Bento Boxes

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Merlot said:
No pictures today but I did pack two lettuce rolled chicken salad snacks (must work on rolling, it will be a mess to eat!) low calorie dark chocolate mousse with strawberries, pretzel crackers and a wedge of laughing cow herb and garlic cheese (for snack) and a hard boiled egg with 1 slice whole wheat bread for my breakfast. My other snack will be all the medicine I am taking for my bronchitis :ermm: I love my bento box, I have plans for turkey chili one day, and I am already looking forward to it. :)
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Sounds good. I've been considering changing to ground turkey...just have to convince Shrek!

I'm going to try a week of lettuce wraps, myself with chicken, salmon or tuna. See how it effects my blood sugars and weight.
 
I don't prefer ground turkey myself but I can used to it, the DH will just have to eat what I cook, he needs to lose weight anyway :LOL:

If you make any good lettuce wraps, pleast post! I may get to work tomorrow and wish I had made myself a big sub sandwich like I put in the husbands lunch. :ermm:
 
Merlot said:
No pictures today but I did pack two lettuce rolled chicken salad snacks (must work on rolling, it will be a mess to eat!) low calorie dark chocolate mousse with strawberries, pretzel crackers and a wedge of laughing cow herb and garlic cheese (for snack) and a hard boiled egg with 1 slice whole wheat bread for my breakfast. My other snack will be all the medicine I am taking for my bronchitis :ermm: I love my bento box, I have plans for turkey chili one day, and I am already looking forward to it. :)
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That sounds good, Merlot! Lettuce wraps can be messy. I think of them more like tacos than wraps, expecting them to be. Some work-arounds that might work...

hard fillings, like loaves of meat,
different, more pliable lettuces (red leaf?),
blanched leaf? maybe nappa cabbage wraps,
wrap ties, like chive or nori ala sushi, etc.

Maybe Fi will have other ideas from a week's worth of experiments...
 
spork said:
That sounds good, Merlot! Lettuce wraps can be messy. I think of them more like tacos than wraps, expecting them to be. Some work-arounds that might work...

hard fillings, like loaves of meat,
different, more pliable lettuces (red leaf?),
blanched leaf? maybe nappa cabbage wraps,
wrap ties, like chive or nori ala sushi, etc.

Maybe Fi will have other ideas from a week's worth of experiments...
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That day was the worst lunch I have ever taken. I love to eat but it was all I could do to choke a piece down. :ermm:
 
I wrapped one tuna sand in iceberg, one in green leaf and one in romaine. I liked the romaine the best. Crispy and fresh tasting, it held up to being a wrap and was easy for me to take a bite. The green leaf was hard to bite through, the ice berg too bleah. Bite is important since I wear falsies...:mrgreen:

I'm going to try Salmon and dill/lemon in spinach leaves next week. It may just turn into a spinach salad with the Salmon on top! Hmm...egg salad on spinach.
 
A curried chicken salad I fixed for bento a while back. Cubed leftover breast from a roast, red potatoes nuked and cubed, cubed Cameo apples, finely diced shallot & celery. Toss with S&P+, a little shelf-stable mayo, dusting of cumin and packaged garam masala to color & taste. It held up well for lunch.

At the time, I didn't think of it as a lettuce wrap, but it occurs to me now that "chunky" salads would also make for a less messy filling.
 
img_1113036_0_bd887034f7ad9f197191078ba956aaa5.jpg

1. cream of bok choi with silk tofu
2. takikomi rice with chicken, gobo & carrot root
3. cucumber/seaweed salad & okra/yamaimo salad
4. apple tart, grapefruit slice
5. black coffee
img_1113036_1_bc5b7b8965b68dfcaab2415b30a6afd1.jpg


The soup was my mother's experiment that didn't go too badly, the thickener is rice. I nuked it, added tofu stovetop for my lunch. The takikomi is a common one called kayaku gohan. Traditional ingredients are shaved burdock root, carrot, shiitake mushroom, and shirataki. They're first blanched in soy sauce and rice wine before dumping into the pot of rice to be cooked. I added leftover chicken breast and finely chopped salted red radish leaves. The cucumber & seaweed is a basic pickle; the slimy okra & yama imo is an acquired taste, mine is seasoned with dried shiso flakes and lemon juice. The pie is my first attempt ever at an oven-baked fruit tart, albeit with store-bought pie crust. The grapefruit is from my neighbor's tree, very sweet less sour.
 
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spork said:
1. cream of bok choi with silk tofu
2. takikomi rice with chicken, gobo & carrot root
3. cucumber/seaweed salad & okra/yamaimo salad
4. apple tart, grapefruit slice
5. black coffee


The soup was my mother's experiment that didn't go too badly, the thickener is rice. I nuked it, added tofu stovetop for my lunch. The takikomi is a common one called kayaku gohan. Traditional ingredients are shaved burdock root, carrot, shiitake mushroom, and shirataki. They're first blanched in soy sauce and rice wine before dumping into the pot of rice to be cooked. I added leftover chicken breast and finely chopped salted red radish leaves. The cucumber & seaweed is a basic pickle; the slimy okra & yama imo is an acquired taste, mine is seasoned with dried shiso flakes and lemon juice. The pie is my first attempt ever at an oven-baked fruit tart, albeit with store-bought pie crust. The grapefruit is from my neighbor's tree, very sweet less sour.
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The veggies are cooked with the rice? kayaku gohan...is that a type or brand of rice? It looks great!
 
Zz, sorry I don't have an exact recipe for you.

We were given this gigantic head of garden fresh bok choi about the size of four gallons of milk, and my mother and I had a brief brainstorm of how to deal with it. She nixed my question about freezing whole leaves. Although creamed soups do typically use a lot of veggie to make, I was skeptical about her idea of pureeing a water-heavy white-fleshed cabbage. Couple days later, with a bug in my nose, I slept through a morning to wake up to my mom's bubbling pan. It tasted good, so I asked how she made it.

Sweat and wilt some chopped green onion, shaved celery and a pot full of bok choi, ours having large and very dark green leaves, in a little peanut oil. A better than average batch of chicken stock. Reduce heat, add some leftover rice (not too much) and cook while stirring until liquid starts to thicken like a risotto. It's much like a porridge in Japan called okayu, often served to someone under the weather. Puree in a blender, return to heat, season to taste. She admitted that the taste was a bit thin and that the soup got some extra salt and shot of sesame oil. No dairy.

PF, taki is "to burn, cook" and komi is "to include, join." It's very common to cook rice with ingredients other than water. The simplest is blanched peas, dashi stock, a little sake and salt. Every Japanese household cooks matsutake gohan in one form or another. I'm not sure of the etymology of "kayaku." It's not a brand, but the combination of ingredients is so common that the rice preparation has gotten its own name. The added ingredients are pre-cooked in 2:1 soy:sake, the cooking liquid is diluted with water or dashi 1:2. Some people will sweeten it, others might sour it up a bit.

If you can't find burdock root, I might try the following substitution, though I haven't tried it -- the tough ends of asparagus. It's somewhat close in texture and taste. Skin it, and whittle it, like with a boy scout knife, into small slivers.
 
spork said:
Zz, sorry I don't have an exact recipe for you.

We were given this gigantic head of garden fresh bok choi about the size of four gallons of milk, and my mother and I had a brief brainstorm of how to deal with it. She nixed my question about freezing whole leaves. Although creamed soups do typically use a lot of veggie to make, I was skeptical about her idea of pureeing a water-heavy white-fleshed cabbage. Couple days later, with a bug in my nose, I slept through a morning to wake up to my mom's bubbling pan. It tasted good, so I asked how she made it.

Sweat and wilt some chopped green onion, shaved celery and a pot full of bok choi, ours having large and very dark green leaves, in a little peanut oil. A better than average batch of chicken stock. Reduce heat, add some leftover rice (not too much) and cook while stirring until liquid starts to thicken like a risotto. It's much like a porridge in Japan called okayu, often served to someone under the weather. Puree in a blender, return to heat, season to taste. She admitted that the taste was a bit thin and that the soup got some extra salt and shot of sesame oil. No dairy.

PF, taki is "to burn, cook" and komi is "to include, join." It's very common to cook rice with ingredients other than water. The simplest is blanched peas, dashi stock, a little sake and salt. Every Japanese household cooks matsutake gohan in one form or another. I'm not sure of the etymology of "kayaku." It's not a brand, but the combination of ingredients is so common that the rice preparation has gotten its own name. The added ingredients are pre-cooked in 2:1 soy:sake, the cooking liquid is diluted with water or dashi 1:2. Some people will sweeten it, others might sour it up a bit.

If you can't find burdock root, I might try the following substitution, though I haven't tried it -- the tough ends of asparagus. It's somewhat close in texture and taste. Skin it, and whittle it, like with a boy scout knife, into small slivers.
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Thanks Spork! I just happen to have some asparagus hanging around. So, the type of rice I use is not important? or should it be a short grain?
 
Different rice grains absorb liquid differently, but it should be yummy with any type. If you can't find shirataki blocks or noodles, I would just leave it out. Pre-cook the additional ingredients to the point where you think they will finish cooking perfectly with the rice (and where they will have absorbed some of the straight soy mixture flavor).
 
spork said:
Different rice grains absorb liquid differently, but it should be yummy with any type. If you can't find shirataki blocks or noodles, I would just leave it out. Pre-cook the additional ingredients to the point where you think they will finish cooking perfectly with the rice (and where they will have absorbed some of the straight soy mixture flavor).
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I know I can find the noodles, saw then the other day. Okay, so I won't go out looking for special rice.:rolleyes: Thanks again, Spork!
 
I really like your bento box thread. I read it, have never done it.
If this link is a repeat please just ignore it. This website has some beautiful bento boxes, I thought some of you may enjoy.

Bento pictures - Bento photo gallery

I love looking at the pictures and trying to think up what kind of things might work for me. I think I need a hot and cold bento box, as I feel more satisfied with hot and cold food for a meal.
 
The more I look into it, the more I like it!

I need a dietary lifestyle change and that might be the way to go.

My issue is that I like to eat (obviously) and I also like grains and cheese.

I think I could get used to a structured meal plan which tastes good and is satisfying but I'm guessing that's as elusive as an FDA approved magical weight loss pill.

Anywho, a successful diet is more mind-over-matter more than anything else.

I'm still working up the brain power. ;)
 
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