Dad's bento (#53)

Today is the last day of play testing on the sub ride.

Even though he has plans to take a bunch of co-workers out for pizza, I put together a chicken nugget roll-up meal for him to construct later. I crammed in the last of the cut-up watermelon from earlier in the week.

Of course, I put the bento together and realized that I'd packed the top lid of the Hakoya box and had to REMAKE the lunch properly moments later.

Hubster's Long Saturday bento (#52)

Loooong day for the Hubster today as he preps for the last play testing tomorrow. (Hopefully, the ride will ship next week!)

It's a ham and cheese sandwich, cheeses and chocolates. More of yesterday's watermelon sits in the tight upper container.

Since he needs lots of sustenance to stay awake into the wee small hours, his bag also included some homemade hummus, crackers, dried fruit, and extra chocolates.

Family bentos (#49, #50 and #51)

I was up stupid late last night doing what turned out to be the less important of two writing projects for my overworked hubby.

Six AM came verrrry early today and I had to not only drag myself out of bed to get going, but had to motivate The Boy with some intense hollering.

Yes... it was definitely hollering.

While he got showered, flapped his hair into True Awesomeness, and discarded two sets of shorts before hollering back that he didn't have enough shirts in his drawer FULL of shirts, I got his breakfast and lunch ready.

It's just a ham and cheese sandwich, some pretzels and cheese. The time-consuming addition was a watermelon that I cut up to include in the sealed container of this Hakoya box.

I packed two identical lunches for myself and the Hubster:

A big container of watermelon, some turkey sausage I fried up and let cool, leftover quesedillas, some cheese, some crackers and my favorite cookies from Ikea.

I really liked these boxes I got at Ikea yesterday -- they washed well in the dishwasher without warping one iota. They are quite deep and, since this lunch didn't have a ton in it, I know my food will shift around a bit. (I realized now that I should have added some veggies to tighten it up!)

In all today's lunches, I used the "vegetable" picks I got from Daiso and they looked really adorable without being cutesy.

Ikea products for bento

We had several doctors appointments today (still no definite Celiac diagnosis, but we've scheduled the endoscopy for late June.) As we left the last one, I realized that we'd be passing an Ikea on our way and that would be a great place to check for some interesting containers to use as bento boxes.

I liked this interesting cookie cutter set, but didn't get it.

Raritet containers are nice, sturdy and rather "manly." I bought the large rectangle because it's a great size, has a steam vent in the lid, and has a small, sealed container within. They are dishwasher and microwave safe. The larger box was around $10 and the smaller one was around $6.

These weren't marked with a name, but they were on display in the pre-check out area. They are three hinged boxes -- but one of the hinges snapped as I was putting it together once I got home. OY! They are rather deep and will be good for sandwiches. Even though I wasn't sure if they are food containers, they have markings indicating that they're food safe, as well as dishwasher and microwave safe too. They were $3.

Distans - sold as a 3-pack for about $6. I like that they seem very sturdy with a tight lid. Again, they are dishwasher and microwave safe.

These were actually my reason for shopping -- I'd seen them listed on eBay and knew they'd be great for making Jell-o Jiggler shapes!

Family bentos (#46, #47, #48)

Okay... I'll admit it. The only bento I actually spent more than a half second on this morning was my own.

This is some boneless chicken nuggets I got from the grocery store the other day. I'm still not sure of the flavor as I think they were mismarked as being "Buffalo chicken" flavor. In truth, they taste like they were basted with baked bean sauce. But... since I **lurv** baked beans, I'm happy with that.) I made a wall of edamame pods to separate it from the mashed potatoes and -- even though I don't like cherry tomatoes -- I stuck one in there to bento-ize it a bit.

Unfortunately, I forgot to zip up my lunch bag and the whole thing hit the floor later when I grabbed my bag's handle to pull it off the counter on my way out the door. Luckily, the bento landed on its bottom and only the lid flew off. (And, also luckily, I had just washed my floor!)

The boy's bento is a standard PB&J sandwich, some skewered grapes, chips, chocolate and a G2. He's working on a project at school for a favorite teacher during lunch and needs something simple.

Of course, after I'd stuffed his lunch bag in his backpack, he revealed to me that his lunches can get "complex" again because the teacher has asked that he come at Advisory (last period's study hall) instead of lunch time. *oy!*

But, hey... I did remember to buy marshmallows for French class! In all seven years of my own study of the French language and culture, I never learned that mashmallows go great with crepes. (*gag*)

I had zero energy left for the Hubster's lunch -- plus, I think he could do with a hot meal and he finds it a pain to have to deconstruct his bento box to heat things up. So... this is just leftover spaghetti and meatballs from dinner the other night. I made a side salad in a lockable bento box to make sure I could "count" this as an official bento and not just a packed lunch.

I added chocolates, some bread (Hubster likes to soak up sauce!), and smooshed lots of love into his lunch bag.

I also remembered to zip his bag up, thereby negating the need for a clean floor. *smirk*

roses and rhododendrons

The zepherine roses are going full tilt today and, backed by the rhododendrons and a birdhouse covered in pale purple clematis, it's quite a delicious display.

Dad's and Boy's bentos (#44 and #45)

The Hubster is still hard at work on his thiiiiiis-close-to-finished ride. His days continue to be incredibly long and stressful, but play testing is shaking out fairly well (some bugs, some fixes that need to happen, but generally good.) I'm doing what I can to help by sending massive amounts of food to work with him to keep him going.

This bento is basically leftovers from last nights "non-Memorial Day" dinner of falafel. (It's not that we're not totally in favor of Memorial Day, just that I'd forgotten to get propane for our new grill and ... well... I also forgot that we didn't have any steak in the house.)

I had to use two Leaflet Tight boxes to hold it all, but they fit in his lunch bag stacked on top of each other. I included some tomato cous cous, fresh hummus and crackers to go with his tortilla (we ran out of pitas last night), tomato and lettuce. In the cup is some greek yogurt.

The boy only has about 18 days left of school and is counting down every minute!

For his lunch, he got a turkey and cheese roll-up, some TastyKake cupcakes (trying to cram in all the gluten-containg treats now, as our GI appointment is later this week) and a few grapes tucked in for some token fruit in this bento. (Oh wait, I packed a banana too!)

I included a bottle of G2 (low-carb Gatorade.)

I have a dental appointment that should be grueling today (two fillings have to be replaced!) and I decided to push my in-office day to tomorrow. No bento for me.