Paige's Creation

As some of you know, we have been having some money problems. This means that Paige is going to start getting free lunch at school. It kills me to have her eating that garbage, but it is free and for a little while, necessary. Still, she needs lunch until it comes through, so today she made a bento for herself. The rice is supposed to have a bear and a rabbit in sesame seeds, the stenciling can be a problem though, but I can see them, can you? Her carrots have a little dressing on them and more sesame seeds, otherwise there are octodogs and pineapple. I am just happy she remembered a veggie!

Inarizushi

My alarm didn't go off, again. I didn't wake until 7:00 am and Paige had to leave in just a few minutes so I didn't have time to take a picture of the actual bento. I did put some more together though for some photos.

Last night I simmered the tofu skins in chicken broth (I had no dashi) soy, mirin and saki. I found the skins in the freezer from last year, and the rest I had left over from the year before. They were stuffed with fresh sushi rice that my husband kindly started when he got up in the morning. We just rinse it and set it up the night before so it is just a matter of plugging it in and flipping the switch. Still, I am grateful that he remembers in the morning fog.
I also made a variation of one of the Just Bento recipes. Thinly sliced cucumbers with shaved carrots that had some lemon rind, juice and sea salt. The other side was also from the cookbook and was some green beans that I have for dinner that were lightly steamed then tossed with a touch of light miso and butter.

This is going to be a trying time for us as we are having money problems like so many others. Buying things specifically for bento is not going to be happening very often as I try to conform our dinner foods into something different for her bento.

Two Days of Bentos

Because yesterday was a Thursday, which meant that I had very little morning time to post the bento, and by the time I get home on Tuesdays and Thursdays I just want to pass out, I am posting Thursday's bento today. As an extra surprise, Paige made two bentos of her own today for her and a friend so I could sleep in. She also took pictures!

The bento I made her yesterday was very simple (see above). Her protein was a rolled omelette with the nice white layer. I forget which marvelous lady on twitter showed me this technique, but I love it. I have posted the attribution on another entry though. Also there were raw snowpeas (which she loves) and strawberries. I dressed up her rice with some plum sesame seeds.

Paige took a more decorative approach. Her carrots were cut into hearts and my frugal sweetie used the outside of the cut outs also. Last night we made some fried tofu to put in there on which she put some kind of sauce that I had in the refrigerator and sesame seeds. She included a strawberry and a slice of orange. Paige also made some nori cut outs for her friends rice but she doesn't like nori so it isn't on hers. Both containers of rice had sesame seeds on them.

Friday and Monday Bentos

I forgot to post Friday's bento, so here it is today. I thawed out the ground beef soboro and laid that on top of the rice. On the side is some uncooked baby spinach (which she likes), grape tomatoes (that she doesn't like) and broccoli and grapes which she likes well enough. It was very simple and took me about 10 minutes or less to put it together minus the cooling time.

Darned blogger wanted to make this text centered. Well I showed them with my HTML Fu. This next one is today's lunch. Again, this is pretty speedy. She has rice which is separated by green leaf lettuce, a tamagoyaki made with soy and mirin, snow peas and grapes. I expect an empty box if she is given enough time to actually eat.

A little rant about her cafeteria. She has eaten lunch there exactly twice all year. I paid for one meal and Pippy said that she put one on credit during my break because she didn't want to be bothered to make a lunch. Now they are saying that I owe them 6 dollars. This has been happening for the last three years and I can't seem to get them to believe that they are making a mistake. I am having the same problem with the library. She owes money on a book she never took out. They say she took it out when she was five, but I would have known and she refused to take out a book at that age. I love computers and all, but I have issue with the folks who like to mess them up.

Nothing Will Be The Same

First I want to tell my friends and anyone else who is suffering because of the tragedy in Japan to know that you are all in my thoughts. I am watching with horror as things unfold and I feel deeply for everyone there. It is difficult to not feel useful in a situation like this, but I would like to recommend to my blog readers that you can donate to the Red Cross specifically for Japan relief. I am not always happy with the Red Cross, but they beat just about any other private relief effort out there.

This is the first bento I have posted in a while. My last one had a horrible picture, so I didn't post it, and on Friday I overslept. Pippy got herself off to school, but didn't make a lunch.

This bento is a new recipe. I purchased Golden Sesame Tofu in the refrigerator section at Whole Foods the other day, and Pippy loved it. A search online found a recipe that was similar, though the ingredients were slightly different than what was on the label. Undaunted, I gave it a try and Pippy gave it the good ole thumbs up. Have I mentioned how much I love the pre cubed tofu? I really do. It makes life so much easier for these types of recipes. With that is simply some baby spinach, raw and undressed as requested, two grape tomatoes and some mango which I also got yesterday at Whole Foods and had to use because it already had a soft spot. I have to check my produce a little better next time. I get lazy.

Below is the recipe for the tofu:

Ingredients 14 ounces extra-firm tofu
1/3 cup honey
3 tablespoons tamari
3 tablespoons finely chopped ginger
2 tablespoons sesame oil (not toasted)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 cloves finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoons red pepper flakes
1/4 cup cornstarch or flour for dusting
1 tablespoon Canola oil
1/4 cup sesame seeds, lightly toasted
6 green onions

Directions

1.Wrap tofu with paper towels and place on a cutting board. Put another cutting board or heavy plate on top to press out liquid. Set aside for 20 minutes.

2.Meanwhile, put honey, tamari, ginger, sesame oil, vinegar, garlic and chili flakes into a small saucepan and bring just to a simmer. Keep warm.

3.Dry drained tofu with paper towels and cut into cubes. Dust very lightly all over with cornstarch or flour. Heat 1 inch of oil in a deep skillet over medium high heat until it reaches 350�F on a deep-fry thermometer. Fry tofu until golden brown, then transfer to a large bowl and toss with 2/3 cup of the warm sauce. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and green onions and toss gently. Serve with remaining sauce for dipping, or drizzle over vegetables on the side

Read more: http://caloriecount.about.com/whole-foods-pan-fried-sesame-recipe-r139629#ixzz1GWHtz6i2

Couscous and Tofu Patties

Today I made three bentos, one for Pippy, one for my eldest daughter and one for me. Since Cat and I have horrible school schedules today, I thought that making a lunch would be a good idea.
I am trying something a little different and that is couscous. This is one of those foods that really will not do well with the slippery chopsticks in the boxes, so they will be using forks for this one.
The tofu patties were from the Just Bento Cookbook, as before except this time I made them as per directions but without the edamame because I couldn't find ours. Also made the night before was some potato salad.  To fill out the kids' boxes I used some frozen peas, but it is not likely that they will eat them.
Pippy liked her bento yesterday for the most part, but the ham roll ups from the cookbook were a no go. On the other hand, her friend chomped them down, so it wasn't that it was a bad recipe.

Yep, I don't have any filler, so my box will probably be a mess by lunch time. I just can't find anything in the house that I both like and will not get mushy or something before lunch. I despise peas.