Just Bento

Hello thebiganimefan

It's very hard to know how to give you any meaningful advice without knowing more about your personal circumstances.

I know you've seen this forum thread (which you've just referred to)
http://justbento.com/forum/making-bento-just-yourself
There has been some wonderful advice there already.
It would help if you could let us know if any of the comments there have been of use to you.

You may also find some of the comments made in this thread helpful:
http://justbento.com/forum/help-cooking-meals

One thing I have learned from living with a Japanese person and eating bento prepared by him (and this is a lesson that I also find from the justbento website) is that you can be very casual about which foods go together to make up a Bento (or indeed a Japanese style meal).

You already have a rice cooker - that's a fantastic start. So if you can persuade your family to buy you rice on a regular basis and make this often for your bento you have a great base to begin with.
As for "throwing things together" - it really depends on your family's cooking styles and buying habits. Nobody here can possibly know what is currently available to you.
Initial idea would be to ask your parents (or whoever is making the meals in the evenings) to add just a little more so that you can keep a small portion aside to add to your lunch box the next day. Particularly any side dishes or vegetable portions.
If green beans or spinach has been cooked you could add a few extra ingredients (tahini or even peanut butter with a little soy sauce - better explained here http://justbento.com/handbook/recipes-sides-and-fillers/blanched-spinach...) to give yourself some variety.
There are a list of similar recipes you may be able to make or adapt from leftovers here:
http://justbento.com/handbook/recipe-collection-side-dishes-and-space-fi...

That's true. Sorry I wasn't very specific That was my first post so I was kind of excited. But that helped a lot , I'll defiantly ask my parents about cooking a bit extra the night before!

you may change to brown rice instead of white. You can also "trick" your stomach mixing rice with very thinly chopped veggies so you eat less carbs.
Also, stop eating pre-cooked food and buying food at your school's cafeteria. Change from whole milk to skimmed milk or soy milk. Eat food that is rich in fiber and try to walk more or play sports :)
but please do not starve! ;)

Thanks for the tips, I'm really happy that I could find other peeps who like all of the Japanese stuff.

well as Loretta told me the other day, japanese food is not necesarily diet food. It may be more healthy than regular american food, but it doesn't mean it's "diet food". So if you want to make a diet you should try to do it with your regular food. That's what I'd do, at least, and what i actually did when dieting and it worked.

While i prepared bentos regularly, i rarely put japanese food on them, except when i tried new recipes that appeared here in jsutbento (there are "diet" recipes here, of course)

Mostly for 2 reasons:
- I was dieting, and when i'm on a diet i jsut can't eat white rice or meat with sugar and salt. It's just nonsense.
- it is way more expensive than regular food, and i have a rent to pay, a car to pay and my art classes to pay!

So my advice? stick to veggies and low carb foods and of course indulge yourself with some japanese food sometimes ;)

oh and i love japanese things :D i'm a nerd! 8D

Oh,no,no,no! I'm not dieting on *japanese food* my problem wasn't the food I was eating, it was how much. So I'm hoping bentos can help with portion control!

Dang, I am really bad at being specific...

oh ok!!
no it's not your problem it's mine... I've been drinking wine so now i'm almost completely drunk yayyyy! xD