lunch: 12.02.08

lunch: 12.02.08
Originally uploaded by frannybaloo

the background has been changing for my lunch pictures. most of the previous photos were taken with my iphone on top of my kitchen counter (ivory corian). this day's lunch was taken just before chowtime, and the background is the dining table at my work lunchroom (which is really a demoted boardroom table).

lunch consisted of leftover mushroom chicken with steamed rice, russian salad (which i ended up not eating because it didn't bode well with the other food), and orange slices. i sprinkled furikake on the rice right before eating for more texture.

lunch: 11.20.08

lunch: 11.20.08
Originally uploaded by frannybaloo

obviously today is not 11.20. i'm playing catch up here. this was the last bento lunch i made before thanksgiving. it's a chicken salad melt with avocado slices and cheese. and lots of fresh fruit. yum.

on 11.21, i neglected to bring my lunch. but all was well, because i ended up going to eat at the japanese restaurant next door with my co-worker (whom i never see anymore--she was squatting at my office and they severed the cord and made her move into her own office). and it was good playing catch up with our lives.

the week of thanksgiving, i only worked on monday. i was up in north county making presentations at a bunch of training sites, so i couldn't bring lunch, as i didn't have fridge/microwave access. for lunch, i ate fish tacos at a mexican restaurant with the director of our nc programs who was also kindly chauffering me around.

the monday after thanksgiving, i overslept. i was pretty spoiled with a week of vacation that i didn't have time to figure something out. plus, we didn't celebrate thanksgiving at our house this year (it was at my aunt's house) and didn't bother to bring home leftovers, so there really wasn't anything in the fridge that i could toss in my box with minimal preparation. i did remember that i had a can of progresso italian meatball soup, so i packed up the last sourdough bread round from the kitchen table and ran off to work.

and that, my dears, is the reason for my lack of pictures and posts. hopefully that won't happen too often. i like bringing my lunch. it saves me time, money, and GAS! which even though prices have dropped to below $2/gal, is like freaking gold to me.

lunch: 11.19.08

lunch: 11.19.08
Originally uploaded by frannybaloo

this was meant to be tuesday's lunch, as i originally packed it on tuesday morning. but if you follow my personal blog, i had the longest day at work ever, which didn't have time to include sitting down to eat my lunch. by the time i was able to catch a breath, the catering for the evening's board meeting had arrived, so i ended up eating that instead.

anyway, i didn't want to waste this food, so i decided to save it for today. i had spinach salad with baby spinach, dried cranberries, pecans, and cheese. raspberry dressing to top it all off. i also had a hard boiled egg that i ate with wheat toast and honey ham. simple as that.

i think for tomorrow, i'm going to make some onigiri. i can't wait to play with the rice molds. maybe spam musubi for lunch? we'll see.

lunch: 11.17.08

lunch: 11.17.08
Originally uploaded by frannybaloo

today's lunch includes: portabella mushroom ravioli on a bed of baby spinach and loaded w/ pesto genovese (a la fresh&easy), some honey sliced ham, garlic bread, and baby carrots.

lunch: 11.14.08

lunch: 11.14.08
Originally uploaded by frannybaloo

this one is a mix of monday & wednesday's lunches. pita w/ herb-crusted chicken & tzatziki sauce, spinach salad (baby spinach, pecans, cranberries, & babybel cheese w/ a raspberry vinaigrette, and blueberries in the pink bento box.

lunch: 11.13.08

lunch: 11.13.08
Originally uploaded by frannybaloo

packed my lunch before heading off to bed since i've got an early day tomorrow.  it consists of shrimp gyoza w/ rice, egg&spinach salad, and blueberries.

we'll see after lunchtime if this was a good combination?

the goods.

since i didn't take a picture of my packed lunch for today, i thought maybe i'd share the supplies i stocked up with on my two trips to daiso.  it's not much, as i am just beginning my bento collection.

(these pictures were taken with the camera on my iphone)

this is the first of two bento boxes i purchased.  yellow, with a faint design and little white flowers, it's a 600 mL total capacity.  i'd get out the ruler and measure it for you so you can get the idea of dimensions, but it's getting closer and closer to bedtime and i'm lazy:

this is the second bento box i picked up.  it's also a 600 mL total capacity, and the top cover's prose reads: the life that bounced.  i wonder who translated that and from what japanese phrase it came from.  i like this one a lot because it has a compartment on the cover for chopsticks, but that can also just be extra goodies space.  this box is skinnier and longer than the previous one.

food picks and food separators.  oh, and my chopsticks that match the pink bento box, but oddly don't fit into the chopstick compartment on that box.

those silicone cupcake cups are used to separate food.  the cookie cutters are for cutting shapes into fruits and veggies.  and the things that look like clappers are actually onigiri molds.

these are condiment containers.  they're really small, but apparently just the right size for dressings and sauces and all that other good stuff. i love the monkey ones, they're for spreads, and the bananas are actually little spoons to scoop and spread the goop.  the thing on the far left is the butterfly belt used to hold the bento box together while it's filled with food.  and those clear containers on the top right are for furikake.  i took the liberty to fill one of them with the good stuff already.

i also purchased hard boiled egg molds, but they were in use when i took these pictures.  aren't bento supplies just so cute?