I'm Biggie: avid cook, speedy lunch packer, mom in San Francisco, & former expat fluent in Japanese.
Meatballs and gold kiwi
- sliced mango and gold kiwi (more yellow and citrusy than regular green kiwis)
- salad of red leaf lettuce, cilantro and raspberries
- salad toppings: Caesar dressing, tomatoes, walnuts and more cilantro
- teriyaki pineapple chicken meatballs from Aidells with homemade teriyaki sauce
Packed in my Nissan Stainless thermal lunch tote to keep all the salad stuff cool and not wilted.
READ MORE:
- Need for speed: A mommy’s lunch manifesto
- Food safety for packed lunches
- How to pack a bento lunch and use “gap fillersâ€
- Choosing the right size bento box
- Biggie’s list of top speed tips, tutorials and equipment reviews
July 6th, 2006 | Categories: lactose free, meat, salad, thermal lunch jar | 
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Tiny, flat peaches
I recently found some Saturn white peaches — they’re small, flat, very sweet, and fit perfectly into a bento box! Packed in my Lock & Lock bento set without the juice container and case (my husband thinks they’re too cute to take to work with him).
- Saturn white peach
- Chinese steamed bun with green onions
- blueberries
- roast chicken
- hard boiled quail eggs
- stir-fried broccoli with ginger soy sauce
READ MORE:
- Need for speed: A mommy’s lunch manifesto
- Food safety for packed lunches
- How to pack a bento lunch and use “gap fillersâ€
- Choosing the right size bento box
- Biggie’s list of top speed tips, tutorials and equipment reviews
July 5th, 2006 | Categories: bento, dumplings or buns, eggs | Print This Post
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Fritatta recipe & Laptop Lunch
Pulled out the mini frypan for this one.
- sausage and zucchini frittata with aji amarillo sauce
- rye cocktail bread
- homemade hummus
- lemon cucumber and red bell pepper slices for dipping in hummus
- container of Lizano sauce for the frittata
- little butter
I love Lizano sauce!!! It’s like the national sauce of Costa Rica — they have bottles of it on restaurant tables like there are bottles of ketchup in the U.S. Great on beans/rice, vegetables, meat, and (my favorite) eggs. Green heroin — yum. Packed in our Laptop Lunchbox.
Mini-frittata recipe (serves 1)
1/2 small zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 large sausage, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 Tb vegetable oil
3 eggs
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
freshly ground black pepper
1 Tb aji amarillo puree (Peruvian yellow chiles — not that hot) (optional)
- In a bowl, mix together the eggs, Parmesan cheese, pepper, and aji amarillo puree (and any herbs you want to use). Set aside.
- Turn on your broiler (or salamander) with the oven rack in the top position.
- In an 8″ nonstick mini-frypan, heat the vegetable oil on medium-high heat. Add the zucchini and sausage (or whatever other fillings you’d like to use), and saute until slightly brown and the zucchini is cooked through. I added a 1/4 cup of water and covered for a couple of minutes to speed the zucchini cooking, then removed the lid and cooked the water off.
- Reduce heat to medium, and add the egg mixture to the pan. Stir with a rubber spatula until large curds have formed, then stop stirring and reduce heat slightly.
- When it looks like the bottom has set up (about 1 minute later), put the frypan under the broiler until the top is puffy and turns a golden brown.
- Remove from heat and let it sit for 3-5 minutes off heat. Residual heat will continue cooking the eggs and help the egg release from the pan.
- Use the rubber spatula to gently release the frittata from the pan. Turn out on a cutting board and cut into wedges with a sharp knife. Trim the wedges as necessary to fit them into your lunch container. EAT!
READ MORE:
- Leftover remake: Pasta frittata and multi-grilling technique
- Speed bento: Stovetop mini frittata recipe
- Need for speed: A mommy’s lunch manifesto
- How to pack a bento lunch and use “gap fillersâ€
- Choosing the right size bento box
- Biggie’s list of top speed tips, tutorials and equipment reviews
June 29th, 2006 | Categories: Laptop Lunchbox, eggs, meat, recipe, sandwich or wrap | Print This Post
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Steamed bun bento for toddler
Having sent my husband off with the speed bento, next came my son’s lunch.
Chinese steamed bun, orange grape tomatoes, octo-dogs, over-easy fried quail’s egg (on its side), and blueberries. And of course, my son rejected the cute quail’s egg (but devoured the octodogs, as usual)!
Tip: When frying quail eggs, don’t try to break them along the middle with your fingers like you would a chicken egg. The membrane is quite thick and you’ll end up with broken yolk. Open it more like a soft-boiled egg: tap around the end with a sharp knife and peel off the small cap of shell. Turn the egg upside down and shake it out of the opening you’ve created.
READ MORE:
- Need for speed: A mommy’s lunch manifesto
- Food safety for packed lunches
- How to pack a bento lunch and use “gap fillersâ€
- Choosing the right size bento box
- Biggie’s list of top speed tips, tutorials and equipment reviews
June 28th, 2006 | Categories: bento, dumplings or buns, eggs, lactose free, meat | Print This Post
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Gyoza and broccoli lunch
This is my “roll out of bed and realize I haven’t planned today’s lunch” bento.
- onigiri with ume katsuo furikake mixed in, plus umeboshi
- steamed broccoli with soy ginger sauce from Whole Foods
- pork & vegetable gyoza with dipping sauce
- orange grape tomatoes
READ MORE:
- Need for speed: A mommy’s lunch manifesto
- Food safety for packed lunches
- How to pack a bento lunch and use “gap fillersâ€
- Choosing the right size bento box
- Biggie’s list of top speed tips, tutorials and equipment reviews