Bento Challenge week 3 - my bento n.5

the pork's cheek looks scary!!

:: Red chicory risotto
:: Brussel sprouts (and flower-shaped carrots)
:: pork's cheek
:: a cat-shapes sottiletta (cheese)

on a bed of fresh red chicory

Bento Challenge week 3: my bento n.4

Thursday bento with:

:: a big onigiri filled with smoked salmon
:: one hard-boiled egg (and an additional slice of smoked salmon)

(both over a layer of chicory)
:: tamari flavoured pumpkin
:: boiled Brussel sprouts

While filling the bento for tomorrow, I cooked some chicory and got it ready and packed to be frozen, pre-planning for next week bentos. Is the organization task getting better?

Cooking for the challenge is getting more and more fun. Strange to say, I like cooking but usually try only one or two things at a time, but since the beginning of the challenge my small kitchen seems to be roomy enought to let me move and cook with greater ease. I guess it comes as a consequence of having the cooking and 'bentoing' equipment at hand and easy to find and use. I like that!

Bento Challenge week 3 - my bento n.3

I tried to make it more bento-like, at least once this week, and I used the bentobako my Japanese language teacher gave me as a gift!!!

From the left
:: in the silicone cup, pumpkin and Sant'Erasmo broccoli sprinkled with dillweed
:: Brussel sprouts and guanciale (pork's cheek) and a flower of gruviere cheese and carrots on a 'bed' of buckwheat

Bento Challenge week 3 - my bento n.1 and n.2

Monday's bento:
I made it with leftovers from Sunday evening dinner.
::white gohan topped with salmon and leeks braised in tamari
:: Sant'Erasmo broccoli
:: nori seaweed tamagoyaki
:: an apple

The broccoli from Sant'Erasmo (one of the islands of Venice arcipelago, takes more or less 15 minutes to get there by 'waterbus' and it is the 'green' island, we call it 'Venice Vegetable garden') are much more like small cauliflowers than like the green broccoli.

Tuesday's bento:
:: buckwheat sauteed with leeks and carrots
:: in the small silicone cup, Sant'Erasmo broccoli with gruviere cheese
:: two apples

Bento Challenge week 3 - my focus

My note for bento Challenge week 3

Here at Maki's the details of the third week which will focus on money saving

It is quite an important matter to me, because money saving is strictly linked/intermingled (or whatever word suits better in English) to avoiding any waste. The first step to save money is not to waste what you already have as staples and food (as well as any other goods!!) so my first goal for this week (and for the future, I want it to be a rule in my life) is not to shop for food (unless strictly necessary!) and to empty my cupboards. I have plenty of buckwheat, millet, rice and dried beans to cook with fresh and frozen vegetables and they can make excellent carbs in my bentos and are quite versatile, have enought of frozen and smoked salmon plus quite a lot of guanciale (smoked pig's cheek?) for proteins, many apples :-) and some ideas for making sweets for breakfast and mid-afternoon snacks, so I'm full of energy and very motivated for this week!

Working on the planning part will also help to save money.

Last week I was very careful about not wasting food and using leftovers, but I ended up throwing away some carrots and half a cup of pumpkin puree so something went wrong anyway. I will work harder on this and plus try to add a touch of color in my bentos, which I missed to do last week.

banzai!!!

bentobako

今週の弁当チャレンジは、日本語の先生がくれた弁当箱に食事を入れて、食べたいです！でも、食べ物のアレンジが下手なので、出来るかどうかわかりません！！

先生、すてきな弁当箱をくれて、ありがとう！

Bento Challenge week 2 - My report

Here are the five bentos I made last week (week 2 of the challenge)

It was much more fun than week 1, maybe because things in preparing the bento are getting a little smoother and I was able to pre-plan some staples to use the first half of the week. Anyway, here is my report, step by step, following my goals for week 2:

:: making healthier bentos using season and locally grown vegetables, with a good balance of proteins, carbs and vegetables/fruits.
Two out of five bentos I prepared were not that well-balanced, but I used a smaller container to pack my lunch so I managed to eat less (from 900ml containet to 700/670 ml, and I hope to use an even smaller one, a 460 ml Totoro bento I ordered today :-). Bento n.5, the one with pasta, had too much carbs in it, but considering that before the challenge, I used to fill ALL the container with pasta and nothing else, well, I consider it an improvement anyway! As for the season and local vegetables, I did well!

:: making one bento more than you did the previous week, that is 4+1 for me
Did it!

:: loss of weight

I replaced the loss of weight part with my personal goal of using a smaller lunchbox, which I did every day with no suffering.

::I usually fill the bento box in the evening, while preparing dinner or after dinner. My other goal was to prepare at least two bentos in the early morning before going out to work.

I managed to prepare only one in the morning so I guess I need to work on the planning and mise-en-place and, not less important, I need to get the kitchen and the refrigerator more 'bento-oriented'!!

It was real fun, though!!! I used things I had at home and some fresh vegetables like the red chicory my aunt gave me and I did not have to shop a lot for food. I had to throw away three carrots and some pumpkin and I'm not at all satisfied with it althought I wasted less than usual, but I really want to get better and better on this point because I hate wastes of any kind!

Bento Challenge: Week 2 - my bento n. 5

Carbonara today! I prepared this bento early in the morning, it took the time for the water to boil and cook the fusilli pasta (8+6 minutes), while Brussel sprouts where boiling in a different pan. It doesn'l look that appealing, but it was very quick to prepare and I had breakfast while cooking it. It is NOT well balanced (too much pasta, I think!), but, before starting the challenge, I used to fill the container with lots of pasta and nothing else :-)) so I consider today's bento as an improvement anyway!

Bento Challenge: Week 2 - my bento n. 4

my bento for tomorrow
:: pureed pumpkin with Parmigiano cheese
:: broccoli and carrots
:: Chicken and dried porcini mushrooms braised in millet beer

:: fragrant, home-made bread!

It is not a particularly colorful bento and I'm afraid it is not very well balanced but it did not take much to prepare. I love the contrast between the sweet taste of pumpkin and the strong taste of Parmigiano cheese, I think they melt perfectly together and the pumpkin took 15 minutes to cook and I did it while preparing a red chicori risotto for dinner.

Plus, the chicken: one of my favourite recipes for chicken, from a heart-warming book I love, 'Cooking with Hobbits!' (A tavola con gli Hobbit, the recipes in the book are all based on Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy and of course I love this recipes book because I love Tolkien). I tried the recipe on chicken thights and it took a while, but for tomorrow's bento I used smaller pieces and it took 15 minutes. I find it delicious!

Bento Challenge - planning

In the afternoon I made some gluten-free bread and will freeze half of it for next week bentos (I would like to prepare a couple of sandwich bentos!).
While preparing dinner, I cooked some fresh pumpkin/squash and pureed it: a small silicone cup filled with it will go into tomorrow's bento and I have plenty of it in the refrigerator to make some muffins (based on Maki's recipe with some variations due to my gluten free diet!)

Bento Challenge: Week 2 - my bento n.3

少しづつ、 弁当らしくなってませんか？

For tomorrow's bento, I focused on the look. Green, vegan bento.

:: steamed broccoli

:: French beans sauteed with Tamari (glute-free tamari!)
:: yakionigiri with nori seaweed
:: Borlotti beans cokked the traditional way *
:: flower shaped carrots

*Dried Borlotti beans (fresh ones are available in summer) need to be soaked in water for 8-12 hours, and then they can be cooked in the pressure cooker with water, rosemery, some garlic (but you can use an onion insted), a carrot, a piece of celery for about 20 minutes. You can use them without the liquid in salads (perfect with Treviso red chicory) or for rich soups!

memo: I should have added half an egg, for the color :-)

note: Originally from the north of Italy, Borlotti beans are used traditionally in all type of soups, both thick, thin and creamy but also delicious served with bacon and sausages

Bento Challenge: Week 2 - my bento n.2

I packed Tuesday's bento on Monday's evening (half an hour ago, after dinner).

I 'divided' the square lunchbox (670 ml) in four parts and tried to put a differen food in each of the four sections (instead of putting in it only three different colors/food, which make it look quite naive and too 'poor')

:: the three plain white rice onigiri and the colorful vegetables (carrots and French beans) were already cooked and ready to be used (cooked on 'pre-planning')

:: I had plenty of Treviso red chicory bought at the farmers's market in the week-end(it tastes almost sweet and it is perfect for making risotto!) so I used it both as fresh salad and cooked with some chicken breast (braised with leeks, red chicory and white Prosecco wine).

Bento Challenge: Week 2 - bento n.1

A very simple but healthy bento. On Sunday evening, I prepared some rice and vegetables (carrots and French beans) to be used for bentos in the first half of the week, and used them to fill Monday's bento together with a two eggs omelette (took no more than five minutes to cook and 'shape') filled with French beans.

I used a 700 ml container, instead of the 900 ml one I used last week, and it prooved to be enought for my stomach.

Today's bento looks quite balanced to me, but, again, too naive in the look!!

p.s.: next time, put the onigiri on a red lattuce bed (for color's sake!)

Getting ready for Bento Challenge: week 2

a collage of my bentos for Bento Challenge week 1, and some more images

Yesterday evening I managed to prepare some rice (shaped in round onigiri) and steamed vegetables that I will use for this week's bentos, in addiction to a huge amount of Treviso Red Chicory (I went visiting my aunt on Saturday - she lives near Treviso in the countryside - and we drove to the local farmers' market to buy this typical radicchio - the Winter Flower - because here in Venice is too expensive but it is so delicious that it is worth the trip!!). Plus, at home, I have: chicken (I always have quite a lot of fresh chicken because it is the only food my female cat eats ...) pumpkin/squash, broccoli, potatoes, carrots, porri onions (one of my aim is to use only season vegetables), some frozen salmon I bought at the fish market two weeks ago, frozen spinach...Well, quite a wide choice of things to make healthy bento!

As for this week challenge

I will try to achieve (ehm...) all the goals

:: making healthier bentos using season and locally grown vegetables, with a good balance of proteins, carbs and vegetables/fruits. As for the accessory food, I will try my best although I will not use out-of-season vegetables like tomatoes and here at the local market there is no way to find colorful vegetables or typical Japanese ones such as daikon, lotus root and the like.

:: making 4+1 bentos and getting organized for the mise-en-place (I still have to exercise a lot on it!) trying not to turn my kitchen into battlefield every time!!

:: I was not interested in the weight loss part, at first, but I realized that a 900 ml container is too big for me, I do not want to loose weight but do not wish to gain it, either!!
So, this week my bento boxes will be smaller, 700 ml and 670 ml.

:: I usually fill the bento box in the evening, while preparing dinner or after dinner. I want to prepare at least two bentos in the early morning before going out to work.

Bento Challenge - Report of first week

Firts week Bento Challenge Report:
these are the 4 bentos I prepared for the week 1

These were my goals for the first week:

:: being a beginner, my aim is to make my bentos - simple and healthy - everyday to take at work to follow my gluten free diet smoothly and without efforts

I managed to prepare 4 bentos for the first week, more than I expected!
I have to follow a gluten-free diet so, at lunch, I cannot have sandwiches at the bar with my collegues, I have to bring my own lunch and usally eat it in the small office kitchen (we have a microwave available). I used to have leftovers from dinner - pasta or rice - and, when very lazy, a piece of cheese with gluten-free crackers and some green salad, but it is not such an appealing and filling lunch. Preparing this 1st week bentos, I managed to have, everyday, a well-balanced lunch (more than what I usually eat!) and save 5-10 minutes in the morning while preparing the bento.

:: as for the bento planning, my main focus is on using leftovers to prepare cute bentos. I often throw away leftovers and I feel so ashamed about it. I really want to improove and to get to use everything without wasting food!

For the very first bento, I had no leftovers or staple food to use, so it took a little time to prepare and I was not very satisfied with it, but in the following days things got a little better as I decided to use some chicken I had previously frozen (not for the challenge!) as well as the broccoli and smoked salmon available at home. I had to resist the temptation to go out and buy something 'special' for the challenge: these first bentos look a little bit 'boring', but at least I used things that needed to be eaten and that otherwise I would have wasted.

:: I have to follow a gluten free diet and - luckily - I do not wish to loose weight! But before dinner I usually end up so hungry that, while cooking, I eat cheese or gluten-free potato chips (not oil free, though!) . I would like to use the Bento Challenge to quit eating junk food: preparing a rich bento lunch I'm hoping to resist to pre-dinner temptations!
It worked...it worked too well, I must say! The 900 ml container turned out to be a little too much for me, so, for week 2 of the Bento Challenge, I' will use slightly smaller bentobako!

Bento Challenge - my bento n.4

Bento Challenge - my bento n.4

Tomorrow's bento:
:: buttered potatoes with smoked salmon
:: green peas omelette
:: the green vegetable in Italian is 'bieta da coste'..the English dictionary says 'Swiss chard' but I'm not sure it is the same..here is a picture

Bento Challenge - my bento n.3

This is the 'double', 丸い marui bento I'm taking at work tomorrow, already packed in my refrigerator. I do not know if I'm getting better in pre-planning, but yesterday evening while arranging today's lunchbox, I thought 'let's make Thursday's bento more Italian style, with pasta!' Still, I wanted to use things I had at home so this is it:

I prepared tagliatelle (gluten-free, corn tagliatelle) with broccoli and added some smoked salmon* (it took the time for the water to boil and 5 minutes to cook pasta together with broccoli in salted water). The box is the one I use when eating pasta at work.

*I do not like to use canned food but, for emergencies, I always keep two or three packs (100 gr each) of smoked salmon and they help a lot in many recipes.

As a side dish, I prepared pumpkin flavoured with tamari and rosemary. I usually cut it myself but this time I bought 500 gr of already cut pumpkin from the greengrocer's and tasted it while packing the bento, it's good! And it took 15 minutes to cook (next time, I will cut the cubes in halves!).

I planned also Friday's bento, which I will fill with fresh ingredients that are very quick to cook, and I'm willing to end the week with no food waste. It makes me feel green :-)

For the planning part, I'm not using the regular bento-planner, I just write some bento notes in my pocket agenda because it is always in my bag and I can add new ideas any time.

Bento Challenge - my Bento n. 2

here is today's bento

:: rice flavoured with tamari and topped with nori seaweed
:: a mix of sauteed carrots, green peas and corn and, in the yellow mini-cup
:: bite-size chicken cooked with tamari

I'll upload the report after dinner, I'm busy with my homework in the afternoon! (but I could not wait to share the photo :-)

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8.52pm Today's bento report

Today's bento was really simple to make because I used leftovers, so I feel a little bit guilty about it! It took no more than 15 minutes to prepare. The rice and vegetables were already cooked and waiting in the refrigerator, so the main part was to wash and dry the chicken breast, cut it into bite-size pieces and cook it. I'm happy though, because I used for the very first time a silicone cup in my container and it worked very well! I had none at home and Monday afternoon I walked to the kitchen accessories store and bought two series of silicone muffin cups, round and square. They fit perfectly in my bento containers and help a lot to fill the bento with small amount of leftovers while making them look nice (in Italian we say 'you discovered hot water' to say that something is quite self-evident but I used the mini cup today for the first time and I'm really satisfied with it!).

As for today's bento, I'm happy because I used leftovers and this is one of my resolutions in the challenge - not to waste food! - but next time I'm planning to add not one but two newly cooked ingredients, one meat/fish/egg and one vegetable.

It is not in the picture but I always bring at work an apple or two, in addiction to the bento!

I've already prepared tomorrow's bento, and I will describe it in the next post!

Bento Challenge - my Bento n° 1

Here I am, ready to start with my first bento-making report!
I tried to make it simple, colorful (and more appealing than my usual lunch), healthy and filling!

the bentobox
I started with a brand new bento box, a 4.50 € clip&close, microwave safe container I bought last week (not knowing about the challenge yet!) that prooved to be perfect for my lunch. The one I used is the 0.9 l version...I know that it is big, but I like to eat quite a lot at lunch and if you put a lot of vegetables in it, it is not that scary!

inside my bento:

two plain onigiri, because I love the taste of plain Japanese rice!

one egg tamagoyaki with nori seaweed, savoured with gluten free Tamari (Limafood)

steamed broccoli
a mix of corn, green peas and carrots sauteed in a spoon of organic sunflower oil and tamari sauce

It was fun to prepare but it took more than I expected, because I had no leftovers or staples to put into the bentobako, so I had to prepare everything after dinner (yesterday evening). I decided for Japanese steamed rice (I always have at least a pack of Japanese rice at home, it is like Linus blanket to me!) and, while cooking it in the rice-cooker, I prepared the vegetables and the tamagoyaki. It took no more than 25-30 minutes but the problem is that my kitchen is small - terribly small - and I had pans everywhere! I definitely must focus on the planning part...

Today's bento was filling enought to give me 'strenght' (to resist) until dinner. I had an apple in the afternoon but no potato chips or other junk food!

As for my resolution to use leftovers and not to waste food anymore, I think I will practice this evening because I plan to prepare tomorrow's obento with yesterday dinner leftovers.

mood: quite satisfied

Getting Started Bento Challenge - 1

今度、英語で書きますよ！なぜかというと。。。

The very first post in English! I'm joining the Getting Started Bento Challenge of justbento.com by Maki, so the posts related to this 'event' will be written in English (although it would be a great exercise to translate them into Japanese as well...). I'm joining the challenge for several reasons (and for fun!) and here is the introduction I uploaded on justbento.com forum:

I'm 34 years old, I graduated in Japanese language at Venice University (born and live in Venice) and more or less 7 years ago I was diagnosed with celiac disease. Thus I had to start following a very strict gluten free diet but this 'problem' became an opportunity as I got more and more fond of cooking.

And, as for week 1 of Getting Started Bento Challenge

:: being a beginner, my aim is to make my bentos - simple and healthy - everyday to take at work to follow my gluten free diet smoothly and without efforts

:: as for the bento planning, my main focus is on using leftovers to prepare cute bentos. I often throw away leftovers and I feel so ashamed about it. I really want to improove and to get to use everything without wasting food!

:: I have to follow a gluten free diet and - luckily - I do not wish to loose weight! But before dinner I usually end up so hungry that, while cooking, I eat cheese or gluten-free potato chips (not oil free, though!) . I would like to use the Bento Challenge to quit eating junk food: preparing a rich bento lunch I'm hoping to resist to pre-dinner temptations!

ただいま

新年新年明けましておめでとうございます