Wednesday's Bento

Today's bento is dipping back into my freezer stash, which needs to be done more frequently. I always intend to, there are just usually so many dinner leftovers to be used that I forget about it. This bento comes to 4 Weight Watcher's points.

This bento contains:

1/4 cup 1% cottage cheese (1 point)
3 frozen falafel patties (2 points)
lettuce (0 points)
red bell pepper (0 points)
cucumber (0 points)
2 tbsp. chickpeas (.5 points)

not pictured:
1 tbsp. Newman's Own Lite Sesame Ginger Dressing (.5 points)

Fish & Salad Bento

I'm making the best of dinner this week and made an extra fish filet last night for today's bento. Ah, the beauty of planning ahead. :) Today's bento comes to 4 Weight Watcher's points.

This bento contains:
1 fish filet (2.5 points)
1/2 tbsp Tartar Sauce (in the blue strawberry) (.5 points)
lettuce (0 points)
red bell pepper (0 points)
cherry tomatoes (0 points)
cucumber (0 points)
2 tbsp. chickpeas (.5 points)

not pictured:
1 tbsp. Newman's Own Lite Sesame Ginger Dressing (.5 points)

Monday's Bento

I have been enjoying my top layer of veggies and cottage cheese, but I'm probably going to need to change it up soon just for the sake of visual and culinary interest. :) It's easy to get into patterns, and one of the nice things about posting on a blog is you notice these patterns and want to stay away from them for fear of everything looking alike. I have a few variations planned for this week, but otherwise it's going to be a pretty similar layout. I promise something new for next week. ;) Today's bento comes to 3.5 Weight Watcher points.

This bento contains:

1/2 serving Shrimp & Vegetable Lo Mein (2.5 points)
6 cherry tomatoes (0 points)
cucumbers (0 points)
sliced red bell pepper (0 points)
1/4 cup 1% cottage cheese (1 point)

Wednesday's Bento

This will be my last bento for the week. I'll be eating out tomorrow and staying at home on Friday, so no more lunch bentos for the week. Today's bento is simple but quite filling and delicious and comes to only 4 points:

This bento contains:

4 Ravioli (from Costco) (2 points)
1/4 cup 1% cottage cheese (1 point)
1/2 serving Sesame Ginger Cabbage Salad (.5 points)

not pictured:
1/4 cup Classico Fire Roasted Tomato Sauce (.5 points)

Tuesday's (uneaten) Bento

So I made a delicious bento last night filled with my favorite leftovers of Wasabi-Ginger Glazed Talapia, and guess what I did? Left it out on the counter all night! D'oh! So I don't get to eat it today, but luckily I had a Lean Cuisine in the freezer that I will have to make do with today. Oh well. Today's intended bento comes to 3.5 points.

This bento contains:

1/2 serving of Wasabi-Ginger Glazed Talapia (2 points)
1/2 serving of Sesame Ginger Cabbage Salad (.5 points)
1/4 cup 1% cottage cheese (1 point)
cucumber butterfly cutouts (0 points)
8 cherry tomatoes (0 points)

Good news, though, I did make it to the gym last night AND this morning. Wooo! Finally!

Monday's Bento

Today's bento is simple, and helps use up the tortillas I have in the fridge. :) Unfortunately, it wasn't that filling...I think I should have thrown some cottage cheese in there. It was a little lacking in the protein department. Anyway, this bento comes to 4 Weight Watchers points.

This bento contains:
Cheese Quesadilla (1 wheat tortilla + 1/4 cup shredded 2% cheddar) (4 points)
1 tbsp. salsa (0 points)
cucumber flowers (0 points)
8 cherry tomatoes (0 points)

Breakfast Bento for the Week

So this week's breakfast bento (meaning all breakfast bentos for the week are going to be exactly the same...not that this one bento will be my breakfast all week) ;) is very similar to last week's, except there is a different kind of muffin in it. I tried another Weight Watcher's muffin recipe, this time a Maple Bran muffin from thier Complete Cookbook. I was pleased with these results and I think this is a winner. This breakfast bento comes to 3 Weight Watcher's points:

This bento contains:
2 Maple Bran mini muffins (2 points)
1/2 cup grapes (.5 points)
1 Morningstar Breakfast Link (.5 points)
1/2 tbsp. reduced calorie syrup (0 points)

By the way, the whole reason I make breakfast bentos is because the idea is that I am supposed to be going to the gym before work and then I eat my breakfast at my desk in the morning. Yeah, that hasn't been happening. These last few pounds are a pain to lose, and exercise is crucial is helping that process along (it's crucial anyway, I've just been lazy). My goal was to get back on the gym-wagon this week, but when my alarm went off this morning, I just felt so tired. I will be going after work, but I do prefer to workout in the morning. Here's to getting up tomorrow morning!

Happy Friday!

Yay Friday! I don't know about you, but I am very glad it's Friday. Today's bento is simple, but that doesn't mean it isn't delicious! In planning meals for next week, I really need to take my husband into consideration. He's been giving me puppy eyes in the evening as I make my bento, asking, "Don't I get a bento?". *Sigh* So pathetic. ;) So I'll need to make sure I either make enough food at dinner or get enough extras at the grocery for his bentos too.

Today's bento comes to 4 Weight Watchers points.

This bento contains:
1/2 serving of Penne w/ Olives & Sun-Dried Tomatoes (2.5 points)
1/4 cup 1% cottage cheese (1 point)
cucumber flowers (0 points)
6 cherry tomatoes (0 points)
1/4 cup edamame (.5 points)

Good ol' Staple - Veggie Burger Bento

Some nights I don't have leftovers and I rely on a couple of staples to fill my bento for the next day. One reliable staple is the Veggie Burger: it's quick, I like the taste of it cold, it's protein, and it's low in points. I have actually been quite impressed with myself on how nutritionally balanced I've been keeping my bentos (at least I think I have...there's protein, dairy, and veggies...that's good, right?). Today's bento comes to 4.5 points:

This bento contains (clockwise from the top left):
1/4 cup 1% cottage cheese (1 point)
cucumber flowers (0 points)
Morningstar Mushroom Lover's Veggie Burger (3 points)
1/4 cup edamame (.5 points)
8 cherry tomatoes (0 points)
1/2 tbsp ketchup underneath the edamame (0 points)

Wednesday's Bento

Today's bento is mostly leftovers, nothing terribly exciting -- but hey, it works! Remember how I said I hadn't been that hungry lately so I thought this 18 points a day thing would be pretty easy? Well, apparently I was wrong. I have been starving! But I don't think it's because of the amount of food I have been eating. And honestly, once I eat a snack or two I'm pretty much satisfied. So happily I haven't been using all my weekly points in a day or anything. I've actually been sticking to the usual going over my daily points allowance by about 2-4 points and still staying satisfied. So I guess it's actually not that big of a deal. I was just surprised at how hungry I've been feeling very suddenly. Having healthy snacks around is definitely important, otherwise bad things could happen. :)

Today's bento comes to 4 points:

This bento contains (clockwise from top left):
Cajun Spiced Shrimp (2 points)
1/4 cup 1% cottage cheese (1 point)
cucumber flowers (0 points)
1/4 serving Hungry Girl's Tamale Pie (1 point)

Wednesday's Breakfast Bento

I tried a new recipe for my breakfast bento this week: Weight Watchers Glazed Pear Muffins. The results were okay, but I probably will look for another muffin recipe. This morning's breakfast comes to 2.5 points:

This bento contains:
2/3 serving Glazed Pear Muffins (w/o glaze) (1.5 points)
1 Morningstar Breakfast Link (.5 points)
1/2 tbsp. Reduced Calorie Syrup in the strawberry (0 points)
1/2 cup grapes (.5 points)

This is going to be my breakfast for the next few days, so I won't be posting the same thing everyday this week. But next week should have something different!