Sloppy Jack Bento

Today I made a sloppy joe with some leftover ground beef from the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market. Yup, you can get local ground beef at our market! I had a little of it left after making sliders for my family this weekend, so I cooked it together with onions, peppers from Triple T Ranch, garlic from The Patch, seasonings, sugar, salt, pepper, and tomato paste, and voi la: Sloppy Joes! I cut out a jack o'lantern face from a piece of habernero cheese and used the rest of the slice under the bun. Delish!

I took this pic in the sun, and I am not sure if I like it so much, but the bento sure was colorful and very tasty. Also in this bento: a delicious pear from Orchard Farms, two shades of cauliflower from Ma and Pa's Garden, a slice of armenian cucumber from Redwood Empire Farms, baby carrots, and champagne grapes from Schletewitz Family. 

I added this to Shannon's What's For Lunch Wednesdays blog. Take a look for more great bento ideas! 

Halloween Colors Bento and Giveaway Winner!

Hi bento friends! Sorry I did not post this sooner, I got distracted by something shiny. LOL. So here is a quick bento filled with lots of great Halloween colors. I was so thrilled to find the two shades of cauliflower at the Farmers Market this weekend. They rock! And they taste good.

In this bento: purple and green steamed cauliflower from Ma and Pa's Garden, tamagoyaki omelette slices, leftover emerald chicken curry from California Thai, a yakionigiri rice ball from Trader Joe's, a cherry tomato, steamed edamame, and champagne grapes from Schletewitz Family.

And now for the winner of the simple recipe contest... there were 18 different entries. And the randomly selected winner is...

mommypants! mommypants sent in a great recipe for a simple pasta salad. This would be a great addition to any bento and the fun thing is that you can make endless variations depending on your tastes and what you have in your cupboard/refrigerator. Thanks mommypants! Be sure to check out her blog for more fun parenting ideas. 

Mommypants Simple Pasta Salad

2 cups pasta cooked al dente (I like bow-ties or ziti)

2 cups fresh diced tomatoes

1/2 cup fresh chopped basil

6-8 oz fresh mozzarella (can be diced, or those tiny balls from store)

1/8-1/4 cup low fat balsamic dressing 

Just mix them all together in a bowl, and let it marinate. I like to bring some extra balsamic with me to add a bit of freshness to the salad.

Goes great with a piece of bread and last night's Chicken Parmesan (I always make lots of extra breaded chicken to go along with lunches).

Thanks to everyone who entered and for sending in great recipes for bento lunches. I will have the rest of the simple recipes up on its own page on Sonoma Bento soon. Thanks! Have a great week!

Leftovers Bento and Last Chance to Enter Giveaway!

You still have a few hours to put your name in the hat for my bento giveaway! I would love it if you want to contribute a simple recipe to the contest, but you don't have to in order to enter the contest. All you have to do is be a follower of Sonoma Bento! So hurry and get your name in the drawing. :)

I made this bento with leftovers from a meal I made for my mom and dad who were here this past weekend for a visit. We had pork loin with apricot/apple chutney and an orzo pasta salad with cherry tomatoes and padron peppers. I used apples from Twin Peaks, padron peppers from Beet Generation, and cherry tomatoes from The Patch in these recipes. Also in this bento: baby carrots, and an apple rabbit (who has his own little piece of carrot to munch on. :)

I've included this bento in Shannon's What's For Lunch Wednesdays blog. Check it out for other great bento ideas. Come back tomorrow to see who the winner of the contest will be! It could be YOU!