cooking for charity

The radio silence last week was unintended, just a product of a busy week and lack of bentos, which are one of my prompts for posting. The lack of bentos was due to two different charity lunches, so no need to pack anything.

Tuesday was our team's turn for "Tasty Tuesday" (where one team volunteers to make lunch for the rest of our coworkers, who then donate money to go toward our charities). Our team opted to do a stir fry bar thing, which resulted in a heaping plate of yum. It's great fun, what we do, but each team feels obliged to one up the previous team, so it's become a challenge to come up with a plan.  We do try to do something healthy, but I suspect our next team lunch is going to involve the words "sundae" and "bar".

Thursday, I volunteered with a group of coworkers to serve lunch at the local Ronald McDonald House. (Ronald McDonald House is one of the charities our company partners with (the other being Habitat for Humanity) so we have events like this where employees can donate time, as well as organized fundraisers on their behalf.

It was fun and inspiring to see the house and all the measures they take to make it welcome and homey for the families who stay there. Every room is different because each of the rooms is "adopted" by a company or organization who can then decorate and furnish it in whatever theme they want. The Blazers have a room, of course, and both the the Ducks and the Beavers do, as well. (The Ducks room was occupied while were there, but we got to see the Beavers room.)

And they really go all out with the themes. One room was done in a Lewis and Clark Theme and it included a huge Pendleton blanket on the wall that was a map of the Oregon Territory, as well as a little built-in bench made to look like a canoe. So clever! There were lots of communal spaces to draw people out and promote the sense of community and family, and inspirational stories in every little detail. Just a really great organization all around.

Anyway, we made chicken enchiladas for the families staying at the house, along with a green salad, a fruit salad, and flan for dessert (one of my coworkers makes a killer flan). We did get to eat lunch as well as prepare it, but rather than satiate my craving, it just made me want more. Hence the enchiladas Sal and I made for dinner and the leftovers in today's lunch.

lunch, Ms. Bento:

• enchiladas: seasoned beef, cheese, red onions, corn tortillas, mole', with some sour cream in the condiment cup
• mixed wild greens with a bit of dressing in the sauce container
• Murcott tangerines and part of a Pink Lady apple

I did actually have a bento for last week's Prompt workshop but forgot to post it so I'm including it here. No bento for tonight's Prompt, which is the last one. It's been a fun workshop and a good challenge -- highly recommended to anyone who's interested!

dinner (last week's Prompt), matryoshka:

• broccoli
• apple slices
• carrots
• crab