Bento #6 -- Hell yeah, you read that right! :D

[eirenical]

*cracks knuckles* Are you ready for this? Really? ^_^ I was beyond ready. I've been kind of plateauing lately at WW and with less than 10 lbs. to go... that's beyond irritating. What's the problem? Too many damned processed carbs. Why? I sit in class and nosh on 100 calorie packs all night, that's why. :-P And why do I do that? Because I'm not packing my lunch/dinner like I should.

Re-enter bento. ^_^ I have missed making bento, you don't even know how much. I miss making my little Japanese foods like onigiri (OMG, the sheer comfort level of that comfort food... *_*), and making my cute pretty little colorful boxes packed with all kinds of little goodies that I love. I miss it.

Yesterday, I tested the waters. I made 2 eggs worth of tamagoyaki and had it for breakfast, just to see if I remembered how to make it. I did. ^_^ Cute little folded eggs. I have a picture from the very first bento I ever did over here. And they were tasty. And it was good. ^_^ Then I went and rediscovered my favorite "food" website, justbento.com and all the awesome bento and recipes that she makes. And, OMG, she wrote a cookbook. *dies* WANT!! *_* *coughs* Moving on. Of course, all my favorite recipes were still on the site and I was browsing and plotting like mad. Problem: haven't been shopping lately. :-P Well, I knew I had sushi rice and lentils in the cupboard, smoked salmon in the freezer (Lucky!), and an onion in the refrigerator. With that... I could at least make my two favorites. ;D And so...

I did.

Another view of the bento A close-up of the "box" itself. Just a typical 2 cup (?), flat Pyrex container, but it fits perfectly in the bottom of my lunchbox. ^_^

	Onigiri! Made using the method described on justhungry.com. A slightly new twist on an old standby. Instead of placing a piece of smoked salmon in the back or center of the onigiri, as I always used to, this time I shredded the salmon and mixed it into the rice. It actually made the onigiri this nice mottled pink color... that you totally can't see from the picture. Damned flash. >.<;;; Anyway, I had a baby onigiri's worth of materials left over, so I shaped it and ate it for lunch... OMG. ONIGIRI, I HAVE MISSED YOU!!! *_*
	Spicy Lentil Snacks Another old favorite. Lentils with sauteed onions and garlic, curry powder, salt and pepper, and a little rice to hold it all together. Pop 'em in the oven for 20 minutes to crisp up the outside and voila! ~2 1/2 of these is about 1/4 cup of lentils. The original recipe can be found here @ justbento.com. I essentially do that, but with no sesame seed coating and instead of the varied spices, I just use curry powder. ^_^ I also have an olive oil spray that I use (0 cal for one spray) instead of all the oil recommended. No flavor loss, IMHO. ^_^ OMG, SPICY LENTIL SNACKS, I HAVE MISSED YOU, TOO! *_* (*coughs* I... may have had about 2 1/2 balls worth of mixture left over that didn't fit into the pan. And... I may have eaten that for lunch, too. Then had one of the balls when they came out of the oven. Maybe. ^_~)
	The Complete Bento -- Lunch + Dinner Sorry guys -- no calorie count this time. All done in WW PtsPlus. Too tired to refigure. :-P 2 salmon onigiri -- 7 PointsPlus (only 2 oz. salmon for both, probably not quite a protein serving, and it's white rice (didn't have brown sushi rice :-P), so it's empty carbs... but who the hell cares? ;) It's ONIGIRI!!) "Seraaa fukuuuuu, seraaaaa fuku... onigiri alien in a seraaaa fukuuuuu..." XD OK, if you've watched Fruits Basket, that might make sense. *snickers* Trust me. It's funny. Laugh. ;D 6 Spicy Lentil Snacks -- 4 PointsPlus (Slightly more than 1 veggie serving, 1 (2?) lean protein servings) 2 Baby Bonbel Cheeses (full fat, 'cuz the others taste nasty. :-P) -- 4 PointsPlus (1 dairy serving) 1/2 cup turnip (+ another 1/2 cup in a little baggie) -- 0 PointsPlus (2 fruit/veggie servings) 2 small clementines -- 0 PointsPlus (2 fruit/veggie servings) Total: 15 PointsPlus -- 1 dairy, 1-2 protein, 5 veggies/fruits And remember, guys, this bento is intended to cover two meals. Otherwise... well, let's face it, 15 PointsPlus is kind of a lot. I get 29 to cover the whole day, after all. ^_^

*satisfied smile* Damn, but I've missed making bento posts. Here's to many more to come! :D

Comments

[miss-warina.livejournal.com]

Ohhh japanese food... I hate you.
Chinese food... I LOVE you. XD

Ok I'll admit there are some japanese dishes I like but they're very few comparing to what the japanese cuisine has to offer =P
My problem with it is the raw meat... I HATE raw meet >.<
And I'm not that fond of rice either so yeah... I still prefer the chinese =P

BUUUUUUUUUUUUUT, japanese dishes are so pretty! And colorful! 8DD
But I'm really not the best person to talk about Japan and japanese, because I simply LOVE them to death! I just don't like the food very much =P

[rchan.livejournal.com]

*laughs* Sounds like you're of three minds there. ^_^ For the record, though, not all Japanese food includes raw meat. In fact, most of it doesn't, especially not in a bento. Not safe, to say the least. ^_^ The salmon in my onigiri, for example, is smoked, then I broil it on top of that. So... it's definitely cooked. ^_^ The not liking rice thing, though... that's kind of hard to get around. *chuckles*

All that being said, I'm totally a sushi girl and I also love Chinese food. ;) As for the Japanese, in general, I've been into Japanese culture for a while, actually (thank you, anime ^_^), and making bento is just such fun! *beams* I'm glad I started doing it again. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have had enough points to have the cheesecake my classmate brought in for us. And that would have been a true tragedy. ;D

[miss-warina.livejournal.com]

Oh I know it's not all foods that have raw meat, those are the ones I generally like XD
But in here the majority of japanese restaurants only have sushis and foods with raw meat so yeah... very frustrating >.<

I can only eat the it's-not-made-of-raw-meat foods when my friend cooks for me =P