Monday, August 20, 2012

Chicken Rice Wraps Monbento

Today's bento is packed in the gorgeous Monbento Original bento box. This company has only a few products in its line, but this particular box comes in a rainbow of colors, with a multitude of colorful accessories to go with it. It's a beautiful, substantial piece of lunchware. I never would have considered getting one of these fancy bento boxes for my kids, but the generous folks at Monbento offered to send me one to try out. How nice! The first thing I realized is that this two-tiered box is BIG. The company says it holds 4 cups, which is nearly twice what you might need for a school age kid. It'd be nice for an adult, though. I decided to try it out with TinySprite first.
I made two "summer rolls" for her, which are basically a rice paper wrap containing shredded chicken, lettuce, and pickled carrots and cucumbers. She LOVES these, and always begs for them at Vietnamese restaurants, where she promptly eats the entire plateful. I'm not that skilled at packing and rolling them tightly, but I did manage to seal the deal without any rips or holes. I wrapped the wraps in plastic, which I don't usually like to use, because otherwise they are prone to dry out if not eaten right away. As you can see, they take up quite a bit of room, so it was nice to have some extra space to snug two of them together in one tier along with a hard-boiled egg buddy and a couple of Okinawan sweet potato slices. The bottom tier has its own black lid to help keep things contained (and probably would keep things from drying out as well). I filled the top tier, which comes with a removable separator, with assorted fruit: peach wedges, strawberry, grapes, lychee, homegrown cherry/pear tomatoes, and broccoli. I didn't have to squeeze the fruit in, and an appropriate amount fit very nicely. I was very pleased with the space I had to use in this bento. It was a bit heavy, but I coached her on how to open it safely (without dropping the whole thing), and she reported that everything went well. And she did end up eating the whole thing! MisterMan was a bit put out that he didn't get to use it. I said "But it's fuschia. You don't mind using a fuschia box?" To which he replied, "It's kind of purplish. And boys can use purple you know." OH. Well, now I know! I'm glad, too! Okay, next one is for my purple-friendly boy. ^_^

10 comments:

  1. Oh no - I'd just decided I don't need any more Bento boxes....
    But that one looks great and my husband is always complaining he doesn't have his own special box, so maybe this is the one for him?
    Decisions, decisions, but it does look great.

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    1. This one would be great for a guy. There are nice masculine colors like chocolate (which I nearly got myself), which is kind of rare to find. It's well-made, too, so it will last a long time.

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  2. A beautifully packed bento as always! My little girl is growing out of her small bento boxes with a big kid appetite, she might need one of these boxes soon :)

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    1. Yep, I'm sure little A would love a big girl bento box pretty soon, as much fun as the cute little ones are. I'm going to ease into the transition because I'd like to keep them "small" as long as I can :)

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  3. The vibrant plastic wrap is gorgeous with all of the other natural colors...cheerful, creative and uplifting as ever!

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    1. Thank you for your kind thoughtful words as always, Bentobird :)

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  4. I actually got one in blue for myself and I can definitely say that it has plenty of room to feed an adult. I usually pack one tier with salad/fruit and the other tier with half rice and half meat of my choice. :)

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  5. Any chance you could coach me, too, on how to open this safely? I have the exact same box and - while it is great for packing a large lunch - I find the lids fit *sooo* tightly that it's a real wrestling match to get them off again!


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    1. I know what you mean. I told her to take apart the two tiers first, then remove the uppermost lid carefully with the box flat on the table. The black lids might need to be peeled off slowly from one corner. Open up the vent hole to make it easier. Hope this helps!

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  6. Gosh!
    We really love the way you shot Chicken Rice Wraps Monbento
    You are really not just a food blogger, we think that you are a professional food photographer.

    As a food photography site, we're always looking for best food pictures to feature on our site http://www.foodporn.net/

    Why don't you submit yours and make other people hungry.
    You know it’s fun to make others hungry. Especially when they are so hungry they finally want to create your recipe. :)
    It is worth the try. :)
    Thanks!

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