1 Bento #245 - Garlic Potatoes & Chicken Sausage

Another Trader Joe's lunch in an Easy Lunchbox.  This is their really delish garlic potatoes in Parmesan sauce and sauteed, sliced spicy Italian sausage.  I cook the potatoes in a skillet with a little olive oil until they are crispy on the outside.  Yum!

Accompanying the potatoes is half a sliced sweet red bell pepper and some blackberries.  Next to it is the day's snack which is an apple-carrot Crusher and organic mini peanut butter crackers.

Bento #245 - Garlic potatoes and Italian chicken sausage, blackberries, red bell pepper and Vidalia onion dressing.  Snack - Apple-carrot Crusher and peanut butter crackers.

3 Bento #236 - Three's Company! (Teacher Lunches)

...aaand I'm spent.  Maybe this should be titled Bento #236-7-8? I happily volunteered to do our teacher appreciation lunch yesterday.  I wasn't initially going to do bento boxes, but I remembered I had recently picked up these two large snap-style boxes which are really cool.  I cracked them out of their packages and went to town.  I didn't want to make them too cutesy, but I also wanted them to be a little fun. :-)

First, Ella's lunch.  I gave her chicken teriyaki pineapple and jasmine rice leftover from dinner, as well as a jasmine flower onigiri.

Flower cucumber centers!  And grapes!

The teacher lunches were both the same, with jasmine rice, (and a flower onigiri each) sauteed spicy Italian chicken sausage, roasted mixed veggies in balsamic butter sauce, and fresh grapes.  The three savory ingredients were meant to be able to be mixed with any one of the other items, if desired.  I gave them each a couple of deco picks to keep if they wanted.  The boxes were also theirs to take home!

There was also lemon creme cake for dessert.  I was at a loss as to what to pack it in, so I channeled my inner [misfit] Martha Stewart and used some large cello bags, and tied them with ribbon.  I also added a pink fork to each bow, but I didn't get a pic of that (of course.)  Probably not the most practical way to eat cake...but it's cake!

All together now!

I LOVE the carrying handles on these!  I hope I can find more the next time I go back to Super H Mart.  Before anyone asks me where to buy them...I looked everywhere on Google and could not find anyone who sells this particular box.  It's a Korean brand called KumHo Chemistry/Komicomo Wellbeing Brand and the box is called Quarter Lock.  Do let me know if you come across it!

All packed up in an Easy Lunch Box cooler.  Fit both of them PERFECTLY!  I can't get over how roomy they are.

Anyway, I hand-delivered the boxes that morning.  Hope they enjoyed them!  Ella got a kick out of having almost the same lunch as her teachers. :-)

Bento #236 - [Ella] Aidell's teriyaki pineapple chicken meatballs, jasmine rice and caramelized onions, grapes, and cucumber flowers. Snack - Clemetine (not shown.) [Teachers] Spicy Italian chicken sausage, jasmine rice, grapes and roasted veggies in balsamic butter.  Dessert - Lemon creme cake.

4 Spicy Chicken Sausage & Cabbage Soup

This one is short and sweet, ladies and gents.  Anyone can make this in about 10 minutes (or less.)  And it only has three ingredients!

1 package spicy Italian chicken sausage (any brand you like, about 5 links)
4 cups chicken broth (I used Better Than Bouillon Low-Sodium Organic)
2 cups shredded cabbage, red kale or spinach

Cut the links into pieces and brown in a little bit of oil.

Meanwhile, bring chicken broth to a boil, add cabbage and simmer for about 4-5 minutes.

Add browned sausage links and serve.  Add black pepper to taste.  That's it!  Not that this is an amazingly innovative recipe or anything, but it's fast, easy, healthy and packed with tons of flavor.  Great on a cold day!

7 Ricotta & Sausage Stuffed Bell Peppers

I've been killing time today waiting for the snowstorm to pass, looking online for some nice and snug modern duvet covers, and boy are there great selections out there.  I'd like to get myself a new one for our guest room soon, and I see so many I like!  Hard to choose.

Anyway, I was thinking about what to do for dinner last night.  I have all these wonderful organic veggies, plus some others that need to be consumed soon.  Initially I was just going to do baked potatoes with ham, cheese and broccoli (simple, but delicious) but when I saw those beautiful bell peppers, I knew I should do something with those as well.  Stuffed peppers!

You'll need:

5-6 bell peppers
4 Italian-style chicken sausages, cubed (I used Aidell's)
couple handfuls fresh spinach, roughly chopped (about 3 cups)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 eggs
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 tbs Italian herbs
1 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400.

Begin by neatly trimming the tops off the bell peppers, and set aside.  You may also need to slightly trim the bottoms of the peppers so that they can stand on their own.  Remove the seeds and pull out the white veins.

In a mixing bowl combine eggs, ricotta, herbs, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Mix well and set aside.

In a pan over medium-high heat, sautee in a little olive oil the onion and sausage until the onion is translucent and sausage slightly browned, then add the spinach (add a little salt and pepper) and cook until wilted.  Remove from heat and add one spoonful from the pan into the mixing bowl, and stir immediately (we are tempering the ricotta/egg mixture so that the eggs don't scramble.)  Continue spoon-by-spoon for about half the pan, and then add the rest and mix well.

Spoon the cheese mixture evenly into the hollowed bell peppers, and place onto a nonstick baking sheet.  I initially thought to make three peppers, but I had enough for 5 (and probably 6 if I hadn't filled them all the way to the top) so I made extra.

Place the baking sheet  into your 400 degree oven.  This picture shows them with the top on, but I think next time I'll leave them off so that the cheese gets nice and bubbly on the tops.  Try putting the tops next to each pepper in the oven, and just monitor them.

After about 30-40 minutes in the oven.

Delicious!  Creamy and filling at the same time.  I served this with a side of mashed potatoes that I made from the 3 I got in my basket the other day, as well as some roasted acorn squash (also from the basket.)  My husband walked around the kitchen while I was making them looking nervous and scared (he really doesn't like peppers) but he just ate the filling, and E ended up eating everything, including the pepper.  This was really simple to make, and so good, healthy, and gluten-free!

1 Bento #125 - Chicken & Apple Kebab

I am in love with these Aidells Chicken & Apple sausages.  They are so good, and have a very unique, sweet and savory flavor (and Ella says they taste "weird but good" and asked for them in today's bento.)  I've skewered slices of grilled sausage with some cucumber flowers.

Bento #125 - Chicken & apple sausage, cucumber flowers, cubed apples, multi-grain crackers and guacamole dip.

4 Andouille & Cilantro Paella

I tried my hand at the new paella pan earlier this week.  It turned out amazing, I was so pleased with it.  I'm posting from my family's house in Maryland right now, and I made this dish again tonight for everyone!  Delish!

What you'll need:

1/2 pound tomatoes

5 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1.5 cups short or medium-grain or Arborio rice
10 threads saffron
2 tsp rosemary
1.5 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp smoked sweet paprika
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 package andouille sausage, about 6 links (I like Amylu brand chicken sausage) cut on the extreme bias
1 cup chopped mixed bell pepper
1 medium diced yellow onion
2 large bunches of fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
13 inch paella pan or large walled skillet

Traditionally this dish is done outdoors on a grill, but I'm going to show you how to do it indoors using your stovetop and oven.  Preheat your oven to 450 degrees, and also set the broth to simmer in a pot, keeping it hot until you need to use it.

Begin by halving the tomatoes, and squeezing the seeds out over a sieve on a bowl to catch the juice.

Next, grate the tomato halves on the large grater side of a box grater.  The skins are actually quite tough and will protect your fingers. 

You should have quite a nice amount of juice and pulp when you're finished.

In a bowl combine the rice, rosemary, salt, paprika and saffron threads.  They are so small and delicate, but the saffron is absolutely essential to this dish! (Like my waterlogged fingers from grating those tomatoes?)

Chop up the veg - peppers, onions and garlic. Heat up the paella pan with the oil and start browning the sausage.  After about 2-3 minutes, move the sausage around to the sides of the pan.

Add the peppers, onion and garlic to the center of the pan and sautee until things start softening and the onions start looking translucent.

Roughly chop the cilantro (it smells so good!)

Add the rice mixture and sautee with the veg for 1 minute, stirring constantly, then add the tomato pulp and juice and cook down for another 2-3 minutes.

Add the cilantro and mix through the rice and veggies.

Now, add two cups of the hot chicken broth, and make sure all of the rice is submerged, so add extra broth if needed.  From this point on, do not stir the rice.  Control the heat so that the broth is bubbling at all times, for 9 minutes.

After the first 9 minutes it should look a little drier,

so add another 2 cups of broth.

Now put the whole pan in the 450 degree oven for another 9 minutes.  When you take it out, taste-test the rice.  It will probably still be a little too crunchy.  In the areas that look dry, add more broth a little at a time.  you want all areas to still be bubbling lightly.  Put the pan back in the oven for about another 9 minutes (this varies depending on how done the rice tastes.)

When the rice tastes tender, and most of the broth has been absorbed, it's done!  Traditionally the dish has an almost burned crust on the bottom that a lot of people like, so if you like that, finish it on the stove top for a few minutes.  Finish with the rest of the fresh chopped cilantro and enjoy!!