For lunch today I am having a sun dried tomato veggie burger with rice cheese and jalopeno pepper slices. The bun is white but fortified nutritionally to resemble wheat. The salad side is mixed greens with marinated mushrooms and tomatoes. Mini car of pickles and ketsup. Snack will be fat free rice pudding. Total points for this meal and snack are 4. Still on track with the program day 15!
Sweet and savory tastes are blended together in this Spring bento. It is a vegetarian bento filled with Kim Chee, marinated mushrooms, canned peaches, tomato slices, steamed broccoli, white rice and lime slices. I wish I could brag about my homemade Kim Chee, but that would be lying and it is Lent. The Kim Chee was purchased in the refrigerated section of my neighboorhood Oriental Market. Thank you Kikkokin. I have never tried Kim Chee before, but I know it can be made from scratch since it is in all of my cookbooks. I was afraid of the heat from the chili sauce. This product seems hot but not overwhelming. I'll keep posted.
Lunch tomorrow is a flower bed of treats. Jasmine rice with pickled ginger, tamago with furatake, spinach roll, cherry tomato and mixed nuts. I think I have included most of the colors in this balanced vegetarian bento, lowfat and full of variety. Lunch is looking up. 
Since I will be consuming massive amounts of turkey over the next three days I decided to go vegetarian today. A simple pbj with cheese stick, whole wheat toast and a cereal bar for the end of the day. I will be fortified and ready for some serious "stuffing" by Thursday:). Wishing all of my cyber friends a very Happy Thanksgiving.
This little turkey sandwich is surrounded by grapes, pineapple, and orange slices. He's actually a vegetarian of course made out of peanut butter, jelly and whole wheat. Safe for now!
This lunch bento is composed of a deconstructed flower sandwich (ham and cheese with whole wheat bread rounds). The soup is called "Two Bean Soup with Kale". I found the recipe in Cooking Light Oct. 2009 edition recycled from my mom's magazine pile. I guess you could say we share the subscription. She pays for it, reads it first and then I get to keep it. Pretty good deal on my part. Wouldn't it be great if friends could create more magazine circles to share the wealth. The soup is all vegetarian with vegetable broth, cannellini beans, black beans, diced canned tomatoes and fresh kale. It is very tasty. I don't think I have ever tried kale before but I really liked it in the soup. I cooked this version in the crock pot. One of my best friends as you well know. The recipe in the magazine says it can be prepared in 30 minutes start to finish (also a bonus).
Look carefully into my box and you will see what looks like shrunken heads of Jack-o-lanterns. Boo....I bought these irresistible pasta shapes that are Jack-0-lanterns with dreams of pasta salad and artichokes. Did you notice I forgot the artichokes? I think it is because I was at the point of brain freeze when it came time to make lunch. I had just finished two hours at Party City looking for Halloween costumes for my teenage daughters. We left the store empty handed. "Just shot me now!" and put me out of my misery, please. The bat box contains more of the yummy pumpkin bread with tiny Peanuts characters made out of fruit. Get it Charlie Brown in the pumpkin patch? Any hoot...the pumpkin box contains sliced pear with two caramels.
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!
This bento is lunch today. I was looking for a little pick me up since I have been in bed two days with the flu. BOO, HOO. The bento is filled with rice, cheese leaves, miso glazed eggplant, ginger teriyaki pork, and a pumpkin filled with purple grapes. The little pumpkins and the cellophane party bags are from the dollar spot at Target. The ghost tins are from the Halloween party supply section (approx. $2.00). The package has 24 tins. I'm thinking Halloween brownie ghosts. I should have bought two packs. Now I'm thinking rice molds, jello molds, fruit cups the possibilities are endless.
This bento was lunch two days ago and it was tasty. The box contains diced papaya, morningstar riblets (soy substitutes), edamame, a very tiny box of granola cereal, raisins and a hello kitty candy. This was too much food and I never got to the dessert box in the right corner. The little fish bottle has fat free Asian silk salad dressing to add to the peas. Word of caution, the ribs should have been packed in the top container. The sauce leaked all over my outer container and the bag. The top container has a lid...opps. The good news is that the entire case and bag are washable and cleaned up nicely with a damp cloth. Lucky for me. Have a great day!
