Tapenade and Turkey Bento

Good Monday Morning! The super moon was super last night and back to school is around the corner. I deconstructed a slider the other day and here I have deconstructed a turkey sandwich. Plus crackers with homemade tapenade. The bread is homemade too.

What's inside of the chickadee dee? Lawry's seasoned salt! A must have for a turkey with mayo sammie.

Slider - A Deconstructed Bento

My lovely nesting Alice in Wonderland hosted the bento of the week. These are the perfect boxes for a deconstructed bento.

Large, medium, small and smaller filled with the elements of a work-day lunch.

Starting at the right we have homemade brown sugar wheat bun with kettle chips. Lettuce and tomato. Grass fed organic cooked beef patty and grated cheese. Dijon mustard and homemade pesto mayo.

At my desk 1pm sharp sandwich made and consumed. This picture was the "oh yeah" half way thru.

Happy Cat Bento

Come. Come. Have a nice picnic on this summer day. The Beckoning Cat bento box lures me to a tuna and caper on English muffin sandwich and my very own Secret Ingredient* Pasta Salad.

Pictured here with her sister cat, Hello Kitty thermos, filled to the brim with Ginger Beer. Refreshing!

We sat in the shade of an old pine tree which rained dead pine needles with every breeze.

Parked on a side street of Mission San Miguel's cemetery. Come in. Come in.

And see the old Bell Tower just inside the cemetery.

Sail On, Sail On, Sailor Bento

A midweek bento last week with a smoked salmon and cream cheese English muffin in the floater tray. Spinach with capers, red bell peppers with capers, heirloom green tomatoes, and a little pink pocket of walnuts in the main box.  

The lid of this box (and my current wallpaper) is a watery scene with demons on the horizon. I woke up last night with dreams of my death in the ocean. To all of those who have succumb to the kelp monsters, to the shadows of the deep, and to songs of the mermaids, my you rest in peace.

Stars and Stripes Forever Bento

Titled "Swimming Upstream"

because sometimes

 getting

 anything

 done 

around here 

feels like swimming upstream.

So when the inspiration comes 

to make 

star shaped 

grilled cheese sandwiches, 

I jump 

up 

and

 down

at lunchtime.

Stripey stripe green bell peppers, 

tangy mango salsa (a go go),

walnuts (7 a day),

and

a sweet treat, Hi-Chew.

(bless you)

Put A Tiger In Your Tank Bento

I went to the zoo. Well, actually I went to the zoo gift shop on my way home last week and bought a tiger for Si. 

In celebration of the tiger for Si, I made a mighty put a tiger in your tank bento complete with a pastrami sandwich on sourdough bread and a nice tray of berries and grape tomatoes with some lovely Bob's Blu Cheese Dressing. 

Grr Tessa

Round Up A Sammie Bento

 A couple of rounds to complete a half of ham and cheese sandwich.

The sandwich also had avocado and tomato slices.

 Celery, carrots, and radishes with a cucumber dill dipping sauce.

Cherries, berries, and white nectarine slices.

Winnie the Pooh Sandwich Bento

Winnie gets lost in a pretzel bamboo forest even though his friends have left flags showing him where Pooh home and Pooh garden is. Winnie doesn't notice. His brains are cream cheese and peanut butter. Where is that pot of honey?

A single layer box with a tight fitting top.

Cute bag carries the lunch.

Love Blueberries Bento

Today's bento! I actually am posting a picture the actual day of the bento!

The lovely cheese bagel bento (which is a whole wheat bagel) was inspired by Hapa Bento parting bento gifts to her recent travelers. I mean you gotta admit that is one thoughtful person. Yay Ms. Debra! (I want to be her next door neighbor, don't you?)

Other goodies in the stainless steel bento called EcoBox are pigs-in-a-rug (made new yesterday), a gummy kiwi (OMG love it!), two donut peaches, and two hearts filled with booberries with a turtle pick.

The Mister made away with the rest of the pecans this morning for his lunch. oh well. Time to stock up again.

Three Amigos Bento

Last Thursday I took this nutritious lunch to work with me. It really was a jungle out there!

The sandwich box, the yellow one with the holes, had whole grain crackers, whole wheat bagel with PB, a donut peach whole, donut peach cut up, and a piggie in a blanket.

The front box had pickles, carrots, celery, jicama, hummus, pecans, and my three amigos holding pieces of white cheese in the shape of a star.

They're really cute with their covers, aren't they?

Jicama Mumms Bento

This is Wednesday's bento and yes, that is a whole wheat bagel (good) filled with pastrami (bad) and two little pigs in blankets with a side of mustard. Bon Jour! Ms. Judy!

Love this box, my smiling Loaf.

The bottom layer we have blueberries, carrots and celery, pecans, hummus, and a lion hiding amongst the jicama mumms.

I was so tempted to put eyes on that bagel.

As seen on What's for lunch at our house: what's for lunch Wednesday.

The Groundhog sees his shadow bento

And that means 6 more weeks of winter. It also means winter is over half-way done. So yay! Happy Groundhog Day!

This groundhog was made with peanut butter and nutella (Oh btw Happy Nutella Day is today!) and that's buttah for the whites of his eyes. I really envisioned something a little different than this. But this is what came out. It's all on my homemade sourdough mini loaf. 

Gamene over at bentozen requested the sourdough recipe, so I might try to post it someday. I sort of do it differently every time. Also Gamene is throwing an outrageous give-away, if you're into bento, check it out.

The rest of this bento is a deviled egg (I know - my old stand by) and bacon. For fiberous fun I added a sliced purple carrot and a little yellow carrot cut into sticks. And tangerine juicy jellies. Actually it looks like the groundhog is eyeing the candy in this pic.

Beet star bento

I love pickled beets. That should be no surprise to anyone, I suppose. I love beets in general, boiled or roasted. In this bento and the one previous, I use my star beets to add color and vegetable matter of the box.

I have a really easy method of pickling. I save the leftover fluid from a jar of Bubbies pickles (they are in the green four-lead clover holder). Boil beets until tender. Skin beets and slice. Or cut into shapes. Stars, fat stars are looking good! I put the stars and chop a small raw red onion layering as I go in a Ball jar. Pour the Bubbies leftover pickle juice and refrigerate.

Gets more pickley with more time.

The chewy molasses spice cookies make a debut here.

I need to hunt down that recipe. It's a Martha Stewart one and I'll post it here. Or maybe I'll write it out. Her website is massive and it's easy to get lost, just in case you are the last person on Earth who has never been there. Too bad she isn't into bento (yet). I bet she could come up with some fun ideas.

Octopus's Garden Bento

The Mister was super upset with me. Aren't the eyes suppose to be on the side? Well, I said, these are baby octopi. He was quite upset that the clams were too big (in relation to other things) and what's that purple stuff?

Well, I said, (after fussing with this Tiffin bento long enough), it is what it is. And then he ate it.

After that, he wasn't so grumpy.

Hello Kitty Mini Box

The Tuscan melon was so sweet. Definitely the best part of this meal. The monster egg was the result of an accident. I love peanut butter mini sandwiches. Next time I'm going to add eyes.