BentoholicsAnonymous

There was once upon a time that I was afraid of the word "ochazuke."  I saw aisles of packets at the grocery store that bared the name OCHAZUKE! and I was very intimidated by it.  A few months ago, I saw 2 people in the "ochazuke" section of the grocery store and decided to pick up a pack to try it out...whatever it was.  I got a pack that had a cute little Hamtaro on it.  How bad could something be with a hamster on the package???

So, I found out, via Wikipedia, of course, that ochazuke is a Japanese rice dish where tea and dashi are poured over rice for a simple meal, similar to cereal and milk.  It is usually topped with savory toppings.  

Unable to decipher the Japanese instructions on my packet of ochazuke, I decided to use my spidey sense.  I put in about a cup of rice into a bowl, poured in equal parts of green tea and instant dashi.  MmmmMmm. Smelled nice.  Then I opened my packet of ochazuke and dumped it on top only to find this:
 



Yes, those are little hamsters staring at you.  Aren't they sooooo cute???

The packet contained nori, crispy little rice crackers, seasoning, and hamster heads.  It was so delicate and so delicious I wondered what I ever did without the dish ochazuke before!

So kiddos, don't forget to try something new, exciting, and maybe even completely foreign to you.  Might be something tasty!

My hubby wanted bologna.  He truly is weird sometimes.  I couldn't just put a pack of bologna in his lunch bag, which is what he wanted.  That's just kinda gross.  So off we go with another pseudo lunchables bento.

 
(click for larger image)
Turkey balogna, cheese slices, sliced turkey, cucumber, whole wheat crackers, beef and cheese stick, champagne grapes.

-------------------------

It was my birthday recently and all I wanted to do was have a proper tea party! LOL.  I wanted to drink out of antique-y tea cups and have finger sandwiches.  So 'tis what I did!

I went to Tea at 1024.  It was such a great experience that I'm making up special occasions just so I can do it again.  The owner was super nice and I applaud my husband and Dad for putting on costumes and speaking in an English accent just to please me.


(click for larger image)
Spinach, strawberry, feta cheese salad.


(click for larger image)
Jasmine tea.


(click for larger image)
Chocolate mousse, brownie, scones, lemon curd mousse, clotted cream and preserves in the back.


(click for larger image)
Assortment of finger sandwiches: cucumber, cheese, egg, crab and olive, smoked salmon, curried chicken.

Why is it that LJ won't let me rotate my pictures? I even uploaded them to my scrapbook, twisted it, and then tried uploading that.  No cigar.  Shucks.  Way to be a birthday picture ruiner, LJ. 

'Till next time!

 Has it really been 3 months since I've checked in last?  I'm sorry, my old friends!  But never fear, I have many updates and restaurant reviews to blog about.  

I haven't been bento-ing lately because I've got nowhere to go to take my lovely lunches.  My husband does let me create him one sometimes for work, though, so I have a few to share with all of you.  

My husband's favorite lunch of all time would have to be omurice.  He and his friends dubb it the "FRO," or fried rice omelette.  Here's one that I made for him recently:


Fried rice omelette with cheese hearts, side salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, and shoyu in the Keroppi cup

I promise to log in more, my old friends!  I've got TONS to talk about!!!

This dinosaur sandwich bento was made for my 2 year old godson to eat during garage sales last Saturday.  Kept him quiet and happy.  Not to mention that dinosaurs are his favorite thing in the universe!  Good Auntie.


 

I've been doing a lot of spring cleaning lately and I came about a TON of bento gear that I've never used and probably will never use.  These things are taking over my kitchen!  So here's everything that I want to get rid of:


There's a 3 tier bento box, 2 tier bento box, onigiri box, regular box, bento bags, chopsticks and cases, dividers, picks, thermal bento jar, face punch, furikake containers, insulated bags, crab weiner cutter, animal shape cutters, bento belt, forks and spoons, and even furikake mix.  I paid over $70 for this and it could go well over $150 on ebay (those rip offs!)

First person that wants it can have it all for $70 including shipping if you live in the U.S.  If you live out of the U.S. how about $85 including shipping. Leave a comment below, paypal to cely_rohr@hotmail.com.

Food Festivals!!!  Most places have normal food festivals based on cheese...Or apples...  Or garlic.   You would think that Hawaii would have one on pineapples or something.  But we don't.  We do it wild and crazy here and have our food festivals centered on our favorite canned meat product, SPAM! 

Spam was introduced to us during WWII when meat was scarce.  We thought Spam was so awesome that we've eaten it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner ever since.  

Thus, the Spam jam was born!  It happens annually, this year on Saturday, April 24, on the streets of Waikiki.  Kalakaua Avenue closes for a night and top chefs of Waikiki set up booths to showcase SPAM in eclectic and traditional dishes. The festival is hosted by the Hawaii Foodbank so of course we had to donate some canned goodies (but not my Spam... thats for my breakfast tomorrow, lol!)



(click for larger image)
Spam can garlands were the main decor of food booths, buses, trucks, and spam promoters.


(click for larger image)
Kalakaua Avenue.


(click for larger image)
RumFire's spam and crab dip.  This was my favorite.  Lots of curry and sweet potato and taro chips.  It even had a topping of (my favorite!) sea asparagus.


(click for larger image)
Hula Grill's Spam loco moco.  Rice topped with spam, scrambled eggs, gravy, and fried onions.



(click for larger image)
Jimmy Buffet's volcano nachos.  This seemed popular.  It was the biggest portioned plate out there and nachos were easy to share.  I forgot I was eating Spam!


(click for larger image)
The Shack's Spamburger.  A Hamburger slider topped with a spam slice.  This was the husband's favorite.


(click for larger image)
Yummo sweet potato fries also from the Shack.

(click for larger image)
We wanted Spam waffles for dessert, but Tropical Iceland already ran out before we had a chance to hit them up.  Instead, we had mango shave ice with ice cream.  No Spam in this one!

And that's it kiddos!  Props to the chefs for creating such delicious things and for the food bank for donating all those cans of Spam.

An update on me:  I've been busy busy busy!  Thank God that the husband got "transferred" to another job here on island!  That means we get to stay.  There's no galley at his new workplace so that means bento lunches! I will have lots of updates soon!

I'm a big fan of Morning Star Farms vegetarian products.  Their barbeque riblets and chicken nuggets are awesome.  They don't even taste like they're made of something other than meat.

Anyway, I saw at the grocery store that MSF came out with a buffalo chicken wing chicken nugget so I decided to try it.

 
(click for larger image)
Buffalo "chicken" wings; cherry tomato, bell pepper, pickles.

They weren't too bad.  They are definitely not the saucy type of buffalo wing.  But it was nice to have a spicy chicken nugget.  I ate my bento with some bleu cheese dressing.

I rounded out the meal with some rice:

(click for larger image)

This was purchased at the grocery for around $2.00.  I figured it was worth a shot.  It was actually very tasty and so was the instant miso soup mix that it came with.  Very convenient and very good.

Till next time, kiddos, don't forget to try new products... you might like 'em!

I'm going to admit: I haven't been bento-ing much lately.  I live 3 minutes from my new workplace and coming home to say "HI" to Sabotage the cat is just way too tempting to give up after a hard morning at work.  

Nonetheless, I still have yummy eats to show you.  Here's a bento I packed in my Ms. Bento (in hopes that I'll have enough time to read a few pages in my Biopsych textbook for my homework due next week). 


 
(click for larger image)

Clockwise from left: Rice with shiso furikake;  shrimp and snow pea stir fry;  chicken katsu, teri beef, teri chicken, kim chee, pickles, cherry tomato and a couple of cooked penne for color. 

Here's an easy way to make a bento instantly cute.  If you are packing a type of bread product, like my bao (or manapua to those Hawaii readers!), just take your favorite cookie cutter and make an imprint.  Instant cute!  I wrapped mine in some decorative foil and added a small salad.  

 
(click for larger image)
Char siu manapua, lettuce, cherry tomato, salad dressing in the cup.


Here's another quickie one from this week using leftovers:


(click for larger image)
Salad in top tier and quick scallop and asparagus stir fry in the bottom tier

Till next time, kiddos!

Happy New Year fellow foodies!  The new year has brought about many changes.  I have a new job at an awesome place which means its back to bento blogging.  

This year also brought about the birth of my newest god-daughter last friday.  She was 7lbs 4oz.  :)

Amidst the chaos, I had to plan my lunches out for work.  Here's a simple one that I threw together.  It helps when you already have cooked pasta... just make a big batch the next time you're making spaghetti or a pasta dish for dinner and freeze into portions.  Follow my simple packing method for rice to batch your pasta noodles. 

  
(click on larger image)
Chick'n nuggets, turkey kielbasa, pasta salad.


Here's a second lunch.  Nothing like Hello Kitty sandwich head spirit boost for work!  This was used with my extra large Hello Kitty sandwich cutter.

(click for larger image)
Crunchy peanut butter, guava jelly, and bologna sandwich, cucumbers, grape tomatoes, yellow bell peppers, ranch dressing in the cup.

And yes, you read right.  That was peanut butter, jelly, and bologna.  Don't knock it until you try it!

Till next time, kiddos.  Peace, love, and bento.

I've been using my Ms. Bento a lot because lately I don't get a lunch break at work (call the police!!!)  I'm in love that I can open up my hot lunch at my desk instead of eating a room temperature sandwich.

Love it, Love it!

Fortunately, I got a new job!!!  I start on Monday and boy, am I thrilled!  I will miss my old company and my old co-workers dearly, but I think it is time I moved on.  There is stability in my future.

Besides the awesomity of a hot lunch with no time for the microwave...

How many of you like Filipino food?  I tried making my own pork guisantes (what? i don't need to buy it?!) and it turned out wonderful.

I got the recipe from www.foodnetwork.com:

Pork Guisantes (Filipino Pork and Peas):
Ingredients

• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 lb lean pork, sliced in small pieces
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp patis
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 oz. tomato paste
• 1 pkg (6 oz) frozen peas
• 1 can (3-4 oz) pimientos, sliced
• Salt to taste

Directions

Heat oil in large skillet. Saute garlic, onions and pork until browned. Add soy sauce, patis, water and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until pork is tender, about 5-7 minutes. Add tomato paste, peas and pimientos. Simmer for 5 more minutes. Salt to taste.

I didn't know it was so easy. My Mom would be so proud!  Here are the left overs in my bento:


(click for larger image)

Rice; pork guisantes; cucumber, fried eggplant, orange bell peppers, pickled cucumbers.

Congratulations to me for my new job and my new ability to cook Filipino food!