New Lunch Set!

     I've been checking out this new product line from black + bulm lately, and I finally decided to spring for a few of their products. They are very clever lunch containers and accessories. One of the items i purchased was this nifty lunch bag. It is pretty simple looking, and at first glance may not seem anything special....

      But if you check out the diagram on the packaging you can see that it opens up to be a little table cloth, or even can be used to sit on the grass.

      Another great item I found was this book of recipes. They seem fairly simple and tasty and there are lots of great pictures to help inspire people!

     So, I didn't try one of the recipes yet, but I was really eager to try the container, so in this box, I have some leftover beef bourguignon that my sister-in-law made (very, very tasty), some slices of baguette, a few cherry tomatoes, and in the other small container is pickled cauliflower. One of the nice features about this container is the removable inner containers (which also have their own lids). I can now easily remove the beef and reheat it in the microwave seperately. Also the container with the cauliflower can be used for sauce instead. Additionally, you can remove both and just use the whole container for another dish. Here you can also see the opened bag, and the cute fork (which has a side that can cut like a knife).

     The container closes up nicely, and has a little loop for the fork.

Very clever and convenient! I am very excited about this new product and look forward to trying new ones and the recipes from the book! Until next time, happy munching!

Cool as a Cucumber

Today I used a bento with fixed dividers. I mainly chose this box because it had a big enough space to hold my sandwich, and a solid divider that would allow "wet" food not to spill or spread onto other foods. Inside as a cucumber sandwich, a mandarin, a few pieces of beef pepperoni and swiss cheese, an individually wrapped mochi and on the other side is glazed carrots and pistachios. You may also notice I included a cute little pick shaped like a panda bear (this was given to me as a gift for my birthday, its part of a set of adorable animal picks).

Though cute, the downside of this box is that the lid does not have a very tight seal. Consequently, I had to be very careful to carry it upright or else risk the glaze from the carrots leaking all over the other foods, and possibly all over the bag. I just avoided putting the bento in my bag and carried it in the bento bag, it worked out just fine. :)

And here's the cute little bag that I packed it up in!  Well that's all for today, until next time, happy munching!

5 Minute Bento

This morning, I was running a bit late, consequently, I had about 5 minutes to spare to make my bento (and I ate my breakfast at the same time! Talk about efficiency!). This resulted in a rather simple, but complete bento. My bento gear ended up being themed, but due to my hurry it was actually unintentional. The theme seems to be Studio Ghibli (it will become more obvious when you see the closed view and the bag).

In the bottom tier of the bento, I cut up one pita into decent sized pieces not only for storage but for dipping. They are to be partnered with the small pink container that actually contains a bottom layer of fresh salsa and topped with a thin layer of sour cream. The top tier contains not only a cute cat shaped pick but also an assortment of cheese (swiss, gruyere and cheddar), some dried mango, almonds, and some beef pepperoni sticks cut up into little pieces. These type of components are easy, delicious and quick and useful for fillers in your bento (which is why you may notice they repeat sometimes in my bento). You also may notice here I used a white divider that is shaped like an H. It actually came with the bento (along with a another simple straight divider and a special tray for small pieces of sushi or small onigiri). This divider was really useful for this sort of application because it easily, quickly and effectively divided the upper tier into four sections. Finding a box that has included dividers that are made to fit securely in that bento is a very good strategy. It will really help you fill your bento in a neat and tidy fashion. It will also contain food items a lot better than some of the flexible dividers that one can use such as the thin plastic grass dividers. I am really looking forward to this bento. I am sure it will be quite tasty, although it was simple and only took 5 minutes to make. This goes to show that even if you only have a few minutes, you can still make an interesting and yummy lunch, even if it is simple, and having a lunch with you is much better than trying to get through your day either without one, or having to spend money at the cafeteria or at fast food restaurants because you didn't have time to make a lunch. 

Here you can see the theme a bit. The main bento is Ponyo themed, and the small container is Kiki's Delivery themed (it is actually one of three similarly shaped containers that all fit inside one another!). 

And here is the bag. I apologize because it is not a very good picture and it doesn't show the bag very well, but at least you can get an idea of what the pattern on one side looks like. As you can see it is Totoro themed. The great thing about this bag is that it has quite a bit of room inside, it as a little mesh pocket inside, and it is thermal! So I also included an ice pack inside because I wanted to make sure the salsa, sour cream and cheese stayed cool. 

Well I hope you enjoyed today's entry.... Until next time, happy munching!

Onigiri Bento

Today I really wanted to make something different. I wanted to make something that I had not posted about before. I wanted to make some onigiri. I have made onigiri before, but I have never taken a picture and posted it on the blog. Just a little info: an onigiri is a rice ball. It is essentially exactly what it sounds like, white rice typically in the shape of a triangle, but also made in other shapes as well, that is wrapped in nori (seaweed) and has a filling of some sort. Traditionally onigiri are filled with umeboshi (pickled plums), or other salty or sour ingredients. These are very popular in Japan and are widely available, especially at convenience stores.

In the top tier I placed three onigiri. You maybe wondering what is that purple stuff on them? Well I made two different kinds, the middle plain looking one was filled with homemade fruit salsa, and the two  other are filled with pickled cauliflower. The purple stuff is furikake, which is a dried seasoning intended to be sprinkled on rice. There is a wide variety of furikake, but here I used shiso (an herb in the mint family) furikake.  In the second tier, I placed a hard boiled egg. You may notice here... this doesn't look like an egg at all... it looks like a heart... Well there are these  Interesting little devices used to shape hard boiled eggs that are very popular in bento! I also placed some carrot sticks, and in the pink container is some Russian dressing for the carrots. I also added some dried mango and cheddar and gouda cheese.

I also included a bit of cucumber salad. This salad is very simple, but delicious. Its basically cucumbers in a dill sauce. 

Here's a picture of how the bento looked all closed up! It's so cute! When I saw this box, I knew I had to add it to my collection. :) I also stored it in a thermal bag with an ice pack for food safety. 

Well that's all for today, until next time, happy munching!

Lickity-Split Bento!

I was really tight for time this afternoon when I was making my dinner bento, fortunately, I had all the ingredients on hand I just had to prepare them. First, I grabbed the steaks and cut them up into smaller strips, then I tossed them in the frying pan with some olive oil and lemon pepper while I cut up the vegetables, then for the sake of quickness I tossed those into a separate pan and cooked both at the same time. Afterwards I tossed them together with some teriyaki sauce and served it over some rice.

For vegetables I used snow peas, carrot, mushrooms, cabbage, and red pepper. 

I packed it all up in this single tier Hello Kitty bento that features an adorable picture, a snap tight lid, and  stores a fork and spoon between the tier lid and the bento lid. It is very convenient. Also, unlike usually, I packed my bento hot so it was still hot when I got to class! Hurray! Overall it was very delicious and filling.  That's all on this quick bento! Until next time, happy munching!

Very Western Bento

Hello Again Everyone! Today's bento is actually very westernized I think. I used this neat bento that I actually received by accident when I was shipped the wrong box, however, I still like it because it is very different from a lot of my other bento. It is also quite spacious, and has a nice square shape that can be useful if you want to pack larger items, which I definitely took advantage of.

In the bottom tier I packed a peanut butter and apple jelly sandwich (that's homemade apple jelly by yours truly). I also included some pepperoni bites (due to their nature I wanted to store them in something that would separate them, however due to some reorganization going on at my place, I wasn't able to locate the right dividers and cups so I substituted with a simple plastic baggie. I little less eco-friendly, but it does the job. In the upper tier, I packed a variety of cheeses including dill havarti, old cheddar, dubliner, and swiss gruyere, some dried apricots and mangos, and almonds and soya beans.

This is actually a dinner bento that will be great to last me during my three hour class that intersects dinner time today. I am very excited to enjoy all these delicious items!

Until next time, happy munching!

Valentine's Day Bento

Happy Valentine's Day, Everyone!

Today, I made my fiance a bento to take to work! It is a bento that is domokun themed! I put the lunch inside this adorable domokun bag. It is actually made of very thick durable fabric and is quite cute.

This is the domokun bento box (closed view). It has two tiers, comes with chopsticks that fit inside between the upper tier lid and the bento box lid. It also came with this simple black band. The picture on the box is also very fun.

Now for the food! Inside I have an orzo pasta salad. I boiled the pasta, let it cool, and added finely chopped carrot, yellow pepper and yellow onion. I also made my own vinaigrette and tossed it all together. In the top tier I included two heart shaped chocolates, some almonds, some cheddar and dill havarti and a few pieces of chopped up beef pepperoni sticks. I also included along with this 2 boiled eggs in a Valentine's themed baggie!

I'm sure that he will enjoy this very nutritious and fun lunch that was made with extra love for Valentine's day! I hope you all have a very special day. :)

Until next time, happy munching!

Dinnertime Bento

Today I have a late class, and it runs right through dinnertime, so I am bringing a dinner bento!

To keep my food hot, I used a thermal bento! When I got to class and opened it up, everything was still nice and delicious and hot!

Inside I packed rice (it is under the vegetables to you can't really see it) and I made a chicken and vegetable stir-fry. First I cooked the chicken with some seasonings and then cut up and cooked the vegetables, then mixed them together again and poured on some sesame sauce and then put it all on top of my rice. 

I also included two little snacks, a few gummy bears and some strawberry yogurt and granola.

Delicious.

That is all for my dinner bento! I hope you enjoyed it! Until next time, Happy Munching!

Back to School Bento

Hello Everyone!
It is the beginning of a new semester and here is my first bento of the new year!

I chose this adorable festive red Hello Kitty Bento set. It has a matching drawstring bag that helps keep all my bento stuff together.

Here is the above view of the closed 2 tier plastic bento box held closed with a black band.

The 1st tier, In this tier I strained some fruits that were in a light syrup, and placed them inside their own division, and next to that in a separate section is a small cheese, some cashews, some salami cut into quarters, and a lychee coconut jelly.

In the lower tier,which can be viewed in this picture, contains a rice stir-fry with green beans, shitake mushrooms and some seasoning on the rice.

Well thats all about this bento! I hope you are enjoying the new year! 

Unitl next time! Happy Munching!

Bento Tutorial

What is Bento?

            Bento is a well-balanced, compact and visually appealing lunch that is packed in a box. This method comes from Japan where it is very common where mothers see making bento as an expression of love for their children (and husbands too!). Children share and even enter their bento into cafeteria competitions. Bento is also becoming increasingly popular for workers to take each morning and is increasing in popularity in North America. Japan has the highest longevity and lowest obesity rates in the world, so it wouldn’t hurt to take a page out of their book!

            Bento is yummy, healthy and interesting. A great perk about bento is that they are very eco-friendly! It helps reduce waste and most bento parts and accessories are highly reusable. Bento allow for easy portion control, saving money and for one to pack a wider variety of food for lunch. It is important to realize that a bento does not need to be filled with Japanese food. You can fill it with whatever food you like! You can make the food from scratch, or it makes great use of leftovers. The foods used can be premade, or prepared in advance. You can use a rainbow of assorted foods to keep things interesting! Despite the beautiful images we all see online or in books, there is no pressure to have a bento look like an image, landscape or character. Just aim to make it visually appealing and thoughtfully arranged. Once you get the hang of that, if you feel like it you can aim for some more complicated arrangements, but in reality, that's not really necessary. The important thing is that it appeals to you and is arranged in a way to be highly portable, and well organized.

            Bento is a great way to motivate yourself to pack a lunch, eat healthy and also to diminish picky eaters. Lets make packed meals fun again with bento!

Bento Supplies & Tools

There are a lot of different tools and supplies one can use to make a bento but they are not all necessary at first. The main tools one needs are a bento box (even just Tupperware will do the trick), some utensils (whatever you feel comfortable with), and some cupcake paper cups. In the following descriptions I will explain the basic tools/supplies one can use for bento in further detail, and you can decide for yourself what you want to use!

Bento boxes: Come in a wide variety of types, styles and designs.

            Lacquer: heavy, long-lasting, but not microwave safe

            Plastic: usually microwave safe (but not the lid) affordable, modern

            Metal: not microwavable, uncommon, may not have a tight seal

Bamboo: good for sandwiches or onigiri (rice balls) because it allows for            

breathing, but must be lined.

Wooden: Traditional, not microwave safe, expensive, require plastic lining

Donburi: has 2 layers, one for rice and the other for the rice topping (stew, chili, etc.)

Onigiri: for one or multiple onigiri, is or has a compartment specifically shaped for onigiri (triangular)

Chopsticks: useful for eating and cooking

Utensil sets: come in cases with forks, spoons, chopsticks, etc. Very useful for transporting utensils.

Toothpicks/Decorative Picks: useful for eating, decorating and packing

Baran: food dividers, such as grass (often seen with sushi), keeps food separated

Little Sauce Containers/Bottles: a mess-free way to store and transport sauces]

Plastic, Paper, or Silicone Cups: good for keeping foods, particularly moist foods, separated

Oshibori: small, wet, reusable towel in a case, used to wash hands before and after a meal

Rice Paddle: Typically plastic, is a small paddle used in the making of rice

Freezer Packs: to keep food cool and safe

Straps: used to keep containers safely closed

Bag: one can use either a cloth wrapper or a bento bag with a zipper or drawstring

Gadgets: can make lunch a little extra fun, or make being creative with food a little easier.

            Condiment Pencils: allow for drawing or writing with sauces

            Weiner Shapers: make tulips, crabs, octopuses, penguins, etc out of wieners

            Nori Punches/Hole Punches:  for making faces and such on food

            Egg Molds: for shaping hard-boiled eggs

            Plastic Cutters/Cookie Cutters: for cutting veggies, bread, etc, multi-use

            Onigiri Shapers: help shape rice balls

            Sandwich Cutters: cut sandwiches into cute, fun shapes

Packing Bento:

            The key here is balance. That balance applies not only to the nutritional content, but also visually by using a variety of colours and textures and with arrangement.

            One should keep in mind a general guideline for food ratios: (There are many different ones, but I picked this one)

1/3 – ½ : Carbs (Bread/Rice/Pasta) (when mixed with other foods, can be as much as 2/3)

1/3 +: Veggies (Can include fruit/jelly)

1/3 : Protein

Try to avoid junk foods, oily food, or candy, but occasional treats can be included.

Please vary this approximation to your personal need!

Remember to use variety of flavour, colour and cooking methods, and to keep in mind: ease of eating, drain moist/wet foods and divide them, season well (cooled food requires more seasoning than hot), safe packing, and cute and interesting arrangement.  Feel free to experiment with different methods and foods. If you are using leftovers, try to give them a makeover to stave off boredom. Another important factor to keep in mind is: do not leave empty spaces! Make your bento look full and attractive by using garnishes and fillers. Some examples of fillers are: dried fruit, nuts, cooked beans, mini jellies, veggies, fruit, wrapped cheese, etc.

Packing Method

Step 1: Set the rice: Spread the rice across the bottom of the container to allow cooling and avoid condensation. Next, pack the rice, push it against one side of the container until it is even and full on that side.

Step 2: Put in Fixed-Shape Foods: place food that has a shape that cannot be modified

Step 3: Place moist foods: Place moist food that has been drained and separated in dividers/cups

Step 4: Place Shapeable Foods: place food that can be shaped/ is flexible

Step 5: Place Space Fillers: use the fillers to make your bento nice and full

Step 6: Enhance: visually enhance the box by adding picks or seasoning like nori or furikake

Step 7: Cool: allow your bento to cool completely before replacing the lid to avoid condensation and sogginess and to ensure food safety.

This concludes my bento tutorial. I hope I haven’t left out anything important, if you have any comments and questions feel free to let me know!

Car Bento

This bento is a car bento for two reasons. First, the car wouldn't start this morning! So while we were waiting for help to come, I decided to make a bento to send to work with my fiance. I am luckily on reading week right now, so I don't need a bento. It kinda worked out well, because I got to make a bento and I am also certain that he got to leave after eating a breakfast (made by yours truly) and a bento for lunch. To keep with the car theme, I used a car themed bento box too.

In addition to the car themed bento, I used a standard lunch container. I wanted it to be microwavable and without too many restrictions, also I needed it to be larger.

As for what is inside today's bento, that is the following: in the blue container: A rosemary and ham sandwich, a mini gouda cheese, a cocktail tomato, almonds and taro mochi. In the clear container: leftover sweet and sour chicken and rice. I hope that he enjoys it! Well that is all for today, until next time, happy munching!

Pokeball Bento

This is the bento I packed for my fiance for his work today.

As you can see, today's bento theme is pokemon! When I saw this awesome bento box that looked like a pokeball, I could not resist. It was so unique :). Unfortunately, it isn't very large, and it's shape isn't ideal to packing much inside it, so I paired it with a matching additional container. I also added a halloween themed ziplock.

As for lunch contents, I have packed here a rosemary ham sandwich, some hummus (with a paprika in the shape of a bunny (I know it isn't perfect but it was my first try!)), and in the ziplock are some mini pita crackers. Inside the bottom of the pokeball are some carrots, and almonds as well as a mini kit-kat bar, and a green apple jelly. I am sure this will be filling and help him have lots of energy throughout his work day! Well, that's all for today, until next time, happy munching!

Egg Bun Bento

I did not have a lot of time this morning because I really wanted to make turkey soup for dinner tonight. So I had to spend most of my time peeling and chopping vegetables. Needless to say, I am very excited to try that soup because I am sure that it is going to taste good. This is my first time making turkey soup from scratch. I even made my own stock using my leftover turkey carcass from Thanksgiving. :) I will definitely post details about it after I have tried it, I can even post my method if anyone is interested in making their own!

So because I was short on time, my bento is pretty small, but it still looks really good. :)

I used an egg bun here and cut it in half and spread on some Laughing Cow cheese, I also included a few slices of dry hungarian salami, rolled up beside them, as well as some dried apples, almonds and two  apple gummies. The egg bread and apple gummies both came from my local asian grocery store, its quite large and I really enjoy visiting it. They have so many things. The other day I also picked up a pot to make shabu shabu, so I am really looking forward to making my own :). 

Anyways, that is all for today, so until next time, happy munching!

Snack Bento

Today, I was home most of the day, so making a bento for lunch wasn't really necessary.  Also, I had plans to eat dinner with a friend during my break in class, and we had decided to eat out. Therefore, I decided to make a little snack bento because even though my class started late, it also ends late and it is inevitable that hunger will strike.




This little snack bento contains two jellies, strawberry and green apple (I bought these for the first time the other day and really am looking forward to trying them!), a couple pieces of beef jerky, and some soya bean trail mix.


Well that's all for today, sorry for the short post, but until next time, happy munching!

Sesame Pasta Salad

There are so many different styles of bento boxes and bags and accessories. It is really fun to mix and match them together to create something fun and unique. Today's bento is in this cute, pink little bag.

 I stored my lunch in this adorable red box with silver rabbits and flowers on it, and kept it closed with a pink rabbit themed strap. I also included a pink ikea spoon.

 

Lunch today consists of a sesame pasta salad in the lower tier, and pepperoni, swiss cheese, carrot sticks and dip in the bunny shaped container, and some almonds. I rolled up the swiss cheese so it could not only be easily stored, but also provide as an edible divider. Often bentos contain dividers that keep the foods separated from each other, these come in the form of anything from plastic grass, to animals or even using little silicone baking cups. It really is useful when trying to keep something "wet" away from dry foods like dip or pickles. Since I didn't want the flavour of the pepperoni getting on the carrots and almonds, the swiss cheese serves as a good divider as well as part of my lunch!

Well that's all for today, until next time, happy munching!

Lunch with a Friend

Today, I have lunch with my friend. We share the same break between our classes so every week we meet at this time to have lunch. So, at 9am, I panicked. I wasn't sure how long it would take me to make two bentos, so I figured I ought to get started before I run out of time. I realize now that making two bentos at the same time was not that difficult. To make things simple I made them exactly the same.

This bento box style is very similar to yesterday's in that it is made up of two tiers that can be placed inside one another. I also included matching chopsticks and a little dessert bento. I did not include a picture of the bag today because I couldn't decide at the time what the best method for packing them was, as I had to be able to fit these two bentos nicely inside my backpack, rather than my usual one box. I ended up putting them in two separate drawstring bags.

As for the contents, I have included in the bottom tier a bit of hummus, and garlic pita crackers and some sliced baby carrots. In the upper tier, it is mostly wild rice with herbs (a good time saver here is to use some precooked rice, whether that is rice you cooked yourself at an earlier time, or by buying some precooked rice that only needs to be warmed up, either way will work :)), two smokies cut into octopuses (which is not very evident from this photo) these octopuses can be cut into their shape by hand, which is how I like to do it, or by using a special cutter made for that (as my friend calls them "blank-blankers" (items which have only one specific use)) One can either boil the smokies or hot-dogs after they have been cut or fry them in a pan (my preferred method), which allows them to curl slightly and brings out the shape of the octopus. In this bento I rolled them in a bit of BBQ sauce after cooking. In this tier there is also a pig shaped container filled with soya sauce and a mini gouda cheese. I think it will be a rather healthy and satisfying lunch. Let's not forget that mini dessert bento, inside that small container I put four chocolate truffles and a few almonds. I think it will be the perfect end to our lunch. 

Just to let you know, I am going to be adding some tutorials soon! So if you are interested in making your own bentos, please stay tuned for these additions!

 Well that's all for now, so until later, happy munching!

Hasty Bento

I didn't have much time this morning to make my bento so I used some leftovers. Thats one of the great things about bentos. They are perfect for getting rid of leftovers and remaking them into something interesting! Since Thankgiving was this week, I have lots of turkey leftovers, so I tried to incorporate a bit of them into this lunch. As well as some other leftovers I had.

A bit about these bento supplies: I utilized a more "classic" type bento set up here. A simple yellow two tire box with a tone-on-tone flower print. The nice thing about this box is that once it is empty, the bottom tier is small enough to be placed inside the top tier for easy storage and transportation. (You may recognise here the ikea fork. Seeing as the bento was so simple, I did not feel the need to bring any fancy utensils with me today.) There is also a matching drawstring bag, and also to make sure everything stays contained, a band to put around the box.


A close up of the food components:

In the upper tier I made a quick, easy potato salad, because I was short on time today I steamed my vegetables instead of boiling them. This potato salad is made up of potato and carrot only. Also in this tier are some pickled beets, a cocktail tomato, dried apple and dried mango.
In the lower tire there is a little stir-fry, here is where I used leftovers. I used some leftover coleslaw, turkey, salami, tomato and some celery and onion that I had already cut up. Next to that is a mini-gouda cheese and also some soya bean trail mix.

I wanted to include a recipe today, so here it is:
Quick, Savory Potato Salad
Ingredients:
- one small potato
- a few baby carrots or a small portion of a larger carrot
- Salt
- Pepper
- Dill Weed (fresh, chopped, or dry)
- 1 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- a pinch of sugar (or a drop or two of honey)

First peel and chop up the carrots and potato. Now boil them in a small saucepan on medium heat. Once tender, strain and place in a bowl. Next crush the potato and carrots with a fork or spatula, add salt and pepper and mix. Next add mayo, vinegar and the sugar. Mix well. You may also top it with some chopped cucumber. Please note that you may substitute the apple cider vinegar for white vinegar, or any type vinegar that you like!

Well that's all for today, so have a good one, and happy munching!

Kiki Bento

I whipped up a quick bento today before I headed off to class. I thought to myself, I should really take a picture of that. So... I did.

Recently, I have decided to put my extensive bento supply collection to use, I have acquired all these items in order to fulfill my desire to make a bento every day. I have often liked the idea of bento and owned a few bento boxes which I enjoyed filling with delicious food on occasion, but it was inconsistent and lacking any true skill. So after playing around with the idea of becoming truly involved in making bentos, I decided "why not?" and decided to go for it. I started really investigating the websites I liked to browse from time to time and started seriously finding out "what do I need?" and then decided to build a collection and purchase a few books.  So when it occurred to me today to take a picture of what I'd done I decided that I wanted to share my "journey" in bento-making, and that way people who are interested can look, and maybe try it for themselves.

Now, enough about how I came to decide to create this blog, and more about the food!

So today's bento box is Kiki's Delivery Service themed. I really love Studio Ghibli movies, so when I saw this particular box, I could not resist. In this picture you can see the 2-tired bento box, a chopsticks case and a small fork case and an insulated lunch bag as well as a small sauce container.

INSIDE! The fun part! I packed two potato croquettes, one white potato with herbs mixed in and little cheese in the middle, and the other is sweet potato. Next to those are a few pieces of pickled cauliflower that I have patted dry a little to prevent the croquettes from becoming soggy from them. In the upper container I have carrot sticks, almonds, some beef jerky and some dried apples. Lastly, the sauce container is filled with a home-made sauce that is good for the croquettes as well as the carrots. 

I am really excited to dig into this bento! I am sure that it will be delicious.

As for details on the food, everything in this box save for the vegetables, nuts and beef jerky are 100% homemade and made in advance in order to ensure that I can pack this lunch in a reasonable amount of time. If anyone is interested I can post the recipes, please let me know and I'll be glad to do so. :D

Thanks for taking a look, and happy munching!