#1 I am over weight. I am using the bento as a dietary aid. it will exercise portion control so I do not end up over eating when I do not feel full right away. I have gastroparesis and can not always tell when I am full, and if something is really good, I tend to have too much. It will also regulate calories. Being able to pack a less than 500 calorie bento will give me tons of options, and be a well balanced meal to boot.
#2 I am pre diabetic. Keeping my calories down is important, but watching my sugar and carbohydrate count is just as important. Bento boxes a lot you 1/4 of your over all meal a carbohydrate space, thus keeping it down because I am one of those people that loves pasta and bread. It also gives me a little wiggle room to add a small "goodie" as a filler... basically keeping my desert a space filler more than an entire portion. Also, giving me all kinds of ideas for healthier "goodie" options, meaning I am not having an over proportioned bowl of ice cream, I am having an ounce of toasted almonds with an ounce of semi sweet chocolate chips which is I don't know how many more times healthier.
#3 Being semi-veggie, it hopefully will keep me honest. If I pack my lunch the day before, I am less likely to want to make the decision to take the easy way out of lunch, and stop at some fast food place for a burger or a chicken patty.
#4 I am not the only one in my household with these problems. I live with one of my best friends and she has a few dietary medical needs as well. Packing two bento boxes should be just as easy as packing one. This way we are both healthier, happier, and can spend years that we might not otherwise have with each other if we do nothing with our diet as well.
#5 I have quite a few friends that follow a vegetarian lifestyle, and they make all kinds of yummy food. Why not try and fit those yummy things into every day? Why would I waste such valuable resources to better not only myself, but my friends as well?
When listing the reasons, it seems like a really good idea. Why not start? Why not give it a try? If you view all new things as a learning experience, a way to better yourself, and have a new little adventure... the choice seems to make itself.
Now I must admit, since today was my very first exposure to making a bento, I did have some preconceived ideas, and worries. (Yup another numbered list... get used to it. I am a chronic list maker).
#1 The prep time for two bentos would be ridiculous. With all those adorable little foods, cutting up the veggies would take forever.
#2 The meals would be too small, and I would abandon making bentos because they were not filling or satisfying.
#3 While controlling portion size and calorie count I would sacrifice flavor.
#4 Clean up would take forever.
Man, a good woman knows to admit she is wrong... not only was I wrong, I was ridiculously wrong.
For my first bento box I chose one that could be kept cold, was not super messy needing tons of little containers, and was well balanced. 1/2 veggie/fruit, 1/4 protein, 1/4 carb - the perfect bento.
I made my "bento #1" - egg salad with boston lettuce, pumpernickel bread, veggie side, fruit and yogurt finish, as a filler I bumped up my proteins instead of carbs by making a little container of candied cinnamon almonds with semi sweet chocolate chips (I was worried about sweet cravings later in the day). Here is how it looked in the tin (sorry the pictures are a bit on the blurry side).
Bottom of the bento: Broccoli with grape and pear tomatoes, and blueberries and banana with vanilla yogurt and toasted almond garnish.
Top of the bento: Egg salad on bed of boston lettuce, 2 slices of pumpernickel cut in half for 2 mini sandwiches, and candied nuts and chocolate chips.
So (and the reason why I listed my preconceived ideas) here is how wrong I was.
#1 The prep time for two bentos would be ridiculous. With all those adorable little foods, cutting up the veggies would take forever. Wrong. The prep took in all less than 15 minutes, and that was with making the hard boiled eggs. Prep was less than half of what I do for a normal dinner.
#2 The meals would be too small, and I would abandon making bentos because they were not filling or satisfying. I suffer from gastroparesis. A normal stomach digests a full meal in 2 hours, in 2 hours I have digested less than 10%. Also, a person that has gastroparesis, usually can not feel how full they are, or how hungry they are... they either do not eat enough, or eat too much. I usually fall into the latter category. By the time I can feel what is in my stomach, be it too empty or too full, it is painful. Period. If you over eat, not only is it excruciatingly painful, I 99% of the time will end up unwillingly emptying my stomach and all its goodies into the toilet. I do not enjoy vomiting every time I eat. This was perfect. I did not feel hungry an hour later and end up putting more in my stomach, thus vomit. I did not have too much in there, thus a bonus again, no vomiting. I can not tell you how deliriously happy it makes me to eat a meal and not get sick. In fact I ate lunch at about noon, an I think a light dinner is all I am needing to be satisfied. It is now almost 5 pm... and no vomiting or feeling like I need to vomit. If I could do this everyday what a wonderful world it would be. I guess what I am trying to say is it is not too small and it will satisfy, or even make you silly with how much you have to eat without over eating.
#3 While controlling portion size and calorie count I would sacrifice flavor. Wrong again. It was NOM! I added a splash of white wine vinegar in the egg salad so no additional salt was needed. Since I used more mustard than mayo, and the mayo was light I had flavor and less calories. The sandwiches had more than enough goo, and not too much. If the eggs are hard boiled the way I do it... you always have a super orangey golden soft yolk (not runny, soft and moist) and not dry at all. the celery and green onion gave it a nice crunch. I even added a few of the extra greens from the green onion for garnish, no extra calories! Adding the vanilla yogurt to the blueberries and bandanna... was delightful and almost like a desert. One ounce of candied cinnamon almonds from the farmers market with an ounce of semi sweet chocolate chips made me feel as if I had desert. No sweet cravings later even, not even after dinner.
#4 Clean up would take forever. 5 minutes, literally. I had allotted myself a half hour for clean up, because I thought with all the cute little cut up veggies, prep would dirty a lot of stuff. Since there was hardly any prep, there was hardly any clean up. Most of the clean up I did while I was prepping and only a couple things to rinse and put in the dish washer.
So, I was wrong, and on every count. I think the bento and I might have quite a thing going. It could become serious. Healthier, cheaper meals that are homemade, and mildly artistic and fun to create... I can not say that about any lunch I have ever made, EVER! I found myself considering separation and barrier materials, garnishes as well as where I needed more color to make it visually pleasing. As an artist, I never thought of my food as a creative release or an artistic medium. Granted I did not get fancy or super cute with my first box, but I thought of oh so many things I could try!
My point being, I thought of all these issues I might have had so I would not feel bad for abandoning bentos. Now that I proved myself wrong, there is really no reason NOT to make bentos for lunch for both me, and my gal pal, Lara. And there is really no reason, for you people out there that are adventurous and wish to change little things in your life to live healthier and happier, not to incorporate bento into you life as well. If you are just starting and learning, so am I! Let us learn together!
Hope you all stay tuned for my future bento adventures! Cheers!
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