Mom & Dad bentos (#24 & #25) and Boy’s bento (#26)

On Thursday night, I had 4 lbs of ground beef to use up, so I made a big batch of sloppy joes and another of burrito filling (ground beef, salsa, black beans, and melted cheese.) I wanted to freeze them for future lunches, so I put all my silicon cupcake cups on a cookie sheet and then filled them with these two mixes. I put them into my stand-up freezer and was able to remove the silicon cups the next morning and put these foods into freezer bags for quick bento building later.

I mostly defrosted two cups each for the adult bentos today and added a hot dog bun to eat them on.

I had a side salad with the last of the homemade honey mustard dressing (which I think I’m totally sick of right now!) The Hubster got grape tomatoes and we both got baby carrots and some chocolate bars for dessert.

I tried an experiment of using a little plastic shot glass (gotten from Dollar Tree in their current “Luau” promotion) to pack the salad dressing. I sealed the top with plastic wrap and, I have to say, it worked pretty well.

The Boy had been asking for make-your-own peanut butter and jelly crackers as a bento for several days, so I was happy to oblige. I just plopped PB in one silicon cup and jelly in another, tucked crackers, carrots and a couple chocolates into his box and sent him off with a plastic knife from Ikea.

He liked it, but the Hubster took umbrage with the term “deconstructed” when I told him what it was. He said that sounded a tad pretentious.
Harrrumph.

Dad’s bento (#23)

This was a post-shot morning for me and, despite my wonderful husband getting up to get the boy in gear and out for school, I had to drag my achy, side-effecty carcass out of bed so I could finish up with the rented carpet shampooer that a girlfriend and I had shared. It needed to be back at the grocery store by 9:30 and I still had one room and a set of stairs to finish.

Soooo, I was saved having to feed the dogs or make the boy’s lunch, but arrived in time to feed the boy his breakfast and make the hubster *his* lunch.

For bento #23, he got another “unlunchable” with meats and cheeses, plus a side salad. I keep worrying that he’s not eating well enough during his loooooong days, so I tucked in a yogurt and some chocolate chips to fill out his bag.

I didn’t bother to photograph it — you’ve seen the unlunchables so many times already. :::smirk:::

Happy lunching, sweetie.

Dad’s bento (#22)

I had made some meatloaf and meatloaf “meatballs” last Friday and the hubster was mad that I only let him have one slice for a late dinner and put all the other goodies in the freezer to be bagged up for lunches.

Today, I relented and defrosted a slice for his lunch. I was feeling so accomodating that I also whipped up some mashed potatoes and barbeque sauce for his dining pleasure. I included my latest food obsession — edamame! Yummy scrummy!

I made him another side salad in my Putifresh lockable container — it had sliced carrots and almonds. The cup holds more mustard vinaigrette. I tucked three mini Kit Kats into the lid of the green Putifresh 2-tier bento box. His lunch bag also has some dried apple slices and a small apple too!

I’m not winning any Mother of the Year awards for the boy’s lunch — he got a PB&J, a fruit cup and a Capri Sun. I guess I’m holding a grudge today since he forgot to bring home his lunchbag ….from FRIDAY!!

Sheesh