Let this bento picture be a lesson to everyone out there.  If you think your bento box looks not so great, turn it to another angle and it might look better.  LOL!  As I went to take the picture for this morning’s bento, thoughts ran through my head of how I just can’t seem to pack an attractive bento box sometimes.  Spaghetti sauce had splattered, the green beans were bothering.  I have alot packed into this box, and it all looked a bit mashed together.

The tomato sauce was wiped off before picture taking, and I shifted the box around so I could take the picture from the angle of the pasta shells.  When I looked through my camera’s viewfinder, all of a sudden things looked a bit more put together.   Yeah, I’m happy with it now.  Well, sort of.  I don’t like how orange the picture is.  The pasta shells sort of blend into the background for me.  I can’t seem to find my blue backgrounds.  I don’t know what I did with them.  I wonder if I should interrogate Gabby & Toby.  Hmmm…..

This week, I feel I’m doing pretty well with what I’m packing for my lunch.  I feel full at lunch time, which is a good plus.  The only thing I do have to say is that I feel like I’m getting hungry quicker between meals.  This isn’t a big deal.  It just means I know I really need to pack that afternoon snack as I’m supposed to.  I remembered to do that yesterday (PB crackers).  Life worked like a charm, and I didn’t need anything until I got home from work yesterday.   YAY for great packing.

Yesterday, I cooked some potatoes that need cooking, but it also provided a change to the format of the week.  While the dumplings and lentil cake might appear each day this week, changing the sides is keeping me from feeling bored.  I only had 2 smallish potatoes to cook, so between having 1/2 with supper on Monday and 1/2 with lunch on Tuesday, I had none left for today.  Which was a good deal.  It forced me to change one of the sides again.

I noticed yesterday I had some frozen tomato sauce in the freezer, just waiting to be used.  I pulled that out and defrosted it in a small saucepan this morning while I cooked some pasta shells and pan-fried a few more dumplings.  That whole process probably took 15 minutes.  A quick pack of the box and I was ready to shoot the picture and be on my way for the day.  I have leftover sauce and shells for tomorrow, so no need to go through all of that again tomorrow morning.

In today’s bento box:

• Pasta shells with meatless tomato sauce
• Lentil cake
• Green beans
• Vegetarian wontons
• Last of the braised celery (under the wonton cup)

Be the bento everyone!