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Welcome and introduction

Hello, and welcome to my food blog. I am Ewa, a green haired Sicilian who lives and works in the U.K.  

I love cooking, so I am rather surprised it has taken me this long to start a cooking blog, but better late than never I suppose.

Here are a few things you may want to know about me:

  1. I am not vegan. I eat a mostly vegan diet and enjoy cooking vegan food. All the bentos here will be vegan, but I am not one. I may make mistakes!
  2. I can't eat gluten because of an illness I have (Hashimoto thyroiditis). But aside from that, I do not follow any specific diet. My bentos will mostly be gluten free, but on occasion there may be some gluten or trace gluten. 
  3. This lovely YouTube channel is what inspired me to buy my bento box and start experimenting with it. The bentos on this site are mine, though.
  4. I am not Japanese and do not have Japanese heritage, although I practise a Japanese school of Buddhism and have Japanese friends (you can find my Buddhist blog here). I did research the bento culture, which is fascinatingly multilayered and interesting but not my thing. If you are looking for traditional Japanese bento making, here are wonderful blogs out there, like this one.
  5. I do not, and will never, count calories. I have my personal reasons to find it depressing, and I don't think it's useful anyway.

Now, for the idea behind this blog.

  1. I love packing my bento box. I love creating lunches I am looking forward to opening and having. I like to only associate good feelings with food, and the bento box is giving me exactly that.
  2. I will be presenting actual boxes I prepared for myself. I will include the recipes, how long it took me to make them and a bit of a review on how successful the box was when I actually had it at work. Please note that often I will cook something for my dinner, then pack half of it in my bento for next day lunch. I prefer to pack my lunch before bed.
  3. All my bentos are vegan (see note above) and (mostly) gluten free. 
  4. I try to keep them easy to make, healthy and tasty. The healthy is kept by using lots of vegetables and whole foods. Usually, one box is for the savoury main dish, the other one is for a pudding and snacks.

Practical notes

  1. I live in the U.K., which means I use U.K. measurements, U.K. ingredients, U.K. oven temperatures, etc. It also means I do not have to worry too much for my bento to spoil on my way to work (it's not exactly tropical here). 
  2. I am very fortunate, and at work I have access to a fridge and a microwave.
  3. I live alone, no kids, no partner.
  4. Aside from the normal stuff you find in a U.K. kitchen (i.e. hob, oven, kettle and microwave), I have the following appliances: 
  • Vitamix - high speed blender. Expensive, but best money I've ever spent. I have a model called Inspire that I don't think they make anymore.
  • Magimix - food processor 
  • A small food processor that I use for all my dressings, sauces, etc, and for small quantities of stuff (most of the stuff you will see here can probably be done with this one). I got it on Amazon for 15 quid.
  • Not electrical, but super useful: a microwaveable steamer, which is one the best uses of a fiver I've found. This baby cooks potatoes in ten minutes. What's not to love?
  • I use a Monbento classic in black, and I bought ALL the accessories (sauce pots, moulds, etc). I also have some Sistema sauce bottles that fit in the bento perfectly, and some cute fruit picks. 

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