What is Bento?

Bento is a Japanese form of packing a lunch. These range in styles, puposes, and techniques. Many of what are focused on are cute bento. Cute bento can provide you with a nicely organized and packed lunch that is visually appealing when you open it.

In America, the closest comparison I can draw would be to Scrapbooking. Women spend time and money preserving their memories in books with expensive papers and cutesy things. This same attitude if applied to food may also pack the most impressive lunch. It's a lot about letting your creativity and fun take over your lunch. Working with your nutritionist, you know how many calories you should be eating each meal. By taking the volume of your desired lunch box, you can corrolate that the calories contained in the box may be about the same as the mL volume of the box.

Find a small box that your heart finds lovely and we will begin to develop ways to fill it in an appealing and hopefully appropriate mannor to get you what you need after bariatric surgery. No on wants to eat pureed food all the time. There are ways to eat small amounts of tasty things to improve your quality of life after the surgery. Just because food is taking on a role of moderation doesn't mean you cannot enjoy what you get.

Our goal here will be to build up some recipes that will portion down into small portions, store well, and be useful in decorating your lunch box. We want you to be excited to have a healthy meal and have some anticipatory joy before opening your lunch. Good Luck! And let us know how we can serve you better!

Jacquelyne

Curried Edamame Hummus

Curried Edamame Hummus

1 head garlic
2 Cups Shelled Cooked Edamame
1 C Silken Tofu drained and patted dry
½ t salt
¼ C olive oil
1/3 C lemon Juice
1 ½ t ground cumin
1 t Curry powder, adjust to taste
salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut top off garlic and brush with oil. Place garlic in the center of foil, seal foil around garlic and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until tender. Remove garlic from the foil and cool. Squeeze garlic from casing, mash consistently and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, bring the broth to a boil over high heat. Add the edamame and return to a boil. Cook for 25 minutes until tender. Drain edamame, set 1 Tablespoon aside for garnish.

Place cooked edamame, tofu, salt, garlic, oil, lemon juice and spices in a blender and process until very smooth, about 2 minutes. Season with additional salt and pepper, adding lemon juice and more curry if desired.

Divide into ice cube tray for individual portions and freeze. After frozen, remove from tray and seal as desired for freezer.

Good with Rice or Soy Chips. Enjoy!



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Bariatric Bento

In preparation for Michelle's upcoming bariatric surgery, we are putting together tips and recipes for small scale eating with large scale impact and flavor. Inspriation struck as we perused bento sites as well as bariatric living sites. Hopefully this blog can offer some inspiration as well as some improved quality of life for those on the path to weight loss, healthier living, and reduced portions.