Feisty Bento #268: Happy New Year!!!

Spicy pulled pork; flash cooked broccoli; roasted butternut squash; spinach sauteed in garlic.

Clearly, I have not mastered the art of cooking for only one.  Thankfully, I have no issues eating the same thing throughout the week, provided it was delicious to begin with (and mostly, since I began cooking for only one, everything is cooked exactly to my tastes, so this makes it even easier).  I really need to learn that it's okay to finish everything I make in one meal.  Not having leftovers is okay...

The view out the bus window this morning.  It's snowing.  Hard.  Fast.  Not sure if it's sticking yet, but it's been non-stop all day.  Sigh. 

Have a happy and SAFE new year, everyone!!!  Cheers to a new year full of laughter, happiness, and good food (optionally set in small portions inside cute little plastic boxes with accessories)!!! ;)

Feisty Bento #267: Spicy Pulled Pork

This picture hasn't much to do with today's bento, except... well, it doesn't.  It's just what I ate for dinner last night, I wanted to brag a little bit.  Can you blame me?  Look at that gorgeous bowl of noodles.  Nom nom NOM NOM NOM.  Turkey broth, a bit of miso paste, shiitake mushrooms, brought to a simmer, then I added some of that pulled pork (sauceless) to the broth to heat through and get some porky essence in there; added broccoli, then removed it quickly to prevent mush-ifying; then added the udon and let that cook.  I ladled it all over a bed of shredded red cabbage for added flavor and crunch.  Delicious.  I was very pleased last night.

Top:  spinach sauteed with garlic; spicy BBQ pulled pork
Bottom: sticky rice; roasted butternut squash; broccoli (cooked the same was as described above)

I don't have a recipe for the sticky rice, since I didn't make it... but I will hopefully have one soon from the girl who made it, because it was really delicious! 

Happy bento~!!!

Feisty Bento #266: Something... yummy

Bento'ing for the new year... Are you joining Just Bento's bento challenge?  I AM!!!

Spinach sauteed with lots of garlic; roasted butternut squash; pulled pork

HAPPY BENTO~!!!

Feisty Bento #265: Sandwich Yum

Top: green bean salad; cole slaw; pickle; potato salad
Bottom: homemade brownie bites (from a mix); corned beef on rye with mustard and mayo

Mostly store bought items - holiday season is stressful and running around led to a quick sandwich platter pick up, the leftovers seen here.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Feisty Bento #264: Repeat

Update on my green onions that I just stuck in dirt and started growing.  I killed one of them accidentally -I was pruning a dry papery piece and when I pulled on it, the inside was hollow, the whole thing collapsed, shriveled up and died.  I've never killed a plant actually so I feel really bad about it.  But look at the two that are still alive!  Pretty ridiculous growth, eh?  This window (taken at night, so you don't get a really good idea unfortunately) doesn't even get direct sunlight!  The mint is dying, though I didn't kill it... I'm not sure why it started drying up!  But basil is still going strong.  I just plucked off a ton of those basil leaves like a week or two ago and cooked with them :)

Same as yesterday's. 

Woorijip spicy chicken; miso mushrooms; sesame sauteed cabbage.

HAPPY BENTO!!!

Feisty Bento #263: Under 5 Minutes Bento

Miso mushrooms; sesame sauteed shredded cabbage; Woorijip spicy chicken

Can't wait for lunch...

HAPPY BENTO~!!!

Feisty Bento #262: Let it snow, I've got Japanese curry!

Dinner last night - I managed to get home closer to 6 than I'd ever thought possible, so I quickly made Japanese curry.  This was the apple curry by S&B that I adore, medium hot; at the last minute, I decided to be cute and add some sliced up Fuji apples.  I left them big, thinking that would be better, but after tasting, I think next time I'll grate them so instead of just smelling them in the sauce, I'll actually taste them... I actually ate two bowls of this, it was SOOO good!!!  *tears of joy*  I love when things come together properly :)

Of course that means I had to have some for lunch today...

Left cup: miso mushrooms; sesame sauteed cabbage with some sesame seeds sprinkled on for looks
Right cup: peeled and halved small navel orange - look, I actually have fruit today!!!
Jar: curry on the bottom, rice lid on top to keep it warm and not get soggy :)

Oh, that hit the spot.  Especially considering this, which was the view out the window while I ate my lunch:

Yes, it was snowing crazily and hard today, but doubtful it stuck.  Fluffy flakes coming down fast is all.  But hot Japanese curry while watching the snow fall?  AWESOME.

HAPPY BENTO~!!!

Feisty Bento #261: NOM NOM NOM

NOM NOM NOM!!!

Top tier: miso mushrooms; homemade cole slaw; sesame sauteed shredded cabbage
Bottom tier: Shepherd's pie

Sooooooo good~!!!  I promise, recipes for these items are forthcoming :)

HAPPY BENTO!!!

Feisty Bentos #258, 259 and 260

Just because I haven't been posting doesn't mean I haven't been eating... I hadn't intended for my mini-hiatus to also apply to my bento site, but I guess it did!  Anyway, here are the 3 bentos I ate during this period.

Feisty Bento #258
Top tier: pork fried rice; celery sauteed with chorizo
Bottom tier: pork belly with bean sauce; chicken & broccoli

Ummm... yeah.  I don't really go to take-out Chinese places, but BF wanted Chinese food, and lord knows I don't cook Chinese food often... so I picked a place nearby that looked more authentic Chinese than takeout, but they did takeout as well.  Review will come after I've eaten there a few more times, but these are the leftovers (we ordered WAY too much food).  Yes: the fried rice and chicken with broccoli were his orders.  Hahaha.

Feisty Bento #259
Top tier: homemade cole slaw (recipe to come after I tweak it a little bit); celery sauteed with chorizo; carrots sauteed with basil butter
Bottom tier: waffle fries and chicken fingers
(not pictured: honey mustard for dipping)

Feisty Bento #260
Top tier: chicken & broccoli; shepherd's pie (upcoming Recipe Friday... ooh)
Bottom tier: pork belly with veggies

My gosh, I'm hungry!  Time to eat! 

HAPPY BENTO and have a LOVELY weekend, all!!!

Feisty Bento #257: Ghetto Fabulous Leftovers

What is that, you might ask.  Well, I would tell you, yesterday was National Brownie Day, and as such, Treats Truck was out in the Financial District celebrating in full force!  I stupidly did not take a photo of the full offerings, but walked away $3 lighter with this caramel brownie in a white paper bag clutched in my freezing cold hand.  Yesterday's temps of low20s is NO JOKE.  I wouldn't have gone out if I weren't lured by this... and next week, Cupcake Day?  I'll be there again, hoping to sample my first conecake... *drool 

(That top oozy layer? was super oozy while I bit into it, almost dripping down the sides as I came away with a bite of the rich, dense, chocolatey dessert.  Less caramel-y than I'd like, and still not the best brownie I've eaten, but... it was nice to eat while watching HIMYM last night.)

Yums! Yeah, I know, another sandwich.  I like sandwiches -- is that a bad thing?!

Top: carrots sauteed in basil butter; homemade cole slaw (recipe forthcoming after I tweak it); celery sauteed with chorizo
Bottom: roast beef sandwich on slider roll with tomato & arugula

Hey, times are hard.  A meeting in the conference room next to where I sit at work ended, and someone came by to tell me there was a ton of food left.  It looked like half the food hadn't been touched!  So I took a couple of sandwiches for dinner, and this one made it out alive.  I like the roast beef sandwiches here, though usually they put something besides arugula on them. 

Happy bento~!!!

Feisty Bento #256: The Last Turkey Sandwich

The last turkey sandwich.  Sniff.  It's the same sandwich, cranberry sauce, turkey breast, stuffing, gravy.  But.

That's the sandwich from the top, before I put the dressing and the other slice of bread on top.  See the bottom right?  The little red peeping out?  That's the slice of toast with cranberry sauce.  Hahahaha.  The very bottom slice of turkey in my container was this ginormous piece.  How else would you have eaten this?!

How else better to spend a super chilly Sunday afternoon except half a ciabatta roll with veggie cream cheese, bacon bits (homemade), a big cup of milk tea (or lai cha as my fellow Asian Americans might call it, holla!), and a book (I can't say good yet, I'm a little disturbed by it so far)... curled up on my couch with a blanket and the dog laying on my lap snoozing???  If there's a better way, tell me... 

(Well, except for the having to go out to get that cup of milk tea, a 10 minute walk each way: I went out to buy duck breast for Sunday night's dinner, but the store - which promised me on Wednesday that they'd have by Friday - did not have it, told me to check back Tuesday - so I took a little walking tour of Forest Hills, going to the Japanese supermarket, then the organic store (which is where they didn't have duck breast - they asked if I wanted a whole duck instead!), then the Chinese bakery, then another grocery store... I like grocery stores, ok?...)

Also a lovely way to spend Sunday afternoon: cooking.

Top tier: homemade cole slaw (recipe forthcoming, I need to tweak a bit); Romaine lettuce leaf liner topped with chili
Bottom tier: chili; celery sauteed with chorizo; carrots sauteed with basil butter

HAPPY BENTO!!!

PS SkippyMom, regarding my chili: click through to the recipe :P

Feisty Bento #255: Green Onions & Scallions

Ahhh, my stove is so dirty! 

I actually have more turkey to eat, but this morning I was in such a frantic rush, this seemed to be the easy way out. 

Left cup: sour cream with cayenne pepper sprinkled on top for color - I didn't think this would make a difference, but it added a nice spicy kick to the cool sour cream
Jar: chili with cheese on top (I tweaked the recipe a little bit; instead of using a package of taco seasoning, I added ground cumin, turmeric, paprika, and cayenne until it smelled, looked, and most of all, tasted the way I thought it should taste.)

Not pictured is the baggie of corn chips I brought along to eat with this.  And it was soooooooo good~!!!

Oh, and I thought this was interesting.

You see those three green onions/scallions?  Ummm... they were in my fridge for a couple of weeks before I took them out, rinsed off the yucky leaves, chopped the tops off for stock, and then decided to throw the roots into dirt in the windowbox I have for my basil (see it in the background, thriving?). 

Bear in mind, I did this on Sunday, and took that pic this morning.  I had cut them down to the white part.  That darker green part is all new growth.  From Sunday.  How ridiculous is that?!  (I know, the one closest to the window is struggling, but I looked at it this morning, and up close, you can see something is growing a bit, it's just having trouble since I got dirt on the cut part before planting it.) 

Now I don't have to buy scallions at the store anymore!!!  :D  Well, I may go buy some to plant some more, but basically... how cool is that?!  :D

HAPPY BENTO and have a great weekend!!!

Feisty Bento #254: More delicious

Like I said I would, I am using the new box!

It's the same thing basically as well.

Top: lonely sweet potato; brussels sprouts; carrots
Bottom: toasted white bread with schmear of cranberry sauce, roasted turkey breast slices, stuffing, and gravy

Holy deliciousness.  That's all I can really say. 

(I forgot my camera at home yesterday, sorry this is late!)

HAPPY BENTO~!

Feisty Bento #253: Thanksgiving in a Jar

Please ignore my messy/dirty stove... It's been a crazy hectic week...

I am in love with my Thanksgiving, can you tell?

Left box: Brussels sprouts with bacon; carrots sauteed in butter
Right box: Sweet potato with marshmallow topping; sauteed mushrooms
Jar: Mashed potatoes on the bottom; dark meat turkey shredded on top; gravy slathered all over that

Oh my gosh, I'm so happy that lunch is shortly, because I am starving and this lunch is going to be sooo good.  I know it.  I'm happy about it.  <3  Happy squeal.

Happy bento~!!!

Feisty Bento #252: Thanksgiving again, yes

Another Thanksgiving based bento... and boy, was this one DELICIOUS.

Toasted white bread, a smear of homemade cranberry sauce, slices of roasted turkey breast, scoop of stuffing pushed down on top, and then gravy spread across that.  Don't mind the uneven cut, I was cutting between the turkey slices so no little pieces would fall out later when I ate it.

On the side, I lined the box with plastic wrap because I was in a hurry and in no mood to look for food cups - sauteed mushrooms, brussels sprouts with bacon, and the last of the butternut squash I roasted. 

I probably could have or should have used this new box, but I was rushing around and this box was on top, so this one it was.  Not sure the other one would have fit my sandwich anyway :)

A better picture of this sandwich is forthcoming on Feisty Foodie (Monday), when I post about my Thanksgiving in great detail...

HAPPY BENTO~!!!

Feisty Bento #251: Thanksgiving Redux

Not that much to look at, but oh boy was that delicious.  Good eatin' on the first day back after a 4 day weekend :)

I had a glorious Thanksgiving, and will be posting it in great detail on Feisty Foodie, but for now, here's just a little taste:

Top tier: butternut squash roasted with pancetta, maple syrup, and whole garlic cloves; brussels sprouts sauteed with bacon; carrots sauteed with butter
Bottom tier: slices of turkey, mashed potatoes, smothered in mushroom giblet gravy

Dude.  So.  Awesome.  The only thing I'll change for tomorrow is probably cutting up the turkey meat a bit further - it was a little annoying to fork, bite a piece, then remove the piece from my fork so I could scoop some mashed potatoes up to eat with it - I left the pieces a little too large to just eat.  Ah well.

HAPPY BENTO~!!!

Feisty Bentos #249 & 250: With Apologies

I've been a bad hostess, and I am so, so, so sorry.  I got really busy at work and things haven't slowed down and in my free time, the last thing I wanted to do was sit at the computer more than I humanly had to... so I just vegged and well I had a bento last Thursday:

Top tier: marinated cuttlefish; fried rice; spanokopita, truffled risotto puff, cranberry/goat cheese empanada (these last three were all in the same frozen appetizer box I mentioned before)
Bottom tier: last of the kickin' chicken; peas & carrots with butter; Shanghai bok choi sauteed with Shiitake mushrooms and garlic

but then I got to work and everyone at work was buzzing about the cafeteria's special of the day, which was like $6 for:

Cup of cream of chicken (or butternut squash soup), mashed potatoes/stuffing/maple glazed salmon/roasted carrots/broccoli+cauliflower with cheese sauce (choice of that or other stuff, turkey/stuffing, ham, etc.), cheese, slice of pie (pumpkin shown).

So I went with that instead and neglected the above bento, boo.  (T'was a little protein-light for me, anyway.)

That was Thursday; then Friday I didn't go to work because I had some stuff to take care of outside of the office; Monday came and I had this bento:

which I was also still busy at work and didn't want to post because well, I didn't want to reveal what an upcoming Recipe Friday MIGHT be about ;)

Left cup: fruit cup! banana chips, dried apricot pieces, and dried cherries
Right cup: potato "chips"/fries, corn fritters
Jar: clam chowder

Then we come to yesterday and today.  No bento because I was mad at myself that I'd made TWO WHOLE BENTOS and not posted about them.  Plus I'm going nuts and stressed out about making the turkey tomorrow, so... I dealt with not having a homemade lunch for two days (and I SUFFERED, I tell you that, I SUFFERED HARD...)

I hope you all can forgive me...

HAVE A FANTASTIC THANKSGIVING to my stateside readers, always HAPPY BENTO and remember Thanksgiving meals are totally bentoable.

Back on Monday!!!  (Hiatus on FF as well!)

Feisty Bento #248: So Delicious

Yesterday, I was in such a rush trying to get out of the house, I left my camera at home with the pictures of my bento on there!!!  The horrors!!!  Even worse, I had a media/press event to attend after work, gasp!  Luckily, it turned out that it was too dark in there to take pictures anyways, so I didn't bother, and while the foods were teh yummz, not anything that needed to be photographed ;)

Do you know what that is?  The rest of the duck garlic plopped on top of udon that I cooked in beef broth, with some Shiitake mushrooms, some Shanghai bok choi, and omgz this was SO GOOD - the garlic stirred around and infused the broth with flavor of the highest level.  I was happy for dinner on Monday :)

BENTOOO!

Top tier: 2 more cranberry+goat cheese empanadas; marinated cuttlefish strands; pineapple fried rice (that BF ordered from Thai Pot but didn't finish)
Bottom tier: Shanghai bok choi sauteed with Shiitake mushrooms and garlic; kickin' chicken

This was a most excellent bento that I thoroughly enjoyed! 

And today, I have a silly lunch meeting that I am required to attend, so no bento. 

HAPPY BENTO~!~

Feisty Bento #247: A few of my favorite things

Lovely, lovely, a very nice interlude during a very difficult work day...

Top tier: kickin' chicken; duck garlic from Thai Pot; one beef sate in the "bottom" of the pic
Bottom tier: cranberry & goat cheese empanadas; sauteed bok choi with garlic & Shiitake mushrooms

Okay, I was thinking about it and realized I haven't made kickin' chicken in a while... so I made it and it was GOOD :)  The duck garlic is this dish at Thai Pot that I ordered the 2nd time I went there - I thought I posted about it again, but I guess I hadn't? - but it's SO good.  Crispy duck in this phenomenal sauce that's slightly sweet but super savory at the same time, with broccoli, lots of crispy garlic, greens, these ridiculous mushrooms that are out of this world, over some more greens and some crispy noodle type things that absorb the sauce and soften right up and are DELICIOUS.  Mmm. 

The cranberry & goat cheese empanadas are from this box of frozen appetizers - BF and I had a movie day yesterday, just hanging out and watching DVDs while sipping wine and munching on random stuff I keep (assorted nuts - I have 4 kinds on hand right now, sometimes more, sometimes less; banana chips; dried fruits; dark chocolate covered pretzels; chocolate covered sunflower seeds; etc.).  It was a good time :)

As for the sauteed bok choi... wow, this is good stuff.  It's too simple to really have a recipe... but let's just say, I added the water that I used to rehydrate the Shiitake mushrooms into the hot pan which helped steam-sautee the bok choi a bit, and it added an extra layer of flavor ... DELICIOUS!!!

HAPPY BENTO~!!!

Feisty Bento #246: Beautiful Bento in a New Box

Mmm, look at that beautiful bento.  This box is a new one that I got from Ichiban Kan USA (secret addiction).  How cool is that?!  I especially love how airtight the bottom tier is... the only bad thing that I DON'T like about the top is that not only are the sides lattice-work, so is the bottom, so crumbs fall straight out of the bottom :(

Top tier: Roasted beet salad leftover from dinner with DT; marinated artichoke hearts; roasted red peppers for adding to my sandwich; and a stuffed grape leaf hiding in the bottom left
Bottom tier: prosciutto di parma on ciabatta slices with pesto; two mini puddings, one kiku and one mango

HAPPY BENTO~!!!

NOT BENTO... at all!

I had a work lunchtime training session today, and tomorrow (Thursday) I have a PR event to attend during lunch (which I will be posting about on Feisty Foodie of course!).  But this is what I wound up eating... and it's gross. 

Roast beef sandwich with wild greens, tomato, mayo; chocolate chip cookie; grilled yellow zucchini; wild greens with a 3 bean salad on top; bag of chips; pineapple; canteloupe; water. 

Halfway through training, I got up and had another sandwich, some more salad, and more grilled veggies.

This is why I have to pack bento.  I can't stop myself from eating more than I really need :(

Well, for those of you who did bring bento, HAPPY BENTO~!!!

Feisty Bento #245: Yumms in my tumms

I can't wait for this bento!!!

Top tier: sauteed celery; roasted butternut squash; sauteed bok choi with garlic chips
Bottom tier: chicken finger cut up; mango pudding; marinated artichoke heart in the star cup; 2 slices of prosciutto di parma, and on top, cradling it and hopefully preventing too much oil from escaping (I drained it really fast), a stuffed grape leaf

I can't wait!  And I know exactly what I'm packing for tomorrow's bento, so I'm excited about that, too ;)  (Expect more of the veggies, no more chicken though!)  I'm going out for dinner tonight so I won't be cooking... hmm, hmm, hmm!

Happy bento!!!

Feisty Bento #244: Lots of Veggies

It's been a while since I posted about my weekend in food, no?  :)

Saturday, I went to have lunch with HB, and afterwards, we wandered through Grand Central Market.  It's been just over a year since I went for the first time, and this was my first time back.  I had some items in mind to pick up, and only missed one: the Valrhona chocolate pudding at Dishes.  (I went by before lunch, and it was busy, plus who wants to cart around pudding while you eat? but when I went back later, the dish was down to the dregs, and at $4.25/.5 lb, I didn't want the dregs! and they didn't refill it while I was there!) 

So I picked up ciabatta from Zaro's Bread Basket, prosciutto di parma, guanciale (pork cheek!!!) for carbonara, and pancetta from Murray's Salami (and received a free package of Niman Ranch applewood smoked bacon for my purchase over $25), and butternut squash and baby Shanghai bok choy from Greenmarket Produce.  The butternut squash is because I really want to try cooking squash but am weirded out by/afraid of cutting/prepping the veggie myself, so I bought it already cut.  Probably paid through the nose for it, but it was around $2 for a 1/2 lb. package, which I figured is perfect for a person to eat by herself, right? 

(By the way, I don't think I like my new camera.  I was looking at the photograph I posted on Friday and it looks very - the word in my mind is 'ploppy' but I think it's actually 'noisy' - fuzzy, not out of focus but blurry and too much... plops? around the edges.  I think it's because of the ISO - it's automatic, and because I shoot without flash, it tends to choose higher ISO - these are all at 800ish ISO and that's already twice what the highest ISO on my old camera is.  Grrr.  And it won't let me shoot with no ISO at all.  Sad face... but it's such a pretty pink color.  My photos are supposed to improve with time, not get worse!!!  Cry.)

I don't really know what I was taking a picture of here.  Am I losing my own focus?!

Again... but whatever.  This is a delicious sandwich with pesto, roasted red peppers, ciabatta that I bought from Zaro's and the prosciutto from Murray's.  Ohmigosh so good.  BF had the same except minus pesto.  Mmmm.  I also chunked off some cheese for him - some Piave.  Delicious...

And dinner last night?  Dinner was a wonderful lasagna, made by yours truly.  I purchased this new glass baking dish (it's probably meant to be a loaf pan) but I immediately envisioned it to be a single-person's-lasagna pan.  And it worked beautifully.  It fits one no-boil lasagna sheet in its bottom perfectly, and then I added everything else (with a quick tomato sauce- I may post a recipe for this eventually?) and it was just freakin' amazingly delicious.  BF was duly impressed (even though this isn't the first time I've made lasagna, and I would even go so far as to say, not the best, either).  There's a total of 5 cheeses in there - count 'em, FIVE: mozzarella, ricotta, Piave + Pecorino Romano + Parmagiano Reggiano grated into the ricotta.  Holy crap that was delicious; I was practically licking my plate to get all the cheesy sauce.  *tears of joy*  So... good...

(The above photo is the leftover piece I have for dinner tonight.  I'm sure I could wrangle and eat only half of that for dinner, but... would you?  I'm also sure I could have cut it up and put it in a jar for bento, but I wanted to maintain its shape and integrity... I didn't get any good photos of a slice on a plate, so I may wind up taking a photo of this one for the recipe post that may or may not come.  Haha.)

And bento!

Top tier: chicken fingers; waffle fries; both from Tower Diner
Bottom tier: sauteed celery; roasted butternut squash; Shanghai bok choi with garlic chips

Oh, I didn't take pictures, but on Saturday, after lunch with HB, BF picked me up and we went to a movie, then to Tower Diner for dinner/a snack.  I wasn't that hungry, so I ordered chicken fingers, he got tuna salad with waffle fries (which I've totally posted about before), and I wound up taking home the leftover fries and chicken fingers.  YUMMY.  So that's what became the protein part of lunch today. 

Remember a while back, I posted about eating something there... but it didn't look like what I thought it would?

This, to be exact.  I forgot to post the answer!  Well, it looks like Italian sausage in the picture, or perhaps meatloaf, but it was actually super moist and tasty... Salisbury steak?!  I ordered it, expecting to receive something akin to what I used to eat in TV dinners - brown meatloaf looking things with mushroom gravy.  Nope.  This was eons better... and the mashed potatoes were quite yum too ;)  I should probably do another post about Tower Diner soon, I've eaten there a whole lot more since then, yumm. 

Alright, I'm starving and it's almost time for bento! 

HAPPY BENTO~!!!

Feisty Bento #243: Mapo tofu yumms

Taken with my new camera... which I'm not sure I like yet... weird.  I think I'm too attached to my old camera, which still works... I don't know.  Anyway. 

Top: pumpernickel cocktail bread for the mapo tofu; edamame
Bottom: mapo tofu surrounding a mango pudding

I'm starving and can't wait to eat!!!

HAPPY BENTO and have a lovely weekend!!!

Feisty Bento #242: Uneaten

So I totally packed this bento on Thursday...

Leftover mapo tofu & since I ran out of rice, I packed some pumpernickel cocktail bread to top with it.

But when I was at work, I was tempted by a coworker and eventually we headed to Burger Shoppe, where I ordered and ate this instead:

I have to say, nothing was as good as I'd remembered... still tasty - tons of char on the patty (in a good, flavor-giving way, not "burnt") - but slightly drier than I recalled.  Onion rings still good but not as wonderful.  Strawberry milkshake also didn't contain chunks of strawberries, as it had last time.  Oh well.  I didn't even finish all my onion rings, oddly enough! 

Anyway, happy bento~!!!

Feisty Bento #241: More, more, gimme more!

Wow, I actually went home last night, started to prep dinner, went back out (which I NEVER do), voted, came back home, made dinner, cleaned all the dishes from the day including my lunch jar, ate dinner, watched the poll results as they came in, and then passed out, really exhausted.  It's been a really exhausting 21 months during this election time, and once I got caught up in it, I was going nuts... now I feel a little ... well, relieved, and yet empty.  I need something new to obsess over!  ...oh right.  It's me.  I have tons of things I obsess over... ha!

Lunch jar: chicken korma mixed with rice (semi-recipe to come on Feisty Foodie)
Left side container: edamame
Right side container: two gyoza (pork/chicken) and a gyoza sauce fishy

HAPPY BENTO~!!! 

Feisty Bento #240: Cold Weather Returns, and So Does the Lunch Jar

Wow, I haven't used flash in a food photo in like, forEVER... but I was in a hurry and struggling with lighting this morning, so here it is.

In the jar: mapo tofu (recipe to come on FRIDAY!)- I covered this with rice after the photo, and it was still warm when I had it for lunch :)
Left container: edamame
Right container: smoked almonds, honey roasted almonds, mango pudding

Delicious. 

I took off all of last week to celebrate my birthday good & Feisty Foodie style proper, so stay tuned over there for tons of food posts... but anyway, that's why no bento last week, since I apparently forgot to tell you guys.  Oops!  Sorry!  :(

HAPPY BENTO~!!!

Feisty Bento #239: Super Quickie Bento

Super quickie bento, as I'm still feeling under the weather... in fact, I'm dizzy and want to just lie down right now, but alas, I've got the commute home to think about...

Left to right: World's Best Chicken Salad; Trader Joe's brand dolmas (dolmades or stuffed grape leaves, depending on where you're from)

As for the stuffed grape leaves, it was unfortunate that the first one I took out of the jar (not pictured here) was super veiny, and really unpleasant to bite into, ew.  Since then, the leaves haven't been quite as veiny but still veinier than I'm used to (usually, I think they are completely de-veined so that it's a smooth bite, nothing to really bite THROUGH, per se).  The taste is fine otherwise: a bit mushy, as expected from grape leaves that are shelf stable and filled with just rice and lemon juice.  Tasty, but nothing to blow your senses.  I think it was only $2.99 a jar though, so not a bad idea for a staple in your fridge for a quickie bento like this morning's for me. 

HAPPY BENTO!!!