Bento Boxes

[PrincessFiona60]

Originally Posted by Merlot

No pictures today but I did pack two lettuce rolled chicken salad snacks (must work on rolling, it will be a mess to eat!) low calorie dark chocolate mousse with strawberries, pretzel crackers and a wedge of laughing cow herb and garlic cheese (for snack) and a hard boiled egg with 1 slice whole wheat bread for my breakfast. My other snack will be all the medicine I am taking for my bronchitis I love my bento box, I have plans for turkey chili one day, and I am already looking forward to it.

Sounds good. I've been considering changing to ground turkey...just have to convince Shrek!

I'm going to try a week of lettuce wraps, myself with chicken, salmon or tuna. See how it effects my blood sugars and weight.

[Merlot]

I don't prefer ground turkey myself but I can used to it, the DH will just have to eat what I cook, he needs to lose weight anyway

If you make any good lettuce wraps, pleast post! I may get to work tomorrow and wish I had made myself a big sub sandwich like I put in the husbands lunch.

[spork]

Originally Posted by Merlot

No pictures today but I did pack two lettuce rolled chicken salad snacks (must work on rolling, it will be a mess to eat!) low calorie dark chocolate mousse with strawberries, pretzel crackers and a wedge of laughing cow herb and garlic cheese (for snack) and a hard boiled egg with 1 slice whole wheat bread for my breakfast. My other snack will be all the medicine I am taking for my bronchitis I love my bento box, I have plans for turkey chili one day, and I am already looking forward to it.

That sounds good, Merlot! Lettuce wraps can be messy. I think of them more like tacos than wraps, expecting them to be. Some work-arounds that might work...

hard fillings, like loaves of meat,
different, more pliable lettuces (red leaf?),
blanched leaf? maybe nappa cabbage wraps,
wrap ties, like chive or nori ala sushi, etc.

Maybe Fi will have other ideas from a week's worth of experiments...

[Kathleen]

I need ideas. I've grown a bit lazy lately.

[Merlot]

Originally Posted by spork

That sounds good, Merlot! Lettuce wraps can be messy. I think of them more like tacos than wraps, expecting them to be. Some work-arounds that might work...

hard fillings, like loaves of meat,
different, more pliable lettuces (red leaf?),
blanched leaf? maybe nappa cabbage wraps,
wrap ties, like chive or nori ala sushi, etc.

Maybe Fi will have other ideas from a week's worth of experiments...

That day was the worst lunch I have ever taken. I love to eat but it was all I could do to choke a piece down.

[Merlot]

Originally Posted by Kathleen

I need ideas. I've grown a bit lazy lately.

I took chili today with my sprinkle of cheese, green onions on the side. A few chipolte tortilla strips for crunch on top. It was pretty good.

[PrincessFiona60]

I wrapped one tuna sand in iceberg, one in green leaf and one in romaine. I liked the romaine the best. Crispy and fresh tasting, it held up to being a wrap and was easy for me to take a bite. The green leaf was hard to bite through, the ice berg too bleah. Bite is important since I wear falsies...

I'm going to try Salmon and dill/lemon in spinach leaves next week. It may just turn into a spinach salad with the Salmon on top! Hmm...egg salad on spinach.

[spork]

A curried chicken salad I fixed for bento a while back. Cubed leftover breast from a roast, red potatoes nuked and cubed, cubed Cameo apples, finely diced shallot & celery. Toss with S&P+, a little shelf-stable mayo, dusting of cumin and packaged garam masala to color & taste. It held up well for lunch.

At the time, I didn't think of it as a lettuce wrap, but it occurs to me now that "chunky" salads would also make for a less messy filling.

[PrincessFiona60]

Oh that sounds good! I'ma try that!

[spork]

1. cream of bok choi with silk tofu
2. takikomi rice with chicken, gobo & carrot root
3. cucumber/seaweed salad & okra/yamaimo salad
4. apple tart, grapefruit slice
5. black coffee


The soup was my mother's experiment that didn't go too badly, the thickener is rice. I nuked it, added tofu stovetop for my lunch. The takikomi is a common one called kayaku gohan. Traditional ingredients are shaved burdock root, carrot, shiitake mushroom, and shirataki. They're first blanched in soy sauce and rice wine before dumping into the pot of rice to be cooked. I added leftover chicken breast and finely chopped salted red radish leaves. The cucumber & seaweed is a basic pickle; the slimy okra & yama imo is an acquired taste, mine is seasoned with dried shiso flakes and lemon juice. The pie is my first attempt ever at an oven-baked fruit tart, albeit with store-bought pie crust. The grapefruit is from my neighbor's tree, very sweet less sour.