were roasted with herb seasoning and a bit of salt.  Two of the larger mini meatloafs I’d made and froze were defrosted for bento inclusion this week.  Yesterday, I made my first bento from this pile of goodies.  I love making bentos because I love leftovers.  I’ve often cook a meal for lunch the next day, and eat a sandwich for dinner.  I don’t know why, but that’s how my bento making tends to work.

The only thing when you make such a large amount of a meal is that sometimes by the end you’re so tired of what you made you hardly want to look at it again.  I’m always looking for little ways to combat that problem.  One way I keep the meal interesting from day to do is to add another side or two.  This  morning I steamed a few baby carrots and hard boiled three eggs.  I even went so far as to put one of the ggs into a fish mold.  Egads, I’ve gotten fancy all of a sudden!  LOL!  A grabbed a few spinach leaves to fill up the space a bit below the egg and added in the carrots for today’s lunch.  Now, things don’t look so completely like yesterday’s does.  And I’m completely ready to eat!  I hope you are too.

In a side note, I want to point out the graphic at the NEB’s front page.  On April 1, I’m announcing a 30-Day challenge focusing on accomplishing a bento goal that I have.  As part of this challenge, I plan to include NEB’s readers by asking, “What is your 30-Day bento challenge to yourself?  Do you have a goal you’d like to work towards completing?”  If you answer, YES! to this question.  Please consider entering the challenge when it is posted.  There will be chances to win bento box prizes at the end of April for those who choose to join and participate.  I hope you do!  In the meantime…

Be the bento everyone!

Carrots purchased from the Baton Rouge Farmer’s Market.

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I am soooo ready for spring to come back and lead into summer.  Louisiana has had a cold, wet winter this year.  Snow more than once this winter.  This is just so unusual for us.  I wear shorts for Christmas nearly as many years as I wear pants.  That’s just our weather.  I don’t even own a really good jacket for cold weather because it just doesn’t get that cold that often for that long.  This winter (and last year’s as well) is proving me wrong.  I’m ready for spring.  I’m ready for warmer weather, more sun, and some natural heat.

So no matter if this may not be the warmest bento for today.  It is what I made to think of spring and summer.  Easter and 4th of July.  Chicken salad and deviled eggs.  If it is too chilly today for a cold lunch, I’ll just kick my heater up at home and chow down. 

And so that I’m not eating all mayo-based product, a little side car bento is coming along.  It contains the last of my steamed carrots, eggroll, and zucchini/red onion skewer deals.

Be the bento everyone.  And if you’re suffering from cold weatheritis like me, I’ll say a little bento prayer for you. One that brings you warmth, blue skies, and birds.

Today’s bento contains much of the same as yesterday: meatloaf, eggrolls, steamed carrots, baked sweet potato, pan-grilled zucchini & red onion, and apple cake.

When I went to pack today’s meal, I realized that my Lock & Lock bento box set would work wonderfully for this bento.  It’s not often that I have enough sides to fill up all three parts of the second container.

WOOHOO!  I love it.  I love this box and don’t often use it.

Be the bento everyone!