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@jennyslunchbox
Rice, egg and pepperjack cheese omelet, tiny tomato, steamed broccoli.
I’ve had a crazy 6 months involving moving, hospitalizations, and starting school again, so it’s been a while since I made a bento. But I got a text from a friend today complaining about being stuck at work with no food and no lunch money, which is UNACCEPTABLE!! So I threw this together for him really quick.
Top: Broccoli with peanut sauce, pineapple with a single dried papaya piece Bottom: White rice, glazed salmon, pickled pepper garnish Woah I got a bunch of new followers, I'll try to update this more. Leftover salmon, frozen broccoli, canned pineapple. Hard to get fresh produce in the winter.
Top: Corn pudding, miniature apple slices
Bottom: BBQ beef and broccoli, white rice
A “leftovers” bento. Steamed the broccoli with the rice, beef and corn were just reheated before packing. I like using plain rice balls like this sometimes, instead of the usual ‘rice on one half, entree on the other’ sort of bento.
How do you keep the warm food warm and the cold food cold once you leave home with this box? Do you need to reheat the rice and meat once you’re ready to eat it?
The bottom tier sometimes gets microwaved when it gets sent to by boyfriend's workplace. This bento box is more sturdy than others I've had, so that may not work for others. The silicone cups are also microwave-safe.
The workplace also has a refrigerator, which does make a difference in what I pack.
Mostly, though, they are intended to be kept and eaten at room temperature. When I need to keep it cold when there is no refrigerator (or when taking it outside on a hot day) I will use frozen fruit cups or a frozen water bottle packed next to the box.
These websites were very useful to me when I started making bento:
http://justbento.com/handbook/bento-basics/making-food-for-bento-that-tastes-good-cold
http://lunchinabox.net/2007/08/box-lunches-hot-or-cold/
http://lunchinabox.net/2007/05/food-safety-for-packed-lunches-updated/
Top: Raw cauliflower and broccoli, half a miniature apple.
Bottom: Cheese tortellini with pesto, mushrooms, cheese.
I added the cheese butterfly at the last minute because I thought it needed something bright on the bottom tier, and there wasn’t much yellow in the bento. There are color guidelines to packing bento, if you didn’t know. Good for making your bento pretty.
Top: Corn pudding, miniature apple slices Bottom: BBQ beef and broccoli, white rice A "leftovers" bento. Steamed the broccoli with the rice, beef and corn were just reheated before packing. I like using plain rice balls like this sometimes, instead of the usual 'rice on one half, entree on the other' sort of bento.
Boyfriend got a new whiteboard and I immediately used it to nag him about eating gas station taquitos for lunch.
Top: Peaches & blackberries, garlic-stuffed olives, hard boiled egg. Bottom: Pasta salad, cheese cat. I made this in the morning, but it can be made the night before and put in the fridge and be just fine the next day. I'll start tagging lunches like this. The thing about making lunches is, it gets easier the more often you do it, and harder when you stop for a while. I got sick and didn't make any bento for a couple weeks, and so the "bento" foods that make lunch making easy ran out.... So this is all made from what we happened to have in the house. I cooked the pasta and broccoli together in the rice cooker while I boiled an egg on the stove. A dash of olive oil, a dash of rice vinegar, and a dash of Italian seasoning mix and it's a simple pasta salad. The peaches are from a jar, the blackberries are fresh. I cut the cat out in the morning, but when I'm making bento every day I'll have a few cheese shapes cut ahead of time and put in a plastic container so I can just grab one and add a touch of "cute" to whatever lunch I'm making.
I didn't realize I didn't have my ask box on! I do now. Not that I'm expecting a flood of questions and commentary but just in case.
Top: Baked salmon patties, half a plum, carrots, pickle. Bottom: Vegetable mixed rice. This is a smaller, squishier, redder variety of plum than I normally get. I made the salmon patties in the morning in the toaster oven but you could make them the night before for less morning prep. I rinsed and dried the pickle with a paper towel so there wouldn't be as much moisture next to the salmon patties. Also there are a couple carrots under the pickle to make the height even. I just threw some frozen vegetables in the rice cooker on top of the rice before setting it to cook. I use that method of cooking vegetables a lot, especially when packing lunches in the morning.
Top: Layer of hot sausage slices on the bottom, mixed raw pepper and pickle slices, pepper jack cheese butterfly, sausage flowers (sausage ends, cheese, pickle ends) stuffed in mini peppers. Bottom: Crackers, mini cheese wheel, half an apricot. Lately all my bentos have been for other people because I'm housebound by my health. I did this while up at abnormal hours and put it in the fridge until the roommate got up for work. THEREFORE, this is a little more prep work than I normally do but you don't have to attempt the sausage flowers. (They rarely look quite as pretty when you use good sausage...) This "lunchable" type bento is another one I make when I don't have a lot of time or energy. Sausage, cheese, crackers and raw fruits/vegetables. Only prep work is slicing and arranging.
This is a bento I take a LOT, especially during finals week, because it has about 4 seconds of morning prep time. The night before, put a cup of hummus and whole fruits/vegetables in the top with the rubber lid on and put it in the fridge. Put strips of bread in the bottom and cover with the bento box lid, and leave it on the counter. Assemble in the morning.
Top: Strawberries, hummus, mini bell pepper, cashews
Bottom: Flatbread
Prep time: 0 mins
This guy went directly into my mouth rather than a bento, but this is what I use the ice cube trays for. This is a raspberry gelatin "jiggler" made with beet juice instead of water.
Pictures of the bento stuff I have right now. I used to have a lot more, that I got when I went to Japan in 2008, but I unfortunately lost a lot of it (including 3 bento boxes!) during a very hasty and messy move out of an ex's house. What I have now is about half from my Japan trip, and half from local stores or the internet. This is the main thing that makes bento packing daunting to people, they think they need a huge amount of accessories. The only box I have right now is 2-tiered, no internal dividers, with a rubber lid for the top tier to keep wet things from drying or spilling. Cookie cutters: Easy to find everywhere. A lot of mine are Halloween themed because I have a deep and longstanding love of tacky goth stuff. Not necessary but it's an easy way to add "cuteness" to your lunch with minimal effort. Rice ball moulds: If you like rice balls I would recommend getting some, it's much easier to make them in bulk and freeze them this way. Ice cube trays: I use them as jello moulds. Cute, but only really useful for bento if you like gelatin foods (admittedly an acquired taste). Cups, dividers, etc: I would very highly recommended getting some in a few different sizes. The ones made specifically for bento are a bit shorter than regular silicone baking cups, I added a soda can for reference. I don't always use dividers though, and I'll tag those with the "no divider" tag, so don't let a lack of silicone cups prevent you from starting to use your bento box!
Bento for another person. First one I’ve made in a loooong time.
Top: Garbanzo and green bean salad, fruit cocktail
Bottom: Spaghetti frittata, carrots, almonds, snap peas
Bad picture, but here it is.
Top: Meatballs, broccoli, half of a black plum. Bottom: Spinach Florentine ravioli with pesto and black olives.
Everything but the plum came from the freezer or a jar. Pesto & pasta is one of my standard lunches. It’s simple, tastes good at room temperature and is easy to change up so you don’t get bored. Plums are a common occurrence in my lunchbox because 1/2 fits perfectly in the end of the box and I eat the other half with breakfast. Prep time: 10 mins? Not sure, I was multitasking.
I’ve decided to start photographing my bento box lunches and posting them because I know several people who love it when I bring them but don’t think they can do it, and even a couple people with their own bento boxes but have only used them a couple times because they find it too difficult to use.
I use my bento box often when I have to be at school all day. I do it because it is cheap and convenient. These are not usually going to be beautiful character bentos. This is a log of what I eat for lunch and how I put it in my lunchbox, as “inspiration” for everyone who has an unused bento box in the back of their cabinet.
Ok let’s get this started.
Bottom: leftover vegetable fried rice Top: Soybeans in silicone cup, shrimp in metal cup, “whole grain crisps” and dark chocolate.
I put the soybeans in frozen, they were thawed by lunchtime. I will add more salt next time I think. The shrimp was the packaged precooked and frozen kind, I put them in the microwave for a minute and sprinkled a seasoning mix on them. Rice was leftovers, just heated it back up before putting it in the box. The metal tart cup was rusted by the time I got home, disappointing. Oh well, it was only 75 cents. Morning prep time: ~5mins
