Nothing's Quite as Nice as Beans and Rice

I was so tired last night I waited till really late to start even thinking about dinner. By then I was REALLY tired. After many trips to the refridgerator (just standing in it waiting for prepared food to just pop out at me) I finally gave in and realized that I would just have to cook something. I went to the pantry and saw, black beans, brown rice, diced tomatoes and green chilies. I figure I can make something pretty good pretty easily with that stuff.

I packed Ken the hash and some left over Italian sausage chunks... corn bread and a bowl of diced pears and pluots. After just finishing a plate of tasty beans and rice for dinner, I have to say the lunch looked very appetizing.

Erin's Sleepy Hash
1 can of black beans (kidney beans, red beans whatever)
1 can of diced tomatoes
half an onion diced (just so happens I had a leftover half an onion to use up)
1 or 2 cloves (or more) chopped garlic
1 small can of diced green chilies (optional)
1 cup of brown rice (or white rice... just should be long grain probably)

So, I sautéed the onion and garlic in a bit of butter until the onions were translucent. I dumped in all the canned goods undrained. I added a little bit more water, like a 1/4 cup. When it was to a boil I added the rice. Waited for it to boil again and then covered it and turned it down to a simmer. It took about 40 minutes for the rice to cook through. Perfect time to bake some corn bread!

Chloe requested to have some of the dinner in her bento box... she also wanted some macaroni and cheese. I have a little gladware box of Arthur shaped Macaroni and cheese in the fridge, stuff that we had for dinner earlier in the week. She must of sensed that I was feeling rather zombie like, because this was a super simple lunch to pack. A little diced pears and pluots and some cucumber sticks for good measure. She was happy with it when she left this morning.

First Sushi

So, I'm not a big fan of typical sushi.

WHAT?!?!? How can that be?

We'll I grew up in Hawaii, yes. But, 95% of native Hawaiian sushi has spam in it and is lightly toasted on a hibatchi grill! (That stuff I liked. I've not had it since I was a kid though.) It seems that all of our good friends love sushi, the kind most people think of with RAW fish. I've attempted many, many times to "love" sushi. I may be able to enjoy the flavor of the food, but the texture of the raw fish is usually hard to swallow, I mean choking it down. I don't care how good it is, I don't like to continually swallow to get the sticky stuff to my belly. Unfortunately Kenny distastes the raw fish stuff as well. We have tried really. It's rare for me to not be able to like a food. It's just too darn sticky.
Luckily sushi doesn't mean "raw fish". Luckily it refers to the rice, but not fish or other toppings/fillings.

I'm making these bento boxes now and I just have to do some oriental based dishes once in a while. I decided to try my hand at making sushi last night. I made maki-zushi with avacado, cream cheese and smoked salmon. If anyone is skiddish about trying sushi, this is the way to go... mmmm, these are quite scrumptious and no raw fish to push past the palate.

Here we have Kenny's little smoked salmon and cream cheese maki. It's served with some thai style chicken chow mein and mango pieces. I made a cute tulip out of a bell pepper and left over avocado pieces. This roll was quite easy to make. I mean simple like making a sandwich! Slap the sushi rice on the nori, spread it. Put in the fillings and roll it up.

I mean it's my first time and one or two may have came out a little lopsided. I really was expecting some feat of acrobatics to be involved with this delicate dish. But no, it was as easy as making the peanut butter tortilla wraps. This side dish is definitely not going off the menu because of difficulty, It may be made a regular feature in fact.

I wanted to make something fun for Chloe's box so I used the sushi rice and made two onigiri's (rice balls with filling). I think I did pretty good. For us American mom's there is a onigiri press I can buy that will form the perfect little balls (or triangles or even onigiri fun shapes like flowers) but I just did these with wet hands and some handfuls of rice. They have a few pieces of smoked salmon in the center and are wrapped with a thin band of nori. I used nori for the cute faces. I need to watch a bit more anime so I can get some character ideas to put in the lunch box. She also has chow mein, rice and mangos and my 'it's getting late, I need to go to bed' container with cookies and peanuts. I don't know how the meal will blow over. We may have to practice eating these at home a bit before it's successful.

Sushi is ranked as a comfort food in America now. It was the most consumed food right after 9/11 by people in New York. Did you know that 13 pieces of California Roll sushi have only 9.5 Weight Watchers Flex Plan Points? (how can this be, the bulk of the roll is sugared carbohydrates) Japanese usually eat miso soup not at the beginning of the meal, but at the end—to aid digestion.

bacon - really, do I need to say more?

Kenny usually gets Mondays and Wednesdays off for restaurant grub consumption. But today there was a brown bag meeting or presentation or something at work so he asked me pack him some food. The main course was two fat and happy BLT sandwiches, with extra B. I used a large pita round cut into quarters for the bread and stuffed it full of bacon lettuce and tomatoes... I made sure to put lettuce between the tomatoes and the bread, as suggested by other bentoholics, to prevent the bread from getting soggy. Kenny said the bottom was a little moist. I either have to really be sure to dry every every piece of lettuce before sandwich making or I have to get up in the wee hours of the morning and pack. He said it was still good so I may not worry about it. I packed fruit in one half and veggies in the other. We got a mini banana, pluot (plum and apricot hybrid) and some raspberries... on the other half some broccoli and cherry tomatoes and yellow pepper strips. I made a ranch dip container out of a small section of cucumber. I was unsure about the spillage on this so I wrapped some saran wrap over the top.

Chloe got the same veggie tray as dad. Some lazy me sections with pre packed applesauce and a handful of teddy grahams oatmeal crackers.

The main container had a BLT wrap wedged in with apple chunks and a halved pluot. She finished everything at school so it must of been good.

First Egg Molded and Some Italian Stuff

Here is Chloe's glorious bento for tomorrow. Admire my first molded hard boiled egg. The cute little pink bunny should be gobbled up in no time! It was very easy to do, I tried to do another one but it seemed like the egg was too small and didn't fill the entire mold. Let's see what else she has for lunch tomorrow. Ah yes you probably notice the tiny, miniature banana. they are so adorable. The perfect size for a bento lunch. I've got it packed with some pears and raspberries for company. For some veggies she's got some carrot chips cut with my fancy pampered chef crinkle cutter. I've had that thing for 5 years now and it's seen more use these last few weeks than it ever has before. And for the main course... scrumptious bow tie pasta with organic marinara sprinkled with some parmesan cheese. *smacks mouth* mmmm... I should make myself a bento lunch. Sure beats PB & J any day.
For Kenny, A huge slice of leftover lasagna and yes a cute little banana. The little ham rolls in the dish on the right have pear wedges and mozzarella cheese rolled up inside. They're quite tasty. I made garlic breadsticks yesterday. Kenny said they're quite garlicky which is a 5 star comment coming from him.

I hope they enjoy the tasty lunches. BTW... the lasagna is the "Lasagna Even Ainsley Would Eat" as featured in a previous post.

Lasagna and Carrot Sticks

Yogurt with raspberries, apple wedges, lasagna with carrot sticks and a bit of left over birthday cake.... grape juice to drink.

Face First Pasta Salad

I spent all day surfing the internet (looking at bentos. Avoiding all the work that I needed (still need) to do before the big shindig this weekend. In the process, I forgot to prepare dinner so we ended up having left over chicken wraps. I also didn't think ahead about filling lunch boxes and when time came it was a bit rushed and we didn't have much left in the house, being Friday and everything.

Anyway, I ended up making pasta salad. I also cooked up an italian sausage and cut it in pieces... mix it with mozzarella cheese squares and the last of the cherry tomatoes. Some strawberries for desert. Chloe's little container from her box fit really well in Dad's container. I wasn't going to make a face... I just dumped out the stuff and it mostly looked like one, so I finished it off with a tongue and everything.


Chloe's took a little more imagination filling up since we were on the last of just about all our food. Got orange wedges with to strawberry/kiwi kabobs on top. used craft sticks instead of skewers for safety. Graham crackers and peanut butter in the next little tub and the pre-packaged applesauce below it. Lastly, a bear bologna sandwich with mozzarella vest and food coloring face (I'm betting it's all run together by now and is just a food coloring blob on bears head). Little ham/cream cheese rolls and some peanuts for good measure. It'll do. oh ya, apple juice for drink today.

Gyoza, Pot Stickers, Peking Ravioli, Wor Tip, Chinese Pierogies or Chinese Dumplings as My Kids Call Them

I found this little Rubbermaid jewel at the store yesterday. It's not a "bento" box, but it's really really close. I spent a bit of time last night on dinner/lunches. I made gyoza, a family favorite. So many names around the world, but my kids call them dumplings. I put the recipe down at the bottom of this post. I also made kung pao chicken and jasmine rice. As you can see for Kenny's lunch I packed down rice in one compartment and formed a gyoza star on the top. The other compartment contains the remainder of the kung pao and the dipping sauce for the gyoza. For some color I added cherry tomatoes and rice candies for desert.

Chloe's new lap top lunch box came in yesterday. I was giddy with excitement. So, upper left hand corner is cottage cheese and strawberries, upper right hand corner is celery sticks and rice candy, bottom left is 3 "Chinese dumplings" on a bed of lettuce with tomatoes for color. The small container holds some dipping sauce, bottom right is jasmine rice. I managed to cut a rabbit shape out of some nori. I think I did very well considering I don't have any nori punches or fancy molds or picks. The bottle is filled with water.

Gyoza

Gyoza Skins
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 cups diced cabbage
1/4 cup dice carrots
1/4 cup diced onion
1 clove of garlic chopped
1/2 lb ground pork
1 egg beaten
little dish of water

1 tbsp vegetable oil for cooking gyoza

To make dipping sauce mix 1/4 cup of soy sauce, 1 tbsp rice vinegar

Prepare filling: heat sesame oil over medium high heat in skillet. Cook together cabbage, carrots, onions, and garlic until vegetables are tender crisp. Add ground pork and egg and cook until done. Remove from heat.

Fill Wrappers:put approximately 1 tbsp filling in each wrapper. Moisten edges with water and proceed to pinch together. With the dough edges form and S shape and press into a pleat, continue to pleat until gyoza is sealed.

If You Want to Freeze for Later: Place formed gyoza on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer for several minutes, when gyoza is dry and hard, remove from cookie sheet and put in a ziploc bag or other storage container. When you desire to reheat the gyoza there is no need to defrost, simply cook the frozen gyoza as you would fresh gyoza.

Cooking Gyoza:Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a skillet that has a lid. Brown bottom of gyoza how you would like it. Add 1/4 cup of water to pan, it will billow steam up, cover the pan quickly before it evaporates. Cook gyoza until all the water is absorbed.

Cooked gyoza are a great addition to a bento box. They're delicious either hot or cold and kids like their little finger size dumplings they get for lunch.

Heart and Star

i was very lazy last night... I had spent all afternoon buying and planting some "wanted" vegetation in the back yard in hopes to suffocate the "unwanted" vegetation. When dinnertime approached there was little other choice but to make pita pizzas. Kids were happy, dinner was easy and I took a break.

I was equally as lazy with Chloe's bento. Some bell pepper and celery sticks with a cute little cheddar star on top. Other box had simply a PB&J sandwich cut into a heart shape and a small bunch of grapes. I tossed in a Juice Box for a beverage and stuffed it in the fridge. I'm still feeling tired today. Hope that goes away, Chloe's new bento box is on the road now due to be delivered this afternoon! I just ordered some mini cookie cutters from Pampered Chef to make cute litte bento stuff. Usually it takes no time for their stuff to arrive.

Kona Chicken

Kona chicken with jasmine rice... MMM love cooking in the crockpot, dinner came out so tender and the aroma fills my house all afternoon. Anyway, got the Kona chicken and jasmine rice in the main container, sides are some sweet corn on the cob wheels and some plum wedges. I packed some Japanese cookies called Hello Panda cookies. they're vanilla waferish with a cream filling. I don't have any nifty bento collections yet so I got creative and found this plastic egg from last easter and put the cookies in it. A frozen juice box to keep everything cold and safe and Chloe has a delicious lunch.


Kona Chicken
2 fryer chickens quartered
2 diced green onions
1/2 cup light soy sauce
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup honey
pepper

Place quartered chicken in crock pot. Mix together onions, soy, white wine, water and honey... pour over chicken. Sprinkle some pepper over chicken. Put lid on crock pot and cook on high for 4+ hours... I usually do 6. Serve with rice and salad.

New Look

You may have noticed the new look. New background, new header... I hope to add some pictures of Bento lunches to the fancy header as soon as I can. I'm that excited about beginning to make Bento creations. I ordered the Bento style Laptop Lunchbox yesterday and I am anxiously awaiting UPS to drop it off at the door. I need to order Kenny one too so he can have some delicious Bento meals as well. Though I'm considering getting him something more authentic and a bit larger than this.

I made several links to a few Bento sites on my main blog but today I came across this bonkers Bento artist at Bento TV. She's so happy :D It's cute and scary at the same time.

I have been collecting recipes galore and although this site will focus more on lunches now, quite a few of them will be "left overs" and I will definitely have to still show the dinners they are left over from. I'll keep sharing our meals during this 'waiting for the Bento box period', so stay tuned.

Fruit Roll Lunch

1 whole grain tortilla with Adams peanut butter and fresh strawberry chunks and blueberry chunks. Cut the tortilla into strips, spread on peanut butter and fill with fresh fruit pieces... roll.

Cucumber sticks and orange wedges... whole grain apple cinnamon rice cake... Yogurt and water.

Chow Mein: Thai Style

We had the after gymnastics bath, dinner, shower, bed crunch last night. So I made thai style chow mein. Most of the work is in the prep. I'd say it is about 15 minutes of cutting and about 10 minutes of cooking.

I dice everything up ahead of time.
garlic and oil
1 boneless skinless chicken breast, sliced
1/4 of a medium size onion, sliced
1 carrot, sliced
3 green onions, 1 1/2 inch pieces
2 cups of bean sprouts
2 packages of ramen
2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
1 tablespoon of light soy sauce
1 tsp black pepper

• Cook Ramen (I put the noodles in a large bowl of water and put it in the microwave for 3 minutes, then drain) set aside


• In a small dish mix oyster sauce, soy and black pepper.


• Warm oil in a LARGE skillet, I mean family super size!


• Add diced garlic to hot oil, I use a bit more than a tablespoon.


• When garlic turns brown add chicken and cook.


• When chicken is almost finished add the sauce and stir until the chicken is coated


• Add ramen noodles to chicken sauce mixture and cook/stir until noodles are coated
  


• Add vegetables, cook for a few more minutes until veggies are heated. Vegetables should be warm but still crisp.


• Remove from heat and serve

• Make regular Ramen for picky kids. The rest of us enjoy this goodness.

Simple, Simple

When I asked Chloe what she wanted for her lunch tomorrow she said,"lasagna". How could I refuse sending her with leftovers, talk about letting mom of the hook. So I made lasagna for dinner, see below, and scooped a small portion into one of Chloe's lunch containers. I included some blueberries and crinkle cut carrots for goodies and some organic kids yogurt. I was specifically looking for something that wasn't Trix or Gogurts, Fred Meyer had these guys in their nutrition section. And to drink, apple juice! Simple, Simple...

Lasagna Even Ainsley Will Eat

My camera is dying, I am getting error messages left and right. I apologize for the atrocious pictures, but it's the best I can do for now.

I made two lasagnas tonight, one for dinner and one for dinner later.

Lasagnas (I made two)
Extra Huge Jar of Spaghetti Sauce
2 lbs or so of Ground Beef
2 eggs beaten
large container Cottage Cheese
4 cups of shredded mozzarella
8oz container shredded parmesan cheese
2 boxes of Dry Lasagna Noodles (I used noodles that didn't require boiling ahead of time, but have used traditional ones in the past for the make ahead version)

Brown Ground Beef, season with Italian seasonings, salt and pepper, drain
In a large bowl mix beef and red sauce.
In another large bowl mix together, cottage cheese, parmesan cheese and shredded mozzarella (reserving some for sprinkling on top of the lasagnas) and eggs.

Put some of the meat sauce in the bottom of a disposable aluminum lasagna pan. Cover sauce with a layer of dry noodles. Spread some cheese mixture on noodles and top with meat sauce. Repeat layers... noodles, cheese mix, meat sauce, noodles, cheese mix, meat sauce. Top with noodles meat sauce and then sprinkle on some of the reserved mozzarella.

Either cover tightly with foil and follow cooking instructions below or cover with seran wrap (placed directly on the lasagna) and then cover pan with foil. Write date made and baking instructions on lid.

cooking instructions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Put the lasagna in the oven and bake for 60 minutes. Remove foil top and cook for 10 more minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for 10-15 minutes. Serve to a hungry family.

Mom's Make a Pizza

One of my more inspired moments. Presenting a Mom's Make a Pizza (lunchable rip off). Inspired by the pita pizzas my kids love so much, I decided to pack Chloe a do-it-herself personal pizza. English Muffin halves for the crusts, olives, cheese, pepperonis, green peppers and sauce. I thought the sauce packaging I came up with was pretty clever. What you see is two zip loc bags, one with sauce in it and a corner snipped off for quick application of sauce onto muffin crusts - the other bag to contain the extreme possibility of leakage. Sure it's not as pretty as a Bento Lunch Box(which may happen some day) but it works! Raisins for an extra treat and a quarter to purchase milk at school (the lunch box was too darn full for a juice container).

Green Chili Chicken Enchilladas

A crock pot masterpiece!

Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas

• Tortillas (we use flour)


• Chicken Breasts (3-4 medium size ones, can be either frozen or thawed)


• Large Can of Green Chili Enchilada Sauce (I suppose you could make your own)


• Some Cheese (We used mozzarella tonight)

Place chicken breasts in the crock pot, cover with half of the can of Green Chili Enchilada Sauce and turn on to high heat, cook for 6 hours. House will smell wonderful. It's time to shred the chicken. First pre heat the oven to 400 degrees. Take two forks and tear the chicken into shreds in the crock pot. Spoon the Chicken/Enchilada Sauce mixture into tortillas and roll. Place enchiladas in a casserole dish and cover with remaining enchilada sauce and some shredded cheese. Heat for 15-20 minutes. Serve with lettuce and tomato dices and some sour cream. Enjoy!

Pita Pizzas

A simple favorite at our house. Using whole wheat pita bread for the crust I like to think it's a little more healthy than Totino's... even if it's not, it's fun for the kids to make.

Pita Pizzas
Pita Bread Rounds
Pizza Sauce
Mozzarella Cheese, shreadded
Favorite Toppings

I hope you all know how to construct a pizza, if you're having trouble the sauce goes on first.

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Place pita rounds on an ungreased cookie sheet. Sauce Pita Bread. Sprinkle on cheese, add toppings and then a little more cheese. Our kids like cheese, pepperoni and ham & pineapple. The one shown here is what Ken and I like to make with pepperoni, bell pepper, olives, and onions. Five is usually enough for our young family, I'm sure as the kids get older we'll need to up the count.

Pop them in the oven for 5 or 6 minutes or untill cheese is all melty and gooey.

Savory Satay

Well, just for you, I made some Satay tonight for a delicious dinner. I usually make some chowmein along with it. But since Kenny is in school and I would be the only one really eating it I sliced bananas and used them as a side instead.

I have gotten incredibly busy with the kids, keeping them away from the TV and making sure they're up on time and off to school on time and picked up on time etc. etc. etc... So I am planning a few make ahead meals for the next week or so. Satay was one of them that I split and saved half of the marinaded chicken for later this month.

Satay

2 lbs of chicken breast

ingredients for the marinade
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh lemon grass
3 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp ground Indian curry
some fresh ground pepper (this is the heat, so pepper to taste)

ingredients for Thai peanut sauce
13.5 oz can of coconut milk (shaken well, save 1/4 of can for basting meat)
3 tsps Masaman curry paste
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp chunky peanut butter

Preparations

• Cut the meat into small 1 inch pieces


• In a bowl mix marinade ingredients and add to meat. Cover and refrigerate overnight or at least 3 hours. (If planning on serving this treat later in the month, put chicken marinade mixture in the freezer, take out of freezer the night before you plan on cooking it)
  


• Make Peanut Sauce


• Turn the stove on medium heat


• In a small sauce pan add 1/2 can of coconut milk


• Let the coconut milk bubble a little


• Add Masaman curry paste, fish sauce, sugar and chunky peanut butter.


• Stir to blend in


• Add the remaining coconut milk and turn heat off
  

Barbecuing

Soak skewers in water for 20 minutes to keep them from burning during grilling. Skewer chicken pieces. Fire up grill. Brush grill with vegetable oil to keep the meat from sticking. Lay skewers of meat on grill. Brush occasionally with coconut milk and rotate to cook evenly. When meat is done remove satay.

Serve with delicious Jasmine Rice and Peanut Sauce. This is some of the most heavenly tasting chicken ever!

Yummy, Chicken Salad

In a bowl I mixed together approximately

1 cup diced cooked chicken
1/2 cup sliced red seedless grapes
1/4 cup diced celery
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
few dollops mayonnaise
a bit of ground ginger
some salt/pepper to taste

As you can see I stuffed it in a whole wheat English muffin along with a bit of lettuce. I also included some carrot sticks and orange wedges and some apple juice to drink.

Kenny got the same salad only I stuffed it in some pita pockets for him.

Our Typical Lunch at Home

Well to be honest our typical lunch isn't much... But it is pretty standard I believe.

There it is a typical lunch at the Schmidt house. A Sandwich on Whole Wheat Bread, Milk and some Fruit or Veggie. The sandwich shown is PB&J though it frequently is Ham and Cheese.