Bento: Color and Shapes

I have stayed loyal to my bento baon goals for the last couple of months.

However, I have cheated on the weekends.
It shows on my evil digital scale.

The Good: I’ve pumped up the vegetables in my bentos. I have scaled back on the meat. I added tofu and other protein substitutes. I also stayed true to the “baon” nature of this project by incorporating more leftovers.

The Bad: I still haven’t figured out when to stop eating when dining out. I clear my plate without thinking about it. I know there’s a cue from my belly when my hunger is satisfied. It’s a subtle one and I end up ignoring it because I love the flavors in my mouth and how the food makes me feel. Now, I’m trying to sub-out the fries and fatty side dishes with salads. A damn shame, since I love fries.

The Ugly: I’ve slacked off on running.

I had to buy an ankle brace after I tweaked it on a 4-mile run. I suspect it goes back to my skating days when I needed acupuncture for it. I remember binding my swollen right ankle in herbs and ace bandages before I slipped it into my boot. Now I’m trying to get used to running with a black brace chafing my heel and arch.

Here are some of my favorite bentos, so far.

This bento was carb heavy, but also very cute. I used a heart-shaped cookie cutter on the sandwich.

• Leftover cheese tortellini wit spinach
• Grape tomatoes
• Heart-shaped focaccia sandwich with roast beef

I call this one my birthday bento. This is the first time I used cookie cutters on tofu.

• Jasmine rice with edamame and furikake
• Trader Joe’s chicken cilantro wontons
• Pickled broccoli stems (I love this NY Times recipe for pickled stems! It’s even better on cucumbers. I need to do another blog about my pickle adventures, soon)
• Baked tofu (teddy bear and horse shapes) over more edamame

My chopstick skills are weak when it comes to rice. Michelle Kwan’s mother tried to teach me how to use chopsticks like a proper lady. I failed miserably. That’s why the idea of eating rice balls appealed to me.
I did some web research on onigiri. My first one looked pretty….but fell apart since I used Jasmine rice. This one kept its ball shape since I used sushi rice. The problem with sushi rice: heavy on the calories.

• Morning Star Vegetable Patty in animal shapes
• Grape Tomatoes
• Italian zucchini
• Onigiri with an olive tapenade