Lunch & A Snack for Monday

I didn't have any leftovers yet this week, so I made some Crab-Stuffed Tomatoes (WW recipe) and some of Hungry Girl's Artichoke Hummus (which you will be seeing throughout the week). Today's lunch bento comes to a whopping 7.5 points:

This bento contains:
2 Crab-Stuffed Tomatoes (4.5 points...I used smaller tomatoes, so these don't come to the full 6 points of the original recipe)
1/4 cup Hungry Girl's Artichoke Hummus (1 point)
Cucumbers (0 points)
Celery (0 points)
Red Bell Pepper (0 points)
1 Tbsp. Smucker's Sugar-Free Strawberry Preserves

My snack for today comes to 4.5 points. I know, this is all a lot of points! I am breastfeeding, so I have a huge daily allowance, but honestly, I find myself unable to eat all of the points some days.

This bento contains:
15 baby carrots (.5 points)
1 hard-boiled egg (2 points)
1 cup edamame (1 point)
1 Babybel cheese (1 point)
1 small Apricot (0 points)

Fish & Salad Bento

I'm making the best of dinner this week and made an extra fish filet last night for today's bento. Ah, the beauty of planning ahead. :) Today's bento comes to 4 Weight Watcher's points.

This bento contains:
1 fish filet (2.5 points)
1/2 tbsp Tartar Sauce (in the blue strawberry) (.5 points)
lettuce (0 points)
red bell pepper (0 points)
cherry tomatoes (0 points)
cucumber (0 points)
2 tbsp. chickpeas (.5 points)

not pictured:
1 tbsp. Newman's Own Lite Sesame Ginger Dressing (.5 points)

Monday's Bento

I have been enjoying my top layer of veggies and cottage cheese, but I'm probably going to need to change it up soon just for the sake of visual and culinary interest. :) It's easy to get into patterns, and one of the nice things about posting on a blog is you notice these patterns and want to stay away from them for fear of everything looking alike. I have a few variations planned for this week, but otherwise it's going to be a pretty similar layout. I promise something new for next week. ;) Today's bento comes to 3.5 Weight Watcher points.

This bento contains:

1/2 serving Shrimp & Vegetable Lo Mein (2.5 points)
6 cherry tomatoes (0 points)
cucumbers (0 points)
sliced red bell pepper (0 points)
1/4 cup 1% cottage cheese (1 point)

Tuesday's (uneaten) Bento

So I made a delicious bento last night filled with my favorite leftovers of Wasabi-Ginger Glazed Talapia, and guess what I did? Left it out on the counter all night! D'oh! So I don't get to eat it today, but luckily I had a Lean Cuisine in the freezer that I will have to make do with today. Oh well. Today's intended bento comes to 3.5 points.

This bento contains:

1/2 serving of Wasabi-Ginger Glazed Talapia (2 points)
1/2 serving of Sesame Ginger Cabbage Salad (.5 points)
1/4 cup 1% cottage cheese (1 point)
cucumber butterfly cutouts (0 points)
8 cherry tomatoes (0 points)

Good news, though, I did make it to the gym last night AND this morning. Wooo! Finally!

Wednesday's Bento

Today's bento is mostly leftovers, nothing terribly exciting -- but hey, it works! Remember how I said I hadn't been that hungry lately so I thought this 18 points a day thing would be pretty easy? Well, apparently I was wrong. I have been starving! But I don't think it's because of the amount of food I have been eating. And honestly, once I eat a snack or two I'm pretty much satisfied. So happily I haven't been using all my weekly points in a day or anything. I've actually been sticking to the usual going over my daily points allowance by about 2-4 points and still staying satisfied. So I guess it's actually not that big of a deal. I was just surprised at how hungry I've been feeling very suddenly. Having healthy snacks around is definitely important, otherwise bad things could happen. :)

Today's bento comes to 4 points:

This bento contains (clockwise from top left):
Cajun Spiced Shrimp (2 points)
1/4 cup 1% cottage cheese (1 point)
cucumber flowers (0 points)
1/4 serving Hungry Girl's Tamale Pie (1 point)

A Light Tuesday Lunch

I was surprised when I added up the points for my bento today. I usually try to keep my lunches between 5 and 6 points, but then I realized that my daily points allowance just dropped to 19, so I guess a smaller points lunch is in order. We'll see how much it fills me up, though. My bento comes to 3.5 points.

This bento contains:
1 cup Ginger Sesame Cabbage Salad (1 point)
1/2 filet of Ginger-Wasabi Glazed Talapia (2 points)
1/4 serving of Beet & Orange Salad (.5 points)
1/2 cup green beans with garlic and soy sauce (0 points)

My husband's bento comes to points 6 points.

This bento contains:
1 cup Ginger Sesame Cabbage Salad (1 point)
1 oz hard salami (2 points)
1 slice Cheddar cheese (2 points)
10 baby carrots (.5 points)
1/2 cup edamame (.5 points)
1/4 of an apple with sugar and cinnamon (0 points)

While I have been very very good at planning out all of my bentos for the week, the fact that my husband now wants bentos has thrown me off. I find myself scrounging around for things to put in his bento, while trying make sure that it's well-balanced. Doing this adds about half and hour to my prep time, which is just way too much time. I usually make mine while I'm making dinner, and then finish it up in maybe 5 or 10 minutes after dinner. But last night, I was still in the kitchen half an hour after dinner trying to find things to put into his bento. Of course, looking at his bento, you probably wonder why it took me so long. :) I just need to find a better, and faster method for making both our bentos. Any tips or suggestions?

Thursday's Bentos

I was sick yesterday, so today's bento was actually supposed to be for lunch yesterday. But everything should still taste fine. :) My bento comes to 5.5 points.

This bento contains:

1 cup of Cabbage Salad with Ginger and Sesame Dressing (1 point)
4 oz Tuna Steak with Wasabi-Ginger glaze (3.5 points)
1/2 cup asparagus sauteed with Sesame Oil & garlic (1 point)

My husband's bento comes to 8 points.

His bento contains:
1 oz ham (1 point)
1 slice of colby jack cheese (2 points)
2 tsp. Horseradish mustard in the strawberry (0 points)
1/2 serving of Alessi Rosemary Potatoes (1 point)
1 tbsp. Ketchup (.5 points)
10 baby carrots (.5 points)
1/8 cup Edamame Hummus (1 point)
1 1/2 cups Cabbage Salad with Ginger and Sesame Dressing (2 points)

Tuesday's Bentos

My husband liked his bento so much last time that he now asks me when I'm making mine, 'So, what are you putting in mine?'. I actually wasn't planning on making him one for today, but luckily we had still had some leftovers from last week. So he was happy. I'm going to keep counting points for his bentos because: (1) he is trying to lose weight, though he's not doing Weight Watchers, and (2) that is the purpose of this blog. Does anyone know of any men doing Weight Watchers? I know they have a new program for them, but I have no idea what the target points for a man would be.

My bento for today comes to 4 points.

This bento contains:
4 Cheese & Spinach Ravioli (2 points)
1/8 cup edamame hummus (1 point)
3 small sweet peppers (0 points)
1/2 cup asparagus with garlic & sesame oil (1 point)
Not pictured:
1/2 cup Classico Fire Roasted Tomato Sauce (1 point)

My husband's bento comes to 8 points:

This bento contains:
1/2 serving of Soba Noodles with Garlic Tofu (2 points)
1 slice Colby Jack cheese (2 points)
2 oz lean ham (2 points)
Asparagus with garlic & sesame oil (1 point)
1/8 cup edamame hummus (1 point)
3 small sweet peppers (o points)

Making his bento was actually a pretty big deal for me. I'm vegetarian (well, pescetarian, because I eat fish), and I don't cook any meat for him. If he wants chicken or something, he makes it himself. So the fact that I actually handled the ham to make the roll-ups was a pretty big deal. I guess my compulsion to make it pretty outweighed my avoidance of touching meat.

My first multiple bento packing!

So my husband followed up on his previous wish to have a bento lunch, and asked if I could make him one for today. Since we had a decent amount of leftovers, I thought it would be pretty easy to do. And happily, it was! :) I have no idea if this will be enough or too much food for him. I'm sure he'll let me know. I guess it isn't truly a wwBento because he isn't doing Weight Watchers and I didn't take any points values into account when making it. But, I can still add them all up for you!

So here's my bento for the day, which comes to 4.5 points.

This bento contains:
1/2 serving of Soba Noodles with garlic tofu (2 points)
1 small sweet peppers (0 points)
1/4 cup edamame hummus (2 points)
1/2 serving of Grilled Japanese Eggplant (.5 points)

My husbands bento comes to 7.5 points:

This bento contains:
1/2 serving of Soba Noodles with garlic tofu (2 points)
1 serving of Grilled Japanese Eggplant (2 points)
2 small fish cakes (2 points)
1/8 cup edamame hummus (1 point)
10 baby carrots (.5 points)

Leftover Madness!

Today's bento has a veritable smorgasbord of this weeks leftovers. The shrimp was last night, the pasta was Tuesday night, and the fish cake and veggies was Sunday night! On the plus side this shows that I am cooking more dinners than I used to. I guess when those dinners factor into my bentos for the week, I'm more likely to cook instead of deciding I'm too tired in the evening. Otherwise I would have nothing for my bentos! Today's bento comes to 6.5 Weight Watchers points.

This bento contains:
1/2 serving of Penne w/ Olives (2.5 points)
1 small Fish Cake (1 point)
1/8 cup Edamame Hummus (1 point)
4 small sweet peppers (0 points)
1/2 serving of Spicy Shrimp (2 points)
1/2 cup veggies with ginger & sesame oil

Stuffed Peppers Galore!

I tried another new Weight Watchers recipe last night: Edamame Hummus, and it turned out deliciously! I feel bad constantly raving about these recipes and then being unable to post them due to copyright concerns, so here is a comparable recipe of this hummus that I found on RecipeZaar. The recipe I used had mirin and toasted sesame seed oil in it, though, and I highly recommend using the sesame oil. I've decided that toasted sesame seed oil makes everything taste better!

Anyway, I decided to be fancy and stuff the hummus into little sweet peppers. I thought that this would give me 2 stuffed peppers...but I was wrong. Apparently 1/4 cup is a lot and the peppers really are small! Today's stuffed pepper-heavy bento comes to 4.5 Weight Watchers points.

This bento contains:
4 small sweet peppers (0 points)
1/4 cup Edamame hummus (2 points)
1 small Fish Cake (2 points)
1/2 cup veggies mixed with, yes, toasted sesame seed oil and ginger (.5 points)

Tasty Tuna Bento

I made some tuna salad last night for my lunches this week. It's a Weight Watchers recipe, but I was still surprised at how many points it is for so little (only 1/2 cup per serving). I guess it's all that mayo. It tastes good and is very easy and quick to make, so I think it's a keeper. I've actually been pleasantly surprised lately with all of the flavorful Weight Watchers recipes I've been trying. In the past I had frequently avoided their recipes because they often had little flavor. I'm almost out of the little zucchini's, so you'll probably only see one more bento with them this week. (I get them at Trader Joe's and there isn't one near me, so I only get to go there once every few weeks). :(

Todays' bento comes to 5.5 Weight Watchers points.

This bento contains:

1/2 cup homemade light tuna salad (4 points)
1 cup zucchini (0 points)
1/4 serving Curry Couscous (1 point)
1/4 serving Wasabi peas (.5 points)
1/2 cup lettuce (0 points)

Friday's Bento

Today's bento is composed of leftovers from last night's dinner. This was my first time making the Asian Millet Salad (Weight Watchers recipe) and it turned out very nice. Even my husband, who is wary of Weight Watchers recipes, really liked it. And then we have Tilapia with a Wasabi Ginger Glaze. This is a Cooking Light recipe that is actually for tuna, but we use whatever white fish we have on hand. Today's bento comes to 5 Weight Watchers points.

This bento contains:

1/8 cup red pepper hummus (1 point)
1 cup zucchini (0 points)
1 cup spinach (0 points)
1/2 serving Asian Millet Salad (2 points)
1/2 serving Tilapia with Wasabi Ginger Glaze

Gosh, looking through this weeks bentos, they all look very similar. Oh well, they're still tasty!

Wednesday's Bento

Today's bento looks suspiciously similar to yesterday's. Except today there are shrimp instead of falafel. :) My husband watched me put my bento together last night and asked "When are you going to make on of those for me? Everything looks so nice and pretty." I told him I'd be happy to, but he'd need a bigger bento. He thought the size of the bento shown below was fine as long as he brought something extra to eat. I told him he was welcome to use it as long as he didn't mind the Chococat on the lid. :) We'll see what happens.

This bento comes to 4.5 Weight Watchers points.

This bento contains:
1/2 serving Spicy Shrimp (2 points)
1/8 cup Red Pepper Hummus (1 point)
cherry tomato (0 points)
1/2 serving Curry Couscous (1.5 points)
1 cup zucchini (o points)
1/2 cup spinach (0 points)
1 baby bella mushroom (0 points)

The Spicy Shrimp is actually extra shrimp from a non-fried version of Shrimp Po'Boys.

Spicy Shrimp

Serves 4

1 cup chopped onions
1 1/4 lb shrimp
1 tsp. Creole seasoning (we use Emril's seasoning which you can buy, or make yourself)

Sprinkle the seasoning over the shrimp and set aside (if you're using frozen shrimp, just add the seasoning when you add the shrimp to the pan).

Heat oil over medium-high heat and add the onions. Saute about 4 minutes. Add the shrimp (and seasoning if you didn't before) and saute another 4 minutes or until shrimp are done.

4 WW points per serving

Brown & Green Bento and a Question

This wasn't intentional...I didn't mean for the entire bento to come out brown and green, but these things happen. I am really looking forward to this bento today, although I am a little concerned that I won't be able to eat it all since there are a lot of noodles (that have shrimp in them) and a veggie patty. I am very excited that I have finally broken away from my bento 'rut' and have finally put some different items in here. This bento comes to 5.5 Weight Watchers points.

Contents of this bento:
Top Layer: 1/2 serving of Shrimp and Vegetable Lo Mein (2.5 points)
Bottom Layer: Morningstar Farms Mushroom Burger (3 points)
Spinach (0 points)
Broccoli (0 points)
Shiitake Mushrooms w/ Soy Sauce & Mirin (0 points)

This was my first time using dried Shiitake mushrooms, and I have to say I love them! I got the recipe from Washoku: Recipes from the Japanese Home Kitchen by Elizabeth Andoh. It's a very nice book that gives a lot of background, history, and the mentality of Japanese cooking. If you are new to Japanese cooking (especially the ingredients), it is a very helpful book.

Question: I get many recipes from many different locations (books, internet, magazines) and I have trouble keeping them all in one place. I have the MacGourmet software for my home computer, but sometimes I want to access my recipes at work (so I know what to pick up on the way home). Is there an online place you keep all of your recipes? Weight Watchers does have the capacity to store recipes, but sometimes I forget they are there when I'm trying to decide what to cook for the week. I'm thinking of something like del.icio.us, but for recipes. Any ideas/tips?

Shrimp Lo Mein Bento

This bento was partially composed of leftovers from dinner the previous night. I made a Weight Watchers version of Shrimp Lo Mein because we had tons of veggies that we really needed to use. This was one of the few WW recipes that I have not had to excessively season because it was too bland. (Their Minestrone being the only other example I can think of that actually had enough seasoning). The recipe was a hit at home, is quite low in points, and will definitely go in my regular dinner rotation. I am hesitant to post the recipe here, because it is a Weight Watchers one and I don't want to violate any copyrights or rules. But it is really just soba noodles with shrimp, veggies of your choice, ginger, garlic, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and rice vinegar. Pretty simple. This bento comes to a grand total of 6 points.

Contents of this bento:
1/2 serving Shrimp Lo Mein (2.5 points)
2 Seafood Gyoza Dumplings (2 points)
And my ever present bento salad (.5 points -- because of the chickpeas)

Not pictured:
2 tbsp Newman's Own Low Fat Sesame Ginger dressing (1 point)

Sorry about the crappiness of the picture...my camera seems to be acting up.

First Attempt Tamagoyaki Bento

This was a bit of an experimental bento because this was my first time trying almost everything in it! Overall, I think it turned out pretty well, but I think I will use some green onions and maybe mushrooms in my next tamagoyaki. This was a nice 5 point bento:

Contents of this bento:
Top: 2 servings Priya brand Sambar Rice (2.5 points)
Bottom: 1-egg Tamagoyaki - recipe from Just Hungry (2 points)
3 Shrimp Dumplings (.5 points)
Cherry Tomatoes (0 points)
2 tsp. Trader Joe's Gyoza Dipping Sauce in the blue container (0 points)
Soy sauce in the chick (0 points)

Salmon Wraps Breakfast Bento

Since I've begun going to the gym in the morning before work, I now need to pack a breakfast bento as well. I try to keep my breakfasts between 3 and 4 points, and this one comes to 3.5 points -- right on target! Every morning will probably be the same thing for awhile, so I won't post these every day. This week we have:

This bento contains:
1 cup red grapes (1 point)
1 piece of Italian Herb Flatbread (1 point)
1 tbsp Fat Free Cream Cheese (.5 points)
1 oz Applewood Smoked Lox (1 point)