I ordered a bunch of stuff from Shinzi Katoh. Unfortunately, none of it is for me, but it is for other, charitable purposes. Still, I thought I’d share.

Shinzi Katoh is a zakka artist from Japan. This gentleman makes some of the loveliest and most adorable illustrations you could conceive of, and some that you probably couldn’t. I first became of this guy and his work via the world of bento. I saw some cute bento stuff with awesome artwork, wondered about it, discovered its origins. To die for!

Anyhow, here is a sample of some of the stuff that a lucky person could win from the Anime Boston charity raffle to benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Central New England chapter:

But that’s not all! Oh, no! This is most of it, though, so don’t get yer hopes up! Other additions will include a cookin’ book and perhaps a couple of items to get a person started off on making their own cute lunches for on-the-go munching.

It’s pretty crummy. It can’t be good from the start, right?

First Bento!

Even the photos I took came out crummy, unfortunately. However, it’s tasty. I know this because I’m eating it now. The spinach and the cucumber is wonderful. I do wish I’d had some extra soy sauce for the spinach as suggested, though. I’m going to make both of these again. They were so easy and so tasty. I wish I had packed more of both, though.  The onigiri is… heaven.  Wow, so good. I’m now done with lunch and on to my peaches, and I’m worried that I’m not going to feel full after this. Tomorrow, I’m definitely going to take more veggies. I’d like to get a two-layer bento box so I can make one layer nothing but vegetables and one like half protein/starch to half vegetables. I’ll probably go stop by Kotobukiya after work for nori, furikake, maybe see what else inspires.

Update: Actually, wouldn’t you know, that was filling! Yay!

So, last year, I turned 30, one of those milestone years that one experiences when transitioning from a young adult to a regular-style adult. One thing that I can look back and reflect upon about my 20s is putting on a tremendous amount of weight. Now, I’m able to say that some of this is a result of meds that are known to cause weight gain without too much help, like steroids, birth control pills, and antidepressants. What I have come to accept as reality is that I’ve been way too sedentary, and while my eating habits aren’t terrible or at any extreme, they’re not anything to use as an example of a healthy diet, either. As such, I am trying to lose 10% of my current body weight. I am going about this by way of Weight Watchers. A group formed at work, it’s convenient, my good pal Andrea is also doing it, and it’s nothing that I’ve ever given a real try. Also, my health insurance will reimburse $150 for joining. What’s to lose but weight and hard-earned money?

Anyhow, as of today, I’m on Day 5. I’m already acutely aware that I was kidding myself about portion size. I’m pretty serious about losing this weight (especially because I want to beat that rascal Neil Nadelman at losing weight!), so I decided to put serious effort into making lunches to take to work, now that I feel confident about my ability to stay within (and below!) my allotted points. If you’re not familiar with Weight Watchers, food is assigned nutritional value in points rather than calories/fat/fiber/etc… the point value is based on these things. It’s nice because (for me, at leat) it kind of turns this into a game.

Anyhow, I’ve decided to approach lunch BENTO-STYLE!

A couple years ago, I bought a bunch of bento stuff and proceeded to do absolutely nothing with it. Luckily, it means I’m prepared. I’ve got my Relax Bear box with bag and matching chopsticks, I’ve got those grass divider-things, I’ve got cups, I’ve got fancy twist ties, and as of about ten minutes ago, I have some basic bento staples prepared and ready to go into my Relax Bear box.

This evening, I made the following to see me through the week:

• Basic Meat Soboro
• Hourensou no Gomaae, or spinach with sesame sauce
• Turkey taco meat made with like crazy-lean white meat turkey
• Oi muchim, or Korean cucumber salad

And to go with this, I also have:

• Rice that I have yet to make that is going to become green rice once it’s done (see below)
  
• Cherry tomatoes
• Kiwi fruit
• Blood oranges
• Fat free pudding
• Sugar-free peaches in little bowls
• Fresh boiled peas, which which I will make green rice balls
• Zucchini that I will use to make hobak namul, or Korean zucchini salad
• Eggs that I have yet to turn into tamagoyaki turned into crummy-looking but fine-tasting tamagoyaki
  
• Little tiny cans of albacore tuna

Hooray! All of these have a very low or zero point value! Korean friends, feel free to share your recipes with me.