In fact, the Seattle Mariners are the only team whose gear I’ve ever spent money on besides the Mets.  I bought this t-shirt during my trip to Safeco last year.  Oh, and I’ve been going to a Yankees/Mariners game once a year since 2002 or so.  Mostly with HB, but… things have changed.  In any case, this year, I almost missed the series because my budget just doesn’t allow for me to spend money on tickets, but serendipity shines bright on my life.  A HS classmate posted on his FB that he had tickets for the Wednesday afternoon game, was anyone interested?  I responded, but the price was way out of my price range, so I declined. 

But then. 

He sent me a private message asking if I wanted to just take the tickets; he couldn’t find buyers and thought it would be better to have someone sitting in the seat versus just letting them go to waste.  Umm… hell yeah?!  So thank you, you know who you are, for you generosity and making sure I didn’t miss a year going to see the Mariners

The view from my seat!  Great game… especially because the Mariners were in the middle of a double digit losing streak, but snapped it by stomping the Yankees on this day.  Just for me.  And I got a wicked tan/burn. 

Though I’d originally gotten really excited to try Torrisi’s special Yankee Stadium sandwich that isn’t currently available at their store, just the stadium, my practical side won out and I decided that I hadn’t the money to pay for tickets nor concessions – given that the sandwich is $14.  Beer Boor has told me it’s delicious, but I couldn’t, for the life of me, justify $14 for a sandwich that might not fill me up.  So I packed myself a semi-bento.  I happen to have this container FeistySis gave me that is divided in two, and I stuck some grilled chicken wings in there (four, I believe) and the other side had fresh watermelon that I cut myself.  NOM. 

I know, you probably expected a post about the food at Yankee Stadium, but instead you get the helpful information that they didn’t stop me – didn’t even glance at my packed lunch – from bringing outside food into the stadium.  In a city as expensive as New York, that’s a helpful tip

Next year, I hope to be able to afford food at the stadium – AND tickets!!!  Thanks again for the generosity for sharing your tickets with me!!! 

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Feisty Bento

So she suggested we bring a lunch with us and eat it in the nearby park after the tour.  Not just a genius suggestion, but really, I was touched by her accommodation of my ‘strange’ current situation- no complaint, not even a grumble about this… and we both had to cook for the poolside BBQ (post to come, of course!) scheduled for the next day, too.  Nope. 

And that’s how Hungry and I bento’d (sort of) for each other. 

Even funnier is that we just both said we were going to make stuff to bring and share, but we both wound up having the same or similar idea in that we both brought a container of lunch (aka BENTO!) for the other.  Ahhh, great minds think alike, yes? 

On the left, Hungry’s offering, and on the right, mine. (Both boxes looked about the same; I chose pink for myself, obviously.)

Yum! Soba noodles topped with Shiitake mushroom, a pork-stuffed fish ball, a fish ball, beef ball, a soft boiled egg (my fave; well, I like any egg with runny yolk), and sauteed romaine lettuce with a bit of hoisin sauce.

Look at that egg. Perfectly cooked; my soft boiled eggs, though I’ve literally been making them for myself since I was 10 or so (in fact, that might be the first thing I ever “learned” to cook – in quotes because I clearly didn’t do a good job learning), are very hit or miss. Sometimes they’re fantastic, but they generally go one way or the other – too hard or way too soft (uncooked white is not the tastiest thing to eat). So good! I had to resist the urge to slurp it up the way I was taught to do… only at home. Hehe.

As for what I brought, I stupidly didn’t take pictures of the cross sections, but the long roll on the left is the savory component: flour tortilla, briefly warmed in a dry skillet, then spread with a mixture of cream cheese, capers, canned salmon, minced onion, and maybe something else…. I forgot the dill, whoops, but that’s also a nice addition to that. The tortillas on the bottom are dessert – I warmed a flour tortilla in a dry skillet and spread it first with Nutella, then homemade strawberry preserves/jam. The Nutella tasted super nutty in this fashion… I really liked these, and not too sweet.

Then just a few grape tomatoes to fill the gaps and a small container of hummus for the grape tomatoes (I thought I’d be able to fit more tomatoes, thus the rather ‘large’ helping of hummus.)

And the homemade strawberry preserves/jam? Super easy to make, and a total accident. I am not really sure what I was trying to do, but I basically had a bag of frozen strawberries from Trader Joe’s, dumped it into a pot and added a splash of lemon seltzer water (probably also from Trader Joe’s), grated some nutmeg into it and I may have added a touch of white sugar. Bring to a slow simmer, and let some of the water boil away, until it’s reduced to a sort of jam consistency. It took about 15 minutes or so at that slow simmer, so it’s not a super fast process, but you can definitely walk away for a little bit while it does this. Really quite tasty… but don’t ask me how long it will last, tightly sealed, in your fridge… because I don’t know.

What would you have packed for a nice summer picnic style lunch with a friend?  I need more ideas for next time

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 10 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Feisty Bento

I’m sure I’ve mentioned many, many, many… many many times in the past, that BF is a man of simple tastes.  So while I made it cute, I didn’t make it fancy.  White bread layered with Boar’s Head bologna, no spread, no lettuce, nothing but meat and bread.  This is one of his favorite types of sandwiches, and he chowed down with not a single complaint.  I used the DynoBytes sandwich sealer/cutter (affiliate link; while looking for that, I found THIS!!!) (it doesn’t actually seal for me, but I don’t try very hard to seal my sandwiches) to make it a little cute, and shoved it inside a Tupperware sandwich container.  (There’s actually two sandwiches there, stacked on top of each other.) 

As for my lunch, salad! with homemade tofu croutons and cilantro-shallot dressing. 

Romaine lettuce, yellow and orange bell peppers, purple cabbage and all those yummy bits. 

All tossed together with the dressing.  So good.  I love a colorful salad with lots of texture, lots of crunch.  There’s something about crunchy food that makes me feel satisfied.  Weird, right? 

Luckily, after we were finished eating, the rain cleared up.  And then off we went up the mountain side.  We lost the trail quickly because the blazes were far and few between… and maybe also because we didn’t have a map. 

I tried taking some scenery shots, but I’m not that pleased with how they turned out. 

Despite how grey it was out, the sun came out and started drying everything. 

Then we all glanced down and discovered swarms of ticks all over the bottoms of our legs.  Well, some of us, anyway.  So we decided to go home. 

Good hike… good times But next time… we should make sure we have a map.  And bug spray.  Hahaha!

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Feisty Bento, hiking

As mentioned last time, BlindBaker and I are taking turns making bento for each other.  But that’s only Monday/Wednesdays, so what about the rest of the week?  On Mondays, I actually have class until 9pm, so I need to also bring dinner; Tuesdays, I “only” have class from 1-5, so I usually eat at home… but on Thursdays, I have class from 10-4, with only a 20 minute break from 12:50 – 1:10, during which time I have to walk from the western side of campus to the northeastern side, anyway.  Basically, I need to bring food to inhale, or I’ll starve.  So one Thursday, I brought the above bento.

Cut-up watermelon; dill potato salad; mini-bell peppers stuffed with roasted pine-nut hummus; honey-roasted turkey on whole wheat with dijonnaise and asiago cheese.

BlindBaker’s week came up, and I somehow only have a picture of the Monday bento – though the Wednesday bento was near-identical, so no big deal.  I’m sure she’ll pipe up to correct me if I’m wrong, or with recipes, but: capicola and artichokes on whole wheat bread; Cracker Barrel cheddar; baby carrots; roasted orange bell pepper stuffed with pesto orzo; Dutch apple crisp.  Yum!

Next week, back to my turn!

The BlindBaker received: kimchi bacon fried rice; sauteed green beans with garlic; mini bell pepper stuffed with hummus; kickin’ chicken with chicken breast (which I’ve never done before and probably won’t be again).  

I received the same, just shaped differently. 

And on Wednesday, two more bento!

Here’s my bento: instead of a mini bell pepper stuffed with hummus, I put some summer kimchi in there, leftovers. 

BlindBaker actually didn’t wind up eating this bento – I ate it for lunch on Thursday instead – but she got Sungold cherry tomatoes instead of a bell pepper as well. 

Now, recipes:

Kickin’ Chicken

two – three boneless/skinless chicken breasts (I usually use 4 thighs, but this time used 3 frozen chicken breasts from Target bc I had them)
BBQ sauce – either one you like, or homemade is good too obvs
crushed red pepper flakes
honey

Preheat oven or toaster oven to 350 degrees. 

Line a baking sheet with tin foil.  Lay the chicken pieces down and cover with bbq sauce, crushed red pepper flakes and a bit of honey.  Bake, turning once, for about an hour or a little longer (test the chicken for doneness).  When it’s done, while still warm, use two forks to “pull” the meat, then toss with the sauce that’s remaining on the sheet. 

Kimchi Bacon Fried Rice

5 strips of bacon, cut/snipped into small pieces
Diced onion
Minced garlic
Few cups of cold cooked rice
2 eggs, beaten well with a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar or so
A bit of kimchi, chopped up
Frozen veggies (I had some peas left from another dish I’d made, and I opened a package of corn)
Splash of soy sauce

In the bottom of a heavy skillet over very low heat, cook the bacon.  More fat is rendered this way; you can pour off some or most of it before you continue to the next steps, but I found for how much I made, I used all the fat.  Stir it occasionally as the fat renders, to prevent sticking and to redistribute. 

After the bacon looks all crunchy (this takes a long time, like 20 minutes or so), raise the flame, add the diced onion and minced garlic, stirring a little.  Cook until the onions are translucent; about 2-3 minutes. 

Add the cold rice, breaking it up if necessary, then let it turn a bit golden, “frying” it a bit.  Once that’s done, push everything out in a “ring” around the center, leaving a big empty spot in the center. 

Pour the beaten eggs into the empty spot.  After it sets a teensy bit, stir it within the center ring, and continue until you have very soft scrambled eggs, then stir the rice into it, mixing it all together into one big happy pot of food. 

Add the kimchi, tossing everything together, then add the frozen veggies.  Once the frozen veggies look not-frozen-anymore, add a splash of soy sauce just for color (though the kimchi probably added a lot of color already), then taste, adjust for seasoning, and then…

HAPPY EATING!!! 

***Kimchi is totally optional; if you can’t get kimchi or just don’t like it, that’s completely fine.  I don’t really eat much kimchi at all as I can’t eat much spicy food, but in the fried rice, the spice is really tamped down and becomes a background flavor.  It’s vinegary, and ever so slightly spicy in my version, which makes it a nice touch and counter-taste to the smoky, salty bacon.  I recommend trying this dish once and then deciding if you hate kimchi or not… yum! 

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2010. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Feisty Bento, fried rice, hummus, Recipe Fridays

The BlindBaker and I actually have classes together this semester, Monday through Thursday, including chemistry.  When we registered, since chemistry sounded like a class I would struggle with, I asked her if she wanted to form a study group with me, and she agreed.  Then we realized that the way our schedules were structured, we’d be eating lunch together a lot… and I hate eating on campus.  The cafeteria is disgusting (all fried, fatty, bad for you foods).  Eating off campus is possible, given the large gap of time between classes, but it gets expensive.  So it dawned on me… we should bento.  For each other. 

I took the first week, since I’m fairly accustomed to bento as a practice and wanted to show off my ideas and skillz

My 480 ml box contained: skewers of sungold cherry tomatoes with cubes of mozzarella (3); a skewer of balls of canary melon; and a simple tuna pasta salad. 

More of the same for BlindBaker, just separated with baran. 

A few days later, more of the same…

Except this time, the caprese (minus the basil, since I forgot to pick some up) was splashed with a bit of Cherry Gold balsamic vinegar.  Above, my 480 ml box. 

BlindBaker’s lunch, ditto.  Oh, and topped with some dried parsley for color.  You wouldn’t believe it to look at it, but the square box is actually bigger than the oval box. 

And then Thursday, a day when I have 20 minutes between my 10-12:50pm class and my 1:10pm class… I packed myself a quick lunch so I could eat a real meal instead of resorting to garbage from the vending machines between classes.  The same salad, topped with sungolds, and on the side are mini bell peppers stuffed with roasted pine nut hummus (Sabra brand).  So good… and goes to show you don’t need any special equipment or cute crap to bento properly  

See?  Eating healthy while juggling a super busy, full class schedule is still possible.    I can’t wait to see what BlindBaker comes up with! 

Tuna Pasta Salad

1 can of Bumble Bee tuna in olive oil – do not drain!!!
1/2 lb of cooked bowtie shaped pasta (or any small-form pasta)
juice of one lime
a teaspoon or so of capers
half a jar of marinated artichoke hearts, along with some of the marinade
minced up 1/4 onion
dash or two of Red Devil, to taste
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Drain the tuna oil into the bottom of a bowl.  Set aside the tuna for later. 
Add lime juice, onion, Red Devil, the bit of artichoke heart marinade and whisk.  Salt and pepper to taste (you want it a touch saltier than normal). 
Add pasta, capers, artichoke hearts, and tuna, tossing with the dressing to coat.  Chill overnight to meld all flavors. 

Enjoy!  I found this really delicious and not fishy despite using the oil the tuna had soaked in, and really quite simple to throw together on Sunday night.  You could play with the additions – I wanted to add tomato wedges, but because it was going to spend time in the fridge, I worried about the deterioration of the tomatoes; try adding chopped up olives, roasted red peppers, fresh herbs like parsley, dill – play around until you find the combination that best pleases your palate! 

Happy eating!

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2010. | Permalink | 14 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Feisty Bento, pasta salad