The Irish flag, green, white and gold. Broccoli on nori, roasted chicken, boiled egg and carrots roasted in honey and sesame seeds.
The giant demolished this one :)
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I read that the umeboshi on plain rice is supposed to represent the Japanese flag, so I decided to have a go at making a flag.
The Irish flag, green, white and gold. Broccoli on nori, roasted chicken, boiled egg and carrots roasted in honey and sesame seeds. The giant demolished this one :)
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I'm not very hungry today for some reason, so I had a snack rather than a lunch. Above we have sliced halloumi and asparagus. The cheese was fried and I blanched the asparagus before tossing them together with a bit of pepper (no salt though, the cheese was plenty salty already).
The giant is eating on his own today, though I did take more time than usual to make it look nice, valentines is coming up after all. Made his favourites, he loves chicken. Altogether we have roasted chicken breast pieces, rice (half short grain/half glutinous) topped with noritama (seaweed/egg) furikake and carrot stars (star-ish at least), carrot and red peppers (in the cup) and broccoli. The chicken was roasted overnight in the slow cooker with lemon, honey, salt and pepper on it. Personally I prefer the legs, thighs and wings, the giant is definitely a breast man though :P
Lots of brackets today... Carrot and red peppers 1 large carrot 1 red pepper 1T dark soy sauce 1-2T sweet chilli sauce chilli powder to taste (i use approx 1/2t) Dice the pepper, and cut the carrot into match sized sticks. Add veg to a dry saucepan on a medium-low heat, let them heat and dry for a few minutes. Mix the soy and sweet chilli sauces together. once the veg is hot add the sauce and chilli powder, mix well. Cook until carrots are tender. If it looks too dry or is starting to stick add a tablespoon of water but you really don't want it too wet, when done it should be thick and sticky. He is eating on his own as today is my day with the girls. Wednesdays are so much better when you can look forward to a little chocolate, a wee glass of something nice and some terrible movies. It really doesn't look as good as it tasted. Though it does look kinda happy, in a creepy way...
For the cold weather I went for a warm, rich mushroom risotto, followed by a ton of grapes, and a banana for later on. Simple and tasty. Well the fruit was simple, the risotto took ages, but that's just how risotto is. Love to use grana padano in my risotto, it gives it a really rich, creamy flavour, got to stick to small portions though; butter and cheese aren't exactly low-cal. In the biggest tub we have rice topped with stir-fried broccoli and ham, with sesame seeds and a little soy sauce. Top left has a mix of corn and baby carrots, and finally my dessert of strawberries and raspberries.
I think the stacking boxes are dead handy for keeping everything separate, especially if you don't have a box which will let you pack the items tightly enough to stop them moving around in transit. also they fit inside one another so they take up hardly any room when I'm bringing them home again. They were a bargain buy in the local pound shop, goes to show you really don't need to get the expensive ones from online or overseas. I do occasionally wake up and think to myself 'I cannot be bothered cooking anything today'. Often I rely on grabbing items from my stash, or leftovers from the fridge, but sometimes there just isn't anything there, in these situations I do what most of us do, opt for a bland pre-packed meal.
I had gluten-free macaroni and cheese, which I kicked some life into by adding chilli powder, garlic granules and onion granules to prior to cooking. Even with spice added it was bland, and oddly had very little cheese taste, ah well, serves me right for eating ready-meals. On the plus side I enjoyed my sides of cherries, dried berries(blueberry, cranberry, raisin) and a few butterscotch chips (which I didn't finish, they were really sickeningly sweet). I promise that the next post will be an honest to goodness bento and not just a lunch! This is the second post for today,so be sure to check the earlier one out, It's for the bento 101 course over on Just Bento. Assignment 2a : To see what my lunch (dinner really) looks like in 2D (on a plate) and 3D (in a bento). Though I have to admit how it looks isn't bothering me as much as the smell taunting me as I try not to eat it before the photographs are done... Top is my layered pasta bake, cheese and broccoli pasta bake topped with tomato and vegetable sauce. Next we have my dessert/snack plate, I'm a terrible grazer so to stop myself heading for junk I tend to sort out a wee plate of fruit either fresh or dried, or vegetable sticks with hummus. Something tasty to munch on just, red and green grapes and a carrot in sticks. The majority of my meal fitted in the box (I used a takeaway carton, approx 600ml), that's including most of my snacks. There are more carrot sticks under the cups of fruit. My lunch would fit easily with sides/snacks, but I have extra here as it's my dinner rather than lunch. Below are the few extras which didn't fit into the box. Not as bad as I was expecting, I think with a bit of baran instead of the cups it all would have gone in easily. Also I'm regretting having pasta twice in one day, should have mixed it up a bit and had something different, though my own tasted a lot better than the ready-meal. Leaning towards salad over the weekend, but if the weather stays dark and damp I guess I'll have to go for a nice curry or chilli instead. Lets just wait and see...
Once more we have a lunch, not a bento. There was a bento version but sadly it went off to work with the giant before pictures were taken...
On the bright side I can confirm that gluten-free pasta has not been noticed by the giant or I as being different in texture compared to normal pasta, however it is lacking in taste, so I think thick flavourful sauces will work better than simple garlic, herb and olive oil dressings. Vegetable Pasta sauce 1 large white onion 1 red pepper 1 green pepper large handful mushrooms 1-3 cloves garlic (depends on how much you like garlic) basil oregano 1 carton passatta 2 Tb tomato puree olive oil salt and pepper Heat a large saucepan over medium heat, with a little olive oil in it. While the oil heats, dice the onion, then add to the pan. Dice the peppers, keeping an eye on the onions so they don't burn. Add the peppers to the pan and allow everything to colour while finely mincing the garlic. Add garlic and herbs, if using dried herbs 1/2 tsp each, if using fresh herbs then a small handful leaves finely chopped. Once garlic is fragrant add passatta and tomato puree, give it all a thorough mix. Let simmer for 20-30 mins , stirring occasionally. Salt and pepper to taste, and serve. Can be eaten hot or cold, and best served with a little Italian hard cheese sprinkled over the top. Today's lunches consisted of one bento and one sit-in lunch at home. When I'm having my lunch in the house I prefer to have it on a plate, mostly because I can heat it up and have a nice warm meal. Above we have my lunch for today, as you can see its not a bento, it was however delicious. I decided to use up some of the tasty treats I had in the fridge, what better way to do that than chirashi sushi/chirashizushi? (not 100% sure which way would be best to write it) First step was mixing the freshly steamed rice with a little salt, sugar and rice vinegar. Then I added all the tasty toppings, I used flaked salmon, cocktail prawns, peas and mangetout/snow peas. The giant's bento really cheered him up today, I included some of his favourite foods. He has a bed of rice topped with nori, sliced boiled egg, baby carrots and ham slices quickly tossed in teriyaki sauce and sesame seeds.
Fried rice, with peas, onions and mushrooms. Topped with teriyaki chicken, sticky and delicious. The giant opted for plain rice and covered it with pulled pork shoulder (from my little freezer stash) with grated cheese and my home-made BBQ sauce I desperately need to get a digital camera, between the two phones I'm getting the majority of my bentos online, but I would prefer them to look a little more professional and less 'I grabbed a few snaps before throwing this in my bag...'
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AuthorI'm Demariea from NI and I love my food. Wish me luck on my new blog. Archives
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