Since moving back home has taken a lot out of me – can you blame me? There’s no air conditioning – it’s been hard to drum up the energy to cook. Plus, somehow, I always manage to find leftovers in the fridge. So, last night I decided to kick my ass and divert the energy I’ve been putting into my bento (I’ve got more; I’ll share pictures at the end of this post) into at least whipping up a simple dish. FeistyMom actually scoffed, “Since when do you know how to make fried rice?” Oh for shame, Mother dear, for shame!; I never “didn’t know how to”, I simply never had any desire to since you made it perfectly fine. Or maybe she confused me with my sister, recipes for a simple glaze elude her grasp. Who knows, I can’t tell you how my mother’s mind works (she also recently told a telemarketer to call back another day for her 27 year old son. I’m neither 27 years old nor a son, and my brother is older than 27 by quite a bit).
In any case… I took out a quick & easy recipe that I’ve posted here before, and added canned pineapple. Yes’m, I made bacon pineapple fried rice, or, if you will “Hawaiian style fried rice”. I don’t know why ham/pineapple is Hawaiian style, but whatever… the dish turned out to be too sweet for my own tastes- and I still have an aversion to hot fruit, as well- but B. loved it.
The wo tip or [deep] fried dumplings were some random leftovers I found in the fridge and heated up in the toaster oven to preserve crispness. Like I said… there are ALWAYS random leftovers in the fridge.
And now… the bentos from the past week or so.
Gyoza with gyoza sauce in a piggie; edamame; frozen mango chunks (Trader Joe’s)
top (smelly row): takuan/pickled radish, edamame, gyoza & gyoza sauce
bottom: grape tomatoes for stability; homemade tuna onigiri; one slice of bacon, broken up; laughing cow cheese bites; mango in heart shaped cup
from top left: two gyoza with gyoza sauce; takuan; two homemade onigiri with tuna; mango
Top : na mool; takuan; gyoza with piggie (yes, I wash and refill him); edamame
Bottom : homemade onigiri with canned tuna+dab of mayo+pickle relish+MASAGO… so good, tamago (tiny fish eggs) add a nice “crunch” and slight saltiness to it; one strip of bacon; three small laughing cow cheese bites plus one wedge of garlic & herb (I may not eat the cheese; it was just to fit in the empty space, honestly); steamed spinach which will get a squirt of lemon later before I eat it; mango & pineapple; more na mool
left: mango + pineapple
right: homemade pickled veggies in heart cup; homemade onigiri with tuna/masago/pickle combination, and excess filling surrounding; steamed spinach; na mool
mango + pineapple
na mool, gyoza, and a chicken stew of sorts, sprinkled with pecorino romano
top: na mool; grape tomatoes; two gyoza with piggie gyoza sauce; spinach with garlic
bottom: veggie couscous; chicken stew with pecorino romano
from top left: veggie couscous; green grapes; two gyoza with gyoza sauce in mini bottle; mango & pineapple; chicken stew with pecorino romano on top
left: couscous salad with feta crumbled on top
right: chicken stew to be mixed with couscous; two gyoza; grapes and grape tomatoes
Happy BENTO!!! or just eating, whichever!
Allison says
mmmm yummy you eat so well! Hehe I’ll make a deal with you… I’ll send you some sushi, and you can send me some bento!! Alas… if only there were a way to do that and keep the food from going bad! Oh well… I’ll find a way to get you some sushi eventually! 😛
Aoife says
My mom leaned over to tell me something and was captivated by your bento pictures. We both want your little squirt bottles for sauces. Where do you get them?
Bufori says
Never mind just the little squirt bottles! Where did you buy all of the containers and accessories? 😀
Sarah says
Yvo!
I followed your links from ML. On the Bento Tip, my friend Leuwam is nuts about making bentos for lunch. She makes them every day and takes a picture. You might want to check out her flickr page:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hotbikes/1104697618/
There’s also links on this particular photo to where she gets her cute bento containers!