Using Bento Boxes for lunches.

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Replies

  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    Looks yum! You know, I think I've only ever eaten one bagel, and that would have been about 10 years ago? Maybe the ones over here just aren't that great, because I just didn't see why they were better than regular ol' bread slices....

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    Today's lunch: Asian Salad with mushroom&garlic pearl/lebanese couscous and prawns with chilli powder, totalling 500cals. The top tray has some skinless frankfurters that I failed to make look like fish :( and some mango. I'm trying a yoghurt that was recommended to me, but I usually don't like flavoured yoghurts, so we'll see how it goes. Everything totals 835cal.
  • sarieth05
    sarieth05 Posts: 313 Member
    That Asian salad looks amazing. Ugh. Yum! Also bagels are just more dense (or at least the ones I buy). I think I just like them because of my unhealthy laughing cow addiction. Maybe I'll just start eating plain laughing cow wedges and just cut out the middle man. *sigh*

    Also I have a little cookbook that I bought at an anime convention that has some recipes for bentos and whatnot in it. Your little fishies reminded me that I even owned it, so thanks. =D (It reminded me of the little sausage octopus, but the egg chickens are equally adorable)

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  • satansees
    satansees Posts: 42 Member
    I always think of bagels as pre-chewed bread... Like someone spat it out and squished it into a shape. I was a strange child.

    The chicks are adorable! What are the faces made of?
  • sarieth05
    sarieth05 Posts: 313 Member
    satansees wrote: »
    I always think of bagels as pre-chewed bread... Like someone spat it out and squished it into a shape. I was a strange child.

    The chicks are adorable! What are the faces made of?

    Well, thanks for ruining bagels for me! :p

    The faces are black sesame seeds and a little bit of carrot. :)

  • kristydi
    kristydi Posts: 781 Member
    sarieth05 wrote: »
    That Asian salad looks amazing. Ugh. Yum! Also bagels are just more dense (or at least the ones I buy). I think I just like them because of my unhealthy laughing cow addiction. Maybe I'll just start eating plain laughing cow wedges and just cut out the middle man. *sigh*

    Also I have a little cookbook that I bought at an anime convention that has some recipes for bentos and whatnot in it. Your little fishies reminded me that I even owned it, so thanks. =D (It reminded me of the little sausage octopus, but the egg chickens are equally adorable)

    dyhh24xvkh6k.jpg
    Oh I make the hot dog octopi pretty much any time my daughters want hot dogs. I've found its much eaiser to use scissors than a knife to cut them.

    No bentos this week. My daughters school is on winter break.Here's a hot dog octopus bento from last week.8t8orskep8gz.jpg
    There are the hot dogs, pretzels and pears and my 1st grader helped by cutting out the cheese.
  • SpecialKitty7
    SpecialKitty7 Posts: 678 Member
    sarieth05 wrote: »
    I made a lunch bento and a snack bento. I actually don't like a lot of variety in my day, so I like putting the same things in all of the boxes. :p

    I do the same thing. I've always wondered how half a bagel is one serving, or how you're supposed to eat half a banana. What are you supposed to do with the other half?

    I've never minded eating the same thing routinely, it just makes life easier (and less rotten food to throw away).

  • PixieGoddess
    PixieGoddess Posts: 1,833 Member
    No bento for me today b/c busy weekend V.V And I may not have bentos this week b/c I'm planning to make either gumbo or chicken and dumplings tonight, and I usually have enough leftovers for about a week after making either one. (Soup dishes = no bento) But maybe I'll pack a couple snack bentos :)
  • HanamiDango
    HanamiDango Posts: 456 Member
    Heh looks yum. Never quite understood what a snicker doodle is, but I'm sure it's delicious.

    And in response to your nerdyness, I never watched the live action Skip Beat, just the anime and the manga. I really wish I had little Kyoko-chan demons to fling at people sometimes though.

    The live action was pretty funny and interesting. If you can get a hold of it, it is a great addition to the series. Kyoko's demons is just to awesome in any form!

    A snicker doodle is pretty much a sugar cookie with a cinnamon/sugar coating. So this cupcake is a cinnamon sugar cupcake really. I have these, pumpkin, and a chocolate cupcake/muffin in the freezer for my daily treat, which I share with everyone in the house.

    I will be sharing my husband's lunches this week and if anyone wants the calorie count I can figure those out as well. Right now, I am just trying to get the guy a balance meal for lunch so he can function through out the day.
  • I am definitely a stalker to this thread. I love taking the children on picnics in the summer and there are some amazing ideas on here, so I will continue to stalk even if I dont comment, I will be here..... watching :P :D
  • satansees
    satansees Posts: 42 Member
    sarieth05 wrote: »
    satansees wrote: »
    I always think of bagels as pre-chewed bread... Like someone spat it out and squished it into a shape. I was a strange child.

    The chicks are adorable! What are the faces made of?

    Well, thanks for ruining bagels for me! :p

    The faces are black sesame seeds and a little bit of carrot. :)
    I have sesame seeds and carrots! yay!

    My silicone baran is waiting for me at the post office too. A good day!

  • satansees
    satansees Posts: 42 Member
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    I'm a bit tired for sesame seeds!
  • SpecialKitty7
    SpecialKitty7 Posts: 678 Member
    @satansees those are adorable. The little guy in the upper right looks like he's giving a cheeky little wink!

    For all, I rinsed my soba like I'm supposed to, and I don't want to say they are sticking together, because they really aren't, but a forkful doesn't slide out a few noodles from the others very well (I'm totally botching explaining this). Am I supposed to have done another step, like oil them up or something? I don't want them greasy, but it would be nice to be a bit less messy.
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    I usually find with soba noodles, after rinsing them having a dressing that has a couple of drops of chilli or sesame oil stops a bit of the stickiness. It could also be caused from them drying out a bit.

    When I do my soba noodles, I usually toss them in 1 tspn of mirin/cooking sake, about 5 or 6 drops of sesame oil (under 1/4 tspn), and some minced ginger and dried corriander. Toss it in a separate bowl, then transfer the noodles to the bento. They're usually still fine the next day.
  • Jenloma
    Jenloma Posts: 77 Member
    I love this idea and I even have it on Pinterest for more ideas. :) Thanks for posting!
  • SpecialKitty7
    SpecialKitty7 Posts: 678 Member
    I usually find with soba noodles, after rinsing them having a dressing that has a couple of drops of chilli or sesame oil stops a bit of the stickiness. It could also be caused from them drying out a bit.

    When I do my soba noodles, I usually toss them in 1 tspn of mirin/cooking sake, about 5 or 6 drops of sesame oil (under 1/4 tspn), and some minced ginger and dried corriander. Toss it in a separate bowl, then transfer the noodles to the bento. They're usually still fine the next day.

    This might be my problem. I've been leaving them naked. Since I lowered the amount of oil I use for the sauteed veggies, the bento was much more dry than usual. I'll give that a go, I have one more round of soba to go.

  • HanamiDango
    HanamiDango Posts: 456 Member
    Tomorrow's lunch:
    Bottom is leftover chicken edamame fried rice and the top is a snack of salt & pepper chips with beef jerky. Today's lunch he said was good just gave him too much, so this one is less. Still getting the hang of this.
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  • SpecialKitty7
    SpecialKitty7 Posts: 678 Member
    Here's tomorrow's bento. The same snack bento as usual (the pink), lunch is pork & vegetable dumplings, basmati rice, edamame and sugar snap peas. On a side note, husband finally asked me to make him a bento!

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  • HanamiDango
    HanamiDango Posts: 456 Member
    @SpecialKitty7 Woot woot for husband wanting a bento!

  • sarieth05
    sarieth05 Posts: 313 Member
    @satansees - those chicks turned out great! :D Super cute.
  • sarieth05
    sarieth05 Posts: 313 Member
    Here's tomorrow's bento. The same snack bento as usual (the pink), lunch is pork & vegetable dumplings, basmati rice, edamame and sugar snap peas. On a side note, husband finally asked me to make him a bento!

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    Those dumplings look amazing! This thread totally makes me crave a whole bunch of stuff. XD
  • Daiako
    Daiako Posts: 12,545 Member
    edited February 2015
    No full box today (under the weather and forgot. It was just pepperoni, cheese, crackers, and strawberries.) But I do have these!

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    I think my heart had cooled a bit too much, hence the slice missing, but the star came out nicely.
  • SpecialKitty7
    SpecialKitty7 Posts: 678 Member
    @Daiako my hearts do that too sometimes if the yolk is large compared to the white. But those look awesome!
  • isa75
    isa75 Posts: 156 Member
    Thanks for this thread. Will keeping checking it for great ideas and pretty bento pictures.
  • PixieGoddess
    PixieGoddess Posts: 1,833 Member
    Well, hypoglycemia hit hard (yay, alliteration!) yesterday, so I did not make gumbo or chicken and dumplings - I told my husband that I literally could not stand up long enough to cook either. He was quite sweet and made us pork chops with dirty rice and veggies, with almost no help from me :)

    The upside is that since I don't have soup, I made a bento! And I HAD to do a Mardi Gras themed one with the leftover dirty rice, lots of shrimp, and a Dove dark chocolate on a bed of leaves - just to get in the purple, gold, and green colors! It doesn't have as much variety as usual, and there's almost no veggies (just a few peppers and whatnot in the rice), but it'll work for just one day, and it's still healthier than what I usually get at Bayou Bob's on Mardi Gras :p

    LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL!

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  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    Hehe shrimp. I giggle every time I see that word. Us Aussies NEVER throw another shrimp on the barbie ;)

    With Lent, Mardis Gras and Chinese New year happening, I'm sure there's some weird lunches being made from leftovers right now.
  • HanamiDango
    HanamiDango Posts: 456 Member
    My happiness came today! I think the little ones where happier than me. ^_^
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  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
    @HanamiDango That looks awesome! What are the flower-shaped things in the upper right, next to the egg molds?
  • HanamiDango
    HanamiDango Posts: 456 Member
    @SnuggleSmacks It is a donut pan. The thing is really small but cute. I can not read Japanese, so I am not sure what oven safe temperature it is.
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    @HanamiDango Awesome, you have a clapping march box! I don't know why, but I love the prints on that line of stuff.
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    @SnuggleSmacks It is a donut pan. The thing is really small but cute. I can not read Japanese, so I am not sure what oven safe temperature it is.

    Can you take a close up picture of the care instructions? My Japanese isn't great, but I should be able to find out that much for you :)