Using Bento Boxes for lunches.

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Replies

  • aSearch4Me
    aSearch4Me Posts: 397 Member

    Whoa! Where in the Meijer??? I live across the street from one, I need to check this out! By the other lunchbox stuff in the kitchen section?

    At ours, it's in the kitchen/bakeware section, except it's on the "seasonal" aisle of that section (like where they put all of the holiday baking/decorating stuff around Christmas time, the canning supplies in the late summer, etc). Does that make sense? Ours aren't located in the regular lunch-box aisle, but they had been on an end-cap by the lunchbox aisle for awhile before being moved to the "seasonal" aisle of kitchenware. Our Meijer has had them for about a month, and I've been anxiously waiting for the close-out of those items to begin...lol.

    If I'm at Meijer within the next few days (which if trends are accurate I will be) I'll try to snap a photo.
  • SpecialKitty7
    SpecialKitty7 Posts: 678 Member
    aSearch4Me wrote: »

    Whoa! Where in the Meijer??? I live across the street from one, I need to check this out! By the other lunchbox stuff in the kitchen section?

    At ours, it's in the kitchen/bakeware section, except it's on the "seasonal" aisle of that section (like where they put all of the holiday baking/decorating stuff around Christmas time, the canning supplies in the late summer, etc). Does that make sense? Ours aren't located in the regular lunch-box aisle, but they had been on an end-cap by the lunchbox aisle for awhile before being moved to the "seasonal" aisle of kitchenware. Our Meijer has had them for about a month, and I've been anxiously waiting for the close-out of those items to begin...lol.

    If I'm at Meijer within the next few days (which if trends are accurate I will be) I'll try to snap a photo.

    I know exactly what you mean. I'm rarely on the non-grocery half of the store, so I'll need to go patrolling. The lunch box area is usually what you pack for grade school kids (well and me :lol: )
  • sagj
    sagj Posts: 256 Member
    I definitely prefer vinegar based dressings and I make my own often, but when I eat a dinner sized salad, 2 TBSP feels skimpy. When I read food plans for "1 teaspoon" of butter, I'm like : are my measuring spoons different? Because a teaspoon is about the size of my thumb nail.
    Agree that the vegan taco salad bento is very pretty and colorful! I love an idea for around the world in 80 bentos - with different cuisines. It keeps me motivated to make more.
    Any good suggestions for online bento shopping that ships to the U.S. without putting me in the poor house?

    Check out this box. I don't have one so I can't vouch for it (this is sitting in my Amazon cart for the future though) but the price is half of the other ones I have. And they look like nice colors!

    Pretty lunches guys! I'm all for making your own salad dressings. They taste so much better :)
  • pronetocrash91
    pronetocrash91 Posts: 125 Member
    I still have nothing Bento to add but I just wanted to chime in (Again) and say that everything in here looks gorgeous!

    re: salad dressing - I love creamy dressings like ranch. I've tried other, healthier dressings like vinaigrette and I don't like it. :(
  • LilSweet2015
    LilSweet2015 Posts: 41 Member
    You guys are amazing. Have just spent the past hour looking at bento ware porn. Sooooo much cute stuff. I'm curious if any of you guys have a sturdy carrier for your stuff? I just got brave and got a bike and I'm trying to figure out how to rig it so I could get my lunch to work in reasonable shape. Maybe an insulated carrier. I'm less worried about temperature, more worried about losing my lunch (heh heh...pun intended).
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    You guys are amazing. Have just spent the past hour looking at bento ware porn. Sooooo much cute stuff. I'm curious if any of you guys have a sturdy carrier for your stuff? I just got brave and got a bike and I'm trying to figure out how to rig it so I could get my lunch to work in reasonable shape. Maybe an insulated carrier. I'm less worried about temperature, more worried about losing my lunch (heh heh...pun intended).

    I have a range of carry bags, ranging from thin cotton to some really sturdy coolerbags. My fav though has to be my Star Wars Chewbacca lunch bag. Although, if you're not worried about temperature, with some of the long small boxes like this, if you have a rubber strap to go around them, they'll fit snugly in the bottom of most handbags. Just avoid soupy foods so your lunch doesn't leak into your handbag.
  • SpecialKitty7
    SpecialKitty7 Posts: 678 Member
    I hit the Meijer last night, I found in the clearance section some cute boxes, three styles, and on an endcap they had the rubbermaid and Sistema "box collections" (not sure what else to call them), I got everything pictured for around $13.iodebh4m1j6h.jpg

    Then, of course, I had to try them out. Today's lunch is rice with a chicken, straw mushroom and water chestnut stir fry. The Husband's box has carrots instead of mushrooms bc he does not like them.l26ba88301kn.jpg

  • SpecialKitty7
    SpecialKitty7 Posts: 678 Member
    You guys are amazing. Have just spent the past hour looking at bento ware porn. Sooooo much cute stuff. I'm curious if any of you guys have a sturdy carrier for your stuff? I just got brave and got a bike and I'm trying to figure out how to rig it so I could get my lunch to work in reasonable shape. Maybe an insulated carrier. I'm less worried about temperature, more worried about losing my lunch (heh heh...pun intended).


    I have a few cotton drawstring bags that came with some of the boxes, but I have several different bags I use for daily use here's the main one I use, and the bigger one I use during tax season because it needs to hold breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Husband uses a plastic grocery bag, so I guess to each his own.
  • aSearch4Me
    aSearch4Me Posts: 397 Member
    @SpecialKitty7 Yep, those are the ones I was talking about. Although I think our store had an owl one & another one (hedgehog??). I guess a giraffe doesn't qualify as a "woodland creature" does it?...lol They were on the clearance aisle at your store?!? Guess who's going to Meijer tonight...

    Your lunch looks delish! I wish I could get my hubby into bento'ing, or taking his lunch. It seems like it would seem worth the extra effort if compiling >1 box at a time. But he has a group of friends/coworkers that he goes out to eat with religiously during the work week...lol.
  • SpecialKitty7
    SpecialKitty7 Posts: 678 Member
    aSearch4Me wrote: »
    @SpecialKitty7 Yep, those are the ones I was talking about. Although I think our store had an owl one & another one (hedgehog??). I guess a giraffe doesn't qualify as a "woodland creature" does it?...lol They were on the clearance aisle at your store?!? Guess who's going to Meijer tonight...

    Your lunch looks delish! I wish I could get my hubby into bento'ing, or taking his lunch. It seems like it would seem worth the extra effort if compiling >1 box at a time. But he has a group of friends/coworkers that he goes out to eat with religiously during the work week...lol.

    Thanks! There was a dinosaur one too that I didn't get, but yes, they were in the clearance section for $1.99 each. Owls would have been cute! Husband agreed to take bentos for lunch as long as I don't send him with my Hello Kitty box. He said he has to have standards! His boxes are pretty easy to make as I don't need to weigh or measure anything for him, but it took me a year to convince him to not buy fast food every day.

  • Narcissora
    Narcissora Posts: 197 Member
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    Deconstructed taco bento! Arb!

    There's some chicken in there, feta, corn relish, haricot verts (my new favorite word), strawberries, and pineapple... And a couple of corn tortillas that were crushed in transit, but they were just as tasty when I heated the sad tortilla pieces up on a plate with the chicken, feta, and corn.
  • piheart
    piheart Posts: 122 Member
    First post and first bento :)

    Top: Breakfast - Medium-boiled egg (bunny fail), Grey Poupon mustard in the bear, and pickle flowers, with apples and blackberries.

    Bottom: Lunch - Tuna salad, multigrain crackers, yellow bell pepper, Tillamook medium white cheddar, celery, and homemade hummus in the pig.

    Hi everyone!

    ni8gnedgpx3q.jpg
  • SpecialKitty7
    SpecialKitty7 Posts: 678 Member
    piheart wrote: »
    First post and first bento :)

    Top: Breakfast - Medium-boiled egg (bunny fail), Grey Poupon mustard in the bear, and pickle flowers, with apples and blackberries.

    Bottom: Lunch - Tuna salad, multigrain crackers, yellow bell pepper, Tillamook medium white cheddar, celery, and homemade hummus in the pig.

    Hi everyone!

    ni8gnedgpx3q.jpg

    Thanks for spending your first post here! Your bento looks great (with the exception of the pickles which in my opinion should be wiped off the face of the earth, but that's just my problem :wink: )

  • sagj
    sagj Posts: 256 Member
    edited May 2015
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    Not a very pretty bento but here it is:

    Layer one: mexi corn with green muskmelon

    Layer two: green chile chicken enchiladas and tomato/onion/sour cream salad stuff
  • Narcissora
    Narcissora Posts: 197 Member
    piheart wrote: »
    First post and first bento :)

    Top: Breakfast - Medium-boiled egg (bunny fail), Grey Poupon mustard in the bear, and pickle flowers, with apples and blackberries.

    Bottom: Lunch - Tuna salad, multigrain crackers, yellow bell pepper, Tillamook medium white cheddar, celery, and homemade hummus in the pig.

    Hi everyone!

    ni8gnedgpx3q.jpg

    That's a very impressive first bento! It looks delicious, ESPECIALLY the pickles :P
  • sagj
    sagj Posts: 256 Member
    piheart wrote: »
    First post and first bento :)

    Top: Breakfast - Medium-boiled egg (bunny fail), Grey Poupon mustard in the bear, and pickle flowers, with apples and blackberries.

    Bottom: Lunch - Tuna salad, multigrain crackers, yellow bell pepper, Tillamook medium white cheddar, celery, and homemade hummus in the pig.

    Hi everyone!

    ni8gnedgpx3q.jpg

    Thanks for spending your first post here! Your bento looks great (with the exception of the pickles which in my opinion should be wiped off the face of the earth, but that's just my problem :wink: )

    Pretty!
  • SpecialKitty7
    SpecialKitty7 Posts: 678 Member
    @sagj, you made my day!
  • LilSweet2015
    LilSweet2015 Posts: 41 Member
    piheart wrote: »
    First post and first bento :)

    Top: Breakfast - Medium-boiled egg (bunny fail), Grey Poupon mustard in the bear, and pickle flowers, with apples and blackberries.

    Bottom: Lunch - Tuna salad, multigrain crackers, yellow bell pepper, Tillamook medium white cheddar, celery, and homemade hummus in the pig.

    Hi everyone!

    ni8gnedgpx3q.jpg

    Welcome to our obsession! Looks beautiful! I looooovvveee tuna salad.
  • sagj
    sagj Posts: 256 Member
    edited May 2015
    @sagj, you made my day!

    That's good, I meant every word! ;)

    @piheart Your box is nice too!
  • piheart
    piheart Posts: 122 Member
    Thanks everybody for the warm reception (: It means a lot! Your bentos are all so inspiring to me I had to post here first. Keep up the amazing work!! I can't wait to make more!!
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    piheart wrote: »
    First post and first bento :)

    Top: Breakfast - Medium-boiled egg (bunny fail), Grey Poupon mustard in the bear, and pickle flowers, with apples and blackberries.

    Bottom: Lunch - Tuna salad, multigrain crackers, yellow bell pepper, Tillamook medium white cheddar, celery, and homemade hummus in the pig.

    Hi everyone!

    ni8gnedgpx3q.jpg

    Kirei na! My first bento certainly wasn't so neat..... And I'm a +1 on the pickles. Then again, considering I use a pickled plum in nearly every bento, it's not surprising.
  • Birder155
    Birder155 Posts: 223 Member
    Although I'm now retired and really have no need to make a lunch bento, I wanted to pipe in to say A thousand times thank you for this very positive, happy, uplifting & energizing thread!
    It's been an absolute pleasure to read this evening.

    I have a round container that is divided in to 3 sections, 1 large and 2 of equal size, and I wanted you to know that I was inspired by your thread to use it for tonight's dinner. :smiley:
    In the large section was a beautiful salad of romaine, tomato, vidalia onion, chickpeas with yogurt ranch dressing; in one section was shrimp with dill and the other was cherries for dessert.
    It made me very happy to look at it and eat it.

    Again, thank you so much for contributing so positively to the forums with your wonderful 1st post.

    ~ Karen
  • sagj
    sagj Posts: 256 Member
    edited May 2015
    5z5ml2ko33k6.jpg

    Today's Lunch:

    Layer one: Green chile chicken enchilada and Brussel sprout slaw with pumpkin seeds and dried mango

    Layer two: apricots and salad with mixed super greens, red onions, chicken, and a little white cheese. Served with chipotle dressing.
  • sagj
    sagj Posts: 256 Member
    Birder155 wrote: »
    Although I'm now retired and really have no need to make a lunch bento, I wanted to pipe in to say A thousand times thank you for this very positive, happy, uplifting & energizing thread!
    It's been an absolute pleasure to read this evening.

    I have a round container that is divided in to 3 sections, 1 large and 2 of equal size, and I wanted you to know that I was inspired by your thread to use it for tonight's dinner. :smiley:
    In the large section was a beautiful salad of romaine, tomato, vidalia onion, chickpeas with yogurt ranch dressing; in one section was shrimp with dill and the other was cherries for dessert.
    It made me very happy to look at it and eat it.

    Again, thank you so much for contributing so positively to the forums with your wonderful 1st post.

    ~ Karen

    What a lovely post! Welcome to the group Karen :)
  • sagj
    sagj Posts: 256 Member
    edited May 2015
    evp70fjm6wmk.jpg

    Tomorrow's bento:

    Layer one: mixed super greens salad with tomatoes and pecorino Romano and Italian dressing

    Layer two: Italian sausage and peppers and onions in vodka sauce
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    Birder155 wrote: »
    Although I'm now retired and really have no need to make a lunch bento, I wanted to pipe in to say A thousand times thank you for this very positive, happy, uplifting & energizing thread!
    It's been an absolute pleasure to read this evening.

    I have a round container that is divided in to 3 sections, 1 large and 2 of equal size, and I wanted you to know that I was inspired by your thread to use it for tonight's dinner. :smiley:
    In the large section was a beautiful salad of romaine, tomato, vidalia onion, chickpeas with yogurt ranch dressing; in one section was shrimp with dill and the other was cherries for dessert.
    It made me very happy to look at it and eat it.

    Again, thank you so much for contributing so positively to the forums with your wonderful 1st post.

    ~ Karen

    You're very welcome. Being able to 'eat with the eyes' always makes a meal taste better. IMO that's why people go gaga for those fancy fondant cakes, even though in most cases they don't taste very good. Making my bento has replaced my hobby fancy cupcake baking. Better on the hips that's for sure.

    That and my plan for bento world domination is slowly coming to fruition! Muahahahahahahahaackackcoughcoughsplutter....
    msp40aauw6t1.gif

    On that note, my bento for Monday:
    m40b4onfc29w.jpg
    Tomorrow's Bento has rice (with wakame/shiso furikake), umeboshi, marinated egg, a piece of smoked salmon and mixed veg. It comes tojust under 360 Cals.
  • madiao
    madiao Posts: 119 Member
    sagj wrote: »
    evp70fjm6wmk.jpg

    Tomorrow's bento:

    Layer one: mixed super greens salad with tomatoes and pecorino Romano and Italian dressing

    Layer two: Italian sausage and peppers and onions in vodka sauce

    Vodka sauce?! That looks so tasty, would you mind sharing the recipe? :)
    That and my plan for bento world domination is slowly coming to fruition! Muahahahahahahahaackackcoughcoughsplutter....
    msp40aauw6t1.gif

    On that note, my bento for Monday:
    m40b4onfc29w.jpg
    Tomorrow's Bento has rice (with wakame/shiso furikake), umeboshi, marinated egg, a piece of smoked salmon and mixed veg. It comes tojust under 360 Cals.

    World bento domination wouldn't be such a bad thing :wink:

    On another note, its 8am and your lunch has me salivating! Your salmon looks delish!

    g3rky0yj1p3m.jpg

    Today's lunch is left over roast again. Slow cooked lamb, roast potatoes, feta stuffed portabello mushroom and steamed veggies. Top tier is the usual banana and apple.
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    madiao wrote: »
    sagj wrote: »
    evp70fjm6wmk.jpg

    Tomorrow's bento:

    Layer one: mixed super greens salad with tomatoes and pecorino Romano and Italian dressing

    Layer two: Italian sausage and peppers and onions in vodka sauce

    Vodka sauce?! That looks so tasty, would you mind sharing the recipe? :)
    That and my plan for bento world domination is slowly coming to fruition! Muahahahahahahahaackackcoughcoughsplutter....
    msp40aauw6t1.gif

    On that note, my bento for Monday:
    m40b4onfc29w.jpg
    Tomorrow's Bento has rice (with wakame/shiso furikake), umeboshi, marinated egg, a piece of smoked salmon and mixed veg. It comes tojust under 360 Cals.

    World bento domination wouldn't be such a bad thing :wink:

    On another note, its 8am and your lunch has me salivating! Your salmon looks delish!

    g3rky0yj1p3m.jpg

    Today's lunch is left over roast again. Slow cooked lamb, roast potatoes, feta stuffed portabello mushroom and steamed veggies. Top tier is the usual banana and apple.

    It tasted as delicious as it looked ^_^. Yours has made me want stuffed mushrooms...
  • madiao
    madiao Posts: 119 Member

    It tasted as delicious as it looked ^_^. Yours has made me want stuffed mushrooms...

    Stuffed mushroom was delicious too :smile:
  • sagj
    sagj Posts: 256 Member
    edited June 2015
    l04g26aq3ijk.jpg

    Today's box:

    Layer one-super greens salad with yellow and red tomatoes and ham and horseradish cheddar roll ups

    Layer two- shrimp with shrimp sauce, blanched broccoli and carrots with some smoked gouda Alfredo sauce (just trying to use up, nothing to see here ;) ) and some black grapes

    I'll also have some ranch dressing and a dark cherry chai yogurt on the side. Total calories is about 572 kcal.

    @madiao- Thank you. I'm not sure it is really a recipe since it was jarred vodka sauce (pictured above with my bento today). All I did was put an oil of choice in the pan (coconut in this case), cook the thinly sliced onions for a couple minutes, throw in some sliced bell pepper from the freezer, add some Italian type dried herbs, cook everything through, add some of the pictured sauce, mix and warm through. I was aiming for Italian sausage and peppers :)