Bento Boxes

[garlicjosh]

mmmmmm Onigiri

I make a small collection twice a week. Mine very seldom get filled with anything. Just a strip of Nori or a design..which ever I am feeling and they tend to be my snack through out a 2 day span.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

mmmmmm Onigiri

I make a small collection twice a week. Mine very seldom get filled with anything. Just a strip of Nori or a design..which ever I am feeling and they tend to be my snack through out a 2 day span.

I want them for my early snack at work, usually around 1 pm...when I can smell lunch. My dinner time isn't until 4 pm and I usually need something to nosh about 7 again. I think a couple of pieces of sushi or an onigiri should suffice.

I bought some nori snack sheets, they are the right size to wrap onigiri, they are sesame or wasabi flavored. Easy! If I can keep from nomming them before I get the rice wrapped.

 

[Kathleen]

My First Bento-Styled Lunch

Okay, I received my laptop lunchbox for my Bento Lunch. I had planned to have some salmon with rice, etc. Something more traditional but, there was so much eggplant in tomato sauce with mozzarella leftover from dinner, I decided to take that.

This lunch box holds a lot more food than I thought it would. Tomorrow, I will have some thin pasta with the eggplant, tomato sauce, and cheese for lunch. I will also have a clementine with it. That will be 450 calories, 50 carbs, and 10 fibers, and 6 fats.

I have some PB on celery for a snack, and then have a half of a cup of yogurt with a teaspoon of lemon curd. One will be the AM snack and the other will be a PM snack. The PB and celery is 200 calories, 7 carbs, 4 fibers and 16 fats. The yogurt and lemon curd is 90 calories, 10 carbs and 6 fats.

I think if I switch out the pb and celery for an apple, it will help with the carb stabilization. I'll keep it in mind next time.

Here are pictures of my FIRST time using my laptop lunch. Remember...the main items are left overs. I have not received my laptop buddy containers (which have lids) yet so had to use saran wrap. I laid the clementine on top of the pasta.

~Kathleen

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Okay, I received my laptop lunchbox for my Bento Lunch. I had planned to have some salmon with rice, etc. Something more traditional but, there was so much eggplant in tomato sauce with mozzarella leftover from dinner, I decided to take that.

This lunch box holds a lot more food than I thought it would. Tomorrow, I will have some thin pasta with the eggplant, tomato sauce, and cheese for lunch. I will also have a clementine with it. That will be 450 calories, 50 carbs, and 10 fibers, and 6 fats.

I have some PB on celery for a snack, and then have a half of a cup of yogurt with a teaspoon of lemon curd. One will be the AM snack and the other will be a PM snack. The PB and celery is 200 calories, 7 carbs, 4 fibers and 16 fats. The yogurt and lemon curd is 90 calories, 10 carbs and 6 fats.

I think if I switch out the pb and celery for an apple, it will help with the carb stabilization. I'll keep it in mind next time.

Here are pictures of my FIRST time using my laptop lunch. Remember...the main items are left overs. I have not received my laptop buddy containers (which have lids) yet so had to use saran wrap. I laid the clementine on top of the pasta.

~Kathleen

Looks good Kathleen. Yum! It looks much bigger that what I pictured.

I'm getting the cooker set up now for rice. I'm making some onigiri! I'll get some pictures when I am done.

 

[Kathleen]

Looks good Kathleen. Yum! It looks much bigger that what I pictured.

I'm getting the cooker set up now for rice. I'm making some onigiri! I'll get some pictures when I am done.

It is bigger than I thought it would be too, but it is cute. The pasta container could hold two unpeeled Clementines, to give a basis or comparison.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

It is bigger than I thought it would be too, but it is cute. The pasta container could hold two unpeeled Clementines, to give a basis or comparison.

Just now got the rice going. (Human Target was on)...I'm going to wrap the rice balls with nori.

 

[spork]

I think if I switch out the pb and celery for an apple, it will help with the carb stabilization. I'll keep it in mind next time.

Here are pictures of my FIRST time using my laptop lunch. Remember...the main items are left overs.
~Kathleen

That looks delicious, Kathleen. Great wet-dry separation. Keep the crunchy celery; it's a natural boat for less caloric and more interesting fillings. And always feel free to add pieces of whimsy to a bento box, say an m&m in the center of the center of your square eye of yogurt.

Here's a very traditional protein, thanks to a couple billion school kids. Basically, chicken nuggets. If you visit your local Japanese fast food chain, there's a good chance that it'll be on the menu under "side dishes," either as chicken tatsuta-age or kara-age.

kara-age
Cut chicken into bite-size. If up to me, I would insist on thigh. Salt.
Marinade ratio: 4 Tbs soy sauce, 2 Tbs sake, 1 tsp juice of ginger, 1 tsp finely grated garlic, good pinch of pepper to taste for 30 minutes or more.
Deep fry: coat with cornstarch (no problem if it becomes a gummy batter), deep fry to golden brown on low heat, about 325

If thigh meat, or deep fry, or room temp chicken in a box bothers you, everyone has their own different dish. I also do bite-size salmon cubes at a slightly higher cooking temp.

It works well in a bento box because, it's not a thick fry that'll steam into wet bread and it's not a wet teriyaki sauce that'll spread to other compartments, by lunchtime.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

My Onigiri

The rice cooker is fantastic!

 

[potsnpanties]

PF - The onigiri looks so delicious! Are the second lot seasoned with sesame seeds?

By the way, I'm holding you responsible for causing my Zojirushi obsession to flare up again (when denial fails, blame someone else? ^_^).

 

[PrincessFiona60]

PF - The onigiri looks so delicious! Are the second lot seasoned with sesame seeds?

By the way, I'm holding you responsible for causing my Zojirushi obsession to flare up again (when denial fails, blame someone else? ^_^).

There are sesame seeds on both...Shrek's don't have any Nori...he has weird ideas about seaweed.

I plan on using the rice cooker at least once a day.

 

[spork]

There are sesame seeds on both...Shrek's don't have any Nori...he has weird ideas about seaweed.

I plan on using the rice cooker at least once a day.

Yum! Looks good, Fee.
As much for taste, the seaweed is a structural aid, and also so that the rice doesn't stick to and make a mess of your fingers. Another way for the same benefit is to grill the nigiri. I melt a pad of butter, mix with soy sauce, brush the rice balls, and broil briefly in the oven. It adds a little textural crunch to it, too.

 

[taxlady]

There are sesame seeds on both...Shrek's don't have any Nori...he has weird ideas about seaweed.

I plan on using the rice cooker at least once a day.

I expected my very macho ex-husband to refuse to eat seaweed. But, he was Scottish and grew up near the ocean. He had eaten seaweed all the time he was growing up and thought it was normal veg. Colour me surprised.

 

[Kathleen]

Thanks for the chicken recipe, Spork. I'll definitely use it with thigh meat. I like thighs best anyway.

PF, the rice balls look great. I love nori. Maybe you will have to make little faces for Shrek's with nori. Ease him in to it with cuteness. <grins>

I'm out of my office tomorrow and am miffy that they are feeding us lunch. I wanted to pack my own again! I felt like I was in first grade again with my lunch today. It held up well and was pretty yummy. I'm already planning for next week.

Oh...here was a good resource that I found to help me plan!

 

[FrankZ]

I felt like I was in first grade again with my lunch today.

She even came home with a note pinned to her shirt...

 

[potsnpanties]

There are sesame seeds on both...Shrek's don't have any Nori...he has weird ideas about seaweed.

I plan on using the rice cooker at least once a day.

My sister used to collect seaweed from beaches as a kid to make 'soup'. She hadn't a clue about things like dashi or the use of wakame in miso soups and the like at that time so I guess weird works both ways?

You could do the cute anime faces on the onigiri like Kathleen suggested,but depending on the person that could end in either "THAT'S SO CUTE! I'm going to eat that cute face off bwahahaha! " or "How am I supposed to eat something that looks like the decapitated smiley head of an anime character?"

 

[Kathleen]

She even came home with a note pinned to her shirt...

I've brought notes home before.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Yum! Looks good, Fee.
As much for taste, the seaweed is a structural aid, and also so that the rice doesn't stick to and make a mess of your fingers. Another way for the same benefit is to grill the nigiri. I melt a pad of butter, mix with soy sauce, brush the rice balls, and broil briefly in the oven. It adds a little textural crunch to it, too.

Two of them were perfect for my lunch today. Next up is making some fillings. Mt co-worker who loves Asian thought they were perfect!

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Thanks for the chicken recipe, Spork. I'll definitely use it with thigh meat. I like thighs best anyway.

PF, the rice balls look great. I love nori. Maybe you will have to make little faces for Shrek's with nori. Ease him in to it with cuteness. <grins>

I'm out of my office tomorrow and am miffy that they are feeding us lunch. I wanted to pack my own again! I felt like I was in first grade again with my lunch today. It held up well and was pretty yummy. I'm already planning for next week.

Oh...here was a good resource that I found to help me plan!

That site is my favorite reference, I've been reading it over and over. I'm going to try out making my own furikake. My wishlist at JBox is out of control.

We had an Onigiri fest at work today. Lunchtime was good and fun! Wish I could have seen you with your laptop bento!

 

[PrincessFiona60]

She even came home with a note pinned to her shirt...

Was it a good note?

 

[PrincessFiona60]

My sister used to collect seaweed from beaches as a kid to make 'soup'. She hadn't a clue about things like dashi or the use of wakame in miso soups and the like at that time so I guess weird works both ways?

You could do the cute anime faces on the onigiri like Kathleen suggested,but depending on the person that could end in either "THAT'S SO CUTE! I'm going to eat that cute face off bwahahaha! " or "How am I supposed to eat something that looks like the decapitated smiley head of an anime character?"

Shrek doesn't like Anime, I will also not insist on him eating Nori...he doesn't make me eat things I don't like. So he gets non-seaweed sushi and onigiri...at least he's willing to try out some of it, as long as it's fish he recognizes and it's cooked.

I am getting a Hello Kitty Nori punch for mine! And a set of cute picks.