Bento in a hurry. Finally.

Today I decided to give myself a time limit on my bento. So I did. 15 minutes. And I actually did it!




I had made some stuffed mushrooms. Really really good stuffed mushrooms. Which I feel the need to share the recipe for. At the end.

Anyway. The top layer involved some of the stuffed mushrooms on a bed of a wild rice mix. The zucchini was diced, steamed, and then stir-fried in a bit of canola oil. And yes. I managed to do this in my 15 minutes.

The bottom included the mini sweet peppers, a thinly sliced dill pickle, a string cheese, and some apple slices dipped in lemon juice to keep them from browning. And in the gaps you'll find some sweet and low hard candies. Which I didn't actually eat. I just don't have any good little gap fillers. I'm off to buy grapes tomorrow. Most likely.

I say most likely because tomorrow is Saturday, and as you may or may not know, Saturday is the day I pick up my co-op produce. And I never know what I'm going to get. I'm a bit behind in the eating of my fruit. I have a drawer full of citrus and tomatoes. And a bag of apples. And a pineapple and some bananas. I can usually keep up with the veggies, but I need to work on getting more fruit into my lunches. I think I'll cut up the pineapple tonight and broil it with some Splenda. Supposedly that's also good with grapefruit... Breakfast tomorrow, I think.

It was a yummy bento, but I think that because I packed it all together while the zucchini and rice were still warm, it caused the juice from the pickles to condensate and then get all over my peppers and apples. Lesson learned. Wait for it to cool down, or don't pack pickles. ...Actually. I know that for food safety reasons, you aren't supposed to pack warm food at all. Condensation can cause bacteria growth and such things. Which is, of course, no good. But I've never been much of a rule follower. And I figure that if all the bugs, floor candy, and been-in-the-fridge-too-long-leftovers didn't kill me when I was a kid, this likely won't either. I could be wrong.

Anywho. Stuffed mushrooms. My way.

1 package mushrooms
1/4 cup diced onion
1 TBS olive oil
pepper to taste
savory blend Mrs Dash to taste
salt to taste
2 TBS flour
2 TBS white cooking wine
1/4 c water
1/2 c some sort of cooked pork, cut into little tiny pieces. I used leftover pork tenderloin
1/2 c sharp cheddar cheese, grated.
1/4 c snipped parsley

1. Wash the mushrooms. Oh. And preheat the oven to 300.
2. Remove the stems from the mushrooms. Cut the stems into cute little pieces.
3. In oil, saute the onion and the mushroom stem bits until just soft.
4. Add pepper, Mrs. Dash, salt, and flour. Stir until all the flour is moistened.
5. Add wine and water. Stir until it gets all thick and bubbly.
6. Mix in pork, cheese, and parsley.
7. Taste the mix. Ok... you don't actually have to do this, but it is yummy. And you can check your seasoning and adjust if you need to.
8. Spoon mixture into mushroom caps. Pile it on there. Place mushroom caps onto a greased baking sheet.
9. Back mushrooms 10-15 minutes.
10. Eat mushrooms.

If you have leftover filling, it's really yummy mixed into rice.