39 - 40 - 41 [3 BENTOS TODAY!]

mine!

Top tier: Smashed hard boiled egg w/ butter + salt + pepper [microwaved], mini brown sugar cinnamon bagel w/ cream cheese
Bottom tier: Impromptu rice pudding!

So I woke up around 11am this morning [i'm a college student, can't you tell? going to bed at almost 3am and waking up around 11am] and I came downstairs and opened the covered pot on the stove and discovered rice. I ask my mom, "Is this sticky rice?" and she just smiles. And so I decided to make a breakfast bento, since I'm not in school for the week, and I just felt like it!

mine, again!

Left tier [sidecar]: cheesy bacon egg scramble
right tier [sealable box]: chocolate chip banana pancakes, chunky peanut butter in the silicon cup.

So I wanted to make breakfast for dinner. And I did, because i'm allowed to, and I was really craving eggs and pancakes. So I got a bit creative. I threw some chocolate chips in the batter, and then sliced some banana and placed that on top as soon as I got the batter down on the griddle. Then I flipped them and let them cook until done on the other side. I made 6 total and ate the other two with just straight butter. I honestly think that was better than the peanut butter.

Then after I got the pancakes made, I threw a couple eggs in a bowl with some cream and salt, mixed those until scrambled with a fork, sprinkled a bit of bacon bits and shredded cheese into the raw egg mixture. I then threw that into the pan for it to get nice and scramble-y [is that even a word?] and then let some sliced cheddar melt on top of it after I thought that it was done enough [I absolutely HATE runny eggs, which is why I will not eat sunny-side up eggs, over easy only or scrambled please]. I then just decided to throw them into my box instead of putting them on a plate. And I put some peanut butter into the divider cup there (:

for my papa.

Top box [left to right]:taco meat, refried beans, spanish rice, shredded iceberg lettuce, diced grape tomatoes, chocolate chips, banana walnut muffin
Outside box+Lock&lock: flour tortillas, orange segments, shredded cheese, medium salsa, sour cream

I was going to make some enchiladas for my dad, but since we didn't have any leftover shredded pork [country style ribs] or beef [pot roast], I just decided to do a make your own taco box. I think he'll quite enjoy it.

Man, I can't believe I made 3 bentos today. Just, wow. I mean, the second one wasn't THAT hard, but still...

bentos 20 and 21

mine, for lunch today

Top: Pistachios, broccoli, grape tomatoes, ranch in lemon cup
Bottom: Shell noodles with butter, garlic salt, nutmeg and parmesean cheese, banana
Lid: Spoon, fork and string cheese.

To make the shell noodles:
My brother (or his girlfriend, most likely) a couple of weeks ago made macaroni and cheese from scratch, and they left half a box of shells, so I totally took them and threw them in the cupboard. I cooked them in boiling water with salt and some olive oil to just past al dente (I don't like chewy noodles) and then cooled them, and then put in a ziploc bag and threw them in the fridge. Then this morning, as I was making my lunch, I put some butter down in the pan, threw the noodles in and sprinkled in some garlic salt and nutmeg (I unfortunately couldn't find the whole nuts, so I used ground) and then let it cook for a minute, moving the pasta around so it wouldn't stick. Then I saw some parmesean cheese in the fridge and sprinkled that over, and let it heat up in the pan and stirred it around.
I would honestly eat these hot, since I don't have a microwave source at school, I cannot easily do that. But, tasty nonetheless.

I'm trying to eat healthier bentos (yeah, I know butter isin't really THAT healthy, but it IS healthier than margarine, ick) and I thought this was a good start to it. I got a good portion of fruits and veggies. I just need to have more meat/protien in it, I think. My mom is always complaining that I dont eat enough salads and veggies. I mean, I like them and all, it's just a hassle to prepare them a lot of the time.

for my dad for tomorrow's lunch.

Left to Right: Cake balls, salt, pears, chicken in a white wine cream sauce, asparagus and spinach in white wine cream sauce, shell pasta.

Now, for the chicken and veggies, I kind of did what I normally do when making Chicken Florentine at home. Although I didn't feel like chopping up fresh onions and garlic, I just threw some dried onions and sliced garlic into the wine and soaked it before I put the wine in the pan. I cooked the chicken (pan frying -- dredging in flour+salt+pepper -- in butter) and then took the chicken out of the pan and threw the white wine mixture into the pan, let that reduce, threw some cream in (eyeball it -- god, I sound like Rachel Ray) and let that reduce some more until you get a nice thick sauce, and then throw the chicken back in and coat it in the sauce.
For the asparagus and spinach I pretty much did the same thing, except a bit differently. I took the asparagus, cleaned them up and threw some butter into the pan, then sauteed the asparagus for a minute or two. Then came the wine. I just splashed enough in to help the asparagus cook a bit and then I reduced the wine and then added a bit of cream, and then I saw some baby spinach in the fridge, so I put a bit of that in there also and let the sauce reduce down even more into a nice thick sauce. Then I put the asparagus mixture over the chicken and noodles.
HOPEFULLY I will get a good report on this one tomorrow. It should come back empty, as per usual (since my dad will eat just about anything) and it's nice that he gives me suggestions and stuff to work on my recipies if he has any qualms with them (I think he wants me to be an awesome cook for whoever I marry, hahahaha).

breakfast - bento 17.

Yet again I needed something to take my pills with (I have to take them twice a day) and I thought this would hold me over until dinner sometime this afternoon/tonight. Hopefully it'll allow me to be fuller and not eat so much at dinner! I sure hope so, since I'm trying to lose weight. And hopefully this is somewhat healthy, so I will! (: But then again, by the time I ate this you could/should probably call it brunch.

mineeeee.

Top: Banana chunks, Craisins, string cheese chunks
Bottom: Peanut butter and honey sandwich pinwheels