Never underestimate the power of the Bento..

After 9 days of packing a bento box for lunch, resisting the urge to go out to eat with coworkers, hand washing each tiny little box, and one tiny little dressing lid, I was about to declare a new weekly holiday called Bento-Free-Fridays.  I could pack my lunch, but I could do it in ziploc bags... Oh, the lazy, non-green Heaven of 3-5 ziploc bags for a packed lunch, while the bento box and all its fillings lay haphazardly in a sinkful of sudsy water that I'd get to later--when it was finally my weekend.  But then, I started thinking about the delicious salad I had planned --inspired by Wendy's Apple Pecan Chicken Salad-- and I pictured it in those ziploc bags, all plain and boring.  And then I pictured it in the bento box, neatly packed so nice and small in all the colors bursting around the edges of the food...  And I didn't want to miss the art I could make with the healthy nurturing food I was going to provide for myself.  Suddenly, I found myself washing and scrubbing each tiny little crevasse of the silverware section, the 1-tablespoon box that I can barely fit my finger into, even the teeny little lid that's impossible to clean.  It felt meditative standing there, sudsing them all for the good of my body and the earth.  Never mind that I was probably using too much water, letting it wash away the emotional toxins of the day as much as the literal ones on the containers.  Who's to say this is really any better than ziploc bags?  Oh well.  At least it feels better.  And look at me.  Now I've washed my dinner dishes too.  Ahh, yet another power of the Bento.

Bento #5

Top Left: Green leaf lettuce and herbed goat cheese.
Top Right: Leftover chicken breast.
Bottom Right: Dried cranberries and walnuts with Marie's Raspberry Vinaigrette (I love this dressing).
Bottom Left: Green leaf lettuce.

P.S.  A friend asked me how big the bento box is, so here are some shots for reference, near a coaster and Olive, open and closed....