I had originally packed this lunch for yesterday but decided I was in the mood for soup instead. But who says you can’t pack bento to just eat at home on a Saturday afternoon? Today’s lunch is my own take on sweet & sour chicken — sweet & sour & spicy chicken. With a side dish of fresh fruit, of course. The chicken is left-over from before, just skinless chicken breast cooked in a little bit of low-sodium broth, no breading. So I’m pretty sure overall this meal is  healthier than take-out sweet & sour chicken.

Top Tier:
*White Rice (1/2 cup) — 103 calories
*Skinless Chicken Breast (3oz) — 94 calories
*Bell Peppers (1/3 cup) — 13 calories

Bottom Tier:
*Grapes (1/3 cup) — 32 calories
*Pineapple (1/4 cup) — 30 calories
*Rainier Cherries (1/4 cup) — 18 calories

Condiments/On the Side:
*Kikkoman Sweet & Sour Dipping Sauce (1 tbsp) — 35 calories
*Lemon wedges (for juice) — 6 calories
*Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

Total Calories: 331

The actual serving size for the sweet & sour sauce is 2 tbsp, but I thought that was just too many empty calories (let’s face it, that sauce is basically just sugar and vinegar). To my surprise, however, that was all I needed. I’m glad I started with just the one, because I’m sure two would have been over-powering. I put the pineapples in with the top tier and mixed everything together before microwaving, adding some lemon juice to keep it from drying out. After it was warm, I put on crushed red pepper and a little bit of the dipping sauce. I know I use crushed red pepper flakes a lot, but I like a little bit of spice in my food, and it’s healthier than salting everything.

Om nom nom!

I saw this recipe for “Chef Meg’s Creamy Grilled Strawberry Sandwich” a while ago and because it sounded so delicious I decided to try it out, though I did make some modifications. And I’m just now getting around to posting about it, lol. But this recipe is very tasty.

I follow the basic idea of the recipe, but I only use two tablespoons of cream cheese instead of three, and I use a tortilla instead of pita bread. The tortilla is more calories than the pita bread, but it’s what I usually have on hand; when I get around to buying pita bread, I’ll try it the original way. Also, each time I’ve made it I’ve not stuck to the exact amount of fruit in the recipe, but just had as much as I liked. Sometimes a little more and sometimes less than called for in Chef Meg’s original recipe, but I always measure it for calorie counting. I think I have a little less fruit actually in the tortilla than is originally called for because I find that using less cream cheese and less fruit in the tortilla is a lot easier; the whole thing kinda falls apart reapply quickly and my George Foreman Grill gets really messy when I have too much in the tortilla itself. So once I’ve portioned out my fruit and put some in the tortilla, I just have the rest on the side with a little bit of whipped cream (only adds an additional 10-15 calories, depending on how much and what kind).

It’s also good with blueberries.

I packed a bento today but didn’t end up leaving the house, so I’ll probably save it for tomorrow. But I figured, hey, why not post now. In any case, it felt more like side dishes than a typical meal but we’ll see tomorrow if I need more or not. But I’m getting in the habit of eating smaller, more frequent meals anyway, so it will probably do fine. As of right now, this is the larger of my two bento (until the new one arrives, hopefully tomorrow).

The bottom tier is about 5×3 inches in length/width and about 1.5 inches tall. The top tier is a little smaller. The top tier fits onto the bottom and also has its own plastic lid (not pictured), but the overall cover/lid of the bento box is the part with the little owls on it.

On the bottom tier we have:
*Apple slices (100 grams) — 59 calories
*Grapes (1/3 cup) — 32 calories

On the top tier we have:
*Peanut butter (2 tbsp) — 190 calories
*Baby carrots (75 grams) — 25 calories

Total food calories: 306 calories

And on the side we have an “iced, grande (16 oz), skinny caramel macchiato” from Starbucks. 140 calories. The “skinny” refers to the fact that it’s made with skim milk and sugar free syrup. I know you often hear the tip not to “drink your calories” because drinks don’t get you full; however, to me, drinks are one of life’s great pleasures, just like food. So I make allowances in my caloric budget for milk, juice, and/or the occasional over-priced espresso drink. I also love soda but I drink diet, so it saves the calories (though not the sodium, unfortunately…).

Total with drink: 446 calories

Yum. ^-^;

So, I really like bento and have been trying to get into packing them regularly for a while. I have two bento boxes, just ordered a third, and even though I like them I haven’t been able to get myself into the habit of packing them regularly. A lot of people who use them say it’s fun, they get lots of compliments from co-workers, fellow students, etc. on how attractive the boxes and little lunches are. Plus, they’re pretty good for portion control. One of the problems I run into though is that I’m not particularly good at packing them, so I can’t fit in as much food as others do. I also have bento that are a bit small (even for bento), or at least, small to me and small considering that I take them to work with me and sometimes spend as many as 12-14 hours there at a time. The new one should be able to fit more though. I’m guessing that more practice at packing will help too.

In any case, I’ve taken some pictures of my previous bento and plan on posting them here. Hopefully this will help motivate me to post in my blogs more often and to pack my lunches more often. ^-^;