Airplane Bento II

A year later, the airplane bento post remains my top hit. So when we went on vacation this summer, I knew I had to outdo myself. We had a 5 1/2 hour flight in the afternoon, so I "brought it" by increasing the size of the tupperwear container. I wanted to feature my favorite snacks and airplane purchases while adding some novel items in. It also helped that Target had a snack station where I could purchase smaller versions of tasty treats.

In this bento we have:

- 2 fun packs of peanut M&Ms
- Pretzel Crisps
- Pepperoni Stick
- Chocolate Chip Chewy Bar
- Individual Hummus
- Babel Cheese wheel

Airplane Bento

Something about being 30,000 feet in the air makes everything better. That's why I'm saying this is my best bento ever. No matter how much I ate in the airport, I always want to buy the in-plane snacks. They look so tasty! However, I hate spending $3.00 on a pack of M&Ms or $7.00 on a cheese tray that is hardly big enough for a child. So I've started to make my own airplane snacks that include the foods that I am tempted to buy.

In this bento we have:
- 2 fun packs of peanut M&Ms
- Pretzel Crisps
- Pepperoni
- Chocolate Chip Chewy Bar
- Red Pepper Hummus
- Laughing Cow Cheese
(Plastic knife not pictured)

This bento accompanied us to while flying from ATL to SLC. 

One bento, two ways

So when you go to awesome bento sites like Adventures in Bento Making (http://www.aibento.net/) or Ohayo Bento (http://www.ohayobento.com/index.html) I always notice the boxes. They always seem so nice, so fancy, so perfect for bentos. And I felt like I was at a disadvantage with my lack of boxes. So today I'm here to show one meal done two ways: in my bento and in Tupperware for the hubs. Check it out and I hope be inspired!

Being Souper

I love soups! My husband, not so much, but my lunches are for me! And with my new awesome bento box it is even easier for me to enjoy them during lunch. The challenge is that I love cream soups which directly conflicts with the 4-hour body diet.

So my new challenge to myself is to find soups that are 4-Hour friendly but I enjoy. My top two lately have been:

Edward & Son's Miso soup - This one can be found in most supermarkets (because if my Kroger has it, so does yours) but it hides in the organic section. It has 7 grams of Carbs and you can make with hot water from your office coffee maker. I'm also a sucker for Miso Soup

Gazpacho - There are like a million different ways to make this, but either way you blend it (ha!) it's just veggies in a food processor. Tomatoes can get your carb count up (I saw from 4g to 7g on the web per serving) so make sure you incorporate plenty of other veggies like peppers and cucumbers so you don't end up with more carbs than you planned. 

Cool Cucumber Soup - It's hot in Georgia so I need some more cold options. This is the most cheater of the soups because of the yogurt but I've learned to let Greek yogurt slide into my diet because it's very high in protein (for 9g of carbs, you get 23g of protein) and it is a perfect sour cream substitute. I use the Healthy Foodie's recipe for this soup.

Bento dieting

New year and I'm back! I have not been very good about blogging lately, but it's a new year and a new kickstart on the diet so here I am. I'm learning that I'm good at dieting in the first three months, then it's about maintaining until the holiday season (which is magical no rules time).

Anyway, for christmas my husband got me the coolest bento...the Mr. Bento Lunch Jar! Now it's easier to make meals that I can have small portions and big protein in. Below is my first meal in my new bento. Moving clockwise we have a salad, my "snack pack" consisting of almonds, olives, the some fruit roll and salad dressing, then it's turkey chili and we end with Tomato soup. 

The salad I now make as a big ziploc bag at the start of the week and just pour in portions throughout the week. The soup is from the organic section (Pacific Natural) and comes in a carton so I also just portion a bit every lunch day. Throw in some leftovers and we have a super fast and healthy lunch!

4 hour diet note- I found the lowest carb soups to be the organic ones. Even when it was a creamy soup, it had at least 5 less carbs than Campbell's or Progresso. 

I'm back! and with tuna cakes!

Maybe it's the new job or a fancy new toy or knowing that AWA is around the corner, either way I'm back and motivated to get going again!

Today I'm showcasing my "Tuna Cakes". Think a poor man's crab cake or the 4-hour body friendly crab cake. I would suggest combing with some green beans and either a small salad or Cole slaw


TUNA CAKES

Ingredients
~canned tuna (I used two cans for six cakes)
~mustard
~mayonnaise (skip if doing a strict four hour body diet)
~green onion
~seasoning to taste (I use salt, pepper, garlic and light lemon juice)
~walnuts


The directions are simple: make tuna as you normally do to your liking, just make sure to prepare it on the dry side so the tuna can be shaped into balls.

Once formed, crush whole walnuts by placing in a zip lock bag and smashing with a frying pan. You can then gently toss each tuna cake in the walnuts so it is barely covered. And bam!

Two lunch double punch

While cleaning up some files, I cam across some lunches I never posted from the pre-4hour days. The nice thing about these lunches is that they can *easily* become 4-hour body diet friendly by changing the side items.

Lunch 1 - Turkey Kielbasa Salad

 The salad on your right is slices of Turkey Kielbasa with spinach and cheese. I would suggest adding in some green peppers if you have them. On your left is a tasty blend of grapes, walnuts and raspberries in greek yogurt. If you wanted to make this 4hour body friendly, remove the cheese from the salad and substitute with some diced pepper (red would look hot but green is more my speed) and maybe add some broccoli. For the snack, remove the fruit, add some beans but keep the walnuts in limited number.

Want to make it cute? Use a cookie cutter for the turkey to make it flowers, cars or stars.

 Lunch 2 - Beef Salad

 Clearly I was on a salad kick. Once again, the salad with its beef, spinach and almonds is still 4hour body friendly, though I would suggest adding something in to make it more interesting. The snack isn't too bad either. The picture shows grapes, celery and (my fav) non-fat greek yogurt. The only thing I would remove is the grapes!

Diet Friendly "To go" lunches

Lately I've been horrible at packing a lunch for work but luckily I work near a lot of restaurants so I can find a quick fix that follows all the rules. Here are my go-to lunches in hopes that they help you!

Whole Foods
Hello Salad and hot bar! Typically I have to stay near the salad bar to follow the rules, but I have been known to pull some veggies from the hot bar to mix into my salad. My key ingredients here are greens, great northern beans or edamame, tuna or chicken from the salad bar (because there is nothing else on it), and those cucumbers and red onions tossed in vinegar. If they have asparagus, I'll toss that in too.

Moe's
Mexican fast food is a must on the 4 hour diet. My treat here - a taco salad served in a bowl, not a shell, pinto beans, everything that comes on it with the one exception of taking out the sour cream and adding in guac instead. To prevent cheating, request to NOT have chips.

Publix
You may have to be a bit crafty here. Pick up a salad from the produce section or buy a bag of mixed greens. I then get a packet of single serving tuna and a can of beans that I can add into the salad. Want to get a bit more crazy? Add in some raw veggies by getting a bag of the stir-fry mix or a similar mix from the produce section. For dressing, either buy a bottle to keep in the office or snag a single serving packet by the pre-made lunches (fat-free Italian may be your best bet). 

Shane's
I'm definitely bending the rules while I here, but it's hard to get everyone to eat at Moe's for all of our lunches. I try to keep in the guidelines by ordering a 3 tender basket, grilled, tossed in a mild buffalo sauce. For a side I go with baked beans (high in sugar, but it's a bean!) or cole slaw. Get a water or unsweet tea for your drink.  

Turkey Wrap up

Food items: turkey wrap (leftovers), grapes, walnut, cucumber slices, ranch dressing
Tools: small cup for dressing
Time spent: 10 minutes, maybe
Notes: This looks delicious and cute and it was very tasty

Popeye would love this

Food items: Spinach, oil & vinegar dressing, cheese, kielbasa. Not Pictured: cottage cheese, apple slices
Tools: fish cookie cutter
Time spent: 10 minutes
Notes:Just got some supplies in so I was eager to use them. The cheese cutter works awesome and the silicone cups do the job for dressing, but I wish they were larger. They can be used for dips or dividers, but are too small of a serving size for most foods.