Mexican food, italian food etc in a Mr. Bento, your experience? I would like to know if anyone is using this for a varied Americanized diet (i.e. mexican food one day, italian, greek, etc) and what their take is on the usefullness of a Mr. Bento. It looks cool and purposeful for a college student like myself, but I read A LOT of the reviews and most people seem to say that a typical japanese lunch works best... Thanks for your input = ) Mexican food, italian food etc in a Mr. Bento, your experience? I would like to know if anyone is using this for a varied Americanized diet (i.e. mexican food one day, italian, greek, etc) and what... » Read More Mexican food, italian food etc in a Mr. Bento, your experience? I would like to know if anyone is using this for a varied Americanized diet (i.e. mexican food one day, italian, greek, etc) and what their take is on the usefullness of a Mr. Bento. It looks cool and purposeful for a college student like myself, but I read A LOT of the reviews and most people seem to say that a typical japanese lunch works best... Thanks for your input = ) « Show Less
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To help prevent plastic from staining, you could wipe the inside with a little oil before putting the food inside.
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Tomato sauce does stain the bowls though. I've yet to bleach them, but it's said to work.
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As someone else said: Go to Flickr and check out the Mr. Bento group, including one called Mr. Bento Porn. They'll give you lots of ideas.
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To prevent staining the soft plastic bowls use: basket style coffee filters, cupcake or muffin liners, plastic wrap, waxed or parchment paper. I understand this is slightly more prep work, but it will reduce odor retention in the bowls and ease cleaning; it also makes a neat, tidy presentation.
1975863
A couple of thoughts on this question. 1st. Do you have the time it takes to sit and learn? This is probably the best method I have ever encountered, but I lived in Italy for 5 years and had a working grasp of words and phrases before I bought the lesson. The short answer is yes it will help, but after using this a full emersion will be benificial as well. Find someone at a local university who will sit down and have a conversation with you in the chosen language..after you have taken the classes. The subtle nuances and accents are more than helpful. The Italians also use a lot of slang words that this will not have, but can be learned from someone familiar. A couple of thoughts on this question. 1st. Do you have the time it takes to sit and learn? This is probably the best method I have ever encountered, but I lived in Italy for 5 years and had a working grasp of words and phrases before I bought the lesson. The short answer is yes it will help, but after using this a full emersion will be benificial as well. Find someone at a local university who will sit down and have a conversation with you in the chosen language..after you have taken the classes. The subtle nuances and accents are more than helpful. The Italians also use a lot of slang... » Read More A couple of thoughts on this question. 1st. Do you have the time it takes to sit and learn? This is probably the best method I have ever encountered, but I lived in Italy for 5 years and had a working grasp of words and phrases before I bought the lesson. The short answer is yes it will help, but after using this a full emersion will be benificial as well. Find someone at a local university who will sit down and have a conversation with you in the chosen language..after you have taken the classes. The subtle nuances and accents are more than helpful. The Italians also use a lot of slang words that this will not have, but can be learned from someone familiar. « Show Less
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We made shredded chicken salads and each family member put what they wanted in theirs (shredded dark or light chicken, beans (refried or black), shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, tomatoes, olives, green onions, sour cream, salsa, blue cheese, or ranch dressing, etc. Basically, we all put whatever we wanted in our bowls and had a delicious meal to our liking. I used burrito sized flour tortillas and before placing ours in the pans, I put a "light" brush on both sides of our favorite olive oil and baked in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes (the bake time all depends on how crispy you like your tortillas). If you read the reviews for this product, some people provided their recipes wherein you can try. Enjoy! We made shredded chicken salads and each family member put what they wanted in theirs (shredded dark or light chicken, beans (refried or black), shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, tomatoes, olives, green onions, sour cream, salsa, blue cheese, or ranch dressing, etc. Basically, we all put whatever we wanted in our bowls and had a delicious meal to our liking. I used burrito sized flour tortillas and before placing ours in the pans, I put a "light" brush on both sides of our favorite olive oil and baked in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes (the bake time all depends on how crispy you... » Read More We made shredded chicken salads and each family member put what they wanted in theirs (shredded dark or light chicken, beans (refried or black), shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, tomatoes, olives, green onions, sour cream, salsa, blue cheese, or ranch dressing, etc. Basically, we all put whatever we wanted in our bowls and had a delicious meal to our liking. I used burrito sized flour tortillas and before placing ours in the pans, I put a "light" brush on both sides of our favorite olive oil and baked in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes (the bake time all depends on how crispy you like your tortillas). If you read the reviews for this product, some people provided their recipes wherein you can try. Enjoy! « Show Less
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Really like the olives at first but a lot of the olives were too soft or too mushy. If you buy this mix bag of olives I would highly recommend that you separate the olives.....the firm ones from the soft and mushy ones and put them in separate bags or glass containers. The red and back olives which are "soft and mushy" are supposed to be that way since the olives are ripe opposed to the green olives which are picked and brine before they mature. As far as how long it last in the refrigerator, mine only lasted about a week because I ate all the green olives and then tossed the rest of the bag away. Really like the olives at first but a lot of the olives were too soft or too mushy. If you buy this mix bag of olives I would highly recommend that you separate the olives.....the firm ones from the soft and mushy ones and put them in separate bags or glass containers. The red and back olives which are "soft and mushy" are supposed to be that way since the olives are ripe opposed to the green olives which are picked and brine before they mature. As far as how long it last in the refrigerator, mine only lasted about a week because I ate all the green olives and then tossed the rest... » Read More Really like the olives at first but a lot of the olives were too soft or too mushy. If you buy this mix bag of olives I would highly recommend that you separate the olives.....the firm ones from the soft and mushy ones and put them in separate bags or glass containers. The red and back olives which are "soft and mushy" are supposed to be that way since the olives are ripe opposed to the green olives which are picked and brine before they mature. As far as how long it last in the refrigerator, mine only lasted about a week because I ate all the green olives and then tossed the rest of the bag away. « Show Less
343118
Depends on how much you eat and what sort of things you pack. I do fine with it. This particular model is meant for adult women. It holds a little over a cup of food in the thermal container, and probably another cup in the upper container. If that's enough for you (with a reasonable thick soup, stew, rice, etc) you should be pretty good. I wouldn't pack a salad as the main meal in this or most other bento boxes, unless it's specifically marked as a men's bento. I think there is another Ms. Bento available that is slightly larger. Volume is the easiest way to determine who it's meant for with the non-thermal bento boxes; 500-700ml are meant for teenage girls and adult women.
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Personally, I LOVE the Maple Oatmeal and eat it EVERYDAY, so 2 boxes of the Maple Oatmeal. LOVE LOVE LOVE the Chocolate Mint bars which provide a quick, Satisfying meal and can easily be placed in a purse or backpack to take with you. They also make a nice satisfying breakfast or lunch, not just a snack so I would (and do) always order 2 boxes of those. THEN if you like ICE CREAM, I highly recommend the Soft serve, either chocolate mint or Peanut butter. Just plan on a little time to prepare and you need a blender, so a challenge if you take it to work with you and try to prepare there. Just one box as its a treat and if you are like me would not really want it every day. Also the Hot Cocoa Hot drink is fast and good. Cold water in a mug, add packet, microwave. One box of that will do you. Cream of broccoli soup is good, one box will do. Vegetable beef soup one box also. Also the Peanut crunch bars, one box. Chocolate pudding would make a good 'tenth' box for your order, but needs time to set up in your frig. VERY good, though. My main thing is easy and fast so these recommendations are the ones that are easy and fast. Best of luck!!!!
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I use it to to cook Korean rice and it comes out great in my opinion. There are many settings like regular glutinous rice, sushi rice, porridge and others but I only mainly use it for cooking regular Korean rice. It is quite expensive so I would only recommend it if you are a person who can appreciate a small difference in how properly prepared rice is experienced.On the technical side, it is best used on an island or peninsula with nocabinets above. If you do have to use it under standard kitchen cabinets, the cover willBump into your cabinet when fully open. It will also steam (and possibly ruin over a long term) your cabinet above. Make sure you have room for it not under a cabinet. I use it to to cook Korean rice and it comes out great in my opinion. There are many settings like regular glutinous rice, sushi rice, porridge and others but I only mainly use it for cooking regular Korean rice. It is quite expensive so I would only recommend it if you are a person who can appreciate a small difference in how properly prepared rice is experienced.On the technical side, it is best used on an island or peninsula with nocabinets above. If you do have to use it under standard kitchen cabinets, the cover willBump into your cabinet when fully open. It... » Read More I use it to to cook Korean rice and it comes out great in my opinion. There are many settings like regular glutinous rice, sushi rice, porridge and others but I only mainly use it for cooking regular Korean rice. It is quite expensive so I would only recommend it if you are a person who can appreciate a small difference in how properly prepared rice is experienced.On the technical side, it is best used on an island or peninsula with nocabinets above. If you do have to use it under standard kitchen cabinets, the cover willBump into your cabinet when fully open. It will also steam (and possibly ruin over a long term) your cabinet above. Make sure you have room for it not under a cabinet. « Show Less
515102
Did you ever buy the Hamilton Beach knife as I need to buy one for the same purpose...slightly frozen beef to cut for making jerky. I'm doing the Fast metabolism Diet by Hallie Pomroy and lost three pounds the first week and seems like all I do is eat. The jerky will be a easy snack and I made it with ground beef but will want to cut it very thin.
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My daughter wanted this and she has used it several times. I'm thinking that if I had the kitchen aid I would just get the attachment. But This machine does work good, especially for the money. It's kind of loud but it made good pasta. It's a little time consuming because you have to stand there and wait for the pasta to get the right length then cut it off with a knife. As I would assume you would have to do with most machines. Just depends on what you are looking for. We havent used it a lot so it's hard to give a good opinion on if you plan to make a lot of pasta. I'm definitely not unhappy with the purchase. Hope this helps. My daughter wanted this and she has used it several times. I'm thinking that if I had the kitchen aid I would just get the attachment. But This machine does work good, especially for the money. It's kind of loud but it made good pasta. It's a little time consuming because you have to stand there and wait for the pasta to get the right length then cut it off with a knife. As I would assume you would have to do with most machines. Just depends on what you are looking for. We havent used it a lot so it's hard to give a good opinion on if you plan to make a lot of pasta. I'm definitely not... » Read More My daughter wanted this and she has used it several times. I'm thinking that if I had the kitchen aid I would just get the attachment. But This machine does work good, especially for the money. It's kind of loud but it made good pasta. It's a little time consuming because you have to stand there and wait for the pasta to get the right length then cut it off with a knife. As I would assume you would have to do with most machines. Just depends on what you are looking for. We havent used it a lot so it's hard to give a good opinion on if you plan to make a lot of pasta. I'm definitely not unhappy with the purchase. Hope this helps. « Show Less
1135451
I love my big boss but I found to cook chicken in it I coat it with Italian dressing and it cooks great, threw out the oil sprayer, didn't do a thing for anything, need some olive oil, but not very much, also found if I cooked things about 25 degrees more than recipe it helped, does a great job on pork chops, use it almost every day, good luck
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I'll try! My original classic grater seems to have been different than what is offered now. It had a reversible handle (so it was easier for lefties) and I'm pretty sure it had two barrels, however, it was new 10 or so years ago and I think I purchased it at a Pampered Chef party...perhaps they have a special design. It looks to me like the main difference between the classic and restaurant style offered on Amazon is the size of the hopper and the bulk of the plastic it is made from. I went with the restaurant style for exactly those two reasons...we like a lot of cheese AND we use it a lot. The original grater was great (pardon the pun) but the handle did eventually break. It's just a few dollars more and well worth it. In my experience they are only good for hard cheeses and chocolate...I think that is what they were designed for. One hint, if you are grating and there is still cheese in the hopper, but it seems like it's not working efficiently...open the hopper and turn the cheese over so it's grating against a flat edge instead of a rounded one and viola! it's cranking out the grated cheese like crazy. Let me know if you have any specific questions.
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I have really had good luck with mine. I tried to grate all my "Italian" type cheeses like this. Hope it works out well for you.
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You've gotten a bunch of negative answers about the taco rack. My experience is much different so I've just written a review on it. I'm more like the majority of people who've reviewed the rack and have given it favorable comments. There will always be a few who will never like the Chicago metallic baked taco rack. They are the same people who will blame a frying pan when the yolk on a sunny side egg breaks.
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Yes, I am wondering about that too. And it seems nearly all of those are 5 star reviews. With that said, I did order with a groupon, which made it pretty affordable. I have had 3 meals so far. So far the food is OK. Tastes like what you'd expect something from the freezer to taste like. It's not gourmet, and I do like the convenience. The jury is still out on this one. I am a little suspicious now of the rave reviews given.
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Your welcome, I always try to give honest answers as to what my experience was, hopefully it saves someone time, money and the headache of returning a item. Especially with a product that has good reviews and then I buy it because of the reviews only to find they weren't that true. I "fried" everything from fish, chix tenders, stuffed chix breasts, fries to onion rings, terrible. Can only cook very small amounts of food at a time and the bowl is extremely heavy! A Huge diasppointment!
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Hello. First of all I have to say that I love this little box. WHen i first got it it did look too small. What was I going to put in this for lunch? However, once I started putting food in the little box I was amazed of how much you can fit. The trick is to cut up you food in small pieces and you will be amazed. I usually will pack a salad and then I will have meats, sardines, shrimp, or chicken. Again the trick is to cut up your food in small pieces. You can customize the box by taking out the inserts. I take out one side and that is the side that I have the salad on. Believe me you will love this product. My wife likes it so much she wants one too now. Hello. First of all I have to say that I love this little box. WHen i first got it it did look too small. What was I going to put in this for lunch? However, once I started putting food in the little box I was amazed of how much you can fit. The trick is to cut up you food in small pieces and you will be amazed. I usually will pack a salad and then I will have meats, sardines, shrimp, or chicken. Again the trick is to cut up your food in small pieces. You can customize the box by taking out the inserts. I take out one side and that is the side that I have the salad on. Believe me you will... » Read More Hello. First of all I have to say that I love this little box. WHen i first got it it did look too small. What was I going to put in this for lunch? However, once I started putting food in the little box I was amazed of how much you can fit. The trick is to cut up you food in small pieces and you will be amazed. I usually will pack a salad and then I will have meats, sardines, shrimp, or chicken. Again the trick is to cut up your food in small pieces. You can customize the box by taking out the inserts. I take out one side and that is the side that I have the salad on. Believe me you will love this product. My wife likes it so much she wants one too now. « Show Less
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There is a video out there I just watched it and it shows how to make yor own refillable capsule for Dolce Gusto, I tried it and it works, I have a few tips from my experience after making them, some trial and error, my first 4 pods I made did not work so let me know if anyone wants tips.heres the link to the video you will have to just watch it because its in a different language.http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=iv