Using Bento Boxes for lunches.

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  • HanamiDango
    HanamiDango Posts: 456 Member
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    mangrothian wrote: »
    I got home late last night, so I didn't get a chance to make my Bento, but I got the next best thing. I can get a sashi-don box which is pretty close to a bento. Its what I usually get if I forget or didn't have time to make my bento, and I keep meaning to take a pic, but usually demolish most of it before I remember.
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    It has salmon sashimi, a small amount of salad, pickled ginger, pickled cucumber (the red stuff in the bottom right corner), wasabi, tofu, aburaage (fried tofu skin), and rice with some shredded wakame. I add some soy or ponzu sauce and oui la! Mock bento lunch!

    So yummy looking! And again not making lunches for hubby >.< However he has been sick so that is why :( Love the bentos everyone is posting!!!!

  • Narcissora
    Narcissora Posts: 197 Member
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    sagj wrote: »

    Yeay! I'm glad that worked out on the salad. I like that idea with the bananas and yogurt, practical and delicious! I'm excited to see the new bento box too!

    For a frame of reference, I put very little yogurt with my banana. This was half a medium banana (44 grams - the rest of the banana went on my cereal this morning) and only 29g of vanilla Greek yogurt.

    Also also, just a tip for whoever is interested: I put my container on a scale and weigh everything as I put it in the box. For example, I put the bananas in, they weighed 44g; then I zeroed out the scale with everything still on it; then I added the yogurt, which weighed 29g; then I zeroed out the scale with all of that still on it; etc etc... Until the box is full. I also have a magnetic dry erase board hanging on the fridge, and I write down the weights of everything as I add it to the box so that I can just log it into MFP all at once.
  • PixieGoddess
    PixieGoddess Posts: 1,833 Member
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    Yay, bento today!! Dirty rice and enchilada pie in the big tier. Apple slices, grapes, almonds, and gruyere in the small tier. (And I'm going to have the same small tier every day this week b/c the grocery store didn't have much that I wanted to eat and wanted to pay for)

    ed2iu5a2d109.jpg
  • Narcissora
    Narcissora Posts: 197 Member
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    PixieGoddess wrote: »
    Yay, bento today!! Dirty rice and enchilada pie in the big tier. Apple slices, grapes, almonds, and gruyere in the small tier. (And I'm going to have the same small tier every day this week b/c the grocery store didn't have much that I wanted to eat and wanted to pay for)

    ed2iu5a2d109.jpg

    What is enchilada pie? I'm intrigued...
  • PixieGoddess
    PixieGoddess Posts: 1,833 Member
    edited April 2015
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    Narcissora wrote: »
    PixieGoddess wrote: »
    Yay, bento today!! Dirty rice and enchilada pie in the big tier. Apple slices, grapes, almonds, and gruyere in the small tier. (And I'm going to have the same small tier every day this week b/c the grocery store didn't have much that I wanted to eat and wanted to pay for)

    ed2iu5a2d109.jpg

    What is enchilada pie? I'm intrigued...

    It's what I'm calling my "Mile-High Enchilada Pie" after my small crockpot cooked it too much and the tortillas disintegrated, so it came out as more of a dip than a casserole-esque entree. So, it's no longer "Mile-High" just enchilada pie... >.>

    For Mile-High Enchilada Pie:
    1. Put long strips of folded aluminum foil in the bottom of a crock pot. You'll use these to lift the dish out once it's done cooking.
    2. Layer the following: corn tortillas, beans (canned or otherwise hydrated – not dry), shredded or chopped meat (cooked), salsa, and shredded cheese. I like to use rotisserie chicken or leftover Thanksgiving turkey as the meat - which is actually when my family most often makes this dish! Helps balance out all those turkey sammiches!
    3. Continue layering the ingredients to the top of your crock pot, using the tortilla layer to smoosh (technical term) down so that it's packed tightly - like a bento! :D The last layer should have a little extra salsa and then end with cheese.
    4. Cook on low during the day, then pull it out in the evening and enjoy! (Edit: you cut it like a cake to serve it out, but beware, it will fall apart a bit as you cut it)

    What I found out is that if you have a very small crock pot like mine, you cannot cook it all day. The tortillas disintegrate and the foil gets stuck to the sides, and it's just a big delicious mess. Thankfully, I had plenty more tortillas, so we just dipped it out of the crock pot into bowls and ate it with non-disintegrated tortillas. :) In the future, I'll probably just plan to make it as a dip and omit the foil, maybe add some extra salsa to each layer for a little more moisture. It was still really good, and I had leftovers for lunch this weekend and a couple for bentos this week.

    Another Edit: found an online recipe with picture of what it's supposed to come out like:
    http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/main-course/chicken/mile-high-enchilada-pie-in-crock-pot.html
  • SpecialKitty7
    SpecialKitty7 Posts: 678 Member
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    I had a super tasty looking bento today, but then I spent all afternoon out at a client (unplanned!) so I didn't get to eat it, I scarfed my snack bento for lunch as I ran out the door. Back in the fridge it went.

    xqka90y9phn5.jpg
  • SpecialKitty7
    SpecialKitty7 Posts: 678 Member
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    I had a super tasty looking bento today, but then I spent all afternoon out at a client (unplanned!) so I didn't get to eat it, I scarfed my snack bento for lunch as I ran out the door. Back in the fridge it went.

    xqka90y9phn5.jpg
  • SpecialKitty7
    SpecialKitty7 Posts: 678 Member
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    mangrothian wrote: »
    @satansees @narcissora food like this is one of the reasons I love living in Melbourne. The quality and variety of the food is fantastic here. That box is from a little japanese restaurant called dondons. They have about 9 things on the menu, you can't change anything, and once you order your food, you're walking away with it in under a minute. It's also cheaper and nicer then the standard soggy salad and fried food that the cafe in my office building has.

    We have awesome food here as well, just not a lot of variety. My town is heavily Hispanic so we have some EPIC Mexican restaurants around. Not too much in the way of Asian stuff. Some Japanese steakhouses, but I've been told they are super pricey and only okay from the few people I know that acually like Asain food.
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
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    SpecialKitty7 wrote: »
    mangrothian wrote: »
    @satansees @narcissora food like this is one of the reasons I love living in Melbourne. The quality and variety of the food is fantastic here. That box is from a little japanese restaurant called dondons. They have about 9 things on the menu, you can't change anything, and once you order your food, you're walking away with it in under a minute. It's also cheaper and nicer then the standard soggy salad and fried food that the cafe in my office building has.

    We have awesome food here as well, just not a lot of variety. My town is heavily Hispanic so we have some EPIC Mexican restaurants around. Not too much in the way of Asian stuff. Some Japanese steakhouses, but I've been told they are super pricey and only okay from the few people I know that acually like Asain food.

    Actually, Mexican/texmex food is about the only thing I can think of that isn't well represented here. There's one pretty horrible chain restaurant and a couple of semi-decent places. The only good one I know of has lines out the door nearly every night, so I've never been. All different types of Asian food on the other hand, are everywhere. Turkish and middle eastern food is getting really popular at the moment as well.
  • SpecialKitty7
    SpecialKitty7 Posts: 678 Member
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    mangrothian wrote: »
    SpecialKitty7 wrote: »
    mangrothian wrote: »
    @satansees @narcissora food like this is one of the reasons I love living in Melbourne. The quality and variety of the food is fantastic here. That box is from a little japanese restaurant called dondons. They have about 9 things on the menu, you can't change anything, and once you order your food, you're walking away with it in under a minute. It's also cheaper and nicer then the standard soggy salad and fried food that the cafe in my office building has.

    We have awesome food here as well, just not a lot of variety. My town is heavily Hispanic so we have some EPIC Mexican restaurants around. Not too much in the way of Asian stuff. Some Japanese steakhouses, but I've been told they are super pricey and only okay from the few people I know that acually like Asain food.

    Actually, Mexican/texmex food is about the only thing I can think of that isn't well represented here. There's one pretty horrible chain restaurant and a couple of semi-decent places. The only good one I know of has lines out the door nearly every night, so I've never been. All different types of Asian food on the other hand, are everywhere. Turkish and middle eastern food is getting really popular at the moment as well.

    If I were willing to go into the city (Chicago is only about 25 miles away) I'd find a lot more variety, but I'm pretty well uninterested in going there (Suburban kid 4 life!) but I have noticed a few middle eastern places popping up that I've been dying to try. In my mom's town (about 15 mins away) there's a bunch of really great Indian and Pakistani places. It's weird how populations congregate.

  • Narcissora
    Narcissora Posts: 197 Member
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    This is my new bento box and a sneak peek at today's lunch! It's on the lighter side - under 400 calories - because it's date night tonight! My husband and I are heading to a steakhouse and then we are going to see Kinky Boots. Super excited!!!

    yatht4su6veg.jpg

    Chicken and vegetable gyoza from Trader Joe's; kale and spinach bites also from Trader Joe's; boiled egg; tomato; pineapple. Not pictured is a tiny little fish-shaped squeeze bottle of soy sauce. I forgot to put it in the box before I snapped a photo.
  • SpecialKitty7
    SpecialKitty7 Posts: 678 Member
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    One day later, here's my bento! Top tier, pork, vegetable and black mushroom gyoza and a green tea chocolate "thing" (dunno what it is the package is in Japanese), top tier edamame, rice with furikake seasoning and stir fried sugar snap peas. Total haul 514 cals.

    y7jowen7opat.jpg
  • SpecialKitty7
    SpecialKitty7 Posts: 678 Member
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    Ha! Just noticed my ceiling light is burned out :o

    @Narcissora I've not seen the Trader Joe's gyoza, I'm going to have to check next time I'm there, I love their stuff, and your bento looks tasty, the box is adorable!
  • sagj
    sagj Posts: 256 Member
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    Whoops, started eating without a picture;). Same stuff as yesterday since I didn't take it for dinner last night. nyah8my7u4iv.jpg
  • PixieGoddess
    PixieGoddess Posts: 1,833 Member
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    So, as stated before, the small tier is the same as yesterday: apple slices, grapes, almonds, and gruyere. The big tier is chicken, mixed veggies, and rice. The big tier is messier than usual b/c I took the picture after nuking it, and so I'd already tossed around the food a bit to make sure it all heated evenly.

    9oqhx4xv7xii.jpg
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
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    Everyone's bentos are looking so delish! It's food porn for my eyes on my morning train ride.

    Today's bento has pretty much everything for my day except dinner and my copious amounts of coffee. An instant oats pot ( impulse shopping ftw), laughing cow cheese & crackers thing, strawberries & a protein bar are the extras.

    The main tier is rice with furikake and umeboshi, veg (broccoli, brussel sprouts, snow peas, carrot, cauliflower, capsicum) and a delicious slab of fresh salmon grilled with some yuzu green pepper paste rubbed into it. Fish is stupidly overpriced here, so fresh salmon is a rare purchase. Total Cals for the main tier is about 520.
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  • srschaffer1
    srschaffer1 Posts: 30 Member
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    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?
  • kramrn77
    kramrn77 Posts: 375 Member
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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 didn't photo mine today- just a sammich, apples, grapes and some cheese. But basically you can start off in ziplock containers. You can get real bento boxes (I love mine) at an Asian grocery store- generally I pick up mine from the Korean store not too far away. Also you can find boxes at your local grocery store. Some people special make food for their lunches that they freeze ahead. Some people just put in left overs. I'm no expert. But it's been fun and it keeps me from going through a drive through on a busy day.
  • kinmoratree
    kinmoratree Posts: 125 Member
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    @srschaffer1 A lot of people here mention a site called Just Bento (I googled it and found it the other day). I thought that site was very helpful, especially since her focus is on getting it packed right and pretty in 30 minutes or less.
  • srschaffer1
    srschaffer1 Posts: 30 Member
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    @kramrn77 The nearest local Asian grocer is downtown. I do shop Amazon however so if you srr any on there if you could post the link that'd be great! I find that the containers I have seen at the normal grocery store are just too big to fit in my lunch bag. Also, I had already bought the book Just Bento a while back I just loaned it out. I can surely get it back.

    @kinmoratree ^. I'm thinking the prep time will start to help me get on track as well.

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