Tomorrow is moving day, which means my bento is kind of sad compared to many in the bento challenge group. Leftover thai red curry and coconut rice (which I love so much I can't be sad it's in my lunch today) along with grapes, cheese and mochi.
When I first got this box that started my bento obsession, I thought that I'd have a much easier time filling the layer with compartments. Not so! While it does limit my snack food love, I find it very hard to eat those snacks because the whole box has to be pulled out to get to them. AND when they're out I have three sections worth of food just sitting there, waiting to be munched. 9 times out of 10 I eat the lot in under 30 minutes for lunch. Which probably isn't so good.
With the bento I make for The Boy, I just use one of my square lock'n'locks, the 800ml I think (about the size of two sandwiches on top of each other). His bento always looks better than mine. Sure everything is lunch, but he works from home at his desk so I think he just leaves it open and munches for an hour or so. I feel weird doing that at work because noone else does. Plus, he can go get a snack from the fridge really easily.
Result of all this thinking? I might get another bento box but I'm TRYING to hold out long enough so I can say it's a birthday present to myself. May is a long time away!
I think I want one like this http://cgi.ebay.com/Japanese-Thermal-Bento-Lunch-box-Usagi-Red-Thermal-9_W0QQitemZ130286992854QQihZ003QQcategoryZ4003QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262 as it's thermal, so I can have hot lunch outside when it's cold. Plus, it has two little containers, so I could take one out for a snack at my desk without feeling like a little piggy. And of course with that bento, the shipping is HUGE so I may as well grab a few other things. Like boiled egg molds since The Boy insists that a bento isn't the same without them. I can take them or leave them. But in a shape they are adorable so I might be more willing to make them _all_ the time. And some food picks to make teeny little kebabs or something with.
I'm really glad I discovered bento. To a scary degree. I'm not embarrassed when I was caught on flickr looking at the bento challenge photo pool by (soon to be) Housemate. I was proud! I love going out with my lunch and having tasty food to picnic with. I enjoy making them and attempting to make them look good. I'm even liking all the vegetables and fruit (yes, I'm 5 and don't eat my veges often) and I'm sure I'll really like the smaller butt that comes with eating them too. I'm glad that The Boy has taken them to his heart too - though possibly that's to placate me. Whatever. He needs to eat better and lose some pudge.
But bottom line there are two things why I heart bento the most:
(1) I'm enjoying food again, the making it, the eating it, the buying it without being a complete sook about not being able to eat gluten.
(2) Saving money is good and the reason I'm saving is environmental! No more throwing out those sad looking veges for the most part.
I am proud of my bento habit. I even make bento when the majority of my house is encased in cardboard, in the middle of a raid (10 man Naxx). Bento!
3 comments:
That sounds great! I'm inspired, I don't think I'll go the whole-hog, bento-challenge style but I agree completely about throwing out veggies (ugh... too many go in the bin).
That bento box is so cute.
P.S. where do you buy your mochi from, or do you make it from scratch?
Make mochi from scratch? Not me! Well, not yet anyway. Maybe one day. I bought mine from two different generic asian groceries in Melbourne, Waverley Rd in Caulfield and one in Melbourne Central, near the station. There's also a bigger asian grocery on Russell St
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