Willow's Bento Box

Clean the Fridge Salad

2011-08-28T12:55:00.000-07:00

Thursdays were, until this week, a little challenging. I worked from 11am to 3 pm. Now 10:30 is too early for lunch, and by 3 I'm ravenous!

This week my schedule changes and I get out by 1:30 so it's not an issue anymore, but all summer I had to make it work. This last week, I decided to just make a "clean the fridge" salad and to put it in one of my stainless steel boxes.

I do that often, but generally it doesn't look as good as it tastes, so I don't bother posting about it. This time I thought the colors were pretty. :o)

Here's my box Thursday August 25th:

Salad: Baby spinach, a chopped carrot, 1/2 cucumber peeled and chopped, mini bell peppers thinly sliced, a little minced red onion, 1/2 cup precooked lentils (from Trader Joes), salt pepper and a little cumin.

In my little heart shaped container I have eggplant hummus (Trader Joes) which I used instead of dressing.

The lunch was very satisfying I must say, and it felt good to be back into my routine of bringing lunch. It was my first real packed lunch since being back from vacation.

So there, sometimes the simplest are the best!!

Happy Bento everybody!!

Looks aren't everything, but it sure helps!

2011-03-30T08:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I had great leftovers to work with, so I knew my bento was going to be tasty. I didn't have a lot of time to put it together, but I decided to put some effort into making my box look good. Tasty isn't enough!

My dining area has the morning sun coming straight through the windows, ideal light for pictures! Here's the look of it when I first opened it:

Isn't it just inviting? On there you see only the top tier, at the bottom I have the other half of the meal. Here's both tiers together:

Bottom tier:
Grain: It's just a plain bulgur with cumin, salt and pepper.

Curry: This is a curry I made with left over masala sauce (from indian take out, shamefully) that I mixed with a little broth. I chopped carrots, cook them up with shallot, and kale, added a can of lentils, and dumped the curry sauce in. I had it as is for dinner. Before putting it in the bento, I added some of that onion chutney they send along with samosas, it's red and super spicy. It gave it a whole new delicious taste.

Top tier:

Side: I have roasted vegetables (salt, pepper, paprika, coriander, a little cumin) left overs from Monday night. After putting them in, I added minced orange zest for the look of it, but it also did wonder for the taste. Delicious!

Dessert: I have pieces of navel oranges. They are in season and I'm absolutely obsessed! I eat 10 lbs/week. Help! So delicious!

The box I'm using is a "donburi" box, made to have the "yummies" up top and the grains in the bottom tier. that way you can carry the two separately, and mix them up just when it's time to eat. I'm using it differently because I tend to eat less grains, and have several dishes in each bento.

It is a plastic box, but a better quality one, I believe it's microwave safe (though I don't microwave my lunches ever) and would go in the top rack of the dishwasher (I wouldn't for ANY of my bentos, but it would survive). I took a picture of the box in my hand to give you an idea of the size of the thing:

I'm in a phase where I want to have less boxes, but better quality ones. I'm tired of cheap plastic and little monkeys, I want my box to be a little less "cutsy" and more elegant if that make sense. I'm not saying there won't be colored shaped eggs anymore, or flower-shaped carrots, the cutsy curse will never really die ;o) Just not the mood I am in these days.

With that in mind, I have started looking at lacquered wooden boxes. They are very pricey, but so beautiful and durable. Of course the one I'm totally drooling over is way out of my price range, but it's absolutely gorgeous. I keep looking at it and telling myself over and over "you can't pay that much for a lunch box, it's ridiculous!" I might convince myself, riiiiiight!

Here's the box:

It's actually a 2 tiers box, the tiers stack up and there's a lid to top it all. Each part is made of a solid piece of wood, no seams at all.

Beautiful right? I love everything, the craftsmanship, the colors, it's perfect! It's being sold here: Bento & Co

If you find it cheaper anywhere else let me know. I'm in LOVE snif...

So that's it for me today, I don't know if I'll make other bentos this week, but the sun is out, and the camera is ready, who knows? ;o)

Happy Bento everybody!!!

It's been over a year!

2011-03-26T18:46:00.000-07:00

Knock, knock! Anybody still looking in here?

I have been so busy during the last year that not only bento-making, but even cooking took the back seat.

Since January, I've slowly started getting back into my good old habits of actually cooking food, preparing ahead, and making a bento every once in a while. Most of them were very rudimentary, certainly not worth a picture or a blog post.

A few weeks ago, I had an activity with my members at work about packed lunches (I work for Weight Watchers) and I asked them to bring in lunch to show off. That week I decided to bring in bento boxes to show them how neat it can be. I caught the bug all over again.

How could I have forgotten how fun this is??

I don't prepare a bento every day because I don't always eat lunch at work. Very often I come back home to eat. Most of the time when I do eat lunch out I bring my bentos now though!

Here's a few examples of what I've been putting together since February:

OK, lets start simple.

I put down a bed of lettuce and spinach, in the yellow silicone container, I have some leftover roasted chicken (from Safeway!). In the stainless container, I have bulgur with cumin and raisins.

It was very filling and actually pretty darned good!

In this bento, I have a mix of bulgur, pinto beans and chopped carrots and onions in the insulated tier (top center). I also have chopped celery and red onion topped with chopped cherry tomatoes (left front) and plain chopped carrots (right front).

It was all bright and colorful, as well as filling and tasty! I know it's weird to have plain raw carrots in a bento, but I like the crunchiness. If I have nothing to crunch into, it's not a real lunch!

This is leftovers galore!

On the right, I have spaghetti squash leftover with Spicy Barley Pilaf leftover!

On the left I have roasted chicken leftover... and strawberries!

I was wondering how to two sides would go together since they were leftovers from different meals, but it was just delicious!

This is from the following day, leftovers again! Here I have Peppercorn pork tenderloin with Spicy Barley Pilaf and a spinach - carrots salad.

I'm not yet up to the cutsy curse attack, but I think this bento is esthetically pleasing. I love the contrast between the orange of the carrots and the bright green baby spinach. It ties in well with the little bits of carrots in the barley pilaf.

The peppercorn tenderloin was pre-marinated. It's the easiest thing to put together and the taste is very strong. It could be over-powering, but for a bento it's perfect since a little bit goes a long way.

Ok, this is what you call a desperation bento!

I had about 1/4 cup of cooked red quinoa in the fridge, and a few veggies. I chopped carrots, cucumber and red onion very finely, 1/2 apple chopped even more finely, 1 slice of black forest ham, and mixed it all up with the quinoa. I added salt, pepper and a little bit of lemon juice.

Et voila! It turned out to look very pretty and you know what's even better? It was delicious!

Finally, another fairly simple (and sorta lame if you ask me) bento.

Roasted chicken (I know, again, but it's easy for bentos...) with cup up apple and cucumber (lower tier) and simple bulgur with chopped apple (top tier).

I don't even remember eating this bento. It was rather boring, both in looks and in composition. I shall do better from now on!

So there you have it, the boxes that I bothered take pictures of recently. I am hoping to have more time for pictures from now on since my schedule is slowly getting a little more sane.

Check back with me for more bento adventures!!!!!

Happy Bento everybody!!

Slowly getting into the grove.

2009-12-14T21:27:00.000-08:00

Hi there,

Following a expansion of my schedule (oh my... understatement!) lunch has become a challenge. My work has me working at lunchtime which means that I have the choice between lunch at 11, which is too early, or at 3, which is too late!

To fix this, and keep me from eating junk on my way home, I've started packing my lunch again. Slowly but surely my trusty bentos are coming out more and more often.

Here's 2 different days of bento packing:

This is last week sometime. I didn't have much leftovers to work with so I just made it up on the spot.

This is my box, I had chicken breast, which I baked for Thanksgiving, sliced packed and froze in 1 serving package to use in lunches. I wasn't sure if sliced chicken would freeze well. It was fine! I wouldn't leave it forever in there, but it tasted just fine!

Which that I have steamed carrots and peas, rather plain couscous, and steamed lentils (TJ!). A simple but very filling lunch!

My husband's lunch was a little different:

He has the same veggies, but less couscous and chicken, so I added 4 felafel's. I bought those at Costco a while ago and froze them. They keep forever.

Honestly I don't like them much, but my husband seems to love them.

Today was a little more leftovers happy! My husband bought precooked chicken yesterday and we sauteed that with carrots and zucchini sticks. With that I steamed vegetables and made couscous with carrots and onions.

That's what I have in my box here:

On the left there is the chicken with the carrot/zucchini sticks. On the right is the couscous. I covered both tiers with the steamed zucchini rounds and the carrots slices that I cut into flower shapes. Purty ain't it?

The cutsy-curse strikes again! I actually felt pretty good sitting around in Oakland eating my little lunch. It also filled me up so I wasn't tempted by the delicious goodies from the bakery at the Montgomery Bart Station. Hmmmmm

So there, I am still bento-ing. It's not always this pretty, but being so busy does that it's advantages, I HAVE TO organize myself!

;o)

Happy Bento everybody!

Fall Leftovers

2009-10-21T08:29:00.001-07:00

I’m still around making bentos, though not as often as I would like to. I am also doing simpler lunches mostly made with leftovers rather than taking the time to cook for bento-making. For that reason I rarely bother taking pictures of my lunches, as I don’t think they are “picture worthy”. That goes along with my new phase of “KISS” (keep it simple stupid).

Still the whole goal behind having a lunch blog was to share ideas and encourage people to just make the little extra effort to pack their lunch. It’s not complicated, and it doesn’t take long. Even Leftovers can look pretty!

Yesterday I had good leftovers to work with, and the box ended up looking rather cute, so I decided to share it with you. I used my 3 tier bento. That’s a good one when you have dishes that stand on their own.

In the top tier I have diced pork tenderloin. I bought it at Trader Joes, it came pre-marinated (cracked pepper and garlic) and all you have to do is brown it, and then put it in the over for a bit. Nothing easier and so good!

The yellow container has hummus (also from Trader Joes).

Going clockwise, the tier on the right has cut cucumber and carrots, that simple! I cut them to eat with the hummus the previous night and had leftovers.

Pre-cut veggies can have a little bit of a texture issue, so I rinsed them in cold water and patted them dry before packing them. They were just fine when I ate them!

On the lower left tier I had my new favorite grain: Quinoa! I can't believe it took me so long to try it, I love that stuff! It's good hot, cold, with veggies, spiced up, bland with a sauce. Awesome!

This time around I sautéed diced vegetables, added chicken broth, quinoa, salt pepper, cumin, cinnamon and oregano (I think) and cooked it until the broth was gone. That easy!

It was a very satisfying lunch, and kept me going for the rest of the day!

Happy Bento everybody!!

Didn't go fast did I?

2009-06-11T09:09:00.000-07:00

Ok, ok, I'm back to blogging. It's been a long time, and I blame it on not being able to figure out "Gimp" my picture fudging software.

Truth be told, I was a little burned out on talking about food. I work for Weight Watchers, I cook for a hobby, I do bentos for the fun of it... food food food! So I got lazy, and a little heavy, and here I am! Back to my bentos. I missed them!

This doesn't mean I didn't do ANY bentos. I did, but generally they weren't very good looking, or I didn't have the camera around, or it was in the living room and I didn't want to walk that far (AH!) you know...

Here's the bento from April 24th. They were my last "custy" bentos made with the leftovers from the Chicken Wrap with Mango, Basil, and Mint that I had made the previous night.

So I had the chicken/mango mixture, with I think brown rice, steamed peas, cut pepper and raisins. Simple, and I remember it being very good as a cold leftover. :o)

My husband had the same thing exactly.

The rest of April and all of May were very sad "bento-wise" so I won't bore you with any of it. Fast forward to this week:

Monday June 8th:

I have discovered that our favorite Indian place, Great India on Geary st at 25th Avenue, not only makes great food and delivers for free, but they also will sell you a full Tandoori chicken for less than 15$! The half is 10$, so for 5 more you get double! AH!

Tandoori chicken is perfect bento fare, so that's what I did. Tandoori chicken with cucumber and tomato salad (also leftovers from Great India). I cut some extra cucumber because I didn't have enough food.

The little bottle has extra dressing from the salad which I didn't need.

I would have done better with some grains to be honest, but there wasn't enough rice left, and I didn't really have time to make anything. I was working in Santa Rosa that day. At 7:45am!

In case you didn't notice, my box is brand new! From Daiso, it's the same as my "basic boxes" but square! I can't wait to play with foods in there. Monday's lunch was more about throwing the food in there, than about making it cute.

Since I was out all day, I also made a snack box:

Blueberries on the left, cantaloupe on the right, and the two little containers have honey. I ended up using only one. It was plenty!

I don't use my snack box very often, but I love it. Isn't it cute? It's very small so it fits pretty much anywhere.

Dan had more to lunch with than I did, and it gave me the occasion to use my other new box. I've been drooling over that set since I first looked at the Lunch In a Box Blog. I couldn't find it anywhere. This weekend we went to Ichiban Kan and there it was! But it was 22$.

I promised myself a while ago that I would not put more than 10$ on a box, and even that would have to be a really special one. I was totally torn, but my enabler husband told me to get it since he could see that I really liked it. So I did!

Here's his Indian Bento:

In the insulated container (middle) he has Chicken Makhni with a "rice lid". I've seen other Bento-makers do that and wanted to give it a try. As you can see, seepage occurred, but I think it still kept the curry from drying up.

In the little containers there is the rest of the Jasmin rice (left) and tandoori chicken (right).

See how it all packs up perfectly? It ends up packing quite a bit of food, but it looks tiny. I love it!

And all closed up and everything, it's very cute, but not "girly" so my husband can use it. Not that it bothers him, happy to say that he's confident enough in his "manhood" to take my custy attack with patience if not enthusiasm.

Today's boxes:

We didn't have any leftovers, though I did soak some bulgur last night to use today.

Left: I have bulgur (simple with salt and pepper) with tomato-cucumber-lettuce salad, and clover sprouts.

If you made a face reading sprouts here's something to think about: Alfalfa sprouts taste like you're chewing on the lawn. That's the one that turns off most people to sprouts. Clover sprouts are a lot tastier and sweeter. Taste different kind before you write them off!

Right: Steamed lentils (TJ), a boiled egg (showing only the good side of it, I can't cook eggs... how lame) and a mix of strawberries and blueberries.

My husband has the same foods, just a little more of it:

He has bulgur and salad (minus the lettuce and the sprouts, he's not crazy about either) on the left side. On the right he has lentils, an egg, strawberries and blueberries. I added a Mini Babybel cheese as always.

So that's that. I'm excited to be bento-ing again. It doesn't take much really, it's to get started that is the hardest.

Happy Bento Everybody!!!!

All organized and ready to go!

2009-04-21T14:13:00.000-07:00

So, after making bentos yesterday, I decided it was time to organize my gear once and for all. Yesterday we stopped at Target and bought baskets to go in my unit I had bought when we first moved a month ago.

I took out all of my boxes and washed every single one of the 15 sets that I use for food. I have a few decorative ones that I don't put food in, those are another story.

After that I had to fit all of it on my little unit. Here's what it looks like:

The unit itself was super cheap at Kmart. The baskets are from Target, about 13 dollars each, which is more than I wanted to pay, but I like them so... there.

I still have my spice boxes for the little stuff. I managed to empty one by reorganizing everything. I'm pretty happy about that because one of the box was bent and difficult to open. Not cool early in the morning.

The purple box is from a pair of flats I bought a few weeks ago. I thought the box was pretty, and it's the perfect size, so there.

I used that box to put the "over flow" of stuff. Extra things that don't fit anywhere else. I overbought a little last year because I didn't have easy access to Ichiban Kan and Daiso. Of course, now it's not a problem anymore! So happy!

The top drawer has the spice boxes with the stuff I use less, my bento cloths, bags and insulated bags.

The middle drawer has the boxes I use the most. Most of them are microwave safe and leak proof (well mostly).

Finally the last drawer has my fuffier, less user-friendly boxes and those I just use less.

Notice that there is space for more in there, not that I WOULD buy more, of course I wouldn't, just that if I came across a very interesting box, I COULD fit it in there if needed. ;op

I'm pretty happy with my storage solution for my bentos. It's a lot of little things, and in a small place, I needed a compact, easy to work with solution. I think I got it.

Now I feel like I'm home... ;o)

Happy Bento Everybody!!

I found my Bentos!!!

2009-04-20T11:21:00.000-07:00

Hello there!

Offaah, nothing like moving to throw you totally off your routine! I've been taking a vacation, but enough is enough. If I want to take another vacation sometimes, I have to get back to the grind.

So today, I reconnected with work (I'm alive guys, really!) and took out my bento stuff! Since we moved on March 8th, I've tried to make a few bentos, but it didn't really work. Without my cutsy tools it's not nearly as much fun. Still I did make a few, here's two mentionable ones:

Ok, I know, it's Tupperware, not a bento! I was trying to "think bento" and see how I could pack a lunch for my husband since we had such good leftovers. Clockwise starting to the top left corner:

Shredded Green Beans, with lemon-lime zest and snipped chives, bell pepper pieces, leek-potato soup, Red kidney beans with jalapeno link (TJ).

In the middle is a tomato dip I bought from the Pakistani guy who's trying to pass himself off as Indian at the Ferry building Farmers market.

I packed the whole thing in a cooler bag with my husband's trusty snack: a banana!

This was on Monday April 13th: Falafel (Costco, I freeze them), carrots and cucumber pieces, precooked lentils (TJ), bulgur, steamed peas and leftovers tomato-onion dip (from Great India... well, they deliver!).

Notice that I signed my work on that one with a big W on the bulgur. I was just cracking up saying "Dude, I've lost my mind!"

Today I had delicious leftovers to work with, and I wanted lunch to look good. So I trotted out my bento stuff, and made "real bentos".

Vegetables: I have flower shaped carrots and cucumber. The bits and pieces that were left from the cutting are mixed in a salad that is under the flowers!

I also have steamed broccoli and peas leftover from last night. I had no broth, so I put garlic powder and rosemary in the water. Very tasty.

Grain: I have a very simple citrus couscous with rosemary.

Proteins: I made Orange chicken last night. It was delicious and since the thighs were small, no need to cut them up to fit in the box!

This is my lunch ready to go! I had planned on having lunch on the beach, but it's already very hot and I'm sunburned from the weekend, so I'll skip for today. The bulge on the right is an orange, my new obsession.

My husband has exactly the same lunch. He does have 2 chicken thighs because he's a big boy and needs more food than I do.

So there we are! Back to bento making! We're having dinner out so bento making might be complicated tomorrow, but I'll figure it out.

Happy Bento Everybody!!!

Random Bentos since mid January

2009-03-03T23:10:00.000-08:00

Hello there,

We're still moving, only a few days to go. I decided that the "new look" of the blogs wasn't working for me, so I stripped the whole thing down and will rework it when I can breathe again after we're all moved.

In the meantime I've been taking pictures of Bentos here and there and decided to post those here. Unfortunately I don't remember the dates or details of most Bentos I took picture of, it's been crazy around here, but here they are:

This is a Bento I did after one of my "Whole Food expedition". I bought this funky broccoli that is all spiky and spirally. I love it! With that I have cucumber flowers, sliced strawberries, precooked chicken (that you can buy in the deli section of any grocery store) and a broiled Onigiri.

Oh and there's also clover sprouts under the Onigiri! I don't like Alfafa but I like clover sprouts!

My husband has the same thing with a wedge of laughing cow light added. He also have a little more chicken and an extra Onigiri.

This one I'm not so sure. I know that I had made a sort of chicken and bean dish with carrots. I couldn't define is precisely. It was good though! With that I have brown rice. It was a last minute no time to think Bento and it shows.

My husband has the same thing with two Mini Babybel cheese.

That was a sad Bento day...

This is my husband's "Fortune Bento" #1. I made it after I packed my Bento gear so he's got an aluminum foil container in there. I'm trying to find more interesting ways of taking pictures. Bear with me I'm having fun!

He's got leftover baked chicken, cucumber edamame salad, 2 broiled Onigiri and 2 Mini Babybel light cheese.

Finally! This is another Fortune Bento ("Bento de Fortune" in French, which mean something made with whatever you can do with whatever you have). He has leftover steak with a corn/bean salad, couscous, carrot sticks and a mini Babybel cheese.

There you have it! I'm still bento-ing, though not as much as I should. Soon I'll be able to set a new routine for myself, and I'll be close to all the interesting shops on Clement st!

Happy Bento Everybody!

Announcement - Announcement - Announcement

2009-02-12T19:45:00.000-08:00

Hi Everybody!

Between my laptop being down, the apartment hunt, and now packing, I have been unable to post on either blog.

I have made a few Bento Boxes (though not many) and have been up and about, but I will get back to my regular schedule hopefully soon.

At the worst, I should be done moving by the second week of Mars. I'm hoping to be able to get back to posting before that, but that hopefully.

Keep on keeping on!!! I will soon be sharing my San Francisco adventures!!!!

I am so excited! Be good n stuff

Will~

A New Look!

2009-01-17T13:59:00.000-08:00

Well dear readers, here you have it! Willow's Home finally got it's very own look!

I have wanted to give Willow's Lifestyle and Willow's Bento Box a look that is my own ever since I started them, but I needed help.

It took some nagging, but Mister Willow (actually my husband Dan Ross) finally decided today that he would sit down and do it. The spice background and the spice lettering are made from a photo I took and that Dan transformed into lettering and background.

There will be other upgrades and creations as time goes by, but the basis of what I want my blogs to look like is there. Finally!

A great huge loving thank you to Dan for taking the time to do it (and putting up with me in the process ;op).

Let me know what you think in the comments!

Ending the week well

2009-01-16T22:09:00.000-08:00

Thursday I had the day to myself along with Grace (my dog). I decided that it was more than time to get outside and play together. We both needed it.

I was going eat at a cafe somewhere, but realized that I had plenty of leftovers to work with, so I made a bento out of odds and ends I had in the fridge.

Here's my box:

Grains: I had cinnamon scented couscous.

Vegetables: I had steamed broccoli stem, and precooked edamame (Trader Joes). I added steamed lentils (Trader Joes) to that.

Proteins: I had the rest (finally) of the pork roast. It was delicious, but I was getting very sick of it!

Others: I cut up a pineapple Wednesday to put in the chicken salsa dish and had leftovers. I put those in as a "side dish/dessert".

I went to a Weight Watchers meeting, and then to the dog park. I ate my bento there, and had a few dogs roaming around me. Apparently, there were volunteers to help me out with my pork if needed. ;op

Today (friday) I made Sushi Bowls for dinner (see my Lifestyle blog for details) and with the leftover rice I made Broiled Onigiris:

Those are now in the freezer ready for a coming bento! I hadn't made those in a while, and they are goooood!

Happy Bento Everybody!

Don't tell me I have an hour!

2009-01-14T09:08:00.000-08:00

This morning I'm not working, again. Kinda depressing, but it gives me time to do useful things, like... well, useful things!

I didn't have anything prepared really for the bentos, just leftover pork roast. As I made a comment about "Gee, i need some time this morning" my husband said "Well, I'm not leaving for another hour".

Oh yeah? Cutsiness attack! I took out some vegetable cutters and had some fun:

Grains: I have about 1/2 cup of the quick couscous I made with chicken broth, salt, pepper, garlic powder and cinnamon. I love Couscous for those "I got nothing" mornings because it's so fast. I added a cut out red bell pepper flower to make it look cute.

Proteins: I made little sticks with 2oz of the never ending pork roast. It is delicious! I had sushi last night so I'm not tired of this pork yet.

Vegetables: I have steamed broccoli. I put some mirin in the water, we'll see how it goes. I had orange blossom water in the water last time, but my husband thought it was a little too strong (I love it so there!).

I also have red pepper and cucumber salad. I cut flowers out of red bell pepper and out of cucumber, and diced the "leftovers" to make the main salad. I covered it with the flowers. Cute huh?

My husband has the same foods, but a little more. The only difference is that I added a leaf of lettuce under his pork sticks to make it look better.

He has twice as much couscous, and about 3.5 oz of pork. He has a little less vegetable though so I added a little bag of baby carrot and a banana to his lunch.

I used a bento cloth to hold everything together. The cooler bag with the bento is in there as well as the banana and the baby carrot bag.

There you have it, another day of bento!

Happy Bento Everybody!

Loving Leftovers!

2009-01-12T08:14:00.001-08:00

Today is another leftovers day. As I explained in my Lifestyle Blog, I'm trying very hard to simplify my life by cooking once for 2+ meals. So far, it's pretty darned tasty!

Here's today's boxes:

Grains: I have leftover Chicken-Sausage-Rice casserole. It will need to be reheated, which is not usual for me since I like to pack cold lunches, but I knew I was not teaching today so it's ok. ;op

The grain is Trader Joes frozen brown rice. The whole process from the pouch to the casserole is explained in my Lifestyle Blog.

Proteins: I have the chicken and sausage in the Rice casserole, I also added a little be of edamame and steamed lentils. Both sold fully prepared at Trader Joes.

Vegetables: I have steamed broccoli, lettuce and baby carrots.

Others: I'm having a blueberries-apple butter phase. What can I say, it's delicious! The apple butter is in the little yellow bear container.

My husband has exactly the same foods, so I won't bother to repeat myself. His portions are bigger because, as stated many times, he's 6'2", he needs food!

I tried to play with colors a little more today to have the boxes more visually interesting. Of course that rice casserole is not pretty, I noticed, but it's good!

Happy Bento Everybody!

Breakfast Bento and a New Start!

2009-01-11T16:23:00.000-08:00

I started 2009 running backward due to a flu that hit me between the eyes on the way home from my vacation. I'm feeling better now, and am ready to get going.

So, today was weigh-in day (down 2.8 lbs YAY!) and my first breakfast bento:

Proteins: Last night my husband hard boiled 2 eggs (well 3, but one exploded Woah!). This morning I removed the yolks (to cut down on fat and calories) and chopped the whites. I salted and peppered, et voila! Proteins for few calories!

Fruits: I washed about 3/4 cups of blueberries.

Other: In the little yellow container I have apple butter that we bought at Costco. It's 60 calories for 1 Tablespoon, but a little goes a long way. It's delicious!

My breakfast is lacking in grains, but I had enough to last me until noon. I was working my Sunday meeting today so I didn't have time to get hungry.

It was actually a simple but very satisfying breakfast.

Happy Bento Everybody!

Quick Leftovers Bento

2009-01-07T21:50:00.000-08:00

Today I made a box only for myself. I had leftovers to work with and it was really a "throw it in the box lunch.

Here's what it looked like:

Grains: I have Bulgar with minced vegetables. I minced the vegetable in the chopper, sauteed them, added Indian spices, a little broth and threw the mix in pre-soaked Bulgar. It was delicious!

Proteins: I have leftover roasted chicken (from the deli) mixed with cilantro.

Vegetables: I have steamed broccoli and red bell pepper strip with cilantro.

Others: I added a clementine for dessert.

It was very simple, and I was surprised by how delicious it all was. The combination of taste and texture was perfect. The Bulgar recipe in particular will be made again!

Happy Bento Everybody!!

2009 is There!!

2009-01-06T08:54:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!

I was all excited to start 2009 after a difficult year in 2008, but I've got a bad case of the flu, so I'm "crawling" into 2009 rather than jumping in. Still, I had to get my Bento-ing going and get myself on track!

One of my goal is to simplify things for 2009. I get grand ideas and expand them until there is no way I can get it all done. That is not working for me. I have a full very challenging year ahead of me (but exciting!!!) so I need to keep things simple.

So, hopefully, I'll be able to bring in simpler, easy to make bentos, that can be done quickly. Don't worry though, the cutsiness isn't dead! It will come around when I have more time (and more energy).

I also plan on weekend cook off in which I will cook for the week, for both lunch and dinners, so that would be cool "Make ahead posts".

So, after all this blah blah blah, here's today's fare:

Grains: I have the Weight Watchers Side "Zesty Spanish Brown Rice" that I cooked following package directions and then threw over sauteed vegetables. We had leftovers from last night.

Proteins: I have Trader Joes steamed lentils. They are sold precooked, so you just open the pack and dump them in. I really like the taste of them!

Vegetables: I have cut up carrots, red bell peppers, and cucumbers. It's very simple, I like raw vegetables by themselves without dressing.

Others: I'm going to have a small flavored non-fat Greek yogurt (from Trader Joes) with that and most probably a clementine.

Note: I loaded my box with raw veggies because they don't have weird taste when I'm sick.

My husband's box is a little different:

Grains: He has the leftover rice I have.

Proteins: He has lentils also, but I added 4 falafel (bought at Costco and frozen).

Vegetables: He has red bell peppers and cucumber pieces.

Others: I gave him a clementine, but also 2 pieces of Toblerone Chocolate. I thought the two would go well together!

Note: My husband is 6'2" so he needs a lot more calories than I do. He is also taking along foods for the whole day so I added a banana and a whole grain crisp snack (new at Weight Watchers, they are delicious!) so that he has other snacks than the junk from Costco at work.

So that's our lunches for today. I'm thinking that describing the foods by "kind of food" rather than by "top tier, bottom tier" would be less confusing. Let me know what you think!

Happy Bento Everybody!

Two days in a row

2008-12-05T21:37:00.000-08:00

I was teaching yesterday and today so I bento-ed up. Considering that I didn't have much in the freezer, I'm pretty happy with myself!

It's nothing overly impressive, I've been extremely busy, but it held me through full days of teaching. :o)

Here's yesterday's boxes:

We both had the same thing:

Bottom tier we had couscous with a little container of steamed lentils.

In the top tier we had steamed broccoli with home made Garam Masala, falafels and diced apples.

The apples I simply diced and coated with lemon juice, then I drained them well and sprinkled them with cinnamon. Simple and very tasty!

Today I didn't make a box for my husband, but I did make one for myself:

I had leftover roasted chicken, steamed broccoli in the top tier.

In the bottom tier I had couscous, lentils and lettuce.

So that's my "back to work but not ready for it" bentos! ;o)

Happy bento everybody!

Shame shame shame...

2008-12-01T11:31:00.000-08:00

Ok, I flaked! This fall got out of control, and I haven't posted anything since mid-October. I did make bentos here and there though, just not everyday.

Here's 1o of the bentos I've made since October 17th. That's the ones I had decent pictures of!

October 18th
Top tier, I had cut up cucumber and red bell peppers, baby carrots, mango skewers over cut up strawberries.

Bottom tier, I had sauteed beans in salsa, 2 falafel over a bed of lettuce.

My husband has about the same thing, with couscous and mini Babybel cheese added.

October 21st

Top tier, I had rolls made with a tortilla, lettuce, deli turkey and a red bell pepper stick. I put a small tomato to keep stuff from moving around so much.

Bottom tier I had zesty Spanish rice side (WW), sauteed beans and salsa and cut up cucumber and red bell pepper.

October 22nd

Both boxes have the same: Steamed broccoli and peppers, cut cucumber, hard boiled eggs (on each). Dan has a mini Babybel cheese.

Zesty Spanish rice (decorated with red bell pepper shapes), falafel and a tomato on a bed of lettuce.

I remember scrambling that morning to get "something"... didn't turn out bad now did it?

October 25th

Again a "Oh my, now what do I do?" morning.

Leftovers! Roasted chicken (bought precooked), bulgur and steamed veggies. I added a little container of Spicy Hummus to give it all some taste.

I always put a little bag of baby carrots with my husband's box, this time I put them in.

Of course he's got his mini Babybell light cheese.

November 1st

Just whatever I could find, last minute sub call.

I have a turkey wrap, 2 broiledOnigiris (that I had left in the freezer) and cut up orange and strawberries.

November 4th

Doesn't that look fuffy?

I sauteed frozen spinach, frozen pepper strips (TJs) and put that in with falafels (bought at Costco by the way, a big bucket of them, separated and froze them!) and the last of the Onigiris. It's all served over a bed of lettuce with clover sprouts.

November 9th

Finally, the last one, I have a tandoori chicken breast (leftover), cut cucumber, clover sprouts (much better than alfafalfaf whatever you call that stuff).

In the bottom tier I have some sort of grain (I don't remember, I think it was bulgur with garam masala, but I couldn't swear to it), carrots and red bell pepper strips.

So that's about a month of bento in one post!!

I will post whenever I bento up, but until January it might be rare. I'm on vacation from the 18th to the 3rd of January, and until then I'll be super busy with the new plan at WW and all that.

Sooooo, keep an eye on me until then, but the big comeback will be in January!!

Happy bento everybody!!!

Yoooooo hoooooo, Remember me?

2008-10-17T08:48:00.000-07:00

Again, major catch up post. I will get myself organized, I promise! We've been taking a lot of shortcuts with food these last few weeks, and didn't have as much leftovers. I'm working at reorganizing myself so that I can cook more everyday.

This is two weeks worth of bentos, but with a 5 days vacation in the middle.

Sunday October 5th:

I had to bring breakfast/lunch to work, and I had leftover Cinnamon Apple-Pear Kebabs, so I used that.

So on the right you have the apple and pear pieces, top left there's a hard boiled egg that I sliced (somehow they taste better sliced ;op) and in a little cup, I have a bit of Quaker Life cereals. That was a very filling breakfast!

Monday October 6th:

I was working in Sonoma, so there was no way I could come home for lunch.

Top tier : I had Turkey meatloaf (frozen leftovers) with Zesty Spanish rice (Weight Watchers).

Lower tier: I had steamed broccoli, a sliced tomato (a member at WW gave me some veggies from her garden, OMG sooo tasty!) and 1/2 sliced apple that I coated with lime juice (it works!).

It was a fairly long day and I was afraid of getting hungry before this end so I added a soup to my bento and a yogurt for snack.

That little Lock & Lock container is perfect for soup, leak proof, it holds about 1/2 cup!

My husband had a similar lunch that day:

I added a pack of carrots to his box and his faithful Mini Babybel light cheese. I also sent him off with a soup:

The soup is a leftover from the previous night, the Spicy Black Bean Soup found in Best Eat, the latest Weight Watchers cookbook. It is DELICIOUS!

The rest of the week, I didn't make any Bento. My husband took Thursday, Friday and Monday off, so we took the week easy.

Tuesday October 14th:

I was subbing again, here in town. I had a "custy curse attack so I played around with my food a little.

Top tier (shown at the bottom of the picture): I had left over steamed veggies from the night before, I added to that steamed shrimps (with Mirin in the water, try it, it's worth it!) under the whole thing there's a bed of lettuce to make it look more full. That box is a little big, so I cheated.

Lower tier (shown on top of the picture): I had leftover couscous, which I put in the smaller tier of a different bento box (cool huh?) and I added baby carrots around it. I used heart and star cut outs that I had made in a Nori sheet.

The whole thing is awfully simple, but I like the look of it. It also tasted very "fresh".

Dan isn't a big fan of seafood, so I had to come up with something else:

On the left: He has steamed broccoli, a clementine all segmented out, baby carrots and his trusty Mini Babybel Cheese (I think he might be getting sick of that one. I'll have to think of something else).

On the right: he has couscous and falafel. We bought those falafel at Costco and they are very tasty! We ate a few and froze the rest of them in packs of 4. Bento ready!

Wednesday I worked morning only, no need of Bento.

Today 10-17-08:

I'm not working today, but I'm planning on a shopping expedition. Since I didn't know when I was going to start, I made a bento for myself and for my husband. I had leftovers, so I got 2 bentos made, pictures taken and everything in 9 minutes. Am I a pro or what?

I was looking at my box collection, wondering which box I hadn't used in a while, so I picked this one:

Top left: I have couscous (just plain ol' couscous) and lentils.

I had leftovers steamed lentils (TJ) that had been in the fridge just a little too long, so I decided to cook them last night. I sauteed onions, added curry powder, broth and the lentils, boiled for a few minutes, et voila. Delicious!

Top right: I had leftover roasted chicken, so I shredded some in there. The container has some store bought hummus. I know, I'm getting lazy, it's been a weird few weeks!

Bottom: I have cut cucumber and red bell pepper, and leftover carrots that were sauteed with a little garlic oil, whole cumin seeds and honey.

My husband has the same exact lunch (plus the Mini Babybel light cheese) :

He does have a little more of everything. He's 6'2", he needs more calories than I do!

So that's my Bento making of the last 2 weeks !

Happy Bento everybody!

Leftovers Attack! (#177-#178)

2008-09-30T15:43:00.000-07:00

I had yummy leftovers today, so I just had to throw it in a box. Good thing too, I got a last minute call to sub. It was a race there for a minute!

Here's my box:

In the lower tier (left) I have leftover bulgur, red bell pepper pieces, and cut strawberries.

In the top tier (right) I have left over Green Bean Salad Vinaigrette (recipe to come later) with Red-Rub Chicken breast (recipe to come later). I put a sushi grass in the middle cause the beans were a bit wet!

As always now, my husband also had a similar lunch:

On the left: Green Bean Salad Vinaigrette and Red-Rub Chicken breast.

On the right: Left over bulgur, strawberries, 1 Mini Babybel light cheese, and a peanut butter bliss mini bar (Weight Watchers).

We both had a little bag of baby carrots to go with that. I had a cup of flavored greek yogurt (FF, TJ) and my husband had a little cup of jello. :o)

It works so much better to have the food prepared ahead. I like to box in the morning, but with working out and different work time (depending on the school) it's hard to cook in the morning.

It works! Happy Bento Everybody!

Another Super-Post!

2008-09-29T13:52:00.000-07:00

Between a busy schedule, and connection being very jumpy, I sort of got lost last week! This week is planned from one end to the other though, so plenty of bentos!

Wednesday 9-24-08

I was teaching that day so I needed a bento. I also knew about it ahead of time, so I planned ahead some. Here's my box:

In the top tier, I have meatloaf leftover (had it frozen), pieces of red bell peppers, and lentils/chickpeas curry.

The Curry was too liquid, and I have a left over of brown rice to use up, so I threw both in a pan and cooked it. The rice absorbed all the juice and it tasted delicious! Who would have thought?

The bottom tier has steamed broccoli and strawberries.

Here and there I have cute little picks to eat with.

My husband has basically the same thing:

On the left he has Mini Babybel light cheeses, the meatloaf (I tried to cube it, but it didn't work too well), and the lentil/chickpea/rice curry.

On the right he has the pepper pieces, the steamed broccoli and the strawberries.

Today

Today I had the easiest time! Everything was leftover from last night, already cold and ready to go. Lovely. I'm hoping to do that most days. I still want to pack in the morning, but if the foods can be ready the previous night, it brings sanity back to my mornings.

Here's my box:

The bottom tier has steamed vegetables (carrots, broccoli, red bell pepper) and Garam Masala scented bulgur.

The top tier has chicken Tikka Masala cooked with a pre-made sauce from Costco to which I added salt, pepper and a little clove, I added onions, potatoes, and carrots to it. With that I have strawberries as dessert.

I usually eat cold lunches, I did warm up the curry for 1 minute in the microwave.

My husband has a similar lunch:

On the left he has Garam Masala scented bulgur, steamed veggies, and his now traditional Mini Babybell light cheeses.

On the right he has the curry, and some more bulgur.

Tomorrow I have some leftovers planned, so it should go smoothly again. Hopefully the connection will remain stable!

Happy Bento Everybody!

Super-Post - I'm baack! (#167 to #172)

2008-09-22T16:48:00.000-07:00

Oh my, hadn't realized it had been that long! I have a lot of catching up to do, so lets get crackin'

Last week:

Tuesday (9-16):

I was home Tuesday and decided to just throw stuff together to bento up. I didn't have much to work with, and looking at it, it doesn't look like much. It was delicious though, in a simple kind of way.

In the top tier I have lean ham and cut up strawberries.

In the bottom tier I have simple couscous with steamed broccoli and clover sprouts. I love clover sprouts, they aren't bitter like the alfalfa ones.

My husband's lunch is very similar with a few add-ons:

Top tier he has lean ham, steamed broccoli, strawberry and a Mini Babybel light cheese.

Bottom tier is couscous with steamed lentils (TJ).

Wednesday (9-17):

I was teaching all day and working for Weight Watchers at night so I had to think fast

Bottom tier has couscous, steamed lentils and cucumber sticks.

The top tier has a sliced hard boiled egg, 2 Black bean mini burgers, steamed broccoli and cut strawberries.

I didn't have much to work with, and it ended up being delicious and very filling. Not that it needed to be, I ate my lunch at school and then was sent home. They suddenly realized they didn't need a sub for the afternoon.

Next time I'm asking before I eat lunch! ;op

Thursday (9-18):

Again I was teaching all day, really all day this time. I was feeling lazy that morning so I took out my trusty thermos and had a soup with a salad.

The Thermos had canned lentil soup (TJ) to which I had added diced lean ham.

The salad was very simple: lettuce, cucumber, red bell pepper, clover sprouts and a little bottle of honey mustard dressing.

The warm soup was very comforting for some reason. Fall is coming, you might see my trusty thermos more often. The soup was still hot after hours of sitting around!

Today:

Oooffaah, ok, all caught up, here's today's bentos:

My husband had a different fare than mine:

In the top tier (left) he had steamed broccoli, cut strawberries, cut up cucumber and a Mini Babybel light cheese.

In the bottom tier (right) he has TJ frozen brown rice and BBQ Chicken.

The box I used for myself today is big, but I filled it mostly with vegetables and strawberries. So it's a lot of food, for very few calories.

Here it is:

Top tier: I have brown rice, steamed broccoli and quartered small tomatoes.

Middle tier: I have 6 shrimps cooked with lime juice, cumin and hot pepper powder. With that I have cucumber half rounds and red bell pepper sticks.

Finally the bottom tier: I had quartered strawberries and served them with a little container of European non-fat plain yogurt mixed with a teaspoon of honey.

Ok, so that's the bentos of the last week and a half. Those that I had pictures of anyway.

I'm on it, I'll make an effort to keep up. I've learned how to format my pictures and it takes a little longer to get it all together! I'm learning!

Happy Bento Everybody!

Colors colors! (#166)

2008-09-10T08:01:00.000-07:00

Hello there!

I'm in a colorful mood today, AH! Today's bentos are a mix of frozen stuff, leftovers, and quick fixes. I didn't prep last night, but I thought it out though, so I knew exactly what I wanted to do this morning.

Today I decided to use my Urura box that I bought at Sugar charms. I was looking at old post on here, and remembered that this used to be my "everyday box". A bit of nostalgia and out it comes! For a blog, and hobby, that is only 7 months old! He he he

Here's my box:

Lower tier (left): I have steamed broccoli and shredded carrots, with that I have steamed zucchini. Both were steamed with garam masala in the water and then salted and peppered.

Over that I have 2 Black bean mini-burgers (frozen), and a grilled hot dog that we had left over from the last BBQ. It's a light one, only 50 calories, and actually taste good! I sliced the hot dog and put it on cute skewers and put the whole thing on a bed of lettuce.

Top tier (right): I have leftover brown rice, spiced up and with a little garlic oil. I don't like the look of rice when there isn't any veggies in to "spice it up" visually, so I put in a flat leaf parsley "flower" to cutify the whole thing.

In a little paper/plastic cup I have vegetable curry (frozen) that I drained some to avoid "sloshing" around.

My husband has the same foods thing but arranged differently:

I'm very happy with today's boxes because they have several different things with different taste and texture. I find that to be much more satisfying than a larger amount of one or two dishes. It's also more interesting visually I think.

My husband is funny, this morning he looked at my kitchen (it was a mess) and said: "You should take a picture of the kitchen to show people how much work it is. "

There's no question that it does take time and that on busy days, my kitchen might not be pristine when I leave for work. I believe that it totally worth it though. It's fun, it's healthy, and really it doesn't take that much time.

On busy days, the bentos might not have a parsley flower on top of the rice, but I can whip it up in about 5 minutes, cool it while I get ready, and there I go!

Happy Bento Everybody!!

Having fun with food! (#164-165)

2008-09-09T09:04:00.000-07:00

Today for some reason I felt inspired, so I played around some. I also had some awesome leftover meat to play with (BBQ tri-tip, yum!).

I used a new box that I bought the weekend before last at Soko Hardware in Japantown. It is not microwavable, but I thought it was awefully cute. It's the same look as my round 3 tiered one I got at Kamei on the previous trip. I know I know I have WAY too many boxes already. I just can't resist them!

Here's what I had in there:

Bottom tier (on top): I have Cucumber flowers and red bell pepper hearts over a bed of lettuce I used my little vegetable cutters to cut out the cutsy shapes. In the middle I have some delicious tiny tomatoes that I got at some farmer's market last week. On the right I have steamed lentils that I sauteed lightly with shredded carrots, after it was done I added fresh flat leaf parsley.

Top tier (bottom): I have a skewer with tri-tip, I wanted a little just for taste, on a bed of lettuce. On the right I have brown rice (Frozen from TJ) that I microwaved and then sauteed lightly with oregano, garlic powder, salt and pepper. I decorated the rice with red bell pepper strips.

My husband's lunch is simmilar:

Top tier: On the left he has brown rice covered with cucumber flowers, red bell pepper hearts and red bell pepper strips. On the right he has 2 trip-tip skewers on lettuce.

Bottom tier: On the left he has more cut up cucumber and red bell pepper. In the middle he has the lentils-carrots dish with parsley. Finally I put in two mini Babybell light cheeses to make sure he didn't go hungry.

I used our lock and lock set that has a cooler bag. This is what it looks like (we got rid of the bottle though):

I don't like the look of that cooler bag. I always add a fruit to my husband lunch, so I've been putting his bentos in a bento cloth making a little basket with it. My problem is that that bento cooler bag is big, and everything together is kinda heavy, so I cheated!

Here's what it looks like:

Looks innocent right? There's his bento box in its cooler bag in there, and a banana outside the set (but in the cloth basket).

My "cheat" is that I used the handle of the cooler bag along with the handle of my "cloth basket" to lift the whole thing. That way it's more solid and secure.

Here's what I did:

I made the first knot between the handle of the bag and the bag.

See? Now you have the handle free to use still. It's not very pretty though...

Soooo, I made my second knot over the handle so that I could hide it!

See? It doesn't show at all! But it's still there keeping the whole thing safe and secure:

Ah ha! Am I clever or what? I'm all proud of myself!

That's my bento adventure for today, explained rather fast because I got a kitty vet appointment!

Have fun with food today! Happy Bento everybody!

Taking my time (# 163)

2008-09-08T09:45:00.000-07:00

Today I forgot the bentos until my husband was ready to leave for work, so he went without one. :o( It was his first day back to work so I'm guessing he'll go out and eat with the guys.

I need to think ahead, my mornings are getting too busy to do a lot of prep! He leaves at 7:30 at the latest, and I'm not back from swimming before 6:30. I have to get ready in case I get a sub call. I'll figure it out though.

I did not get a call today, so I had time to make myself a bento after he left. I wanted to use leftovers and try something new I found, so here it is:

I've taken pictures of both tiers, here's the top one:

In there I have steamed fava beans that I found at Trader Joes. I found them yesterday and wanted to try them out, so I'll let you know what I think.

With that I have left over roasted chicken that I've cooked with shredded carrots and spiced with cumin, garlic powder, a little lime juice, a clove and a little piece of cinnamon. Of course I removed the clove and cinnamon after cooking. I added parsley to it after it was cooked.

Here's the bottom tier:

I have 1/4 cup of couscous on a bed of lettuce. I added a little container of steamed lentils (TJ) in case I don't like the fava beans! ;op

That's today's fare. Nothing earthshaking, I'm just getting into the grove. Tonight I have to plan for tomorrow's bento so that everything is ready to go in.

I don't like packing the lunches the night before because it looks a lot better when done the same day, but I can prep everything.

Happy Bento everybody!

Back to the daily grind - Box #162

2008-09-07T17:47:00.000-07:00

Hey there!

Vacation is over and in a big way. Today I was working a morning meeting and then we had a staff meeting all afternoon. I packed a thermos with oats for breakfast, and lunch in a bento.

Here's what my lunch looked like:

In the bottom tier, I had leftover roasted chicken that I sauteed with whole grain Dijon mustard and sliced Kalamata olives. With that I had whole grain couscous with thinly sliced red bell pepper and onions that I sauteed with a little olive oil.

In the bottom tier I have red bell pepper and cucumber sticks with mango skewers on lettuce.

It was funny because there was a "lunch" served at our meeting, but everybody around me were a little envious of my lunch. Ha ah! 1 pts for the Bentos!

So that my bento for today. Tomorrow I have tons of leftovers to work with, so it should be interesting.

Happy Bento everybody!!

A Tale of Two Mondays

2008-08-25T21:24:00.000-07:00

My husband is on vacation (and hopefully I'll be too soon), so I haven't been making bentos lately. For the same reason I haven't been online long enough to stop and post on any of my Blogs. Sorry!

I did make two bentos last Monday ( August 18th), it was before the vacation and I had some yummy leftovers to deal with!

Here's my box:

In the top tier I have BBQ chicken and Jamaican-Style Potato Salad.

In the lower tier I have grilled asparagus, diced cucumber and blueberries. I have a little container of hummus (TJs).

My husband has the same foods, with lentils added (TJs). Here's his box:

In the top tier he has the potato salad, and the chicken.

In the bottom tier he has the asparagus (covered by the cup of lentils), cut cucumber with a container of hummus, blueberries and a mini Babybel light.

That was last week. Today I was subbing at a high school in Sonoma and working early in Sebastopol so I knew I had to pack a substantial lunch.

Here's what I did:

The tier shown at the bottom of the picture is 1/2 cup of couscous with lentils that I cooked with baby spinach, salt pepper and a little lime juice.

Here's the other two tier:

This tier has grilled zucchini, BBQ chicken thighs and Clover sprouts.

This tier had blueberries, a diced plum and cut strawberries. I put in little animal picks to eat the fruits with.

I also brought along yogurt and orange and a banana. I didn't eat the banana, and I had more than enough food! I had to have a light dinner because lunch was so filling!

That's my "Tale of Two Mondays". I don't know when I'll make my next bento, my husband is back to work on September 8th! So at the latest it'll be that week!

Happy Bento everybody!!

Great lunches today!

2008-08-14T17:52:00.000-07:00

Today was a good bento day!

I just love it when I experiment in the kitchen, and not only it's delicious right then, but it turns out to be even better as leftovers!

That was the case with the curry I used for the bentos today. Here's my box:

In the lower tier, I have a lentil and chickpeas curry served over Garam Masala scented bulgur. I put the curry in a plastic coated paper cup to keep the bulgur from getting soggy.

At lunch time, I just dumped the curry in and warmed it up!

In the top tier I had steamed broccoli, sliced orange and a few Kalamata Olives.

Simple but delicious really.

My husband had similar things but with different extras:

In the lower tier (shown on top here) he had the curry and the bulgur. I separated the two again to keep the bulgur from getting soggy.

In the top tier (shown at the bottom) he had steamed broccoli, steamed lentils (TJ) and orange slices. I added his now usual Mini Babybel cheese more for color than for any need for more calories.

With the amount of lentil he had in there, I'm glad I wasn't working next to him... he he he!

Happy bento Everybody!

Oh la la!

2008-08-13T09:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, MAJOR catching up post!

Long story short: Wednesday I had a luncheon with coworkers, and then I had to run to work. I got there 20 minutes late! Thursday I started my 21 days to change a habit challenge, meaning that I'm getting up at 5:15 every morning to work out.

It take some getting used to. I still bento-ed some, but didn't have time to post. So today I'm catching it all up! Hold on to your britches, here we go:

Wednesday

A dear friend of mine bought me a bento box that turned out to be HUGE. She didn't mean it that way BUT it's the perfect box to serve foods and dips at a party. I brought that along to our luncheon:

Both tier have the exact same thing: Cut veggies (peppers, carrots and cucumbers) and dips (Mediterranean Hummus, and Black Bean Dip).

Here's the box closed (you can see the reflections of my dinning room lights!):

Wednesday I made a bento for my husband also:

In the top tier he has 2 Mini Babybel light cheeses, a little espresso chocolate candy, blueberries, a little heart shaped cup with pickled veggies in it (from the sushi bar), and cut carrots and cucumbers.

In the lower tier he has an onigiri, Chicken and salsa, a little container of Mediterranean Hummus and a little container of Black Bean Dip.

Thursday was my first day up and I didn't make any box.

Friday

I made my husband a box, but not me since I was short on time. Here's his box:

Top tier he has blueberries, and espresso chocolate candy, a Mini Babybel light cheese, Black Bean dip, carrots and cucumber.

Lower tier has BBQ Chicken, Brown rice (it's the Trader Joes frozen brown rice, quick and easy) sprinkled with shredded carrots.

Saturday

Saturday was something! I was working in Novato at 7! So I had to workout and get there on time. I made myself a breakfast bento with whatever I could find quick the night before.

Here it is:

Top tier I had leftover roasted chicken and cherry tomatoes.

Lower tier I had cut up strawberries and blueberries.

Not much, but surprisingly satisfying!

Today

I didn't bento again until today. I decided it was time to get my behind back in gear and organize myself.

Here's my box today:

In the top tier I have spiced, sautéed zucchini pieces, steamed shrimps (with mirin added to the water, mmmmm), and steamed lentils (TJ).

In the lower tier I have steamed broccoli with shredded carrots and cilantro, cucumber pieces, and 2 broiled onigiri.

Note: I microwaved the onigiri and then just cooked them a tiny bit in a pan to give them back their "broiled feel". It worked as good if not better as re-broiling them, and was so much easier! YAY!

Here's my husband's box:

Top tier he has steamed broccoli with shredded carrots and cilantro, cucumber slices, 2 round onigiri with little Nori shapes on top.

Lower tier he has 2 Mini Babybel light cheeses, spiced, sautéed zucchini and chicken with salsa.

So there! I am all caught up.

With my new work out schedule I really need to take time to think about the following day at night and make sure I have what I need to make the bentos. It's just simply too hard to have everything ready and cooled by 7.

I will make this work! Just bear with me while I adjust to it all.

Happy Bento everybody!

PS. With these bentos that I posted today, I have now made 156 bento boxes, counting mine, my husband's and the few snack bentos (and the big party one). 156!!!!!

Tasty Leftovers

2008-08-05T10:25:00.001-07:00

Last night we had a yummy dinner and lots of leftovers! Perfect for bento fare!

Here's my box:

In the bottom tier I have leftover Sauteed Summer Squash with Tomatoes and Corn and halved baby carrots. I like to cut the carrots in half because that way it takes longer to eat so I end up eating less!

In the top tier of my box I have Caribbean Drumsticks, and cut strawberries.

Here's my husband's box. I used the black "Man size" box I got at Ichiban Kan because somebody neglected to clean his bento yesterday... just sayin'... ;op

In the top tier (left) I have cut baby carrots, cut strawberries and 2 Babybel light cheeses.

In the bottom tier (right) I have Caribbean chicken (looks like a whole lot, but really it isn't!) and Sauteed Summer Squash with Tomatoes and Corn.

I've organized his food so that all the microwavable food is in the same tier. It's easier for him that way.

That's our bentos for the day! I think I'm getting close to 150 boxes!!! I'll count and let you know!

Happy Bento Everybody!

Warm Colors, Great Food

2008-08-04T11:17:00.000-07:00

Today is a mix of leftovers, frozen fare and easy going summer spirit!

I had some Spiced Carrots left overs, so I put that in and then rummaged through the fridge and freezer to find the rest! That's a 10 minutes bento, including cooking the beans and cooling everything up (in the fridge!).

Here's my box:

Top left: I have the last of my little delicious tomatoes I bought Tuesday at the Embarcadero, and some cut strawberries.

Top right: I have red kidney beans and chickpeas sauteed in salsa, and Spiced Carrots.

Bottom: I have vegetable curry, with a little cup of steamed lentils (TJ).

Everything (except the lentils) is red or orange, and even then, the lentils are brown, so they fit. Since I was already in a color theme, I decided to use my weird little bright orange box. That one I got at Daiso for $1.50. I like the way I can lay out the food in it. Isn't it just cute?

Here's the box closed:

My husband has pretty much the same foods:

Left: Spiced carrots with cut up strawberries. I put in little "picks" to make it easy to eat the fruits and veggies.

Right: I have the vegetable curry, the sauteed beans and 2 Mini Babybel light cheeses.

I didn't have time to heat up grains, I hope it's enough food for him.

I just now realized that his box is dark red, it fits too!

Tomorrow a green box! Just kidding!!

Happy Bento Everybody!

Mmmmmini black bean burgers!

2008-08-01T08:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I made my Black Bean Mini Burgers. I tweaked the recipe a little bit by using roasted red bell pepper (from a jar) instead of fresh pepper. It was delicious!

Here's what they looked like:

I used them along with stuff I had laying around in the fridge and freezer. I had planned to use leftovers from last night, but we ate it all!

Here's my box:

In the top tier (black) I have my mini-burgers and steamed veggies.

In the lower tier (white-green) I have broiled Onigiri, tomatoes, and carrots.

I suspect that we had a visitation from some pixie... would you look at that? They used my carrots as a bridge!

Here's my husband's box:

On the left, he has 2 Onigiri, and mini-burgers. I put in tomatoes to fill the gaps.

On the right he has sliced peaches, steamed veggies with a little container of Olive Walnut tapenade, and carrots.

The pixie stopped by his box too, look at his Onigiri!

I have all sorts of craft punches with leaves, footsteps, hearts, stars, etc. I took a sheet of Nori weed, and cut out some shapes ahead of time. That way it's a lot faster to decorate the bentos in the morning.

Neat huh? That's my bento attack for today!

Happy bento everybody!

Snack box

2008-07-30T15:30:00.000-07:00

I'm working tonight and working out afterward, so I won't be home until late. Knowing this, I prepared myself a snack bento so that I could have then energy to work a meeting AND workout without falling apart.

Here's what it looked like:

I usually don't share my snack bentos, but I like this one. It isn't anything fancy, but I thought it was looking pretty.

On the left I have the rest of the lettuce with little tomatoes. On the right I have some of my yellow carrots. I got them at the Embarcadero market (inside the building, not in the Farmer's Market) and they are delicious. Finally, I have a container of homemade hummus which is without oil or Tahini.

Hopefully this will tie me up until tonight!

Happy Bento again!

Leftovers Cutsiness!

2008-07-30T09:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to the Farmer's Market at the Embarcadero. To read about our adventure click here. After that we came home and decided to BBQ. My husband is the grill king, so it was truly delicious. I used the leftovers to fill the bentos.

Here's my box:

In the top tier (left) I have grilled zucchini mixed with seasoned fresh tomatoes (bottom), and I have sliced plums and I think a kind of pluot, but I'm not sure what that one is. I got a little overwhelmed at the Farmer's market yesterday.

In the bottom tier (right) I have grilled chicken thigh (bottom), and couscous that I decorated with shredded carrots and nori "stars".

I decided to use one of my new bento belt to add to the cutsiness!

My husband's box has the same foods:

Bottom tier (left) there's couscous, covered with shredded carrots and lentils. I tried to make a cute pattern, it looked better "in person" than it does on the picture. *sigh*

Top tier (right) there's cut up plum and friend, grilled zucchini and seasoned tomatoes and BBQed chicken thigh.

It was delicious last night so I'm optimistic about lunch!

I still haven't made Oyakis or Black bean mini burgers yet. I'm on it!

Happy Bento Everybody!

Light & Heavy

2008-07-28T10:23:00.000-07:00

I'm still working at making lunches for me and my husband in a quick easy manner, taking in consideration the difference in caloric needs! Today I went to extremes both ways!

Here's my box:

In the top tier I have steamed veggies (broccoli and peas) and carrots confetti's.

In the lower tier I have a tomato-cucumber salad, 5 medium shrimps (steamed) and about 1/4 of an orange, sliced.

All in all, my box is about 2 POINTS. I'm home so I'll most likely have a soup to go with it cause I went overboard with the "eat light" thing.

My husband's box is another story:

In the tier to the left he has 2 Onigiri (with peas "fish" on top!) and 2 bento servings of BBQ chicken.

In the tier to the right he has steamed veggies, cucumber pieces with a container of guacamole, 2 piece of Babybel light cheese and a few slices of orange.

So his box is 9-10 POINTS (I'd say 9 because he doesn't even have a TBSP of guacamole).

Sooooo, that's our Bento-ing for today. I was playing around with foods as usual and am getting better at figuring out what will be satisfying for us. I don't usually give the POINTS and will not continue to do so, I just wanted to show that boxes that are close in size can have a big difference in calories.

To learn more about POINTS and how to use the Weight Watchers program, go to www.weightwatchers.com

It's a learning journey, but it's a fun one!

Happy Bento Everybody!

Thinking Ahead

2008-07-26T20:51:00.000-07:00

Tonight my husband did his BBQ Chicken again. This time he used chicken breast that he cooked himself instead of using prepackaged chicken. He also doubled the recipe so that we could freeze leftovers.

We ate out due, and then vacuum sealed the leftovers in bento size portions ready to freeze!

Ready to go in the freezer! We label everything now. I've had a few times to trust my luck on "surprise tupperwares" so now I make sure I know what's in there!

I put on the label what it is, the number of Points and the date it was put in the freezer. That way I can be careful to rotate so that foods don't stay in the freezer too long.

So there, I have 5 days of "bento proteins" in the freezer ready to use. Since that recipe is so spicy, one of those bag is enough for both our bentos, served with a grain, and maybe some beans, it'll be perfect!

Happy Bento everybody!

Playing with food bento!

2008-07-25T08:59:00.000-07:00

I'm in a "play with foods" phase. I've revived my Lifestyle blog and am making an effort to try new things on regular basis. That will most probably show in my bentos as well as my other meal.

Today I have leftovers and easy sides. Here's my box:

In the top tier (left) I have pork cooked in papaya and mango salsa (Trader Joes) to which I added minced vidalia onion, and a diced mango (I added cumin and chili powder to the pork before cooking it); With that I have steamed broccoli and peas with garam masala.

In the lower tier (right) I have a rather plain couscous, steamed lentils (Trader Joes) and two lychee that I pre-peeled to make them easier to eat.

I talk about my "lychee discovery" in my Lifestyle blog.

I've been trying to work on making two bentos in the morning, taking in consideration that my husband needs about half again as many calories as I do. I don't want to make different dishes, mainly because it's too much work, so I'm playing with quantities, and extras.

Here's his box:

He has basically the same foods.

In the top tier (left) he has pork and salsa; he also has steamed veggies,; I added as "extras" 2 light Babybel cheeses and 1 espresso chocolate candy*.

In the lower tier (right) he has twice as much couscous as I have; he also has steamed lentils (trader Joes).

*The candy wasn't so much to "add calories" but to make a surprise to him, he saw it though. *sigh*

I used some of the steamed peas to decorate the couscous and the pork dish. I thought it would add a little color where color is needed.

So there! that's my bento adventure for today!

Happy Bento everybody!

Shapes, shapes, shapes!

2008-07-22T07:52:00.000-07:00

Oooffaaaah! I had so much fun last night! I took out my veggie cutters and made shapes! I was experimenting with 2 things:

1- cutting my vegetables ahead of time and how to keep them.

2- Making "pointy shapes" in carrots and cucumber to see if the edges would stay up. They did!

Today I used my new round box I got at Kamei, only I used only 2 of the 3 tiers. Each tier is 300 ml.

Here's my box:

In details:

Top tier has a broiled Onigiri, a sliced hard boiled egg, and alternated orange slices and strawberry slices.

I used my cheapos egg slicer I got at Ichiban Kan to slice the egg and then tried it on strawberries. It works, but I have 2 container of strawberries, one real fresh, and one a little older, it works much better on fresh strawberries!

In the lower tier I have vegetable curry (top left), cucumber and carrot flowers and stars, and cherry tomatoes.

The whole box has very little calories, it's mostly veggies! I got proteins out of the egg, and complex carbs out of the Onigiri (made with brown rice).

My husband has pretty much the same thing. He has 2 Onigiri which aren't broiled. Other than that it's the same thing laid out differently:

I hid a few "carrot bears" in there, there's 4 of them, can you find them all? Hehehe

That contest just gave me the kick in the behind I needed to get into creative mode again!

Next time I go to Daiso I might just grab a few things to make a contest of my own!

Have fun today! Happy Bento everybody!

Woah, a bento competition!

2008-07-21T08:23:00.000-07:00

I love those bento competitions! So of course I had to enter my little lunch! The contest is hosted on the Bento Pet Blog (click on the picture to visit the blog):

So, here's the box I decided to send:

That's today's box! I used my new Hakoya box and was playing with the layout, how much I can fit in etc. That contest is going on for another week, so I might just send some more lunches! Ah!

Here's the details of my box today:

Lower tier: Leftover roasted chicken marinated overnight and browned this morning; Bulgar that soaked in chicken broth with salt, pepper, and sun dried tomatoes (not in oil); Container of Mediterranean Hummus (home-made, delicious); 2 asparagus ends to decorate.

Top tier: Strawberry-mango skewers; Steamed asparagus and zucchini (with mirin added to the water, yum!).

I was playing with the camera, and look how ghostly my box looks here:

My husband has basically the same thing:

Top tier: I cubed the strawberries and mango instead of making skewers, I also added 2 mini Babybel light cheeses cause he likes them so much and he DOES need a lot more calories than I do. In the middle he has the same mix of steamed veggies I have in my box.

Lower tier: He also had more chicken than I do (about double) and the rest of the Bulgar/sun dried tomato mix.

So, that's today's bento adventure. I really think it's cool to have a bento contest that doesn't include the "character bentos". Though I really REALLY am impressed by those masterpiece, it's cool to see us, simple everyday bento-makers be recognized!

Happy Bento everybody!

Added Note: This was one of the tastiest bento I've made! The marinade for the chicken was simple teriaki sauce. I ate that mixed with the bulgur, and had the hummus with the veggies.
DE-LI-CIOUS!

Went Shopping again!

2008-07-20T18:41:00.000-07:00

Oh my, I had a whole day to myself in San Francisco!

I saw on Biggie's blog that Kamei were selling some coolish bentos, so I stopped by to take a look. The ones I had seen on her site were ok, but not what I'm looking for, but then I saw two that I just had to have!

Here's the first one:

This is a Hakoya box. It's looks very well made, the sides are thick and the box is light but sturdy. The lid (inside) also seem to fit very well (not like the cheaper boxes that you're never sure if it will stay on).

From what I could understand (I don't read Japanese, so I kind of look at pictures a lot!) the lower tier is 280 ml, and the top tier is 200 ml. I thought the box was microwave safe, but the lady at Kamei (who was in a bad mood and didn't really listen to my question) said it wasn't. Biggie said on her website that the box is microwave and dishwasher safe.

I will try it in the microwave eventually, none of my boxes go in the dishwasher, safe or no.

Here's the box open:

I love that it's green on the inside for some reason. I got it at Kamei for $10.50!

This next box I got a Kamei also:

The picture doesn't do it justice. The blue is actually darker than shown. It's a 3 tier box, most probably not microwave safe. It's not exactly a practical box, but I loved the look of it.

I'm not quite sure of the volume of each tier. I'll figure it out and post when I do.

I got this box at Kamei for $7.50. There was that one in those colors, and it red and green. And the same thing but bigger in the same two choices of colors. I bought the only blue and black small one left on the shelf (other than the Demo) and opened EACH BOX to find a blue and black. I didn't like the red and green (too Christmas-y).

I also stopped by Ichiban Kan (of course) and got the part two of one of the first box I bought:

We had the bottom tier already, but I bought the top tier, so now my husband has the complete set. The top tier is 450ml, and the bottom tier 550 ml.

Saturday, my husband and I went to Daiso. We never miss a trip there when we're in the city. I bought myself a pickle press! I'm planning on making some quick pickling to put in the bentos as soon as I figure it out.

Between Ichiban Kan and Daiso, I picked up a few odds and ends to make my boxes cuter and easier. Here's the lot of them:

I decided to figure out just how many box sets I really have and put them all on the table for a group photo. I have 15 sets! Actually 16, my huge picnic box is missing!

Here's my collection:

So that's my bento shopping! I had a lot of fun with this and can't wait to have another "Cutsy Curse attack"! With so many boxes, I smell a challenge coming!

Happy Bento Everybody!

To Each Our Own n Stuff!

2008-07-17T11:18:00.000-07:00

Today I made two different bentos! I felt like having seafood in mine, and my husband isn't too crazy about it. He's from Missouri you know, so far from the sea, first time he saw it he couldn't believe how big a puddle it was... I'm joking!! ;op

Seriously, I wanted to make Onigiris to freeze, so I made myself a "Sushi Bowl" bento here's what it looked like:

I have a layer of "sushi rice" made with brown rice, over that I have red bell pepper and carrot mini sticks, 6 shrimp, and zucchini mini-slices.

I steamed the shrimp with salt and pepper and added some mirin to the steaming water. Can't wait to see if it changed the taste!

My husband has a completely different lunch:

He has leftover couscous that I mixed with a little oil and lemon juice, with that he has green salad.

In the other tier, he had left over chicken and salsa (I made more Monday and froze the leftovers), red bell pepper sticks and lentils in the middle, and cut strawberries on the left.

As I said I made Onigiri this morning. I made some "regular ones" and some "broiled ones". I love the broiled ones, but my husband doesn't really so...

Here they are:

I cooked my "broiled Onigiri" less before I put the soy sauce and "browned them" than I did the last time. They are a lot less crusty and dry. I'm thinking my husband will like these!

To see how to make Broiled Onigiri click HERE.

So that's my bento daily adventure! I've been meaning to make Oyakis for the longest time now, my husband LOVED them. Oh well, one thing at a time! I'll get to it!

Happy Bento Everybody!

Packing in a Punch!

2008-07-16T07:42:00.000-07:00

My husband made dinner yesterday. He made BBQ chicken (meaning with BBQ sauce, not on the grill). It's a recipe he got from the Shortcut Cookbook (Weight Watchers) and modified to suits us.

So we had leftovers of that, and I decided to cook this morning. It's our anniversary (6 years... O-M-G!) so I felt like I should make a little extra effort to make the bento tasty.

The chicken is very spicy so the rest is tasty but not "hot".

Here's my box (I used my donburi box again, time to change!):

I used the larger lower tier to put in the veggies! I have steamed broccoli as always (love the stuff!) and sauteed zucchini and red pepper.

I cooked the zucchini and pepper on very high heat in my nonstick wok with salt, pepper, and cumin until browned! I love to do that because it gets very flavorful, but doesn't overcook to the point of mushiness (a new word... wow..)

In the smaller top tier I put 1/2 cup of brown rice, 1/4 cup of steamed lentils, and the chicken.

I'm using the donburi box backward. You're supposed to put the grain on the bottom, and the saucy dish on top to mix just before eating. But I had a lot of vegetables so I cheated.

I think I've found a solution, at least for now, for my husband's box dilemma. I decided to use my bigger lock and lock set. It's not huge (700ml) but bigger than the Urura box (580 ml). We'll see how that goes. Ideally I'd still like to find him a cute box that would be 800 to 900 ml, but the lock and lock will do for now.

Here's what he had today:

On top, there's 1 cup of brown rice and about 1/4 cup of lentils.

In the lower tier he has the chicken, steamed broccoli and sauteed veggies.

It's basically the same thing as mine, but he has double the rice. I didn't have more chicken to give him, but I'll try to boost the proteins too as I go. The chicken is so spicy that a little goes a loooooong way.

So that's today's bento adventure. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Since I had leftovers I didn't make my seafood bento I had planned to make. There's always tomorrow! :o)

Happy Bento everybody!

Back on Track!

2008-07-15T07:48:00.000-07:00

Hello there!!

This morning I wanted to finish the stuff in the freezer so that I can start new! So it's not very original, but it's yummy, and from now on you'll see new stuff since I don't have anything left!

Can I panic now? He he he

Ok, so here's today's fare:

In the lower tier of my donburi box I put half Spicy Barley Pilaf and half ground turkey and vegetable curry type stuff (whatever that was, it was good!).

In the top tier I put steamed broccoli, red bell pepper sticks, and a little cup of steamed lentils.

I'm planning to eat this along with a little bag of baby carrots!

My husband has the same meal laid out differently in his little Urura box:

I've been trying to convince him to get a bigger box. Now that we are tracking our foods (we switched to the Flex plan) my suspicions have been confirmed, he's not eating enough! So I'll be looking for a "man sized" box. If anybody knows of any that don't look like a spaceship let me know!

That's my bento-ing for today. Tomorrow I plan on making myself a seafood bento and my husband's a salsa chicken one (made yesterday).

Have a happy bento day!

Thursday and Today!

2008-07-14T09:40:00.000-07:00

Friday was my husband's birthday. We had a good day, but without bento, and I ran late on all my online stuff!

Summer is a challenge isn't it?

Thursday:

So, we did have bento boxes Thursday and it was actually pretty yummy. Here's what we had:

Top left: I had Spicy Barley Pilaf (had it frozen) with a little bit of lettuce and a heart shaped cup of blueberries (not eaten with the barley obviously!).

Top right: I had steamed veggies with a heart shaped cup of steamed lentils.

Bottom: I had a ground turkey with vegetables dish that I dug out of the freezer.

It ended up being a LOT of food!

My husband had the same thing, just laid out differently:

Today:

Yesterday I did some thinking ahead and that's a good thing cause I slept in this morning. Here's my box:

Lower tier (left): Curried couscous with a little cup of steamed lentils.

Top tier (right): steamed veggies (steamed last night) and hard boiled eggs (boiled and shaped last night). The picture doesn't show it well, but the eggs are shaped in a bear shape and a fish shape.

My husband had the same thing, but his eggs were in the shape of a little car and a bunny!

So we're still bento-ing of course, but we skip a day every once in a while. It's summertime, I don't work daytime, so sometimes I like a freshly cooked lunch.

I'm not giving up though, I love this too much!

Happy Bento everybody!

Scavenging the Freezer!

2008-07-08T12:59:00.001-07:00

I slept about 2 hours last night because of the heat. This morning I woke up at 6:30, so I had to scramble to put together two lunches. Nothing was ready or thawed out.

I went digging in the freezer here's what it ended looking like:

In the top tier (left) I have not very steamed but very spiced veggies in a silicone cup, and strawberries and blueberries on the side.

In the lower tier (right) I had a vegetarian curry, and fried brown rice*.

*In the picture its plain brown rice cause I put the leftover rice in the bento instead of the fried rice by mistake. I switched it around after I took the pictures. DUH!

My husband has the same foods, just in a different box:

So that's a fairly simple lunch, smallish even, but I was pressed for time! We both had a little bag of carrots along with it, and I had a little hummus with my carrots.

It was enough for me but I should have added lentils or something to beef it up a little for Dan. I will do so tomorrow.

Another happy bento day!

Happy Bento-ing everybody!

I'm back!!

2008-07-07T15:24:00.000-07:00

I took a vacation from making Bento boxes mainly because my husband took some days off and we had like 3 whole days to ourselves! WOAH!

So, bentos went out the window and we went around having fun. Today is back to reality though. He's back to work, and the bento boxes were filled up. Today's fare is a weird mix of Thai, Indian, and BBQ stuff. Welcome to my world! I didn't think it would, but it went well together!

Here's my box:

In the lower tier (left) I had BBQ chicken breast that my husband grilled Saturday evening I think. With that I had Spicy Barley Pilaf that I took out of the freezer last night.

In the top tier (right) I have steamed broccoli with spices, and a Thai vegetable stir fry I made last night. In the little container I had Mediterranean hummus.

My husband's box has the exact same thing:

So we're back to our routine, and I'm looking at tomorrow's boxes already. Hopefully I can come up with something, supplies are low in my freezer!

I'm on it!!!

Happy Bento Everybody!

Friday and Today

2008-06-30T12:31:00.000-07:00

Friday:

Last Thursday I didn't make bentos because I had other plans. I didn't make a breakfast one Sunday either because I had breakfast at home.

I did make bentos Friday though, and have no idea why I didn't make a post about them!

So here's Friday's bentos:

Top tier: I had left overs chicken and salsa I made the previous night. With that I put in steamed broccoli.

Lower tier: Spicy Barley Pilaf and a mix of black beans, chickpeas and fresh tomatoes. In the little container I have guacamole.

Here's my husband's box:

He has close to the same thing except that I didn't put in the bean mixture (he's not too crazy about beans or tomatoes so..) so instead I put in a big cup of melon. I added guacamole to his box after I took the pictures.

Today:

Today I didn't have anything thought up for the boxes, so the morning was interesting. Here's what I packed:

Top tier: I have steamed broccoli with salt, pepper and cumin. On top of that I have a container of cilantro pesto. In the middle I have deli turkey on cutsy animal skewers. On the right I have sauteed (on high heat) zucchini half rounds with salt, pepper, cumin and sprinkled with fresh basil after cooking.

Lower tier: I have 1 1/2 hard boiled egg, salted and peppered. On the right I have a rice ball (the last of them!) and finally a little cup with blueberries.

My husband has the same stuff it's just laid out a little differently cause his box is different:

I hard boiled 3 eggs since I was making turkey skewers, I thought 1 1/2 egg was plenty. My husband has a bigger Onigiri and a little more veggies because he's 6'2" tall. Something tells me he should have a little more food!

I need to make Onigiris and Oyakis (been a while!). So that's my plan for the week!

Happy Bento Everybody!

Simplicity Bento

2008-06-25T09:37:00.000-07:00

Today I got a slow start which resulted in my husband going to work without a bento. Now I feel all guilty!

I was going to skip mine too, but realized I was going to be out of the house for lunch. I need a bento!

So here's what I put together:

I didn't feel inspired really, so I used the rest of the Tabbouleh (finally!), steamed broccoli and chopped a tomato to mix with it.

I didn't have any protein leftover, so I made a wrap* with Canadian bacon and a carrot stick! I used my cute little skewers to keep the pieces together and put it in the top tier of my little bento.

* The tortilla isn't part of the "free foods" on my food plan, though it IS allowed. I just have to account for it.

I'll have a banana with that for dessert! There you go, it's my Simplicity Bento! Sometimes simple is wonderful!

Happy Bento Everybody!

Monday - Tuesday

2008-06-24T13:49:00.000-07:00

Once again, two days in 1 post!

Sunday night I made a yummy meal, and we had leftovers for the bentos!

Here's what mind looked like:

Clockwise starting at the top: Tabbouleh (with a flower to decorate it!), Beef and vegetable kebabs (minus the skewer obviously!) and steamed broccoli with a little container of Baba Ganouj.

My husband has the same thing, except that his kebabs didn't have mushrooms in them:

Last night, my husband was the cook, and he did great! Again we used left overs to fill the bentos today. Here's mine:

Top tier (not divided): Chicken Provencal, it's chicken breast and the veggies it was cooked with. I added mushrooms that I cooked the morning in leftover juice from the chicken recipe.

Bottom tier (divided): First 1/3 has steamed broccoli, and the other 2 have tabbouleh (from Sunday night).

Here's my husband's box:

He had Chicken Provencal and steamed broccoli in the top tier, and Herbed whole wheat couscous in the bottom tier. Since the couscous was rather plain looking, I added flowers to liven up the whole thing.

So there you have it! It's leftovers week. We decided to cook every meals (instead of a lot of quick fixes, so we have tons of leftovers!

Happy Bento everybody!

Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday

2008-06-20T07:17:00.001-07:00

It's catch up time! I've been bento-ing (love that word) but not posting in here. I'm trying to cut down computer time as I do have a husband, a dog and a cat, and well... You know...

Also it's HOT in Northern California! Offaahhh gimme a snowstorm somebody!

So, today I don't have a box, neither does my husband. He wanted to go out with the guys, I don't know where I'll be. Might still make one, but so far (7:19am) none made or planned.

Tuesday:

I used my red Donburi box. We had various left overs, and I used that with Bulgar and steamed veggies.

Here's what it looked like:

Lower tier: I had leftover veggies sauteed from Saturday night that I wanted to finish up in a hurry, so I served that over Bulgar.

Top tier: Leftover BBQ chicken thighs (my husband's secret sauce, they were just SO GOOD) with steamed broccoli and peas. I love to use peas because I use them as dividers.

My husband had the same thing, just in a different box. Here's his lunch for Tuesday:

Wednesday:

Wednesday I was teaching at Altamira. I wasn't too sure about breaks, and snack time and such, so I filled my box more than I usually would. I also made the boxes the night before, something I rarely do. It worked well, but I didn't have any fresh veggies (other than the cucumber flowers) so that's different.

Here's what it looked like:

Top tier (divided one): I have a lentil curry that I bought at the Farmers Market, vegetables that cooked in the crock pot with chicken the day before, and the chicken itself.

Lower tier (not divided): Herbed couscous, a little cup of lentils (steamed from TJ) and cucumber flowers made with my little cutters I bought last week.

Again, my husband had the same thing, in his faithful little blue Urura box:

Thursday:

Thursday I didn't make myself a box. I had an attack of just "making up something" so I made myself a scallop soup. I did put together a box for my husband. He had forgotten his box at work, so I put it in my own yellow box.

Here's what it looked like:

In the top tier he has steamed lentils, and strawberry-mango salad.

In the lower tier he has couscous and a vegetable dish I made in the crock pot the day before. I don't quite remember what was in it, it was a case of "Ok, what do I have to use before it goes bad?"

So that's my catch up post! 3 days of bento in one post! If I decide to make one today I'll post it... today! ;op

Happy Bento everybody!

Some yummy leftovers!

2008-06-16T07:24:00.000-07:00

Today I had an easy time putting together the bentos. We had a BBQ last night, so we had plenty of leftovers. Since we had several different dishes, I thought it was the perfect day to try out my new Lock and Lock set.

First bad news... the bottle leaks. So, so much for the water bottle. It DOES give me enough space to put a bigger ice pack in there. So, my lunch will stay cool longer! AH!

Here's what my box looked like:

It's a two tier box, each tier is 350 ml. The first tier is divided, so there's no need for cups n stuff, the second tier is not divided.

Top tier, left to right: BBQed chicken thighs, diced; Left over vegetable casserole (from Saturday night); Sauteed red and yellow bell pepper and onion.

Bottom tier: Plain bulgur, with just salt and pepper; a little bear shaped cup of lentils, to add to the bulgur, grilled zucchini slices, cucumber flowers. The bottom tier isn't full because it's a little big... gives me "decoration space".

My husband has the same thing in his regular box. That one is not divided so I just used sushi grass in the top tier. Here's what it looks like:

He has the exact same lunch, looks like more because his box is slightly smaller than mine. He did bring a banana to eat with it.

So that's today's bento fare. I'm pretty happy with it, it was yummy yesterday and I'm sure it's going to be yummy again today!

Now I need a "manly colored" Lock and Lock. I keep thinking that my husband's box is too small for him, but he seems happy. Oh well!

Happy Bento Everybody!

Added note: I just ate lunch and this has to be the best tasting bento I've had so far. Really... Mmmmmm!

Sunday Breakfast Bento

2008-06-15T19:24:00.000-07:00

I decided to start bringing my breakfast to work again on Sundays so I can Weigh in before I eat. Neurotic a little, but I claim the right be my "neuroticity"! So there!

This morning I didn't have much time, so my husband boiled eggs while I was in the shower, and then I put the rest together. I halved the eggs, chopped a few strawberries, sliced cucumber (shaping a few slices with my new veggie cutter, and added a little heart shaped cup filled with steamed lentils.

Here's what it looked like:

I was nothing outstanding, but it was enough to get me going for a whole meeting. I had lunch only at 2pm, and I was starving by then. I would not have survived without my little breakfast!

So, there we are, a new week, a new bento.

Tonight we BBQed and I did some yummy side dishes, so tomorrow's bento will be interesting. I plan on using my new Lock and Lock set. I can't wait to show it off!

Happy Bento Everybody!

My new toys and shopping report!

2008-06-13T20:23:00.000-07:00

So, as promised, I took pictures of my new boxes, and my new goodies I bought on my trip in San Francisco yesterday! I'm trying to remember where I got everything and how much I paid for it. I hope I don't make mistakes! I also included a listing and my own review of my favorite spots.

First is my Lock and lock set! I've been wanting one of these for a while, but I wanted a neat color. I found a red one at Super Tokyo in the Richmond district . I paid $13.50 for it, it might be a little cheaper at Kamei but I didn't want the color they had.

The set includes a water bottle, with a cap that can be used as a glass, a divided top tier, and an undivided bottom tier. Being a lock and lock set, it's microwave safe, dishwasher safe AND leak proof. That has to be the most practical set I have.

Here it is all closed up ready to put in the cooler bag that came with it:

Here the picture is a little bit blurry, but that's the best one I got of the set all open:

The next set I got at Daiso*. It's a neat little 3 tiered box that I got for $1.50! I used it today and it's working just fine. The box is microwave safe, but not dishwasher safe. I would not "over-microwave it" if you know what I mean.

Funny detail, the plastic is see-through, so you can see the food through the box. Kinda cool and kind creepy at the same time.

*I bought the brown belt at Ichiban Kan.

Here it is all closed up:

Here's the set all open up:

The final box I got is more of a snack box. It's tiny, and to be honest, not overly practical... but it's so freakin' cute! I got it at Sanko for about $8.50 (I think, around that).

It's a 2 tiered box (140 ml and 240 ml) with a cute little bear on top. It came with a bag, and a little hide-away fork. I don't know if it's microwave safe, but I'm planning on using it as a snack bento anyway so no worries.

Here it is all closed up:

Look, the fork hides between the 2 tiers:

Here it is all opened up:

If I remember right, I got the little containers, and the silicone cups at Daiso ($1.50) and the little ice tray at Ichiban Kan ($1.25):

Now the picture just below this:

The two nori punches are from Ichiban Kan ($1.25 each), there's a heart and a star.

Now for the vegetable cutters, it's complicated. The two big ones and the 3 small ones at the bottom (heart, star and bear) are from Daiso ($1.50 each set). The 4 little cutters just below the punches, are from Soko Hardware (5 dollars-something for the set of 4).

The picks are from Ichiban Kan ($1.00), there was two of each, but I put one of each to take the picture:

Yes, I know some of them don't seem... kid appropriate, we've been laughing at that all evening. I'm thinking what's more appetizing than a koala humping a strawberry? Muaahahaha

So that's my shopping yesterday! I went all over town, walked from the Richmond to Japantown and back and then some... it was a good day!

Here's the stores I talked about in this post:

Super Tokyo
On the corner of 4th St. and Clement St. in the Richmond district. It's one of those store where you get anything, from toys, to dishes, to food going around by incense and then some. It's a cute little store that I like to run around in. It's not always good deals though. You might want to stop by Kamei and check the prices before you buy at Super Tokyo.

Kamei
It's on Clement St. between 7th St. and 6th St. Kamei has everything for the kitchen. It's basically a restaurant supply store. You won't find the fancy bento stuff in there, but it's practicality central. It's generally cheaper, but not always... do your homework. Also, know what you're looking for, their English is... limited.

Daiso
It's across the parking lot from the Serramonte shopping center. Daiso is my absolutely favorite store. They have everything plastic! I bought everything I needed to organize my stuff at my new meeting for $8!

Plastic boxes, notebooks, dishes, bento boxes, bento gear, cooking gear... 95% of it $1.50! Lock and lock Tupperware EVERYTHING... can you tell I love that place?

Ichiban Kan
It's located in the Miyako Mall in Japantown. It's my second favorite place... was first until I discovered Daiso. It's a dollar store, they have a good bento section, and a lot of knickknacks! The advantage of Ichiban Kan is that they are right in town.

ALSO, Ichiban Kan now have a great website that you can order from (www.ichibankanusa.com). That's a way to get bento boxes and bento gear without paying the Ebay outrageous prices. You won't find fancy stuff, but they still have some cool things like egg molds and picks.

Soko Hardware
On Post St. right across from Miyako Mall. This is a hardware store that has a great kitchen stuff section. They aren't always cheap, but you can find good deals. Their supply of bento boxes is limited and pricey, but they often have things like vegetable cutters, and sauce bottles when everybody else it out!

They also have the absolute nicest staff in San Francisco!

Sanko
Last but certainly not least Sanko is on Buchanan, between Post and Sutter (in the little stone paved part of Buchanan behind Soko Hardware). It is like the fuffy bento spot. While Ichiban Kan and Daiso will overwhelm you with cheapos stuff, Sanko is the place to find the little things that you can't find anywhere else. They are pricey, but sometimes it's worth it.

Also, if you go often you might get lucky and get a good deal like I did on my bear box! I try not to stop at Sanko too often because it always cost me more than I want to spend, but the stuff is so cool I can't resist it!

There you are, that's my shopping report from yesterday in San Francisco! I bought stuff that I absolutely don't need, but that I could not resist! I will use it all, as soon as I figure out where to put it all! AH!

Let me know if you know other good spot to go bento shopping in San Francisco, I'm always game for new adventures!

Happy bento everybody!

Trying out a new box

2008-06-13T13:56:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I took the day off and went to San Francisco. The idea was to wander around and relax, and I did that. Of course, relaxing in the city means retail therapy.

I didn't have much money to play with, so I hit Daiso first and then Ichiban Kan. Since I was in Japantown, I also stopped at Sanko and at Soko Hardware.

Finally I went back to the Richmond, my home base in San Francisco, and stopped by Kamei and Super Tokyo. I got all sorts of goodies of course, and I also got 3 new boxes. Like I needed more!

Today I decided to try out one of my new boxes. I got this one at Daiso for a whooping $1.50. It's a 3 tiered box that simple stack up on top of each others. the text is in Japanese so I don't know how many ml each tier is, but I'll figure it out!

Here's what it looked like today:

On the left, I have ground turkey cooked with vegetables. In the middle I have steamed broccoli and snow peas with garam masala and hot chili powder, and finally in the tier on the right I have vegetable curry.

The presentation isn't overly original, I was trying out the box, and seeing how much stuff it can take. Surprisingly a LOT. The tiers are small, but there's 3 of them.

I'm surprised how much I like this little box. A white background doesn't do it justice, I'll take pictures of all my new boxes on a darker background!

So that's my bento-ing for today. I was very satisfied with it, didn't need a snack or nothing!

I'll be showing off my new stuff soon!

Happy Bento everybody!

Yesterday's Fare

2008-06-11T09:58:00.001-07:00

This is a crazy week! Today I didn't make any bentos, I didn't have time for one thing, and I really wanted a veggie-full lunch. Not enough space in a bento box for that!

I did make bento lunches yesterday but never had time to post. So here are yesterday's bentos:

Both are exactly the same.

Lower tier: Steamed broccoli and peas, I made a little divider with the peas. In the middle I have cut up strawberries, and then cucumber slices. I used little skewers to eat the strawberries with, mine are la little duck and a little chick. My husband's are veggies.

Top tier: 2 Onigiri, I have a heart and a bear, he has a star and a bear. In a silicone cup, we have the rest of the chicken dish my husband made Sunday night. Very good, very spicy, no clue what's in there. Maybe that's a good thing heheheheheh

That was out bentos yesterday. Today I'm starting a new meeting in a new location, I've been up to my ears in that for a week now, FINALLY it's getting started! I'll be able to breathe!

I'm out of Onigiri, and haven't had Oyakis in weeks! So that'll be the cooking plan this week. I'm also planning a trip to San Francisco tomorrow or Friday so, though I really don't need more boxes... I'm sure to stop by Japantown.. hehe

Happy Bento Everybody!

For the love of food...

2008-06-09T09:49:00.000-07:00

Today I had left overs to work with, and I wanted to see how I could make food look good, just with food. With the exception of one little container, I tried to make an attractive looking lunch, by mixing the colors, the textures, and even the size of the foods I put in there.

I'm pretty happy with how this turned out! I used my red Donburi box because I like how there's a "bowl tier" and a "flat tier". It inspires me for some reason!

Here's the bottom tier:

In this tier, I have rather plain couscous in which I dug a space to put a plastic/paper cup that I filled with leftover chicken and vegetable dish. Don't ask me for the recipe, my husband made it up as he went, it was very spicy, but delicious. To add a pop of color, I diced some avocado on top of the chicken dish.

Here's the top tier:

In there I have a large silicone cup filled with diced strawberry to which I added a container of Greek yogurt. Around that I have halved, sliced cucumber, sprinkled with diced avocado. The idea was to have colors complement each others. The silicone cup and the yogurt container are both yellow which I think adds to the effect!

That's my little bento adventure for today. I'm planning on a different box tomorrow, but I sure am starting to really love this one!

Happy bento everybody!

Shaped Eggs Bento

2008-06-05T08:08:00.000-07:00

Hello there!

I have too many eggs, so I went ahead yesterday and boiled a bunch of them. I used my egg molds to give them shapes but my eggs were a bit small for the molds. The shapes aren't as clear as they should be! Oh well.. still taste yummy! Fresh eggs!

Both boxes are put together exactly the same way. I made them in chain, adding each elements to each box at the same time.

Here's my box:

Top tier: I have a little heart shaped cup of lentil (left), mini-cucumber slices with my little duck skewers (love those!) to make them easier to grab, and a vegetable curry I had in the freezer.

Lower tier: I have 1 1/2 hard boiled egg, one bunny shaped, and one bear shaped (that one's only 1/2 egg, that's why it's kind of sunk in). With that I have 2 star shaped Onigiri, and red bell pepper pieces for color, and to fill the gaps.

My husband has the exact same box except that his skewers are vegetables instead of ducks, and his whole boiled egg is a little car instead of a bunny!

I don't think I ever really explained how to use the egg molds, or did I? I can't remember, and I can't find it! So here it is!

Here's the egg molds I use:

Those things are two sided, so there's the same shape on both side and they have little "clamps" on the side to secure them shut.

1- You hard boil the eggs like you would for anything else.

2- When the eggs are done, You break the shell all around and QUICKLY pass them under cold water. You don't want to cool the egg, just loosen up the shell.

3- You peel the eggs while still hot and put them in the mold. That's the sucky part really, but if you use a cold spoon to loosen the shell it helps.

4- Close the mold (make sure to clamp it shut), and put in the fridge for 10-15 minutes (until cool).

5- Carefully un-mold the eggs, and either serve (or put in a box), or color by soaking in water and food coloring for 10-15 minutes).

Et Voila! Shaped eggs!

The smaller ones I usually use whole, the heart shaped one and the star shaped ones make great shape for "halved eggs". You just slice the egg in two, and present it yolk-up. That would make awfully cute deviled eggs!

That's it for today folks! Keep the Cutsy curse alive!

Happy Bento Everybody!

Tuesday and Today

2008-06-04T07:53:00.000-07:00

Once again I'm catching up! I've been sick, so my bento making has lacked enthusiasm. I'm done with feeling sorry for myself! Back to cutsiness!

Yesterday I made a bento for my husband, but none for me. Here's what I put in his:

In the lower tier, he had 3 Onigiri (2 stars and one bear). I tried to make eyes, a nose and a mouth with cucumber pieces on the bear shaped Onigiri, See it? That's my cutsy curse move of the day ! I put the Onigiri on thin slices of cucumber, and put red bell pepper sticks to stabilize the whole thing.

In the top tier, I put the rest of the beef stir fry, cucumber slices, and a little container of Cilantro pesto (we both love that stuff!).

Today I made two bentos. I decided it was time to put aside my laziness.

Here's my box:

I used my 1 tier little box that I usually use as a snack bento. I wanted to see if I could fit a whole meal in there. I can! There's the same stuff in mine as there is in my husband's 2 tier box!

Top left corner I have red bell pepper and cucumber sticks; to the right of that I have a container of cilantro pesto; in the top right corner I have steamed broccoli and shredded carrots; in the lower right corner I have ground turkey cooked with vegetables and black beans; and finally in the lower left corner I have lentil curry.

I put two little butterflies made out of red bell pepper slices using my little cookie cutters to "cutefy" the whole thing.

Here's my husband's box:

He has the exact same lunch. Veggie sticks, lentil curry, steamed veggies, and ground turkey and veggies. Instead of butterflies, I put a dog bone shaped piece of pepper. I thought it would be more "manly". He thought it was hysterical! hehehe

I love to play with the color of foods, the orange/yellow curry and the bright green cucumbers. I love food, what can I say? I think that it's more a tool for creativity than just "fuel". Make it pretty people, it'll taste better!

Happy Bento Everybody!

Mix n Match Bento!

2008-06-02T11:03:00.000-07:00

I've been sick all weekend, and lets just say unmotivated. This morning I realized too late that I hadn't made a bento for my husband. I remembered that I had planned on having a cutsy curse week though, so I got my own box together.

It's very much a leftover bento, here it is:

In the lower tier, I have bulgur, a little cup of lentil curry (with a flower on top) and a container with Leek-Zucchini soup in it. * I used thinly sliced red bell pepper to decorate the bulgur, and with the flower I though it would look cute.

In the top tier, I have left over beef stir fry, thinly sliced red bell peppers, and a little cup of blueberries.

* I had to take about 35 pictures of the lower tier of my bento before I finally got a clear one. I took my box back out 3 times, to start over, and finally stopped removing the lid off the soup every time because it was messing the whole thing up each time I did. It was much prettier with the lid off to show the green soup.

The final picture isn't that great, but it's the only was that was clear enough to see what was actually on it. I'm planning on a new camera soon!

So that's my bento for today! I'm trying to add cutsiness with food, rather than add a lot of plastic decorations (yeah the flower is plastic, but that's just ONE thing.. besides, I like them!).

How are you practicing cutsiness with your lunches? Drop me a comment with a link to your own cutsy lunch so we can share our cutsy curse! ;op

Happy Bento Everybody!!!

Quick and Easy Bentos

2008-05-30T09:41:00.000-07:00

Today my husband needed to leave early, so I got everything ready to go last night. I just had to put the boxes together this morning. Nothing to cook (and let cool).

Here's my box:

Clockwise, starting from the top:

I have ground turkey cooked with vegetables (leftover from dinner last night).

In the next tier, I have coriander scented bulgur with a container of Guacamole to eat with the cucumbers.

Finally in the 3rd tier I have cut cucumbers, and lentils in a little heart shaped cup.

My husband has the same foods, but in a differently shaped box:

The ground turkey dish was very simple, I did not follow a recipe, but rather went with what I had on hand.

Basically, I sauteed 1/2 red onion, celery, carrots, sweet potato and asparagus (all of them diced smallish) in a dutch oven, added drained diced tomatoes that I had almost pureed (chunky puree if you will). I added a mix of coriander, garlic granules, salt and pepper.

In the meantime, I added the same spice mix to the ground turkey, added minced green onions and browned that lightly in a separate pan.

I added the turkey to the vegetables, added a little broth and cooked that until everything was done.

The bulgur was just soaked with vegetable broth and spices (salt, pepper, coriander). Et Voila!

Next week I want to give myself another challenge: Cutsy Curse Challenge! The goal being to make my bentos cute! I've been sloppy on that score lately!

So there, have a great weekend!!

Happy Bento Everybody!

2 days in one!

2008-05-29T19:51:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I'm catching up! In this post, I have the bentos I made yesterday, and the ones I made today!

Yesterday first! Tuesday night I had dinner alone since my husband was stuck at work due to an accident on 101. I made myself a simple vegetable curry with Zucchini, tomatoes and beans. I used that along with whatever I could find in the fridge to fill our bentos Wednesday morning:

Seen up close, here's my box:

In the lower tier (left): there's steamed broccoli and shredded carrots, and cucumber-lean ham skewers.

In the top tier I have the vegetable curry, red bell pepper pieces, and a container of guacamole.

Here's my husband's box:

It doesn't show on the picture really, but his pieces of ham on the skewers were about double mine, and he had more steamed veggies too! Otherwise, he had the exact same lunch I did.

I always add a little bag of baby carrots to his lunch, and a banana for snack.

Today I didn't have anything ready to go, so I went fishing for bento fare in the freezer and got inventive. Here's my box:

In the top tier (left) I have round Onigiri on cucumber slices, and a little cup of lentils. The red pieces are diced red bell pepper I put in for color.

In the lower tier (right) I had steamed broccoli, red bell pepper pieces and shredded carrots. In the little cup I had black beans, lentils cooked in BBQ sauce to which I added TJ Tomato-less corn salsa after it was off the fire (about a tablespoon).

I cooked the beans and lentil real quick in the morning and it was delicious! There's a lot of lentils in the bentos today, but I wanted to use up the ones I had before they go bad.

My husband's box was the exact same thing as mine. Here it is:

So there, I've been back on the bento wagon, just didn't have time to post much. I fine myself going more and more toward vegetarian bentos, adding ham or Canadian bacon here and there when the vegetarian fare is not high enough in proteins.

I just find vegetarian fare easier to deal with. There isn't the issue of contaminating everything like there is with chicken for example. That's a good thing when you're in a hurry in the morning.

For dinner tonight I made ground turkey with vegetables. I have a lot of leftovers so be assured that you'll get some turkey bentos soon! :o)

Happy Bento everybody!

Late Start Bento and Guac madness!

2008-05-27T10:31:00.000-07:00

Today I had a late start due to not sleeping well. I didn't have time to make a bento for my husband, since he left just after I finally got up. The poor guy is in a crunch at work, if he ever needed good food... Oh well.

I did take the time to make myself a box. I've been reeving up my eating well and moving routine, and I'm enjoying myself a lot doing it.

Here's my box today:

Starting at the top, clockwise, I have steamed lentils (from Trader Joes), canned chickpeas and red kidney beans that I cooked in a non-stick skillet with salsa*.

In the next tier I have pieces of red bell pepper with a container of guacamole.

Finally, I have my now usual steamed veggies with salt, pepper, and cilantro.

I haven't had lunch yet, so I don't know how filling it will be, I shall report about it eventually!

*I had left overs that didn't fit in my box and added better n egg with the bean salsa mix and cooked that. YUMMY breakfast!

Yesterday we stopped by Trader Joes and I bought some more guacamole. Here's the brand I buy:

I absolutely love that guacamole. It's made with avocado (imagine that!) and jalapeno puree, white vinegar, jalapeno (huh? again?), dehydrated onion, salt, and granulated garlic. That's it! No ingredients that I can't pronounce of find in a normal dictionary!

So, I love that guacamole, but my problem is that it's in 2 containers of 8 oz each. Too much for me and my husband to eat at once, or even fast. My solution is to open those containers, and repack in smaller ones. I can then thrown them in the freezer, and thaw out just what I need!

Here's my containers (out of a 2 pack package):

Each container is enough for 2 bentos and a little snack (or 3 bento!). Funny thing is I didn't realize I still had left over from my last Guacamole expedition, so we'll be eating a lot of guac. this summer! Hehehehe

Happy bento everyone!

2008-05-23T12:16:00.000-07:00

Final installment of my "new box everyday" challenge! Today I decided to use my "Donburi box" that my husband bought me for my birthday!

Here it is, the picture is a little washed off I think, but still:

It's a two tier box, made with a bowl (usually for rice) and a smaller top tier (usually for saucy stuff to dump on the rice.

For some weird reason I was very intimidated by that box. I didn't know how to work with it, other than curry with a grain. So I didn't do that today, just to be stubborn about it!

I did my husband's box first since he had to leave in a hurry:

He has Confetti Bean Salad, with cucumber and shredded carrots in the lower tier.

In the top tier he has steamed broccoli and left over roasted chicken that I coated with Mexican hot sauce. He bought that stuff last week and says he loves it so there!

In the lower tier of my box, I have half brown rice, and half Confetti Bean Salad. This picture doesn't do it justice because it looks like there is more rice, but there isn't. It was exactly the same and even. Humpf!

In the top tier I have steamed broccoli (with Garam Masala) , cucumber slices and ham!

Yup, those butterflies are ham, I used my cookie cutter, and made 6 little butterfly out of a thick ham slice and put them on a skewer! I didn't really need extra proteins, but I decided to try it out for taste and because I had a cutsy attack. Neat huh?

So there you go, all packed up and ready to go!

I've really enjoyed this, and now I'm looking forward to making more bento since I've seen all the possibilities of my many boxes!

Ah! Watch me go, the Cutsy Curse will never die!

Happy Bento Everybody!

Another day, another box!

2008-05-22T13:08:00.000-07:00

Ok, today we had planned a picnic, but it didn't happen, so I turned my picnic goodies into bento goodies! My husband doesn't have a box, since we were supposed to eat that picnic together. Darned schedule!

Today I decided to use the very first bento I've bought. It's a small 2 tier bento, I usually use it as a snack bento since I've always felt like it was too small for a meal. WRONG! I had plenty of food in there, and it was delicious!

Here's my box:

In the top tier, on the left, I have left over roasted chicken shredded. With that I have cucumber slices. Nothing fancy.

In the lower tier, on the right, I have Confetti Bean Salad, with avocado slices on top.

Since the box is a little smaller, I went for "filling foods" like beans, and avocado, with proteins to keep me going with less food.

Here's my box closed. I like that it's all red with no decoration. I bought it at Ichiban Kan for like $1.50.

I wanted to give an idea of how small the box really is. Here it is, bundled up (no cooler bag, just the box) in my hand. See? It's tiny!

I'm really happy I decided to do this "different box each day" thing. It's forcing me to think and making me realize how versatile my boxes are. I'm having a blast with this!

To think I was always using the same box every day! This is so much fun!

Happy Bento Everybody!

Yesterday's Bentos

2008-05-21T14:11:00.000-07:00

I didn't put together any Bento today. I was not working, though I'm working tonight though, and my husband didn't need one, so I flaked out of it.

I did make some yesterday though, and kept up with my "try a new box each day" challenge! Yesterday I used my 2 tier black box, that I bought at Sokko Hardware in Japantown. I love that box because it's perfect to pack a salad along with a side dish and proteins. Most boxes are too small for salads.

Here's what I had:

In the smaller lower tier (which is divided) I have leftover tabbouleh surrounded with cucumber slices, just to make it pretty. I also have leftover Turkish Meatballs.

In the top tier I have a salad made with lettuce, red bell pepper, chickpeas, and shredded carrots.

Here's my box closed. Isn't it cool? The decorations on it reflects the light in all sorts of cool ways!

Here's another picture:

See the butterfly on the right? Cool huh?

Here's my husband's box:

He's not big on salad, besides I have only one salad friendly box, so I made him steamed veggies, and cut pepper pieces instead. He still has the tabbouleh, surrounded by cucumbers and the Turkish Meatballs.

Tomorrow I'm going to see what I can come up with. I had not planned on working tonight so I'll have to be creative in the morning.

I think I'll be using my Donburi box, I do have curry in the freezer, and rice that I can make really quick. We'll see what happens!

Happy Bento everybody!

New Day, New Bento

2008-05-19T19:43:00.000-07:00

In continuation with my exploration of different bento box shapes, I decided to use my comfy, regular 2 tier bentos. I use those regularly, so I have an easy time packing them up effectively.

Here's today's fare:

In the top tier (320 ml) I have left over Tabbouleh, that I made Sunday, and left over Vegetarian curry that I made Saturday.

In the lower tier (250 ml) I have steamed broccoli and shredded carrots with cilantro and Turkish Meatballs. I made a divider with little cucumber sticks! Isn't it cute?

I also brought a snack bento. Fruit salad with a little container of honey.

My husband has the exact same lunch as mine. His cucumber divider looks more cool because it's all twirly! His box is the same as mine, just a different color. I also have the red version of that box.

Now that my favorite box format is used, the rest of the week should be interesting! I think tomorrow I'm going for several smaller boxes since I work all day and then again at night. I need a snack, a lunch, and another snack (before my second job). We'll see what I can come up with!

Happy Bento everyone!

Starting my week

2008-05-18T19:45:00.000-07:00

This week I want to try something out!

I have several differently shaped bentos, but somehow I always use the same format. So this week I want to use a different box every day. I don't know that I have 6 different "format" of boxes, but at least not two days in a row the same box shape. We'll see how that goes!

Today I needed a breakfast bento, like every Sunday. I had some stuff to play with, and kept it very simple. Here's what my box looked like:

I used my round box that I bought at Kamei while Mom was in town. It has 3 separately removable containers which divides the box in 3 equal parts. I'm really falling in love with that box, it's simple, and yet very versatile.

Clockwise, starting on top:

1st tier: I have sliced cucumbers and a container of Baba ghannouj that I bought at the Farmer's Market in Santa Rosa.

2nd tier: I have a layer of rather plain bulgur and 2 hard boiled eggs (small ones) halved (I had to cut one of the half to make it fit in without mushing them up).

3rd tier: I have steamed broccoli and shredded carrots with salt, pepper, and cilantro.

It was very tasty, and very filling. I didn't have lunch until 1pm, and I wasn't starving in any way.

Tomorrow, I'll be eating leftovers. It was so good tonight, it's got to be good again tomorrow!!

Happy Bento everybody!

My first "Sushi Bowl"... kind of...

2008-05-16T11:30:00.000-07:00

Today I'm home, so I made my bento and ate it right away. I wanted to try and make a "Sushi Bowl" but I didn't want to use rice. So here's what I did:

I used my "round box" I got from Kamei (didn't want to use my cute Donburi box that my husband got me for my birthday cause I didn't want it to smell like shrimp). I removed the 3 containers that usually divides it to make it work.

1- I put a layer of Bulghur that I soaked with chicken broth, salt and pepper. Ideally you want to use sushi rice, but I felt rebellious today! ;op

2- On top of that, I put pieces of avocado, spread over the whole surface. After slicing the avocado, I coated it in lime juice to keep it green.

3- Then I sliced a mini-cucumber and halved half of the slices. I stood those half-rounds between the avocado pieces to add dimension to the whole thing (thanks to the WW Core board for the english lesson AND entertainment LOL). I put the rounds here and there wherever there was space left, covering some, but not all, of the avocado. (I wanted both the cucumber and avocado to show through).

4- I sprinkled shredded carrots over the whole thing (for color).

5- I placed steamed shrimps over the whole thing, spacing them enough to see the layers under them. It'd be better with slightly smaller shrimps, but I had only those (I buy them frozen at Costco).

I love to eat food that makes me happy. I'm not talking about eating a chocolate cake to "feed my sorrow" but I'm talking about "fun foods" that looks and tastes neat!

That bento would be a great carry around box if it was given time to cool completely before closing!

I did make a bento yesterday, but forgot to take a picture! :o( I had like 2 minutes to put it together and go.

I used my 2 tier red longish box(I have 3 of those, a yellow one, a blue one that my husband uses, and a red one). There wasn't anything overly inspiring in it, but still! I had 3 small rice balls over lettuce, the rest of my tiny eggs boiled and halved (so cute! I'm out!) and veggies with guacamole.

Ah the life of a sub teacher! Bento on, my friends, bento on!

Happy bento!

Tuesday & Wednesday

2008-05-14T17:09:00.000-07:00

Busy busy! Yesterday I was at school from 7 to 3:15 and then at WW from about 4:30 to 6:30 and then at the gym. Got home at about 9!

So, I did make bentos, but didn't have time to post. So here's yesterday and today's bentos in one post!

Yesterday we had yummy left overs, so I used that:

I had Ginger Chicken Yakitori (Sizzle It, WW) in the little pink container, I had cilantro pesto. With that in my top tier, I had my Corn, Black beans, and Mango Salsa.

In the lower tier, I had steamed broccoli, carrot and cucumber sticks, lentils, and a container of guacamole.

I knew it was going to be a long day, so I packed a snack bento:

I had in there diced plum, and honey dew melon, with a container of yogurt sweetened with honey.

My husband's box was exactly the same as mine, but in different colors. I just made them together in line:

He did not need a snack bento so I didn't make him one.

Today was a different story! I had very little time to get stuff together, very little left overs, and my regular bentos were dirty. I decided it was the perfect time to try my round box I got at Kamei:

Clockwise, starting at the top:

First tier: I divider that 1/3 container in 3. I put in steamed broccoli, Corn, Black Bean and Mango Salsa in the middle and lentils on the right. I didn't put any dividers, and it was still visibly divided when I ate at noon! Cool!

Second tier: I removed the container to add space, and used a lettuce leaf as a container, I put a round rice ball in there.

Third tier: I put carrots and cucumber sticks with a container of pesto.

It looks like a lot, but it really wasn't so I brought along a thermos with vegetable soup to complete the meal.

My husband's box was a little different:

In the top tier, he had steamed broccoli, a rice ball resting on lettuce (keeps it from sticking to the box) and deli turkey skewers (I used my little animal skewers!).

In the lower tier, he had carrot and cucumber sticks, pesto (like the salsa, it's all gone), and lentils.

I didn't think he had enough food, but he has access to food at work if needed so he must have been fine. He just said it was enough food. Oh well!

So that's two days of bento at our house! I need to pack up two bentos for myself tomorrow. Lunch is only at 1:04 pm, I'll need a snack to make it that late!

I'll post tomorrow night!

Happy Bento!

Yummy leftovers!

2008-05-12T15:00:00.000-07:00

We've been cooking this weekend and ended up with wonderful leftevers for the Bento. Here's our boxes for today:

Both boxes have the same foods exactly, I filled them together.

In the top tier, there's leftover pork roast, cooked in sweet jalapeño chutney. Also there is steamed lentils (from TJ) and steamed broccoli. In the little container I have cilantro pesto I bought at the Farmers Market Saturday.

In the lower tier, there's Corn, black beans and mango salsa, and grilled asparagus (leftover from last night). I put sushi rice between the two so the asparagus wouldn't get soggy.

Here's my box up close:

Here's my husband's box, same thing, different colors:

To help out with the pictures, I got myself a tripod!!!! I think it's helping a lot! I'm also studying my camera to try and learn how to use it fully. If that doesn't work, I have a camera in mind that might work better (but that I haven't managed to justify with my husband yet ;op). So keep posted, I'm hoping to get the pictures looking better as I go! :o)

So, that's my bento adventure for today! It was very good, and I think looked good also!

Happy Bento everyone!

Oops, swam too long!

2008-05-09T08:28:00.000-07:00

This morning I went to the gym and after my "regular" cardio, I went for a swim. I hadn't counted in the time it takes to put on the swimsuit and everything, or the shower time at the end (when I don't swim I take a shower at home). I got home at 7!

So, I had like 5 minutes to put the bentos together cause my husband had to go to work! I had leftover couscous and roasted veggies, that's it, so I went digging in the fridge.

Here's my box:

Top left corner (top tier) you can see rather plain couscous, it's curried lightly, but had it with spicy food last night so it's not too spicy. In the same tier, you have the roasted yellow carrots and asparagus. I added Canadian Bacon on skewers. I only have 3 slices, but on skewers like that it looks like a lot doesn't it? I added a tomato to keep stuff in place.

In the lower tier, I have steamed lentils (TJ) and cut up honey dew melon. In the little yellow container, I have honey to pour on the melon.

My husband's box is a little different, here's what it looks like:

In the top tier (left) he has the same couscous, and I made his skewers with mesquite turkey slices instead of Canadian bacon. He also has the roasted veggies (hidden under the skewers). Half hidden on the left is cheese sticks, I don't even know what kind. He had leftover of a block of cheese, and I cut thick sticks out of it.

In the lower tier, he has steamed lentils, cut up yellow carrots, and raisins for dessert.

My husband was quite sick for the last few days, so I boosted the proteins a little to give him strength since it's his first day back to work.

I have to say that with the time I had to put this together, I'm pretty happy with how the boxes turned out. The cutsy curse never ends! :o)

Happy Bento everyone!!!

A week in a post!

2008-05-07T10:44:00.000-07:00

Hello there! I'm baaaaaaaack!

I had visitors last week and was out of town most of the week. The few days that I was actually here, I was running all over the county. Offaaah!

There hasn't been much time for bento making. I did make a bento for my husband on the monday. It was fairly simple, but I had 3 extra people in my tiny condo!

Here's my husband's box for monday April 28th:

He had 2 boiled eggs, couscous with peppers and onions, steamed broccoli and sliced mini peppers and cut up red bell pepper and cucumber.

We like eggs a lot, and this Monday (the 5th) my friend gave me "real eggs"! She has chickens at home (more pets than "farm animals" believe me) and she gave me 12 tiny eggs! Here's one of them in a mini muffin silicon cup. It's been boiled and cut in half (the fork beside it is one of those small salad fork, not a big "normal" fork):

Those fresh eggs taste so much better than store bought eggs! It's like being back home eating eggs from my dad's chickens! I love it! They are also tiny, so perfect for bentos! I know her chickens aren't laying eggs all year round, I'm already looking around for other sources for "real eggs"!

Ok, back to bentos. My birthday was this week, and I got 2 boxes as gifts! One in a red Donburi box that my husband ordered from Japan (I love it!) and the other one is a big "family size" bento that my friend (same one who gave me the eggs!!) gave me. Before my birthday I stopped by Kamei and bought myself a round box with dividers to use as a Donburi (didn't know I had one coming!) that will be useful too!

Here's all 3 of them:

My red Donburi box is really neat! It has a top compartment that rests on the black lid, and a main compartment under that. It also has a little container with a lid to put condiments n stuff, and a sauce bottle (which is huge... hmm).

My 2 favorite feature of that box is that the top compartment isn't the lid, it rests on the lid. That way, if I want to microwave it, it's not gummy under it. I'm fuffy that way.

Another really cool thing is that there's a little plastic "grill" at the bottom that can be removed. I love to eat a lot of salads and veggies, so that gives a little "drainage" feature so that the bottom doesn't get all soggy!

My next box is my divided round box. I got it "el cheapos" at Kamei. It's cool because each divider is a little container, and can be removed! I love that. The lady at Kamei told me it could be microwaved. The trick at Kamei is to keep the questions simple (they generally don't speak english too well) so I pointed at it "Microwave ok?" there you go!

I also like the look of a white box with a clear lid. It doesn't take very good pictures, but it looks good. It's perfect for colorful fruits... makes them pop!

Finally there's my bento "platter"! Funny thing is, when I opened the box, my reaction was "OMG, it's huge!" and my friend went "Yeah I know!" I don't think she expected it to be that big. At first I was wondering what I would do with it, but once I opened it, I fell in love!

It's obviously too big for a "lunch bento" but it's perfect for a picnic, a potluck, a BBQ with friends! the little dividers you see in one of the tiers are all little containers and are removable. They also fit in both tier (on some bentos one tier is taller than the other) so you can put 2 in one and 3 in the other. Perfect for dips, for sauces, for serving salad with dressing, different grains!

Now I can carry my bento mania even to parties!

So that's what has been going on. I made onigiri yesterday and froze them, I'm planning on making Oyakis sometime this week and will get ready to be back to work full time next week.

About time. My husband is home sick and I'm not working so no need for bentos really. After all the restaurant eating though, I think I'll be cooking all week!

Until then I'll try and make some bentos for us when I have a minute.

Happy Bento everyone!

My Mini-Burgers

2008-04-24T08:45:00.001-07:00

Ok, yesterday I wanted to make mini black bean burgers. So I looked up recipes, but nothing looked like what I wanted. So I started making up stuff.

I didn't want to put in bread crumbs, because they don't fit in my food plan, so somebody suggested to use cornmeal instead. Here's what I did:

Black Bean Mini-Burgers

Ingredients
1 can of black bean, rinsed drained
1/2 carrots grated (very mushy, but that's ok)
1 small shallot, minced
1/4 cup red bell pepper minced,
1 whole egg lightly beaten
4 tsp (more or less) fine cornmeal
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 Indian red chili powder
Pinch garam masala
Salt, pepper

I mashed the beans with a fork, it makes a coarser texture than processing it. Then I added all the ingredients and mixed until combined. The mixture was pretty wet, but I managed to make 18 tiny patties that I put on a rimmed baking sheet (I covered it with aluminum foil and used cooking spray, less cleaning).

I pre-heated the broiler, sprayed garlic olive oil on the patties and then put them about 4-5 inch under the broiler for 3 minutes. Then I took them out, flipped them gently (use a flat spatula to keep half the patties from staying on the sheet) and cooked them another 3 minutes.

Finally I flipped them again and cooked them about 1 minute. Don't overcook them cause they'll get dry. Keep an eye on them!

It was delicious for dinner, and I'm sure it'll be even better today!

Next time I'll do 20 patties so that they are a little bit smaller. They'll fit better in the bentos!

Here's what they look like (top right corner):

Happy Bento everyone!

Mini-burgers bentos!

2008-04-24T08:25:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I made mini-burgers with black beans, we had some for dinner, and the rest went in the bento this morning. Other than that, my bento is very veggies-heavy. I was in a hurry this morning.

Here's my box:

So in the top tier, I have the mini-burgers, and strawberries cut up.

In the lower tier, I have veggies sticks, a little container of Guacamole (Number from TJ), and a little cup of steamed veggies.

The pictures I took of my husband's bento all turned out blurry! Darn it. He has the exact same thing minus the tomatoes, and with a little more steamed veggies.

You know what's funny? Every time I have strawberries on hand, I use my red box! I didn't mean to!

I will post to explain how I made the mini-burgers. They were delicious!

Happy Bento everyone!

Bento at the mall

2008-04-22T20:40:00.000-07:00

Today I went shopping, and I didn't want to eat at the food court, so I packed a bento. Good thing I did since I was really hungry by the time it got to lunch time. I walked about 4 hours today. I was out for about 6 hours, but counting the lunch break, the stopping to try clothes etc.

Anyway, here's my bento:

In the lower tier I have 2 small onigiri with cucumber slices, red bell pepper sticks and cherry tomatoes. I put a little skewer there to grab the veggies with.

In the top tier, I have a curried chicken, chickpeas and lentils mix, and steamed veggies with spices (snow peas, broccoli and mini pepper rings).

I brought along an orange also!

Here's my husband's box:

He has the exact same thing minus the tomatoes (he doesn't like them). I also added a pack of baby carrots along with his box.

Here's the two closed boxes:

I still made little cloth basket to carry the bentos. Mine was because it was going to be in my purse, so it's an extra layer of "spill proofing" along with the cooler bag it's in.

My husband said tonight that he uses the cloth to bring all of his stuff home (glasses and things). So it's useful as well as cute!

My 6'2" tall husband was satisfied with his lunch, strangely, when I came home at 3:30, I was hungry. I spend all day on my feet walking, so maybe I just burned more than he did sitting at his computer.

It was a good lunch though, and I felt very proud and privileged sitting at the food court with my delicious lunch, watching everybody eating the horrible junk they serve there. AH! I love taking care of me!

Happy Bento everyone!

Double troubles!

2008-04-21T10:21:00.000-07:00

Our new bento shopping expedition inspired me to get back to my everyday bento mania! Also, my husband now uses a smaller box, the same as mine, so it's kind of fun to put them together. I'm hoping that it'll be enough food for 6'2" him.

Here's my box today:

In the lower tier I have steamed broccoli and sliced mini bell peppers, Cucumber sticks and strawberries.

In the top tier, I have left over chicken with pepper and onion, 2 small onigiri, and cucumbers pieces.

I put my box in a little cooler bag and wrapped it up in one of my new little bento cloths!

Here's my husband's box!

He has pretty much the same thing, he has more steamed vegetables, and I cut a big triangle onigiri in 2 (they don't fit in my small boxes!). I didn't give him cucumber sticks but I added a little pack of baby carrots and a banana to his lunch.

I packed the box in a little cooler bag, and then packed everything in my larger bento cloth.

The chicken will have to be warmed up. I don't think it'd be very good cold. I don't usually pack foods that need to be warmed up for myself, but I knew I was going to be home, so...

That's our bento adventure for today. I'm very happy that my husband is into this along with me. He's very enthusiastic and it makes it all the more fun to play with!

Happy Bento Everyone!!!

Sunday Breakfast Bento

2008-04-20T20:36:00.000-07:00

Every Sunday I work a meeting and I weigh-in with my coworkers before I do. I don't want to eat breakfast before I weight in, so I bring breakfast along. Usually I bring hot cereals in my trusty thermos jar, but today I didn't feel like it so I made a bento. Actually, to be honest, my husband pretty much made it!

He boiled eggs for me while I was getting ready, and washed and cut strawberries. I cut the eggs in halves (cause I think it's pretty!) and added some left over couscous. Et Voila! Breakfast bento.

It was actually the first breakfast bento that didn't leave me hungry and low energy! Also, I love to have strawberries in a bento, it's cute, it's fresh, and it's sweet. I think it's the best way to end a bento meal! :o)

Happy Bento everyone!

So many things!

2008-04-19T18:13:00.000-07:00

Whew! Lots to talk about today!

First I want to catch up with myself, with all the home painting-renovating-cleaning-reorganizing, I haven't had time for much bento-ing. I did make myself a bento Friday though, so here it is:

In the top tier, I have left over roasted chicken cooked with lentils, chickpeas, in a Dijon mustard-broth mix. With that I have steamed vegetables.

In the lower tier I have herbed couscous with cut strawberries for dessert. I added a few flowers here and there to make if cure, though I think the foods themselves were pretty custy!

Ok, now that I'm all caught up, I went bento shopping today again. I know, I know, the last thing I need is more stuff, but we needed to get out of here, and well... I couldn't resist!

First we went to Daiso in Daly City. Here's the stuff I got there:

That's most of it up here, with the mini Ice-packs bags and everything.

Yeah, I got 2 new boxes. It different version of my favorite yellow one. I got the boxes, the chopstick cases and the forks that match. To be fair, I was agonizing over which one to choose, and my husband decided he wanted one. So there, the red is mine, and the blue is his!

These are little mustard containers with a little spoon to spread it and everything! I think it's perfect for my hummus!

My round Onigiri molds. I tried to make round Onigiri by hand, I do not have the dexterity for it. So there, there's nothing wrong with cheating a little!

On my way out of the store, I came across those cute little "bento cloth". They didn't have a red one, but I bought those two. That way my yellow box and my blue one have a matching cloth. I'm going way beyond sanity I think, but hey, I got all this stuff I've shown so far for $20!

Then we went to Japantown and it was CROWDED! We first went to Sanko, but it was crowded and the bento section was taken over by two very rude Chinese ladies who were NOT going to let ANYBODY close to the bento stuff. I gave up, the staff were overwhelmed so I thought it wasn't worth getting in troubles for.

So we left and went to my favorite spot, Ichiban Kan!

They hardly had ANYTHING. Not even the usual cheapos bentos they always have. I did find the one tier bento I wanted (for breakfast and snacks), and some cool silicon cups, but that's about it. Here's the whole thing:

The little pink round containers and the blue ones, are actually cosmetic containers. They have a little "spreader" that came with each pack of 3. I'm intending to use them as spread containers. Like I don't have enough already... but they were cute!

When I came home, I started thinking that my silicon cups I had wouldn't work for the new bentos. I always used them for my husband's box, but now he'll be using one like mine. Now what?

The other issue is that I use a lot of paper cups and I don't like that much. It's wasting paper, and I don't want to keep doing that. My silicon cups are too high for my little Sheep Lube bentos. So I cut them!

I shorten most of them, and with some of the excess I made dividers!

No more waste! It was a long successful day. I'm getting back into bento-ing tomorrow. Time to stop messing around and get myself back on track. Enough is enough!

Happy Bento everyone!

Laptop Trauma

2008-04-17T13:03:00.000-07:00

Monday morning I overturned an entire glass of water with Weight Watchers Mix-in into my laptop computer.

Because of this I have been unable to post on my blogs, or send my group emails all week. I got my laptop back today and will resume my happy activities tomorrow.

I hope nobody got offended or confused by this. I promise to post as soon as I can tomorrow!

Be good n stuff!

Willow

Back on Track!

2008-04-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

This is yesterday's post. While trying to post this, I spilled an entire glass of water with "mix-in" in my laptop. My laptop is up and running, but Ill have it cleaned today. Hopefully it'll stop adding "g"s every where.

After a week of eating way too much subway, and way too few healthy lunches (and dinner) we decided to get back on the "wagon" (I hate that expression!). So yesterday I cooked an Indian spiced, ground turkey chili, keeping in mind that we needed lunches today. I also made a couscous, and steamed veggies. All I had to do this morning is to put things together!

Here's my box:

As I said, I have an Indian spiced Turkey chili, with curried couscous in my upper tier. In the lower tier, I have spiced steamed veggies, and strawberries.

My husband has the exact same thing in his box, just a little more of everything. I also added a Peanut Butter bliss bar for snack later.

Here's our two boxes ready to go!

It was a very satisfying lunch, I ate it cold and it was just fine. Its funny how you get used to having a packed lunch ready to go. I missed it so much last week!

Happy Bento every one!

No more Subway Sammiches!

2008-04-11T12:54:00.000-07:00

Still painting the house! I'm trying to put the bedroom back together while the painting is going on downstairs. I decided to make a bento today. I'm tired of Subway sammiches! So I kept it simple, but I had to have something that taste like something.

Here's my box for today:

I put in 3 small onigiri, a star, a heart and a bear. Under them and around them I put cucumber. It was moving around so I put two red bell pepper "beams" to hold it all together. It also add a nice red touch doesn't it?

In the top tier I put in steamed broccoli and red bell peppers, mixed with lentils. I wanted some salty proteins, so I made Canadian bacon little skewers. I had a cutsy minute, so I used my vegetables skewers I got at Sanko.

I had that bento along with an orange. I'm happy, satisfied, and it was real food!

I also made a box for my husband, I think he was happy with it.

He has the steamed broccoli and red bell peppers. I put the lentils aside, I think he prefers it that way. I took out a big onigiri for him. For his skewers, I used deli turkey and deli ham, one thin slice of each on each skewers. He has a little bottle of Italian dressing to add to his veggies (see between the onigiri and the steamed veggies, there's a little red cap sticking out!)

We're finally settled down and finding ourselves. It's been a trying 2 weeks, but we're happy with the results!

Happy Bento!

Trying my Broiled Onigiri Finally!

2008-04-08T10:15:00.000-07:00

Today I started the day without a bento, and then decided to make one. I'm home, and living in boxes, so I'm not overly motivated (only 3 days of painting left though, then we're ALL DONE!).

Here's my bento today. There isn't any real proteins, I'll make up for it tonight.. didn't have anything on hand, not even eggs, so I just decided to forget it for lunch.

In the lower tier I have 3 Broiled Onigiri (first time I thaw any out, we'll see!!!) on a bed of lettuce.

In the top tier, I have sliced cucumber, carrot sticks, and steamed broccoli and red bell pepper.

It's a little diet-y, but that wasn't the plan, I just don't feel hungry smelling the latex paint and all that (thanks the Lady it's not oil paint!).

We'll see how that works, I have a lot of physical work today... oh well, I'm home, so if I get hungry I'll eat!

Happy Bento everyone!

Speedy Bento!

2008-04-04T08:52:00.001-07:00

Today I didn't wanna... Not that I have that much to do anyway... I just didn't wanna. ;op

I looked into the fridge and found what I could use for minimum effort. Here's what I came up with:

My box:

In the lower tier, I have a couscous salad, with chickpeas, lentils, shredded carrots, and steamed broccoli (leftovers from yesterday).

In the top tier, I have steamed broccoli, and carrots and celery sticks. I also have two little container, one has Mediterranean Hummus, and the other has whole grain Dijon mustard. I wanted to put in taste without putting in the effort.

My husband has the same thing, with a little deli ham added for proteins (I know, there's plenty in the chickpeas and in the lentils, but... he's a guy):

I didn't have time to steam broccoli for him, so I gave him more veggie sticks, a little more hummus (in the clear container). On the left he has the couscous salad, and the deli ham on my cutsy skewers. I added a mini-bar for dessert since we didn't have any baby carrots to put in there.

I forgot about the Onigiri I made this week... DUH.

Our bentos are pretty simple, I went from the cutsy curse, to the lazy curse. I'll pick it up next week. I promise a super cutsy one Monday!

Happy Bento everybody!

Bento and Onigiri

2008-04-02T13:54:00.001-07:00

Today I stayed home. I have people working in here and I need to keep an eye on dog and cat, not to mention my stuff! I still made a bento for myself. Also, since I was getting bored, I decided to try something new: Broiled Onigiri. They are made, broiled, cooled and in the freezer!

Here's my bento today:

I had left over vegetarian "chili". I made that up yesterday thinking that it would keep us from hitting the restaurant (I work Tuesday evening). Good thing I did cause I ended up working later than I had planned and everything went crazy from there.

In the lower tier I have a simple salad made of lettuce, shredded carrots, minced celery and cilantro.

In the top tier, I have my vegetarian chili, and steamed broccoli (with salt pepper and garam masala).

I like steamed broccoli, it taste great and it's easy and quick to do!

My husband has basically the same thing: vegetarian chili, steamed broccoli, extra lentils (he likes to mix them with the broccoli), his trusty carrots (last pack!), and celery sticks (to beat the munchies!).

As I said, I got bored today and decided to try to make Broiled Onigiri. I got the idea in Let's Cook Japanese Food, by Amy Kaneko. Here they are coming out of the oven:

They are very easy to make really! Here's what I did:

Broiled Onigiri

1- I made short grain brown rice in the rice cooker. Just rice and water, as recommended in the manual of my cooker.

2- I put the rice is a glass bowl, and I added a little rice vinegar to it (not in the direction, but I felt like it). In another bowl I put water and salt and mixed to disolve the salt.

3- Making sure my hands were wet with salted water, I made the rice balls with molds that I bought at Ichiban Kan. You could very easily shape them by hands (it's just less cutsy shapes). As I took them out of the molds, I patted each rice ball very gently with my salty wet hands to give them extra saltiness.

4- I put the rice balls on a rimmed baking sheet that I had covered with aluminum foil (don't like cleaning much) and sprayed lightly with cooking spray. I broiled the Onigiri about 5 inch from the heat until very lightly brown (about 2-3 minutes), then I turned them, and did the same thing with the other side.

5- Then I brushed soy sauce on the top of the Onigiri and broiled them some more until well browned (but not burned!). I did the same with the other side.

6- After done, I put the Onigiri in a large pasta bowl and covered with a wet paper towel to cool, about 20-30 minutes.

7- I put them back on a baking sheet, with plastic wrap to cut down on cleaning, and put the whole thing in the freezer for 15 minutes.

8- Finally I wrapped each Onigiri individually and put them in a ziploc bag in the freezer. I used Biggie's trick of using a straw to suck out the air of the Ziploc bag, it works just fine!

Here they are ready to eat:

The original recipe was with white rice, but it didn't fit with my food plan. These were yummy (what? OF COURSE I tasted it, what are you thinking?) and hopefully will freeze very well.

So there, that's my Bento adventure of the day! I hope you had as much fun as I did!

Happy Bento everyone!

2008-03-31T21:29:00.000-07:00

Today I was working all day at Weight watchers, so I brought along my trusty bento!

In the lower tier, I had curried couscous on one side, and a sauteed made with sliced onion, bell pepper and edamame. I spiced the sauteed veggies with cumin, salt, pepper and garam masala.

In the top tier, I had cucumber and red bell pepper sticks, steamed lentils (TJ), and 2 boiled eggs, shaped and halved.

It was plenty of food, and very tasty!

I shaped the eggs with my two egg molds I found at Daiso. The star looks more like a flower (I need bigger eggs!) but I like the way it ended up looking. Here's what the eggs looked like before I put them in the bento:

My husband has about the same thing. I perched the lentils on top of the sauteed veggies. I also didn't shape his eggs, he had to leave quick so I didn't bother with it.

I added his trusty baby carrots as usual, but otherwise, he has the same food I had in my own box.

Lunch was successful, I brought along an apple and an orange for snacks during the day and it was plenty of food!

That was a "put together in minutes". We're starting renovations tomorrow, so I don't know how lunches will fit in this mess!!

Happy bento!!!

Butterflies again!

2008-03-28T09:05:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I made some yummy Mediterranean Hummus, and I decided to pre-pack some for the bentos. With hummus comes cut veggies right? Ok, so then we had left over bulgur from last night, but no proteins. Oops!

I had to scramble a little this morning (literally) to make it work, but I did! Here's our bentos for the day:

In my own bento, I have:

Lower tier: Sliced red bell pepper and cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and hummus in my little green kitty container (isn't it cute?).

Top tier: Bulgur mixed with lentils and red kidney beans, and scrambled eggs (bettern' eggs actually) with Indian spices.

When I make cucumber sticks, I peel them in one big peel. Today I decided to wash the peels and cut out butterflies out of it and it turned out to be perfect for cutting shapes! I added butterflies in both tiers of my bento. That's my cutsiness of the day! I used the two butterflies cutters, no dog bone today!

My husband's bento has to be more manly n stuff so I limited my cutsiness there. ;op

On the left: Vegetable sticks with a little container of hummus (isn't that elephant container just cute? I had to sneak some cutsiness in there!), his trusty bag of baby carrots.

On the right: Bulgur with lentils (I skipped the kidney beans for him cause they weren't cooked, and he's not a huge fan of that) and scrambled better n' eggs.

I was afraid it wouldn't be enough proteins for mister 6'2" man, so I rolled up some deli ham and put it on a little sea critter skewer.

There's a bit of spaces in both bentos today. It was my husband's workout morning, so he leaves 30 minutes earlier. That gives me less time to put things together.

I think it'll be fine anyway, but I need to find fillers. Of course he needs a smaller box, but he won't let me buy him one cause this one is "just fine"!

MEN! I want to shop for more stuff, and I can't justify buy ME more... Spoilsport! He he he

Happy Bento everyone!

2008-03-27T16:22:00.001-07:00

I made myself a bento today. I skipped yesterday and had some soup instead, but I didn't want to keep skipping it! So here's today's fare:

In the lower tier I have the last of my rice balls (Onigiri) and steamed vegetables with spices.

In the top tier I have a legumes mix (red kidney beans, chickpeas, lentils) with carrots and cucumber. For dessert I added a 1 pts Dark chocolate and raspberry bar (Weight Watchers).

The whole thing was fairly simple. I didn't have much ambition this morning as I know I'm not working this week (spring break).

Tomorrow I shall give the cutsy curse a new installment. I can't keep slipping into laziness like this! ;op

Happy bento everyone!

Today's leftover n stuff bento

2008-03-25T11:03:00.000-07:00

I just finished posting yesterday's bento. If you want to look it up, read my previous post.

Today I'm home. I still made myself a bento since I've decided that I would make one every weekday. See? I'm sticking to it! Here's the whole thing:

In the lower tier, I have steamed broccoli (with various spices) and cut up pepper and cucumber (again spiced). I divided the two with sushi grass but it doesn't show really against the broccoli. I used tiny broccoli florets to decorate the cut up veggies.

In the top tier I have left over potato salad from last night. That one's a favorite from Savoring Summer (Weight Watcher's cookbook). With that I spiced and sautéed shrimps and added them for proteins.

Here's what it looked like all packed up:

It's fairly simple, my husband didn't bring a bento to work today since he's eating out with buddies.

I'm having a vegetables attack these days. Bet the couscous is going to reappear soon. :o)

Happy Bento!

Catching up on my posts

2008-03-25T10:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was nuts and by the time I got home I was too tired to bother. So here's my bento for yesterday:

I kept it simple since I was in a hurry to go to work.

In the lower tier, I had rice balls, resting on cucumber slices. I also put half rounds of cucumber around them and sprinkled the whole thing with shredded carrots.

In the top tier I had a hard boiled egg that I tried to shape in my new molds, but my eggs were too small! Too funny, my star became a flower. With that I mixed steamed broccoli and carrots with lentils.

Would you look at this? My new little "bento fork" fits between the lid of the top tier and the lid of the whole thing!

My husband had about the same thing in his bento. He had only 2 rice balls, but they are much bigger than my cutsy ones. I added little skewers with cucumber and rolled up ham to make sure he wouldn't go hungry! Of course he also had his trusty little pack of baby carrots.

So that was lunch yesterday. I was also working early evening, and by the time I got home I was starved (and cranky!). I need to better plan for those long days so I don't go overly hungry.

Lunch was still good, the mix of steamed veggies and steamed lentils was very good!

Happy Bento!

Simple things

2008-03-21T07:16:00.000-07:00

Today I kept things simple. I didn't have much time to work with, but then I had some good stuff at hand, so I made it up as I went. Here's my bento:

In the smaller lower tier (on the right), I have left over roasted chicken, that I sprinkled with minced red bell pepper and cucumber for a bit of color. With that I have a mix of steamed lentils and chickpeas, again with pepper and cucumber mixed in.

In the top tier (on the left), I have steamed broccoli and carrots on a bed of lettuce, sprinkled with red pepper and cucumber bits. For the fun of it, I made 2 skewers with cucumber and carrot pieces. I had planned to put them over the chicken, for decoration, but it didn't fit in my box.

My husband has about the same thing, just presented differently. On the right side, you can see the chicken on top, and lentils on the bottom (he's not a fan of canned chickpeas unless they are in a recipe). I didn't think he liked lentils like that, but he's planning on heating them up and pouring them over the steamed veggies. Good idea!

On the left side he has steamed veggie, and his faithful pack of baby carrots. Again I sprinkled red bell pepper and cucumber bits over the veggies and chicken to make it look "happier".

It was one of those morning when I "don't wanna" and still it turned out pretty nice. Everything is either pre-cooked (like the roasted chicken from Raly's, or the steamed lentils from Trader Joes), canned (chickpeas) or quickly steamed in my handy microwave steamer (veggies). Isn't that a hoot? Talk about speed cooking!

I eat my bento fare cold, my husband warms it up, and it works both ways. It works for us!

Happy bento!