Old Bento #2

Here is another bento I had posted on my other blog The Tiny Skillet . I will bring them over to The Tiny Bento here and there, or now and then!
This is probably as "cutsie" as Maranda would let me get(for now). I got a set of six flower cookie cutters that range smaller to bigger. The watermelon radish is the smallest. I tried to cut the pickled daikon radish in a small circle for the flower center, but just could find anything to do it with.
Under the radish flowers is some steamed rice with furikake sprinkled on it. To the right of that are fried spam and cucumber flowers, broccoli could of been placed a little better. Strawberries and red grapes with the only small pick I have (for now). Baby carrots with circles (flower buds) of daikon radish (the smallest circle I could do for now).



This was one of the first container that I got with just bento in mind.
It is so hard to get much bento anything around here. I got the idea to use this from Target thanks to Debra of hapa bento. I had also bought an all blue one for Maranda . They work quite well for a bento lunch, just leave the spoon out. Sometimes I will use the smaller container and sometimes not. So there you have it. Thanks for looking!

Tropical Bento

I know everyone is into Fall and Halloween right now, but since we don't see any color change in Florida I decided to do what is close to home! I have a lot of shells and flamingos and even some palm trees in my decor. Okay I know, but it is coastal living! Next I am working on incorporating shells into a bento, besides shell pasta!

I found these adorable glass picks at a Florida inspired store. I can find a use for these palm trees and flamingos in many things. Just picture them stuck in some tropical appetizers sitting out on the lanai next to the pool!
Or stuck in an olive or lychee in a martini!

I have snap peas, tiny clementines, starfruit, large grapes, natal plum, and smoked salmon cucumber and goat cheese on whole grain baguette!

Bottom layer is saffron rice, smoked salmon and gouda butterflies, (thank you so much Jenn for the beautiful butterfly cutters) and sugar snap peas.

How about this background?

Just a glimpse, of what my husband picked up this weekend. He can fix most any watercraft. It's in rough shape, but he figured why not? For that price he couldn't pass it up. He is playing redneck with his brother (in the back) and good friend drinking beer in a boat that is now a lawn ornament. No offence to anyone!

I first caught them standing around our friend's vintage Bronco engine with the hood up! I had to laugh, because we would always drive by this house where they were always leaning over the bed of a pick up truck drinking beer...like every time we drove by they were out there doing this! I thought it was funny...
Ya'll have a wonderful weekend...ya hear!

Old Bento #1

I decided to bring over all my old bento lunches that I posted on my food blog The Tiny Skillet.


This is one I posted when I was still toying with the idea of making bentos. I had a lot of color to play with, but no real bento box yet. As you can see it was all fruit and veggie and I sent it along with a wrap for my husbands lunch.

Top row: kumquat, and watermelon radish
next row: strawberries on a wooden skewer
next row: cantaloupe, edamame, quick steamed asparagus, and broccoli
All on a bed of fresh spinach!

Bento, Thrift Shop, and Farmer's Market

Our farmer's market is downtown Sarasota, and it's not too far for us to drive, but we don't go downtown too often. When we do go we like to stop at other places downtown, like Whole Foods and The Women's Exchange. So I will share my bento that has some of our farmer's market, and Whole Foods finds, (but not the thrift shop's)

The sandwich is wrapped in a black and white checkered deli wrapper, and fried rice in the pink cup, and carrots(my go to always have on hand color splash). All the rest is fruit. The tiny tangerines were so good and no seeds what-so-ever and the raspberries are almost as big! I have quenepa and muscadine grapes tucked in, all on a bed of green leaf lettuce!

The Women's Exchange is a large thrift shop that is non-profit. All the proceeds go to charities, and the workers are volunteers. Needless to say the shelves are loaded for a great cause.

All sorts of knick knacks, chotchkies, and trash to treasures colorful finds.

These two dishes are for baking apples. Clever huh? I've never seen this before and I grew up in apple country!

I love vintage dishes. I have a few sets of some from the fifties that I love to use. My mom gave me the set that we had when I was a kid, it has little aqua star bursts on it. Anyway a lot of these are just good china or basic everyday, nothing too exciting this time that I was interested in.

I like to see if I can spot a little piece here or there that I might be able to use as a prop for one of my blogs! I didn't have that much time because of the fruit in the car.

My farmer's market find!

I was thrilled to see some quenepa, or mamoncillo, also called Spanish lime.

You don't always see the dark muscadine grapes, mostly it's the green ones. I have never eaten one fresh before (they use it in wine a lot). You eat it sort of like you would a concord grape. It reminds me of the flavor but more earthy and not as tart. You don't eat the skins, they are a lot tougher, but I liked to chew all the goodness out of it.

Thanks for tagging along with me. More fun to come!

Every Day Bento ~ for real ~

I am so impressed with all you creative super bento moms that can have everything all organized and planed out enough where you can make 3 bento box lunches with all the cute details and artistic flair! Then photograph it beautifully! I thought I could do that, but I'm not 100% on the planing ahead. I often have a lot on hand for my bentos, but sometimes when I get a nice looking tiny fruit, or an interesting color vegetable...my lettuce is wilted...or the bread is moldy :( or everything ends up the same color! Then try to get a good photo when it is still dark out so you just have to use the flash on the counter in front of you not having the time to set it up to look nice...

But I trudge on trying to get a lunch together that they will at least eat and put it in a nice, if not pretty reusable "green" container or bento.

This is often what I will end up with for the everyday...I have to get up at 5:30 and make 3 lunches bento.
In one I have some Spinach Alfredo pizza, babybel cheese, some really nice cheddar, and cauliflower. The other one is Genoa salami, Champagne grape, and cauliflower. Easy peasy...sometimes the best I can do on a busy weekday morning. I'm not making excuses because my daughter is fine with a sandwich of her choosing and some little snacks and tidbits, and she is happy with her lunch!

Show and Tell Time again!
I don't know if you remember my cactus flower buds here. The cactus is called Stapelia and I believe is originally from South Africa. It is also call the Starfish plant, Carrion Flower and a few other names. Well here they are when the blooms are open...
It is an interesting plant because it is considered a "stinky" flower. The flower is about 8-10 inches at it's widest part and smells like meat (I never smelled it). It is hairy and attracts flies for pollination. The lizards love hanging out around the flowers when it's dinner time! It is an easy plant to care for, it like sandy soil and you can pretty much ignore it. It spreads but it is easy to control. It works well for a house plant because the plant it's self doesn't get very tall, not like my San Pedro Cactus. It can bloom even if it's in a planter.