Hurrah! It’s the first bento of the year. I actually made over 150 bentos last year which is pretty impressive and hopefully this year will be as productive (or more).

Pasta with green peas and spinach, salad, apple

Tortilla soup, extra cheddar and tortilla strips, salad, and Apple and probably the worst picture of the year

Sausage and roasted vegetables, salad, grapes

Breakfast burritos and apple. Burritos contain: eggs, beans, rice, onions and pepper, chopped jalepeno, cheddar, salsa, and sour cream

There’s only one more week in the year so it’s okay that this weeks food is boring and next week might also have boring food but…

Japanese Style Chicken Curry, rice, salad

Spinach and Goat Cheese Quiche, salad, mandarins

Minestrone, salad, apple

Fried cauliflower, rice, soy sauce, carrots and hummus, apple

This felt like a lot less plums when I was packing them but I guess it’s fine. I was thinking about trying persimmons because they’re pretty cheap here and I don’t quite remember what they taste like? We’ll see.

Egg fried rice, scallion pancakes, plums Creamy orzo with roasted vegetables, tomato soup, plums Chicken noodle soup, Danish carrot roll, apple Bean and Rice Bowl, carrots and hummus, saladTurkey and Cranberry Jam Sandwich, boiled eggs, salad, yogurt with plums

I had a kind of sad week but actually the food ended up looking really good? Clearly this means I should just be sad all the time :p

Spinach Quiche, carrots and hummus, apple tart, apple

Smoked salmon and cream cheese on black bread, sautéed potatoes and green beans, mandarins

Mac and cheese, loaded salad, apple

Chicken Tikka Masala, rice, carrots and hummus, apple

Lentil Falafel, yogurt dip, salad, tomato soup, banana

This week Andrew has off from work so I think I’ll take a week off from lunch box making and just stick to good old fashioned things in regular dishes but in good new, I’ll probably have made and taken photographs of 150 lunches by the end of the year anyway 🙂

Taco Salad, chips and salsa, mandarins

Pasta with cream and cheese sauce, salad, apple 

Popovers with mushroom ragu, boiled egg, mandarins, chocolate, tomato cucumber salad

Chicken noodle soup, mini biscuits, salad, apple

Chicken pot pie, salad, walnut/raisins/cheese, apple

I’m sort of curious how many actual bentos I made this year because it was my first year of really tracking making lunch. So I think I’m going to go back and count and give a grand total at the end of the year.

Pasta with vegetable sauce, crackers and cheese, apple

Corn Cakes, salad, carrots and hummus, boiled egg, apple

Bao zi, salad, rice, apple

Shrimp with green beans, mashed potatoes, red peppers and dip, apple

This was a really impressive week or great and complex recipes that I think I’ll go ahead and take next week off (joking!). I made not just two new recipes but also two twists on recipes I’ve made previous with great success across the board. What a week!

Mushroom and pea risotto, salad, apple

Mini chicken pot pie, salad, carrots and red pepper hummus, grapes Falafel Scotch Eggs, couscous, grapes, apple Black Bean Chili, Cornbread, Avocado, Cheese, Apple

Sandwich (tomato babka bread, sliced ham, cream cheese), salad, spicy pickles, apple

Ive been so consistant this year with making lunches and posting them that I feel extra super proud every time I managed to make 5 a week even though I probably shouldn’t feel that elated with, you know, feeding myself. There’s only 13 more weeks in the year though so I’m going to have to plan hard if I want to make more new things in that time!

Chicken fried rice, salad, grapes

Spaghetti and meatballs, bread, salad, apple

Piroshki, salad, carrots and hummus, banana

Quiche, coleslaw, apple, cherry tomatoes

Falafel, couscous with tomatoes, salad

Just some good ol’ fashioned salads populating lunch this week. I don’t know what it is about salad except that it’s super easy and Andrew likes it so I try not to fight against the tide too much but also I kind of hate the quiet complacency of salad?

Mac and cheese, salad, nectarine Goulash, spatzel, salad, apple General Tso’s Cauliflower, rice, salad, nectarine Black bread with lox and cream cheese, roasted vegetables, grapes Pepper popovers with mushroom ragu, salad, carrots and dip, grapes

I made all five lunches for this week and I feel good about it because I didn’t waste any food and I managed to only make food that tastes great so that always makes me happy.

Japanese style chicken curry, rice, salad, plums

Zucchini pancakes, boiled egg, jam, grapes, nectarine

Jerk seasoned shrimp and vegetable bowl, sour cream, chips, and salsa

Potato au gratin, salad, carrots and hummus, grapes

Pb and j, coleslaw, grapes, nectarine