Mac and Cheese Thermal Bento

Mac and Cheese Thermal Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

MisterMan gets to take his red Stanley thermal food jar, packed with steaming hot macaroni and cheese. This batch is very delicious. I basically used The Pioneer Woman's recipe here, and the cheesy sauce was super super tasty. But you know me; I'm always adding extra "goodies" into meals like this. I wanted to keep the deep orange color of the extra sharp cheddar cheese I used, so I threw in steamed chopped Indian squash and steamed shredded yellow carrots and yellow cauliflower. I was going to add some broccoli (and I did add a little before I changed my mind) but I think it looks more stunning all in orange. You could certainly add broccoli into the mac if you chose. But this mac & cheese is so good that you could even add the broccoli separately, like I did for their dinner, and they'll eat it totally undisguised. I also added Soyrizo, which I like to do in mac and cheese because I think it adds a little kick. The first time I did this I was afraid the kids would balk, but the trick is to not mention it and they'll never notice. I added a whole "link" this time and they loved it.

I also packed a side bento box with broccoli, grapes, strawberry, mini Fuji apple and chopped blood oranges. Oh, and two carrot lovebirds sitting in the tree ^_^

Added to What's For Lunch!

Curry Thermal Bento

Curry Thermal Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Tonight I made curry with chicken, zucchini, onion, celery, and Indian squash. I only had medium-hot so I kept the consistency on the watery side so it wouldn't be too hot for the kids. I served it to them over rice and they loved it. I later realized it would be good for curry udon, if we had any leftovers. I'll have to remember for next time. I packed in the Stanley thermal food jar, which I really like for its heat-retention capacity. I actually did a comparison of this jar and the Zojirushi Classic bento jar and was not too surprised to learn that this one was much better at keeping the contents hot after several hours. It also has the benefit of being smaller and less unwieldy than the much larger Zojirushi. However, I had to pack the cool items in a separate bowl. This is my stainless steel bowl (Daiso) that comes with a tight-fitting plastic lid: I was able to fit in some blood oranges, a mini Fuji apple, some blueberries and a carrot. This bento will keep him warm and satisfied on a cold school day.