Sometimes I swear we are completely out of enough food to make anything resembling a lunch and then, I scrounge. Luckily, we had enough odds and ends to make this Nutella, pickles, mini bread, frozen strawberries, and dumpling bento. I'm so glad Nissa changed her mind about Nutella. I can maybe make that munchkin a sandwich now.

I used Norby's homemade whole wheat mini loafs of bread to make two mini salami and Jabari sandwiches. They fit so well that I'm going to have to badger him to make mini loafs every week! Simple easy lunch of sandwiches, pickle, and carrots. Halloweeny bentos down the lane I hope!

Tree carrots and flower picks with a "mountain" pot pie remind me of the national parks, all closed today due to a crazy government shutdown. It's interesting to be an observer of the reactions on all sides of this latest event, which are, expectedly, extreme. That aside, these are the lunches for the girls. There are cucumber carrot packets. I used a potato peeler to make strips of cucumber that I seasoned with salt and dill. Then I rolled the carrots into them and secured them with flower picks. The pot pies are stuffed with leftover vegetable stew from dinner last night and finally, there are slices of kiwi and carrots.

So I made this roast in my crock pot yesterday and it failed...miserably! It had yummy ingredients, seasonings, wine, etc. I just don't really know why the meat cooked so quickly while the veggies were still hard. Just when you think you've got this cooking thing down I tell ya! But alas, with Norby's help, it was rescued. I took the veggies, reseasoned them, and roasted them in a hot oven for 45 minutes. Yum!! Norby put the meat back in the crock and added a couple of beers. A few hours and some sauciness later, we had some amazing shredded beef. Which brings me to lunch. Annie has the roasted wine veggies (beets, potatoes, carrots, and onions) and shredded beef with carrot butterflies in one container. Carrot sticks and apple slices in the other. She tasted it all first and approved. I guess some mistakes really can be rescued.

Both girls requested the pork & cabbage steamed bao (bun) and Soba noodles with carrot ribbons. I threw in the quail egg baby mice for a little more protein. The soba are dressed with my usual dressing of two parts soy sauce to one part toasted sesame oil. I added some chopped up chives from the garden too. My garden is all but destroyed due to the puppy Snow who, I think, believes her purpose is to dig up the entire yard. I'll need to fence off from here on out. In the other tier, I threw in a blueberry cereal bar, carrot sticks, and grapes. I think Nissa will have enough for a leftover snack. Tired morning today, not much in the way of humorousness. 

Annie made her own bento for the first day of 7th grade, she's got the bug. Both girls have Norby's leftover dilled beef stroganoff, mandarin oranges, and carrots. Annie also has some tomatoes, pickled herring with a pickle, and a cheesy girl. Nissa has carrot, nori, and cucumber people, raisins, and some sunflower seeds.

I'm just posting pics right now and shall return with details at a later date and time.