We had some hamburger cutlet curry last night, making use of the last of the curry I cooked earlier in the week. As often happens, we had a bunch of rice left over, so I whipped up some rice balls, aka onigiri, aka samgak kimbap, using one of Maangchi’s fantastic recipes. Maangchi has yet to steer me wrong. I made my own kimchi after Christmas and I really think it’s got to be some of the best kimchi I have ever tasted and I will owe this to her recipe and accompanying video that made it very achievable. It’s a long process, but I’d not say it’s hard. It’s something to do when you’ve got a day off or a half-day from your usual obligations. Anyhow, yeah, let’s get to the gettin’.

I had some canned salmon that I bought a while ago for these very purposes, so I decided to swap the tuna in her recipe for salmon. This recipe couldn’t be easier to follow. There’s a good reason why you’ll see these made for little kids in trendy hipster bento lunchboxes photographed/blogged about by hipster parents online. It’s something you could do with kids. It was just as tasty to do this with salmon as tuna, what a shock. My eyes wandered to some of the sardines I’ve got lying around… I’m going to have to try that next…

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.