Back to Basics Bento

Basic Bento
Originally uploaded by JB Doodles

Today's lunch in basic in a few senses of the word. Firstly, it contains foods which are whole and simple. As you can see, Fresh veggies dominate this lunch. Also included is a hard boiled egg which has been shaped into a pig. Molded eggs are a popular bento staple, and plastic molds can be ordered online. This egg, however, has been shaped using an Ice Cream Sandwich Mold that I purchased at Walmart. Check out this blog post from Lunch In A Box for more details. I actually prefer using the Sandwich molds because you have more control, and they look much more striking when finished. The cute blue penguin pick is accenting three vegetarian buffalo wings, and behind them is home-made dijon dressing in a mini-nalgene bottle.

The second reason I am calling this lunch basic is because it almost fulfills the general bento packing guidelines (link to Lunch in a Box). Basically, a guideline for lunch packing is 1 part protein (the egg), two parts fruits and vegetables (the veggies), and one part carbohydrate plus a treat if desired. Well, my lunch is a little heavy on the veggies and seems to be wholly missing a carbohydrate. The confusing part about vegetarian lunches is the imitation meat products. True they have protein and fat, but they also have carbs (about 4g per wingette). So, maybe I should have thrown in an onigiri, but I would have had to sacrifice some veggies or the egg to make them all fit.

I just want to point out the super cute owl paper in the background. It is wrapping paper from Borders. Isn't it so cute!! I want to make an owl bento to match now.

Valentine Bento

Today is Valentine's Day. Usually not a holiday I make a big deal out of, but I couldn't resist a Valentine themed bento. The reason being that it is just too easy! I have heart shaped cookie cutters, egg molds, onigiri molds... the list goes on and on! Actually, that is the list.

So, for snack I sliced up some heart shaped strawberries and included a chocolate covered strawberry per the tradition, although my Valentine doesn't really like chocolate. I packed them in a Clickety Click snack box with a home-made flag pick.

The bottom (larger) tier of my 2-tier "men's" bento box includes a heart shaped tofurkey and cheese sandwich, some Trader Joe's Peanut Butter filled pretzels, some lettuce and grape tomatoes, and a Valentine themed chocolate from Hallmark.

The top (smaller) tier contains some leftover pasta with Trader Joe's Meatless Meatballs and stuffed mushrooms. The stuffed mushrooms are actually what makes this lunch particularly special because we don't often eat them due to the fact that I hate mushrooms (I know, a vegetarian sin right?). Somehow I managed to secretly prepare them in the next room. I quickly hid the ingredients every time he came into the room. I never thought I would pull it off, but I managed!

I felt a little guilty putting so much pink in his lunch. I liked the divider because it says "my best friend" at the bottom (under the food), and I needed to make the sauce bottle (full of salt) match.

Here is the assembled lunch. I know what you are thinking, "where are the heart shaped eggs? Where are the heart shaped onigiri?" Well, I decided to focus on the food rather than the theme, making things that my Valentine will really like to eat, so no eggs or onigiri.

I haven't posted much lately mostly due to my lack of bento inspiration. If you check out my flickr page, there are several lunches that I photographed, but didn't really deserve a blog post due to their lack of interestingness. I would also like to credit Adventures in Bentomaking for her great idea of using scrap booking paper as backgrounds. Despite my abysmal lighting, the paper certainly helped the photos.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Bento Shopping Tips

When I first discovered the art of bento packing, I wanted to give it a try but I didn't have any real bento boxes or accessories. So, I made my lunches in tupperware or the Fit and Fresh boxes that I already had. I used disposable cupcake cups (which I still use in almost every lunch) and regular toothpicks. Soon, I discovered that a lot of regular stores have items that are perfect for bento packing.

First, Michael's Crafts, or any craft store that has a baking section. The Michael's near me has an aisle of Wilton cake products which includes mini fondant cookie cutters and decorative picks.

Next is the party store. I have several different party stores near me and they are great for disposable items like wet naps, takeout containers (for days when you want something disposable), silicon baking cups, paper baking cups, and character napkins. I have amassed a silly collection of Harry Potter, Hello Kitty, Happy Bunny... etc. napkins. Plus, they are usually very inexpensive.

But my absolute favorite find is from the outdoors store EMS. I pack a lot of salads for my lunches, even on my non-bento days, and had a hell of a time finding a good salad dressing container. The small tupperwares were too big, the bento sauce bottles too small. Plus, a lot of containers I tried leaked, or I spilled them while popping the top off (I'm really clumsy). When I discovered these mini Nalgene bottles in the camp kitchen section of EMS I nearly cried:
I believe I got the 1/2 oz and 1 oz containers. The 1/2 oz is great for vinegarettes on a bento-sized salad (about one full 500 ml box). The 1 oz container is good for creamy dressings because it has a larger mouth, or other condiments like ketchup, but doesn't fit easily into shallow bento boxes. They cost between $0.75 - $1.50 depending on what size you get.

The other fantastic item I found at EMS are these neat sporks:
Now, these are a little big for small lunches, but I usually pack a pretty large bag with my breakfast, lunch, and snacks for a full day at work. I tuck one of these sporks in, and no matter what I am eating, I know I have the right silverware. It is hard to tell in this photo, but one side of the fork side is a serrated knife. Of course, if I am packing something like sushi, I have to remember to pack the chopsticks, so I keep an extra set at my desk in case I forget. These are just a few examples. EMS, and I am sure your local camping store, have a lot of products designed to make cooking at a campsite, or eating on a hike, easier. This means that they are compact and durable.

I'm not affilated with EMS or Michael's Crafts. I linked the Fit and Fresh boxes to Amazon.com to which I am an "associate." FYI

So I am wondering what other bento gems are hidden away at our regular shopping spots. Any suggestions?

A Very Bento Christmas or What I did on my Holiday

Actually, my Holiday is just beginning since I don't go back to work until next Monday. But I won't be making lunches during my week off. I had a great Christmas this year and received a few gifts that will hopefully get me out of my bento rut. I got some mini cookie cutters, plus large ones, some food dividers, and a book about Japanese Garnishes. I also got a little creative and made some new food pics:


I got the idea for these food pics from this blog. I can't find the original post, and since I don't know Japanese, I can't search for it. I think that they actually sell ribbon or tape that is designed to be used as flags, but I improvised with some $1-bin ribbon from Michael's Crafts, double stick tape, and colorful food pics. I made a bunch of them, so they should feature prominently in my future lunches.

On Sunday my cousins and I ventured to New York to visit the Museum of Art and Design which recently moved to a new (larger) building in Columbus Circle. We also hit Kinokuniya, a Japanese bookstore located across from Bryant Park (near the NY Public Library). If you are traveling to NY, I highly reccomend this store. Not only are there books in Japanese, but there is nearly an entire floor of Manga, an entire floor of books in English about Japanese things, Magazines, Gifts, Movies.... In other words, so much great stuff!! They are a bit pricey so I couldn't afford the giant plush Totoro that I wanted, but I still walked away with some great finds:

A Miffy Classmates Bento Box. Ordinarily this would be out of my price range ($13) but I couldn't resist.

They had a pretty large selection of cookbooks in Japanese including a few shelves of bento-related books. Obviously it is silly of me to buy a book that I can't read, but I chose one which had a lot of pictures. Just like with the blog I mentioned above, I can get plenty of ideas by just looking at the pictures (although sometimes I have no idea what the ingredients are).

Since I couldn't afford the giant Totoro plush (or any of the great Totoro products they had), I splurged on this little Catbus Magnet.

So I was really pleased with Kinokuniya, and I wonder what other gems are hiding in New York which I have been missing. Any reccomendations?

Heart (Love) Bento

Heart (Love) Bento
Originally uploaded by JB Doodles

Today's bento features some heart shaped Onigiri. The two white hearts are filled with vegetarian "chick'n", and the two brown and white hearts are rice mixed with fake "burger" and ketchup. Also included are some fake breaded "chik'n" strips left over from dinner the night before, and a sweet omelet. I make Tamagoyaki (omelet) with almost every bento I create. They are fast, easy, and taste super yummy. I have developed a less traditional recipe which I particularly enjoy. I mix a tsp of corn starch, a tbs of milk, and a tsp of honey with a beaten egg. I have a tamagoyaki rectangle pan which makes the process fairly easy. Whenever I see omelets in Japanese cookbooks or at fancy restaurants, it is always very evenly cooked and yellow, yet I have never seen sufficient instructions to help me create this. I generally have some brown spots from cooking it too long in spots. This is, in my opinion, my best attempt yet. Does anyone out there have any tips for a perfect Tamagoyaki?

Overall, this bento was fairly successful. I made the ingredients the night before, but didn't form the Onigiri hearts until the morning which meant waking up early to put the bento together (definitely a feat for a night person). They taste much better when made fresh. :-)

Happy Thanksgiving

Tons of Veggies Bento

Veggie Bento
Originally uploaded by JB Doodles

This bento is basically just veggies. It includes green beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, and part of an ear of corn. In the back are Morningstar Farms Buffalo Wings and some scallions which were made all curly for fun. In front of the corn is a small Hello Kitty hard candy. So, this bento isn't too creative in either the recipe or cuteness department, but all the veggies makes it look pretty nice.