Using Bento Boxes for lunches.

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  • WindSparrow
    WindSparrow Posts: 224 Member
    That salad looks Soooo cute and fresh and perfect!
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    WindSparrow wrote: »
    That salad looks Soooo cute and fresh and perfect!

    Summer veggies are coming in, so I'll actually start enjoying salads again. Lunch today was the same sat that one, except the sandwich was turkey breast, lingonberry jam and lettuce.
  • SpecialKitty7
    SpecialKitty7 Posts: 678 Member
    Today's lunch and snack bento. Lunch is leftover takeout rice w/ some furikake, edamame, sugar snap peas and shrimp sauteed in bit of sesame oil, and a green tea cookie. I've decided I'm okay with my lunches being nearly all green. I apparently like green :smile:
    Snack box is an egg shaped egg (it started as a car shaped egg, but I dropped it in the sink and broke the egg, so I didn't stuff it in the mold) & carrots, and mini toasts with laughing cow cheese.
    2tbdprpby03x.jpg
    nlpcs2zwbt2d.jpg

  • PixieGoddess
    PixieGoddess Posts: 1,833 Member
    FINALLY bento'd again! I made two this morning for today (blue, right) and tomorrow (red, left). Today's bento has rice, shrimp, edamame, and a side salad. Tomorrow's bento has rice, fish, mixed veggies, and a side salad.
    do309wctkcsq.jpg
  • SpecialKitty7
    SpecialKitty7 Posts: 678 Member
    Today's bento of planned overs in the cute box my mom bought for me. Saffron rice, black beans & cheese with tortilla chips on the side to be crushed on top.

    du6rl84zpmvv.jpg
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    Aussie-ben!
    Kangaroo seasoned with Tasmanian bush pepper salt in a bed of brown and wild rice, steamed greens and macadamia nuts toasted in eucalyptus honey
    oj01sjmp63vf.jpg
    I did this for an Ilvermorny challenge earlier this week, but forgot to post it here.
  • ivygirl1937
    ivygirl1937 Posts: 899 Member
    mangrothian wrote: »
    Aussie-ben!
    Kangaroo seasoned with Tasmanian bush pepper salt in a bed of brown and wild rice, steamed greens and macadamia nuts toasted in eucalyptus honey

    *drools* I'm going to need you to send me some of this immediately. :wink:
  • WindSparrow
    WindSparrow Posts: 224 Member
    I don't know why this thread makes me so happy. I don't need to pack meals to take to work, so technically it isn't my thing. (I guess that makes it like a fanfic I read for a show I haven't seen -it was a really fun story even if I didn't know the characters beforehand). The cute little containers, the lovely presentation of the food, the variety of nutritious and delicious foods, the care and the efficiency of the meal planning... somehow whole is greater than the sum of the parts. On a rough day like I had today, seeing these posts really cheered me up.
  • 43501
    43501 Posts: 85 Member
    This is a great thread. I read the first 5-10 pages and then the most recent ten, it's amazing how much your bento-fu has gone up over time. I use bento boxes for eating out too (a 2 compartment stacking one and another large single compartment, looks like the exact same one you have in your last photo lol) but I fully admit to not being great at the aesthetic/decorative aspect and I just kinda shove food in there.

    I feel like I should know what your display pic/photo comes from but I can't quite put my finger on it.
  • WindSparrow
    WindSparrow Posts: 224 Member
    edited October 2016
    43501 wrote: »

    I feel like I should know what your display pic/photo comes from but I can't quite put my finger on it.

    Do you mean mine? It's a mandala that I found on a site that offers free, printable coloring pages. It was a pretty intricate one, and I was proud of finishing it. Plus I thought it made a nice change from my usual icon, which is a pic of my two cats.

  • MistressPi
    MistressPi Posts: 514 Member
    mangrothian wrote: »
    SpecialKitty7 wrote: »
    mangrothian wrote: »
    Tuesday was me having my first attempt at prepping and eating konjac noodles. 20Cals for 250g of noodles made them worth a shot. Totally gross. No amount of low cal bulk to fill me up could justify the disgusting texture that was a konjac noodle (something like a firm flavourless jellyfish :s ) Needless to say, I went off and bought something for lunch.

    Today's is much nicer. I'm reversing my dinner and lunch Calories today since it's a run day for me, and if I don't eat a big meal, I'll want to snack all arvo:
    e43zmm12tjdt.jpg
    Total Cals: 804
    - 210g rice with pickled plum paste, furikake and pickled daikon (it tastes lovely, but the fake yellow colour is always a bit disconcerting), 363Cal
    - 6 beef and pork meatballs, 327Cal
    - 110g Cabbage & 30g carrot, simmered in dashi stock, sriracha and sesame oil (the water was left to steam down into a dashi sauce, nomnomonom), 62Cal
    - Narutomaki (Naruto fish cake, the white slices with the pink swirl through them), 42Cal

    I tried konjac noodles. There are no adequate words to explain how nasty those are. My dogs wouldn't even eat them (and that's saying something, the only food they wouldn't eat prior to that was sugar free jello). I got a narutomaki roll from the Japanese market I just found. Wasn't sure what it tasted like or what to do with it besides stick it in ramen, but your lunch looks amazing!

    I managed to get the flavour of the konjac sorted; they're meant to be a sort of sponge for flavour, so I used the marinade that I had for the beef with the noodles to give it flavour (chilli, soy sauce and mirin). So they tasted alright. I tried them once and thought 'hmm, nice flavour, but dunno about the texture'. Next bite was 'what the *kitten* is this texture?". Third bite I gagged a little and gave up. My chicken katsu curry-rice was much nicer ;_

    The narutomaki soaks up a lot of flavour as well (on its own I think it's a bit meh), so cooking it with the cabbage and dashi stock made it taste super duper awesome.

    I've had konjac noodles on occasion. I don't eat them a lot. They are filling and (for me) best of all, zero carbs, because I do a low carb diet. The best results I've had with them required a little prep: You need to blanch them in boiling water, then drain them and get as much water out as possible. Best result is when I've done the above, then dry fried them briefly in a pan, then added oil or sauce and cooked them for a few minutes. This changes the texture into something somewhat more pleasing. But I would never categorize them as "delicious". :)

    I did like them mixed with shredded zucchini, Asian-style peanut sauce, and topped with a protein like shrimp or tuna. :)
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    43501 wrote: »
    This is a great thread. I read the first 5-10 pages and then the most recent ten, it's amazing how much your bento-fu has gone up over time. I use bento boxes for eating out too (a 2 compartment stacking one and another large single compartment, looks like the exact same one you have in your last photo lol) but I fully admit to not being great at the aesthetic/decorative aspect and I just kinda shove food in there.

    I feel like I should know what your display pic/photo comes from but I can't quite put my finger on it.

    Half the time, I arrange my rice and meat, then just pour in the veg these days, but that's simply because I'm extremely time poor at the moment.

    And if you're talking about my current pic, its from the anime series "Kiss him, not me", which started airing this season. The MC's facial expressions when she's shipping or going into otaku mode are damn hilarious.
  • clh72569
    clh72569 Posts: 280 Member
    I visited my daughter at her new teaching job. I meal prepped two Bento's for her lunch and gave her the boxes. Should have taken a picture. Hopefully we have a new convert in the San Jose, CA teacher group.
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    clh72569 wrote: »
    I visited my daughter at her new teaching job. I meal prepped two Bento's for her lunch and gave her the boxes. Should have taken a picture. Hopefully we have a new convert in the San Jose, CA teacher group.

    hehe, thou shalt spread the word of Bento?
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    Because I've been lax in posting my bentos:
    ewr7m7dbmmlt.jpg
    Hehe, I've just noticed how symmetrical that box is XD

    Salted salmon, rice with matcha salt, umeboshi and veg. The meat & veg portion of the bento actually has a layer of stewed salted cabbage underneath. Nomnomnom.
  • agbmom556
    agbmom556 Posts: 694 Member
    bump
    ...just lurking :)
  • delicaterealms
    delicaterealms Posts: 27 Member
    wow! this is very inspiring and motivational (:
    the bentos are so cute! i love them myself + thanks for the ideas, i might try it soon
  • ivygirl1937
    ivygirl1937 Posts: 899 Member
    So I'm still slacking on bentoing properly BUT I did fill up this little guy to take this week and it made me really happy:

    5w0xtebgn2w5.jpg

    Not a huge Star Wars fan or anything, but he was $4 and he's cute. I didn't bother to take a picture of the stuff inside because it was not pretty anyway. :lol: I also realized after the picture that I didn't have him all together straight and lined up like he's supposed to be but oh well.
  • SueSueDio
    SueSueDio Posts: 4,796 Member
    Four dollars?! If I ever get to a position where I need packed lunches again, I want one! :)
  • ivygirl1937
    ivygirl1937 Posts: 899 Member
    edited November 2016
    SueSueDio wrote: »
    Four dollars?! If I ever get to a position where I need packed lunches again, I want one! :)

    Yes! Not sure where you live but I got him from GameStop. Online they are still crazy expensive but for whatever reason, when I was in one of the stores waiting on hubby, I found several of them for $4. Here is the link for online but like I said, a LOT more expensive. http://www.gamestop.com/collectibles/toys/star-wars-r2-d2-bento-lunch-box-star-wars-r2-d2-bento-box/135019

    I was so excited about finding him that I got a friend one too who I recently introduced bentos to. :lol:

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