Monday, November 8, 2010

Poka poka win!

Remember when I first received the Poka Poka set in the mail? I had definite misgivings, since I'd purchased the set with the intention of using the thermos to hold soups and other similarly liquidy dishes, and of course the thermos part of it wasn't actually intended as a thermos. 

But! the silver lining (pun not intended): it does what it was designed for quite well. And that's to keep rice nice and warm, in a easy carry-case with 2 side dishes. It doesn't matter that the interior isn't wipe-able, because with 2 watertight side containers, there shouldn't be any leakage in the first place!

So here's what it looks like (exterior; interior 1; 3-pc-thermos; interior 2; meal):






Note: Comes with chopsticks, but I didn't feel like eating curry w/ them. Also, by way of explaining how the thermos works (at least, as best as I could figure from the diagrams, since the instructions were all in Japanese): the black part is metal, which you fill with very hot water to heat it up while youre packing piping hot white rice into the plastic inner part. Dump out the water, wipe it dry, slide the inner part in and top it with the thick lid. Works!

Thermos: White jasmine rice
Side 1: Pav bhaji... the kind from the vacuum envelope sold on store shelves. Don't judge. (Container is lined with plastic wrap to prevent staining (and for easy clean-up))

Side 2: Grape tomatoes

Now for a brief hiatus -- trip to Thailand -- during which I shall take plenty of photos and have no way to upload them until I return home to the US. So, see you in a few weeks!

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Feeling uninspired on this cold, rainy November morn in which I also forgot my phone.


You might ask: how can you feel uninspired with such magical, glowing feta cheese in your bento? Well.

Bottom tier: Organic mixed greens, grape tomatoes, fat-free feta, and a little drizzle of really old Italian dressing

Top tier: A slice of spinach quiche and about 1/2 a cup of yams, both from Wegman's.