Bento#146...

Some days I cook awesome things for family dinner at my mom's house.  And then I steal enough leftovers to make a loverly meal.  

Last Sunday I made the most awesome chicken.  I mixed a cup of plain greek yogurt with a cup of miracle whip, dumped in two or three cups of sharp cheddar cheese (who's counting?) and some dried onion (1 Tbs), garlic powder (1 tsp), italian seasoning (1 tsp), paprika (1 tsp), salt and pepper (to taste).  I slathered this amazing mixture over small cuts of chicken breasts, sprinkled them with bread crumbs, and then baked them for 20 minutes or so in a 400 degree oven.  I finished it all up by broiling them until the tops were browned nicely.  

They were fairly amazing.  I think you could use all greek yogurt, or all miracle whip, or use mayo.  And you could use regular breadcrumbs, italian breadcrumbs, panko... whatever.  And whatever kind of cheese you like the most.  The point is that this is splendidly juicy chicken topped with a heavenly, melty cheese mixture.

You should try it.

Anyway.  I took about six ounces of chicken home with me.

Yesterday morning, I also decided it was time to try the garlic cheese biscuit mix my foodie penpal, Jenny, sent to me last month so I could have them in my bento.  

And then I had to figure out what to have with biscuits. 

 And I realized I had that chicken in the fridge.

I don't keep regular chicken salad ingredients around my apartment.  I don't use mayo on a regular basis.  I was out of mustard.  I had no idea what to put in my chicken salad.

And then... lightbulb!

I ended up dicing my chicken and adding a small spoonful of fat free cream cheese and another of red pepper hummus.  Yummy!

So I packed some of the chicken salad in a silicone cup.  And topped it with sesame seeds.  Sesame seeds are like the paint spatter of bento.  I had a scenic painting teacher who always said, "Spatter takes crap and makes it look good."  Sesame seeds work like that.  It's great.

I also packed two of my little garlic cheddar biscuits and some mini sweet pepper halves for eating the chicken salad. The salad was good cold, but then I got the brilliant idea to microwave it.  (Who doesn't like warm, gooey cream cheese?)  And then the salad became perfection!

And then there's the silicone cup of champagne grapes and a few cherries.  I'm almost through the champagne grapes.  Which is kind of sad.  As they are adorable and tasty.

The little cup to the side has what are left of the praline pecans my foodie penpal sent me.