pizza pockets, bento style
Thursday, January 6, 2011 at 1:21 PM | Bitty We had some pepperoni leftover from our coast trip last week and a big block of cojack cheese, so I had a thought last night to make pizza. And then I thought, "Hey, I could make little pizza pocket thingies for my bento!" And then I thought, "HEY! I could make a bunch of little pizza pocket thingies and freeze them for future bentos!"
Pizza's an easy enough thing to make but I wasn't sure how well it would work so I decided only to make a few pizza pockets to freeze and then a small pizza for dinner last night with the leftover dough. I didn't try any of the pockets but the pizza was tasty, so I felt pretty confident about packing it in today's lunch.
Now that I've thought of doing this, I'll try to plan to do it more often, since it can be used for a lot of different ingredients and would be a great way to use up things, as well. I've been trying to think of some good things like this that I can make fairly easily and then freeze for a "bento stash" to make lunches easy when I'm pressed for time. (It was actually Guy's homemade gift for me that gave me the idea for the pizza pockets, which will make sense when I finish the post about our homemade Christmas.)
;)
lunch, laptop lunch:
- two pizza pockets -- organic pizza dough (courtesy of New Seasons), homemade pizza sauce of caramelized tomato paste with fresh garlic, Applegate Farms pepperoni, cojack cheese
- steamed broccoli
- satsumas
- cashews and a few small pieces of cherry-almond dark chocolate, with yogurt-covered raisins in the little condiment container
ETA: well those were a success! They heated up quickly -- just a quick minute in the microwave -- and were tasty and just the right size for a lunch. Each pocket had two teaspoons of the pizza sauce, a tablespoon of cheese, and two thin deli slices of pepperoni, and the pocket was made from about a quarter cup of dough, so I think the overall lunch portion of two pockets was probably reasonably healthy.
bento box - laptop lunch in bento 2.0 baby!, food
Reader Comments (7)
I have decided I want to get one of the laptop lunch boxes. I realized that I stopped doing my bento lunches because I don't always have appropriate things for putting into a single, open container. Separate little sections would be much better for so many things. You are getting me re-inspired for bento!
A question--did you reheat the little pizza pockets just before eating? I'm guessing that's what you're talking about, but I always like to double check. :)
I'm a huge fan of hand-sized, enclosed, pie-like lunch things. I make little chicken pies for similar purposes--they're delicious, they're cute, and there's just something about a little pie.
Your pizza version sounds delicious.
Kim: I can see why that would be a challenge. I started with the Laptop Lunch and the Ms. Bento when I started bento 2.0 baby! and one of the reasons was because I wasn't confident I'd be able to do the single container-type lunches well. My experience using my plastic containers before bento 2.0 baby! was similar to yours, in feeling like I needed more compartments. (I don't know why having actual bento boxes really doesn't seem like the challenge that it did when I was using rubbermaid containers, but there's just something about the boxes that makes this seem like less of a hurdle.)
Anyway, the Laptop Lunch does work really well for that reason, and particularly when you're just starting out. It's also a good transition box for people who are trying out bento for the first time, as a way to bridge between a more familiar American-style lunch box and the more restrictive Japanese-style of lunch that you have with bento.
Wishing you good luck with it and glad to know you're re-inspired! Oh, and on the pizza pockets: yes, I reheated them before eating. Just a quick minute in the microwave. I try to refrain from reheating things when I can, especially because of the plastic issue, but some things like this just aren't very good if you don't. One thing about bento is that I've become more acclimated to eating things at room temp instead of wanting them to be piping hot, so even just heating something like this up doesn't take much because I'm only heating it up to warm it through, not to get it piping hot.
Anne: Oh, a chicken hand pie would be delicious! I honestly don't know why I haven't thought of this hand pie idea sooner, because it's so convenient and the perfect item for make-ahead food for building up a bento stash. I think that's probably an unofficial goal for this year for me, to start building up a regular reserve of make-ahead foods for making meal prep easier, since time is such a challenge. I'll keep experimenting with some different hand pie concoctions and I'll continue posting about them.
My kitchen is small and storage is a problem. I have come to the point where another addition means another subtraction. If I am gonna get that neat new addition, SOMETHING has got to go to make room.
I love the cute, probably pretty functional luchware now available. I just lack room for it.
Reusing old cottage cheese containers, wax paper, not adding more to the confusion. It still is all about the food and preparing it quickly,cheaply, and still maintaining edibility and nutrition. Whether its packed in a cute little bento box or not... feh!
Joe: ::shrug:: To each their own. As I mention in my own bento philosophy, I don't want to acquire bento "gear", since I don't really have room for it (I have a smallish kitchen, as well) and I just generally try not to acquire stuff anyway. I used to use whatever containers I had to pack my bento lunches (mostly just old Rubbermaid containers). When I decided to splurge on a small selection of actual bento boxes, my love for bento was reignited and I became much more consistent about packing my lunches. So bento boxes have ended up being their own reward, in that I'm eating much better since bento 2.0 baby! began.
This is just what's worked for me, that's all. I can understand how easy it is to build up a big collection of bento boxes and gear. And I can understand not wanting to add more stuff to find a place for in an already limited space. And everything in between. As I said, to each their own. I've found what works for me and I share that on my website. Your own ways work for you, and bully for you, but just because it's different from mine is hardly a reason to grump in my comments.
Bitty: one of the delights of developing handheld pies is that you can make them to custom fit right into your preferred bento box (or, in my case, tiffin). They taste twice as good, I swear, when they fit perfectly into a container.