Things have been kind of tough the last few days, and I’m not exactly sure why. I’m in the middle of tiling the bathroom floor, and it’s much more difficult that I expected it to be. I’m worried it’s going to turn out horribly, although I guess we’ll see when I’m done. At least the bathroom colors look great, and it will be nice to get the towel bars up, even if the floor is uneven. I have to keep reminding myself that it’s not the end of the world, that if I ever have any money, I can redo the floor (professionally!).

In other news, I’ve become obsessed with bento boxes, or rather, the art and science of creating a bento meal (and not the box itself). It all came about when I mentioned to a friend of mine that I was interested in buying a bento-type lunch box, and she directed me to the blog http://justbento.com and now I’m hooked! I’ve figured out which of my containers will work for making the appropriately sized meal, so I’m not going to go out right away and buy a portable bento box. Before jumping in and spending a bunch of money, I’m just going to practice making bento-type lunches to bring to work with me. Today was my first attempt, and I’ve packed two small boxes (although I haven’t actually measured these particular boxes, I know they’re fairly small). One box is filled with two types of salads – a potato salad with a creamy sun-dried tomato pesto dressing, and a tomato and avocado salad with oil and balsamic vinegar. This box is basically leftovers from a barbecue this weekend. The other box has a medium-boiled egg for protein, and three large figs from my friend’s tree. I left the shell on the egg because the figs have been kind of sticky and I didn’t want to get the egg all sticky, although I suppose it doesn’t matter too much.

I’ve learned a few things from reading about the construction of bento boxes that I’ve found to be somewhat enlightening (as an architect, I love using the term “construction” for my lunch!).

1. First, presentation is nice, but it’s not the most important thing, and it’s only as important as you want it to be. As a beginner, I’m finding it really easy to just think about the content and not worry about how it looks. Presentation can come later, once I’ve got the basic idea down.
2. Second, it’s a great way to limit portions. Apparently this is a well-known benefit of bento boxes, but it’s new to me. As long as I’m putting relatively healthy, low-calorie (which generally means low-fat) foods in the boxes, I don’t have to worry about exactly how many calories are in each item. If I stick to non-refined carbohydrates (whole grains, etc), lean proteins (as a vegetarian/pescatarian, that means beans, eggs, and tofu with a smattering of fish), plenty of vegetables and fruits, and a small amount of healthy fats, generally olive oils and foods like avocados.
3. Third, it can be a great way to save money and to eat a more diverse meal. I’m guilty of packing boring lunches, I’ll admit it. Usually my lunch is a huge amount of leftovers from the night before, and that’s it. So if I make zucchini soup for dinner one night, that’s what I have for lunch the next day, and often for dinner the next night and lunch the day after that too. Zucchini soup, and lots of it. Making bento means I’ll be incorporating a greater variety of foods into each meal, and since the portions of each food are small, I can use up some of the small amounts of leftovers that I wouldn’t know what to do with otherwise.
   

The rest of my life has been extremely out of control, unfortunately. I haven’t had time to concentrate on my garden, my house is a mess, completely cluttered and in a serious and continuous state of disarray. The garage is an even bigger disaster, and I feel like I'm getting behind on my projects, especially the time-sensitive projects, such as the quilts I'm making for my new baby niece and nephew. As soon as the bathroom is done, I'm going to clean up my house and then start concentrating on those projects. Wish me luck, the next few months are going to be super busy!