Using Bento Boxes for lunches.
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I just had to share this:
As of today, I am down ten pounds since I started doing bentos again. Yay!!! Lots of yummy food in moderation is working well!0 -
Narcissora wrote: »I just had to share this:
As of today, I am down ten pounds since I started doing bentos again. Yay!!! Lots of yummy food in moderation is working well!
Awesome job! Way to work those bentos!
As an aside, I think my workouts are making me hungrier because I ripped into my lunch by ten am today ☺️ And that was after waiting 20 minutes of being hungry and a decent sized breakfast! The good news is that I ate that instead of a mini bag of chips so that is good0 -
Narcissora wrote: »I just had to share this:
As of today, I am down ten pounds since I started doing bentos again. Yay!!! Lots of yummy food in moderation is working well!
Awesome!
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Finally hit the grocery store, so I have bentos again! Here's the lunch bento which is shrimp, edamame & soba noodles with some sesame oil and smoked sesame seeds, the top tier is rice crackers, sugar snap peas & a Jello egg. The snack bento is not that special, but I wanted to show off my little baby brie
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SpecialKitty7 wrote: »Finally hit the grocery store, so I have bentos again! Here's the lunch bento which is shrimp, edamame & soba noodles with some sesame oil and smoked sesame seeds, the top tier is rice crackers, sugar snap peas & a Jello egg. The snack bento is not that special, but I wanted to show off my little baby brie
I love baby cheeses. I don't know why they're so much better than wedges of normal sized cheese.0 -
Narcissora wrote: »Happy Monday! I have a nice weekend leftovers bento today: fish tacos with onions and peppers, corn that I cut off the cob so that I could fit more into the tiny bento box, mozzarella, and some adorable mini vine-on tomatoes that I found at Trader Joe's. They are the perfect size for bentos!
How do you get the bento to close? I always seem to have a hard time making sure my food stays "below the line" so I can close (the often recessed) lids. I even started to cut my eggs in half as the whole egg is too tall.
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SnuggleSmacks wrote: »SpecialKitty7 wrote: »Finally hit the grocery store, so I have bentos again! Here's the lunch bento which is shrimp, edamame & soba noodles with some sesame oil and smoked sesame seeds, the top tier is rice crackers, sugar snap peas & a Jello egg. The snack bento is not that special, but I wanted to show off my little baby brie
I love baby cheeses. I don't know why they're so much better than wedges of normal sized cheese.
I don't either, but I found baby brie, baby goat cheese (the Trader Joe's one) and baby Jarlsberg. The brie was spendy, but super tasty.
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SpecialKitty7 wrote: »Narcissora wrote: »Happy Monday! I have a nice weekend leftovers bento today: fish tacos with onions and peppers, corn that I cut off the cob so that I could fit more into the tiny bento box, mozzarella, and some adorable mini vine-on tomatoes that I found at Trader Joe's. They are the perfect size for bentos!
How do you get the bento to close? I always seem to have a hard time making sure my food stays "below the line" so I can close (the often recessed) lids. I even started to cut my eggs in half as the whole egg is too tall.
The taco shells are soft, so I just folded the tops over and shoved the lid on. The smaller container's lid is actually raised a little bit, so if something is slightly over the top, the lid will still fit. (One of the tomatoes is sticking up a bit, but the lid still fit. If it didn't, I would just squish the tomato until the lid goes on. I take my pictures before I leave the house, so you never have to see any squishy food).
The real magic is in the elastic band that holds it all together and keeps the lids from popping off. Sometimes I really have to shove the lids on and squish everything down, and the tops would pop off without the band.0 -
Narcissora wrote: »SpecialKitty7 wrote: »Narcissora wrote: »Happy Monday! I have a nice weekend leftovers bento today: fish tacos with onions and peppers, corn that I cut off the cob so that I could fit more into the tiny bento box, mozzarella, and some adorable mini vine-on tomatoes that I found at Trader Joe's. They are the perfect size for bentos!
How do you get the bento to close? I always seem to have a hard time making sure my food stays "below the line" so I can close (the often recessed) lids. I even started to cut my eggs in half as the whole egg is too tall.
The taco shells are soft, so I just folded the tops over and shoved the lid on. The smaller container's lid is actually raised a little bit, so if something is slightly over the top, the lid will still fit. (One of the tomatoes is sticking up a bit, but the lid still fit. If it didn't, I would just squish the tomato until the lid goes on. I take my pictures before I leave the house, so you never have to see any squishy food).
The real magic is in the elastic band that holds it all together and keeps the lids from popping off. Sometimes I really have to shove the lids on and squish everything down, and the tops would pop off without the band.
The same thing is true with me a the band; I love that little piece of elastic! Your taco box looks fantastic btw0 -
Narcissora wrote: »I just had to share this:
As of today, I am down ten pounds since I started doing bentos again. Yay!!! Lots of yummy food in moderation is working well!
Congrats on the loss! For this reason, I often eat on smaller plates and bowls. It looks like so much more food when it's on a salad or sushi plate.0 -
@Narcissora @sagj I totally agree on the bands. I try to take pics before I close everything up, but it's nice to know that other people have smushed bentos too! I kind of felt like a failure.0
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Narcissora wrote: »I just had to share this:
As of today, I am down ten pounds since I started doing bentos again. Yay!!! Lots of yummy food in moderation is working well!
Grats mdear!Narcissora wrote: »I just had to share this:
As of today, I am down ten pounds since I started doing bentos again. Yay!!! Lots of yummy food in moderation is working well!
Awesome job! Way to work those bentos!
As an aside, I think my workouts are making me hungrier because I ripped into my lunch by ten am today ☺️ And that was after waiting 20 minutes of being hungry and a decent sized breakfast! The good news is that I ate that instead of a mini bag of chips so that is good
I work longer hours so I can go to the gym in the middle of my day and still have a lunchbreak. I go just before lunch, and destroy my bento just after I get back. I found it was the best way to eat midway through the day, and not want to nibble on something extra before I get home.
@specialkitty7 Mine are the same I find. Mine generally aren't too squished, but they're never quite the same as the pre-lid photo.1 -
Ok. I'm confused. So is the Bento box supposed to feed you all day (snacks between meals and a full meal) or is it all just 1 whole meal? My diet normally consists of breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner and snack. Just curious0
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annarosato379 wrote: »Ok. I'm confused. So is the Bento box supposed to feed you all day (snacks between meals and a full meal) or is it all just 1 whole meal? My diet normally consists of breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner and snack. Just curious
It can really be anything you want, but generally, one box per meal. My two snacks for the day are in two tiers of one bento, but my lunch is in a separate bento, so I carry two boxes a day. My breakfast is a smoothie and a yogurt, so not really bento-able.
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annarosato379 wrote: »Ok. I'm confused. So is the Bento box supposed to feed you all day (snacks between meals and a full meal) or is it all just 1 whole meal? My diet normally consists of breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner and snack. Just curious
Depends entirely on your day. I sometimes pack a snack with my dinner (I work 2nd shift) or I sometimes have a snack separate (Quest bar, yogurt or nuts). Some people leave the house all day for school and work, so they have larger or multiple bentos with more than one meal. Some have access to fridges and microwaves, some need insulated containers and recipes that are good cold.
It can be done however you wish to do it. Just find appropriately sized box or boxes for what you need, and pack them with whatever kinds of food you want to eat. If you look back at the pages, in addition to traditional Japanese fare, there's chicken and waffles, lots of tacos/burritos, all sorts of leftovers, sandwiches/burgers and pretty much anything else you can imagine.0 -
annarosato379 wrote: »Ok. I'm confused. So is the Bento box supposed to feed you all day (snacks between meals and a full meal) or is it all just 1 whole meal? My diet normally consists of breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner and snack. Just curious
Traditionally speaking? Just lunch. For our sake? Whatever your prefer. I have 400-500ml sized boxes which only do my lunch, and I have giant 2 tier 1.1L ones that will do breakfast, lunch and snacks for me. I also have small under 200ml boxes that I use for yoghurt, fruit, etc.
It's more about using the smaller boxes for portion control, and to have a lunch you know will still satisfy you, will still taste (and look) good at room temp, sometimes over 12 hours after you make it if you do it the night before. Your daily Cal intake (if you're counting them that is), is something you can also take into account.
When you're limited for space, it makes you think a little more about your food choices, and if you're the type of person who has a compulsion to finish your plate/bowl/lunchbox when you eat, no matter how full you are, wouldn't it be better to use a smaller lunchbox and just finish that instead?
If you go back through the pages, you'll see all different types of box setups depending on the poster's needs0 -
a bit late to ask, but where did you find the mini brie? So much faster than buying big hunks of cheese and trying to guess how much to cut off to get an ounce. :P So much more attractive too then hacked bits of cheese.0
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I've seen the mini brie at a lot of grocery stores. If your grocery has a fancy cheese case rather than just the normal sliced Kraft and blocks of Cracker Barrel, then it's worth checking there.0
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a bit late to ask, but where did you find the mini brie? So much faster than buying big hunks of cheese and trying to guess how much to cut off to get an ounce. :P So much more attractive too then hacked bits of cheese.
I'm not sure where in the world you are located, but if you are in the U.S. And have a Trader Joe's, I'm pretty sure I saw the mini brie there. They also have mini goat cheese and mini blue cheese... And maybe some others.
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More weekend leftovers! A few slices of the BEST pork tenderloin I have ever made; teeny tiny potatoes from Trader Joe's (they seriously are itty bitty - much smaller than your standard fingerling potatoes); salad with tomatoes and babybel; cherries; and vinaigrette for the salad in the little pot.
Edited to add links to recipes for the absolutely incredible pork tenderloin:
I used this recipe for the seasoning rub (but I added some paprika to it too)
I used this recipe for the cooking instructions.0 -
Forgot to post this this morning before I left for work. Today's lunch was radish and carrot salad, rice with furikake and stir fried beef. Top tier is apple and banana as usual and special k biscuits
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Today's box:
Layer one-Eggplant Romano with Italian meatballs
Layer two- fresh apricot with pecorino Romano and a spring mix and tomato salad. Served with The Best Italian Dressing Ever (seriously
) I also have a coffee flavored yogurt for some point today, maybe breakfast. 0 -
Narcissora wrote: »
More weekend leftovers! A few slices of the BEST pork tenderloin I have ever made; teeny tiny potatoes from Trader Joe's (they seriously are itty bitty - much smaller than your standard fingerling potatoes); salad with tomatoes and babybel; cherries; and vinaigrette for the salad in the little pot.
Edited to add links to recipes for the absolutely incredible pork tenderloin:
I used this recipe for the seasoning rub (but I added some paprika to it too)
I used this recipe for the cooking instructions.
Love this box! Is there a way to eat it off of my screen?! nom nom
PS Why, oh why can't I find good cherries? I keep looking and they are my favorite. Those look lovely 0 -
I has a sad today as I have no bento, and all this great bento stuff at home. Last night, I was too tired to put one together and felt it would be the morning me's problem. Then forgot to get up early enough to make one. Snif.
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Narcissora wrote: »
More weekend leftovers! A few slices of the BEST pork tenderloin I have ever made; teeny tiny potatoes from Trader Joe's (they seriously are itty bitty - much smaller than your standard fingerling potatoes); salad with tomatoes and babybel; cherries; and vinaigrette for the salad in the little pot.
Edited to add links to recipes for the absolutely incredible pork tenderloin:
I used this recipe for the seasoning rub (but I added some paprika to it too)
I used this recipe for the cooking instructions.
Thanks for the pork recipe! I think I actually have a tenderloin at home too
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I ate fast food for lunch yesterday. Blech. Today is leftover rotisserie chicken and asparagus. I had to add something else, so I popped a hashbrown patty in the oven and split it between this box and tomorrow's box.
It's still pretty weak compared to my normal bentos, and come in about 100cals under. I need to cook. 
Salad in the small tier, with dressing in the Hello Kitty sauce cup. EDIT: I swear, there's salad under all the mushrooms! But I love mushrooms! #_#
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Adorable bentos! Love the mini potatoes. We all have those days when "lunch" happens at 10 am. To answer the size question. I find that you can get 400 healthy calories of nutritionally dense food in a pretty small bento, but if your food is fluffier (like a big loose salad) you need a bigger container or you will be starving.0
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LilSweet2015 wrote: »Adorable bentos! Love the mini potatoes. We all have those days when "lunch" happens at 10 am. To answer the size question. I find that you can get 400 healthy calories of nutritionally dense food in a pretty small bento, but if your food is fluffier (like a big loose salad) you need a bigger container or you will be starving.
I've read that the size in mililiters (ml) is supposed to loosely correlate with the number of calories it will hold...as long as, like you said, it's not fluffy. So that's a pretty good way to choose a size to start with. If your lunch is typically around 450 cals, you would want a 450 ml box.0 -
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