Mushroom & Pea Risotto - 331 calorie Bento

I was in desperate need for comfort food. Risotto is one of them for me. It must be the creaminess that soothes me. Ahhh!

Bento Content:

• Mushroom & Pea Risotto (275)
• Mandarin Orange Segments (56)

Total Bento: 331 calories

Chickenless Nuggets & Veggie Skewers - 181 calorie Bento

This one turned out to be a bit low in calories so I had to add a Banana to this lunch. The banana is not shown in the picture nor in the calorie count. It was tasty, though!

Bento Content:

• Trader Joe's Chickenless Nuggets (130)
• Romaine & Cucumber Salad (9)
• Black Olive and Grape Tomato Skewers (42)

Total Bento : 181 calories

plus Banana (120)

Total Lunch : 301 calories

Nuggets, Veggies & Fruit - 372 calorie Bento

My Doc tells me that I need to eat a bit more bananas - it seems that I am low in potassium. Groovy. Well, I bought a bunch of Baby Bananas, but appearances fooled me. They seemed ripe to me, I bit into one and my lips stuck together. Ha! Luckily, the one in this lunch was good to eat. This turned out to be a not very pretty bento, but it was pretty tasty!

Bento Content:

• Chicken Breast Nuggets (115)
• Spinach & Artichoke Veggie Bites (127)
• Carrots & Celery (10)
• Baby Banana (80)
• Clementine (40)

Total Bento: 372 calories

Pastrami 'Bacon' Sammie - 358 calorie bento

Today I was a little scatter-brained...I wanted to heat up some pastrami and I put a few slices into the microwave. A bit too long it seems, because instead of heating the pastrami, I made 'bacon' strips out of them! Surprisingly, they were quite good! Hah! I now have a bacon substitute! Gotta love when that happens! I think I will be repeating the 'mistake' often!

Bento Content:

• Pastrami 'Bacon' on Whole Wheat with Spicy Mustard and Shredded Romaine Lettuce (325)
• Carrot and Cubanelle Pepper Skewers (33)

Total Bento : 358 calories

Chicken Roulade - Sundried Tomatoes - 238 calorie bento

I had pounded out a few chicken breasts and frozen them. I bumped into one of the packages in the freezer and roulades came to mind.

They are really easy to make: You'll need a chicken breast (which I cut in half lengthwise and pounded out); sundried tomatoes (the ones that come in oil - but you need to drain the oil!), any seasoning of your preference (I used Garlic & Herb Mrs. Dash), and a pinch of salt.

All you do is sprinkle the seasonings & salt on one side, lay sundried tomatoes on top of the seasonings, roll up and secure with toothpicks. Put in an oven-safe pan, sprinkle with a little bit of water, cover and stick in a 375 deg Fahrenheit oven for 20-25 minutes, turning over once. You do not need to add any oil - the oil in the sundried tomatoes is plenty!

Bento Content:

• Chopped Salad (cabbage, carrots, mini peppers, capers) (38)
• Chicken Roulade (186)
• Greens Beans (14)

Total Bento: 238 calories

Pinwheels & Veggies - 352 calorie bento

I wanted to have a Morningstar vegan griller 'burger', but I didn't have any bread, except for Roll-Ups from Damaskus Bakeries. No problem - pinwheels to the rescue! I basically cooked the Vegan griller and mashed it up. Then, I spread Laughing Cow light on the roll-up, added Trader Joe's Pineapple Salsa and the mashed up griller. Rolled it and cut it up. Yum!

Bento Content:

• Pinwheels (300)
• Grape Tomatoes (12)
• Hanover Latino Blend vegetables (40)

Total Bento: 352 calories

Chili Lime Chicken & Tomato Skewers - 258 calorie Bento

The meat for this lunch came from Trader Joe's. One Chili Lime Chicken Burger sure went a long way for this bento! I basically cooked it and cut it up into squares, added grape tomatoes and skewered them all. For skewers I used food picks I found at The Cristmas Tree Store. This was one spicy meal!

Bento Content:

• Chili Lime Chicken Burger (150)
• Grape Tomatoes (21)
• Shredded Romaine Lettuce (4)
• Savory Thin Mini Crackers (53)
• Spicy Fat-Free Black Bean Dip (30)

Total Bento : 258 calories

Organic Black Bean Soup & Salami - 254 calorie Bento

I found an organic black bean soup at Trader Joe's during the weekend. I bought to give it a whirl and it was quite tasty. I like a little spice, so I added a little bit of hot sauce. Perfect!

Bento Content:

• TJ's Organic Black Bean Soup (130)
• Shredded Romaine Lettuce (4)
• Small Grape Tomatoes (10)
• Mini Sausage Rounds - cooked (110)

Total Bento: 254 calories