Raw Bento

It’s been a week since I got back from the US and I’m feeling a little swamped. On top of never-ending piles of work, I’ve been training for a half-marathon that’s happening at the end of May.

I’m happy to report that eating a high-raw vegan diet has helped my aches and pains melt away faster than when I was on a cooked diet. More on that later in a separate post. Even though I’m feeling so busy, I still love coming in here to talk about one of my fave topics in my life: raw food and bento-making!

This bento was made in March when I had the non-raw fiance’s mum visiting. I had a full day of teaching and pushing out orders for my small online business but I didn’t want to give into store-bought onigiris on the run.

I slapped together a quickie bento in less than a minute: leftover raw tabouleh and flax crackers on the side. I like the way tabouleh marinates and oozes with flavour by the time I take it out to eat.

I sometimes get comments about how bentos seem too small for an adult-sized appetite but I think choosing a larger container will solve such a problem. The other tip I would like to dish out is that you should choose dense, filling foods that are compact and therefore easy to tote around, eg. flax crackers, raw granola, avocado, and hemp seeds (you can sprinkle this on a salad to bulk it up — these babies are power-packed!).

Perhaps it also has to do with individual needs — I wouldn’t have been able to be satiated with one bento (double-layered) full of raw food when I first started out 18 months ago. But now, my body doesn’t need so much food all at once to feel okay. Please don’t think I eat like a bird, too, because I find that I’m someone who eats small meals, but frequently. You can read what a typical day in my diet is like here.