Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Ah-ha! A daily post!


Tomorrow we have walnuts with a chocolate square (the hubs got almonds), carrots (I included a side of peanut butter--eating my peanut butterless carrots today was TORTURE), lemon soy yogurt (the hubs got cherry), and pineapple. Midweek tomorrow, phew!!

Monday, May 12, 2008

What did I say about lazy blogging...?

Oh my. I thought I was a couple days behind...but let me just get these last few days posted and I'll start fresh tomorrow, lol!


Last Thursday: The hubs made the bentos again!! Yay!! Carrots with peanut butter, almonds, cashews, dark chocolate, fresh fruit, and a vegan Caesar salad--he's a master!!


Last Friday: I had the day off, but I threw together a bento for the hubs of carrots with peanut butter, strawberries, cashews, and ginger cookies.


Today's Bentos: Leftover vegan enchiladas and beans from yesterday (they look bad, but soooooo yummy!!!), kiwi, tangelo, and ginger cookies.


Tomorrow's Bentos: The last of the enchiladas are wrapped up, and a scoop of the beans (with chile paste mmmmmm), then some pineapple, carrots, and lemon soy yogurt.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Fresssssshness


Carrots with peanut butter, strawberries, kiwis, tomatoes with pesto (and cracker to put them on), and some raw cashews with a dark chocolate square. Simple, delicious.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Foodie Blogroll!!

Yay! I am now officially part of the foodie blogroll! See over there -->
Hopefully I can now have some more bento lovers find and enjoy the blog :o)
In other news, tomorrow's bento is below...sprouted corn tortillas with refried black beans, cashew "cheese" I made, and avocado. Top layer has oranges and kiwis. Pretty boring, but I'm exhausted!!

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Good bento for a good start to a good week :o)


I've decided I'm going to try being wheat-free for about a week...sometimes I feel icky and I'm trying to figure out if wheat's the problem. Anyhow, with that in mind I put together a bento with carrots (peanut butter in the top layer for dipping), strawberries and kiwis, a tomato-pesto salad, and raw almonds with a square of dark chocolate. Yummy yum yum. I love food.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

The Hubs and his Mad Bento Skillzzz

Last night I drove out to my sister's so I was gone until very late--so I put a challenge to the hubby to make the bentos for today. He did a superdeedooper job!! Here's a picture of his mad skills, hehe:

He put in blueberry granola (soymilk in the side dish), strawberries, almonds with chocolate chips, PB & J triangles, and pineapple. He's so wonderful!!!!!!!!!! :oD


Well for tomorrow I put together a very crappy bento in comparison (I'm tired, etc. etc. *whine* *whine*). A rice cake thingy (I bought for the package, of course), some ginger cookies, some strawberries, and some raw cashews. We're grilling pizza tomorrow night so he needs to be hungry come evening!! :op

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

It's only Wednesday??


I love tempeh dippers with BBQ sauce mmmmmm. I made those and then put in some carrots with peanut butter, pineapple and kiwi, and some pieces of hemp bagel. The hubby got little pickles instead of carrots and lots of pineapple but no kiwis. Now to get ready for school and then hopefully my lunch doesn't get too jumbled up in my backpack boarding to school...

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Bean and Rice Burritos


Packed bean and rice burritos for lunch today with strawberries, carrots with peanut butter, and the rest of the brownies. I included a small container of fresh chile paste for my burrito, yum!

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Back to Work!

Vacation is over tomorrow, and so is my lazy blogging! So tonight, here's a quick catch-up and then I'm off to bed!
Thursday I packed one-tiers full of yummy goodness: Newman O's, cashews, tangerines, granola (w/soymilk in the little containers), strawberries, and baby carrots (w/ranch for the hubs, peanut butter for me).

Friday I was going to get up and make the hubby a bento but he didn't wake me up until 5 minutes before he was going to leave...so he got a PB&J sandwich, some cookies, a ginormous strawberry, and some cashews.
For tomorrow, I packed a square of delicious triple-chocolate espresso vegan brownies (the hubby made those for me today!), some raw almonds, some strawberries and kiwi, some carrots with peanut butter, and some green tea soba noodles with pineapple. Should be a nice start to a new quarter! :o)

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Lazy Blogger!

I have been really lazy the past few days regarding blogging, it's my break from work and I've generally become a slacker! :op I did make the hubby a lunch Friday, a sandwich bento with a couple small side dishes (strawberries and cashews, I believe). Monday I packed him leftover soup from some I made Sunday (he was sick this past weekend). I didn't take pictures of either of those bentos, though. I did take a picture of the bentos I made for today, and the ones I made for tomorrow, so here they are:


Today we enjoyed fresh strawberries, raw almonds with chocolate chips, blueberry-flax granola (side of soymilk), and baby carrots (side of peanut butter).


For tomorrow I made some kamut soba noodles with cashews (I wanted to add some fresh pineapple chunks but no luck at the store across the street), tangerines, and some more of those awesome organic strawberries from a local farm (I will be so bummed when they stop getting those in!). Hopefully I'll be back on track for the blogging now! :o)

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Early morning half awake bento


The hubby and I ended up delivering my sis her new dog last night, so I decided I'd get up at 5:00 with him to make his bento (I also made him breakfast, and made the smoothies, and did all the dishes from everything--I'm an a.m. superwoman!). Soooo here it is--just some fruit, some granola (I packed a side cup of soymilk), and some cashews. Hey, he won't starve! :o)

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Must not lose inspiration!


I've been feeling in a bit of a bento slump this week--I must pull myself out of it and bento on!! For tomorrow I packed tempeh dippers with chipotle barbeque sauce and cashew-lime "sour cream" (and a few habanero-plantains left over from dinner), some little pineapple-papaya kebabs, a few strawberries, and a vegan peanut butter-chocolate chip cookie (Uncle Eddie's, soooo bad for me!). Tomorrow...there will be....renewed inspiration.....I hope!! :o)

Monday, April 14, 2008

Fun, Colorful Bentos


Tonight's bentos were mostly trying to use up what was in the refrigerator. Carrots with peanut butter (again, I know!), kiwis (again!), tomatoes (again!), then some sauteed corn with roasted peppers, cashews roasted with an apricot-curry glaze (my new invention--yummy!!!), and a date for dessert. I think these turned out cute, yay! :o)

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Quick Bentos for Monday


Fast bentos tonight--the hubby and I were watching a movie and didn't realize it was getting late. He got carrots with peanut butter, a veggie dog with ketchup, raw cashews with chocolate chips, and cornichons and pear tomatoes. I got carrots with peanut butter and raw cashews with chocolate chips as well. I also got tomatoes but omitted the cornichons. I threw a kiwi into my bento (I didn't like this brand of veggie dogs but he did). No jury duty call-in for tomorrow, hooray! First day of vacation!

Friday, April 11, 2008

Sleepytime bentos


Must...make....bento........so super tired and up way too late but here's a crappy pic of the bentos for tomorrow. I made some Mexi-brown rice/tofu/corn and put in some refried black beans and some of the guacamole the hubby made earlier. I also included some kiwi, and baby carrots (PB in a side container). Now, off to bed!

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

No cooking tonight!


The hubby did an extra super wonderful job cleaning our stove this afternoon--and I didn't have the heart to mess it up. So, I filled the bentos will plenty of organic fresh fruit and veggies (carrots + PB = happyfuntime), then packed them with soy yogurts. I think I will drink a Synergy kombucha tomorrow with lunch, too! Yay for a healthy lunch! :o)

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

PB&J Bentos (but they're cute little shapes...)


The hubby said he REALLY wanted peanut butter and jelly for lunch--so I cut the sandwich into cute shapes and used little animal picks so I felt like I actually did something. Also added a little blueberry granola with soy yogurt, some kiwis and strawberries, and some raw almonds with chocolate chips. We were going to have leftover vegan pizza from Native Foods...but we ended up eating it, haha.

Monday, April 7, 2008

Bento #100


Today's bentos were the 99th and 100th bentos I've made for lunches! The hubby is anxious to go boarding down into UCR tonight to go geocaching, though, so they were rather quick. I made a stirfry with kamut soba noodles, tofu, zucchini, and cashews. The top tier has strawberries and soy peach yogurt (the hubby now eats all his yogurt with sprinkles, bento or no--lol!). Off to campus...

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Last Monday of the Quarter!


Quick bento to clean out the 'fridge tonight! Leftover veggie dogs from our barbeque (with a side dish of organic ketchup), kiwis and strawberries, lemon soy yogurt (with sprinkles because sprinkles make everything better), and raw cashews with chocolate chips for dessert. Bring on the last Monday of this quarter!
P.S. Sorry for the out of focus picture--my camera was not cooperating and then it ran out of batteries *sigh*

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Burrrrrrritos!


Bean and rice burrito with fresh avocado (plus a generous helping of fresh chile paste for me) in a sprouted wheat tortilla. Carrots with peanut butter, yummy local strawberries, California dates, and some raw almonds with chocolate chips. I love Fridays!

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Klingon Bloodworms


The hubby came into the kitchen while I was working on these spring rolls and exclaimed "OOOOHHHH! Klingon bloodworms!". They really are a fantastic color--but I may have picked a name a tad less dorky! :op They have soba noodles, carrots, and beets seasoned with a peanut sauce (with ginger, soy, mirin, etc.). I included sweet chile sauce for dipping. Also in the bento are cashews, kiwi, tangerines, dried currants, and soy yogurt with pumpkin/hemp seed/sunflower seed/chocolate/oat and spice "granola cookies". They really are too crumbly to be called cookies--but I'm experimenting with a new recipe and this batch was just perfect for topping some yogurt!

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Leftovers

No bentos for tomorrow--we had leftover Indian food! Good thing because we went out and didn't get back until just a little bit ago! :o) I did buy "Hello Cupcake" from Borders while we were out--so perhaps I'll get a start on a general food blog here soon!

Monday, March 31, 2008

Yummy stuff...


Tomorrow will feature tempeh dippers with chipotle barbeque sauce, crackers with peanut butter, raw almonds, homemade wholegrain mocha muffins, kiwi, and a blueberry granola and soy yogurt parfait. Good stuff! The muffin is part of a test batch I did this weekend for a recipe I developed for a presentation. I wanted the simplest possible recipe using only whole grains and sweetening only with agave nectar. Of course, I also needed a tender texture and palatable flavor! This was what I ended up with:

Make-Ahead Muffins
For 10 muffins:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oats
2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
3/4 cup soymilk
1/2 cup agave nectar
2 Tbsp canola oil
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line a cupcake pan with paper cupcake liners. Combine flour, oats, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, agave nectar, oil, and vanilla extract. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Add in your favorite additions (chocolate chips, berries, chopped banana, nuts, etc.). Spoon the mixture into cupcake liners, filling 2/3 full. Bake at 350˚F for approximately 20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

In my mocha version, I added about a Tbsp. of instant coffee and a small handful of chocolate chips. Yummy!

Sunday, March 30, 2008

At least he won't go hungry...


This weekend has been insane. I am so tired it's not funny. I put together a very quick bento just for the hubby (I'll forage the 'fridge tomorrow). A pack of crackers, some black beans, some fresh strawberries, and a little soy yogurt and blueberry granola parfait and that's all folks! I threw in a hot sauce for the beans--not an exciting bento but he won't go hungry!

THE BENTO BOXER

New blog name, same great blog, heh! I am thinking of heading in a slightly different direction with my blogging (as in, doing more of it!). Therefore, only bentos will be posted in this blog, which will basically become an online journal of all the bentos I make. I am looking to further my food blogging through "The Frolicking Unicorn". Stay tuned!

Friday, March 28, 2008

Brown Rice Spring Rolls with Strawberry Chile Dipping Sauce


I've had some inquiries about these--and I had a request for the recipe, so here goes! The original recipe I saw for these was in the book Sushi Modern by Hideo Dekura; I of course never bothered to really use the recipe as written--just the idea (silly chefs). I am including only an "outline" of what I do--everyone should play around and add/subtract/substitute to make their own yummy goodness! Personally, with the AMAZING strawberries we've been getting at Goodwin's, I'm planning on creating a shredded jicama (instead of rice) and fresh strawberry version of these babies! :o)

You will need:
Rice Spring Roll Wrappers
Brown Sushi Rice (or white sushi rice if you really must)
Mayonnaise (or Veganaise, which is what I use)
Fresh Chile Paste (available in Asian section of supermarkets--don't get a chile sauce with garlic, etc.)
Strawberry Jam
Rice Vinegar

The Rolls:
The first step is to make the rice. If you normally prepare sushi, prepare the rice as you would for the sushi you normally make. If you have never made sushi rice, I would google it and play around with the technique and flavoring agents (you want a hint of sweet/sour flavor in sushi rice) until you get something you really like. For this recipe, I usually make my brown rice and then use apple cider vinegar, mirin, and salt to flavor the rice. I usually make the flavors more pronounced than my typical sushi rice, as the sweet/sour flavors go perfectly with this recipe.

After your rice is made (and it should be cooled during the process), soak one of the spring roll wrappers in hot water until soft, then transfer to a work surface (shake off the excess water well!). Create a little "log" of brown rice in the center of the wrap. In a small bowl, mix a bit of the mayonnaise with a bit of the chile paste (do this to taste--I like about a Tbsp of chile paste to about 2 tsp of mayonnaise), and spread a bit of this mixture onto the rice log. Roll up the spring roll like a burrito. You can serve these like spring rolls, or cut them into pieces that resemble sushi.

The Sauce:
This is the ultimate dipping sauce--it took the place of Thai Peanut Sauce as my all time favorite. I would make this for anything you can think of where it would compliment other foods--and then let me know how you used it! :o) The best part, though? It is three ingredients mixed in a bowl--and it doesn't get simpler than that!

Mix some of the chile paste and strawberry jam in a bowl. Thin this mixture with the rice vinegar until it reaches the consistency you desire (I like mine fairly thick so I can pick up a lot of it when I'm dipping!). You can really vary the proportions of this based on the heat/sweetness/sourness you want. I like mine on the hot side--but you can vary this anywhere from tongue-tingling to sweet with only a hint of heat.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Very exhausted (and two more busy days ahead of me...)...Hubby's bento is Tofutti cream cheese and sundried tomato pinwheels with fresh fruit, mine is raw almonds and chocolate chips with fresh fruit. We each get a soy yogurt (the plain one can have some of the fruit from the bento added). Next week will be so easy after this week :oD

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Uber-Delicious Strawberries on Noodles


Well I was REALLLLLLLY feeling like my strawberry-chile spring rolls...but I just didn't feel like rice. So, I made noodles and tossed them with the sauce, then topped them with some more of the super-fresh and extraordinarily good strawberries from Goodwin's (we bought another basket today, the one from yesterday was long gone)! For the top layer I packed some carrots (skin on...trying to increase vitamin and mineral intake to avoid taking a multi), some kiwi, some raw cashews with chocolate chips, and some dates. I packed little containers of peanut butter for the carrots as well. I'm starting to FINALLY feel healthy again--just had to get back to old eating habits, ditch a few pounds, and start running daily again. YAY!!!! :oD

Sandwich Box Bentos


I decided to make sandwiches for today's bentos; a chance to use the collapsible boxes I don't use very often! I made peanut butter and apricot jelly sandwiches on whole grain bread. I added a few gingersnap cookies, some peach soy yogurt, and some strawberries (organic--picked from the farm just yesterday!) to round out the meal. Should be yummy!

Monday, March 24, 2008

Bentos for Tuesday...


Some super-yummy-and-delicious bentos for tomorrow! I baked up a Jewel Yam, sweetened it with a little agave nectar, and added some cinnamon and ginger. I put in some tomatoes, raw cashews, peach soy yogurt, honey tangerines, kiwis, and a few little cookies. Hooray for the second day after my return to bento making! :o)

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Back to Bentos!


The hubby returns to work tomorrow from his break, so here's the first bento of his new quarter! The muffins are Agave/Chocolate/Banana and are sooooo yummy!! For the hubby, he gets some chips and guacamole, cashews and kiwi. I get some rice crackers with apple butter, tomatoes, almonds, and kiwi. Hopefully these lunches will help ward off some serious cases of the Mondays.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Happy St. Patrick's Day!



St Patricks Day Glitter Graphics




No, I have not abandoned the blog! The hubby's been on break so I haven't had any reason to make bentos--I get to go home and have lunch with him! I might make some vegan chocolate stout cupcakes to celebrate tonight so maybe I'll edit this post with yumminess later!

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Practically Raw Bento


I've really been trying to incorporate more raw foods into our diet, so this bento is raw except for the peanut butter and the few chocolate chips. Lots of organic nuts, veggies and fruits, yum!!

Monday, March 10, 2008

Fresh, clean, raw, organic


Wanted a nice, fresh bento for tomorrow--so lots of raw fruits and veggies in these! The crackers are rosemary sesame crackers and the little rabbits are honey grahams. Some raw cashews with organic chocolate chips in there as well. The hubby's has vegan ranch for dipping the carrots; mine has peanut butter.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Monday, Monday

Just one bento to make tonight (my class is being fed on a field trip tomorrow so I didn't need one). I made pasta to use up the leftover pasta sauce and veggie meatballs. Sides are blueberries, grape tomatoes and raspberry soy yogurt. The picture was from my phone and looked absolutely terrible and unappetizing, so I deleted it! I just couldn't stand seeing food of mine looking so gross, lol!

Saturday, March 8, 2008

My Little Pony Cupcakes for the Sinister


My sinister's turning 23 next week and we're celebrating tomorrow (err...today)!! Some of our favorite toys to play with when we were kids were all our My Little Ponies (she plays with much bigger ponies these days)! So, I made her some prettiful cupcakes to remember the good ole days! They are the Vanilla Agave recipe from VCTOTW, but I added chocolate chips to them. I coated each one with chocolate ganache (except for two which I actually made completely chocolate-free for my Dada), and then layered vegan vanilla "butter"cream over that for the designs. The little stars are the only thing that's not vegan...I cheated and used Wilton melts (hey, I'm a busy woman!). I also crafted my sis a nifty little bag which I will post on my crafting blog in the next day or so. Now, to bed! (Up way too late working on everything AND had to deal with a broken needle on the sewing machine that seriously jammed things up for a bit!)

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Almost Friday...Almost Friday...


Simple, but healthy bentos for tomorrow. Mini sandwiches with Tofurky hicory smoked deli slices and soy cheese, with lots of fresh fruits. Raw cashews with chocolate chips for dessert. Off to bed now...so tired!

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Tomato Barf Bento


Tomato barf!! ...or just brown rice pasta and veggie "meat"balls...but it looks awful in the photograph! I was really craving this so I made it into a lunch, yum! I put in some soy strawberry yogurt topped with blueberries (and a few crayon sprinkles because they're so darn cute), some tomatoes (redundancy of ingredients, bad chef!!--but I was in a hurry and didn't feel like peeling and cutting carrots!), a few raw cashews and a little chocolate for sides. Maybe I'll eat after work tomorrow and make some garlic bread to eat, too......

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Pasta & Potato Salad


Nothing too special tonight--just a quinoa pasta and Buttercream Potato salad with baby corn and green onions (made with veganaise). Rounded the meal out with some fresh fruit, some honey grahams for me and sandwich cookies for the hubby, and some crunchy carrots (with vegan ranch for the hubby and peanut sauce for me).

Monday, March 3, 2008

Squid Burger Bento


No squids were harmed in the making of tomorrow's bentos! :op I've been using tempeh a bit lately, and I decided to do my own version of the Scorpion Burger from Native Foods. The little animal pick that I used for the hubby's bento was a squid, and the burgers look a little like Krabby Patties from the Krusty Krab (where SQUIDward works)...so...they are henceforth SQUID BURGERS! I used some chipotle barbeque sauce on the tempeh (sooo super yummy), and put all the fixings in separately (lettuce, avocado, carrots, onions, and some chipotle mayo in the little cup). I also added a bit of fruit and a chocolate to top it all off. I am looking forward to lunch tomorrow!

I also made some cupcakes today; the Vanilla Agave recipe from VCTOTW. They turned out okay but I'm not sure if they're the ones I want to use for my sinister's birfday (we're celebrating this weekend). In any case, I'll be posting the finished product later this week.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

New Totoro Bento


This is the hubby's new Totoro bento--I think it's totally cute!! :o) I made veggie spring rolls for tomorrow (with brown rice, tempeh, carrots, and cabbage in the filling), accompanied by peanut and sweet chile dipping sauces. I tucked carrot chips in wherever I could find a little space. The top tier holds strawberries, kiwis, blueberries, and tangerine; some cashews, and a small box of chocolates. Have a happy Monday, everyone!

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Uber-Cute Bento Bundles


I got my latest order from Japan today! Included were items to complete my Kiki bento and the hubby's Totoro bento (the two wraps and the two chopstick sets). I of course had to use these to create the uber-cute bento bundles you see above. I also had a bit of time so I made quite a few little items for these bentos. Mine started off identical to the hubby's...but I knocked it off the cutting board and had to begin again (clumsy me!). So, below, is the hubby's bento. The bottom tier holds carrots with tarragon "butter", rosemary and garlic roasted potatoes, and some spiced purple yams. The top tier is strawberries and kiwis, some honey graham bunnies, some raw pepitas with dried currants, and some blueberries.

My bento is quite similar to the hubby's--carrots with tarragon "butter" and the spiced purple yams, but then I got a baked buttercream potato. In my top tier, I got cashews with goji berries, some of the honey grahams, and a yummy little fruit salad.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Spring Rolls and Delicious Fruit


I was feeling like a really "fresh" bento so I made the fruit a bigger part of the bento for tomorrow. I added some cashews with chocolate chips, and some cucumbers with a side dish of vegan ranch for the hubby. The "main course" is the strawberry-chile springs rolls I'm so fond of. I ate poorly today so this lunch should help me get back on track! :o)

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Justice League Bento


Tonight I spent too much time searching for a book on the supreme court at Borders so I had to throw together quick bentos when we got home. I made a quick tomato sauce with shitakes (my poor basil plant has slim pickings at the moment, as you can see) and cooked up some spaghetti. Applesauce and some veggies on the side (I got cashews and chocolate chips instead of the veggies...but the hubby's watching his sugar intake so none for him). I'm feeling a bit like spring rolls tomorrow...I guess we'll see how much time I have :o)