Bento # 18 : Fruits & veggies for the heart

• In the lid: Wasa crispbread and a Fritt strawberry candy
• Top left: Mixed fruits juice box
• Top middle: Canned peach bits and plum bits
• Top right: Cream potatoes, broccoli and corn

The corn and broccoli are freezer/fridge fresh that’s why they’re so pale.

This was quite nice. I just discovered that I could fit a crispbread in the lid! I eat at least two each day ’cause it holds a lot of fiber and all other foods I eat… well, they tend not to so I try to make up for it in crispbread.

There is a cute story about where I got those plums. Going to and from school I bike through the fancy part of town with the big castle-like houses and SUV’s (even though it’s very un-Danish since there are NO hills or rough terrain in Denmark). Anyway, I was headed home and I spotted a little blond girl sitting on a blanket between some of the giant cars in front of a big house. She was selling plums in bags for 5 Dkr ($1). It was so absurd in a way. This little “rich kid” trying to make a buck selling plums. And she was literally hidden among her parents’ cars. Nevertheless I spotted her in my rush home and backed up to see what she was selling. I had 5 Dkr on me so I bought a bag from her. She was SO cute!

I guess we’ll all tried that. Selling stuff in the driveway when we were kids… Aw, my heart is breaking from all the cuteness <3

Bento # 17 : A few of my favourite things

• In the lid: Walnuts
• Leftover take-out chicken
• Corn, sprout and kidney bean salad
• Vinaigrette dressing in the piggie bottle
• Risengrød / Danish rice porridge with marzipan heart
• In the Hello Kitty container: Cinnamon sugar
• Apple juice box

This was one GOOD bento. The people eating lunch at my table looked awfully jealous and commented on the nice smells coming from my corner.

The chicken was fantastic – even cold. The salad was very fresh and the walnuts were great to snack on. I also decided to make a batch of rice porridge which is a Danish christmas classic and is usually only served at that time of year. In my opinion it’s too good to miss out on the rest of the year so I’m giving the term “seasonal food” a kick in the butt…

Here’s how it’s made:

Ingredients

• 1 cup or 2 dl of water
• 200 gr. of pudding rice
• 1 and 1/4 litres of milk

How to

1. Put water and rice in a large pot
2. Turn up the heat and let it boil for a minute or two
3. Remember to stir every now and then, or some of the rice might get stuck to the bottom
4. Now add the milk all at once. You’re probably thinking “Yikes, that’s too much milk” but it’s actually just the right amount
5. Have it boil and then put the lid on the pot
6. Now it’s supposed to boil on low heat for 40-50 minutes, depending on how thick you want it
7. Again, remember to stir occasionally
8. When it’s done Danes usually serve it hot in a soup plate and put a small dollop of butter in the middle for melting. Also a mix of cinnamon and sugar is drizzled generously on top.

Me, I like to add multiple dollops of butter. Yum! It’s also good cold although I did reheat the bit in my bento. The marzipan wasn’t at all weird in that combination though it’s hardly tradition. I just thought it looked cute.

Oh, and a note on the milk: Use whole milk for this recipe. Skimmed is too watery to make a decent, filling risengrød. And here’s a picture of how risengrød normally looks when served at christmas.

Bento # 16 : A light lunch

• Tempura shrimp with plain rice
• Piggie soy bottle
• Pear, pineapple and plum fruit salad
• Samoa yogurt with raisins
• Can of discount cola
• In the lid: Sniggles peach-filled soft cookies

This is the first time I’ve made tempura and it came out really good. It wasn’t mindblowing but it was tasty. Also, the fruit salad was delicious. I poured the yogurt in the muffin cup over the fruit, mixed it and ate it. I’ve always considered fruit salads a kind of luxury for reasons unknown so this bento was quite the treat. A nice light lunch with a cola to keep me going and working hard.

So, it’s been two weeks of everyday bentoing. My verdict? It’s a must! I used to spend a LOT of money in the school cafeteria but now I’m enjoying a home made lunch every day and I haven’t been jealous of other people’s lunches one bit. In fact I keep thinking when I look around: “Woah, he just spent a bundle on that sad sandwich. And I spent less than half that on this beautiful, filling lunch…”

I’m proud of myself for doing this. My parents really like it too and they’ve been telling everyone they know that I have his site. It’s all good. ^_^

Bento # 14 & 15 : Italian pasta bentos

 

Bento # 14

• Spaghetti carbonara
• Plum and pineapple bits
• Apple juice

Bento # 15

• Spaghetti bolognese
• Coriander naan bread
• Laughing cow cheese
• Samoa yogurt with pineapple bits

Both delicious bentos and both eaten by moi. I’m sorry for the crappy pictures but in the morning it’s either happening fast or not happening at all.

Man, I’ve kept myself busy with these bentos. I feel that it’s getting easier every day though.

Practice makes perfect. 

Bento # 12 & 13 : Beef-yaki & soft salad

My bento (Putifresh)

• Teriyaki beef with veggies
• Mixed salad with mustard/oil/vinegar dressing
• Sniggles cookies with peach filling
• Morgen Mild (Morning Mild) mixed juice

Martin’s bento (huge pink box)

• Lots and lots of rice underneath
• Lots and lots of teriyaki beef with veggies (his version has added shrooms)

Finally I got to take a picture of an actual school lunch. I have no idea how I got the time in between all the showering, cooking and selecting outfit this morning. Still trying to catch my breath… :0

I had the worst day yesterday. Couldn’t keep any food down and had a terrible headache all day. Finally at around 22.00 I felt better and made myself some teriyaki beef, putting some aside for my bento. It was SO yummy! I’d gotten into a habit of chicken-only dinners and bentos mainly ’cause you can’t mess up chicken… and chicken is always just chicken – cheap or not. Saves me the trouble of thinking, heehee. ^_^

Bento # 10 & 11 : Chicken WITH curry and WITHOUT evidence

Again no photos. Sorry. ;_;

Bento # 10

• Chicken in curry/milk sauce with rice
• Apple bits
• Cherry tomatoes
• Fritt blueberry candy
• Maja cocoa

Bento # 11

• Chicken in curry/milk sauce with rice
• Pink car shaped egg
• Yellow emmentaler Babybel
• Raisins to fill the gaps
• On the side: Nestlé Chocapic chocolate cereal bar
• Apple juice

Not to toot my own horn but I make the best chicken in curry. ^_^

Gotta run – teacher’s watching my back!

Bento # 8 & 9 : The “we-prefere-to-stay-anonymous” bentos

This is the second day back in school and I made both lunch yesterday and today. I didn’t get to take any pictures ’cause I was in a hurry. Here’s what was in them though:

Monday’s bento

• Rice boiled with chicken stock
• Quenelles de brochet with sauce nantua*
• Pink egg shaped like a fish
• Yellow emmentaler/Swiss cheese Babybel
• Edamame

Tuesday’s bento

• Teriyaki chicken with noodles, broccoli and haricots
• Nestlé Chocapic choolate cereal bar
• Yellow emmentaler/Swiss cheese Babybel
• Cherry tomatoes

(* It’s a French dish. Ground pike fish rolls or quenelles as they’re called. Nantua sauce is a creamy, orange-red crayfish sauce)
I guess the main reason I didn’t take pictures is because it’s such a hassle. I have to clear the only table in the house (which is always crammed with stuff) and I have to wipe it and put the bamboo mat on it to prevent reflection and then I must get my old semi-broken digital camera which only works when plugged in to the wall ’cause the battery thingies are broken. It has a really short cord and I just feel so embarrassed leaning in and trying to get a decent shot every time. I dunno. Maybe I’m just whiney. ^_^

This post is horribly uninspiring and I’ll end it here. Maybe tomorrow I’ll take a picture.

Bento # 7 : Spaghetti carbonara

• Spaghetti carbonara
• Lollo rosso salad with tomatoes & cucumber
• Half a blue car egg
• Vinaigrette in a tiny bottle
• Fritt wildberry candy

I’m back and bentoing! It was a wonderful trip to France and I had so much good food. I can’t say I’ll be making some of it myself though since I hardly knew what I was eating half the time. >_<

I was happy to discover a little slip from the post office when I got home. My package was waiting for me and I went to get it straight away. The pink box I used for yesterdays bento and the stuff on the following pics are all new. Take a look:

This blue box I bought at Føtex for 20 dkr (approx. $3). It’s called a hobby box and I just had to get it. My old green wicker box has become too small for all my bento accesories. The grass dividers I ordered online – the piggie bottle and the non-animal food picks were free gifts with my order! Neat – and thanks Aramonoya for the lovely surprise.

This bright baby I found at Bilka. I’m always checking out the lunch boxes at EVERY store I go to these days. It’s quite “heavy duty” and the only cute thing about it is its bright magenta color. (I didn’t touch the contrast or saturation on this photo.) What you can’t see (’cause I forgot it at my parents’) is the cooling element that goes on the top tier. It’s a blue slim box that contains water which you freeze and put in there – and it’ll keep your lunch cold for a LONG time. Love it!

I ordered a green Putifresh box and these egg molds as well. I used the car mold as you can see on yesterdays bento. I love these items and I keep going in to the kitchen and checking my stuff ’cause I can’t get enough of it. ^_^ It’s so damn cute.

I bought some snacks and canned foods in France for my lunches but I didn’t take pics of those ’cause I’ll be making them very soon for you to see.

The world is waiting

*sigh*

Things are going slow around here. I’m off for France tomorrow for a week with my folks and my siblings. Old school family vacation – wining and dining, shopping, hydranting on the sidewalk cafés and trying not to get a red nose in the sun. I’m hoping to find some things for bento making there too. ^_^

I wanted to make a bento for this weeks bento challenge but I’m not gonna stuff the fridge two days before a vacation. There are so many neat things you could do with that theme though. The Mad Hatter, the white rabbit, the Queen of Hearts, the Cheshire Cat, the caterpillar… the list goes on.

Well, I got mail coming from the East and it’ll hopefully be here when I return from the South, ready for school and lots of fabulous lunches.

See you soon!