2 Quick Cuties and a High-Speed Bento

I was really lucky this week and didn't have to work until the afternoon on most days.  I love it when that happens because I don't have to plan my lunches quite so well ahead of time and can just let it happen in the morning.  But, on Friday my morning meeting went later than I thought and I had to rush to prepare my own meal before heading off to work.  Luckily, I had plenty of things ready from Monstro's lunch so it was fast to put together.  But first, the cute stuff!

Thursday's lunch was small but it was an all-request lunch.  Monstro was VERY particular about the mushroom that went into his lunch and spent quite a bit of time searching through the bin at the grocery to find the perfect one!  He's got a little coffin sandwich made of ginger-carrot zucchini bread with white corn tortilla "RIP" on top and peanut butter inside.  The letters are stuck on with the tiniest bit of peanut butter.  I was really surprised at how well the bread held up in the freezer.  It's been in there for almost 2 weeks and it was still delicious!  He's got a spider filled with roasted sweet corn, that oh-so-special mushroom, carrots, broccoli and red pepper strips (left over after the piranha lunch).  This was really fast to put together and the longest thing was cutting the zucchini bread into the coffin shape.  The "Happy Halloween" pick is from a Target cupcake set last year and the box is a pirate sandwich box from the Dollar Bin at Target.

Friday's lunch was also really fast.  That's the good thing about fish for bento.  You can cook a small filet of fish in about 5min and have it in the box ready to go!  The coucous is also great because it cooks fast, is versatile and you can keep a big batch on hand to add to lunches all week long.  In the top tier Monstro had cajun catfish with white corn tortilla "BOO", spicy whole-wheat couscous with raisins (veggie chicken broth, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, cayenne, salt, pepper and cumin), a little broccoli tree and 1/2 lemon cucumber from our garden.  The bottom tier has broccoli to hold in the spiders in place.  One spider has about 1/4 of a tomato from Hilltop and the other is roasted sweet corn.  We LOVE roasted corn and it's a good pre-prepped staple for bento.  I usually roast 3-4 ears in the husks and then once they're cool I put them in the fridge sealed a ziplock.  (I'm not sure why this photo is sideways.  I've uploaded it 3 times - guess you'll have to tip your monitor!)

Finally, a not-too-pretty but fast and yummy lunch for myself.  This was after my late-running meeting.  I filled the bottom 3/4 of my LunchBots Eco with spicy couscous then topped it with a really simply seasoned pollack filet (salt, pepper and ground ginger).  On the side, I added a piece of broccoli and red pepper strips that hadn't fit into Monstro's box earlier, the other half of his lemon cucumber, 1/4 of the tomato I had cut for him and a prune plum I found hanging out by the microwave.  Everything was already in the box waiting when the fish came out of the pan.  I popped it onto the couscous to help absorb any juices (and steam) and I was on my way!

Enjoy your weekend!  I can't wait for Monday so I can use our new froggie bento box!