I'm Biggie: avid cook, speedy lunch packer, mom in San Francisco, & former expat fluent in Japanese. 
Chicken two ways, mini strainer & bowl
Contents of Bug’s lunch: Butternut squash and zucchini with Korean barbeque sauce, roast chicken, blueberries, cherries, yellow rice (from Daisy Cooks! Latin American cookbook, her website is here).
Morning prep time: 5 minutes. The yellow rice was leftover from dinner last night, so when I was cleaning up I packed the rice up directly into our lunch containers for the next day. Bug & I went to Costco yesterday, so we bought our requisite roast chicken and chicken salad there — perfect for quick lunches. We’re still working through the veggies leftover from Mother’s Day (cut, but not cooked), so I threw them all into the microwave in a micrrowave steamer (a covered bowl with a little water works just fine) for a minute and a half, let it stand for a minute, then quick fried it with some store-bought Korean barbeque sauce (yakiniku sauce). This is a common speed technique in Japanese bento books — using pre-made sauces to add quick flavor to fresh veggies or protein dishes.
Packing: I packed this in a 350ml Lock & Lock container, and included a mini pick to make it easy for Bug to eat the veggies. I also included a spoon (not shown) for the rice — he ate the chicken and the berries with his hands.
After I cooked and sauced the veggies, I put them into a small 15cm strainer set in a bowl and set the bowl in front of an open window to cool for a minute or two. The strainer allows any excess moisture to drip off, and the metal of the bowl and strainer encourage fast cooling. Packing cooled food that’s not wet helps avoid condensation inside the lunch container that could: 1) make it hard for little hands to open the lid, and 2) add to the chance of food spoilage.
Contents of my lunch: Puerto Rican yellow rice, blueberries, cherries, chicken salad from Costco, and veggies (butternut squash, zucchini, green bell peppers and mushrooms) with Korean barbeque sauce.
Morning prep time: 5 minutes.
Packing: Mine is packed in the two 350ml tiers of the Lock & Lock lunch set, so total of 700ml lunch — just about right for me according to the bento box size guidelines. I was able to stack all three containers (Bug’s & my lunch) inside of Bug’s little insulated lunch bag (Thomas the Tank Engine, a hand-me-down from a friend’s son).
Lunch in a Box is nominated for Best Food Blog in the Blogger’s Choice Awards. If you’d like to cast your vote for speedy lunch packing, click here (you can vote for multiple blogs in the same category).
READ MORE:
- Need for speed: A mommy’s lunch manifesto
- How to pack a bento lunch and use “gap fillers”
- Choosing the right size bento box
- Packed lunch food safety
- Biggie’s list of top speed tips, tutorials and equipment reviews
May 16th, 2007 | Categories: bento, equipment, for kids, lactose free, poultry, rice, tips | 
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May 16th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
I love my lock and lock containers. The store I got them from *cough* walmart *cough* didn’t have the rectangle ones. Do they come with the dividers?
May 16th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
Just a question out of the blue:
Do you make your lunch the night before or that same morning?
May 16th, 2007 at 10:45 pm
These did comes with built-in dividers — very convenient. I wish Lock & Lock had wider distribution of their lunch sets in the U.S.; they have a very good product for packed lunches.
May 16th, 2007 at 10:47 pm
Usually the same morning, although sometimes (as with this lunch) I’ll pack part of the lunch when I’m cleaning up from dinner. But hey, if you have the energy to pack the entire lunch the night before, more power to you! That would be the fastest morning prep time yet!
May 16th, 2007 at 11:04 pm
The little bento looks so good! Honestly your blog makes me reaaally want to start packing bentos for my lunch. But where to start!
May 16th, 2007 at 11:11 pm
Don’t be intimidated!!! Jump right in wherever you’re comfortable. Hey, basically it’s just lunch in glorified Tupperware — you can make it as simple/fast or as complicated/time-consuming as you feel like. There’s no right answer, just start packing, noisemachine!
May 17th, 2007 at 7:09 am
I love this lunch! Apart from fish, chicken is definitely my fave kind of meat. And that Korean bbq-sauce sounds so interesting! Really delicious-sounding.
May 17th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
I usually prep in the morning as well
sometimes I wonder if it isn’t better to do it the night before
If it’s something that takes more than 20 minutes to pack I usually do it the night before
I guess we aren’t so different afterall
May 17th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
Thanks for tagging things with Lactose Free =)
I am (majorly) lactose intolerant and my housemate is gluten intolerant so we always try to think of new, interesting meals that take into account all of the food allergies.
May 18th, 2007 at 4:03 am
Thanks amvn! We always wind up with lots of chicken after a Costco run.
May 18th, 2007 at 4:07 am
You’re welcome! My husband was (mis)diagnosed with celiac disease (gluten disease) at the end of 2004, so we ate gluten-free for nine months in 2005 (until he was “undiagnosed”). That’s actually what really got me into making bentos (see my profile). So I feel ya on the lactose and gluten fronts! Packing your own lunch is almost a necessity for a lot of people with special food needs.
May 21st, 2007 at 5:45 am
gorgeous! and hello!
tell me please; when you pack rice the night before, isn’t it kind of hard and gritty the next day? or do you keep it out of refrigeration to avoid that? or do you steam it a little in the morning to soften it back up? or….?
May 22nd, 2007 at 3:22 am
Hi Melanie. A quick spin in the microwave (about 30 seconds in a 1100W microwave) in the morning softens the rice up. I don’t tend to have the texture issue with fried rice, and the yellow rice was initially fried in achiote oil — so less of an issue than with plain rice.