Stylin' with Bunnies

Here is today's attempt at obento. After these first few, I'll only take pics of the ones using leftovers or ones of special interest. It can get boring seeing the same veggies and such.

This is my lunch (clockwise): apple bunny, orange slices, grapes, apple bunny, cucumber slices, half of a BLT that hubby took for breakfast, carrots, grapes, apple bunny and tomato.

Hubby took his away before I got a picture of them. He kept saying 'Don't make them so cute. I'm only going to eat them.' That's part of the idea of the style, from what I see. Make them cute and fun!

I'm trying to revamp our diets. After eating all of yesterday's lunch (see previous post), I felt a lot better in my stomach and a lot less sleepy and craving in the afternoon. There definitely is something to be said about obento!

I'm enjoying the creativity part of it, too!

Happy eating!

Style Tips Received!

I asked my Japanese friend to look at yesterday's Bento. She was tickled I tried. She said 'Bento! Bonzai!' Of course, my first try had no method. I just threw things in. This is yesterday's breakfast for my hubby. Not bad, but no style.

Style tip (not quite stated this way): color + food = yum!

She said the more color you pack in with the food, the more 'wow factor' you'll have when you open the box. All of the pretty colors will make you want to eat your food.

Here is today's try at Bento for hubby. Breakfast is on the bottom. Lunch is on the top.

Breakfast (clockwise) = egg, grapes, orange slices, grapes, toast, ham, tomato

Lunch (clockwise) = crackers, tuna salad, celery sticks, orange slices, mustard, tomato, crackers and cheese, carrots

This looks a little bit better. At least, he'll have more choices and snacks to choose from.

Here's my lunch. This is much better for me. You can see I have pretty much everything he has between his two meals.

After work, yesterday, I went shopping for Bento stuff and foods with color. I bought the cupcake papers, the divided trays, the metal cups and the green silicone cups to hold rolly things like the egg. I bought apples, carrots, grapes, celery, tomatoes and oranges. I was running low on staple foods that hubby will eat.

Here's a pic of the cups I bought.

The green one on the left is called a 'pinch cup'. Supposedly for a pinch of this and a pinch of that. I like the little pedestal on the bottom of this. I like this so nothing will roll and you can actually put a lot of stuff into it. This comes two to a pack for under $2. See the Bento pics for size reference. The egg is a medium-sized egg.

The metal one on the right is a sauce cup. It holds 2.5 oz. This comes four to a pack for under a dollar. We can probably spread the tuna on 3 of the 4 plain crackers I put in our lunches.

Both of these cups fit nicely into the divided trays. They were cheap, too...all the better.

I can hardly wait to start using leftovers for more surprising lunches.

Now, I'll have to see what my friend says about this try at Bento.

Thanks, Yuri!

Happy Bento-ing!

Bento...kinda...

My Japanese friend and I were talking about Bento yesterday. In case you don't know what Bento is, I'll tell you in as simple of terms as possible.

Bento is a little of this, that and the other thing when it comes to making a breakfast or lunch. It is the style of putting together food items into an appealing arrangement while using either leftovers or first runs.

Let me show you my inspiration for this morning's breakfast for my hubby.

We have cubed cheddar, cottage cheese, raisin scone and pork sausage patty. He's diabetic, so I best watch what I give him. I should've put a bit of canned fruit in there, too. I had the room, but time is limited in the morning.

The box you put it in is a Bento box. Anything will do as long as it has a lid, but there are special boxes for Japanese meals. I need some style tips from my Japanese friend. Her blog is in my faves list to the right...Japanese Cooking Lovers. Check it out. There are some great recipes there and lots of tips for Japanese cooking.

Because of the economy, this style of meal is becoming popular. Of course, big cities like New York and DC already have this in fashion. But us little guys in the 'burbs of SC can do it as well.

Creativity is the key. Leftovers help, too!

Have a good day!

Okonomiyaki!

Anyone know what this delicious thing is?

OKONOMIYAKI!!! That's what.

If you never EVER try any other kind of Japanese cuisine, you MUST try this. This has to be my all-time favorite Japanese food. It is very filling and it is very tasty. The best part of it is, it is a rather healthy food.

What it is...a cabbage and veggie pancake smothered with Tonkatsu Sauce (brown stuff) and mayo (white stuff).

It is very easy to make.

Okonomiyaki Recipe

Mix 3/4 cup COLD water with about a teaspoon of Hon-Dashi fish boullion. If you don't have Hon-Dashi, leave it out. It doesn't make much of a difference in taste. It is important to use COLD water or you'll make a noodle dough, which you don't want.

Then add 1 cup of regular flour and 1 egg. Beat this together to make a very loose batter. Set aside.

Slice about 4 cups raw cabbage very fine. You want either hair-like strings or you can chop it in half so it is manageable. Add to the flour mixture and stir together.

Chop some onions, carrots, green peppers and meat or fish into very fine dice. Mix them together and set this aside. You can use almost any vegetable or any meat, except for celery. Celery is not a Japanese flavor.

This is a trick to keep the veggies and meat together. Beat one egg in a cup and set aside.

Heat up a skillet - non-stick works best. I use an electric skillet set to 225 degrees F.

Add a little oil to the skillet. If you use a small skillet, put about 1/4 of the veggie/meat mixture into the oil. If you use an electric skillet, use about half the veggie meat mixture and divide into two. Some on one side of the skillet and some on the other.

Put a little bit of the beaten egg in a cup over each pile of veggies and meat. Just enough so it all kind of looks like a very sparse omelet.

On top of this, put about 1/4 of the cabbage mixture, after you've stirred it to coat the cabbage. Make sure it covers all of the veggie/meat mixture and goes a little over the edge of it. Flatten a bit so it is one thickness the whole way across.

Cook it slowly. When the bottom gets a bit browned and holds together, flip it over. You may want to cover and cook it the rest of the way at this time. This will help the middle get done.

Put the finished pancake on a plate. Lightly schmeer with mayonnaise...the real stuff. Drizzle the bulldog sauce over top. Eat and enjoy!

This takes a little time to make, but, in my opinion, it is totally worth it!

Happy eating!

Pie Done Right

It's been a while since I've posted. It's not that I didn't cook during this time, it's just I've been trying to get the house cleaned and my poison ivy rid of. YUK!

Here's a little peek at what I LOVE to do. I LOVE pies! Fruit pies, especially.

This is what I call 'done right'. A little slice...well, maybe not so little at times. A little whipped topping. A little ice cream. A little cup of coffee. Oh, a taste of heaven! My pie crust recipe is as follows. This includes a family secret. Don't tell anyone! LOL!!!

PIE CRUST

(for two crust pie, plus a little extra for decorating, if you wish)

3 cups of flour 

3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons of hard shortening

3/4 teaspoon of salt

Cut the shortening into the flour and salt.

Add enough milk to hold the flour mixture together. This should be dry and crumbly, but it should still hold together if you squeeze a little in your hand.

Roll out between waxed paper and put into pie plate. 

Prick the bottom of the crust, if you're filling with fruit. If you fill with liquid (like pumpkin), don't prick or the pie will stick to the pan.

Crimp the edges of the top and bottom crust together.

Prick, slit, or cut designs into the top crust to let out steam. This is very important!

Wet the top of the crust with either a little milk (preferred) or water. Sprinkle with sugar to make the crust sparkly.

Bake at 350 degrees until the crust is done. I like glass pie plates so I can see if the bottom of the pie is cooking when I check on it.

Note: This will make a two crust pie. If you want less crust, cut the recipe into thirds and work from there. 

Two family secrets: using milk to hold the dough together will make a flaky and tender crust. Rolling between waxed paper allows you to pick up the crust without breaking it when you put it into the pie plate.

Happy eating!