Going out with a bang!

Wow, a little publicity and I triple my visits in 15 hours. Welcome all you laptop lunch newsletter readers! Again, a unsolicited plug, I *love* my lunch boxes, they are so versatile and have made it easier for me to pack these lunches for my wife and her coworkers. Back to the business at hand I've decided to go out with a bang on my last couple of bentos. The idea behind this bento was really the dessert, I had to build the entrees and the sides to make the desert fit.

Since I started the concept with desert let's start by posting about it. I was kicking around the idea of making a creme brulee for my eaters. Two obstacles around that idea . First, glycemicly or health friendly? I don't think so. Two is the logistics of packing. I'd have to pack in six ramekins, not a big deal I suppose, but I need to keep transport easy for my wife. So I settled on another idea: Banana Brulee, I just broke out the torch and got to work. Instead of ice cream, I went with vanilla yogurt as a topping. It all sounded good in theory, but in practice it turns out the yogurt softened the sugar. Everyone still loved it, but I think next time pack the yogurt in a little cup or something.

For the sides, I wanted to make this a really color ful box, so I went with this great corn and black bean salad. Mixed in a bit of vinegar and some spices and this was a light and tasty side. I loved the texture and flavors so much, I made extra so I could keep some for myself.



Keeping with the light and colorful, I put together a quick mixed green salad with pear and ginger vinaigrette. Nothing remarkable to say about this one. I had some spare pear and ginger vinegar so I figured I could lighten up the pantry a bit.





I really needed to cut down my bento creation times as much as possible, hence the easy menu items. Well, this pork tenderloin with mango mojo is no different. Picked up a marinated pork tenderloin and whizzed together a mango mojo. Packing wise, at the last second I found that the mojo leaked and would ruin desert, and the yogurt had the potential to wreak the pork. So I had to make make shift divider as my fake grass wasn't cutting it. Anyhow, this dish was a major hit with my eaters.

Although it looked like I broke my $6 per box limit, I surprisingly didn't. Staying in budget is important to me, as creating so many lunches it gets pretty costly if I oven run the food costs. As to presentation, I really enjoyed making this box, I loved the color it provided and I hope it gave you some pleasant visuals.

Welcome again to my new visitors, I hope you return soon. Bookmark, tell your friends! I promise to keep posting! I have one more box to post, but the new year comes soon and with it more boxes. In the meantime I have some tools and more 'yammering' that I can post. Stay tuned!

Contents of box
  • Pork tenderloin with mango mojo
  • Mixed green salad with Pear Ginger vinaigrette
  • Corn and black bean salad
  • Banana brulee with yogurt and blueberries

Comments

Jeanine said…
WOW! Your food looks great and your photos are fantastic. I love this whole idea of making 6 bento lunches at one time. . .it is brilliant. Can't wait to see your future creations.
Jeanine (aka "HERS")
Ironjack said…
It's difficult at times, planning is a must. Granted since I'm working on a larger scales I can afford to actually cook full meals rather than work from leftovers. There are some Sundays that I wished I could toss together what's in the fridge, but usually I don't have enough for so many boxes :)

Thanks for dropping by. I look forward to seeing your updates on site as well!
Cheri said…
I bought my youngest son one of these boxes 3 years ago, and my daughter one last year. My first two kids would never have used one of these, but these last two prefer homemade, home packed meals. The greatest compliment I've gotten is when my son told me that I needed to tell the mother of one of his friends about this system because it's easier to use than baggies.
My kids like looking at the different lunches and ask me often if I can make lunches like the ones they see here. I'm always looking for ideas because they won't eat (thankfully) fast food, or the school lunches.
Ironjack said…
Wow, thanks for the compliment! I hope to post more food with the beginning of the year so please do come back. The laptop lunch system is really cool, it's made my life a lot easier in my mass productions :)

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