Funky Pasta Bento

Though the funky shaped pasta is not a large part of the bento, it was the item that fueled most discussion when A-chan returned home from school. She does not like funky looking pasta, that she does not. I, on the other hand, thought it was really cool! Plus, it only took three pieces of pasta to fill the spot in the bento where I needed something that wasn't rigid. I thought it was inspired and rather perfect. But the funky pasta has been relegated to my bentos and only mine now - she wishes never to see it darken a corner of her bento box again. Oh well, live and learn!

Top tier: Miniature pita, babybel cheese with flower cut outs, steamed broccoli, orange pieces and a hello kitty soy sauce bottle.

Bottom tier: Hello kitty onigiri, infamous funky pasta, morningstar farms chik nugget, hashrounds, cherry tomato, carrot flower.

I'd seen the cut outs on babybel cheeses on flickr a long while back from several different people (I think several - it has been a while) and thought it was a great idea. This is the first time I'd tried it for A-chan though. She seemed to get a great kick out of it and enjoyed using the cut outs to open the cheese rather than the normal way.

As I make the bentos, I am more and more amused at how my behaviour reflects the changes in the way I think about food. If I have a whole packet of cherry tomatoes and only one is going in the bento I search through the whole packet for the 'most appetizing looking' tomato. This is quite a change from how it used to be with me going for the one on the top for speed's sake. Now I usually end up choosing one with a nice looking stem still attached, and laughing at myself for scrutinizing them all.