Bento Box #1: Sushi Rice, Stir Fried Broccoli, Carrots and Water Chestnuts, Grape Tomatoes and Tamago

Bento Box #1: Sushi Rice, Stir Fried Broccoli, Carrots and Water Chestnuts, Grape Tomatoes and Tamago
Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup of dry Japanese rice
• 1/8 cup of rice vinegar

• 2 heads of broccoli
• handful of baby carrots
• 1 can of sliced water chestnuts
• handful of cherry or grape tomatoes
• vegetable oil

• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp of soy sauce
• pinch of sugar

1. Cook the rice according to the instructions. When fully cooked, dump into a small bowl and mix well with the rice vinegar.
2. Stir fry the broccoli, carrots and water chestnuts in the vegetable oil. Optionally, pour in a bit of soy sauce or territory sauce. 
3. Crack the egg into a small bowl and mix with the soy sauce and sugar then cook like an omelette, folding over the edges to make it rectangular.
4. Place rice, stir fried veggies, and tomatoes in a seal-able container and top with the egg omelette. Refrigerate.

I made everything but the omelette the night before and stored it in the fridge. The morning of, I made the omelette, took the lunch box to work and refrigerated it. I warmed the entire thing up in the microwave before eating.

The idea for this box was a good one but the meal needs a lot of work before I pronounce it done. The proportions were way off: too little rice and too many veggies. I used about 2/3 of the pan in this lunch and had the rest for lunch another day. The frying pan should not have been that full. I need a better way of cooking or storing rice - the essential 'sushi rice' quality was lost in the fridge and/or the microwave. The veggies too didn't transition as well as I would have hoped though that might have been the fault of how they were cooked. 

Verdict: This was an alright lunch but needs work. 

The tamago/egg omelette recipe came from http://justbento.com/handbook/recipe-collection-mains/1-egg-tamagoyaki-japanese-omelette.

Nishiki Rice, 1/50 of a large bag at $12.79/bag = $0.26 at Fred Meyer

Rice Vinegar, 1/20 of a bottle at $2.49/bottle = $0.12 at Fred Meyer

2 Broccoli Crowns: $0.68 at Fred Meyer

Carrots, 1/5 of a bag at $2.84/bag = $0.59 at Target

1 Can of Water Chestnuts: $0.69 at Fred Meyer

Grape Tomatoes, 1/8 of a carton at $4.99/carton = $0.63 at Fred Meyer

Total Cost: $2.59 for two servings or $ $1.30 for one serving

Egg, 1 of 12 at $2.49/carton = $0.21 at Fred Meyer

Soy Sauce, 1/25 of a bottle at $2.69/bottle = $0.11 at Fred Meyer

Total Cost: $2.00 for one serving