« « Onion and pepper saute | Main | Speed bento technique: jello cups » »

Speed bento techniques: frozen spaghetti

This was a super-fast toddler bento (less than 10 minutes to pack both mine and my son’s). I nuked frozen homemade meatballs, steamed the broccoli and kabocha squash in a microwave mini steamer (photo behind the cut), and dropped in a foil cup of leftover spaghetti I portioned out for freezing.

Speedy spaghetti lunch for toddler お弁当

Taking a page from Japanese bento cookbooks, I froze leftover spaghetti in foil liners set in mini muffin tins. Once they were frozen through a couple of hours later, I put them in shallow tupperware for longer-term storage. This way I have a cache of homemade pasta ready to drop into my son’s lunches when I’m looking for a red-colored dish. In the morning, I just put a frozen-solid pasta cup into the bento, and it’s totally thawed a few hours later when we’re ready to eat. If I were going to microwave them I’d have used paper cups instead of foil.

Freezing spaghetti for bento lunches Frozen spaghetti for bento lunches

As for taste, I ate my bento today (with the frozen pasta) and had a bite of my son’s (with non-frozen pasta). They tasted about the same, no significant difference in taste/texture. I wouldn’t leave them in the freezer for longer than a few weeks, though — if they got freezer burn that’d definitely affect the taste. EDIT: I now like these with a little extra sauce in a small container on the side to remoisten the pasta.

I made today’s broccoli and kabocha in this mini steamer for the microwave — I picked it up at Daiso for US$1.50. It’s sold as a steamer for meat buns, but it’s just the right size for steaming small amounts of vegetables or dumplings for lunch. It speeds up steaming time by 50%. You put a tablespoon of water in the bottom, place the steam tray on the bottom, put the veggies in, then cover (aligning the steam holes to allow venting). Nuke for 1-2 minutes and let it stand for a couple of minutes afterward to steam. It can also be used for storage if you twist the lid so that the steam release holes are not aligned. Amazon lists a similar one here and a large one here.

Microwave mini steamer

Here’s my lunch — the same as my son’s except it’s got roast pork instead of meatballs.

Speedy roast pork lunch お弁当

RELATED POSTS:

 

Share this post:
February 13th, 2007 | Categories: bento, equipment, for kids, freezing, meat, parenthacks, pasta or noodles, tips, tutorial or how to | Print This Post Print This Post | Email this post Email this post
Don't miss a post! Subscribe to Lunch in a Box for tips, tricks and Biggie's packed lunches via newsreader or by email.

« « Onion and pepper saute | Main | Speed bento technique: jello cups » »


32 Responses to “Speed bento techniques: frozen spaghetti”

  1. amvn Says:

    That’s so neat with the freezing of pasta - I’m impressed!

    I love the steamer as well, I’ve been wanting one of those for a while.

    And the rabbit-cup in your son’s bento is so cute ^_^

  2. ss_biggie Says:

    Thank you! I’m really liking the steamer — the small size makes it really convenient.

  3. nifwlseirff Says:

    I love your speed bento tips!
    What is the recipe for the sauce on the pasta? I’ve looked for a recipe that has a similar sauce picture, but can’t find one. :-\
    Thanks heaps!

  4. ss_biggie Says:

    You know, I don’t remember what sauce I used! It’s entirely possible it was a jarred Progresso sauce I picked up from CostCo, with extra sauteed vegetables I added. Maybe it was a homemade tomato sauce with onions and butter. Sorry I can’t be more helpful here.

  5. 00goddess Says:

    I finally found a steamer like yours today- it is larger, maybe, but similar. The problem is that I don’t really know how to use it- how long to steam things like buns. It’s about 8 inches across. Can you suggest some times? If not that’s ok, if so thanks in advance :)

  6. ss_biggie Says:

    My little one came with instructions that said to nuke dumplings like shumai for 1-2 minutes on high (in a 500W microwave — times will vary according to the power of your microwave), then let it sit closed up for another minute or two. For a couple of broccoli florets in my 1100W microwave, about 30 seconds on high is about right (with a tablespoon or two of water in the bottom in both cases).

  7. 00goddess Says:

    Thank you SO MUCH!

  8. end_in_tears Says:

    when you first freeze the pasta in the muffin tin, did you have to cover them with foil or wraps first?

  9. ss_biggie Says:

    I didn’t, but to better avoid freezer burn, next time I’ll pop the whole tupperware container (uncovered) into a freezer bag, suck the air out of it with a straw, put the container cover on it, then freeze.

  10. one year project » Blog Archive » Day 153: Return of the mac Says:

    [...] stumbled upon an interesting food website today which I never would have found otherwise, and decided to make Baby A some frozen pasta cups [...]

  11. HungryGal Says:

    Just discovered your site. Very nice and quite creative. I stayed up until 2am the other night checking it out! I have a thing for Japanese cuisine too so I have been duly inspired by your site. I like the idea of frozen spaghetti cups as a means of portion control for me! Is there any issue in using the lovely silicon cups? Do they crack when frozen?

  12. Biggie Says:

    @11 from HungryGal: The packaging on the silicone baking cups says no problem with putting them in the freezer, so I just tested them out. I put the mini and standard silicone cups in the freezer (empty) for a couple of hours, then pulled them out and immediately squished them in my hands. No problem at all — they don’t even get stiff!

  13. girlrobot Says:

    so do you just eat the pasta cold then? after it has thawed…there is no reheating?

  14. TyR Says:

    Doesn’t seem like i would need reheating unless you don’t like cold Spaghetti,,, but since I’m a fan of cold left over spaghetti at a midnight hankering I would just eat it freshlt thawed… ^_* Go fig…

  15. Fourleafclover Says:

    Cool! This site is just full of great tips!

  16. Biggie Says:

    @15 from Fourleafclover: Thanks for the kind words, Fourleafclover!

  17. Kamilah Says:

    I don’t think I have ever read your listings in order I always jump from one link to another! Anywhoo, I saw that you found the frozen spaghetti in a Japanese recipe book. My question is can you make suggestions on cook books for a newbie to japanese cooking/bento because I would love to begin packing for my daughter a bento lunch(she’s 5 in kindergarten) but I don’t know where to start. Any suggestions would be GREAT!
    Thank You

  18. Tom Reilly Says:

    According to Alton Brown of the Food Network, Broccoli loses 50 to 70% of antioxidants when microwaved. Don’t do it! Steam instead.

  19. Biggie Says:

    @18 from Tom Reilly: Great minds think alike in this case — I posted about this very issue this past week, with a link to the study: http://lunchinabox.net/2008/02/26/mac-cheese-lunches-hot-vs-cold/

  20. Getting caught up on bento lunch postings. « Snarky Vegan Says:

    [...] and froze them in bento-sized portions using silicon muffin cups (a great idea per the fabulous Lunch In A Box blog). This was the last of the frozen leftovers. I’ll have to look up the recipe and post when I [...]

  21. Good lunch tip « Later On Says:

    [...] at 1:07 pm by LeisureGuy Laurel points out this post at Slashfood: Biggie, the bento whiz over at Lunch in a Box, has a really cool tip on freezing individual portions of food for handy lunches.We’d expect [...]

  22. Polcamilla Says:

    Okay, perhaps I’m an idiot, but I remembered seeing the beautiful frozen spaghetti cups on this site and tried making my own. I found I could NOT twirl the spaghetti into cute little nests like you have in the picture.

    What is your secret to making the spaghetti beautifully twirled like that?

  23. Melissa Says:

    WOW just WOW You are such an inspiration, Biggie!!!
    I have been CONSUMED with your LunchInAbox website for 4 nights in a row I have been doing SOOO much reading up on Bento style lunches. Thanks for Bringing exiting, Healthy/Afordable meals to an average American household!
    My 3 children are so exited about their new style of lunches :)

  24.   Lunch Week Begins with a Bento! by miamidish.net Says:

    [...] but they like to save time too. For example, if you look at Biggie’s manifesto page, the spaghetti looks lovely in cupcake holders. However, all she did was cook a big batch of spaghetti i and freeze it in [...]

  25. Kiana Says:

    i love your speed tips especially with the steamer! i just bought one from my local 99 ranch market but i have no idea how to use it. can anyone help? it looks likes a plastic rice cooker with snap locking lid.

  26. Jacq Says:

    HI Biggie, love ur site.. my kids have multiple allergies n your site has given me loads of ideas on how to provide them with interesting meals at school.. Just a few questions, we r usually told not to thaw food @ room temperature, so do u put an ice pack when u pack the frozen spaghetti in your lunchbox?

    And when packing cooked food, how long do u usually take to cool it down? Everytime i thought the food is totally cooled, i still find loads of condensation when the lunch is opened 4 hours later.. I’ll be so grateful if u can offer some advice.. thanks so much!!

  27. Cookie Says:

    I was wondering if these mini microwave rice cookers really work and are worth your money I saw them at j-list this is the link you just scroll a couple down http://www.jbox.com/TOPPROD/BN#NYH180

  28. Banana Anna Says:

    the broccoli you’re steaming for 1-2 min is completely raw? Do you keep a stash of washed, prepared broccoli in your fridge? I have been freezing mine, for fear I wouldn’t use it all up in the fridge

  29. Biggie Says:

    @27 from Cookie: Hmm, I can’t speak to the microwave rice cookers as I haven’t tried them out. Maybe do a search on the Lunch in a Box forum? I think I remember seeing people post about them there.

  30. Biggie Says:

    @28 from Banana Anna: Yes, I *microwave-steam” completely raw broccoli in the mini steamer all the time. Usually I just cut off a few florets from a big head of broccoli I keep in the refrigerator, give ‘em a rinse, and nuke with a couple tablespoons of water in the steamer for about 45 seconds on high power. Haven’t tried freezing raw broccoli. Keeping a stash of washed, prepared broccoli in the fridge sounds like a great idea, but honestly I’m just not that organized.

  31. Biggie Says:

    @26 from Jacq: You’ll have better results cooling the lunch down quickly if you cool the individual components down separately on a cooling rack before packing them into the bento box. I’ve even been known to throw the little cooling rack into the freezer or fridge for a minute or two in the morning to speed things up even more while I work on other components of the lunch. Good luck!

  32. jacq Says:

    Thanks so much Biggie! will try that out..

Leave a Comment

« « Onion and pepper saute | Main | Speed bento technique: jello cups » »