Archive for the 'bento' Category

(Chronologically Listed)

Enchilada and Sloppy Joe bento lunches

I’m not one to spend a lot of time making decorative food art, but I’m not totally averse to giving my four-year-old son fun lunches. My speedy versions use playful accessories and visually interesting food instead of ornate food sculpture. The first lunch below is more of an exercise in accessories and shortcut cooking for dinner, while the second lunch is more interesting-looking food with a review of frozen potato Smiles.

Contents of preschooler bento lunch: Fast chicken mole enchiladas (loose recipe below) with a squeeze bottle of crema (sour cream), sauteed asparagus, nectarine slices, and cheese cubes.

Morning prep time: 10 minutes, using leftover enchiladas that I’d packed up the night before after dinner. In the morning I filled the condiment bottle with crema, sliced the nectarine and sauteed two stalks of asparagus. (Read on for the enchilada recipe, a review of shaped potato Smiles, lunch details, and an additional Sloppy Joe lunch.)

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Published by Biggie on October 27th, 2008 tagged bento, corn tortillas or masa, food jar, for kids, leftover remake, meat, poultry, recipe, review | 49 Comments »

How to cut your food bills

With food prices going up and the economy looking bleak, a lot of us are looking for ways to tighten our belts and save money. Food budgets add up, and there are more creative ways of cutting costs than eating macaroni and cheese all the time.

Packing your own lunch instead of buying lunch in a restaurant or cafeteria is an obvious money-saver, but there’s more that you can do to shop smart, reduce food waste, and conserve resources in the kitchen. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t follow *all* of the tips below, so just pick and choose the ones that work for your lifestyle. Read on to save money: 1) at the store, 2) at home, and 3) when traveling or dining out.

How do you cut food costs at home? Share your own tips in comments! Read the rest of this entry »

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Published by Biggie on October 21st, 2008 tagged bento, freezing, organize, parenthacks, tips | 44 Comments »

Leftover dim sum bento lunches

My son recently turned four, and at his birthday I served dim sum from a local dim sum take-out place. This was the meal that kept on giving, as the leftovers gave us dinner and two speedy bento lunches, below. If your family overeats because they finish everything that’s put out on the table, try holding a little bit back in the kitchen for lunch the next day instead of counting on them to leave leftovers on the table. This has been helping us with portion control lately, and consequently saves a little money.

Contents of bento lunch for preschooler: Pork potsticker dumplings, shrimp har gow dumplings & dipping sauce, cherry tomatoes, celery sticks, little carrots & broccoli with ranch dipping sauce, and a strawberry. The dim sum is from Clement BBQ in San Francisco, a cheap take-out dim sum place with very nice baked goods. Try picking up a package of buns from the counter to steam at home; my favorite is their steamed pork buns. (Disclaimer: I have no affiliations with Clement BBQ.) If you have time, try your hand at making your own gyoza, using even leftover stew or curry as the filling.

Morning prep time: 6 minutes, using all leftovers from the birthday party (including a tray of assorted vegetables and dip). In the morning I quickly re-steamed the dumplings in the microwave to restore the texture of the wrappers, let them cool a little, and filled the dressing container. (Read on for details, an additional lunch, and cool Ultraman cupcakes.) Read the rest of this entry »

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Published by Biggie on October 17th, 2008 tagged bento | 26 Comments »

SF Shopping: Additional bento stores

It’s been a while since my last bento shopping update for San Francisco Bay Area locals, so there’s quite a bit today. I’ll be updating the San Francisco Bay Area bento shopping guide, the online bento shopping guide, and the store entries in the Bento Store Locator with this information for quick reference.

Kawaii Corner: Selection of cute kids’ character boxes, plus online store with international shipping (SF Richmond Dist.)
Kamei: Tiger thermal bento kits and Asvel bento boxes (SF Richmond Dist.)
Ichiban Kan: New branch of Japanese-style discount store to open March 2009 in Tanforan Mall (San Bruno)
Kukje: Tiger thermal bento kits, Asvel bento boxes, and Lock & Lock boxes (Daly City)
Katachi: Touristy sword & knife store in Japantown with Hakoya boxes (SF Japantown)
Nijiya: Some men’s Asvel boxes in stock (SF Japantown)
Sanko: Depleted bento stock, more due in December (SF Japantown)
Target: 5-packs of silicone baking cups for US$1 (U.S. nationwide)

Read on for the full details on each store.

(Alert: Due to ongoing issues with my hosting provider, I’m going to be changing web hosts over the next few days to reduce site downtime and speed up loading time. The transition *should* be seamless to readers, but some of the latest reader comments might appear to go temporarily missing in the transition. I’ll do my best to move any stray comments to the new server — rest assured that they’re important to me, and haven’t disappeared into the ether!) Read the rest of this entry »

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Published by Biggie on October 8th, 2008 tagged SF Bay Area local, bento, equipment, shopping | 36 Comments »

Metal bento boxes & Shepherd’s pie

Domo-kun lunch from cookbook

(ADDENDUM: Please accept my apologies for the downtime Lunch in a Box has been experiencing lately. My hosting company has had an unprecedented number of issues lately, and I will be switching providers shortly.)

I’ve seen fun little aluminum bento boxes for children in stores from time to time, but have always been puzzled by their lack of watertight lids. Why use metal boxes that leak? I asked the moms at Bug’s Japanese immersion preschool and searched through my Japanese-language bento cookbooks to find some answers.

In Japan, evidently preschools have special ovens to warm up the children’s metal boxes in the winter, but because most of the cute aluminum boxes lack watertight seals, Japanese parents have had to get creative with how they pack lunches in them. Benefits of metal boxes include being able to cook food directly in the box (when using an oven-safe container, also true of tempered glass boxes), the absence of health concerns associated with packing food in plastic, and lighter weight than glass boxes. Drawbacks include not being able to microwave metal containers and potential leaking caused by the loose, non-secure lid.

* * * * *

Contents of preschooler bento lunch: Mini Shepherd’s pie (seasoned ground beef with vegetables, topped with mashed potatoes and melted Cheddar cheese; simple web recipe here), and a side dish container with a black Mission fig, Concord grapes, and different colored cherry tomatoes.

Speed Tip: When you’re making dinner, make a little extra that can be saved and eaten for lunch (either as is or as a Leftover Remake). The Shepherd’s pie didn’t take extra time when cooking — I just separated out a little, assembled in lunch-friendly containers, and threw them into the fridge for later.

Morning prep time: 8 minutes, using pre-made Shepherd’s pie from dinner earlier in the week. In the morning I grated some cheese and ran it briefly under the broiler in my convection toaster oven to melt the cheese. I let it cool before putting the plastic lid on top. (Read on for details, tips for using metal bento boxes, sample pages from Japanese bento cookbooks, and additional lunches.)

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