Wow, where did the time go? At the beginning of the Challenge, I was a little worried that 5 weeks was a bit too long. But now that it's over, it was almost too short!

Although I was nominally the leader of this challenge, I learned a lot of things myself. And I'm so happy to see, from the posts in the forum as well as what people have been writing on their blogs, that it's gotten a lot of people into the bento making habit. All in all, I think it was a great success!

So, to look at the bentos I made this week first:

Day 1 was a bit uninspired, though tasty: leftover and reheated chicken and vegetable stir-fry, rice, and Chinese cabbage that had been massaged with salt (in the same way as this fennel salad.)

Day 2, Tuesday, was better. The very quick chicken skewers were so tasty, and although they are imported, I really enjoyed having asparagus again for the first time in months. This bento is described in more detail as Bento no. 63.

For Day 3, I assembled a sandwich with the miso marinated eggs I'd made on Sunday, with the middle-stalk parts of the asparagus leftover from Tuesday. Delicious!

On Day 4, I made a vegan bento with mochi-tofu (yes I need to post this recipe!), a simple stir-fry, more of that Chinese cabbage (it lasts for a few days), and rice mixed with frozen green peas and carrot bits.

And on Day 5, I finished up my week and the Challenge with some of my favorite things: shrimp tatsuta-age (I'll post this recipe soon), miso egg, orange juice carrots, asparagus again. And rice with homemade gomashio.

Some things I learned from the Challenge

• As much as I preach the important of organization to everyone else, I need to get a lot more organized myself! It didn't help that we are packing up the house for moving, but when I am settled in my next house I will be streamlining not only my bento gear, but my kitchen equipment as a whole too.
• Making a proper sandwich actually takes almost as much time as assembling a simple rice + 1 protein + 1 vegetable bento, and vice versa, for me anyway.
• Rice or whole grains really make me feel better, compared to pasta or bread. Pasta for bento makes me a bit sleepy. (I need to ponder this a bit more...)
• I am inspired every day by the bentos posted in the flickr pool and on the , as well the comments advice and recipes!

How was Week 5, and the Challenge in general, for you? Share your thoughts in the forum.