Roasted Kabocha and Chicken Bento
The kabacha is roasted plain with just a pinch… the tiniest pinch of brown sugar! Can you see the puckering of the skin from the heat. I thought it looked interesting. The chicken is the simmered with my newest discovery “smoked salt”! The recipe is here.
The other items in today’s featured bento is brown rice and steamed broccolini! You can see a peek of shiso and beni shoga too!
Saba Man and I have been extremely busy these last few weeks with no let- up in sight. “Rockin and rollin” as my cute husband likes to say! Blog posts will be fast and furious but I’m still packing the bento boxes! Especially this month with our personal “don’t spend money on eating out” challenge. We did well yesterday. But today is a slight “rule bender”. Last month, Saba Man was invited to a going away dinner for a co-worker who is leaving the state! I don’t know the details but I’m sure he will be chipping in towards the bill at the end of the celebration. Technically, it’s rule breaker but what’s a Saba Man to do?
Today’s savings will be minimal but we will push on. I’m going to document the usual $20.00 savings…but I suspect tonight’s celebration will be above that line. I’ll adjust the totals later. I’m tracking the day by day tally on it’s own $aving’s Challenge page.
At this point I must admit full disclosure. Later this month, we have plans to meet with friends for dinner and a show. This was scheduled a month ago and we forgot about this date when we did our “pinky swear” pact! Again, we will be spending dollars at a restaurant which is WAY outside this month’s guidelines. Ack!
Maybe there will be leftovers for bento packing? A small consolation for rule-breaking. 
Out of your whole bento, I dunno why but I like the shiso leaf the most.
Exceptions make the rule! You are allowed some leeway! Bento box looks delectable, as usual! Hope you see some relaxation time soon
Hey no plan is perfect. Your doing great. There will always be side tracks in any plan it’s how you deal with them that count (e.i. leftovers).
Todays bento looks tasty and simple. I am a big fan of chicken and broccoli.
If you’re curious how much you would have saved, you can always start tracking that as well: how much you saved by drastically reducing money spent on takeout versus how much you could have saved by cutting it out entirely. Completely cutting something out of your life is extremely difficult, and even just trying to cut back is very admirable. I’m also trying to cut down on money spent on eating (and drinking) out, but celebrations are worth celebrating, and sometimes spending the extra $20 or $50 or whatever is worth it. By the end of the month, I’m sure you’ll discover which things are expendable, which can be replaced (perhaps making your coffee at home) and which ones are worth spending the extra dough sometimes (bahn mi?). Good luck and good job!!
Your bento looks great and delicious as always Debra! Hold on to your challenge this month … I’m sure you can do well. Ganbatte!!
Yum, kabocha! It’s great that you are keeping up your savings challenge while making reasonable adjustments along the way! Yay for interesting leftovers in bento–so many fun, new combinations come about that way
Yummy bento and I love the little bit of red from your beni shoga.