Using Bento Boxes for lunches.
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@sagj your boxes are so pretty and tasty looking!0
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srschaffer1 wrote: »I saw this thread and said to myself, 'I've always wanted to do a bento to control my eating!' Honestly, I've been kind of scared to do so! I have no clue where to start or what bento container to buy!
I would love to start, any tips and tricks for a person who wants to start?
I learned a ton from the earlier pages on this post! Also, just think of it as lunch in a small box. How would you pack your lunch if you only had a small box? If you didn't want all of it mixed together what would you do? It shouldn't be too intimidating when you are just packing "normal" foods. The hardest part is picking the box size, I think. My box is 640 ml for a frame of reference. I stuff it all the way full as you can see. I believe I and others have posted a page for figuring out what size fits your height and gender back there somewhere. Keep in mind that if you don't heat a usual Japanese diet the calorie counts may be a little off (I replace most of my grains with vegetables, for instance).
I hope that helps
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Narcissora wrote: »Ugh, late night last night. I put together something I can much on little by little today when and if I feel like eating.
Hangover bento: kale and spinach balls; mukimame; peas; almonds; babybel light; bananas with Greek yogurt and cinnamon; pineapple; unsweetened applesauce; ibuprofen
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srschaffer1 wrote: »I saw this thread and said to myself, 'I've always wanted to do a bento to control my eating!' Honestly, I've been kind of scared to do so! I have no clue where to start or what bento container to buy!
I would love to start, any tips and tricks for a person who wants to start?
I learned a ton from the earlier pages on this post! Also, just think of it as lunch in a small box. How would you pack your lunch if you only had a small box? If you didn't want all of it mixed together what would you do? It shouldn't be too intimidating when you are just packing "normal" foods. The hardest part is picking the box size, I think. My box is 640 ml for a frame of reference. I stuff it all the way full as you can see. I believe I and others have posted a page for figuring out what size fits your height and gender back there somewhere. Keep in mind that if you don't heat a usual Japanese diet the calorie counts may be a little off (I replace most of my grains with vegetables, for instance).
I hope that helps
Thanks so much! I'm more into heating things up so its a nmatterof finding a bento that can do that. Lol. Most of it can be cold, but I have to pack breakfast and lunch in my bag.
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Narcissora wrote: »
We have the same box! (Different lid but the same box!) Very nice! I love the little dividers that come with them; they make it so easy to portion everything. Where did you get the little blue rectangular cup you have?
I like the little dividers too! I used them in today's bento. Did you get a weird curvy divider? Do you know what it is for?
The blue cup is a square silicon cupcake liner (I have green cups too). I can't remember where I found them, but I'm pretty sure these on Amazon are the same ones: http://www.amazon.com/Wilton-Square-Silicone-Baking-Count/dp/B000NBNHHE
That curvy thing is a rice press for making box sized oniguri (I could be horribly misspelling that;) ) I believe.
Thank you SpecialKitty!0 -
Whoops, I meant eat, not heat. Although temperature preferences do play a significant role in deciding on a bento box. You could also use a normal box, put put your hot food in a silicone cup and heat it in that outside of the box then put it back in.srschaffer1 wrote: »srschaffer1 wrote: »I saw this thread and said to myself, 'I've always wanted to do a bento to control my eating!' Honestly, I've been kind of scared to do so! I have no clue where to start or what bento container to buy!
I would love to start, any tips and tricks for a person who wants to start?
I learned a ton from the earlier pages on this post! Also, just think of it as lunch in a small box. How would you pack your lunch if you only had a small box? If you didn't want all of it mixed together what would you do? It shouldn't be too intimidating when you are just packing "normal" foods. The hardest part is picking the box size, I think. My box is 640 ml for a frame of reference. I stuff it all the way full as you can see. I believe I and others have posted a page for figuring out what size fits your height and gender back there somewhere. Keep in mind that if you don't heat a usual Japanese diet the calorie counts may be a little off (I replace most of my grains with vegetables, for instance).
I hope that helps
Thanks so much! I'm more into heating things up so its a nmatterof finding a bento that can do that. Lol. Most of it can be cold, but I have to pack breakfast and lunch in my bag.
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Whoops, I meant eat, not heat. Although temperature preferences do play a significant role in deciding on a bento box. You could also use a normal box, put put your hot food in a silicone cup and heat it in that outside of the box then put it back in.srschaffer1 wrote: »srschaffer1 wrote: »I saw this thread and said to myself, 'I've always wanted to do a bento to control my eating!' Honestly, I've been kind of scared to do so! I have no clue where to start or what bento container to buy!
I would love to start, any tips and tricks for a person who wants to start?
I learned a ton from the earlier pages on this post! Also, just think of it as lunch in a small box. How would you pack your lunch if you only had a small box? If you didn't want all of it mixed together what would you do? It shouldn't be too intimidating when you are just packing "normal" foods. The hardest part is picking the box size, I think. My box is 640 ml for a frame of reference. I stuff it all the way full as you can see. I believe I and others have posted a page for figuring out what size fits your height and gender back there somewhere. Keep in mind that if you don't heat a usual Japanese diet the calorie counts may be a little off (I replace most of my grains with vegetables, for instance).
I hope that helps
Thanks so much! I'm more into heating things up so its a nmatterof finding a bento that can do that. Lol. Most of it can be cold, but I have to pack breakfast and lunch in my bag.
Agreed! I'm going to look at my options and see what I can do, mixing and matching.0 -
I went through the thread and found a couple of my longer posts regarding some of the recurring questions in the thread in case any of the people new to the thread don't want to scroll through all the pages of posts.
Once again, these are the principles I follow for my lunch. They've served me well, but everyone has their own ideals about the food they want to eat, what's available to them and in the end, what is practical for your time and budget.mangrothian wrote: »ummmm, am I missing something? I mean, I have 4-5 LOCK-LOCK boxes that I use for different things I haul to eat. Sometimes it' also zippies, but isn't BENTO just taking lunch in a box?
@PhatAv8r lol yes, in the end it is just lunch in a box.
The idea of the "Bento" lunch box is more about the general principles of portion control, packing a box that's tight so that -hopefully- even if a box flips over or moves around in transport it will still all look the same and not be smooshed, and is survivable at room temperature for sometimes 6+hours before being eaten.
The other premise, or at least the one that I preach to people, is that the majority of the food can be pre-prepared and frozen, so that when you make a lunch, you have controlled portions of food right on hand for use. You have no excuse to not pack your lunch if it will take you a couple of minutes to zap some pre-prepped meat and rice(or carb of choice) and 5mins chopping up a cup of veggies and blanching them in boiling water for about 3mins. Since you've pre-weighed a lot of your lunch, it's really easy to log as well.
The boxes are also a lot smaller, in most cases only 500ml or 700ml in volume. The idea of it can help people who have issues with portion control, or have a compulsive 'completion response'. I still have a habit of no matter what the size of my lunchbox, I will always a) fill it up when I'm cooking and b) attempt to eat EVERYTHING in the box. Having a 500ml box in my case satisfies me as much as a 1L, or in the past 2L, box did.
My other premise, is that a Bento lunch should LOOK very appetising as well. People eat with their eyes as much as their stomachs, and having a well presented, colourful lunch is always nicer than something that is not.mangrothian wrote: »@supershamster Bento's don't need to be Japanese food focused, but the type of foods they use are definitely more portable at room temperature than some western foods. My personal rules for Bento's are:
Once again, I'm sorry for the long post, but I kinda got on a roll, and had 10 mins to spare before gym....
- It must not be a drippy food (it means it has sauce can go through the other foods making them soggy, or potentially leak from a container). If it needs sauce, the sauce can go in a mini squeeze bottle.
- It must taste good at room temperature.
- It must be safe to eat after being at room temperature for up to 6 hours. For example, cream/mayo based food doesn't last at room temp for very long.
- If it's squishy, you need to be able to separate the food from the foods that can squish it. Berry fruits are a good example for this one
- No salt on your vegetables. Trust me, you'll learn they're damn well tasty enough on their own. Edamame (soy beans) are probably my only exception to his. Your blood pressure will also thank you.
- Pre prepare! Cook your meat in batches, portion it out and store it in ziploc bags, wrap it in gladwrap, or whatever. That way you've already got your portion (so you're not going to be deceived by your eyes if you're hungry whilst making your Bento), and it's one less step to worry about during the week. I pre-cook and freeze everything except my vegetables. An hour cooking some different meats one night a week saves you a LOT of time.
In essence, most of my Bento's consist of rice, lightly blanched or raw vegetables and some kind of meat - there isn't that much variation except for the fruits I eat. The main concept is more about portioning your food, packing it well, and have as many colours as possible. The Japanese believe that the more (natural) colours you have in your Bento, the healthier it is. And as @Specialkitty7 said, it can be quite satisfying having a little bit of everything to eat, instead of say, one bowl of pasta or a sandwich.
In terms of recipes, there might be some you may not try if the ingredients are too hard to get, but I can't recommend the JustBento website more. Makiko Itoh has the 500 cal or less Bento down to an art form, and they all sure do taste good.
A good example of portion control/ratios in a Bento. It also talks about easing into using Bento concepts if you've never had/heard of them before:
http://justbento.com/handbook/getting-started-bento-making/aim-for-balance
A "skinny" versus "not so skinny" bento
http://justbento.com/handbook/getting-started-bento-making/skinny-bento-vs-not-skinny-bento
Some of the foods I might list aren't necessary, or I'm using the Japanese name for the food. For example furikake (foo-ree-ka-keh) is a dry rice seasoning. You could season your rice with just salt and pepper, or roasted sesame seeds with salt (which in Japanese is called Gomashio). The umeboshi is a sour pickled plum, and that is DEFINITELY an acquired taste. I just like something sour to finish off my meal, and it's meant to help the rice keep longer at room temperature. Tamagoyaki is a rolled cooked egg with some soy and a pinch of sugar. Ponzu is a soy sauce with citrus in it, so its like a slightly sour soy sauce. Only a few of my ingredients require a specialty store - most you can find in the asian section of your supermarket.These are awesome!! It looks like so much work? How do you cut down on prep time?
Practice and Preparation! My main starchy carb is rice (potatoes and wheat don't sit too well with my stomach), which I cook in large batches, and freeze portions into ziplock bags for quick defrosting each night. I do the same thing for my protein, or reserve a small portion when cooking dinner. Veggies (the picture I posted is an exception) are usually just smaller cut portions that I prepare when doing that nights dinner. If I'm prepping a small amount of veggies just for my lunch, I've pretty much cut them up in the time it takes for the water in my saucepan to boil.LifeInTheBikeLane wrote: »We have a man in my town who makes bento lunches. We have gotten them before and they are always so amazing. I've always wanted to try to make them myself!
*clicks link*
Be careful with takeout Bentos - the sauces they use on the meat and dressings on the veggies aren't always exactly a healthy option, but boy they are tasty!I love bento! I have a few random bento things I got from Daiso but I mostly just use regular containers. I love the style of eating though - a bit of everything, rahter than just 1 solid meal. Would love to see more of your photos!
Daiso is the best for getting Bento boxes! All the boxes (not the water bottle) that I use are generally from there.^ I was looking at the justbento.com site and they suggest using whatever boxes you can find. Bento specific ones are expensive (though certainly nice looking!)
I love what she says about, at least with the 1:1:2 ratio (carbs, protein, veggies) the calories and container mL are about equal when packed. That would make aspects of recording pretty easy to do.
Some Bento boxes are expensive (I generally can't justify the splurge), but if you have a Daiso store near you, the boxes are cheap and good quality. It's like a Japanese variety store; in the Australian ones, everything is $2.80. The blue set is one box, and the two square boxes are another set. Throw in a mini cutlery set and a small insulated bag, and my box set costs a whopping $11.20AU (so under 10USD). Honestly, most of the time my Bento is prepped in a click-lock box, with small portion things like cut fruit separated from everything else in a silicone muffin cup.
It is easy to record as well - since i use the same proportions of foods regularly, logging for the day is usually a matter of ticking a few boxes in my recent foods category and that's it.0 -
srschaffer1 wrote: »@mangrothian You should turn this into a Bento group so people can share their pictures of their bentos and talk about them!
You know, I had thought about that, but I find my alerts don't work with posts I've bookmarked that are from the groups I'm in, so it kinda put me off making one. I get excited every time I see a string of posts pop up in my notifications for this thread.0 -
mangrothian wrote: »srschaffer1 wrote: »@mangrothian You should turn this into a Bento group so people can share their pictures of their bentos and talk about them!
You know, I had thought about that, but I find my alerts don't work with posts I've bookmarked that are from the groups I'm in, so it kinda put me off making one. I get excited every time I see a string of posts pop up in my notifications for this thread.
Me Too!0 -
Narcissora wrote: »Ugh, late night last night. I put together something I can much on little by little today when and if I feel like eating.
Hangover bento: kale and spinach balls; mukimame; peas; almonds; babybel light; bananas with Greek yogurt and cinnamon; pineapple; unsweetened applesauce; ibuprofen
This is epic and made me smile. Thank you.
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Narcissora wrote: »Ugh, late night last night. I put together something I can much on little by little today when and if I feel like eating.
Hangover bento: kale and spinach balls; mukimame; peas; almonds; babybel light; bananas with Greek yogurt and cinnamon; pineapple; unsweetened applesauce; ibuprofen
mukimame! I learnt a new word!0 -
mangrothian wrote: »Narcissora wrote: »Ugh, late night last night. I put together something I can much on little by little today when and if I feel like eating.
Hangover bento: kale and spinach balls; mukimame; peas; almonds; babybel light; bananas with Greek yogurt and cinnamon; pineapple; unsweetened applesauce; ibuprofen
mukimame! I learnt a new word!
Me too! No bentos until next week. I am going to meal plan, prep/freeze things so I have more opts. I think this week sometime I will make a lunch for kids and I too!!
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mangrothian wrote: »
mukimame! I learnt a new word!
Heehee!
Story time: I moved to Buffalo about four years ago, and I had a hankerin' for some shelled edamame. Our grocery store is Wegmans, and they have this app that lets you put a shopping list together, shows you how much it will all cost, and organizes your list in the order that you will find it while walking through the store. It gives you isle numbers and everything. Anyway, I digress...
I looked up "shelled edamame" in the app, and nothing came up. Then I tried "shelled soybeans" to no avail. I finally decided to just browse the freezer section to see if they had something that for some reason wasn't in the app... And there it was, in the freezer section, Wegmans own brand, labeled mukimame. I learned a new word that day too 0 -
We had breakfast for dinner last night, so I used the leftovers for a "breakfast for lunch" bento. I am so excited to eat this one!
Hash browns with peppers and onions; turkey sausage links; boiled egg; pineapple; a cut up eggo waffle; and a little container of syrup for dipping.
I have so many ideas for breakfast for lunch bentos, but there is only so much space in the box and only so many calories that I can handle in a single meal... I will have to make another one soon using my other ideas 0 -
Narcissora wrote: »We had breakfast for dinner last night, so I used the leftovers for a "breakfast for lunch" bento. I am so excited to eat this one!
Hash browns with peppers and onions; turkey sausage links; boiled egg; pineapple; a cut up eggo waffle; and a little container of syrup for dipping.
I have so many ideas for breakfast for lunch bentos, but there is only so much space in the box and only so many calories that I can handle in a single meal... I will have to make another one soon using my other ideas
I love having brinner! bacon and scrambled eggs on toast with OJ. omnomnomnom
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Lickity split bento (I almost skipped this morning to sleep in but instead did a quick bento AND slept in bwahahaha!)
Layer one: Green chile pork sausage, grapes, blueberries, almonds, tomatoes, and broccoli
Layer two: Mushrooms and kale salad with sunflower seeds and gorgonzola. Leftover honey mustard dressing from yesterday (ain't nobody got time to make more dressing!)
Happy Friday all!0 -
mangrothian wrote: »srschaffer1 wrote: »@mangrothian You should turn this into a Bento group so people can share their pictures of their bentos and talk about them!
You know, I had thought about that, but I find my alerts don't work with posts I've bookmarked that are from the groups I'm in, so it kinda put me off making one. I get excited every time I see a string of posts pop up in my notifications for this thread.
Ha ha! Maybe they can do an update for that cause this would be an awesome group! Also! Got my Just Bento book back and finallu got to actually look at it and the JustBento website, combined them together and then making up my own ideas should be fun!
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Happy Monday everyone!
I kinda vegged out on Sunday, and it hit 9:30pm and I realised I hadn't made my Monday bento yet
So I made one of my "done in 10 mins or less" bentos.
- Ginger beef
- Two mini hambaagu
- Rice with wakame furikake and some umeboshi
- Assorted veg
Totals approx. 550Cal
In case anyone wonders about a fully cooked 10 mins or less bento, this is my schedule, and it shows how helpful it is to have a frozen stash:
- Put a small saucepan of water on to boil (one with a lid to heat faster if possible, and you only need a couple of inches of water)
- Grab frozen protein and rice out of the freezer
- Put rice and frozen pre-cooked protein in microwave for 2 minutes.
- Pull veg for the lunch out of the fridge and start cutting into small pieces
- Check stuff in microwave, flip packets over and microwave for 1 minute.
- Finish chopping veg. Put in water as soon as it's boiling for 2-3 minutes (I like my veg firm, so I do 2)
- Take out rice and meat from microwave.
- Put the rice in the bento box, add seasoning and mix, then squish to the side of the box. (at about 5 minutes now)
- Place protein in silicone cup or appropriate section of box.
- Take veg out and drain (toss the veg around in your colander to get rid of excess steam / water)
- place veg in box (honestly, I do this messily for the bottom half and place things only on the top to make it look pretty)
- Go do your thing. When its cooled to the point that the box is only lukewarm to touch, put on the lid and refrigerate it for the morning.0 -
I don't have a bento today, but I have leftover potato soup! I'm finally feeling better after more than a week of struggling to breathe, and I just know it was the potato soup I made yesterday
The drugs do nothing; it's all the potato soup. 0 -
PixieGoddess wrote: »I don't have a bento today, but I have leftover potato soup! I'm finally feeling better after more than a week of struggling to breathe, and I just know it was the potato soup I made yesterday The drugs do nothing; it's all the potato soup.
Darned right it's the soup! It works even better if someone else prepares the soup. Glad to hear you're feeling better. I'll post today's bento once I figure out how to get the pictures out of my phone!
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Lunch bento, pork dumplings, strawberries, rice w/ furikake seasoning, edamame & more strawberries. 440 Cals. Snack bento, cucumbers & carrots with an egg shaped egg, edamame popped chips and a green tea thing, 234 cals for both snacks.
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SpecialKitty7 wrote: »with an egg shaped egg
I lol'd.
Thanks for this. It's been a rough day. I needed a laugh 0 -
Italian bento (made the night before):
Layer 1: Cooked chicken thighs, mixed olives, red grapes, raspberries, tomatoes
Layer 2: Mini mozzarella balls, kale salad with roasted tomatoes, pepperoni and hard boiled egg. Served with tomato basil dressing
PS I've had a crush on your snack box SpecialKitty! So cute 0 -
Alright, you people win. I'm in for the bento. I have NO idea where to start or what to buy but I'm sold.
I keep seeing these gem wraps. I had to look them up and see that Trader Joe's sells them. In what aisle do you find them. I shop that store religiously and have never noticed them. What do they taste like? Is it like eating savory fruit leather?
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Narcissora wrote: »
I lol'd.SpecialKitty7 wrote: »with an egg shaped egg
I also lol'd0 -
SpecialKitty7 wrote: »Lunch bento, pork dumplings, strawberries, rice w/ furikake seasoning, edamame & more strawberries. 440 Cals. Snack bento, cucumbers & carrots with an egg shaped egg, edamame popped chips and a green tea thing, 234 cals for both snacks.
An egg shaped egg? Blasphemous! Go and cut some bunny ears into it right now!0 -
Alright, you people win. I'm in for the bento. I have NO idea where to start or what to buy but I'm sold.
I keep seeing these gem wraps. I had to look them up and see that Trader Joe's sells them. In what aisle do you find them. I shop that store religiously and have never noticed them. What do they taste like? Is it like eating savory fruit leather?
I'll give you my experience. I ordered mine on Amazon (carrot flavor). They definitely LOOK like fruit leather. You peel them off a sheet of plastic and everything. I wrapped turkey, cheese and avocado in them like a jelly roll. Once I left them sit, they softened up to a kind of silky texture. They tasted just like carrots and made a nice flavor addition to the wrap. Where my wrap got a bit wet, the roll kind of disintegrated a bit, but the wrap still held firm. I would recommend to try them, they weren't that expensive, and the calorie saving can't be beat.
Oh! Welcome to the dark side our new friend!
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@Narcissora , @PixieGoddess @mangrothian, sorry, I got lazy on the eggs this week, I'll do better (hangs head in shame)
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Yes, it is like a fruit leather with spice or savory taste. I have never seen them at Trader Joes, I get them at Wegmans or the healthfood store. They are in different places in different stores but look at Gluten Free aisles.Alright, you people win. I'm in for the bento. I have NO idea where to start or what to buy but I'm sold.
I keep seeing these gem wraps. I had to look them up and see that Trader Joe's sells them. In what aisle do you find them. I shop that store religiously and have never noticed them. What do they taste like? Is it like eating savory fruit leather?
There is also a coconut wrap if anyone is interested. julianbakery.com/paleo-product/paleo-wraps/0
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