Using Bento Boxes for lunches.

Options
1…152153155157158…175

Replies

  • PixieGoddess
    PixieGoddess Posts: 1,833 Member
    Options
    PixieGoddess wrote: »
    Today's bento picture will be uploaded once I have lunch later today.....if I remember.....

    Yup...I forgot...Yesterday's bento: leftover salsa chicken, more couscous, more veggies, and more salad
    cm18nbubbjwi.jpg
  • HanamiDango
    HanamiDango Posts: 456 Member
    Options
    A few lunches to share.

    Not 100% sure if I shared this one, chicken cheesy rice
    c845f69d358d732e498619e6f231fa2f.png

    Cheese quesadilla on corn tortilla with re-fried beans, taco sauce in container, and corn
    ab8807641d0f7a9b7374d9a472d9227a.png

    BBQ chicken, mac&cheese, and green beans
    3d95ffc2c0bc431a7fedb18b7a8ef604.png
  • PixieGoddess
    PixieGoddess Posts: 1,833 Member
    Options
    Today's bento (hey, look, I remembered!): leftover fajitas, beans, and veggies. There's a side salad too, but I forgot dressing, and since the mushrooms are already a little slimy, I was not going to try to choke it down.
    573h12oxmf84.jpg
  • AllabouttheBones
    AllabouttheBones Posts: 7 Member
    Options
    You guys all rock - especially @mangrothian for starting this! I got to page 23 then skipped to the end, but I'm definitely a bento convert! Ordered a pretty new box, and found an egg shaper that will make my eggs look like skulls (yes, I'm weird - I'm a radiographer xD) I can't wait to start!
  • ivygirl1937
    ivygirl1937 Posts: 899 Member
    edited May 2016
    Options
    I've been a bad bentoer, keep forgetting to take pictures!

    myjfxaqvoh8g.jpg

    Here is lunch today! (It's now 5:00 pm and I haven't eaten since breakfast at 9:00 am so kind of a big lunch. I'm just at home, so it's nothing fancy as far as containers): Butter lettuce, spinach, chicken breast, black beans, red onion, roma tomato, a tiny bit of shredded colby-jack cheese, topped with ranch dressing and some salsa (okay, a lot of salsa. I love salsa). Smaller container: Vanilla greek yogurt with strawberries and cinnamon. Huge shoutout to @mangrothian for this idea with greek yogurt because I'm not typically a huge fan even though I love the protein content, I just don't eat it. This way was DELICIOUS, definitely making my yogurt like this from now on.

    Om nom nom. Happy tummy now.

    ETA: I forgot to include calorie count. Again, since it was so long between breakfast and lunch, it's rather high, especially since I lift so I tend to eat more protein: The big box was 691, the small was 233, but I didn't finish the small container and more than likely won't eat dinner tonight. If I do, it will be something really small and light.
  • ivygirl1937
    ivygirl1937 Posts: 899 Member
    edited May 2016
    Options
    PixieGoddess wrote: »
    Today's bento (hey, look, I remembered!): leftover fajitas, beans, and veggies. There's a side salad too, but I forgot dressing, and since the mushrooms are already a little slimy, I was not going to try to choke it down.

    Ooh, I'm sorry, I hate that! I wouldn't have eaten it either. :disappointed: It looks delish, though!
  • ivygirl1937
    ivygirl1937 Posts: 899 Member
    Options
    AllabouttheBones wrote: »
    You guys all rock - especially @mangrothian for starting this! I got to page 23 then skipped to the end, but I'm definitely a bento convert! Ordered a pretty new box, and found an egg shaper that will make my eggs look like skulls (yes, I'm weird - I'm a radiographer xD) I can't wait to start!

    Where can I get this magical skull-shaped egg shaper? I need it! :smiley:
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    Options
    ivygirl1937 wrote: »
    Here is lunch today! (It's now 5:00 pm and I haven't eaten since breakfast at 9:00 am so kind of a big lunch. I'm just at home, so it's nothing fancy as far as containers): Butter lettuce, spinach, chicken breast, black beans, red onion, roma tomato, a tiny bit of shredded colby-jack cheese, topped with ranch dressing and some salsa (okay, a lot of salsa. I love salsa). Smaller container: Vanilla greek yogurt with strawberries and cinnamon. Huge shoutout to @mangrothian for this idea with greek yogurt because I'm not typically a huge fan even though I love the protein content, I just don't eat it. This way was DELICIOUS, definitely making my yogurt like this from now on.

    Om nom nom. Happy tummy now.

    You know what makes me sad? That having the greek yoghurt regularly for breakfast made me discover that I'm lactose intolerant, so I can't eat a lot of dairy any more :'( Some cheese on occasion, milk in my coffee, and a small serve of icecream now and then (and even with only a small amount... gassy :( ). These days I make overnight oats with matcha powder, maple syrup or lemon curd, chia seeds and coconut mylk and serve it with some frozen berries.

    I haven't been that great with taking photo's recently, but here's a couple I have remembered from the last fortnight:
    xg2bzx5v9rbg.jpg
    k7oqljmc9gbm.jpg
    ivygirl1937 wrote: »
    AllabouttheBones wrote: »
    You guys all rock - especially @mangrothian for starting this! I got to page 23 then skipped to the end, but I'm definitely a bento convert! Ordered a pretty new box, and found an egg shaper that will make my eggs look like skulls (yes, I'm weird - I'm a radiographer xD) I can't wait to start!

    Where can I get this magical skull-shaped egg shaper? I need it! :smiley:

    I second this; I don't need it because I'm a radiographer, but because deep down I believe that it's a pirate's life for me.
  • eddiesmith1
    eddiesmith1 Posts: 1,550 Member
    Options
    I think you've inspired me to start making these. (I get fed at work but it's hard to control ingredients and calories that way) I need to research a good transport container that will fit in my pannier bag since i cycle to work
  • PixieGoddess
    PixieGoddess Posts: 1,833 Member
    Options
    The last 2 days' bentos were exactly the same: leftover salsa chicken, couscous, and veggies, with a salad - without mushrooms b/c I haven't gone to buy more :(
    3iz63lby4bxh.jpg
  • ivygirl1937
    ivygirl1937 Posts: 899 Member
    Options
    mangrothian wrote: »
    You know what makes me sad? That having the greek yoghurt regularly for breakfast made me discover that I'm lactose intolerant, so I can't eat a lot of dairy any more :'( Some cheese on occasion, milk in my coffee, and a small serve of icecream now and then (and even with only a small amount... gassy :( ). These days I make overnight oats with matcha powder, maple syrup or lemon curd, chia seeds and coconut mylk and serve it with some frozen berries.

    Awww, that IS sad!!! :confounded::cry: I'm sorry! Although you still are a genius anyway. I'm not a huge oat/oatmeal fan either but maybe I'll give your way a shot since you haven't been wrong yet!! DH is mildly lactose intolerant as well and just eats less of it, usually reserves his little splurges for yogurt and cheese and his coffee creamer. He isn't into milk or ice cream anyway so that one isn't an issue for him. Maybe I'll try the overnight oats for him as well, even though he does love his yogurt. :lol: Your meals look seriously delicious, though. I still need to try to make tamagoyaki, yours always looks so good!
    PixieGoddess wrote: »
    The last 2 days' bentos were exactly the same: leftover salsa chicken, couscous, and veggies, with a salad - without mushrooms b/c I haven't gone to buy more :(

    No more mushrooms is sad! My whole household LOVES them so I feel like I sometimes spend a small fortune on them even though we cut back but they are yummy. Your lunch looks so amazing!
  • AllabouttheBones
    AllabouttheBones Posts: 7 Member
    Options
    ivygirl1937 wrote: »
    AllabouttheBones wrote: »
    You guys all rock - especially @mangrothian for starting this! I got to page 23 then skipped to the end, but I'm definitely a bento convert! Ordered a pretty new box, and found an egg shaper that will make my eggs look like skulls (yes, I'm weird - I'm a radiographer xD) I can't wait to start!

    Where can I get this magical skull-shaped egg shaper? I need it! :smiley:

    I've yet to receive mine, but I found it on this website!

    In other news, I finally made myself a bento! Without a fancy box because the Amazon people didn't have the design I wanted after all, so I ended up having to cancel my order (sad panda!). However, this does mean I can bento shop again! Anyway, my lunch for tomorrow:

    b8ci7sg3epo7.jpg

    Egg, Buckwheat chickpea and quinoa mix, lettuce, maple BBQ prawns, and Babybel, strawberries and raspberries with low fat Greek style yoghurt, cashew nuts, and snacks of an Alpen light and a pretzel with chocolate hazelnut dip Graze box! 605 calories without the snacks! (I'll work on getting that calorie count down! Haha!)

    Not too shabby for my first bento, I believe - especially as my retired mother decided that I should make her lunches from now on!
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    Options
    eddiesmith1 wrote: »
    I think you've inspired me to start making these. (I get fed at work but it's hard to control ingredients and calories that way) I need to research a good transport container that will fit in my pannier bag since i cycle to work

    You'll actually find that most traditional shaped bento boxes are long and narrow and stack up, so they're actually really good for panniers. Most of my boxes are only about 3 inches or so wide. There are also sets of 3 round ones that stack up quite high, so that could work as well.
  • PixieGoddess
    PixieGoddess Posts: 1,833 Member
    edited May 2016
    Options
    Already ate my bento this morning (this is not a good sign, but I'm going to the premiere of Captain America tonight and knew I wouldn't be making my goal today anyways): leftover rice and California roll from sushi last night, with some shrimp and edamame that I cooked real fast to round it all out. There were exactly 4 edamame pieces that popped out during cooking, so they got put on top of the rolls for a little prettifying ;)
    pi426t29zfam.jpg
  • AllabouttheBones
    AllabouttheBones Posts: 7 Member
    Options
    Well, I ended up not eating my cashews or my graze box - I was so full of bento - and I got some cute comments on the cupcake cases!

    Also, my skull mould for the egg came! Testing it now with tomorrow's egg, but given the amount of egg that escaped as I closed the mould, I fear my eggs are too large! We'll see I guess! Otherwise, tomorrow's Bento is the same as today's :smile:
  • AllabouttheBones
    AllabouttheBones Posts: 7 Member
    Options
    The skull mould was awesome! I completely forgot to take a pic, but I might try it with a smaller egg. The sides were rather broken from where the egg had burst. But for my first one, it was awesome! :D
  • faramelee
    faramelee Posts: 163 Member
    Options
    Ok so I have to ask. I've only read a little of this thread (it's 104 bloody pages you know ;) )but I presumed Bento boxes were a particular type of box and my interest was piqued. Now having read a little more and seen some pictures I realise that I already Bento for work each day and have done for nigh on 18 months although mine is just boring old Tupperware type boxes. Between my breakfast, lunch and snacks I can fill up to 7 boxes a day (drives me husband craaaazy) but I LOVE it. I think maybe now I need to find some more exciting boxes though! :)
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    Options
    faramelee wrote: »
    Ok so I have to ask. I've only read a little of this thread (it's 104 bloody pages you know ;) )but I presumed Bento boxes were a particular type of box and my interest was piqued. Now having read a little more and seen some pictures I realise that I already Bento for work each day and have done for nigh on 18 months although mine is just boring old Tupperware type boxes. Between my breakfast, lunch and snacks I can fill up to 7 boxes a day (drives me husband craaaazy) but I LOVE it. I think maybe now I need to find some more exciting boxes though! :)

    In the end, the reason I started this thread was not about the 'traditional bento' using traditional Japanese foods (indeed, many of them aren't great for those with low Cal limits), or the awesome boxes (although awesome boxes are awesome :D ), but more about using a smaller box to control portions, lay groundwork for setting basic macros visually (for those of us that don't need to be overly strict with them) and most of all, to learn to eat using your eyes as well as your mouth. We all love the beautifully plated food at a restaurant, so why not bring it into a lunchbox? a little bit of forethought and care can turn a lunch that looks like it's gone through a tumbledrier into something you want to stare at for 5 mins before you start eating it.
    AllabouttheBones wrote: »
    The skull mould was awesome! I completely forgot to take a pic, but I might try it with a smaller egg. The sides were rather broken from where the egg had burst. But for my first one, it was awesome! :D

    I seem to have the issue that all of my eggs are too small for the moulds, even when I use XL eggs. Australian eggs just aren't mutant sized it seems.
  • AllabouttheBones
    AllabouttheBones Posts: 7 Member
    Options
    mangrothian wrote: »
    I seem to have the issue that all of my eggs are too small for the moulds, even when I use XL eggs. Australian eggs just aren't mutant sized it seems.

    Haha, awww! Perhaps we just have giant chickens in the UK! :D
  • Ginny218
    Ginny218 Posts: 194 Member
    Options
    9esrsvdkrm0p.jpg
    flat iron steak - Flat Iron Steak, 100 g 232
    Cherries, sweet, raw, 5 cherry 26
    Tomatoes - Cherry Tomato, 58 g 10
    Ken's - Light Options Ranch Dressing Aramark, 37 gram 123
    Carrots - Carrots, 64 gram 18
    Safeway - Sugar Snap Peas, 28 gram 12
    total calories 421

Categories