Friday, February 29, 2008

Feisty Bento #125: Truly Southern Bento & Contest Round Up

Top: mac & cheese; pulled pork over crumbled cornbread (to absorb the wonderful juices and um, fat)
Bottom: ribs, meat cut from the bones

I met up with the girls last night for a catch-up dinner, and we had... barbecue.  One of the things I simply adore without reason, but I'm sure no one wants to hear about that - full details and write-up on the restaurant to come on Feisty Foodie - you're all waiting for the CONTEST ROUND UP!!!

So without further adieu, here we go~

Coming from Jessica over at Bento for Vegans, we've got "OH NO!!!" where the big mean banana is trying to eat the little orange segments who are terrified.  For more details, and a delicious sounding recipe for the mushroom sautee you see on the left on the bottom, click on over.  She's hoping for the red apple box...

This "red and green bento" from Ginger & Liana contains, in her words:

in gladware is slowcooker chicken and sausage jambalaya, with kimchee and edamame, grapes and apple rabbits.
 
Slowcooker Jambala (sorry not exact measurements - we usually cook to whim)
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can smashed tomatoes
1 finely minced onion
1 diced green bell pepper
chicken (2-4 breasts)
sausage (4 links cajun seasoned)
Oregano, chili powder or peppers, thyme, and what ever else you want seasoned to taste.
 
saute chunks of chicken and sausage until there's a good sear. dump all ingredients in slowcooker and set on high for 4 hours. and that's about it.

They're hoping for the green grape box!

Lisa from Lunch Bucket Bento enters her "Phat Lunch" with a recipe for peanut butter stuffed dates!  Sounds pretty yummy, though my peanut allergy might not really agree with that, it does look fantastic!  She wants the PowerPuffGirls bento!

Megan tells us, "This is a photo of a lunch I made for myself. I recently started graduate school and am finding money and time a little tight. Packing (bento-style) lunches is not only nutritious and easy, but also a great way to increase my productivity as I can eat and work in my office at the same time... :P

I've attached the picture. I've creatively titled it "Hungry Grad Student's Lunch" and in it there is sliced kiwi, mango, and shells in an alfredo sauce. For the shells, I mixed together a few tablespoons melted butter, 1 small carton of heavy cream, and a handful of Parmesan cheese. I boiled the pasta and poured the sauce over top. This all went into my Lock & Lock square container with 4 removable trays and my BuiltNY lunch tote."  She hopes for - uh oh, this is our first repeat request ~ the red apple bento! 

Our friend Mer from Playing with my Food obviously knows a thing or two about odds & probability and decided to enter three different bentos to increase her chances!  Here's the first!

and the second

not least of all, but the last, the third.  Each post contains links to her own recipes for at least one component of each bento, and don't they look yum?  Honestly, I aspire to one day make some of the things she does so easily- homemade bread!  Hummus!  My goodness!  If she wins~ she would like the green grape bento... oops, that's another duplicate request- or the banana one! 

Our only overseas entrant, and our only food art entry comes from Laura over at Musings of a Modified Mummy in the UK!  For details, click here!  Who doesn't like SpongeBob SQUAREPANTS!  Who lives in a pineapple under the sea, SpongeBob Squarepants!  Yay!  She would also like the banana bento!  Eek, looks like I didn't pick up enough of the ones everyone wanted...

Jenn - who for some reason thinks this is Not Exactly Bento! - gives us chicken & quinoa (pronounced keen-wah - impress your friends at your next party with your knowledge!) and wishes for the red apple bento.  Ack... lots of requests for those three Putifresh boxes!

Last but definitely not least - in fact, my very first entry! - is Allison from SushiDay.  Quite a bit of her bento comes homemade, and boy does it look delicious.... It's got nearly everything meant to be in a bento!  In any case, for recipes, click on over and see what the sushi of the day is!  She requests the green grape bento as well! 

Ok people, the vote is open!  You can vote for yourself; you can defend why one is better than the other; you can even tell us you want a different box!  I'll tell you this: no one requested the first box that was offered, and someone's going to win it!  Take that how you will!  As always... happy bento!!!

***Voting will end in a week!

15 comments:

  1. Wow! Look at all the awesome entries. Great going everyone. Love the Truly Southern bento too. Looks very tasty!

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  2. Thanks for the kind words. :0)

    Question: are we supposed to vote right here in the comments?

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  3. Whoops! Yes, please vote in the comments! You can even trash talk, as long as it's all in good fun ;)

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  4. I vote for... the last one! Okay, fine. Aside from the obvious vote for myself, I just adore that one with the bananas!

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  5. Oh, right: you can vote for more than one (but you can't say, vote for one twice). Does that make sense? Thanks :)

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  6. Spongebob bento looks the best i think, but doesn't the rabbit bento count as food art too?

    Still, Spongebob wins I think, it looks cute!

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  7. I feel shamed but I will vote for myself "oh no!" And for the 3rd one from "playing with my food". How in the world did Mer get that food in there looking so neat? Im amazed and it looks quite tasty!!! Good luck everyone.

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  8. No contest. The peanut butter stuffed dates bento RULES!

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  9. Okay, while the lunch I submitted from Not Exactly Bento was quite tasty, that banana bento brings a fun smile to my face and definitely looks like something I'd eat. So, I'm voting for the banana bento.

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  10. Bunny onigiri doesn't qualify as "food art" huh? Bummer - I will have to try harder. ;0)

    But seriously - I would like to cast one vote for Sponge Bob. I think that deserves some credit.

    And then, I will shamelessly cast a vote for myself. The third one, I think, with the tasty mashed taters. :0) (Thanks for the compliment, by the way, Red Sock.)

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  11. Haha... sorry guys, you're right, in fact the "Oh no!" one is food art as well! My mistake - I was being narrow minded (unintentionally and unknowingly, I assure you!) with my definition of food art ;)

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  12. I vote for Oh No. I love the killer Banana.

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  13. Hey Yvo,

    I'm finally voting *ahem*.

    As you already know, I'm partial to, "OH NO", the vegan bento.

    But I also like the Lock n Lock submission, maybe because I understand how it is to be in grad school and the desire (although lack of time) to eat healthy.

    Nonetheless, my vote goes to Not Exactly Bento with the chicken & quinoa submission. Although I don't eat chicken (I'd probably replace it with morningstar chicken instead), the submission looks like something that I would make.

    Great job everyone!

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  14. I love Laura's SpongeBob bento! :)

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  15. eeek, hope I'm not too late!

    As well as the shameless self voting here for my spongebob one, I really like the one with peanut butter dates, as I amde them after seeing it, and they're so tasty :)

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