Bento #10

So, I got an official diagnosis - I do not have to continue with the gluten free diet, I have a different skin condition.

One minor thing though, is the medication I need to take for it for the next few months can result in weight gain.
Good thing I have already started to eat right and exercise. It will make it easier.

Back to work today after a week's vacation.



My bento today contains:
3 eating right meatballs
tomato sauce (in the strawberry container)
2 mini onigiri - rice mixed with furikake
a deviled egg
cucumber with creamy cucumber dressing on top
grape tomatoes
grapes
carrots
m&m's

I used the silicone cups that are supposed to fit together in the bento box - my box is a touch too narrow one way, and a little wide the other way (so the cups squish a little, but there is space between the end one and the others - perfect spot for the grape tomatoes though!)

Gluten Free

I'm on day 2 of gluten free - it's not as hard as I thought, but there are a lot of things that I just can't have any more - mainly sweets, so I guess that's a good thing ... but I looove pocky so much =(

Thankfully I already had some gluten free potato soup mix in my cupboard - my mom found it and bought it because it tasted good, then got me a container of it ... and it just happened to be gluten free.

Also thankfully, my regular grocery store has a "natural" aisle, where they stock organic, gluten free, vegan, peanut free and other specialty diet foods. I went there yesterday and stocked up on some staples like pasta (I bought corn pasta and brown rice pasta to try them both out), biscuit / pancake mix, corn starch and such. I already had a box of mochiko sweet rice flour in my cupboard.

Last night, I made mochiko chicken using Just Jenn's recipe - I already had soy sauce that didn't contain wheat - and it was amazingly delicious.
I used 2 chicken breasts and halved the marinade recipe, and it was more than enough for the mister and myself.
I also made gluten free mac & cheese - corn pasta, homemade cheese sauce using corn starch instead of flour, and instead of breadcrumbs for the topping, I crumbled up some corn tortilla chips! I made it in one of those foil mini loaf tins, so it was just the right amount for dinner for two!
I liked it, but thought the mac & cheese was a little bland - I'll have to add a bit more cheese and spice next time. The Mister said it was good.

I'm having leftover mochiko chicken for lunch with salad.

Dinner will be baked salmon and a gluten free risotto mix. We've tried the risotto before, and it was really good.

Bento #9

Tomorrow morning, I'm going out for a 10k(+) walk with a friend.
We will be going for lunch at Kushi Box (if it's still there - the website is down), but I thought it would be nice to pack a small bento for each of us as well, just in case we are really hungry.

I used the top tiers of my URARA Dragonfly and my Mori No Otomodati bento boxes.
Inside each one is:
- Onigiri filled with tuna salad
- 1/4 apple pear
- 3 snow peas
- 2 meatballs
- homemade jalapeno jelly

For the next little while I am going to be going gluten free.
I am being tested for celiac disease, as I am showing signs of a skin condition that is triggered by gluten intolerance.
The blood test should come back pretty quickly, but the skin biopsy will take about 3 weeks. I'm going to eat gluten free until the skin biopsy comes back, just to see if it will make any kind of difference.
Thankfully (sort of) my mother-in-law has celiac disease, so she has a bunch of resources and will be able to help me out.
It will be a big change. I don't expect The Mister to give it up, as he loves his sandwiches, but it won't be an issue to have the bread in the house - I can't remember the last time I ate any!
I'm just glad I already started to use more rice and less pasta in our regular diets.