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Embracing My Plate

I did a post awhile ago about Bento Boxes (laptop lunches). The timeliness of these pre-portioned containers is impeccable! Of course you know that the USDA is no longer using the Pyramid to indicate how many servings of each different type of food is recommended. They’re using a sectioned plate! My Plate is being embraced by Starbucks with their new Bistro Boxes. The system also translates well to the Bento Box or those standard paper picnic plates with different sections. Some businesses are even designing plates exactly as the USDA advises. It will be fun to watch how different businesses align their brands with this simplified system and embrace this new take on nutrition.

It’s so much easier to visualize a meal this way. Just knowing that half my plate should be fruits and vegetables–in other words, the main part of the meal should be produce–makes it so much easier to plan menus and go grocery shopping. Even just eyeballing a throw-together lunch is much less daunting than attempting to count all the items in the pyramid for each day.

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Breaking out the Bento

So, I’ve read about Bento boxes at least twice in the last few weeks. I wonder if they could be making headway into mainstream American society if the momentum keeps building.

The concept makes a whole lot of sense. You have a lunchbox that is partitioned into several different compartments. You fill the compartments with your lunch. You have built-in portion control, you incorporate a variety of food groups/colors into your meals, and it’s all in one spot–there’s only one dish to pack/clean. Instead of trying to eyeball or remember how much of your plate should be full of veggies and protein and so on, you need only let the Bento do it for you. Not only that, but brown-bagging it is an environmentally- and wallet-friendly way to do lunch.

Me likey.

I was thinking that without having to go out and buy a new lunchbox, I could easily incorporate the principles of the Bento box into my own lunch-making. I could just grab my measuring cups and find out exactly how much food fits into my most-used Tupperware dishes. Then, I could determine what portions of fruits, veggies, carbs, protein, etc I need for lunch and plan accordingly. If I already know which dish holds the standard 1/2-cup of cottage cheese, I won’t have to play any nutritional guessing games when I’m rushing around in the morning.