How Does That Bento Fill You Up?

I am giving myself a refresher course with Maki's Just Bento online course. So far it has been really fun! The course is designed for people new to bento, but since I fell behind on bento making for a while, I think this is a good way to reinforce good bento skills. Lesson 2A is called What Do I Put In It?

One thing I have heard a lot from my friends and family when they see my bento box meals is, "How do you get enough to eat with that small box?" Maki takes on this idea in Lesson 2A by having you show the food spread out on a 'normal' dinner plate, and then see how you can put that food into a 'relatively' small container. Here is my bento:

In this bento: two pieces of leftover crispy fried tofu from Goji Kitchen, leftover grilled pork with rice noodles and some lettuce also from Goji Kitchen, three slices of cucumber, a radish, and four yellow cherry tomatoes. I had the fortune cookie in this picture, but I actually forgot to take it with me today for lunch!

Here are the ingredients spread out on a dinner plate, and actually, I was able to fit one more cherry tomato and one more slice of tofu into this bento box! Spread out like this, it looks like a normal portion of food for lunch. And I felt perfectly satisfied after eating this, not deprived at all.

Here is my ADORABLE Hello Kitty bento that I picked up in SF Japantown the last time I was in the city. This came in a set of three boxes, each one a bit smaller than the last. The big box was too big, so I chose this one, which is big enough to hold 300ml of food. 

Maki has posted the next lesson in her Bento 101 course today, which deals with finding the right kind of bento box for you. I think I find TOO MANY right kind of boxes for me, ha ha. But they are sooo kawaii!! I encourage you to check out the courses on JustBento.com because I am sure you will learn something new. 

I have also included this bento in Shannon's What's For Lunch Wednesdays blog. See more great ideas for lunch inspiration!

Miso Soup Bento

Hi bento pals! Today I tried out a trick that I first discovered through notabrownbag's website. It's portable miso soup! You can buy powdered miso soup packets, and I think I may even have one hiding in one of my desk drawers, but there is nothing like fresh miso paste and delicious cubes of tofu. Today even turned out kind of chilly with a few drizzles, so it's a perfect day for miso soup.

In this bento: steamed white corn, cucumber slices, cherries, my portable miso soup, and breaded pork cutlets leftover from last night's dinner. Portable miso soup is super easy: in the silicone cupcake liner I have a ball of miso paste mixed with a pinch of dashi granules, topped with cubes of tofu and sliced scallions. Dump the all of those ingredients into a bowl and top with hot water. Et voila: Miso Soup!

Note: I have tried making miso soup without dashi, and it just is kind of flat tasting. I found dashi granules at Asia Mart on Guerneville Road in Santa Rosa. It's totally worth it if you are making miso soup at home.