Thanksgiving Leftovers Bento

I have been looking forward to making this bento all week. I love leftovers from Thanksgiving Dinner, So I couldn't wait to have some so I could make a Thanksgiving Bento. I decided to dress it up a bit with some Turkey Cutouts, just to up the Thanksgiving Factor.
First of all, You should read my Thanksgiving Blog Post and see all the things I'm Thankful for this year.

Here it is! I'm so excited!!!

• Turkey (Slice of Breast Meat, Small piece of Dark Meat)
• Cornbread Stuffing (Gluten Free)
• Broccoli (Not actually Thanksgiving Leftovers, but I wanted a green vegetable so I added it in)
• 1/2 Sweet Potato (With Skin, and a Turkey Cut out with Gravy inside)
• Gravy (Gluten Free, Homemade)
• Butternut Squash
• Mashed Potatoes
• Cranberry Sauce (Yep, the can shaped Jelly that graces the table each year. I wanted some Red in the picture, but I only had a tiny bite of cranberry sauce, and left the rest.)

I wanted to make the picture a little more thanksgiving-y so I added a cheese cutout of a Turkey to the Gravy... but I took it out after taking the picture and tossed it. Eww, I do not think Cheese and Gravy should ever be mixed. (When I used to eat KFC I would ask for the Famous Bowls without Cheese, because the cheese had no business being on top of gravy, corn, mashed potatoes, and popcorn chicken.)

But it's cute on top of gravy when it's Turkey shaped...

Fall Colors Bento

After I made this bento I noticed how the colors reminded me of fall with the deep reds, golden yellows, and browns. Definitely the colors of fall right now.

 

My fiance didn't feel like a bento today, so today is just my bento again. Hopefully next year I will have more opportunities to make my fiance bentos!

Here's what's in my bento lunch:

• 2 Prunes
• Apple Sauce with a Cinnamon Turkey
• Golden Raisins
• Apple Chunks
• PBJ Roll Up (Gluten Free Teff Wrap, Teddie Natural Crunchy Peanut Butter with Flaxseed, Red Raspberry Preserves)

Early Christmas Bento

I wanted to make a Christmas Bento early because I am planning something special for the holidays.... and I can't give away the surprise, but the special thing required me to have a Holiday bento already made. So I got some Christmas candy and made a snack bento.

• Golden Raisins 'Tree Decorations'
• Pomegranate Seeds 'Tree Decorations'
• Prune 'Lump of Coal'
• Peeps 'Christmas Trees'
• Peppermint Bark 'Snowman'
• Apple Sauce 'Present' with Cinnamon 'Ribbon'

So how did I do? I'm not really in the Christmas spirit yet because it's waaaay too early. I hate how early people push Christmas each year, and all the Black Friday commercials are driving me nuts. Why can't we celebrate and Enjoy Thanksgiving without making it a pig out day before Christmas shopping? UGH.
I miss Thanksgiving decorations and celebrations... now all I see is people over-eating and taking about Christmas presents and pulling out the Christmas decorations (If they don't already have them up).

Gobble Gobble Turkey Bento

I made a Fried Rice Stuffed Eggsheet Turkey! Check it out.

 

Here's my bento lunch from last week.

• Pomegranate Seeds
• Apple slices
• Sunsweet One (Prune)
• Jamaican Jerk Tofu
• Fresh Spinach
• Egg Sheet Fried Rice 'Turkey' (Vegetables, Brown Rice, Sesame Oil, Garlic, Sesame Seeds, Egg Sheet, Cheese, Ketchup)

 Here is my fiance's bento lunch from last week.

• Pomegranate Seeds
• Apple slices
• Pumpkin Seeds
• Jamaican Jerk Tofu
• Fresh Spinach
• Egg Sheet Fried Rice 'Turkey' (Vegetables, Brown Rice, Sesame Oil, Garlic, Sesame Seeds, Egg Sheet, Cheese, Ketchup)

Grealled PB Banana Bento

YUMMY!!! I felt like having a Grilled Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich so I made a yummy bento lunch with it. MMMM

• Grilled PB Banana (UDI's Gluten Free White Bread, Teddie Natural Crunchy Peanut Butter with Flax, Banana Slices)
• Pomegranate Seeds
• Chocolate Calcium Chew
• Apple Sauce (with Cinnamon Heart)
• Sunsweet One (Unwrapped Prune)

I made this last week, but I've been so busy I haven't had a chance to post it until now. Enjoy! :)

Cereal Bento

Here's a bento I made last week that I haven't had a chance to post until now.

• Cereal Mix( Rice Chex, Cocoa Pebbles, Puffed Flax, Pumpkin Seeds)
• Sunsweet Ones (Unwrapped Prune)
• Pomegranate Seeds
• Apple

I brought this along with me to go Christmas Shopping. Boy it has been a super busy week, and next week is going to be even more busy. And I'm bummed that I haven't been exercising or watching what I eat lately. I've been so busy and tired and down. I'm determined to start working out again and eating better. I'm going to start right now, because there is no better time then the present!

Dessert Bento

I wanted something sweet, but not too bad for me, so I made myself a Dessert bentos filled with lots of little goodies.

Here is a super yummy dessert Bento Filled with goodies:

• Mini Marshmallows
• Pomegranate Seeds
• Pumpkin Seeds
• Cocoa Pebbles
• Sunsweet One (Unwrapped Prune)
• Kozy Shack Rice Pudding (No Sugar Added)
• Cinnamon Heart

Now you must know... My kitten thought I was making this for him so he wouldn't stop mewling and trying to jump on the counter, so I let him perch on my shoulder while I made this bento... Then when I took the picture he wa begging me to take his picture too... so here they are.

Such a cutie! This is Sage and he's 3 1/2 Months old.

Small Bentos

Today my fiance and I took small bentos for lunch. They are much more like snack bentos then lunch, but oh well.

Here are our bento lunches along with the apples we also brought.

Here is my fiance's Bento:

• Butter Crackers
• Brie
• Cheese Hearts (Colby, Cheddar, Swiss, Monterrey Jack)
• Mini Chocolate Chips

 Here is my bento:

• Clementine Segments
• 2 Sunsweet Ones (Prunes)
• Cereal Trail Mix (Rice Chex, Cocoa Pebbles, Puffed Flax, Pumpkin Seeds)

Rolled PBJ Bento

Because everyone was busy tonight and I didn't have to make dinner, I made myself a bento!

Here is my super yummy dinner bento:

• Unsweetened Natural Apple Sauce (Cinnamon Star)
• Clementine Segments
• PBJ Rolls (Gluten Free Teff Tortilla Wrap, Teddie Natural Chunky Peanut Butter with Flax, Red Raspberry Preserves)
• 2 Sunsweet ones Prunes (Unwrapped)
• Little Blue Penguin Spoon for the Apple Sauce
• Annies Bunny Fruit Snacks (Berry Patch)

 And here it is after I took the cookie cutter star off the applesauce. I always take two pictures in case the star doesn't show up after I take the cutter off.

YUM! That Rolled PBJ was DELICIOUS! Just what I've been needing apparently. And it was a nice simple bento to make since I've busted my butt cleaning the house today and I think I might be coming down with a cold. So a simple bento is nice to have.

Jamaican Jerk Tofu Bento

This bento was made with Jamaican Jerk tofu and brown rice Onigiri. I also added some Edamame Tamagoyaki since I haven't had it in a while, and because it makes the bento a little less Americanized and a tiny bit more Japanese (besides the Jamaican Jerk spices.... lol).

This is my fiance's bento:

• Edamame Tamagoyaki (rolled omelet)
• Apple Slices and Apple Rabbit
• Fresh Spinach
• Jamaican Jerk Tofu
• Brown Rice Onigiri (Hand shaped)

 Here's my fiance enjoying lunch.

Lol, I love the faces she makes when I take pictures!

And here is my bento lunch:

• Edamame  Tamagoyaki
• Apple Slices
• Sunsweet ones Prune (Unwrapped)
• Fresh Spinach
• Jamaican Jerk Tofu
• Brown Rice Onigiri (hand shaped)

And here I am trying to eat while my cat (Sage) tries to steal some.

Yum!.... I think it's funny that I'm wearing a Hello Kitty shirt and eating a Bento with Chopsticks...

Computer Snack Bento

I made this bento to enjoy while I worked on the computer tonight. It's part snack and part dessert since this is after dinner.

In my snack/dessert bento I have:

• Pumpkin Seeds
• Clementine Segments
• Annie's Bunny Fruit Snacks (Berry)
• Mini Marshmallows
• Sunsweet One (Unwrapped Prune)

I hope you liked it! I haven't been able to make bento yet this week even though I have planned them. I've just been too busy. Hopefully I'll get to make one or two tomorrow. In the mean time I'll try to make more snack bentos.
I can't wait to make a Thanksgiving Leftover Bento!!! I'm so excited!

Nacho Bento

I have been meaning to make this bento the past few days, but something changed my plans each time, so finally with the very last of the leftovers I made this Nacho (Chips and Dip) Bento.

 I love nachos except for the cheese part because I do not like dairy that much and the cheese usually adds a ton of extra fat and calories that I think is just unnecessary for me. I know the cheese is an important part to Nachos, and I should really call it Chips and Dip instead of Nachos. But I didn't want to. So bear with me.

This tier has all the Dips for the Chips:

• Ground Turkey and Black Beans with Homemade Taco Seasoning
• Garden Vegetable Salsa
• Guacamole with huge chunks of Avocado (YUM!)
• Jalapeno Peppers

 

And this tier has the chips and sides:

• Multigrain Tortilla Chips (Gluten Free)
• Blue Corn Tortilla Chips (Gluten Free)
• Pomegranate Seeds (The last of them... I cut it open Thursday and they are all gone now... oops)
• Clementine

 So I hope you liked my Nacho Bento, and rest assured I know they are not actually Nachos. I do know how to make real Nachos, and I make them for my cheese loving fiance.

Caramel Peeps Review

My friend Julie found these amazing Chocolate Dipped Caramel Peeps at the store and shared them with me and my fiance. I decided to do a review of them because I love peeps and most of my friends know that I am the peeps person of the group.
Anyway...

Here is the packaging... They were with the Christmas stuff but I have not been able to find them on the Just Born Website yet... So maybe the store she got them in put them out too early... I don't know, hopefully they start advertising them soon so everyone else can fall in love with them... And that's exactly what I did... I fell in love with these delicious peeps.

They come three in a pack and they are separated because the bottoms are dipped in chocolate. They have a lot less sugar on them then regular peeps, and I think that's a good thing because the sugar doesn't fly everywhere when you open the package. And the sugar doesn't stick to your fingers when you eat them.

Mine had sad eyes... the eyes were on it's neck. That just adds to the uniqueness of each peep though.

So here are our reviews:

Me/Kat: (I gave them 5*) I love the smooth texture of these peeps, and I wish all peeps had this texture. I could love these peeps by texture alone, but the flavor is amazing too. The camel is rich but so divine. It reminds me a little like a caramel coffee drink.

My Fiance/Kellie: (I gave them 4*) MMMM! They taste like Tasty.....

My Friend/Julie: (1 gave them 5*)They are really smooth, and are like a cross between mousse and marshmallow. I also like that they do not have as much sugar on the outside like regular peeps.

My Friend's Bento

My friend Julie made a bento today, and I wanted to post the picture.

• 2 Laughing Cow French Onion Cheese wedges
• Butter Crackers
• Ranch Dip
• Clementine
• Baby Carrots
• Apple Slices

I was about to make a bento today when my kitten was sick, so I had to take him to the Vet. Poor Sage had to get some fluid injections and come home with medication and a bland diet. :(

Lentil Soup Bento

Since I had a large late breakfast,I decided to have a small late lunch. And I made it a bento because I love making bentos!
Anyway, "I had a small amount of lentil soup, and some fruit on the side.

Doesn't it look yummy? Well it was. ;)

This is the lentil soup I made using my rice cooker (Featured here).

• Broth
• Lentiles
• Spices
• Carrots
• Onions
• Celery
• Fire Roasted Tomatoes

 And here I have the fruit tier. This layer feathers the very last of the hand picked apples... :( I wish I had more, they were soooo delicious, and this last one was the best yet. It was just so ripe and sweet, and had a smooth slightly soft texture (almost creamy). YUM!

• Last hand picked Apple (Sliced)
• Clementine Segments
• Sun-sweet Ones Prune (Taken out of the package to look pretty. lol)

I'm mourning the loss of those delicious apples.... the ones from the grocery store are not the same... but I'll have to make do with those until next Autumn.

Spiced Polenta Breakfast Bento

I have been wanting to eat Porrage for the past couple of days. I do not know why, maybe I'm Goldilocks...
Anyway, this morning I made Spiced polenta porridge for my breakfast bento. For those of you in the south you'd call it Grits.
Anyway, I also cut a grapefruit in half and added some other yummy stuff to my bento.

This is a huge 2 tier bento filled with yummy breakfast foods (with lots of fiber thanks to the fruit and prune, and calcium thanks to the chocolate supplement chew) and like always it is Gluten Free.

First off we have the Spiced Polenta, with:

• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• Ginger
• Vanilla

Then I swirled a teaspoon of Honey on top to give it a little bit of sweetness.

Next we have the fruit tier with:

• 1/2 Grapefruit
• Clementine segments
• Chocolate Calcium Chew
• Sun-sweet Ones Prune

 Then I topped the grapefruit with 1/2 Teaspoon of sugar to help cut the bitterness of the fruit.

And because I ate this so late (around 10:30-11:00) It is also acting as part of my lunch. I will have something small for lunch a little later on. More like a snack then a lunch.... Who knows... maybe it'll be a snack bento.

Snack Bentos with Soup

Last night I made lentil soup for dinner, and today we decided to have some for lunch as well. Because I wanted to make bentos I decided to make snack bentos for us to have with our soup.

 Here is my snack bento:

• 1/2 Apple
• Multi-seed crackers (Gluten Free)
• Sun-sweet Ones (Prune)
• Skittles (No red or purple skittles because I don't like them, so I set them aside for my fiance who loves them)
• Calcium Chew (Chocolate Flavor)

Here is my fiance's snack bento:

• 1/2 Apple
• Brie
• Butter Crackers
• M&M's (Mostly Blue because that's what was in the package)

This is the lentil soup I made. It turned out really good considering that was the first time I made lentils, and the first time I made anything other then rice in my rice cooker. :)
I'm excited to try other dishes in the rice cooker now that I know how to use the boil/simmer button. Now I just have to try out the Steamer button.

Fiber Snack Bento

Being gluten intolerant means that sometimes I have a hard time getting fiber in my diet. So today I made a snack bento for myself with a little extra fiber.

• Sun-Sweet One (Individually wrapped Prune)
• Clementine Segments
• Gluten Free Chocolate Covered Pretzels (Glutino brand)

Although this snack didn't pack in a ton of fiber like you may have been expecting from the title, it was just another way for me to get some extra fiber into my diet without adding a ton of calories.

Another thing I do not get enough of in my diet is calcium. This is because I hardly ever eat dairy products because I have a slight lactose intolerance. But last night I bought myself some calcium supplements. Now if only I could get more Potassium and Iron. It's hard to get the right amount of vitamins and minerals in your diet when you have a restricted diet. Before I was gluten intolerant I was getting a ton of fiber because I loved eating the Fiber One cereal every day. And I was also getting Iron because most of the cereals and vegetarian foods I ate were fortified with Iron.
Now I can no longer eat those things. I don't like to eat a ton of meat, and in fact I tend to have mostly vegetarian meals and usually only eat meat at dinner. But even then it's still such a small portion.
Anyway, that's enough of my rambling, this is a bento blog not a nutrition blog. lol

Gifts from Japan (Thank You)

My friend Alysse is currently living in Japan teaching English. So unfortunately she was unable to attend my fiance and my engagement party/ Handfasting (About Handfastings and Our Handfasting Ceremony). Anyway, today we got a package from her with wedding presents, and I wanted to share them on my blog!

Isn't everything so cute?!!!! Kawaii!

First up is the wonderful card she sent us. It is so cool because the picture is 3D. But this 3D is so realistic looking because it looks like everything is actually there instead of it just being a picture. Most 3D images I see in America are goofy looking, but this is just so well done.

You can see some of the detail in the picture I took, but it's nowhere nearly as impressive as it is in real life. If you go to this website here you can click on the cards and see the 3D-ness of them. You could also buy cards online, but most of the sight is in Japanese, and I did not see an English Translation button.

This is a Cookbook for Newlyweds. It's so pretty, but it's all in Japanese, so I'll just be looking over the pictures mostly. I did recognize some of the dishes so I will be able to look up the recipes online.

Everything looks so pretty and tasty.

Next are two Wedding Magazines. Both of these magazines are in Japanese as well, but there are a lot of beautiful pictures and I enjoyed looking through them. It made me want to go to a Japanese wedding, although I was surprised that most of the weddings looked very Westernized. There were a few more Traditional looking wedding pictures, but not much.

This is a beautiful Napkin and 2 Hashi (Chopsticks) from Kiyomisu Temple in Kyoto. Alysse wrote in her card to us that there is a shrine to the Love God on the temple grounds. :)

Inside the Napkin were two meiji Melty Kiss Chocolates. I read online that these candies are an indicator that Winter is coming because they are a seasonal treat. Also I read that the flavors change seasonally as well. It is like a square chocolate truffle that is creamy and melts in your mouth. I can't wait to try one. I looked online for nutrition information, and after searching for a while I think they are gluten free... but I am not sure about it. I might just risk it anyway to try it.

Next are the Hashi and the carrying case they were in. So beautiful! I love the detail.

You can't see it in the picture, but the Chopsticks are gorgeous! they are sparkly all over and have beautiful flowers. Goujas!

And now I'd like to say a big Arigatou Gozaimasu!
Alysse you are the best. Thank you very much for these wonderful gifts. We really appreciate them. Love and Hugs! ~Kat and Kellie.