How to Pack a Lunch in 30 seconds

1. Grab last slice of cheese pizza out of fridge.
2. Listen to excited cheers of Miss Mads because today is a day she likes pizza.
3. Grab container, realize pizza is just a little too long. 
4. Decide cutting crusts of pizza is faster than finding a bigger box.
5. Listen to exited cheers of Miss Mads, because there is never a day she likes pizza crust.
6. Decide lunch needs something more in the spectrum of "healthy".
7. Grab carrots.
8. Hear complaints from Miss Mads because you dared to add something healthy.
9. Add yogurt and apple sauce. 

Epilogue: Discover that the only part of lunch that was returned was the three carrot sticks. 

Separating food using baking cups

Some foods go well together. Chocolate and peanut butter create their own little slice of heaven when combined. Some foods just plain antagonize each other, and should never be mixed. 

Keeping food separate in a lunch box is pretty easy if you have an individual container for each lunch component. If you're using a larger container, like a bento box, then baking cups come in handy. 

Miss Mads is a berry fiend, but the pea puffs I packed in her lunch can shed little bits of pea puff dust, and I couldn't imagine that a blackberry with a pea puff coating would be particularly tasty. So, to separate out the berries and to provide a bit of visual pizzazz, I put the berries in a festively colored baking cup. 

There are two types of baking cups I tend to use - paper and silicone. 

Above are two examples of each. The blue cups are silicone, the multicolored ones are paper. Both kinds have advantages and disadvantages. 

Silicone cups

Advantages

• Reusable - It's cheaper in the long run, and the same cup that was used in your lunch can later be used to bake a cupcake
• Liquid-proof - If you use it to hold something that's a little bit wetter than the rest of your lunch, like orange slices, you don't have to worry about the liquid seeping through the cup
• More variance in shape - One of the blue cups is square shaped; there are tons of other shapes out there, like hearts

Disadvantages

• More expensive - While they aren't as expensive as they used to be, the per cup cost of a silicone cup is significantly higher than a paper one. 

Paper Cups

Advantages

• Cheaper - A single paper cup is a fraction of the cost of a single silicone cup
• More variance in color and pattern - It's much easier to find brightly colored paper cups, and packs of cups will often include 3 or more colors and/or designs
• More malleable - If you're trying to squish something in, paper cups can be folded and bent

Disadvantages

• Can be leaky - Not so much of an issue if you're packing nuts, but wetter foods can leak through
• Not as sturdy - If you look above, you can see that one of the paper cups is a bit squished. Paper cups need a little more care in storing; some of mine had something lean up against them at some point
• Not reusable - These are usually one use only. 

I ended up going with the paper cups for Miss Mads' lunch, mainly because I'm not sure I can trust her not to accidentally throw away the silicone cups. 

Standard Lunch #2

The other favorite lunch of Miss Mads is the eternal lunchbox favorite (barring allergy restrictions): the Peanut Butter Sandwich. It's been eclipsed as her go-to meal request, but has otherwise stayed strong in the number 2 spot.

What you see above:

• Peanut butter on wheat, cut into quarters
• Carrot Sticks
• Applesauce

Standard Lunch #1

When I ask Miss Mads what she would like to eat for lunch, 70% of the time she will answer "cheese and crackers".

So, she eats a lot of cheese and crackers.

What you see above:

• 4 cracker-sized slices of cheese
• 4 Ritz Crackers
• A small handful of pea puffs
• 1 cup of yogurt
• 1 packet of applesauce

As Miss Mads is still fairly small, this is enough of a lunch for her. Someday, when she manages to top 36 pounds, she may need a bit more. 

The Hello Kitty yogurt was a bit of a treat - usually I pack something with less sugar - but as far as lunchbox treats go, that's probably one of the more innocuous ones. I hope. 

Is this the worst lunch in the world? No. There's some protein, some veggies, and some fruit. Most of the time she will eat it all. It's also pretty quick to put together. My main concern is the frequency in which it appears in the lunch rotation. In other words, she eats something similar to this 2-3 times a week on average. 

The Metamorphosis

There was a time when I had time to think of and plan creative bento. Excited about what I had created, I shared a few pictures with my mother. She, in turn, shared those pictures with her sister.

My aunt's comment? It's obvious she doesn't have kids. The implication there, of course, is that while she appreciated the aesthetics, there was an obvious sign that I had time to burn.

She was right, to a point, but only for a period of time. The time I had to spare for spending 30 minutes on a lunch disappeared once life changes occurred. We bought a house, changed jobs, and had a kid.

Then, the kid got older, as they do tend to do. Now that she's older and a little more responsible (and I know they won't be placed in a microwave by a well meaning school assistant), my assortment of boxes has found renewed use. My stash of food ideas, however, has been met with a new challenge.

The picky eating of a 4.5 year old.

Currently, we rotate through 2 standard lunches. My challenge? To shake up the lunches, while still staying within the blurriest of categories: what my daughter will actually eat!

How To - Make Gyoza

It probably isn't a secret by now that I love dumplings. Gyoza and pot stickers are pretty much the same thing - Gyoza are the Japanese version, and are usually cooked in a specific way (browned on the bottom and then steamed in the same pan) instead of being boiled or steamed. They also make a pretty decent addition to a bento, since they're fairly small and can be pre-made in massive amounts.

Frozen pot stickers can be found in even mainstream supermarkets, but making your own can be much more fun. The pleating can be a little intimidating, but many Asian markets and online stores sell a little plastic device to help fold and seal the dumpling.

To make a batch, you will need the following:



A: Some filling for the dumplings.

This is made with:

1 lb ground chicken
3 cloves of garlic, pressed
1/8th cup chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 of a shallot, chopped
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Note: This is just what I used for this batch. In the past I've used tofu, peppers, peas, green onions, and more!



B: A package of wrappers



C: A device to make the dumplings



D: A small container of water

To make the dumplings,



Extract a wrapper from the package and put it on the maker.



Put about a tablespoon of the meat mixture in the middle of the wrapper.



Dip a finger in the water and moisten the edges of the wrapper.



Fold the maker in half and press firmly to make sure all edges are sealed.



Take the sealed dumpling out of the maker and set it on a clean plate.



Keep making dumplings until you run out meat, wrappers, or patience.

To cook the gyoza, heat some vegetable oil in a skillet (one that has a lid) on medium heat. Place the dumplings flat side down in the pan and make sure that none are touching. Cook for 1-2 minutes, or until the bottoms are brown. Add 1/3 cup water to the pan and cook with the lid on for 3-5 minutes, or until all water is gone. Remove the pan from the heat and remove the gyoza from the pan.



Enjoy!

Gyoza Bento

I've mentioned it before, but I'm nuts for dumplings. Making shumai is still beyond me, mainly because I haven't been able to find the needed wrappers in my midwest city, but gyoza? These I can handle!

This bento contains chicken-filled gyoza, kameboko, and spring greens in the oval container. The Cinnamaroll-shaped container has rice (with wasabi furikake) and cut strawberries.

The fan cut kameboko (fish cake) was cut using instructions from Hapa Bento , and turned out pretty good! The gyoza were hand made by me, and I'm hoping to have a tutorial out tomorrow on that.