Using Bento Boxes for lunches.

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  • chesves
    chesves Posts: 224 Member
    I got my bento boxes yesterday! I haven't used them yet but am excited to start! Thanks for all of your continued pics and posts!
  • PixieGoddess
    PixieGoddess Posts: 1,833 Member
    I wish I could see your bunny better, it's very white. I love shaped eggs!

    I made a heart-shaped one (and a star-shaped one...but it never made it into a bento box........) for later this week, and I had to cut it in half to fit in the bento, so you should be able to see it pretty clearly. I'll make sure to post a picture before I eat it! :)
  • Amerane
    Amerane Posts: 136 Member
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    Some bentos from when I was eating better last year...
    First one is white rice, smoked salmon, edamame, frozen strawberries, and daikon & carrot pickles.
    Middle is a quinoa-veggie stir-fry, grape tomatoes, and some leftover peanut chicken dish.
    Last one is miso marinated pork, braised bok choy, more daikon & carrot pickles, and kiwi.
    For reference, the box I'm using is a single tier monbento box.

    Making bento lunches is one of my favorite things. Even if I end up eating less, it looks better and often tastes better than anything my coworkers bring, so I don't end up tempted to stray from my meal plan. It's also made me seriously examine the foods I eat regularly and how I compose a plate of food (protein to veg to starch ratio).
  • Amerane
    Amerane Posts: 136 Member
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    Sushi bento this time. Top is an ume-cucumber roll, a salmon & avocado roll, daikon & carrot pickles, and berry sundae oreos (only 2 of them, sometimes I have great self-control). Bottom is another ume-cucumber roll, a tamagoyaki roll, grape, and strawberries.
  • HanamiDango
    HanamiDango Posts: 456 Member
    So I picked up a bento lunch box type at my local grocery store today. Don't think I will post any pictures but at least I can now go on to attempt to make my first love wife, my husband is a teacher after all. I love all the ideas!
  • aSearch4Me
    aSearch4Me Posts: 397 Member
    Thank you @satansees ! Bookmarking that link! :)
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    All of the new Bento ideas makes me sad that mine almost looks the same every day now :'(

    So I got home at 10:30 last night after being away for a week, opened my fridge, and what did I see? Half a carrot, a small head of very sad broccoli, one strip of capsicum (just on ok) and 6 snow peas :s . Scrounged around my freezer, and found some lotus root. No yoghurt, just some blackberries *sigh*

    This is why I freeze up my portions of rice and protein servings. It means the only thing I need to worry about for my lunches is vegetables, and if they're blanched, they're never too sad. It means that at 11pm at night, I only need about 6 minutes to cut and blanch veggies, and whack some rice in the microwave.

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    I managed to fill the 400ml tier of one of my larger Bento boxes. A 320cal lunch tier, with the bigger tier containing a babybel light, 60g of blackberries and my breakfast (the brown mess).

    That brown mess in the box I've called breakfast is 3 fried tofu skins that have been rinsed under water and patted dry with paper towel (gets rid of excess oil), split to make bags and filled with an egg/soy/wakame(dried seaweed)/dashi and a piece of broccoli, then microwaved on low for about 3 mins or until cooked. I guess you could steam them, but at 11pm, who cares?

    I'll do my attempt at a pizza Bento next week methinks
  • ElliInJapan
    ElliInJapan Posts: 286 Member
    @mangrothian‌ what type of protein servings do you freeze?

    I tried freezing some rice for the first time this week and it went great. Too great, it was so tempting that the portions never made it for the bentos. I had them as afternoon snacks with tuna and mayo...
  • Nessa_the_Wild
    Nessa_the_Wild Posts: 17
    Wow reading this thread (ok, just looking at the pictures) has been an inspiration.
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    ElliInJapan wrote: »
    @mangrothian‌ what type of protein servings do you freeze?

    I tried freezing some rice for the first time this week and it went great. Too great, it was so tempting that the portions never made it for the bentos. I had them as afternoon snacks with tuna and mayo...

    I have things like meatballs cooked in soy or ponzu sauce, gyuudon, sweet-sour red wine vinegar chicken (I can't state how much I recommend this recipe), mini-quiches, all cooked and ready to go. I also have salmon portions and small pieces of pork spare rib pre cut to size and frozen ready for quick cooking. Any time there are leftover portions of meat from dinner, I also portion those up and freeze them. Just store them in ziplock bags or double wrap them in clingfilm to stop freezer burn.
  • barbiegirlie2
    barbiegirlie2 Posts: 26 Member
    What does lotus root taste like? I saw some recipes for it in my two bento cookbooks, although I haven't found any in the grocery yet.
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    I've never had it fresh; I've only found it frozen and pre-sliced. Have you ever had the tinned bamboo shoot pieces that they put in stir fries? It's similar to that, but a slightly crunchier texture.

    I usually just blanch it, but I've also given it a light toasting in a frypan (no oil) and it ends up with a nice nutty texture.
  • kramrn77
    kramrn77 Posts: 375 Member
    Fishing for ideas....

    I just took a job in home health (off night shift, yay!). I have been doing very well, but that's with access to a fridge and air conditioning. I want to continue to pack a lunch for myself so I don't eat fast food all the time again but that's problematic- especially in summer once 100 degree temps set in. Any ideas as to how to keep bentoing in a hot car?
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    edited January 2015
    kramrn77 wrote: »
    Fishing for ideas....

    I just took a job in home health (off night shift, yay!). I have been doing very well, but that's with access to a fridge and air conditioning. I want to continue to pack a lunch for myself so I don't eat fast food all the time again but that's problematic- especially in summer once 100 degree temps set in. Any ideas as to how to keep bentoing in a hot car?

    Get a cheap thin kitchen sponge and soak it in water. Squeeze out the excess so it's not dripping, slip it into a ziplock back and freeze. Put a small cooler bag in the fridge (I have a couple that are literally the same size as my bento - room for the box and some chopsticks) overnight so it's cool. Add your bento and said frozen sponge, and oui la!

    The reason I use the frozen sponge is because the dimensions are usually close to the same as the Bento, they can't pop like I've had with some smaller gel things, and if it's really hot, I can just put a second one on the top of the box as well. That, and it's really really light.

    Also, if you drink lots of water, half fill a water bottle and freeze it. Top it up in the morning and add it to your lunch bag. You get cool water and a cooler lunch!

    EDIT: I'd also like to add that in Australia we can get tiny car fridges that run off the 12v/lighter socket in the car for as little as $30. If you're going to be dealing with the 100F+ temps (which I'm definitely used to dealing with!), it might be a worthwhile investment. Something like this
  • kramrn77
    kramrn77 Posts: 375 Member
    Great ideas! Thanks! That's the only part I dreaded about going back to home health. Last time I worked home health I gained 15lbs and my cholesterol went to pot because of fast food.
  • snowy0wl
    snowy0wl Posts: 179 Member
    those bento boxes look really full. don't get get crushed andhow do you carry them?
  • kramrn77
    kramrn77 Posts: 375 Member
    Woah! That's amazing! Mind blown! If only I'd known about this a year and a half ago! I am so going to buy one. Texas in summer does not bode well for food stuffs in the car.
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    snowy0wl wrote: »
    those bento boxes look really full. don't get get crushed and how do you carry them?

    One of the main points of a Bento box is to pack the food tightly so it can't move around whilst it's in transport. If you pack it right, they look thesame when you take the lid off as when you packed it.

    As to carrying them, most of them stay shut with a band around them to keep them closed, and because of how you pack them, they're smaller than what you may use as a standard lunch box, so they'll fit in a small cooler bag, handbag (for the ladies at least ;) ), or even a drawstring bag. I catch a train to work, and mine goes in its own coolerbag inside my gym bag. If I'm not bringing my gym bag that day, then the cooler bag has a small handle. On the occasions that I drive to work, the box itself just gets thrown on the passenger seat.
  • aSearch4Me
    aSearch4Me Posts: 397 Member
    mangrothian wrote: »

    EDIT: I'd also like to add that in Australia we can get tiny car fridges that run off the 12v/lighter socket in the car for as little as $30. If you're going to be dealing with the 100F+ temps (which I'm definitely used to dealing with!), it might be a worthwhile investment. Something like this

    @kramrn77 Ditto what @mangrothian said. If you are working home health, I think this would be TOTALLY worth it (especially over trying to ice down a cooler each day in the car to keep it cold). My parents have one for traveling (my mom is a Type 1 diabetic & has to keep her insulin bottles fairly temperature controlled when traveling) & love it. They have found that most large truck stops carry them, and they bought one at one truck stop, had it malfunction a month later across the country, and they were able to exchange it at another truckstop (same company). So it might be worth it to check truckstops if you have any in your area? My husband & I are getting ready to drive to Florida in a couple of weeks to visit my parents, and are joking about picking one up to keep my probiotics alive for the journey. lol Also, we might have some plans to do some grocery shopping in Georgia & Tennessee for southern cuisine items that are harder to find this far north...but buying with with the purpose of keeping probiotics alive versus filling it up with artery-clogging meat products sounds healthier ;)
  • Amerane
    Amerane Posts: 136 Member
    edited January 2015
    kramrn77 wrote: »
    Fishing for ideas....

    I just took a job in home health (off night shift, yay!). I have been doing very well, but that's with access to a fridge and air conditioning. I want to continue to pack a lunch for myself so I don't eat fast food all the time again but that's problematic- especially in summer once 100 degree temps set in. Any ideas as to how to keep bentoing in a hot car?

    When I would pack my lunch in the summer (outside, hiking, anywhere from 90-105 F), I would pack some sort of refrigeration/cool pack, and make sure that everything that went into the bento was sanitary. This meant very clean hands when packing the bento, minimal contamination, extremely clean and dry bento. I also would pack more whole veggies and fruits, vinegary and salty foods like pickles and sushi rice, and avoid meats unless they were cured/smoked and relatively dry. Hardboiled eggs are definitely underrated as far as their heat durability goes.
  • craftylatvian
    craftylatvian Posts: 599 Member
    I love bento lunch!!! I have a couple bento boxes and I have some containers that are divided. Hard boiled eggs, hummus, veggies, and some fruit are the normal items I usually put in my bento box, or sliced turkey, cheese, and crackers with some berries is a favorite of mine.
  • craftylatvian
    craftylatvian Posts: 599 Member
    mangrothian wrote: »
    Muhahahahaaaa.... My plan for Bento work domination is working.....

    Excellent. Excellent.


    LOL!!! :)
  • HanamiDango
    HanamiDango Posts: 456 Member
    edited January 2015
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    So my first sad attempt at packing sad looking a love wife lunch. I need to spend more time reading over the basics and prepping them better. My husband has a fridge at work to use, but I want to start being able to have him not have to use it. I used last nights leftovers- Arroz Congri (Cuban beans and rice) with cheese on bottom, and pears, carrots, and peanut butter oreos on the top.
    ETA: Sorry trying to make the image smaller.

  • SpecialKitty7
    SpecialKitty7 Posts: 678 Member
    @hanamidango I don't think it's sad at all! I love Arroz Congri, and your box looks tasty, I'll bet your husband loves it!
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    I'm currently sitting here slightly hungover after a massive dinner last night (Note: it was worth it). But now I'm sitting here having some yoghurt knowing that I have a bought salad for lunch in my fridge instead of my Bento and I'm sad :'( No matter how much I pre-prepare, I'm not making my lunch at 1am when I have to be up 5.5 hours later.
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
    @hanamidango I agree, I would totes eat that! My first attempt wasn't especially pretty either, since I don't have any molds or cutters to make it so, but I'm considering getting some.
  • halliesheck
    halliesheck Posts: 8 Member
    Because of this topic I have seen the Bento light and am now a believer in The Box! Thank you all for the inspiration. I've never posted a photo on the forums before so I apologize if it's all messed up. I look forward to figuring out how to improve my Bento Game, but in the meantime I love how it provides variety and portion control (and cuteness; bonus). This first bento of mine is pretty simple and worked out to about 345 calories: basic salad with some red quinoa and dressing, plus some potstickers and soy sauce, and finally half a navel orange.

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  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    @hanamidango I don't think it's a sad attempt at all. Was it tasty? Was the box empty at the end of the day? Did your hubby say it wasn't enough? If your answers were yes, yes, no, then it's a success :) Packing 'pretty' just comes with practice.
    halliesheck wrote: »
    Because of this topic I have seen the Bento light and am now a believer in The Box! Thank you all for the inspiration. I've never posted a photo on the forums before so I apologize if it's all messed up. I look forward to figuring out how to improve my Bento Game, but in the meantime I love how it provides variety and portion control (and cuteness; bonus). This first bento of mine is pretty simple and worked out to about 345 calories: basic salad with some red quinoa and dressing, plus some potstickers and soy sauce, and finally half a navel orange.

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    looks yum to me. Love the sauce pots!
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
    Haha, I bought some of these for my next box:

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  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
    Just found this thread. LOVE Bento boxes but I don't make them myself. Mainly because my meal frequency is quite low and therefore my meal sizes are quite large i.e. it would more likely be a bento salad bowl full :stuck_out_tongue:

    Off to Japan in a few weeks though and plenty of bento boxes will be consumed (amongst many other delicious foods :smile: )

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