Stocking up

One convenience food that we get is dumplings. The pot sticker kind. We found some vegetable ones that Paige liked, so we are using those, though I wonder if that was a good idea since she doesn't usually like meat and won't eat protein alternatives except for fried tofu. Today's lunch included the last of the pork ones though, since I really hate wasting food.

We had a breakfast for dinner last night, so when I had made enough pancakes I made tablespoon sized ones and froze them individually for a bento meal. You should see one this week sometime. Being on a tight budget, it is a good idea to take leftovers in bento sized amounts and freeze them for future lunches. Meatballs (made small) are an excellent stock up too, and you can use a sweet and sour sauce, tomato sauce or BBQ, or really anything that suits your fancy. I also freeze my chicken (that I purchase when on sale) in separate pieces then throw it in a bag. That way I can take out just one breast at a time. A bento can't hold an entire breast though, so be ready to use it in different ways for a couple of days.

I do rely almost exclusively on Boston Organics for my produce, so I have to work around that. I do buy a thing or two at the grocery, like this week I got plantains and apricots, but most of it comes in my much anticipated 29 dollar box.

This one has the dumplings which are a nice crispy brown on the bottom and were cooled before putting them in. Under the dumplings is a bed of organic Asian salad, which probably won't get eaten, but one can hope. Because I really stuffed those dumplings in, there are two soy bottles filled with dumpling sauce. On the bottom are a few "baby" carrots, snow peas and a cut up tangelo.