Springtime Bento

We didn't have a bento on Friday, out of pure laziness on my part. I could barely get out of bed for school to be honest. I had the same sort of morning today, but I had a nice bento already made in the refrigerator ready to go.

Sometimes people ask why I bother with bento. One reason is that it makes Paige excited for lunch and believe me, anything that makes her okay with school and food makes my day. Another reason is waste. There is very little waste associated with a bento. Sure, sometimes there is a paper cupcake liner and we are working on her addiction to the single serve organic chocolate milk, but there is still no paper bags, plastic wrap, plastic bags, etc.. As a family (with pets) we are down to a big bag of trash. We could always fit more in it if we need to, so it isn't full.

This is partly because we have an excellent recycling program here. Everything is taken for free, curbside. They accepts all aluminum, cans, glass (not window or broken though), plastics 1-6 and all paper and cardboard.  They have special days for hazardous waste that does cost money for some things like CRT monitors and stuff. That is when I use freecycle which is a group that you can list what you want to get rid of or what you want, and then hopefully someone says "hey I will take that" or "sure, it has been in my basement all winter". This helps to cut down on throwing away perfectly usable things.

I made all the components last night before bed because I have been having trouble getting up in the morning. On the top there is balled cantaloupe and cut fresh pineapple with a cherry on top. Then there are a few chocolate chip cookies (Famous Amos). The main dish is a pasta salad with ham and though it is hard to see, the carrots and rainbow radishes are both cut into tiny little flowers for decoration. There are also some slivered snow peas in there for greenery.  Pasta salad is easy to make, throw some protein and vegetables in with some small pasta and toss with you favorite dressing or mayonnaise.