Savory Maple Glazed Pork Bento # 25

My lunch bento was last night's dinner. Maple and mustard glazed pork, sweet carrots, and roasted red pepper. Dessert is a little container of plum flavored applesauce. Simple, quick and good.

Remarkably Carmel Confection

This is my treat this Halloween season. The trick or treaters have come and gone but these sticky confections are hiding in my refrigerator. As you can see I only made six of them to reduce the temptation. Gave two away and then there were three. Hee. Hee. Hee.

Two Pumpkins in Paradise Bento #18

My last bento before Halloween and I am pooped. Ran out to a parent meeting at my daughter's school last night only to find out that the meeting is actually in two weeks. I think I'll send my husband to that one. On a bright note since I arrived forty minutes early I did get a chance to read a magazine. This bento is composed of two pork buns on parchment, an edamame pumpkin patch with yam circles, cranberries and cashew smiles. Wishing you a happy day before Halloween.

Pasta Palace Perfect to Quick Bento

I know that "Bento Purists" will not see the link between gourmet style pasta and bento, but for this busy mom it's perfect. During the holiday season I am noticing special edition shapes like pumpkins, fall leaves, and turkeys that make great bento salads when combined with brightly colored vegetables. I have been using cherry tomatoes, orange and red bell pepper and cucumbers for quick crunchy additions. Toss with a low fat salad dressing and maybe a little mozzarella cheese shreads and you are good to go.

Lightly Falls the Leaves of Autumn: Bento # 17

I tried to come up with some clever title for this autumn post but it's really hard to stay focused in October when it's 85 degrees outside. Our leaves only change two colors: green and yellow (then their dead). I vaguely remember reds, oranges, yellows and brown from my childhood in upper New York State. I think it may be time for a road trip. I digress. Today's bento is composed of a ham sandwich on whole wheat bread with a mixed salad filled with cashews, cherry tomatoes, provolone cheese leaves and mint. I am trying to work on incorporating some healthy nuts into my diet. My little snack is cheese and crackers with a sprig of mint for color.

Very Veggie Bento #16

This halloween bento is all vegetarian. It is made up of hummus and cheese stuffed mini bell peppers, cucumber pumpkins and a ghost tin stuffed with Asian Slaw. I am still trying to get the nack of working with nori as a decorative addition. I have a lot of new found respect for those bento artists out there that work with those tiny pieces of nori every morning. With my glasses on I could barely find them on the kitchen counter. I think tweezers will be my next addition to my bento kit. No snack today I get to go home right after school. Yeah!

Happy Healthy Lunch #14

Monday's bento starts out a low fat week meal plan. The boxes in the photo represent both lunch and a snack for about 4:00 PM. The lunch is 4 oz of rolled organic turkey, one stick of string cheese and 1 cup of steamed carrots with lowfat salad dressing. The snack is 2 tbsp. of all natural peanut butter, apple slices and 2 lowfat rye crackers. Uninspired as to what to do with these ingedients, it's sort of an orange and yellow theme. At least the boxes are cute! Looking forward to a good day ahead.

Turkey in the Pumpkin Patch Bento #12

Today's bento was low calorie and plenty filling. The single tier balloon bento box contained sliced turkey with arugula in whole wheat tortilla rolls on a bed of greens. The pumpkin box contains red seedles grapes and dried apricots. The lemon slice was for my afternoon cup of tea. Simple and sweet, bon appetite.

Autumn Harvest Miami Style

My single standing fruit tree. When we bought our home in 1992 our backyard was full of fruit trees, orange, grapefruit, blood orange, tangello, banana, coconut palm and avocado. Then the big wind blew and Hurricane Andrew reshaped my home and my trees. The only remaining tree on our property is this avocado tree. Every winter it produces it's fruit just in time for the big football games and guacamole. The avocados are huge, almost the size of small canteloupes. These babies are still growing and will not be ready for at least two more months. As long as the winds remain calm we should have a very good year since the tree is covered in fruit. Wish me luck.