Bento #63 - Pastel Eggs & Cheese

E wanted colored hard boiled eggs for lunch, and she chose blue and purple, and I did my best to accommodate her =)

Bento #63 - Halved pastel hard cooked eggs, mozzarella, paprika & onion dip, sugar snap peas and fresh blueberries.

Bento #62 - Spaghetti Twirls

Umm, yes, I did actually twirl E's spaghetti for her.  I can only imagine the nightmare that would be on her teacher's hands were this not already completed.  She is pretty high-maintenance when it comes to spaghetti, for some reason.  I packed a pair of chopsticks for her, just in case that method appeals to her more than the fork.  

Bento #62 - Spaghetti twirls topped with parm, sliced strawberries sweetened with xylitol, carrot coins and sugar snap peas.

Red Wine Braised Short Ribs

This is such a treat, and wonderful for a cold evening's dinner.  It warms the house as you're cooking it during the day and makes the house smell totally divine.


boneless beef chuck short ribs (1 per person)
2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs butter
30-50 pearl onions, peeled
1 bottle red wine
4-5 whole cloves garlic, crushed
bouquet garni (thyme, sage, bay)
salt & pepper


First you need to peel all your pearl onions.  This is such a pain and takes forever, but totally worth it when the melt in your mouth at the end.  I picked up this bag of red, yellow and white pearls, and while you don't have to use rainbow varieties, I think it gives extra depth and complexity to the ribs with different levels of sweetness.  The best way to peel them is to have a sharp paring knife, lop off both ends and take off the entire outer layer.  

The carnage.

The beautiful result.

Now for the star of the show.  The ribs.  I buy these at Costco, and they are really thick and meaty, nicely marbled.  Pat them totally dry with paper towels.

Butterfly each rib, then salt and pepper both sides.   I butterfly them so that when they open up, the fattiest side can lay totally flat (make sense?)

Heat your largest deep pan with olive oil and butter, and sear ribs on all sides, about 2-3 minutes each side.  I start with the fatty side down first.  Hmm, butter.

Now the other side.  See how beautifully brown it is?

Add your pearl onions and crushed garlic on top of and around beef in the pan.

Brown the onions and garlic until they start to brown and caramelize like so.

In the meantime, make your bouquet garni.  Stuff the herbs in a coffee filter and tie it closed - 2 tbs sage, 1 tbs thyme, 2 bay leaves.

As you can see, I misplaced my twine and am using a twist tie.  Normally I don't care for plastic in my food, but the bouquet floats and the twist tie stays out of the braising liquid.

Now it's time for the wine.  Add the wine slowly to deglaze pan and cover meat (about 1/2 a bottle or more depending on how many ribs you have/how big your pan is.  I used an entire bottle.)  

As for the type of wine, I like a Cabernet Sauvignon, and the bottle I used just happened to be bottled by my aunt & uncle's own Virginia vineyard.  We all got our very own bottles as wedding favors at their middle son's wedding in September, lucky us!

Add bouquet garni.  See how it floats?  

Bring to boil, then cover, simmer 3-4 hours, turning the meat about once a hour. 

I like to move the bouquet garni around each time I turn the ribs.  

The meat should just fall apart when it's finished.  In fact, you know it's done when it starts falling apart when you're turning it.   When serving, finish with a dollop of butter on top and let it melt in.  I served this with Trader Joe's herbed potato medley, and the melted pearl onions and garlic in braising liquid on the side.

Bento #61 - Ham & Cheese Biscuit Wands

So I packed a big lunch today because it's a half-day at school, and we'll probably be running around a bunch after I pick her up.  

Bento #61 - Ham & cheese wands w/honey & sprinkles, blueberries, happy hard boiled egg w/spinach and dipping sauce.

Bento #60 - Mini Quiche & Sugar Snap Peas

I just remembered I have under cabinet lighting.  It's giving the dip in the blue flower cup a weird blue cast, but I never said I was a professional photographer.  

E and I made these mini turkey & spinach quiche together, she was very proud of herself!  

(The plastic bag on the counter is for prep garbage)

Ahh...overspray.

I used the same recipe that I posted here, except I made it more kid-friendly by adding Mexican blend cheese instead of the more pungent Swiss, and chopped the onions very finely.  I baked these mini pans at 350 for about 20 minutes.  I find that if I get her to help me make things, she is much more likely to eat them.  So far, I'm succeeding, as I don't know of any kid who eats more veggies (raw and cooked) than mine!  She LOVES these sugar snap peas.  In fact, last night she ate them first before touching her [homemade] mac n' cheese, and had seconds.  When she saw them on her plate she cheered!

Bento #60 - Mini spinach & turkey quiche, sugar snap peas w/dip and fresh blueberries.

Even More Stuff

I was minding my own business buying bathing suits at the mall the other day, when I happened upon a very dangerous shop.  A Sanrio/Japanese import store.  Literally half the store was Hello Kitty!  Miss E is a huge, huge fan of HK, and I had to go in.  They had wondrous items, but I limited myself to just a few.  They did have a few bento boxes, but nothing I was really interested in.

I came across this amazing lunch box.  Seriously, this is the best lunch box I've ever seen, and not because it's Hello Kitty.  It has so many zippers, mesh pouches and compartments (and all insulated, to boot!) that this is PERFECT.  The Hello Kitty motif was just the cherry on top.  It even came with a very nice-sized HK bento box inside!  The interior is a perfect fit for her other bento boxes, and the top fits a small Sigg water bottle, which is great.  The picture below shows a strap, but we won't use it (for now, anyway.)  She will die when she sees her new lunch box tomorrow.

Next we have a fancy Hello Kitty lanyard, which I use any time we travel or go to a crowded place like the zoo.  I keep her emergency ID cards in there.

And finally, some super adorable hair elastics.

I also picked up some grown-up chopsticks, because mine seemed to have disappeared.

Bento #59 - Creamy Egg Stuffed Shells

We have another underwater theme going on here.  I've been thinking about using jumbo pasta shells as a vehicle for yummy fillings for a while now.  They are a nice coral-y color due to the use of all-natural food coloring in the boiling water, and they turned out very prettily.  The filling is scrambled eggs with cream cheese, a big winner in our house.  

Bento #59 - Jumbo pasta shells stuffed with scrambled eggs & cream cheese, carrot coins, baby grapes on fish skewers and Goldfish crackers.

Bento #58 - Onigiri & Mr. Egg Head

This is a very bento-y bento today!  I made more onigiri, and for more protein I made egg heads (aren't the top hats cute?) with spinach & onion dipping sauce as a side.

Bento #58 - Fried rice onigiri, hard-boiled egg heads with spinach & onion dipping sauce, checkerboard Granny Smith apple with strawberry cream cheese for dipping.

Sugar: The Bitter Truth

This is totally brilliant, a long watch, but so worth it, and entertaining to boot. I think everyone should take a peek, it gives me chills watching it. He is proving that HFCS (actually, all fructose) is poison to our bodies, and talking about how changing the Food Pyramid in 1980 was a disaster (recommending lowering our fat intake.)

Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology, explores the damage caused by sugary foods. He argues that fructose (too much) and fiber (not enough) appear to be cornerstones of the obesity epidemic through their effects on insulin. Series: UCSF Mini Medical School for the Public [7/2009] [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 16717]

Fried Rice

Whenever I make rice I usually make more than I need so that I can make fried rice with any leftovers (it's also best in fried rice when it's cold, and not too sticky.)  I specifically used sushi rice today because I wanted it to be sticky enough for the onigiri, but you can use almost any kind of rice.

This is just a really basic recipe, you can add whatever veg you like - corn, mushrooms, etc.  I have also done this quickly with frozen veggies (like for veggie soup.)

2 cups cold cooked rice
3 cloves minced garlic
half a small onion, minced
1 minced carrot
handful of frozen peas
a pre-cooked protein minced finely like chicken, pork beef, bacon or even shrimp (optional)
1-2 eggs, scrambled and chopped up
soy sauce
black pepper
1 tbs butter, bacon fat or other cooking oil
sliced green onion (for garnish - optional)

Heat a large saucepan over high heat and add your cooking fat.  I especially like butter or bacon fat for extra flavor.  Throw in the onion, garlic and carrot and cook for about 2-3 minutes until it gets soft.

I think I need a new cutting board!  Those cubes are the nifty frozen garlic I get at Trader Joe's, love 'em.

Add the peas, cook a minute and then add your protein.  Then add the rice, still cooking over high heat and cook until heated through.

Start by adding about 1 tbs of soy sauce, and increase according to your personal taste and lots of black pepper.  Finally, add the chopped egg, stir through, and garnish with green onions, if using.

Egg & Onigiri Experiment

I was totally excited to get my rice molds the other day, and got to try them out while E was at school.  I made sushi rice, cooled it, and then made fried rice with it with fresh veggies, chicken and egg.

First, however, I tried using the rice mold to shape a hard boiled egg, since two of them seemed to be able to do double-duty.  I think it would have worked had my egg been a little smaller than extra-large.

Smooshing it in.  As you can see, it got a little messy.  The top is turned upside down to help accommodate the egg, but alas, it didn't help, and the rubber bands are to hold it down (obviously.):

The bottom turned out pretty well, but the top sheered off ;).  I'll try this again with a smaller egg.

Next, the very successful onigiri experiment!

E loved these as her after-school snack today.  Next time I might try to use the veggies to make more of an animal face.

Bento #57 - Veggie Ramen

I'm laughing at the wrinkled peas - some of them are and some aren't.  The ramen was cooked in a soy and miso-flavored broth, and I added fresh broccoli and carrots, and some frozen peas, then drained it.  E had it for the first time the other day and requested it for her lunch today.  I'm really pleased she's getting to be more adventurous in her tastes!  She also loves to use chopsticks, so we rigged the ones that matched this new bento set so they're easier for her to use.

Bento #57 - Veggie ramen, grapes, ABC cookies.

New Bento Goodies

Yippee!  My stuff came.

This is exactly the same bento set that she already has (in pink), but I know it's a kind that works for her, and I think it's cute.

Rice molds, gotta practice using them.

What bento supply purchase is complete without some new food picks?

E is in love with this new strawberry belt.

Nana's Baked Ham

Today I volunteered to make our family's famous baked ham for the volunteers at a building/remodeling project at our place of worship.  I've done this ham a million times.  I've even done 20 in one day, and baked it in hot coals in the sand at a beach camp-out for a large group!  Trust me when I say, people love this ham.

Yesterday evening they gave me the ham to bake, and it was HUGE!  19 pounds on the bone, the biggest I've ever done.  I normally do a half ham and cook it all day, so I was cutting it really close with a start time of 9am, and a deliver-by time of 4pm.  The recipe below is for a half-ham on the bone, so double it for anything bigger than that.

half-ham, on the bone (low sodium and not sliced in any way - it dries it out!)
brown sugar (at least one box)
1 jar maraschino cherries (with juice)
2 cans pineapple chunks (with juice)
lots of ground cloves

Pre-heat your oven to 375.

Sprinkle a thick layer of the brown sugar on the bottom of your baking pot.  I had to use a huge roasting pan this time, but I normally use a regular large stainless high-walled pot or very deep baking dish where it can sit in the baking syrup against the sides of the walls of the pot.

Trim the ham so that there is only a thin layer of fat covering it (make sure you leave some fat on there!)  With this ham you can see the thick layer of fat, including the smoked brown portion you see - that is also fat.  Trim it off.

Trimmed...3 pounds worth.  Do leave a little fat on, but not a lot.  (Yeah, it looks a little Silence of the Lambs, but I'm telling you, this thing was so unweildy I had to wait until the last moment to move it to the roasting pan.)

Next, sprinkle your cloves - liberally - all over the ham.  Don't be shy.

Place the ham flattest-side down in your pot or roasting pan and sprinkle the top with cloves.

Pour all the juice from the pineapples and cherries over the sugar.  Drop in half the cherries and chunks of pineapple.

Stir around the juices in the brown sugar until it becomes syrupy and spoon all over the ham.  Cover with foil and place in hot oven and cook for an hour.  Pull it out and baste it really well, reduce the heat to 325 and then continue basting every 30-45 minutes (and I mean do this religiously!)

The picture below is after cooking for about 4 hours - it gets deliciously brown and caramelized.  Cook at least 5-6 hours, but even longer if you want it falling off the bone.  Remove the foil during the last 45 minutes of baking, but please do remember to keep basting it during the entire cooking time.

Bento #56 - Mini Gyoza

Gosh, these mini chicken gyoza I got from Super H Mart are so good.  They really taste homemade (and they might be considering how proud the sample lady was when we tried them in the store.)  This also marks the return of the sad giraffes.  Sad because E chewed on their "legs" and are thus a little bent?  That'd probably make me rather frowny too.

Oh!  I got a delivery attempt notification yesterday for some new bento stuff.  Hope it comes today.

Bento #56 - Mini chicken gyoza, fresh broccoli florets and carrot coins, a mix of golden raisins, craisins, dried blueberries and cherries.

Bento #55 - Grilled Turkey & Cheese

It seems to be Clementine season yet again, and I have a few pounds of them sitting on my counter, so you'll probably see a few in the coming days (if I don't eat them all myself first.)

These crispy mini cookies are oatmeal raisin, and I get them at Trader Joe's.  First time I've gotten them, and they smell so good, like nutty Nilla wafers to me.  

Bento #55 - Turkey & cheese melt, carrot coins, Clementine wedges and crispy mini oatmeal raisin cookies.