Mac and cheese with hot dog squids.

I was gone camping all weekend, so I turned to this proven last minute no grocery food.. Kraft macaroni and cheese, with hot dogs!  Yum. I played around with the hot dogs and they were pretty easy to turn into octopus.
I used standard sized hot dogs, but I cut them into 2" lengths
I cut about an inch down, turn, cut, turn about 4 times so the legs were skinny. Toss into boiling water and viola!
And theres little ketchup too!

Fajita bento!

Below are my breakfast bento (greek yogurt, strawberries, raspberries, blue berries, yogurt, and honey) and my lunch bento... FAJITA bento. Caramelized onions, sauteed bell peppers, marinated steak, and cooked shrimp. The little cups have homemade grilled tomato salsa, cut limes, guacamole, and one has sour cream. Looks pretty good! Can't wait until lunch.

Pesto Salad & Breakfast Bento

I was at Fresh & Easy (local grocery store) and I saw this amazing pesto pasta salad with mozzarella and cherry tomatoes, I was totally wowed. I was just given a basketful of cherry tomatoes, and have fresh pesto sauce, so I grabbed a bucket of fresh mozzarella and viola! SO excited, I can't wait for lunch time :-). I ate a fresh mozzarella ball last night. OMG! Best thing ever. Also, have baby carrots, some are sliced, with some delicious pesto hummus for dip.

Another breakfast bento with greek yogurt/honey/blueberries. He LOVES blueberries. Also added some melon stars this time. Typically I have a problem cutting produce to make stars because of the waste. I've come to terms with that when I realize that because of the CSA box (and local family members giving us tons of cherry tomatos etc), I have far too much produce to eat naturally. I might as well enjoy cute little stars!

CSA Box... a budget tool?

3 weeks ago my boyfriend and I decided to make the plunge and subscribe to a CSA (community supported agriculture) program. We now get a weekly box of seasonal veggies. In just 3 weeks it has revolutionized my food budget. I spend 23$ a week on veggies, now I can round out the rest of my meals with quality meats and some sort of starch (potatoes come in the box too!). My weekly food budget is $100 for 2 people. So do the math, if we spend 23$ on veggies, and starches are super cheap (bread, pasta, rice), let's say we spend $20 a week on starch, that leaves us approximately  60$ a week to spend on meat! That's crazy! In reality, we don't spend $60 a week on meat. But we do eat out once a few times a week.

So, this subscription vegetable service supports the local economy, reduces waste (gas for delivery truck, packaging for food), and saves ME MONEY. It's also exciting because you don't know what you're going to get each week. Wow. Cool.

You should do it too!

Spanish makeral and leotian sticky rice bento

American BBQ bento!

Tri tip, baked potato, grilled corn, grilled zucchini, and a small plum.

Lunch and breakfast bentos 7-9

Breakfast:
The cupcake like thing is pancake batter with strawberryz baked in a cupcake tin (350 untill golden touched, like 25 mins). Hard boiled eggs... one broke, so its in a plastic container, the other I used this cool egg mold http://www.amazon.com/Kotobuki-Plastic-Mold-Rabbit-Bear/dp/B002TZ04J6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341849177&sr=8-1&keywords=egg+mold
It worked pretty good, the problem was de-shelling the eggs. Apparently the best for you eggs are the hardest to peel (also crack open I discovered that a few days ago). Two mini oranges that came in my CSA box. Then some flower cut jicima.

Lunch:
Grapes, string cheese, PB & strawberry sandwhich cut into triangles. Mini bun sandwhich, peperjack cheese, salami inside. He's going to love it!! Spiced Edamame.

The two squirt bottles I found at big lots for 1! Super exciting. Inside is a mix of mayo and spicy mustard.


Did some prep yesterday, then combined it all this morning. Maybe not as pretty as the last one, but I'm sure it's tastier, and just as fun to eat!!

Breakfast and snack bento

Just got this awesome lunch box for bento making on Amazon. Problem is that it holds 3 trays this size!! Okay, to acomodate space I made a breakfast/snack layer. There's greek yogurt with honey on top, blueberries, 2 strawberrys, a babybell cheese and some grapes.

Bento boxes first attempt!

Left side (my lunch)
Salad of romaine lettuce, star cut beets, green beans, cucumber star hell and purple carrot inside.
Lasagna style roll, 1/2 only because its waaay to big!

Right 2 (his lunch)
Salad of romaine lettuce, grated Parmesan cheese, star cut beets. Dressing in a packet from something leftover.
Rolls, tortilla with cream cheese spread on it, with salami, romaine lettuce and a green bean center. The other type is just American cheese and salami (melted in microwave 5 seconds to soften). Cup has salsa in it, covered with plastic wrap. More purple carrots, star cucumbers, both inners and outers.

Feedback: Coworkers are awestruck :P