An Evening Bento Series - Day 2

Good morning!  I'm happy and chipper because for a second day in a row, I got to sleep in and have a leisurely morning (getting up at 5:30 seems like sleeping in to 10 right now). 

So, last night I prepared two bentos from dinner leftovers.  Dinner was:

This was recycled into a bento with some additions.  All told, bentos were made and cooling on the kitchen counter by 7:30pm; dishes were done at that point too.  While the bentos were cooling, the family played games and hung out - not a bad deal at all.


Layer 1:  The first course is actually pretty simple.  As we were making a salad to go with dinner, I sliced veggies for the bento.  So, here we have cucumber, tomatoes, carrots, and a butterfly cut from green pepper.  I also added a pinwheel sandwich of black forest ham, tomatoes, cucumbers, and mayo on a flat bread.  Between the two bentos, I used half a pinwheel roll, so I have enough for another day - easily.  I just thin sliced veggies and threw together the pinwheel as I was doing the other veg.  DH commented that he likes the lemon cake without the crunchy topping, so here it is served as dessert.  I added a lot of yellow and orange to this layer - and didn't notice until now.  There's orange slices, pineapple, and a strawberry. 

Layer 2: So here's the main course.  The leftover steak from dinner is thin sliced.  I've added some coleslaw (that I made over the weekend), sautéed onions and mushrooms (this I made specially for the bento), and as I was making potatoes for dinner, I added a few little ones for the bento. 

I think the end result today is rather pretty.  There's lots of color, variety of texture and flavor, and while dinner is refeatured, it's presented differently and side dishes are changed up. 

Portions are pretty small here.  I think there's about 2 oz (57 g) of steak, 1/4 cup of mushrooms and onions, the same quantity of coleslaw (if that), and 1.5 small potatoes.  That's one of the things I love about bentos: the tiny bits of leftovers that don't seem like they're enough to keep turn into meal.  Even layer 1 contains small portions.  There's 1/4 sandwich, 2 mini carrots, a few slices of cucumber, and some tomato.  The piece of green pepper is almost two small to mention.  Dessert is 1/4 of a small orange, 1/4 of a normal slice of cake, a single strawberry, and a tiny bit of pineapple.  Each item eaten on its own would be a ridiculous portion but the sum of the parts becomes substantial. 


With small portions and economy in mind, I have a bento challenge for you!  If you read my blog, I'd like you to go into your fridge and pull out the leftovers that have been stored in there for a day or two.  Take a good look at what you've got that's still reasonable to eat.  What can you make with it?  Tonight after dinner, instead of throwing out or pushing someone to eat that last spoonfull of veg or rice, save it!  Turn it into something special and take a picture or two.  Then please email it to me!  I'll post your bentos alongside my own.

My email:  fontevrault @  comcast dot net