Fall Leaf Pasta Bento

This fall leaf bento was made using leftover spaghetti, peppers,sausage,  and carrots that I had in the fridge. I discovered that those foods are really delicious when they are all cooked up together with a few italian spices and  some garlic. I made this bento for myself, and I can tell you it was just perfect eaten at room temperature - it didn't need to be heated or anything. Which made it perfect for packing in my LunchBots Bento Trio.

WHAT'S FOR LUNCH

In the big section I've got gluten free spaghetti, chopped bell peppers, garlic, tomato sauce, some leftover italian sausage, and italian seasoning. I added some multi colored carrots that I made to look like fall leaves with a mini cookie cutter. I tossed these all together in a skillet with a little olive oil until the vegetables were softened slightly. I cut a little acorn out of cheddar cheese and added it last of all.

On the side I packed a kiwi fruit that I cut in half using a Melon Baller Fruit Ice-Cream Digging Scoop  In the little orange container I added some parmesan cheese. Up in the top section I put some sugar snap peas and grape tomatoes skewered with a leaf pick.

TIPS AND TRICKS

•   One tip for the carrots - I buy large carrots by the pound instead of packaged in a bag. That way I can sort through all the carrots and choose the largest ones I can find, so there's enough surface area to use my steel cookie cutters to make fall leaves, flowers, and pumpkins. I'm always excited when I find unusually large carrots in the store - so many bento possibilities!
• Why just cut a piece of fruit in half, when you can use a fancy cutter to do the job for you? It adds such a nice touch, and it only takes a minute. Whoever is lucky enough to get the lunch you made will know that you care about them 🙂
• When you don't have anything special in mind to add to the lunch you're making, or you wish you had just a touch of a certain color - try a cute food pick! I love my leaf picks so much and use them so often that I bought 3 packages of them! It's a really cheap way to add a touch of fun to a lunch.
• I love using dinner leftovers in bento boxes.  Casseroles, rice, pasta, meats, can easily be dressed up with touches of vegetables or cheese cut with some little holiday cookie cutters. It's also fun to use alphabet cutters to spell out a message for someone at lunch time.

If you are looking for some more ideas for fall lunches, I hope you'll take a minute and check out some of my Pinterest boards . You can find me right here