Using Bento Boxes for lunches.

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Replies

  • amelialoveshersnacks
    amelialoveshersnacks Posts: 205 Member
    It's really quite surprising that when packed properly just how much food that can be put into a container... Bigger isn't necessarily better. Great snack box btw SpecialKitty7
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    amelialoveshersnacks wrote: »
    It's really quite surprising that when packed properly just how much food that can be put into a container... Bigger isn't necessarily better. Great snack box btw SpecialKitty7

    I was noticing that yesterday. I was working from home, and pulled one of my chicken & rice meal preps from the fridge and put it in a bowl to reheat rather than it's container (the container is 500ml), and the bowl was overflowing. At dinnertime I don't even fill the bowl up, so it was a bit of an eyeopener.

    And of course specialkitty needs a special kitty snack box ^_^
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    Nomnomnom. Back to a more traditional box this week
    nw0fiw7n5jvv.jpeg
  • amelialoveshersnacks
    amelialoveshersnacks Posts: 205 Member
    I've had to put my containers away as we have little ones in the house now and finding them was starting to get a bit 'Where's Wally.' lol.
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    amelialoveshersnacks wrote: »
    I've had to put my containers away as we have little ones in the house now and finding them was starting to get a bit 'Where's Wally.' lol.

    Haha I’m not surprised. And even if you do find them, gremlins will have taken half of the inner lids and bits just to frustrate you
  • Windchild
    Windchild Posts: 129 Member
    So, I fell off the wagon for a while, :( but I'm back. I am SO glad to see this thread is still up and going! :smile: All of your lunches look SO yummy! I bought a new meal box, and will be eating salads for the next week or so. I might post one or two, but they'll get redundant if I post the same lunch every day. Anyway... Just thought I'd say hi! *waves*
  • Lndarden50
    Lndarden50 Posts: 30 Member
    I'm back! I've made a bento for lunch today, but it's not held up as well as I'd hoped! I packed a peanut butter, banana, and honey sandwich with some baby carrots, the rest of the banana (for a morning snack) and a little sriracha mango slaw. All delicious, but the "sad"wich got a bit smushed. :( No phone today, so it looks like I'm off the hook for photo evidence! Right? Right.

    Any tips for packing sandwiches? I cut mine into fourths and thought I fit pretty well... Maybe I'll lean them instead of packing them straight next time?
  • Lndarden50
    Lndarden50 Posts: 30 Member
    Also, Mangrothian, I LOVE YOUR AVATAR! Uraraka is the best! <3
  • Cbkkata
    Cbkkata Posts: 28 Member
    I wanted to post my hubby and I's lunch for tomorrow even though it's not as pretty as everyone else's, but I can not figure out how to add a photo in the comments on my samsung...

    Been creepi g on this post, nowhere near done, looking for inspiration.
  • Lndarden50
    Lndarden50 Posts: 30 Member
    There should be an "add image" option above the textbox! Be warned, though. I'm an Apple user, so this may not be true for you. :(
    Cbkkata wrote: »
    I wanted to post my hubby and I's lunch for tomorrow even though it's not as pretty as everyone else's, but I can not figure out how to add a photo in the comments on my samsung...

    Been creepi g on this post, nowhere near done, looking for inspiration.

  • Cbkkata
    Cbkkata Posts: 28 Member
    Lndarden50 wrote: »
    There should be an "add image" option above the textbox! Be warned, though. I'm an Apple user, so this may not be true for you. :(
    Cbkkata wrote: »
    I wanted to post my hubby and I's lunch for tomorrow even though it's not as pretty as everyone else's, but I can not figure out how to add a photo in the comments on my samsung...

    Been creepi g on this post, nowhere near done, looking for inspiration.

    Nope... I'd screen shot it to show yiu, but I still can add the picture. :D
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    You can add in pics in the forums through iOS but not android unfortunately. Total pain in the butt.

    And Uraraka chan is best girl! With Tsuyu being a close second lol.

    Currently, most of my bento's are identical to the last one I posted, with just the protein changing from day to day (eggs are my lazy choice).
  • TsukiTaiyou
    TsukiTaiyou Posts: 7 Member
    edited June 2018
    Cbkkata wrote: »
    I wanted to post my hubby and I's lunch for tomorrow even though it's not as pretty as everyone else's, but I can not figure out how to add a photo in the comments on my samsung...

    Been creepi g on this post, nowhere near done, looking for inspiration.

    Android user (and massive lurker) here. There is a work around since we don't have that feature in the app. You just have to launch chrome (or whatever) from your phone, sign in there, and follow Lndarden50's directions for posting your photo. Hope this helps! :)
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    These are really adorable. Makes lunch more fun for sure, I bet! ;)
  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    I sometimes back my lunch in a bento box, sometimes. That said most of the time when I take a lunch to university it's leftovers from the night before or a few nights before. I love the idea of making food specifically for a lunch packed in a bento box and I have a bento box and a bento style lunch jar (as well as a regular insulated lunch jar which I use far more), but I mainly just pack leftovers.
    mangrothian wrote: »
    ...Just to clarify, I'm not talking Charaben/Kyaraben here (those cute yet unhealthy artistic lunches that look like cartoon characters and take hours to make). I hate to think what gets put into some of those lunches for the sake of them looking like a piece of artwork.
    I originally wasn't going to quote (or even respond) this because it's a three year old thread, but the OP is still active so I will. Honestly having seen quite a lot of Kyaaraben online it's really nothing that wouldn't be put in a lunch otherwise or that one wouldn't eat on a regular basis. That's part of why it's so impressive. For example, there's one bento featuring Pikachu that I found where Pikachu is clearly onigiri wrapped in a thin omelette (tamagoyaki) with nori and what looks like two slices of crap stick on top (think the fake crab you get in some california rolls - surimi). The other characters are meatballs with nori on them. There are some things in that that I personally don't eat a lot but that's because I don't like them, not because they are somehow bad for you (eggs for instance).
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    aokoye wrote: »
    I sometimes back my lunch in a bento box, sometimes. That said most of the time when I take a lunch to university it's leftovers from the night before or a few nights before. I love the idea of making food specifically for a lunch packed in a bento box and I have a bento box and a bento style lunch jar (as well as a regular insulated lunch jar which I use far more), but I mainly just pack leftovers.
    mangrothian wrote: »
    ...Just to clarify, I'm not talking Charaben/Kyaraben here (those cute yet unhealthy artistic lunches that look like cartoon characters and take hours to make). I hate to think what gets put into some of those lunches for the sake of them looking like a piece of artwork.
    I originally wasn't going to quote (or even respond) this because it's a three year old thread, but the OP is still active so I will. Honestly having seen quite a lot of Kyaaraben online it's really nothing that wouldn't be put in a lunch otherwise or that one wouldn't eat on a regular basis. That's part of why it's so impressive. For example, there's one bento featuring Pikachu that I found where Pikachu is clearly onigiri wrapped in a thin omelette (tamagoyaki) with nori and what looks like two slices of crap stick on top (think the fake crab you get in some california rolls - surimi). The other characters are meatballs with nori on them. There are some things in that that I personally don't eat a lot but that's because I don't like them, not because they are somehow bad for you (eggs for instance).

    I agree, a lot of the ingredients are regular ones that would go into a bento, and some are quite healthy, but there are plenty that aren't. A lot more rice is used than what normally would be for the sake of character moulds, and the lunchmeat that gets used (versus say a piece of chicken or salmon that's been grilled) has a higher caloric and salt content than a regular ingredient.

    Then again, most of the kyaraben are made for children rather than for us adults who are using it for calorie control or are worrying about our blood pressure :D
  • TsukiTaiyou
    TsukiTaiyou Posts: 7 Member
    This is my first real bento post here. I haven't made one of these in years, so I'm having to relearn how. But I made a quick basic one.

    This bento was a total of 1,000 calories. (I need to work on that).
    Top part: Baby carrots, strawberries, sliced boiled egg.
    Bottom part: Ground turkey with bang bang sauce, and jasmine rice with some shrimp seasoning and green onions.

    pthbfky3zioh.jpg
  • SpecialKitty7
    SpecialKitty7 Posts: 678 Member
    edited June 2018
    TsukiTaiyou wrote: »
    This is my first real bento post here. I haven't made one of these in years, so I'm having to relearn how. But I made a quick basic one.

    This bento was a total of 1,000 calories. (I need to work on that).
    Top part: Baby carrots, strawberries, sliced boiled egg.
    Bottom part: Ground turkey with bang bang sauce, and jasmine rice with some shrimp seasoning and green onions.

    Looks really good! Here's mine from Monday, been eating out so many lunches lately, I haven't had much chance to make a lunch. This is hard to see, but on the bottom is red & white quinoa, then a layer of edamame and on top, some shredded chicken breast. There is soy sauce in the little pot, and some carrots in the lid.

    edit: okay, it's upside down, and not really sure how to fix that... NVM, fixed it :blush:

    92vrdcmdrcsy.jpg

  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    mangrothian wrote: »
    aokoye wrote: »
    I sometimes back my lunch in a bento box, sometimes. That said most of the time when I take a lunch to university it's leftovers from the night before or a few nights before. I love the idea of making food specifically for a lunch packed in a bento box and I have a bento box and a bento style lunch jar (as well as a regular insulated lunch jar which I use far more), but I mainly just pack leftovers.
    mangrothian wrote: »
    ...Just to clarify, I'm not talking Charaben/Kyaraben here (those cute yet unhealthy artistic lunches that look like cartoon characters and take hours to make). I hate to think what gets put into some of those lunches for the sake of them looking like a piece of artwork.
    I originally wasn't going to quote (or even respond) this because it's a three year old thread, but the OP is still active so I will. Honestly having seen quite a lot of Kyaaraben online it's really nothing that wouldn't be put in a lunch otherwise or that one wouldn't eat on a regular basis. That's part of why it's so impressive. For example, there's one bento featuring Pikachu that I found where Pikachu is clearly onigiri wrapped in a thin omelette (tamagoyaki) with nori and what looks like two slices of crap stick on top (think the fake crab you get in some california rolls - surimi). The other characters are meatballs with nori on them. There are some things in that that I personally don't eat a lot but that's because I don't like them, not because they are somehow bad for you (eggs for instance).

    I agree, a lot of the ingredients are regular ones that would go into a bento, and some are quite healthy, but there are plenty that aren't. A lot more rice is used than what normally would be for the sake of character moulds, and the lunchmeat that gets used (versus say a piece of chicken or salmon that's been grilled) has a higher caloric and salt content than a regular ingredient.

    Then again, most of the kyaraben are made for children rather than for us adults who are using it for calorie control or are worrying about our blood pressure :D

    Yeah I agree with you there for the most part. I suspect the portions are pretty small (given how small bento boxes aimed at children are) but most lunch meats aren't particularly healthy - at least not in the US. Essentially it isn't any less healthy than your average lunch meat sandwich that would get sent to school with a kid from the US. I do have a few onigiri molds and some of them are pretty small, the non triangle shaped molds I've seen at Uwajimaya have also all be small.

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