#22 Adult Quesadillas Bento

Bottom Tier: 2 Spinach-Feta Quesadillas
Top Tier: Strawberries, chocolate square

The spinach in our garden is getting a little out of control, so we had to harvest a bunch. These quesadillas were a natural choice, because they're so delicious:
Make roasted garlic as in my very first bento blog post. While it cools, boil some veggie or chicken broth with some chopped jalapeno peppers (the number of peppers depends on how spicy you want your quesadillas). Boil for about 10 minutes, so that it reduces a little, and the pepper flavor gets infused into the broth. Then, pour it into a shallow bowl or pan through a sieve (to remove the pepper chunks). While the broth cools, chop up some spinach into small strips, and put it into a large bowl. Add crumbled feta cheese, the roasted garlic, and a little olive oil. When you are ready to cook your quesadillas, choose a frying pan that is the same size or larger than the tortillas that you will be using. Heat the pan up to about the medium setting, and add some oil. Dip each tortilla in the spicy broth mixture, and fry it for about 1 minute on each side, just to make it sticky.
After all of your tortillas have been pre-cooked, you can start adding the spinach-feta mixture and rolling up your quesadillas. Then, fry them again until golden-brown.

#21 Greek Bento

Top Tier: Jasmine rice with gyro meat, hummus in the plastic container
Bottom Tier: Falafel, strawberries, carrot chunks
In the Lid: chocolate square

#20 Southern-Style Bento

These are leftovers from Cracker Barrel, which holds a very special tiny space in my heart.

Bottom Tier: Roast beef, pinto beans, and a biscuit
Top Tier: Fried apples, strawberries

Totally not nutritious, but soooooooooo good.

New Boxes!

I just bought these new boxes from Ichiban Kan. They are from the Putifresh grape series, and have some awesome Engrish: "Happy fruits is very delicious. I will eat this and will become fortunate all together!" The one on the left is two tiers, 350 mL and 250 mL, and has space in the top lid for my little fork, and something small, like chocolate squares. The box on the right has a snap-top lid which makes it spill-proof. It holds 480 mL, which is more than enough soup (or whatever). Also, both boxes are microwaveable.
I also bought some more elastic bands to hold my boxes together, two bags, some furikake, a spring roll kit, and some cookies, and my total was less than $20!

#19 Baked Potato Bento

Bottom Tier: Baked potato, sour cream and Earth Balance in the silicone cup
Top Tier: Caprese salad, cheddar cheese cubes, slices of beef bologna, grapes, kiwi slices.

I have a debilitating weakness for bologna. Its a curse I'm resigned to living with.

#18 Alfredo Bento

Top Tier: Shrimp fettuccine alfredo
Bottom Tier: Butter beans tossed with olive oil, salt, and pepper on a kale leaf, strawberries, raspberries

Shrimp Recipe:
Heat up some olive oil in a frying pan around the medium setting. Wash off your shrimp, and pat them dry (if you don't do this, then your shrimp will end up rubbery and not crisped. Sprinkle with any seasoning you prefer (I have a seafood spice that I like, which includes salt, white pepper, garlic, red pepper flake, and some other stuff). Fry about 2-4 minutes on each side.

Alfredo Recipe:
If you're making the shrimp variety, remove the shrimp onto a plate and put the pan back on the heat. Add a little olive oil, and several splashes of cream. Deglaze the pan, while also making sure to stir constantly. If left alone, the cream will boil extremely quickly, and then you'll have a big mess on your hands. If you're not using shrimp or any other meat or veggie, just heat up a pan with a little olive oil and add some cream. Once the cream has reduced a little (about 3-5 minutes), add shredded cheese a little at a time, while stirring to combine. I used a mix of Pecorino Romano and Parmesan cheeses, but you can use whatever you like. Add your shrimp back in to heat up, and you're done!

#17 Squash Bento

Bottom Tier: Roasted half of a tiny acorn squash, sitting on top of some almonds
Top Tier: Manchego cheese cubes, chocolate raspberry sticks, strawberries, 2 halves of a Seckel pear

Roasted Acorn Squash:
Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds and gooey bits. Put about 3/4 of an inch of water into a baking pan, and put the squash in skin side up (so that the "meat" of the squash can get steamed by the water). Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Then, dump the water and flip the squash. At this point you can go one of two ways: (1) Add some butter, cinnamon, sugar, and little nutmeg, or (2 [this is the one I did]) drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and herbs. Bake for another 20 minutes or so.