Using Bento Boxes for lunches.

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  • crazykatlady_
    crazykatlady_ Posts: 46 Member
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    I think I just found my new obsession! My whole family would love this! I work from home, but the problem I have with that is I have an entire kitchen full of food available to me. So, having everything already prepped and portioned out would be awesome. I really love this and now I'm going to click on all these fun links!
  • SpecialKitty7
    SpecialKitty7 Posts: 678 Member
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    @craftylatvian oh, i love your box, is that The Beckoning Cat, or just a kitty? Your lunch looks fabulous too!
    @crazykatlady_ having the pre-prepped, pre-portioned food makes a huge difference. And, at least for me anyway, having so many different things to eat makes a huge difference in my perception of satiety.
  • kramrn77
    kramrn77 Posts: 375 Member
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    I have plans this weekend (or maybe this evening if I get called off at work for low patient census) to go trolling for Asian markets to look for bento boxes. San Antonio is a big place. They got to be somewhere!
  • barbiegirlie2
    barbiegirlie2 Posts: 26 Member
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    mangrothian wrote: »
    I've never had it fresh; I've only found it frozen and pre-sliced. Have you ever had the tinned bamboo shoot pieces that they put in stir fries? It's similar to that, but a slightly crunchier texture.

    I usually just blanch it, but I've also given it a light toasting in a frypan (no oil) and it ends up with a nice nutty texture.

    Ah! I'm looking in the wrong part of the store!
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
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    barbiegirlie2 wrote: »
    mangrothian wrote: »
    I've never had it fresh; I've only found it frozen and pre-sliced. Have you ever had the tinned bamboo shoot pieces that they put in stir fries? It's similar to that, but a slightly crunchier texture.

    I usually just blanch it, but I've also given it a light toasting in a frypan (no oil) and it ends up with a nice nutty texture.

    Ah! I'm looking in the wrong part of the store!

    I've found it canned before, but it wasn't very tasty. It was mushy. I bet frozen would hold up better.
  • SpecialKitty7
    SpecialKitty7 Posts: 678 Member
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    So...I was trolling the international aisle at the super-big grocery store (really, there's just about nothing they don't have) and they had a tin of hard boiled, brined, quail eggs. Of course, it's not written in English (most stuff in the aisle is not) but it was in with all the other Asian stuff, so I bought it. Any ideas on what to do with them? Everything I see on the internet says to use them where ever you use chicken eggs, so of course, now I cannot come up with a single thing. Has anyone else tried these?
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
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    SpecialKitty7 wrote: »
    So...I was trolling the international aisle at the super-big grocery store (really, there's just about nothing they don't have) and they had a tin of hard boiled, brined, quail eggs. Of course, it's not written in English (most stuff in the aisle is not) but it was in with all the other Asian stuff, so I bought it. Any ideas on what to do with them? Everything I see on the internet says to use them where ever you use chicken eggs, so of course, now I cannot come up with a single thing. Has anyone else tried these?

    Brined? Never seen that before. We can get quail eggs quite easily here fresh, and I used to just cook them and have them like mini boiled eggs.

    *go go gadget google*

    Mini scotch eggs
    Mini deviled eggs
    Sliced in salad

    There are lots of other recipes, but they all call for fresh ones.
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
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    chrisdavey wrote: »
    Just found this thread. LOVE Bento boxes but I don't make them myself. Mainly because my meal frequency is quite low and therefore my meal sizes are quite large i.e. it would more likely be a bento salad bowl full :stuck_out_tongue:

    Off to Japan in a few weeks though and plenty of bento boxes will be consumed (amongst many other delicious foods :smile: )

    Did I hear a shout for an extra-large Bento box? ;) Not all of them are 'manly', but they're definitely big!
  • SpecialKitty7
    SpecialKitty7 Posts: 678 Member
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    @mangrothian never seen them fresh, but maybe I've never looked? I did find a spinach salad that called for them and a fresh made tarragon dressing. I'll have to see, the pictures on that one looked good.

    So, here's tomorrow's bento. It's a big one, but it's really a snack and lunch together, Saturday's I'm tied to my desk all day, so I like to make sure I have enough to eat to not wander off to the donuts and other goodies in the kitchen. Here I've got soba noodles, shrimp and sugar snap peas on the bottom, pork & mushroom dumplings, carrots, cucumber and ranch dressing (in the pot) on the top.
    3qxejrmv2fba.jpg

    You guys don't normally get to see this, but this is what happens literally 5 seconds after a pic is taken, every, darn, time.

    deezb5n1wukh.jpg
  • crazykatlady_
    crazykatlady_ Posts: 46 Member
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    Hahaha! Silly kitty! Bento boxes are for humans!
  • crazykatlady_
    crazykatlady_ Posts: 46 Member
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    P.S. I went out and bought some containers and reusable lunch tray type things (bigger sized for my husband) today. Tomorrow my son and I are going to do some meal prepping and portioning!
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
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    If you want a large one, this one is on Amazon for $10.59. I found it at Walmart even cheaper (around $8.) It has a freezer gel insert for the middle to keep it cold, and the bottom part is collapsible, so it expands to be fairly deep. You could easily put a salad in the bottom, and a half sandwich plus a couple of sides or snacks in the top. Or I put a smaller salad plus a few lamb meatballs in the bottom when I used mine.

    41ZIVC2L2yL._SY450_.jpg
  • intrepie
    intrepie Posts: 24 Member
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    @Malone827‌
    This is right up your alley ;)
  • satansees
    satansees Posts: 42 Member
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    SpecialKitty7 wrote: »
    So...I was trolling the international aisle at the super-big grocery store (really, there's just about nothing they don't have) and they had a tin of hard boiled, brined, quail eggs. Of course, it's not written in English (most stuff in the aisle is not) but it was in with all the other Asian stuff, so I bought it. Any ideas on what to do with them? Everything I see on the internet says to use them where ever you use chicken eggs, so of course, now I cannot come up with a single thing. Has anyone else tried these?
    I'm not sure about brined, but I buy hard boiled quail eggs (In Waitrose), no one has time to peel those! I turn a few into tea eggs, but mostly just cut them in half and cheer up my salad.

  • LizN63
    LizN63 Posts: 129 Member
    edited January 2015
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    That sounds nice, I must look for those. I can't eat eggs without salt, so brined might avoid me having to take salt with me...?irhbu0ch0mzt.jpg
    I love my lock and lock bento boxes - they have a red carrier you can't see. This was an attempt at a hamburger one.

    There is also a tomato and basil salad, some carrot and cheese flowers, and a satsuma. And ketchup of course!
  • satansees
    satansees Posts: 42 Member
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    You should try tea eggs. They're soaked in Soy sauce and relatively salty.
    Your lunch is adorable! Love the flowers
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
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    satansees wrote: »
    You should try tea eggs. They're soaked in Soy sauce and relatively salty.
    Your lunch is adorable! Love the flowers

    I've seen that like 3 or 4 times on this thread.

    How are they made? :)
  • satansees
    satansees Posts: 42 Member
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    rainbowbow wrote: »
    satansees wrote: »
    You should try tea eggs. They're soaked in Soy sauce and relatively salty.
    Your lunch is adorable! Love the flowers

    I've seen that like 3 or 4 times on this thread.

    How are they made? :)

    http://m.allrecipes.com/recipe/51326/chinese-tea-leaf-eggs/
    I sort of make it up a bit (that one had pretty pictures). Usually ends up with some peppercorns in it, a bit more soy and sometimes peel the eggs completely. Leave it overnight.
    Sometimes I do a cold mixture, or keep a jar in the fridge to reuse a few times.
    You can't go too wrong to be honest. Boiled egg and soy <3
  • SpecialKitty7
    SpecialKitty7 Posts: 678 Member
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    thanks @satansees i hadn't thought about making the tea and soy eggs! I think i'll see what they taste like without messing with them and give those a go.
  • SpecialKitty7
    SpecialKitty7 Posts: 678 Member
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    crazykatlady_ wrote: »
    Hahaha! Silly kitty! Bento boxes are for humans!

    at least him i can shoo out, i've had two bentos get eaten by the dogs when my back was turned!

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