New Bento Box

A few months ago, a friend suggested doing a review of my lunch boxes. I waited for a while because I wasn't super duper happy with any of them. Now I am. So in a few days you will be graced with review of the lunch boxes I have acquired over the last few years.

I picked up a new Bento Box on Etsy recently and I love it.











When I bought the bento box, I also picked up a couple of rice molds that will form rice into Kitty heads or bear heads. Look out for the bear heads soon.

I thought that 900 mL was going to be not quite enough food, but I have been eating out of this box for the last three days and I find that I eat about 1/2 to 3/4 at lunch time and the other portion around 3pm or so. It is perfect.

Tofu sandwich and leftover burrito lunch

Tofu sandwich (tofu, avocado, pickles, vegan mayo, hot sauce)
Leftover New Seasons burrito (tofu, refried beans, cilantro rice, mango salsa, pico, guacamole)
fresh berries
dates
bell pepper
carrots
hummus
pistachios
dried cranberries
grapefruit
habanero pickles
tortilla chips

I made extra lunch so I would have enough food, unlike yesterday.

Tofu Bahn Mi

Tofu Bahn mi (baked tofu, cucumber, cilantro, jalapeno, vegan mayo, french bread)
cucumber
apricot
carrots
hummus

This was not enough food. I ate it around 10:30am and had to buy second lunch from the work cafe.

Fruit, veggie, cracker lunch

Crackers
Papadum crisps
dried cranberries
dates
apple
habanero pickles
hummus
apricot
carrot
cucumber
bell pepper
sugar snap peas (not pictured)
strawberries (not pictured)

This is my favourite type of meal, lots of variety and very filling.

We have had that pumpkin since last fall when we bought all things pumpkin at Trader Joe's and it hasn't moulded yet!

Spring time lunch

Peanut butter roll up
Herb crackers
Papadum crisps
dried cranberries
hummus
snap peas
bell pepper (under the peas)
dates
carrots
strawberries
apricot (under the strawberries)

Watermelon Tuna Bowl

Watermelon Tuna based on this recipe.

Served with rice, avocado, cucumber and jalapeno pickle, green onion, sesame seeds, scrambled egg.

The texture was smooth and interesting, but the "tuna" still just tasted like watermelon. It was an interesting experiment, but I don't think I will try it again.

Tempeh Sandwich Lunch

Tempeh sandwich
habanero pickles
apricots
strawberries
dates
carrots
sugar snap peas

More Chi'ken Pot Pie Lunch

The remaining leftovers of Chi'ken pot pie
Bell pepper
hummus
dates
pear

I love spring time!

Chi'ken Pot Pie Lunch

Chi'ken pot pie (puff pastry, corn, broccoli, carrots, onion, vegan chicken bits, coconut creamer)
Bell pepper
Hummus
Apple
Dates
Breakfast Cookies Tasty!

In other news, this Saturday I'm going to buy a tea plant so I can make my own tea! Come check it out in two or three years when I will be able to start harvesting from it.

Indian Food Fest

Red Lentil Dahl (not exactly the same recipe, but pretty close)
Crunchy spicy potatoes (so so good!)
Naan
Rice

With lunch the next day:
cucumber
orange

BBQ Jack Lunch

BBQ Jack (made on the stove top, so much faster than the crock pot!)
Coleslaw (cabbage mix, vegan mayo, mustard, pepper)
tortilla
kiwi
cucumber
bell pepper
carrot
hummus

Orange Chi'ken lunch

Trader Joe's Orange Chi'ken
Rice
Chard
Carrot
Bell Pepper
Cucumber
Kimi
Hummus

Tofu Wrap Lunch

Korean seasoned tofu, lettuce, avocado, sriracha, tortilla
saltines
kimchi
carrot
apple
waffle cookies
pineapple

My wrap got a bit squished by my bento box. Nothing can peek over the side of the box.

Spiralizer!

For our birthdays, my sister and her husband bought us a spiralizer and a cookbook on Fermenting Vegetables. We had to go on an adventure to pick up the package because it was sent to our old apartment, but thankfully we were able to procure the package with no problem. Thank you so much for the gifts, sister sister!

We immediately spiralized an apple and a potato.

The strands get so so long!

We ate the apple and cooked up the potato in the oven. I drizzled on olive oil, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and cooked it for about 20 minutes in a 400F oven. The potato came out deliciously crispy and I served it with a mixture of sriracha and vegan mayo.

I'm off to get some canning jars today to begin the fermented experiments. What I love about this book is that all the recipes are for pint or quart sized jars so you don't end up with 3 gallons of something you hate. I have two beets in the fridge that are crying out to be fermented!

Soy Curl Taco Lunch

Soy curls rehydrated with veggie broth paste, water, chili powder, onion powder, and cumin powder
cilantro
onion
lime

For dinner we had these on crispy taco shells, but I didn't want to try to transport that to work, so I opted to eat these with a tortilla.

Served with guacamole with corn, celery, orange, and hummus.

Burrito Lunch

Burrito filling, tortilla, tortilla chips, hummus, cucumber, grapefruit, celery.

The burrito filling did not spill out at all from the lunch box. The lid sits on top and makes a nice seal.

Beet Burger Lunch

Beet burger recipe here: http://www.theppk.com/2012/02/quarter-pounder-beet-burger/. These are so fantastically tasty. We try to make them every time we have beets in the house. This time we added about 2 tablespoons of vital wheat gluten and the burgers held together so so well.

Served with kiwi, apples, carrots, celery, and hummus.

Tempeh Rice Lunch

Ingredients
Rice
Cilantro
Lime
Tempeh
Onion

Method
Cook rice in rice cooker. After cooking, add chopped cilantro and lime juice.

Cook up a couple of tempeh bacon slices and onions on the stove top.

Notes
Served with kimchi, carrot, avocado, hummus, and blood orange.

Bonus picture of a tea sample I have from Upton. This tea from Indonesia is amazingly tasty. I had everyone smell the tea after I opened it. Too bad I can only have a 1/2 cup a day due to my caffeine intolerance.

Winter Rice Salad lunch

Ingredients
Rice
Chickpeas
Chard
Butternut squash
chipotle powder
olive oil

Tahini Sauce
2 parts tahini
2 parts soy sauce
1 part black vinegar
1 part rice vinegar
0.5 part hot sauce
1 partish water

Method
Preheat oven to 400F.

Cut butternut squash is half lengthwise. Clean out seeds and place cut side down in a baking dish with high sides. Fill the bottom of the dish with water to cover about 1/2 inch of the squash. Bake for about 30 minutes until the flesh is soft.

Drain and rinse chickpeas, saving brine for Aquafaba experiments, if desired. On a baking sheet covered in parchment paper lay out chickpeas and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil and chipotle chili powder or any other spices desired. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until chickpeas are firm. They crisp up more as they cool down.

Cook rice in rice cooker. Can you cook rice any other way? I argue that there is only one way to cook rice and that is with a rice cooker.

Chop up chard into bite size pieces.

Whisk everything together for the tahini sauce adding more water if needed to get tahini to blend nicely.

In a bowl place rice, a couple of spoonfuls of butternut squash, chickpeas, chard and drizzle with sauce. Mix until blended together.

Notes
This was super tasty and a great way to use up the butternut squash that has been sitting on my counter for the past 3 months. The tahini sauce was adapted from the Vegan Yum Yum cookbook.

This is what it looks like before mixing everything up. The squash sort of disappears in the dish.

The salad was served with carrots, apple, and hummus.

BBQ Tofu Lunch

Ingredients
Extra Firm Tofu
BBQ Sauce

Method
Heat oven to 400F. Press tofu, if desired, I have this press. Chop tofu into 1 inch cubes. Place tofu in a baking dish big enough for the tofu to lay in a single layer. Smother with BBQ sauce and mix until everything is covered. Bake tofu covered with foil for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake 15 more minutes until tofu is firm. I'm still playing around with the baking times, so adjust to what tastes best to you.

Notes
My lunch also included: kimchi, avocado, cucumber, bell pepper, carrot, apple, and hummus. We ate the rest of the BBQ tofu leftovers today on toast with vegan mayo and avocado.

Tempeh Wrap Lunch

Lunch in my new Monbento lunch box. This bento box holds enough food for lunch and either a morning or afternoon snack.

Today's bento includes:
Tempeh, avocado, hummus wrap
carrots
hummus
cucumbers
pineapple
orange
Trader Joe's dark chocolate peanut butter cup



This is what the bento box looks like when it is closed up. Each level has an airtight lid. I like this bento box a lot!

Veggie Noodle Lunch

Ingredients
1 zucchini
1 carrot
3 chard leaves
1 stalk celery
1/4 avocado
1-2 strips of tempeh
peanut sauce (I used Fire on the Mountain Spicy Peanut sauce)

Method
Using a spiralizer, mandolin, or serrated vegetable peeler, make noodles out of the zucchini and carrot. Place into a bowl. Chop up the chard, celery, and avocado into small chunks and add to bowl.

Cook tempeh in a cast iron skillet for about 2-3 minutes per side until browned. Chop into chunks and add to the bowl.

Drizzle everything with peanut sauce.

Add anything else that would taste good raw - bell pepper, cucumber, apple.


Notes
This was super tasty the day when it was freshly made. After the vegetables sat in the peanut sauce over night, the texture became super mushy and not as appetizing. I would eating this quickly after adding the sauce and devour entirely. It is fantastic when it is fresh! If you use pasta noodles instead of just vegetables, I bet the noodles would taste better after sitting overnight in peanut sauce. It was nice to have a dinner consisting of mostly vegetables. Winter time is coming to a close!

The small dip container holds toasted onion hummus for the carrots and celery.