Snack box

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!

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

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

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!

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!

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!

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!