Quick Summer Bento -

Not much bento making this summer

I have been trying to get things done around the house, and on my three blogs. I am using some Lock N Lock containers for this bento I also ordered some lunch box bentos and sent some to my niece for her wedding.

In the two left sections I have some sushi rice with shiitake mushrooms, wasabi, pickled ginger and black sesame seeds to top. The right top section strips of blanched snow peas, carrots, strips of Japanese omelet, crab stick, sauteed mushrooms.
Some black sweet cherries in the bottom right.

Simple and quick for summer...hopefully more to come when I get back to work when schools starts back up.

But before summer is over when did some sightseeing again in our own city...

Got some photos lounging at the Ca de Zan, and many more among the beautiful grounds.

wouldn't this would be great for entertaining? and it's right on the water.

I'll have to check what kind of tree this is, many blossom still on the tree as well as the ground.

I can't resist looking up at tall palms and snap a picture!

Speaking of snap...as we were walking to the rose garden we heard a crack and boom, this branch fell near us just as we were walking by...it was a large branch...

only a few roses in this time of year, many were on the tail end until the next bloom for the cooler months.


In my back yard I've been watching my ginger blossom, these little flowers work their way up, kinda like a pineapple blossoms.

and a few mangoes picked at the same time off the same tree (we only have one mango tree).

and a new daily visitor to our house, Talon is a little more of a climber. He was sitting on the windowsill just watching as I was washing dishes. He peaked around the corner, but would sit for a pose.
Thanks for stopping by!

Summer Snack Bento

We were going up to Palma Sola to jet ski, so many places have been closed off due to the high rent areas want the water view to themselves. Money talks I guess. Anyway it's kinda fun up there because they will still allow horses on the beach there and many will bring their horse on a Sunday afternoon and have fun with the family.



We bring the pop-up so we can have shade, which we use year round here in Florida. I think I set a phobia in my daughter's head about staying out of the sun...hey she will thank me years from now when her skin is still so beautiful and cancer free.

I didn't get many pics of the horses most of them were on the other side of the causeway. That is where our friend went with her horses. My camera was acting up :(


Here is a snack bento that I brought along, some California rolls with brown rice, broccoli rabe, carrots, rotisserie chicken. Nothing special just a quick snack.,and I had another one with some sesame snacks, cheddar, poppy seed, and garlic onion. I used my new Lock and Lock lunch box. I am almost getting as obsessed with Lock N Lock as Not Exactly Bento is...almost, but she has been collecting longer.




Just a few things to share from my yard, my turmeric is popping up nicely...I have some in a pot too that is bigger.



my pineapple has just seemed to stall, maybe it's too dry or too wet for it...

... this ginger in the backyard that I don't harvest... I let go to flower...


...these Lilly flowers smell so strong you wouldn't think they would...I'll have to find out what kind they are.

Have a great day! Thanks for sticking with me.

Kafta Bento in a Tiffin?

I have been off for the summer until school starts back up in August, I go back to work a week before the kids come back. I can't believe it's already July, and here I thought I'd be posting all my bento lunches. I have taken some pics, but they seem to be nothing new so they never made it up. We are finally getting the rain we needed so desperately. Otherwise we've been so dry our lawn was "crunchy" and this is our rainy season!


The last time I was in Michigan visiting family I picked up the small tiffin box...

... from the same place where I got my Indian spice box...which I absolutely LOVE! (Well I actually did buy my spice box my sister got it there for me for Christmas awhile ago) ... I wonder if you use a tiffin for a bento box is it a bento lunch in a tiffin? I guess if it was warmed and delivered to me it would be a tiffin lunch! :D

The other day I made some Lebanese 7 spice blend and posted it on The Tiny Skillet. The spice smelled so good I had to use it right away so I made kafta, they're like Lebanese lamb meatballs on a stick. They were good hot off the grill, warm and even cold the next day! perfect for a bento!

I have here some fried rice on the bottom, steamed snow peas and carrots, topped with kiwi. The top layer is some nice organic lettuce, cucumber slices, kafta with the yellow spiral skewers, some fresh pita bread, and tzatziki , the cucumber yogurt sauce that tasted so good on the kafta in the red silacone flower cup. All that's missing are the tomatoes. I wish I had some, can't really grow them well here in Florida!

Or maybe it's just me...I can grow a few herbs like the mint in the bento! My rosemary does the best, I also have chives, basil, sage, ginger, and just started to grow turmeric. I'm excited to see how that goes...or "grows"!

Later for dessert we had some Plum-Ginger Granita. It was wonderful...I made sure it had plenty of flavor, yummy! Perfect for summer so refreshing and not too sweet!


Everyone have a wonderful 4th of July!!!

A Bento, a Wedding and Spring Flowers

Hi everyone, I'm back!!
In the nurses office at the elementary school that I work at they have us call it the health room. I guess it's not legally a clinic because no doctor works there and of course we can't diagnose anything. We need to tell the parents that, (oh yeah we do) they always send thier kid in to see us for something that happened at home and wants us to do something about it.

Anyway we have a senior in high school that has an internship with us in the health room, because she wants to go into nursing. She would come in and eat snacks and her second lunch that her boyfriend's mother would pack for her. On my computer my screen-saver is a collection of photos and a couple are of my bento boxes. I like the kids to see what a healthy lunch looks like and how much fun it is to ear. Alysia saw my bentos and was intrigued and so I made her one...

It was just a small one because this was her second lunch, but she ended up eating the fruit and taking the rest home. I used the Longhorn pick because that was one of her favorite pigout places restaurants. I also had another little box with a salad for her. She was thrilled...and it is so simple. She said she never had rice noodles like this before. She thought my dumplings were scary.
Last Saturday we were in Grand Rapids, Michigan for my nieces wedding. Maranda and I were able to fly up for a long weekend. The weather was unusually cool for this time of year and it was even cold for them. The day of the wedding there were blue skies.

Not a good shot but the lighting was better in this one. I had to fight the back lighting of windows during the wedding (I was asked to video tape it for them) and here at the reception. This was just before the toast.

The tulips are usually in full bloom at this time...in Holland, Michigan I believe the Tulip Festival was moved up to this week because in the past they were almost done because it was too warm. Go figure Mother Nature!

These were in my sister's yard...

they had some beautiful purple full hyacinths decorating the chapel for the wedding.

A quick shot of my family without the kids. Me, dad, mom, uncle and aunt. Then cousin, younger sis, her husband, older sis, her husband and my cousin's wife.

The weeping cherry trees were almost in bloom, this one was outside after the reception. I'll bet it wasn't long after we left that they were in full bloom.

Back home in Florida this is what we woke up to...our San Pedro cactus in full bloom. It's a shame the blossom only comes out at night and then closes in the morning and that's it.

Hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day!

Sunday Snack Bento

Hi all my bento friends out there, how have you all been? It's a busy week at school last week due to the FCAT testing, that's The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, and is administered to students in grades 3 - 11. Although I am not in the classroom anymore and working in the clinic I get a chance to see what nerves and working too hard can do to these grade schoolers. Anyway I really needed to relax this weekend and get ready for two more days of testing for the 5th graders. This year Our Spring Break was so early and testing is later than it has always been. I think as far as sickness, colds and allergies the later testing is better, but you still have kids coming in to school sick so they won't miss it....please stay home and take the make up test!!!

I finally used my new adorable bento box that my sister gave me for Christmas. Of course I got it in February because that's when she come down to Florida to visit. I love it, and I can't wait to use the fish onigiri mold. I also can't wait to get a new camera...I really want two. But bills have to be paid first.

The tier on the left I have some crispy curry tofu, some mini almonds, marbled cheese, grape tomatoes, cauliflower all on a bed of kale. I have some asparagus spears tucked in on the left but you can't see them. The little candy in the first pic is from my friend who brought a bag of little candy bars from South Africa.

The top tier: the last of some of this season's Florida orange slices green grapes with some of the pick my sister gave me, baby bella mushrooms, and oatmeal bread cut in a flower with cream cheese and peperoni spread with a chipotle rubbed, boiled lotus root on top.

I could not get this camera to focus on the baby pineapple. I wanted to show you how it has tiny purple flowers that start to bloom at the bottom and later near the top. ..

My camera is now really acting up, because I used to be able to focus pretty close... There is also a catch in the aperture, but I hope you get an idea of what it looks like.

My husband rode his motorcycle to Ft Lauderdale to a jet ski race to promote his new business that he just started last week. So Maranda and I decided to walk the beach early...we grabbed our coffee and flip flops sunroof open and headed out to Siesta Key...

We had our coffee and so did this guy...

We usually avoid going to the beach until after Easter when most of the snow-birds and tourist leave us, and we can have our beach back, and things get back to normal.

It is still a little early to see any turtles nests, nesting season is May 1, through Oct 4. We were thinking of volunteering to join the daily patrols during nesting season to help monitor the eggs and hatching of the baby turtles. Here on Turtle Beach you'll find many nests.

We were there early enough so the beach was still empty, and the waves were beautiful...so peaceful just to be there and listen...

The crystal clear blues skies really helped to show off the blue water, then we came home to walk the dog and sit by the pool and enjoy our snack bento....

Ready for the week?

Tiny Hippo Bento

I know, I haven't graduated to cutting out a hippo fro cheese or egg sheets yet, but using this container as a guide I might just be able to pull it off. I found this cute little container perfect for dips and dressings, so I filled it with Jason's Deli style fruit dip, you can get the fruit dip recipe here. I also tucked in some veggies, steamed romanesco, carrots, snow peas. A little arepa sandwich with salmon, cream cheese and dill. Sharing a little of my work place. Some of the kids artwork that is hanging in the office next to the health room door (where I work). I love these... ...it's painted on crumpled up brown paper bag paper. The colors are so vivid. I should take some more photos of it I was in a rush when these were taken. We have so much beautiful art that the kids do hanging around the school.

The colorful crazy socks of one of our regulars that we see each day. She comes in to check her blood sugar and to get some insulin after she eats lunch. When I first saw these I told her I wanted a picture of it...she giggled. I bring my camera quite often to work, so this time when she wore some crazy sock I was ready. She loved posing, I wish I could show you her cute smiling face!

Here is Marina Jacks at Sarasota Bay front, we like to go here and have breakfast, there is a park, fountains for the kids, beautiful view, and dogs are welcome to tag along with their owners. There are always plenty of dogs and it's so nice we can take him to breakfast at O' Learys. I think I've already posted picture of that before, if not I'll be sure to. It's so nice that in outdoor restaurants we can bring our dogs with us We do have to follow the rules, but of course our dog is well behaved. :D

Tucker met a new friend, she is just under a year old and very well behaved too. Tucker has mellowed in his old age. When we are finished eating breakfast we have to take him around a little bit more... ...after all there are so many good dog smells to check out.

Hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend!

There will be more to come...