I was tagged by Bunches and Bits to share what I do with the bits that are leftover after prepping a bento.

I did a post on this a while back!  I’ll copy that over and update it with my current changes.

 

Bento-ing can be contrary to my current frugal goal of tightening up my food budget.  It could be very wasteful.  I cut away a lot of bread to fit sandwiches to the box,  Fruit and veggie shapes leave a lot behind, cheese buses and sonics leave tons of scraps, and so on.  What do you do with all the leftovers from decorating bentos?

 

1. Unless I know I can dice them and use them in another meal that day, stock-suitable vegetables (carrots, zucchini, celery, etc), go into a gallon bag in the freezer along with other cooking scraps (parts of onions, celery tops, etc) to make stock.  I roast a chicken at least once a month, so having those veggie bits come in handy.  I much prefer my own stock – we try and cut back on salt around here, and most canned / boxed broths taste of nothing except salt.

 

Veggies that aren’t that great for stock (peas, corn, etc) I will save to make a cute little skewer for the next day, or use in soups, fried rice, and so on.

 

2. Cheese bits are saved in a baggie.  I sprinkle them on my taco soup lunches (which I am eating a lot; I haven’t gotten sick of eating taco soup several times a week!) or use them to make grilled cheese sandwiches.  They can be tossed into scrambled eggs or omelets.  I also use them in savory meat and cheese corn muffins.

 

3. Meat bits go in those same corn muffins and egg dishes, or tucked into a sandwich if he has one that day.

 

4.I’ve gotten better with bread bits since my last post.  I save them in the freezer in a baggie and whiz them in the food processor as needed to make breadcrumbs.  I can use those homemade breadcrumbs for meatballs (one of the few non lunchmeat proteins I can count on the kidlet to eat) or breading cutlets for dinner.

 

5. Usually the fruit scraps get eaten right away by me or the kidlet.  I suppose you could save them and make a fruit salad, but I’m happy to let the kiddo gobble them up with breakfast for a little more nutrtion.

 

6. I don’t save nori bits.  I don’t use much of it; he doesn’t actually LIKE it, and peels it off anyway.  Just sometimes you just have to have a little black!  No one here (including me) likes seaweed in any form.  Truthfully, opening the bag I have the nori stored in to pull out a little bit to use makes me want to gag with that sudden fishy sea aroma that assaults my senses.  So, bits left after punching out eyes or whatnot just plain get trashed, with no apology.

 

I’m going to tag Arkonite’s Bento Box next and ask her to share what she does with her bento leftovers! 

Once you accept the tag, the rules are simple:

1) Please link back to the person who tagged you and add your name to the “tagged list” below.

2) When you have answered the question (which can be in any style/format you like), nominate another (one will do) fellow blogger (who is not already on the list) and pass the tag to your nominee.

If you (the selected nominee) has already answered this question in an earlier post (well done), then your job is very easy – just link the tag to your earlier post and pass the tag on as per item nos. 1 and 2 above. Alternatively you can update it (if you wish). Have fun 🙂

Tagged:

1. javapot
2. susanyuen
3. sherimiya
4. Karina
5. MandLmom

6. Arkonite’s Bento Box

 

[Ps. No cute picture with this tag unless someone can generously suggest one which would be most appreciated! Hint, hint…anyone wanna sponsor or is just creative? All credits will be given.]


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