Kiwi Bento

Everything I Knew About Food Was Wrong

2009-06-11T12:57:00.004+12:00

I tried to live the low fat lifestyle, like a good citizen, I knew that fat was bad and cholesterol was even worse. Biggest no no was saturated fat, so all those animal fats had to be consumed in minimum quantities, except for "good" fats, like fish oils, plant fats were good for us too. Or SO I THOUGHT!

One day I read a book, (uh oh) it was just one guy, sitting down for over five years, reviewing a huge amount of scientific papers,medical, nutritional, biochemical papers all relating to diet and metabolism. The book was the summation of his findings backed up with scientific literature. The author, a scientist, had a reputation in the journalism world for exposing "bad" science and bad data, people who fiddled the numbers to get the results the wanted. So he reviewed with a very critical eye and discovered some very amazing things.

This book was a complete revelation for me, it really has changed the way I think about food.

Amazon

NZ(same bookd different title)

If you don't read the evidence its hard to believe the conclusions because they go against everything we've been told, but basically fats are good, all fats except trans fats are good, in fact animal fats may eve be better for us than plant fats. (Animal fat is not all saturated fat either, loads of animal fats contain 1/3 unsaturated fats!) Cholesterol is good, we need heaps, it protects against loads of diseases esp strokes.

Cholesterol is only harmful (and then only a minority fraction) when its oxidised and your arteries are inflamed. What causes the inflammation and oxidation? Sugars. We all know that diabetics can suffer loads of complications because of excess blood sugar, in fact diabetics are more likely to have a heart attacks.

Excess sugar consumption is whats driving the obesity epidemic, its also causing loads of disease.

So I've decided to change my diet, I've cut out sugar. So I've cut out bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, chips crackers, cereal, sweets, and most fruits. It sounds drastic, but after reading the evidence I was convinced that it was better for my body. I don't count calories, I just make sure its all low in sugar or carbohydrates that easily convert to sugars. A surprising side effect I've noticed from eating no sugar is that the desire for alcohol has really dropped. I've had maybe one glass of wine a week, and I don't miss it.

A typical day of food might be:

Breakfast:
Eggs, omelet or scrambled with some sliced mushrooms

Lunch:
Lamb and spinach salad with cheese (Camembert, Havarti or blue!)

Dinner:
Turkey curry made with coconut cream with cauliflower and green beans.

Snacks:
Nuts and seeds (macadamia, almonds, walnuts,sunflower pumpkin), Boysenberries with cream, chicken, or the odd Bier stick.If I'm desperate for something sweet I make some sugar free jelly with berries in it and serve it with some cream. Or I have a wildberry tea!

Lack of rice had made my bento's a challenge indeed. So from now on its Low Carb Bento. I may even have to rename my blog :-)

Winner - Light Yagami!!!!

2009-06-02T16:26:00.000+12:00

Last month I announced that on June 1st I would put all my followers into a draw for a Brand new Bento Box.

Tada! - well after drawing a randow name out of a basket (you'll just have to trust me on that! lol) I have a winner. LIGHT YAGAMI!
To claim your prize just leave your detail in the comments section, my comments are moderated so your details will be private.!

Thanks to everyone who joined up to follow my blog ;-) I really ought to do a few more posts.

Konjac Shirataki Noodles - calorie free food?

2009-05-03T13:18:00.011+12:00

These crazy noodles have been catching my eye at the Japanese market for some time now. I finally bought some and they have been sitting in my kitchen for some time as I tried to pluck up the courage to try them. (shelf stable for a year! wohoo!)

A couple of things had me worried, firstly the smell. According to Internet sources they were going to smell bad. (Its just the solution they are packed in, if you rinse them really really well the smell should go away). Secondly they were going to be slimy.

Konjac noodles are about 96% water and 4% soluble fibre. Almost no calories either. So I was willing to overcome obstacles to see if this could be something I could eat a couple of times a week to get extra fibre and cut back on calories

First I opened the noodles, drained and rinsed them. Yes they smelled, a weird smell, it reminded me of very strong flavoured prawn crackers. I rinsed them in warm water, but the smell still lingered, not as bad though. By the end of rinsing the smell was okay, but still there. I think I should have rinsed them in boiling water.

But it wasn't so bad that it was off putting.

Other rumours on the Internet tell me that lightly sauteing them is best. I used a spray of rice bran oil and fried them up with some oyster mushrooms, a dash of teriyaki sauce and a dash of sweet chili sauce.

And here they are cooked, they look okay kind of like a glass noodle/vermicelli kind of pasta.

Texture is different to what I'm used to, you can't really chew on them. They just break in half so you end up chopping them into smaller and smaller pieces in your mouth.

Taste wise, they just tasted like sweet chilli sauce and teriyaki to be honest, it was only the texture thing that was hard to get over, there was still that slight fishy smell, but you couldn't taste it.

Will I eat them again? Yes, they were okay. I want to try them in a soup, I think slurping them down with some broth will work quite nicely. I just have to get over the texture thing. Its like tofu, when you first try it, its a bit strange to your mouth. They were not as slimy as I imagined they would be. I can get used to this stuff. I'm going to try damn hard too because calorie free noodles = awesome!!!!

Just found a link to a blog where these babies are referred to as Miracle Noodles LOL now that's marketing

*** Update - I rinsed these with boiling water and soaked them for a bit before rinsing again. Much better. I also cooked them up with some pasta sauce , diced onions, peppers and broccoli. It was great and no smell!

Don't forget to sign up to follow this blog and go in the draw to win a Bento Lunch Box!

Prize for You! Online Competition! Enter Now!

2009-04-29T16:23:00.005+12:00

I have a BRAND NEW Bento box and you could WIN it! All you have to do is follow this blog by the 31st of May and you'll be in the draw. I really want to meet more Bento enthusiast's so feel free to forward this to any other Bento obsessed peoples! (Current followers will be in the draw too!)
On the 1st of June I'll randomly select a follower and announce the winner. If you've won you'll have a week to claim your prize so make sure you check back in June. (And yes I'll post overseas too)

Trying new things - Lotus root easy and delicious

2009-04-25T16:03:00.004+12:00

I was in the asian vege mart down at Wairau and in the freezer section I spotted a bag of lotus root. I've always liked the way this stuff looks. So pretty!! But I had no idea what it tasted like. So ever the experimentalist I bought a bag and scurried off home. It was like $1.80 for a 500gm bag, dirt cheap, how could I not try it. You can get this stuff in almost every asian grocer out there. Its not rare. First I boiled in for about 5mins (why? because the internets told me to!). I could have boiled it a bit longer I think, but it depends how soft you like it I suppose. Then I fried them in a bit of rice bran oil.

Mmmm Golden brown goodness. Then I put them in my bento.Under the lotus root is some spinach cooked with sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds and a bit of teriyaki sauce. Yum!
Lotus root tastes pretty good, its got a real mild sweetness to it. It reminds me of the mystery vegetable you get sometimes when you order tempura at a Japanese restaurant. Y'know that one that tastes a bit like something you know but you cant put your finger on it.
I've also heard a rumour that they're great in soups!

Watch as I Make Miso From Scratch (well mostly)

2009-04-10T18:25:00.003+12:00

How to make miso!

I love miso, its easy, tasty and makes me look like a genius in the kitchen. My husband loves the stuff and is so impressed I can make it, so no one tell him how easy it is mmmmkay!

So here are my ingredients starting from the top going clockwise I have cubes of silken tofu, a sachet of Dashi stock (not quite able to make my own yet), some dried seaweed (wakame) and two big table spoons of miso paste. That is probably too much seaweed. Those little black fragments expand ........ a lot! I bought everything at the Tmark asian grocer in Wairau park. I couldn't find any japanese seaweed so I bought a bag of korean stuff. It looked like the right stuff!

Next I got the dashi dissolved in about 4 cups of water I only used half the sachet for this. About 1 teaspoon, then I enlisted the help of teenage stepson. He is on holiday and looked like he needed to learn something. Kids should be in school or doing chores. ;-)

I gently heated the dashi and in the meantime got stepson to dissolve the miso paste slowly with some of the warmed dashi. I've heard this is quite important, you can't go just chucking your sticky mass of miso straight into the dashi. (my usually style of cooking would permit this) instead you must gently mix it into a runny paste with some warm dashi.

By now the dashi is nice and hot. Time to add that seaweed. Get to it boy!

I'm fairly sure this doesn't violate any child labour laws. So i let the seaweed rehydrate and then let the dashi cool a bit. You don't want to be adding the paste to boiling dashi, it can ruin the delicate flavours, so they tell me. So after my patience has reached its limit we add the miso paste ( I say we, but I really mean I made the stepson do it)

Stir gently, by now it should be looking like miso. Now I direct the lad to add the tofu. You don't really need to see a photo of that, its just the little bowl of cubes added gently to the miso. Easy. So I let everything warm for a while and presto its ready. Serve in small bowls. Yum.

It even met with male teenager approval which is interesting, I have several foodie friends who think is hideous stuff. Weirdos. Miso is the best dish ever!

New Container load from Japan! oh sweet bentos!

2009-04-06T17:07:00.007+12:00

Sweet little bentos still all wrapped up in their protective plastic coats and matching sets, MATCHING FREAKING SETS. Sometimes we get such sporadic random bento deliveries, this latest batch is the best yet!

I especially like the bear picture on the chop stick case. So happy and so curious. He wants to know what I have for lunch and he wants to eats it!!!!!

And then there is this hoppy little rabbit set. Very good addition for the days where I feel in the pink!

Little flower Bento

2009-04-05T17:42:00.001+12:00

Bento lunch for tomorrow- brown rice with radish flower and beetroot leaves for the grass, tuna in a lettuce leaf and sliced red capsicum with a few cherry tomatoes. I ended up adding some furikake to the rice for extra flavour before I put the lid on and I added a sachet of instant miso soup, because its starting to get cold here folks! I need the hearty goodness of miso. I also need the comfort food. Work tomorrow is going to be so bleah! Maybe I should have added chocolate instead.

Asian Mart Shopping Joys!

2009-04-05T15:14:00.002+12:00

I want to try cooking some more japanese style dishes at home so I went and got some essentials from the asian mart. I got Miso, dashi stock, some soup stock, soba, mirin, soy sauce, seasame seeds and some instant miso to take to work for lunch. I also got some silken tofu, but hey, thats in the fridge y'know. I'm in the process of trying to find some good homestyle japanese recipes. Simple dishes that even I can't wreck too badly.

Millions of sushis, sushis for me!

2009-04-04T15:01:00.003+13:00

Our bright little pathology registrars are off to their next rotation.(In Auckland the Pathology registrars rotate around the major hospitals every 4 months). Its very sad to see them go, as they are the least weird registrars we've ever had!! One of them had awesome cake baking skills, its was dreamy. I think because the had both worked as GPs first their people skills were quite developed. Unlike some of the misanthropic folk who end up in pathology.

Shared lunch thing at work, bring nibbles. Oh god, I have no cooking skills, but I do have my handy Daiso Sushi Molds! So off to work I went, avocado, red pepper and teriyaki chicken all fell into my sushi making plans! They don't look half bad if I say so myself, some of the fillings are off centre, yes, but I meant them to be like that! REALLY! I'm no sushi rice expert, I just make mine in the rice cooker. My rice cooker cooks a bit dry so I use 1.5 cups of water to 1 cup of rice. I used the medium grain Sun rice which you can buy at the supermarket very easily. Or sometimes I use the Sushi rice, I can't remember the brand but it comes in a black bag and is usually top shelf stuff. A bit pricey but the grains are much shorter and it makes lovely sushi. Once cooked I just use some sushi vinegar I bought at the Asian market, I don't know how much to use exactly but two tablespoons per cup of cooked rice sounds good doesn't it?

Here is a Bento I made the other day. With winter its now dark in the morning when I go to work and DARK when I make my lunch in the evenings. So taking a nice picture is very difficult. So here's my bento, left over chicken noodle stir fry and cherry tomatoes. I'm using ice burg lettuce as dividers, it works really well. And I can't stand any wastage so after the noodles were gone I ate all my lettuce! It was still crispy as I waited till my leftovers were cold before packing the bento.

Sushi Bento PLUS cute stars!

2009-03-30T19:08:00.008+13:00

Oh the joys of having friends, especially friend who understand your bento addictions. Last weekend was my birthday and sneaky Nina hunted down the teeniest tiniest star cutter. TINY I tells YA! I was inspired to make a bento lunch.
I made myself some sushi since I am craving it so bad. Mine never tastes as good as Sushi-WA (its not called that anymore apparently but I still love saying sushi- WA!! so sushi - WA!! it will always be.) My sushi has canned teriyaki Tuna, avocado and red capsicum. It rests gracefully on a bed of lettuce and has placid cherry tomatoes for companions. Dotted about are yellow pepper and carrot stars and some lubricous soy sauce. Of course I used my trusty sushi mold ;-)

I may even have to open a furoshiki to wrap the best bento ever! I have no wrapping skills, fear not though, because the Internet will teach me. I bet there is a delightful series of YouTube videos.

Buying trip!!!!!!

2009-03-29T16:39:00.000+13:00

Wow I just spent a morning scouting out new Bento goodies.
Check out this sweet little box! Shiny = good, black = good. No seal though so only dry foodstuffs in this cutie. I bought one for me and a few to sell on Trademe. Its the only way I can afford my bento addiction.

Continuing with the black theme I also got this very square shallow box. I think it has a very elegant but still cute design! Once again one for me and some for trademe. I am so thrilled to find Bento this tasteful! I like my cute bentos too but these are for those days when I am feeling sophisticated (very rarely I tell ya!)

Kiwi Berries! Oh So CUTENESS

2009-03-09T12:02:00.004+13:00

When I first heard of these they were selling for around $5 a punnet. Prices have eased and I was able to get a punnet for $1.99 at Pac N Sav. Sweet deal. They are hairless and you don't have to peel them! So inspired by teeny tiny kiwifruits I made myself a Bento lunch.
Bottom layer is Yogurt mixed with Cottage cheese (weird I know but it adds protein and texture) with my kiwi berries and some blue berries. Top layer is a mini pita with sliced chicken roll from the deli, salad mix and yellow capsicum.

I've been so slack at making my lunch since the holidays. I got back to work and just couldn't be bothered, but weeks of buying my lunch is taking a heavy toll to my pocket. Oh the poorness! So back to homemade lunches and cute - o - Bento!

Quail Eggs - So delightful

2008-12-13T15:11:00.004+13:00

I really wanted to make a little birds nest, so I cooked up some soba noodles (5 mins in boiling water) then rinsed them in cold water and tossed into a sauce (half mirin half soy sauce). I had a hard time making a perfect nest but it was okay for my little birdies. The rest is just salad (got to eat your greens!) and me mucking around seeing what else can be done with quail eggs. I put the yolk of one inside a tomato, and tried to make little toadstools out of the whites. I need a punch for cutting nice little round circles of nori. Its hard doing it by hand, I am not very dexterous!
The noodles are delicious. I had a heap left over and I'm eating them now. Yum. I am imagining lots of cold soba noodle salads for lunch this year. droooool.

I found my quail eggs at New World in Albany, Auckland. $3.99 for a dozen. But they are so cute, I want my own little quails so I can have quail eggs every day. They taste fine, just like chicken eggs except not as strong flavoured.

Fruity Bento with Attempted Mouse

2008-11-04T18:38:00.005+13:00

With attempted mouse, sounds like some kind of modern art piece!

So here's my fruit and cheese bento! With a fruit leather fence, that is sort of falling down, but oh well. You've got to try these things. The slice of cheese acts as a nice divider, I'll have to use that again in the future. The mice have friut leather ears, cheese eyes and only one has chocolate hail whiskers as these proved to be extremely fiddly! Plus I have sliced open my finger on my dextrous hand. (Don't worry I didn't do it making the Bento, I did it at work!) I thought I was clumsy before but now I have to do everything with a bandaged finger poking out at a weird angle! Oh the humanity.

Bento with Longan Fruit

2008-10-26T13:25:00.013+13:00

Well I was at Foodtown this weekend and I spotted for the first time ever, Longan fruit. I don't know if they've had them in before but it was the first time I've spotted them. Keen to try them out I grabbed half a dozen and raced to the checkout. Then home to make my beautiful bento lunch. I just grabbed a can of 5 bean mix and threw in some corn and tomatoes with a little balsamic vinegar and plenty of salt and pepper. Very tasty, but all the beans look weird pink for some reason, do you think the kidney beans could have stained the other beans while they were in the can? Who knows. Its tasty anyway.

I also have an awesome fruit selection, kiwifruit, strawberries and Longan's! Its hard to describe the flavour of these cute little hard skinned berry things, but they were nice, I'd buy them again.
I usually prefer tart fruit tastes, hence my rock hard kiwifruit and crunchy nectarine obsessions. Luckily my husband feels the same way so I don't have to spend half the time at the supermarket buying ripe/unripe versions of everything.

Oh and the other exciting buy I had at the supermarket was Lipton's light green tea. The iced tea market here is slow, its not very popular here, we are all hot tea drinkers! But I will try anything new, It was okay, very sweet and not very green tea tasting. But I am looking for some ideas for cool refreshing summers day drinks. Last week I made a batch of wild berry tea and found that was really good ice cold and it didn't need any added sugar either.

Snack Review - Wasabi Peanuts

2008-10-22T18:53:00.005+13:00

Check them out in their shiny foil packet. Are they not already tempting you?

The shop assistant at the asian grocery assured me I was buying a delightful product. Although I was warned the wasabi would be much hotter than what I would be used too. To paraphrase....On first bite it would be quite hot, but then better after chewing through the peanut.

Most people are familiar with wasabi peas of course, I haven't tried them yet and at the store peanuts seem the more exciting beer appropriate snack.

Calorie wise I have no idea, all the writing is in Chinese (I'm guessing), food importers are supposed to put an English nutrition label but somehow this fellow got away with it. So lets just say high fat and loads of sugar and eat them anyway.

Lets begin. They have an attractive colour. I like green foods in general so lets not be shy and shove one in my mouth. Woah, if you whack your tongue on it you'll get a wasabi hit! quite similar wasabi flavour to the Codfish Snacks I tried earlier this year. But its fading and As I chew nice peanut taste mixing with wasabi, after swallowing it finishes on peanut notes with a very wasabi taste. Right, swig some beer, hmmm, yum, I want another one. I finished my little bowl and could happily eat more (but I am so full after my yakisoba takeaway).

A little hot but definitely moreish!

In summary, these are awesome: 8/10

Bento I've missed you!

2008-10-20T21:00:00.003+13:00

Things have been so busy here, I've barely had time to make my own lunch. However buying sushi every day was getting expensive so I thought I'd best kick butt into gear and get organised. My dumplings look a bit sad, But they are slippery buggers! I could not get them to sit nicely in the box, so I said to them.... "stuff you guys" and I just let them do whatever after all I'm going to eat them later. I'm passive aggressive like that.
Strawberries are only barely just coming into season. Well they were probably flown here from Australia which is not very sustainable of me, but when you've got to have them, you've got to have them. The assorted veges for health and goodness. Plus sleepy piggy with spicy dipping sauce, yum yum yum.

Hello Bento Lunch - You Sure Look Tasty!

2008-10-13T18:59:00.003+13:00

I have kiwi fruit in the shape of hearts! I "heart" kiwifruits! And two mini banana muffins made with wholemeal flour (health health health), plus some almonds. All good stuff. Then to top off the amazing first layer, I have the sexy bottom layer of tuna salad. Mexican flavoured tuna with beans and yellow capsicums! Oh the joys!

A Bento from Leftovers

2008-10-08T19:20:00.005+13:00

Hearty savoury mince (ground beef y'know). Its a weight watchers recipe so its got to be good for me, lots of tomatoes, onions and carrots in the sauce. A small amount of rice. (Rice is essential and delicious!) In my other tier I have frozen blueberries, carrot sticks and kiwi fruit! So I've got red, white, blue, orange and green I can feel smug because I am eating all my colours today. We have the "5+ a day" campaign here to make sure we eat all our fruit and vege, but now we have to "eat our colours" as well. Ah the nanny state, trying to stop us getting fat since 2000. Its not really working. We are getting fatter all the time. But that's why I love bento, it makes me pack a smaller lunch (and put veges and fruit in it to make it look pretty).

That 70's bento

2008-10-06T18:12:00.003+13:00

Wooo brown and orange, takes you back doesn't it? Our house in Whangarei used to have brown lino and orange formica in the kitchen and hideous green carpet everywhere else. Todays lunch is rice and brown lentil salad with red onions, sundried tomatoes plus my laughable attempt at carrot flowers! Awesome.

How to use the mini Sushi roll maker!

2008-10-05T13:58:00.003+13:00

This is my first attempt at making a movie using Picasa, I sort of hurried it a bit so I hope its understandable! These things only come with japanese instructions here, so this should help people interested in using one of these ingenious yet simple devices!

Red and Green for a Pretty Bento!

2008-10-05T12:52:00.002+13:00

Well I have rice with what is supposed to be tuna in the shape of a heart (I used a cookie cutter to make the gap int the rice), its not too bad just a big flake of tuna at one end makes it look misshapen, grape tomatoes galore, edamame and some tuna sushi, cut all different sizes because I am not so careful!

Bento bento salad time!

2008-10-01T20:02:00.003+13:00

Salads a go go today. First tomato, feta and red onion! My favourite, if you had not already guessed and second a fruit salad, well a fruit twosome really. Kiwi and pear drizzled in lemon juice for freshness! I was experimenting a little with my cutter, note the kiwi flower in the pear, that's right, its inside a flower shaped hole in the pear! Ah well its my first time doing that and I think its cool. I could have used a nicer shaped piece of pear though. We live and learn.

Lunch, I have my favourites.

2008-09-30T08:53:00.001+13:00

Ah there isn't a huge amount of variation in my bento, I have my tried and true favourites, but it is early days yet. Today I have kiwi fruit, I love the green ones, nice and tart. I am hoping to get some mini kiwi fruit this year. They are pretty expensive but oh so adorable! I could get my own vines, but that would mean caring for them and you have to buy two (a male and a female vine) otherwise no fruits! Then on top of that, its a few years before you get any fruit.
So I have regular kiwi, feta wrapped in ham, raw garden green beans mmm crunchy. Plus tomato salad with red onion and feta and sunflower seeds. OH SO HEALTHY, pretty good after yesterdays rice fest.

Using A Mold to make Rice Balls/Onigiri!

2008-09-29T19:32:00.007+13:00

I love that bento is so easy for clumsy people like me thanks to some great japanese inventions. My new favourite is these super cute, super cheap, super easy to use rice molds.

At first it seems a little daunting! Oh my word so many little parts. But its very easy, just remember back to kindy (NZ version of preschool, its short for kindergarten) and the puzzles with the shapes, heart in the heart box, star in the star box and so on.

Ah, not so hard after all, the mold is assembled and ready for loading!

I spied some smoked salmon in the fridge so I am stuffing one. Yum. Its very easy to add fillings. Just half fill the mold with rice, add you filling (keep it to the centre) and cover with more rice

Too much rice?! I don't know I'm as new to this as your are. But I have strong hands, the compression factor will be great. Now I am ready to begin the molding process.

First put the lid on, line it up carefully, actually its a good idea not to have excess rice in between or over the edges of the mold. Makes it a bit easier. Now for the fun part!

Press down with all your might (see my sexy hand, I could be a hand model no?) . You can even pick up the molds and press a little from the bottom as well. Whatever you do, just get it all nice and compressed.

Lids off (va vavoom) and look how pretty the rice is! I could just nom it right now!

Turn the mold quickly upside down

And using your might hand power press the rice balls out by their bottoms.

Now all you have to do is take those plastic bits off (not good eating) and enjoy

The stuffed one was delicious!

Frittata Experiment

2008-09-28T20:45:00.005+13:00

I am searching for interesting things to put in my lunch box, and I cam across a recipe for individual zucchini and sun dried tomato frittatas. They sound delicious, I love eggs and the recipe says they keep in the fridge for a few days so it could be a perfect new addition to my lunch box.

First I assembled all the ingredients, chop chop, whisk whisk, and cook cook the onions. Then I throw it all together in the bowl ready for the oven. Ah it looks good, the sun dried tomatoes are really fragrant (and oil free! healthtastic!) I sprinkle in heaps of parmesan cheese to counteract any healthy goodness.

I sprayed my muffin tin with oil to make sure nothing sticks and now I carefully spoon the mixture into 8 muffin holes. Throwing caution to the wind I throw the tray into the moderate oven and set the timer and walk away. Later I hear the beeps of the timer and come to my frittatas rescue!

They look delicious! ( but its hard to tell from this photo, I had to take it with my cellphone, my camera battery died!) Sadly they all stuck like little bastards to my muffin tin. So next time I will use some kind of muffin liner thingees or some silicone cups and hopefully they will be beautiful enough for my lunch. Never fear these did not go to waste! These little babies made a lovely light lunch for hubby and me.

Here's the recipe, if anyone is interested. I believe its a weight watchers recipe so its got to be good for you!

Ingredients:

cooking oil spray
1 small red onion, cut into very thin wedges
1/4 cup (60ml) water
2 (250g) zucchini
2 eggs
4 egg whites
2 Tbs skim milk
70g (15) sun-dried tomatoes (not in oil) coarsely chopped
1/4 cup (25g) fresh finely grated parmesan
2 Tbs chopped basil or parsley
baby rocket leaves to serve

Oven 170C. Lightly coat 8 holes of muffin pan with cooking oil spray
Combine onion and water in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally fo 8-10 mins or until soft. Set aside.
Coarsely grate zucchini and squeeze out any excess moisture with hands. Use fork to whisk eggs, egg whites and milk in a med bowl. Add onion, zucchini, tomatoes, parmesan and basil. Season with S&P. Spoon into the greased muffin holes. Cook 25-30 mins or until lightly golden and cooked through. Transfer to wire rack. Serve warm or at room temp as a snack or with a salad for lunch.

I can't wait till lunchtime!

2008-09-28T20:14:00.003+13:00

I think I've created the yummiest bento yet! Well to me anyway. Two steamed prawn dumplings, one smoked salmon mini sushi roll (with the little rolls I find it so hard to get the filling nicely in the middle), heart shaped rice ball (awwwww so cute!) kiwi fruit cut with my little flower shaped cutter, mandarins and blueberries with the kiwi offcuts. Plus a little pig soy sauce bottle filled with spicy soy sauce, its great because I don't have any wasabi for my sushi, it kills two birds with one stone. I so want it to be lunch time already! This will be an interesting experiment because I have made this bento the night before, I try make them in the morning but with daylight savings starting its going to be hard enough getting up tomorrow without having to make my lunch as well.
In other news I caught my husband eyeing up my lunchbox, I know hes dying for one himself, but it might be a bit too cute for his workplace.

Lunch in my New Bento - Ham rolls and Tuna Salad

2008-09-27T11:38:00.000+12:00

Ah the larger Bento, giving me so many more lunch options! In the bottom I have tomato and tuna salad with feta and red onion. Most of the tomato is buried under the tuna, but its there and everything except the tuna was bought at the Albany farmers market.
Fruits in my new silicone cups. I had some feta left over so i rolled it in a slice of smoked ham. I skewered the ham with my cute little toothpicks and then sliced to form some very attractive ham rolls.

Shiny New bento

2008-09-26T15:30:00.001+12:00

Finally, the bento I've been waiting for. Two layers! I cant wait to use it. My current bento is cute but sometimes it seems oh so small. Especially with summer coming up, I want to make heaps of salads for my lunch and the tiny bento just wont cut it. Once again I picked this Up at Westfield Albany in the "New Save" Store. I didn't even notice that they had Bento boxes the first time I went in there. they are down the back on the left, bottom shelf, slightly obscured. Only $5 bargain!

Snack review - I'll have a Snack 99

2008-09-25T15:11:00.007+12:00

This packaging just screams health at me. Just look at all those whole grains! Legumes galore!

These are 59 calories each with 4.1 grams of fat. (2g saturated) so its a lot like eating a biscuit.

Nothing really healthy about that! But why not try just one ;-)

First impressions on opening are startled surprise. This snack looks highly processed. I can't see grains anywhere! But then I noticed the packaging, I should have read on all the details. Damn impulse buying. These are an "Eggs roll Cream biscuit"

So lets go in for the taste test!

They are very light, kind of like a wafer, lots of air, and a bit crumbly. In the middle is a little egg flavoured filling. It does leave quite a strong egg yolk taste in the mouth.

Lovely light snack as long as you like eggs. 6/10

Bento- Use Silicone Cups as Dividers

2008-09-24T12:05:00.005+12:00

I had to grocery shopping today and I couldn't resist popping by "New Save" asian supermarket in the Albany Mall. I'm always on the look out for hany little bits and pieces I can use in Bento. Today I parted cash for these silicone cups.

In my Bento I quite often have items I need to keep separate and these silicone cups do a damn fine job. As an added bonus they are very flexible and resuable (yay good for the environment!). Also these are heat safe, you can even use them in the microwave. Great if your whole bento needs heating, then when you get home you can just toss them in the dishwasher. How easy is that!

At $4 for two cups I'm not sure I'd want to buy enough to bake a bach of muffins with, but I only need two (at the most) for my bento so it seems a valid purchase.

Homemade Sushi - No Skills Necessary

2008-09-24T06:47:00.006+12:00

Today I've made some sushi using my little mini roll maker. Its a handy device that squishes the rice and filling into a perfect roll. Making sushi in the morning before work is not as hard as you might think. I have a stash of frozen sushi rice (frozen while still warm, in one cup lots in freezer bags, one cup of rice makes me two mini sushi rolls, one for me and one for my husband) so I grab a bag and defrost in the microwave. Add some sushi vinegar, stir and you're ready to go. The roll maker takes all the stress out rolling the sushi, its very easy to whip up a batch. I still find getting the filling looking nice and even a bit tricky, but that's mostly because the roll is so small.
I've also got some blueberries and mandarin segments plus a one egg omelet nice and thin rolled up and cut. Oh and a little piggy filled with spicy soy dipping sauce. Yum.
Not much in the way of veges today in my bento, but I just had a hankering for eggs!

Todays Bento Lunch with Molded Bunny

2008-09-23T12:06:00.001+12:00

Ah, my Bento lunch. A lush bed of sprouts for my molded egg bunny to lie on. Some brocoli for extra crunch. A side dish of blueberries to calm my sweet tooth.
I'm not such how this will go down in sandwichs and scones land. Yesterday a woman peered over at my dumplings and said,
"What on EARTH are you eating"
I explained what everything was and the lunchroom decided it was acceptable. I think the pink bunny egg might throw them for a six though. See my post on making the bunny shapped egg.

Egg Molds

2008-09-22T17:36:00.010+12:00

Here is my documented first attempt at molding an egg. First I boiled an extra large egg. (Free range of course!) But how boring is a plain old white egg! Something tells me it needs to be pink...
So into the mug with hot water and whoops far too much red food colouring. Eeek. I need a little dropper to avoid glooping half the bottle in. Never mind, I leave for a few mintues and return to find......A beautiful pink egg (still hot very important!), ready for molding. Attempting to close the mold was difficult, MY EGG IS TOO BIG. Disaster! but i squish it down super hard and remind myself to buy smaller eggs next time. I toss the mold into a pot of freezing cold water and wait..... and wait. I CANT WAIT ANY LONGER....oh patience where will I ever find you.

Bunny! Some quick work with my trusty knife and you would never know this egg was over large! quickly pop it on a bed of sprouts for delicious lunch!

See its not too hard.

My First Bento Lunch

2008-09-22T17:31:00.002+12:00

My first ever bento!

Whats in it: Leftover steamed shrimp and vege dumplings, Broccoli, spicy dipping sauce for the dumplings (just a little cause its hot!). Blueberries and heart shaped Jelly in a tinfoil cup (which I can take out if I want to heat the dumplings). I made the Jelly quite concentrated so it shouldn't melt between here and work.
I am surprised at how little food fits in my bento! Only 3 dumplings however will I survive. Is there some packing skill that I am unfamiliar with!? Oh I eat to much anyway so this should be good for me. In the meantime I am already eying up cute boxes on j-list.

Snack Review - Codfish pastry with Seaweed Mustard Flavour

2008-09-21T15:25:00.001+12:00

I spent some time at the asian supermarket looking for low fat snacks for my Bento Box. (Wairau park asian supermarkets again, its my go to place!)

These caught my eye. Codfish pastry with seaweed. Yes sir it sounded very appealing. But at 2 for $2.50 I could afford to be daring.

Only 77 calories a pack and 0.6 grams fat. Sounded like a dietary bargain!

On opening there is a very definite fishy smell, but its not unpleasant if you are already used to these sorts of flavours. The pastry is an attractive green colour and the seaweed sits loosely on top.

On first bite I instantly realise that mustard means WASABI!!!!! OMG. These definitely clear the sinuses. They smell fishier than they taste and wasabi fans would love these, as for me, they are taking a little while to eat. On the plus side they go excellently with beer. Just make sure you save enough beer to swig after the final cracker.

Husbands perspective - "woah ho ho!!!!!!" I think that means spicy! Then he sneezed. Ah so erudite.

My view - Too hot for me so 5/10

As a side note these also came in a "Spicy" flavor, this was milder (think sweet chilli sauce) and I would rate those 8/10

Furikake - Rice Seasoning

2008-09-21T13:11:00.000+12:00

Bento are often rice heavy, so I guess it makes sense that there are heaps of products out there to help Jazz rice up. Furikake is seasoning for rice, it adds flavour and colour. Typically furikake contains dried fish (e.g. shrimp, salmon, bonito), seaweed, sugar, salt, seasame seeds plus other bits and pieces. As you can see from the picture the seasoning is quite coarse and flakey.
Furikake turns plain white rice into something more visually appealing and appetising!
Furikake was very easy to find. I found some in "New Save" an asian grocer in the Westfield Albany Mall. They had a good range so finding something to your taste should be easy. I settled on some shrimp flavoured seasoning. Its very good and when used in a large quantity give the rice a cute pink colour.
However if you live faraway from Auckland you can order furikake online, J-list is a japanese based website that ships worldwide.

I hope you'll be tempted to try furikake, not just in bento but on rice as part of your main meal.