Bento #11

Whoops - It's been a month since I last updated!

Today's lunch is:

Pasta stars cooked in chicken stock with parsley
Mini Crustless Broccoli Ham & Cheese Quiche (recipe below)
Deviled Egg
Carrot Sticks
Snow Peas (hidden)
Grape Tomatoes
Rice Crackers


Mini Crustless Broccoli Ham & Cheese Quiche (makes 4)

frozen broccoli, thawed and chopped fine (or fresh broccoli, lightly cooked)
ham slices, chopped small
cheddar cheese, grated
2 eggs
milk (not sure how much I used - just a splash)
2 tbsp sour cream*
chives

Put some cheese in the bottom of foil or silicone cupcake liners, add broccoli and ham, sprinkle some more cheese on top
Mix eggs, milk and sour cream until smooth, pour over broccoli ham and cheese
Sprinkle with chives and bake until set.

* All the recipes I found call for milk and heavy cream, I used skim milk and sour cream because it's what I had on hand.

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.

Bento #8

I've been sick the last few weeks, so I've been in zombie mode pretty contstantly.
My mouth hurts, due to said illness. It's difficult to talk and it hurts to eat hard, chewy, acidic or spicy foods, so it makes mealtime interesting.
I'm on antibiotics that have to be taken on an empty stomach (1hr before eating or 2hrs after eating.), so I have to pay a lot of attention to when I'm eating.

Brunch was soup.

Lunch/Dinner today is:
2 teriyaki salmon onigiri
1/4 green pepper
1/8 apple pear
Vegetable supreme cup-a-soup
fruit & gelatin cup (peaches in strawberry gelatin - yum!)
Mango juice

The Sun Run clinic has been going well. Today's session requires a 30 min walk - 5min slow warm-up, 20 min brisk walk, 5min slow cool-down. I'm going to leave for work a half-hour early so I can get it in, since I'm working late tonight.