Quick and Easy Bentos

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!

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!

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!

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!

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

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

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!