Bento No. 1: Fancy Food and Salad bento

So this is the lunch I made for September 30th, 2013.  I ended up making 4 dishes this weekend and was so excited about that that I included three of them in this bento.  However, my structure is usually a little different.  What I tend to do is include a meat protein, an egg dish and some cooked vegetable (steamed or sauteed, not as fancy as this risotto) with the bottom being a salad, some veggies and maybe a snack.  The risotto and quiche go well together since they both had a fair amount of parmigiana cheese but I wouldn't put both dishes together with the chicken nuggets.  Still, you could probably get away with two out of three of these dishes in your top tier and be satisfied.  I also will apologize for the weird looking cucumbers.  Our refridgerator is set too cold and they got frozen, hence why they're transparent.

Bento Used:  Kotobuki 2-tier (I know this isn't the same design but I also have the owl one and it's super cute)

Chili Citrus Pan-fried Chicken Nuggets (1 carb per serving, 89 calories):  With all of these recipes, I'll upload a more detailed recipe but this one is just so easy that I'll tell you it here.  I adapted it from Just Bento's Pan-fried Lemon Chicken Nuggets whereas instead of using cornstarch, I shallow-fried them in coconut oil and added a tablespoon of Huay Fong Chili Garlic sauce to the marinade of the juice of one lemon, a tablespoon of soy sauce, salt and pepper.  I use this for 12 ounces of chicken, marinade it for at least 15 minutes and fry it up.  The result is a moist, flavorful nugget that's slightly spicy and citrusy.  You can replace the lemon with lime for more of a thai curry flavor.

Butternut Squash and Zucchini "Risotto" (7 carbs per serving, less than half a serving used for the box = 4 carbs at most, 53 calories):  The most carby of my dishes.  My mom had given me a butternut squash a few weeks before and I honestly did not want to waste it but as you can see, they're pretty sugary (which is part of the reason why they're so delicious).  I only used about a quarter of the squash (probably less since I used half of the neck and froze the other half) and balanced it out with half of a zucchini and the secret ingredient to making any keto rice dish: cauliflower.  That's right, this risotto is actually made with grated cauliflower instead of rice giving it the right consistency without the calories.  It's actually super luxurious and even though the squash might not be the best choice for super carb-cutters, it adds a pretty orange pop to the whole dish.

Spinach, Mushroom and Broccoli Quiche (1 carb for half a serving, 112 calories):  I like to make an egg dish every week since 1) eggs are cheap and 2) they're really awesome for giving you some needed fat and protein.  I actually had this quiche for breakfast at 7:30 and it kept me full until 3 with only a 100 calorie protein shake at 1.  Plus, it has some added vegetables for your micro-nutrients. 

Cucumber, Romaine and Baby Spinach Salad with Ken's Aged Romano Italian dressing (3-5 carbs, 76 calories):  First off, I only use about a tablespoon of dressing and it's 1 carb per 2 tablespoons.  I also overestimated the amount of cucumber I put in my lunch so that was probably less than 2 carbs.  Also, I'm pretty sure MyFittnessPal rounds up.  If you don't like the idea of a salad, chop up some veggies (cucumber and celery are my favorites) and add a side of almonds as a snack.  You can even add fruit if the rest of your lunch is low in carbs or your meal plan allows it (just make sure to portion comtrol using MyFitnessPal). 

Overall:  8-10 carbs, 330 calories.

Rating:
Taste:  8/10
Visual Appeal: 5/10
Fillingness:  10/10
Keto-ness:  6/10
Final Grade:  B-

This actually isn't too bad.  I'm still munching on this right now and the top part did a good job of filling me and the BF up.  I'm thinking of eating the salad after my workout but today is looking like a good job diet day.

Introduction

Q.  What is the Keto Box about?

A.  A few weeks ago, I started the Ketogenic diet (which I'll explain in a bit more detail in the next question).  In short, this requires me to eat certain things and avoid certain foods.  I've always loved making japanese-style bentos but discovered that a lot of recipes tend to have added starch in them.  So, I'm combining my keto lifestyle and my love of bentos to make the Keto Box, a blog about making keto-friendly bentos. 

Q.  What is the Ketogenic Diet?

A.  Keto in a nutshell is eating few enough carbs that your body goes into ketosis, burning up the fat stored in your body as opposed to storing it.  Whenever you eat, insulin is released and what insulin does is take the sugar from your food and store it as fat.  If insulin is in your bloodstream, you're not burning fat.   People on keto use fat instead of carbohydrates to keep themselves full, meaning we eat more bacon instead of cake.   The idealistic keto ratio is 5% carbohydrates, 35% protein and 60% fat.

Q.  That sounds really dangerous.  Am I going to get a heart attack after 2 years if I eat like this?

A.  There has been lots of research in the last few years that has proven that a ketogenic diet is more effective at helping people lose weight than a low fat high carb diet (which tends to keep a person hungry therefore decreasing their chance of staying on it).  Also, it generally is a bad idea to just eat hydrogenated oils, which are the oils that are used in frying fast food.  The fats that we consume are natural animal fats (eggs, fatty meat, butter) and saturated fats (coconut oil, olive oil, avocado).  These have actually been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease.

Q.  Why are you doing keto?  

A.  Personally, I want to lose weight (50 pounds to be exact).  There's a lot of other advantages to it as well which I am feeling right now after a few weeks of ketoing.  I have an increased focus, don't feel as hungry as often (a 100 calorie protein shake will do it) and **TMI ALERT** have noticed that I don't fart as much.  Plus at the very least, it has really helped me control the amount of bad food I eat.  Even if I end up cheating, I eat 1 cookie instead of 4 or 2 small pieces of pizza instead of 5.  It's also not as restrictive as it may seem at first and I can make and enjoy a wide variety of delicious foods.   

Q.  Ok, so what is a bento box?  

A.  A bento box is essentially fancy tupperware that you put certain foods in for lunch.  You can eat the foods prepared inside at room temperature, but you could heat them up.  They tend to hold a larger amount of food in a small container so they're perfect for when I go to school or work.  I also find that they're great for portion control and I love packing a few different kinds of food without having too much. 

Q.  Will you be only focusing on Japanese cooking?  

A.  No, partially because even I get sick of certain things after a while and because there are lots of delicious western recipes to make for your keto bento.

I'll make sure to elaborate on several different topics later.   But for now, I hope that this blog becomes useful for you and makes your lunchtime more enjoyable.