How fitting that the focus for week 3 of the Bento Challenge, saving money, should coincide with the realization that I hardly had any money left to feed myself and my husband for the rest of the week. So, I sat down with the weekly meal planner, determined to stretch my dollars by using as many on-hand items as possible, planning for leftovers, and repurposing bits of food that I might normally let go to waste (I'm looking at you, broccoli stalks...formerly destined for the trash, now on deck for kinpira! Yes!). Sunday night I came home from the grocery and set to work dismantling a small chicken (first time doing this, so yay me!); I roasted the pieces with some garlic cloves, onions, carrots, and some potatoes that had been languishing in the pantry for a while. I even made stock with the backbone (and some onion, carrot and herbs) to freeze for another use. We ate some of the chicken for dinner that night, and then it also made an appearance in our bento for Monday: Not too bad for a little $6 chicken... much more economical than buying a pricey 3-pack of chicken breasts! And may I say more delicious, too.... mmm, dark meat... :) Monday night I made a meat sauce out of ground beef, a big can of tomato sauce, various herbs and spices, onions and some sliced green olives; this went over some spaghetti, and there was dinner and leftovers for bento, too. Okay, okay... first blog post ever, so it's awfully boring, but I just wanted to go ahead and get something out there! Also I am posting from work so there are all sorts of interruptions and hindrances that go along with that. Hopefully I'll get more interesting as I post more and feel less awkward doing so. Until then..... :)