New Bento Box from New Lotte!

I went over to the new Lotte on Sunday and snagged a new bento for Dan!

He doesn’t like the Yellow Miffy one that I used that one time (even though I covered it up!), so when I saw basically the same bento, but in blue and with no decoration, I had to get it!

I’ve yet to use it, but it was 9.99 in the Lotte Houseware section. They have a lot of bento options, but most were too big or were decorated. They also sell the thermal lunch boxes there! (If only I could get Dan to bring that to work… but it’s too large/bulky for him I think).

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Also, I know I mentioned this already, but the new Lotte is awesomeness! Between Lotte and Super H Mart, I no longer need to go to Grand Mart! In fact, I went there on Monday and there was nothing there that I needed. All the things I need are at one of the others. Plus, a 12-pack of cup noodles at Grand Mart is 8.99, at Lotte they’re 4.60 (after tax!). Lets not get into the fact that at Safeway they’re $5 for a 6-pack. Too bad the Lotte that is about 8 minutes from my apartment is all old and dirty.

I also got some Mustard Oil for Dan, who had been wanting to use it ever since he saw the Delhi episode of Bizarre Foods. I don’t know if it’s safe to cook with though! I mean, it was in the Indian Grocery aisle with all the other food…

Cupcakes for UVA Weekend (Pt. 2)

The first time I went down to UVA this year was with my Boston Creme Pie Cupcakes.
This time I want to use a combination of matcha (green tea), adzuki (red bean), and/or tapioca bubbles.

The options are:
Green Tea Bubble Cream filled Cupcakes with Green Tea Cream Cheese Frosting (no red bean, but I could decorate with shapes cut out of the red bean)
Adzuki Bean Paste Filled Chocolate Cupcakes with Matcha Green Tea Frosting (no tapioca, but has espresso powder!)

I think the first one is the best at incorporating all ingedients, but I think that the second would taste better. I guess I can just use the tapioca bubbles for something else. Or if i make two batches of cupcakes, I’ll make one of each.

Unfortunately, in my mind, the perfect thing (Green tea cake, tapioca filling, and red bean icing or red bean cake, tapioca filling, and green tea frosting) is nowhere to be found. >_<

Let’s see what happens!

Mango Chicken Salad, Asian Sesame Salad, and Orange Chicken Bentos

So I’ve been fortunate enough to be eating out a lot recently and have been bringing home my leftovers for Dan because of America’s ridiculous problem with portion control.

With the promise of yummy yummy leftovers, Danny has allowed me to make his lunch for him! The first day, I didn’t really have any containers large enough for the salad that weren’t… Totoro. So I used a yellow miffy container I had purchased at LoFt in Japan. Even though I had covered up the whole entire top of the Bento with a piece of paper so that Dan wouldn’t be embarassed, he STILL said it was too cute. So, I went to Target and bought a $4 container that was divided and more manly. Unfortunately, not only do the dividers not go up all the way, they don’t even go up SOME of the way. The box is really weird, and I have to take weird measures to not have food falling all over the place and into the other container (hence defeating the purpose of having dividers). Oh, and this is because Dan doesn’t have a lunch box, he puts his lunch into his messenger bag vertically.

Mango Chicken Salad

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Left container has an Ozzie rolle and Rye bread from Coastal Flats sliced and inside waxed paper liners so they don’t get soggy. Sweet butter is inside the elephant (I tried to find a manly container! I needed a lid for the butter because he doensn’t keep his lunch flat!)

Asian Sesame Salad

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This was the new container from Target. Left container has salad dressing, por lao bao (pineapple bun) from Dim Sum, raisins, and frosted mini wheats. I put the Frosted Mini wheats inside wall-e cupcake liners because I wanted them to be contained and the left section to be packed tightly. The right side has an un-dressed Panera Asian Chicken Sesame Salad. I covered the right side with plastic wrap so the salad wouldn’t leak into the left side. *sigh*

Orange Chicken

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I made fresh rice with this because I didn’t keep the rice from Panda Express. The left container has Gala apple slices with a lime-juice dabbed paper towel, Apple-Cinnamon Cheerios, and Hello Pandas. Right side is rice and Orange Chicken from Panda Express. I had to wrap plastic wrap completely around both containers (rice/pandas) because just tucking it around the sides and top wasn’t enough–the stuff fell out anyways.

I think this will be the last Bento I make for Dan for a while. I’ve really come to hate this Tupperware (too big, yet not big enough, divided but the dividers don’t do anything…) Maybe if I can get another one that’s better.

Right now I’m looking at this one in particular from the Container store (because it’s unisex and cheap):
http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml?CATID=74067&PRODID=10014973

I would have to see this one in person though, I have no clue what the ounce sizes would equate in terms of holding food.

I’m also looking at these:

  • http://order.tupperware.com/coe/app/tup_show_item.show_item_detail?fv_item_category_code=6000&fv_item_number=P10055364000
  • http://www.organize.com/loloaifocodi.html
  • http://www.organize.com/locklock2.html