Retro-posted from 12/29/2009- Yaki Onigiri from Trader Joe's

This posting features my first real product review. Woo!

Contents of Bento: yaki onigiri from Trader Joe's Frozen section (review to follow), dried Korean seaweed, mini pepper stuffed with broccoli floret, takuan with umeshiso paste in the center, burrito filling which is mostly tempeh and peppers--adorned with a pepper ring, and steamed broccoli with Hoisan sauce.

Also: a side car of my homemade applesauce with dried cranberries


A pretty complicated bento for me, all in all. The Korean seaweed stayed crispy until lunchtime, which is so crazy. Like I've said before, it must be some amazing technology.

The burrito filling was on the stove when HB and I got home on the 28th. But I didn't realize that it was burrito filling. It also has rice in it. Our housemate made it to clean some stuff out of the fridge. It's funny how your expectations of what food will taste like changes how you think it tastes. I was pretty sure it was stir-fry before she told me that it was burrito filling. Weird, huh? Anyways, it was quite tasty and a perfect addition to this bento.

Yaki Onigiri from Trader Joe's

I don't know how long that link will stay active, since it's a new product page from Trader Joe's. So here is a listing of the nutrition information from them. They call them Baked Rice Snacks (because they're baked, not fried) and all you have to do is microwave them. They come in a package of 8 for around 3.50$ (your mileage may vary) and are pretty tasty. They do have fish sauce in them (and are made with dashi) so if you are a strict vegetarian, it might not be for you. I personally am not bothered by fish sauce. It's made with small anchovy-type bait fish, which are basically like bugs. And I would eat bugs, I'm just glad I don't have to.

The onigiri were easy to microwave; they were a little sticky when hot, and the flavor was a little pungent when they were warm. They carried excellently in the bento until lunchtime and were absolutely delicious at room temperature. There's no filling in them, but I found that taking umeshiso and takuan was fine for ramping up the flavor. They also have a soy-dashi taste that's pretty nice when they're at room temperature. The texture was pretty terrific too. They are not (like homemade yaki onigiri) at all crunchy, but they are still pretty great. I definitely was glad to have gotten them, will get them again, and keep them in my freezer for quick lunchtime addition. They're pretty expensive for what they are (um, rice), but you're paying for the convenience. I wouldn't take them every day, but once and a while they are a nice addition.

Retro-posted from 12/28/2009- No-chicken Parmesan

On the 26th I made a special dinner for HB and me. This bento has some of the parts of it.

Contents of bento: sauteed broccoli and mushrooms (very savoury and delicious), stove-top applesauce with dried cranberries, and no-chicken Parmesan.

No-chicken Parmesan was made with Quorn, this bizarre myco-protein chicken substitute. Basically, I made my awesome homemade tomato sauce, cooked it down, then dumped in the Quorn. Then it went over fancy, Italian squiggly pasta and was baked briefly in the oven (under the broiler) to melt the Mozzarella and Parm I put on the top. So good. Too bad it looks so ugly in my bento. As you can see, the portion in the box just has shaved Parmesan on it. It didn't take a magical trip through the broiler. I microwaved everything in the box a little bit before I ate it. I love warm applesauce.

Also, I think it's impossible to make applesauce look pretty. I guess if I had used a pretty-shaped food cup, or decorated the top, I could have pulled it off. But sadly, it just ended up looking like mush. But the mush was as tasty, as tasty could be....

Retro-posted from 12/26/2009- Stuffed Shells

Before Christmas my little mama made some awesome stuffed shells. Unfortunately, I was packing this bento on the 25th, late at night, because I had to work on the 26th. The unfortunate part is how mashed up the stuffed shells look.

Contents of Bento: Stuffed shells (with ricotta and lots of spinach) made by my little mama. Two mini peppers (not spicy, though they really look like jalapenos) a piece of artichoke square and some orange segments.

The artichoke squares are a "my family" tradition for events (of any kind). They're sort of like an awesome crustless quiche, but with lots of artichoke and 1/2 a lb. of cheese. Amazing, addictive, and probably not very good for you. These get made for Thanksgiving or parties or whatever. They are tasty both hot and cold. Maybe I'll post the recipe here sometime.

When I went to eat my lunch, I microwaved the shells tray a little bit. Deeeelicious.

Retro-posted from 12/25/2009- A bento for my Little Mama

My little mama made the mistake of expressing some passing interest in bento-making. So I got her her own set (with some stuff to start her out).

Here is the set all wrapped up in its matching kinchaku . Next to it is a tiny Bonne Maman jar, which matched the box. However, it is too tall to fit in either tier, but it's often nice to have a little extra jar to take salad dressing or what have you.

The box looks like this:
Sorry the picture is a little out of focus. Two tiers with rubber lids on both tiers.

Under the lid, a little storage area!
You can see the elastic band in the front and some tiny cocktail (bento-sized) forks in the back. One plastic and the rest are bamboo. This set also came with some darling bento-sized chopsticks. But little mama doesn't do chopsticks so her darling daughter got them instead :D. I guess I should take a picture featuring them...they really are a great size, about the length of my hand, and plain white. Now you know what they look like.

Inside everything...
Top tier has two lift-out trays in classic 2/3 - 1/3 proportion. Bottom tier has a sliding barrier. Obscured by the barrier are 2 little fishes for sauce. Also featured: 4 silicon mini-cups (2 blue and 2 red) and a little 40ml container from Japan. Seriously, I love these guys. I'm going to have to buy some more if I keep giving them away...

The box is micro-safe with lids off and also dishwasher safe. These are key elements for my little mama. It has yet to be used, but someday soon! I was supposed to pack her a starter lunch before we left, but that didn't happen. It's a little bigger than I thought it was going to be, but a very nice set all in all. I got it from jBox. And even though I ordered it in late November, it arrived before Christmas. The shipping and whole process was very smooth.

Retro-post from 12/9/2009- Pasta Bake

An astoundingly boring bento. Can you guess what's in it?

That's right. Romaine salad. Penne with sauce and cheese (affectionately called pasta bake in our house.) I ate the salad, then heated the pasta a little bit. Tasty. Boring and tasty.

Updates soon~

I've been very remiss in updating this month. December has been ridiculously busy for a variety of reasons. I have a little time this coming week though, so I have some bentos to put up. I also got my little mama a bento box and some bento stuff for Christmas, so I'll be taking pictures of that, too.

Hurray! Now all 4 of you who read my blog will have something new to read...

12/1/2009- Kale stirfry bento

More leftovers from Thanksgiving. I seriously think I may be eating cranberry sauce until 2010. Sigh. I should just bake it into a pie or something....

Contents of bento: kale, quick sauteed with seasoned pecans and dried cranberries, carrots, cranberry sauce, small slice of butternut squash lasagna.

I removed the lasagna tray and microwaved it briefly for added tastiness.

The kale was actually chopped into little pieces, instead of how I often do it in ribbons. Ribbons are much harder to eat out of a bento box, I discovered.

11/30/2009- Leftover Sushi Bento

After thanksgiving gluttony, we needed something a little lighter. HB and I went out to dinner with his folks for delicious Japanese food and here is my bento filled with leftovers.

Contents of Bento: Leftover sushi from Soya- Shiitake maki, kimchee roll, cucumber maki and vegetarian maki (on its side). On the other side, one veg. gyoza, some takuan, Japanese pickled carrots, onions, and fresh shredded daikon (mostly obscured on the upper right.) Also red peppers, two fishes of soy sauce, and one of sirracha (since I don't have any wasabi at home, sirracha makes a nice substitute. Side car with a finger of shortbread from HB's mum. Man, she makes amazing shortbread.

The gyoza was from home (Trader Joe's frozen). I just stuck it in the box frozen and zapped it about 15 seconds in the microwave at work. That seems to work pretty darn well, especially for my lazy self.

NOTE ABOUT THE CONTEST: sadly, I did not win. But it was an honor to be selected as a finalist (one of three finalists out of about 50 entries...) So, hurray for the bentoblogosphere!

Bento Contest

I'm the finalist in a bento box contest!

If you like, feel free to vote (you don't have to vote for mine, of course, but you could...)

Here is my original posting:
(The contest is for a colorful, 4 container, flat, square bento box. To win the contest, you had to say what you'd fill each section with.)
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I would fill it with Thanksgiving leftovers from our vegetarian feast.

Purple- Butternut Squash Lasagna
Green- Carrot and Sweet Potato Tzimmes with apricots and sour dried cherries
Red- Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie with Red Pepper cut out fall leaf
Yellow- Sauteed Brussels sprouts with red wine, onions, pine nuts, paprika (and whatever other things my hubby puts in them...)

I don't really cook with recipes, but I can give you the gist of what is in the Lasagna and Shepherd's Pie. My mom made the Tzimmes, which is basically a Jewish vegetable dish cooked over low heat. It was also sprinkled with chopped walnuts. A nice contrast to the green container. :D
My hubby does the brussels sprouts every year and just makes it up as he goes along. I do know he always starts with onion and garlic in olive oil over high heat and deglazes the pan with red wine. I'm not sure what else was in them this year, but they were savory, pan-roasted, and delicious.

Butternut Squash Lasagna-
Cook Lasagna noodles, roast butternut squash. Combine Squash with garlic powder, salt, pepper, nutmeg, parsley, and a little cream. Layer with noodles and provolone cheese. When you reach the top layer, prepare a cream sauce with a roux base (I always caramelize onion and garlic in the butter). Crumble dried sage into the butter as well. Then add flour, then milk in small amounts. Pour over lasagna. Top with more cheese and bake in 350 oven until bubbly and golden brown. This was a big hit with everyone who ate with us. (18 people this year! a new record in our tiny house....)

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie-
Prepare mashed potatoes in your favorite way (mine have roasted garlic and yogurt in them). Sautee one onion and 3 cloves of garlic in olive oil and butter until dark brown. Deglaze pan with sherry. Add 2 kinds of finely chopped mushrooms with a pinch of salt (white button and crimini) and cook until all the water has come out of them. Deglaze the pan again with sherry if you need to. Add 2 bags of Morningstar farms crumbles (fake ground beef). Cook down. Add powdered rosemary, worchestershire sauce, pickapepper sauce, and thyme. Add finely chopped carrot and turnip and continue to cook until carrot and turnip are slightly soft. Mix mashed potatoes with shredded cheddar cheese. Put fake meat mixture in casserole and top with the potatoes. Bake in a 350 oven until bubbly and the potatoes get a little golden (this actually takes a long time and I gave up before the potatoes started to color.) It was still delicious. And this kind of thing tastes better as leftovers--perfect for bento!
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So, yeah. Vote!

11/28/09- Post Thanksgiving Bento

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.

It's all about my favorite things: family, friends, eating and drinking too much... And every year we get together with most everyone from our families. This year we had 18--a new record in our tiny townhouse. The menu is vegetarian, with the option for people to bring something that is a meat dish if they want. This is the first time in a few years that someone made a turkey breast. We had a lovely time and I was actually not very stressed out this year. Probably because I didn't try to cook 1-million things like in previous years. Needless to say, my lunch of leftovers was all vegetarian, including the two delicious main dishes I made.

Contents of Bento- Top Right: spinach and romaine salad with radishes and feta cheese, Bottom Right: Carrot and Sweet Potato Tzimmes (with onion, apricot, and dried plums)--made by my little mama; and Sauteed Kale (with onion, lemon, and pine nuts)--made by me. Left-hand side: Vegetarian shepherd's pie and butternut squash lasagna. Red pepper strips on the top. In the ziplock on the left is an apple cranberry strudel, made by HB's mum.

I took the two non-salad trays out to nuke in the microwave for a few seconds. Everything was delicious. The two main-dishes are always better a few days after; what is it about casseroles that they age well?

Needless to say, our fridge is STILL filled with food. I feel like we'll be eating out of it for a looooooong time.