Just a tiny blip from vacation and now we’re back. Easy peasy. Expect only two more weeks though before there’s another pause while I take a second vacation (crazy I know).

chicken noodle soup, challah, salad tex mex rolls ups, rice with salsa, corn and zucchini salad with feta, apple chicken and spinach baked rice, salad, apple, challah vegetable cutlets with spicy dipping sauce, salad, boiled egg, carrots and hummus, apple

Next week won’t have any bentos because PORTUGAL! I feel like I’ve been talking about it forever but it’s finally here! All a bunch of weird lunches as I try to keep things easy with little leftovers.

Pb and j, salad, carrots and hummus, nectarine Chicken and Vegetable Dumplings, Rice with furikake, soy dipping sauce, salad, apple Homemade Spaghettios, bread, salad, orange Zucchini Pancakes with jam and butter, cherry tomatoes, boiled egg, yogurt with walnuts, nectarines, and a drizzle of honey

Double digits! Very fancy. Next week we’ll be in Portugal so there won’t be any bentos but there will be lots of pictures I’m sure on my instagram of all the delicious food we try.

Stir Fry Noodles with Vegetables, Kinpira, Apple Pizza Bites, dipping sauce, grapes, salad, orange Black Bean Enchiladas, salad, carrots and hummus, apple Spinach mac and cheese, salad, red pepper, orange

Study hard, bento hard. Am I right? No? Just me. This week I’m really focused on making sure I can do my best on the test I’m taking on Saturday so I doubt my lunches will be very cool but last week they weren’t so bad.

Salami sandwiches, cherry tomatoes, grapes, boiled egg, salad Vegetable quiche, carrots and hummus, pickles, appleLentil Falafel, couscous with tomato, yogurt sauce, salad Red curry chicken and rice soup, black bread, orange, pickles, grapes Couscous with roasted vegetables, pickles, boiled egg, grapes, carrots and hummus, apple

I’ve gotten in to a pretty nice groove with making lunches these past two months. I feel like I do it really well and this is probably also the most consistent I’ve ever packed lunches that were unique in my life. In college I often packed the same thing for 2-3 days out of the week because of time contrast and here the only problem is storage space (it’s always something).

Pancakes, boiled egg, grapes, salad, orange

Meatball sandwhiches (turkey and sweet potato meatballs on brioche bun with cheese, red sauce), carrots, salad, apple

Pea Soup with goat cheese drizzle and brioche croutons, apple, salad, strawberries, grapes

Japanese style curry, rice, salad, apple

Grilled halloumi salad, spiced couscous with yogurt sauce, orange

Last week was only four days of work because Good Friday is a day off here which means I only made four bentos and we just ate leftovers on Friday which is a lot easier anyway. Tried to do a little change up with including a salad as the main course for one of the days but Andrew still insists on salads nearly every day so there’s a lot of boring salads.

Lemony Vegetable and Lentil soup, bread, grapes, boiled egg

Greek inspired salad (balsamic marinated chicken, tzatziki sauce, feta), rice, mandarin, walnuts

Cheese and spinach Piroshki, side salad, spicy pickles, mandarin, boiled egg, salad dressing

I think salads are boring but it’s what Andrew wants so I guess I’ll just keep packing them and be bored out of my mind looking at these pictures. I keep wanting to shake things up but I’ve been really slacking on my meal prep so I never get around to it. I was hoping to get some back end stuff done this weekend but it didn’t really happen so we just gotta march on.

Baked len

Baked Falafel, Chili-Yogurt Sauce, Salad, Roasted Spiced Potatoes, Apple

Chicken Goulash, Rice, Salad with Carrots, Apple

Minestrone, Bread, Salad, Cherry Tomatoes, Apple

Aloo Dahi (pan fried potatoes in yogurt sauce), Rice, Carrots and Hummus, Strawberries

It was too hectic this week and I was only able to make 3 bentos and honestly they’re even more boring than average but it’s still better than zero bentos (in theory). I missed cooking though so I’m kind of looking forward to getting back in to the swing of things next week. Also I’m excited to study Estonian again! Four days was a good break but I feel like I forgot stuff!

Stir Fry Vegetable Noodles, Carrots and Hummus, Apple

PB and J on Black Bread, Chips, Boiled Egg, Apple, Salad

Savory Turnover (pear chutney, Havarti, walnuts), carrots and hummus, apple, salad

Even though I have more time to make food, I am still trying to keep things simple. When you I have an unlimited time frame to do something one of either two things happens: I procrastinate and never get anything done OR I pick extremely over elaborate things and I waste all the extra time I had on making it. I don’t want to replace 8 hours working with 8 hours cooking. I’m trying to remember that going forward.

Potato latke, sour cream and hot sauce, spicy pickles, carrots and hummus, apple Coconut Curry Chicken and Rice Soup, salad, banana Roasted vegetable pasta (sauce on the side), breadsticks, grapes, cheese, cherry tomatoes Shrimp fried rice, spicy pickles, boiled egg, orange Cheese and bean quesadillas, sour cream and salsa, spiced rice salad, oranges

Lotta salad this week. Can’t help it because Andrew loves salad so much but I tried to keep it interesting by shifting the types of salad and the mix-ins. Also all of these salads do have dressing on them but because it’s oil based it’s basically invisible and just kind of makes the whole thing look wet. Sometimes I have to remind myself that food needs to taste good too and not just look instagram good. Honestly that’s the hardest part because you want people to think your food looks great but also you have to live your life and eat it. I know for a fact a lot of the food made for food blogs goes uneaten because no one is baking three cakes in a week and chowing down on them.

Vegetable Baked Ziti, salad, orange, apple, boiled eggs

Chicken burrito, cornbread, grapes, salad, orange

Salmon onigiri, salad, orange, apple

Onion and goat cheese tart, grapes, carrots and hummus, apple Double bean soup I ruined with too much masa, cornbread, salad, apple