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!

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.

Same as yesterday, different bento

 

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

Top tier: Tuna pasta salad (rotini, canned carrots & peas, 2 types of canned tuna -- tuna in olive oil with sundried tomatoes, and tonno, and a large dollop of light mayo).

Also added some spelt lemon snaps in a baggie on top.

A very American Bento Colors, 10/28

Too lazy to put together an elaborate bento today, so everything that went into my lunch is chilled or room temp.

Bottom tier (left-most): Organic mixed greens, plum tomatoes, and a little drizzle of really old Italian dressing

Middle tier: Tuna pasta salad (rotini, canned carrots & peas, 2 types of canned tuna -- tuna in olive oil with sundried tomatoes, and tonno, and a large dollop of light mayo). I debated whether to put this in the bottom tier, but I've had quite a lot of tuna lately and decided it'd be best to limit my mercury intake, however little difference there really is between the two tier sizes.

Top tier: A slice and a half of a salted olive oil rosemary loaf, spread with kalamata tapenade. Also stuck a few spelt lemon snaps into the top layer, and took along a banana.

 

A pretty autumn tree as taken from the train platform. Rather misleading, as it's supposed to be near 80 F degrees and super humid today...(but back to the 50s tomorrow).

Poka Poka Bento

Today's lunch went into the two side containers of the Poka Poka bento set. The containers are sturdy, light, and the lids are air & watertight. I put plum tomatoes and shredded cheese into one container, and lined the other with plastic wrap before pouring about 2 tbsp of taco sauce in (mostly for fear of staining). I kept my lunch bag upright for the most part, so it may be that more than the container that kept everything neat and dry. A gordita tortilla went into a plastic ziploc, along with a banana on the side. Then, come lunchtime, I made a meximelt in the microwave. Voila!

Bento, 10/25!

Sadness. A new, black Bento Colors was introduced at the sale price a week after my purchase. However, I'm quite happy with the product performance, regardless of color, so I suppose I can't complain...

Today's bento:

Bottom tier (right-most): White rice (long grain) and a soft-boiled egg drizzled with Maggi in a silicone cupcake cup. Both were cooked last night and chilled overnight, as I didn't want the egg to remain at room temperature all morning.

Middle tier: Leftover turkey chili and succotash, both from cans (which my supervisor now tells me is dangerous, due to bisphenol...). The succotash was liquidy, and leaked out of its tier a little bit. The case caught it before it got all over my purse, but it was still a little messy. Lesson learned.

Top tier: Sliced Gala apple drizzled with lemon juice to prevent browning.

Bento Colors!

Bento & Co celebrated their 2nd anniversary with a sale, including the ever-popular Bento Colors. I was holding out for one of the more muted, natural colors (metallic charcoal, grey, gold), but these were not included in the sale.

Lo and behold, the packed Bento Colors (in purple, of course)! The contents may not look so classy this time around, but hey, it only took 5 minutes to put together this morning.

Bottom tier: Piping hot white rice (medium grain, so it's slightly sticky), sprinkled with gomashio (salted black sesame seeds), and an umeboshi (pickled plum) in the middle.

Middle tier: Leftover greenbean casserole (unless you have a real need for it, don't use low sodium cream of mushroom! it is not the same!) and a soft-boiled egg.

Top tier: Sliced Gala apple drizzled with lemon juice to prevent browning.

Since this bento holds 650ml but is supposed to tide me over til about 9pm tonight, I included a slice of pumpkin pie (from Johnson's Corner Farm) on the side. The only other thing I'd want to include is a little Maggi for the egg.

Overall, I'm very pleased with this purchase! It's a little heavier than expected, but definitely feels sturdy/durable. The carrying box finish looks like it will show scuffing fairly quickly, but that won't affect functionality.

The Poka Poka set next time, perhaps. Until then, Happy Tuesday!