Another Bento Blog

MH and I started our Monday-Friday, No Restaurant Challenge two weeks ago. We were spending $75-85 a week on lunches alone, and I’d guess maybe $100-150 more on dinners and drinks. You could say that’s an average of $190 a week eating out, or $823 a month. That’s a mortgage payment around here.

I started packing lunches two weeks ago, and it was such a pain using containers and Ziploc bags for everything that I soon ordered bento-style lunch boxes. We tried Laptop Lunches Bentos 2.0, but settled on Goodbyn boxes (see below for our reasons). I’m posting our lunch menus here to keep me motivated and to remember good ideas for those days when I’m feeling un-creative.

Here are the last few lunches I photographed…

From top to bottom, L-R, here's pasta salad with carrots and broccoli, kalamata tapenade, parmigiano reggiano cheese, and garlicky vinaigrette; two squares of dark chocolate with orange, napkin and silverware; grilled rosemary/balsamic chicken to top the salad, TJ's pear sauce, and sliced strawberries. This was really yummy.

Here's a side-by-side comparison of a Goodbyn lunch box and a Laptop Lunches Bento 2.0. The Goodbyn is HUGE compared to the LL, and I like that there are only two pieces (not including the drink container) to wash. Luckily, my sister prefers the LL boxes, so she bought our two at a slight discount. Perfect for her kids, and probably for those who don't want a huge lunch. We actually have trouble eating everything that fits in the Goodbyn, so we snack throughout the day from our "lunch" boxes.

This one was really fun... banana, spife (spoon/knife), napkin; dark chocolate sauce and HUGE strawberries; tzatziki (Greek cucumber-yogurt dip) with mixed fresh veggies, and a toasted English muffin with maple almond butter. We sliced the banana and topped the sandwiches with it. The yogurt dip was a little garlicky for the sweet, fruity lunch. That's the only thing I'd change for next time.