From the top, salad with a so-so lime-basil dressing (but it was the last in the bottle, so I brought it anyway); Asian faux-chicken salad (with the faux-chicken today); egg wrapped around onion and soy-marinated carrots (still needed something, but I don't know what); and for dessert, celery with peanut butter.
And you can clearly see where that horrible TJ's carrot soup stained Mr. Bento. I still can't get it out, no matter what I try (thanks for the suggestions, though, noricum). My last idea is to stick it under the lights we're using to grow our seedlings. I may try that this weekend.
DKM and Lee Ann & Bryan have joined the Cult of the Fifty-Dollar Lunchbox. I know that wormie's seriously thinking about it, if she hasn't done so already, and Deneen would like to join her husband up. Who else wants to join in?
OK. I'm freezing, and I have a headache. I was hoping that lunch would help, but it doesn't seem to have. Sigh. I really hope I'm not getting the flu. I so don't have time for that ...
From the top, it's my Asian faux-chicken salad minus the chicken, not-meat not-balls with red pepper dipping sauce, oranges and jicama with lime, and steamed broccoli with balsamic vinegar for drizzling.
The not-meat not-balls are made with the new Yves faux-ground turkey. They're cubes made with my new toys from The Bento Store. I had a lot of fun making them and they're yummy! Definitely a keeper.
Mour second amaryllis has turned out to be a stunning, deep red. This is the first bloom, but it's probably going to have three more.
Beautiful!
Our first amaryllis has had an exciting time over its short life. Its first set of blooms hs been resting in a glass by Jeff's Big Leather Chair after the plant tried to off itself by plummeting off the shelf it was on - twice. Then, it tried one more time and broke off its last (unbloomed) flower stem.
It must not have wanted to be a flower parent. Good thing it didn't bloom in South Dakota.
The bento box on the bottom is huge! And very traditional in design, but plastic. Very cool. And the little picks are so cute! And in my opinion, the best thing: the excruciatingly cute rice cube makers. Look at the little bunny and bear head on them! Cute!
I got them all from The Bento Store, which I highly recommend. The service is great, and I will definitely be buying from there again. You should buy from there, too.
And my brother- and sister-in-law just got me several fun sushi-making things (thank you, Josh & Laura!). So look for sushi in lunches soon!
I actually took a picture of my lunch before I left the house this morning. Since I am going to the Wellness Brown Bag at the office, I thought I would avoid being thought any stranger by my coworkers by photographing my lunch. :)
Used the last of the spinach dip to make more pinwheels, this time with slow-cooked onions and commercial sundried tomatoes, since I used up the over-dried ones last night on pizza. The side dishes are steamed sugar snaps with balsamic in the cute little milk bottle, oranges with no-cal chocolate sauce for dipping, and cucumber tomato salad with fresh parsley.
I'm not a huge fan of fake lunchmeats, but I ran to the store last night (and I usually don't shop mid-week), and out of habit, I checked the veggie offerings. Lo and behold, I discovered that Yves has several new offerings (too new to be on their website, apparently), two of which I bought: faux roast beef and faux ground turkey.
(Pardon the photo. I had to use the crappy camera.)
Yumminess in my cute little green box today: a sandwich with the faux roast beef with super-juicy tomatoes (in a baggie until just before I took the photo), lettuce and dijon mustard; apple slices with no-cal marshmallow dip (it was OK; nowhere as good as the chocolate); sliced orange pepper; and the last of the steamed wax beans and sugar snaps with a baby container of balsamic vinegar for drizzling.
Verdict on the faux roast beef? Actually, it was kind of hard to tell. The tomatoes were so good and the mustard so flavorful that I could barely taste it. But what I could taste was good. I'll try it again on something where it won't be overwhelmed.
Tomorrow, we're having a Wellness Brown Bag Seminar at work on "How Your Diet Can Kill You" (I pictured the VLA coming after me, of course). So, of course, my lunch has to be pretty healthy, don't you think? But I don't know what to make. Hm. Guess I know what I'll be doing tonight!
Mr. Bento keeps your food warm or cold, as you wish. Mr. Bento is roomy, but reasonably sized. Mr. Bento is sturdy and doesn't get crushed. Mr. Bento has microwaveable containers. Mr. Bento comes with a cool carrying bag and chopsticks in their own carrying case. Mr. Bento loves you.
But, Mr. Bento also comes with a fifty-dollar price tag - pretty steep for what is, honestly, a high-tech lunch box with a high cool factor. So if you're looking to join the bento crowd for one reason or another, here are some other options*:
*Mr. Bento on eBay. You might get lucky. But be polite and don't bid against friends. I'm sure more Mr. Bentos will show up.
*Tupperware sells the Meal Solutions to Go Pack, which is very Mr. Bento-y, but with a lower price tag. And through the end of the month (I think), you can get a second one for $2 more. I'm considering getting one for my husband, but I'm not sure he'd use it. You see, he has a baby fridge in his office, and he only likes containers that fit in it. I'd have to measure. Tupperware also has a few other things, but their website navigation sucks. On Amazon, though, you can find this and this.
*Laptop Lunches has a cool bento-type box that's a little bigger than the traditional bento Japanese bento box. It's what the Vegan Lunch Box uses. And it's got lots of accessories.
*If you're in the market for more traditional bento box options, I would direct you to The Bento Store on eBay. I've purchased from her, and since she's in the states, shipping is fast. She has tons of bento boxes, both the traditional styles and some different stuff, too. Plus, she's got tons of fun accessories to go with your bento boxes.
Personally, I think Mr. Bento is a good investment. On the other hand, he was on my Amazon wishlist for a long time before Jeff got him for me for the holidays. But I do urge you to join the Cult of the Fifty-Dollar Lunchbox. You know you want to...
*Yes, Deneen, I'm basically recycling an email I sent to you. :)
You're sure it's not Thursday? It feels like Thursday. If it were Thursday, I wouldn't have to come into work tomorrow. Sigh. Fine. It's Tuesday.
From top left, spinach dip pinwheel sandwiches on lavash and stuffed with oven-dried tomatoes, slow-cooked onions and oven-dried peppers; more of Jeff's cornbread, this time with a little baby round of cheddar cheese with shallots (yum!); steamed sugar snaps and wax beans with a smidge of olive oil and (say it with me now!) shallot-pepper seasoning; and and orange with no-cal chocolate dip for dessert.
This was probably more food than I needed today. The pinwheels are exceedingly filling. But I was hungry, and I really wanted to try that cheese with the cornbread. So I'll just skip my afternoon snack. :)
About once a month - or when stuff is on sale - I oven dry a bunch of tomatoes and peppers, and cook up a mess of onions to use during the week to spice up boring pasta dishes and such. Or, in this case, to make a super-yummy looks-a-little-like-sushi sandwich. The onions freeze perfectly, so I always make the most of those. The tomatoes and peppers are a little more finicky about freezing, though the peppers do OK for a couple weeks. Tomatoes I have not successfully frozen - they came out a gooey mass when thawed. Tasted good, but: ick!
As per Lee Ann's request, here's a super simple recipe for spinach dip that's also really good as a sandwich spread.
8 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed 8 oz. cream cheese 1/2 cup ricotta cheese* 2 cloves garlic, minced salt & pepper to taste
Squeeze as much water out of the thawed spinach as you can. The drier, the better.
Put all ingredients together in a food processor to blend.
Season to taste and let the flavors blend for at least thirty minutes before serving.
I used fat-free versions of the cream cheese and ricotta and it was still very, very tasty. The spinach is so flavorful that you never miss the fat.
*The amount of ricotta you use will vary, depending on the wateriness of your spinach and ricotta, and your preferences for dip texture. Use up to a cup, but I wouldn't recommend less than a half cup.
But it was all leftovers. But it really could have used some green somewhere.
You are looking at brown rice, cornbread that Jeff made with Laughing Cow cheese, steamed wax beans with some butter and my ubiquitous shallot-pepper seasoning, and Asian faux-chicken salad, minus the faux-chicken.
I cooked the rice in my new rice cooker that my mom and stepfather got me. It's the Zojirushi NS-ZCC10 5-1/2-Cup Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker - and Zojirushi makes Mr. Bento, too. :) It got brown rice right on the first try, so I'm impressed. Takes a little longer than my older Zojirushi rice cooker, but it seems to be worth it. Lee Ann and Bryan have one, too.
I dumped the wax beans on top of the rice for a dull look, but good flavor. I still have a few left, so I think tomorrow I'll steam some sugar snap peas, too, for a little more color.
I love wax beans, and it should be nice to get them without paying the premium one usually pays for them in the store. And I've never grown carrots before, so it should be interesting. And we've been planning to experiment with the overwintering of produce, so I thought the carrots would be a good test subject. And radishes? I just love them. And they're so quick and easy to grow! Gotta love that!
Hm. We might need a little more garden space, though... :)
Tomorrow I have an all-day seminar, so I'll be spending some of my hard-earned (ha!) money on purchasing myself lunch. What's the seminar about? Marketing. Yes, I'll be first up against the wall when the revolution comes.*
From top, going clockwise: veggie peanut noodles, with extra soy sauce in a cute little bottle and a sprig of cilantro for garnish; lightly steamed sugar snap peas with balsamic vinegar; spinach and carrot salad with honey-mustard dressing; and an itty-bitty crust-less peach cheesecake left over from last night.
*Bonus points for those of you who know from where that line comes. :)
A tasty dipping sauce for just about anything. And it's good on veggies, too, and would probably be yummy on pasta, too!
Ingredients
2 jarred roasted red peppers, drained 2 Tbsp. honey 2 tsp. lime juice 2 tsp. canola oil 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
Directions
Dice red peppers.
Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for five minutes.
Serve as-is or blend together in the food processor
Good hot, cold or room temperature.
(And for those of you who care, I've created an index to my recipes that have appeared on my blog over to the right there. If nothing else, it will save me time when I want my faux fish sticks recipe!)
The tiny space is a fun challenge to fill! The big box is about 6" x 4" x 2". And yes, those are some new little dipping cups I got on eBay. :)
In the big box, you see rice (leftover from semi-sucessful sushi-making), Thai bean cakes , roasted red pepper dipping sauce and steamed broccoli. In the little box is most of a granny smith apple and some magic no-calorie chocolate dip that's actually pretty tasty. More like fudge than chocolate, but good!
The bean cakes are meant to be a veggie version of Thai fish cakes, and they taste good (spicy!), but the texture isn't right. I perused the cookbooks last night, though, and I think I have a new plan of attack. When I get it right, I'll post the recipe, since it's mighty good, even as-is.
I'll post the red peppper dipping sauce recipesoon, because it's a yummy, easy thing that I think will become a staple in my fridge.
Tuno! Jeff bought me Tuno! (no, not for Valentine's Day. :)
He had to order it online and everything! I've been looking for this off and on locally for ages, but haven't been able to find it. But now I have plenty, and I can make as much faux tuna salad as I please.
Anyone have any good canned tuna recipes I should try? -------------
We started our seeds today, as we're about 8 weeks from the last frost here in central Ohio. A little earlier than last year, which should help.
From left, we have castor bean plants (poisionous! and we could make ricin!), silk trees (supposedly doesn't grow here, but there's one down the street that we got seeds from), candy lilies, tomatoes (a free packet from a company where we placed a large order), cucumbers (ditto the tomatoes), spinach, kale, snackjack pumpkins, tomatillos, zucchini, broccoli raab, and fairytale pumpkins.
They still haven't sprouted, but I suppose I need to be a little patient. :)
I went to our local Japanese video store, Han Kook, and found a cute little bento box, and some matching little boxes.
They're awfully cute! And I thought they might make for some nice variety when Mr. Bento needs a rest. It also comes with a cute little saying on the cover.
Today we had lunch over at my in-laws - ordered Thai in. Yummy veggie phad thai for lunch and leftovers for dinner.
I'm planning on making nigiri and onigiri and this weekend for the first time. If it does well, maybe you'll be seeing them in this cute little bento box this coming week. (If it fails, you also might hear about it in this space. :)
They're technically a Valentine's Day present for Jeff, but for me, too. I like them because they're bright and colorful and look good in our white open cabinets.
On the other hand, they're glass, and Jeff is clumsy. So if you happen upon more of these (preferably small ones in the pattern of the large glasses and vice versa) at your local TJ Maxx or Marshall's, please let me know, and I'd be happy to pay the cost, plus shipping plus a small finder's fee! They're out of production, but they're Circleware Design's Modern (on the left) and Colorwave. They're great, but I really need more for the inevitable breakage.
Kay's most recent follow-up was today, and her liver values look a lot better - not perfect, but better than last month. She's up to 43 pounds, but the prednisone has bulked her up so much she seems much heavier. She barely fits in her harness anymore. If she doesn't lose some weight, I'm going to have to get her a new one!
We're going to try cutting back the Imuran and prednisone to every other day (alternate days). That should help with the liver values, the chubbiness, and the eye infections she's been getting the last month (probably due to the Imuran).
Kaylee's health could change any time, but she's doing pretty well at the moment!
I was in the kitchen at work, listening to a couple of co-workers talk. One of them was bitching about how she "had" to buy lunch every day and how expensive it was. Quite sensibly, I thought, I asked why she didn't just pack a lunch.
This led into a bit of a diatribe about how she hates leftovers. This is not the first time I've heard this, but it baffles me. I can understand getting a little tired of something after a few days of the same thing (like spinach dip ... sigh ...), but this woman was unwilling to eat any leftovers at all. I just don't get it.
Then I asked why she didn't just make a (fresh, non-leftover) lunch. The complaint was that it takes too much time. Now, even my lunches don't take more than ten to fifteen minutes to prepare, and I'm counting the time it takes to pack breakfast, too (I'm not an eat-when-I-first-get-up kind of person). And I'm pretty sure that most people won't be packing a lunch that's near as complex as mine. How long does it take to make a sandwich and put some carrots in a baggie?
I don't know. I think she just enjoys bitching about it. Anyway, on to my lunch (which did include leftovers)...
Honey-dijon broccoli slaw (it keeps longer than lettuce and is better for you); roasted red pepper soup from Trader Joe's (and thanks, noricum! I'm going to try the peroxide idea to clean that container); a kiwi and an orange; and light Laughing Cow cheese with pumpernickel toasts (the ones on top are piggie-shaped!). Boring, but hey, it fed me and was colorful.
You get a lunch reprieve for a while, since I don't work Fridays, I'm taking Monday off and I have an all-day seminar on Thursday. So you just have to see lunches on Tuesday and Wednesday. Maybe my new bento supplies will make their appearance then. :)
This lunch didn't really go with one cusine or anything; just kind of what was in the house.
Today was broccoli with shallot pepper from Penzey's (my current favorite all-purpose seasoning); broccoli slaw with a dressing of leftover soy-orange-ginger dipping sauce from Sunday's homemade wontons, with cilantro garnish; an orange; and a whole wheat quesadilla with lowfat cheese, some black olives and cilantro. Please note, DKM, there are no tater tots. :)
You can see, in the top right container, where some horrible ginger carrot soup from Trader Joe's stained my container. Mr. Bento can't be put in the dishwasher or bleached. Anyone have any ideas on how to get it looking a little less orange-y? The instructions suggest bleaching it in strong sunlight, but that's in rather short supply in Ohio in February...
I found this cute little lunchybox at Target a few months ago (can't find it on their website, unfortunatelyhere's a boring clear one at The Container Store).
Is she not one of the cutest things ever?! I brought my lunch in her today, since my little sandwich didn't really fit into Mr. Bento - who could really use a rest anyway.
Today's meal. First, two little sandwiches - spinach dip sandwiches on pumpernickel (yes, I made perhaps a little too much spinach dip this weekend. What of it? :). They go into the top part of the cute green box.
Kind of hard to tell in the picture, but the top sandwich is in the shape of a hippo and it's standing on a diamond. The pumpernickel was bought on Friday in the day-old bin, and it was starting to get a tad dry. So I cut it all into shapes with my vast array of cookie cutters and made pumpernickel toasts in the oven. Good for sandwiches and dipping.
The entire meal, the rest of which goes in the lower section of the cute little green box:
From left: hippo & diamond sandwiches, a divine steamed pumpkin bun from the Asian grocery, sugar snap peas, and carrots.
I've never had amaryllis of my own before. I've given plenty of them of gifts, but I've never had any of my own. But this year, my father in law gave us three bulbs, and one of them is blooming.
It already has two flowers, and there will be one more. The stripes are a little paler than they appear in the photo - more on the pink side than red.
I don't know if the other two bulbs are the same type, so it should be fun to see how they bloom - and that should be in the next couple of weeks.
In an effort to keep myself eating well, I will be subjecting you to photos of my lunches in my Mr. Bento (or whatever else I may bring them in).
So, today's lunch:
From top left, clockwise: curry broccoli slaw with extra carrots, carrots and sugar snap peas, falafel with spinach dip, and rosemary honey potato salad.
Yes, a meal of leftovers. But some more interesting lunches should be upcoming, since Jeff and I hit a really good Asian grocery (Columbus Asia Market) this weekend, and I picked up some fun stuff. However, I failed in my attempt to find any fun accessories for my Mr. Bento. I had to find them online. I really want some of the little piggie sauce bottles I saw somewhere, but I can't find them again. Oh well. They'll turn up again!
My mom sent me a shirt of hers (monkey-covered) that I had coveted the last time she was here (thanks, mom!). After dinner tonight, I put it on, and I was unexpecedly stunned by the smell of home.
I didn't know there was a smell that I associated with home, but apparently there is. Mom must use a different washing powder or fabric softener than me, but that must be what smells like home to me. Even now, as I type, I can smell it, and it's just ... home.
Weird. I keep sniffing my sleeve (much to Jeff's disturbance :), but it's nice to kinda be home. I hadn't realized I missed it.
I love inari, with its sweet and salty and sour tastes all at once. Yum! And it's coming to work with me for the kick-off potluck for our work wellness program (I'm on the wellness committee - yippie). I have to write up the recipe for that, so I thought I'd post it here, too.
Inari is super-easy to make, and if you already have cooked the rice or have a rice cooker, the actual working time is about 10-15 minutes, depending on how gentle you need to be with your tofu pockets.
Ingredients
1 cup cooked warm medium grain rice* 1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed 1/2 cup shredded carrots, lightly steamed 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions 1/3 cup seasoned rice vinegar 2 Tbsp soy sauce 1 can aburage**
Directions
Mix together everything but the aburage and let sit to cool and blend.
Gently rinse*** the aburage. Squeeze gently and place on kitchen towel to dry.
When the rice has cooled, gently pry open a peice of aburage and stuff it - gently! - about half full of the rice mixture. Fold in one long side, fold in the ends, then fold over the other long side. Place seam down on plate. Repeat with other peices of aburage.
Serves four. Serve immediately or no more than 24 hours later for best taste. Make it for dinner then have leftovers the next day for lunch - yum!
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*White is traditional, but I like it with a mixture of white and brown. **See the photo at the top of the post for what a can is likely to look like. ***Not stictly required for canned aburage, but it's a little slippery to work with, otherwise.
Mour second amaryllis has turned out to be a stunning, deep red. This is the first bloom, but it's probably going to have three more.
You know you want Mr. Bento. Admit it.
I went to our local Japanese video store, 
I've never had amaryllis of my own before. I've given plenty of them of gifts, but I've never had any of my own. But this year, my father in law gave us three bulbs, and one of them is blooming.
I love inari, with its sweet and salty and sour tastes all at once. Yum! And it's coming to work with me for the kick-off potluck for our work wellness program (I'm on the wellness committee - yippie). I have to write up the recipe for that, so I thought I'd post it here, too.
