Feisty Bento #404: Yes, even more chili

Today's lunch - the LAST of the chili.  I brought it in separate containers and all but took a photo after I'd put some of it on a plate to microwave. 

Here's a photo pre-heating: chili, slice of pepperjack underneath, and it's all on top of 5 small boiled potatoes. 

After heating.  So much better, right?  Melted cheese, hot chili that isn't retaining the shape of the container from which it was dumped...

But best, topped with sour cream, raw chopped onions, and tons of cilantro.  A delicious meal.  Fabulous.

Happy bento!!!

Feisty Bento #403: More Chili!

A repeat of yesterday's lunch but this time no salsa (that's a mini-cup I bought a two-pack back like 3 years now and just now opened...) and a slice of pepperjack on top of the chili.  I'm a funny kid, aren't I?  It was delicious anyway.  No chips today. 

Happy bento!

Feisty Bento #402: Nommychili

Sorry for the crappy picture!  It's a container of homemade chili on the left and the right is salsa topped with sour cream, chopped raw onions and cilantro. 

When I ate it, I put the chili in a bowl and heated it up, and ate it with Fritos... check it out.

Happy bento!!!

Feisty Bento #398: To Bento or Not to Bento

Does this even count as a bento?  I just know it was labeled as 398 on my hard drive, so it's going up as the last bento I made before I dropped off the face of the bento-world.  Well, actually, I made a 'bento' last week (late December), which was a leftover slice of lasagna on its side, with two pieces of fried tofu crammed next to it.  And I didn't take a picture of it because I was in a rush.  Hmph. 

In any case, the above is BBQ beef from Hill Country, with a side of corn pudding (SO GOOD MMM I NEED THE RECIPE) smashed in next to the green beans.  All of it yummy... oh so good. 

Anyway, now that I'm all caught up, let me catch y'all up!  It is January 1 as I write this, though I will backdate this to when I had this lunch (November 2, 2009).  Finals ended on December 19 and I breathed a huge sigh of relief.  I waited to get my grades back and... four classes (full time school), plus working full time... begot me a 4.0 this semester!  (Yes, second in a row.)  Well, honestly, busting my ass studying every Friday night at Panera instead of going out is what got me that 4.0 - history is my hardest subject, but an excellent professor and a lot of hard work really paid off big time.  I actually scored a 99 on that final exam, which I would have told you was impossible until I actually did it - I almost cried from how happy I was.  I don't know, nerdy, but also... it just felt like, so validating, like it was so worth those nights of not hanging out, to get that grade.  Really, really rewarding.  I wouldn't change it for the world. 

Now, two weeks after finals ended, I'm done with the holiday swirl and really hope to get back into bento'ing.  I'm not making any promises, but I really do hope to get back in the swing of it over the course of the next few weeks, then it'll be time for more announcements and more changes... wink wink.  Stay tuned for that... I promise, it'll be a doozy!!!

I hope you are all having a lovely holiday season and the happiest of new years to you all. 

Happy bento, everyone!!!

Feisty Bento #396: Leftovers of Leftovers

More of the same of yesterday's rice... and a hard boiled egg. 

Happy bento!

posted on 1/1/10, backdated appropriately - I can't believe this is what I ate on my birthday... how depressing!!!

Feisty Bento #395: Leftovers

This bento actually contains leftovers from this meal at Sripraphai in Williston Park.  Yup, it's been so long that I am able to link to the respective meal and review. 

Top left corner: shrimp ball
Bottom left corner: the remains of roasted duck salad
Right side: special house rice mixed up

It's been a long time, yes?

Happy bento!!!

posted on 1/1/10, backdated appropriately

Feisty Bento #392: Repeats

More of those weird noodle-cakes that I made... and sauteed bean sprouts

*I'm not dead, I'm just super busy with exams and all.  I still manage to pack a bento or two a week (saddd)... but posting is crazy difficult :T

Feisty Bento #391: Carnivore

Local/organic Romaine lettuce topped with local/organic cherry tomatoes that taste like candy, topped with the sirloin half of a porterhouse

I also packed two small containers - one with Italian dressing for the salad bit, and one with blue cheese for the steak, hehe. 

Yummm...

think outside the lunchbox~!

Feisty Bento #383: Foodbuzz Food Blog Awards!

Left: Roasted zucchini salad
Right, top to bottom: short ribs that I didn't like so no recipe forthcoming; baked mac & cheese

This bento was actually prepared for and consumed on a Saturday!  As I mentioned before but didn't really go into details, I have class on Saturdays from 9am to 3pm.  That's two 3 hour classes in a row - I thought it wouldn't be that bad, but just the thought is making me antsy in my seat, hah!  There's only 5 minutes between classes, technically, but my 9am class professor so far has been letting us out 20 minutes early, instead of breaking in the middle for 20 minutes.  That's fine by me - it's a little early at 11:30am for me to want to eat lunch, but we'll see as time goes on, since my 12pm professor said she'll most likely break for 20 minutes or so around 1:30ish, which is much more in line with my normal lunch-eating-time (when I'm at work, that is; weekends are usually anything goes). 

Class is... interesting.  I'm a little terrified of one of my professors (on the off chance that somehow, this blog finds its way to large scale attention, I think I'll refrain from giving any identifying details!) - but on the bright side, I'm learning a lot and actually somewhat excited and interested in a subject that previously was my most detested.  So, we'll see how that goes.  I have a good suspicion that my 4.0 from last semester will be destroyed, but hopefully, not too much.  We shall see...

On another note... HB and I hung out after a weekend of me staying in and studying; I really should have stayed in and studied some more, but BF was all "You deserve it, go out and have fun," and well, it was GORGEOUS out, and I technically do have some extra time to study since there's no class this Saturday.  So hopefully I'll be able to study throughout the week (this is going to be a very busy week for me! what with classes and then two events I wouldn't miss for the world... hmm!) and get all caught up so that I can go out this weekend as well - I didn't even see my BF this past weekend!!!  (Well, in his defense, he was away.  Haha.) 

Phew, I'm excellent at complaining and going straight to whining about not having time, huh? 

In any case, the above?  HB and I stopped by the Red Hook Ikea & Fairway after a food adventure, and inside Fairway was a lobster tank.  $9.99/lb for lobster - a dramatic increase from what I'd paid - but DUDE THESE LOBSTERS WERE HUGE!  Look how big that one next to HB's fist is - no, it's not a picture of her trying to punch it, it's for size.  I would say that lobster was easily 10 or more pounds... dayammmmmmm. 

I went home without it. 

Hahahahaha what, did you think I really bought that sucker?  Not even sure I could fit it in my biggest pot!!!  And I was NOT going to lug it home, as it was, it was annoying lugging home the 40 ounces of spinach I bought for $1.99.  Yeah, I don't know why it was so cheap, either.  I'm not going to complain about it though. 

One last fun thing!  Foodbuzz is holding their first annual Foodbuzz food blog awards!  You can nominate any food blog you like, and I suggest you do - there are a ton of fun categories!!!  The food blog you nominate doesn't have to be a Foodbuzz blog, so go and nominate... and in a few weeks, I'll remind you to go and vote :)

Think outside the lunchbox~!!!

Feisty Bento #382: Slow Cooker Woes

Baked mac & cheese flanking a slow cooked BBQ short rib...

I have to say, I'm having a bit of trouble with the slow cooker.  I'm used to cooking on the fly, very hands-on (even roasting items in the oven is slightly more hands-on), and able to check seasonings as I go, tasting it, testing it, and making it taste amazing.  Not so with the slow cooker.  It's like, I need to measure things and put it all in perfectly beforehand, and I'm not doing that.  Blegh.  :( 

The baked mac & cheese, however, was FABULOUS :)

Think outside the lunchbox~!!!

Feisty Bento #344: Leftover Lunch!

Lunch made easy with leftovers! 

"Mixed greens" topped with leftover steak, and a small container of honey Vidalia onion dressing (which I squished into the box for transport, so it was all quite compact). 

And it was delicious!  The steak was leftover from the infamous $15 steak sandwiches at Yankee Stadium (yeah, I know that's a Mets helmet cup... they were playing the Mets... and yes, I plan on posting about my experience at the stadium, that post goes live in early July on Feisty Foodie!  Look for it!).  For my opinion on it all - just gonna have to wait :) 

Mmm, baby! 

Think outside the lunchbox!

Feisty Bento #328: Back... sort of

Mmm!  Meat!  Miso marinated thinly sliced rib eye, rice, and corn (frozen, it'll defrost in time to eat it). 

So about those technical difficulties, I'm still having them but have resolved nearly all the major issues for now.  The biggest problem now is just that unless I wake up at the butt-crack of dawn, I probably won't be able to post pics of the day's bento until that night.  But that isn't such a big problem, right? 

Right? 

Think outside the lunchbox!!!

Feisty Bento #327: Return to Meat

This is dinner bento.  I am so grumpy right now, I won't explain why there's no lunch bento.  Grrr. 

Top tier: rice with tamago furikake and some parsley just for color
Bottom tier: three slices of rib eye marinated in soy sauce, garlic, sesame oil, sauteed really quickly with some onions that I caramelized after I cooked the steak; frozen corn niblets

The corn will be defrosted by the time I eat this and will be plump and juicy, no cooking time necessary :)

Think outside the lunchbox! 

PS It feels good to be back to blogging after a week off, but I'm swamped at work so this will have to do.  Sorry!

Feisty Bento #284 & 285: Trying Ain't Doing

I got home at a reasonable-ish time last night, a little before 11, and managed to whip up two batches of veggies for the week (for both dinner and bento), bean sprouts and carrot kinpira.  Pleased with myself, I went to sleep and plotted out today's bento... spaghetti in a lunch jar, veggies, and some other stuff.

Well, I woke up a little bit late and then didn't start packing my lunch immediately because I knew it should be quick.  I was heating the spaghetti, went to pre-heat my lunch jar, then opened it up and...

this is gross, ok?

Apparently, the last time I'd used that jar, I didn't wash it, and just put it to the side.  I thought I'd washed it, so I had it on the side for a while, still in the bag, still just sitting there, patiently waiting for me to open it... *grimace* 

So I panicked and threw the spaghetti in this take out container because the other lunch jar (I have two, excluding Mr. Bento, which is too big for everyday use) was in the sink - I know that one is unwashed, because I haven't had any TIME... and I figured at least this way, I can microwave my spaghetti.  But of course, this means no veggies with my lunch... sadface. 

I did make a slightly better dinner bento, which won't be heated because no microwave at school (that I know of... in fact, I don't even know if we have a cafeteria...), but whatever.  I'll have real food.

 Sauteed bean sprouts, carrot kinpira, and BBQ country style pork ribs

I'm exhausted still... and I have a mountain of dishes in the sink that need to be taken care of!!!  Ack!!! 

Happy bento!!!

Feisty Bento #281: The End

Last night's dinner, more of the same, see the rice this time :)

Today's lunch, again more of the same, finishing up the veggies before they go bad (woohoo! I never do that! I mean I'm never able to!). 

Top tier: last of the rice with red steak/onions/sauce
Bottom tier: last of the bean sprouts, last of the cabbage, pickled daikon, marinated cuttlefish

So happy with lunch today.  Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Happy bento!!!

Feisty Bento #280: Dinner for lunch or lunch for dinner?

That was part of my dinner last night... and basically what I had for dinner last night is what I have for bento today! 
From the top/left: sauteed cabbage; marinated cuttlefish (spicy); sauteed mungbean sprouts; picked daikon; spicy chicken; Woorijip gimbap
Not pictured: bowl of rice mixed with red steak and onions, sauce

Repeat! 

Left cup: spicy marinated cuttlefish; pickled daikon; sauteed cabbage; mungbean sprouts
Right cup: spicy chicken; gimbap; takuan
Jar: rice mixed with steak, onions, sauce

It's not like it's hard to smush that stuff in there, but it's fiddly and I lose patience with my less-than-excellent chopsticks skills.  (Despite growing up in an Asian household, my parents found it incredibly frustrating to make me use chopsticks properly for two reasons: I am left handed, so they had to constantly think how to reverse the instructions, and because I simply refused, preferring forks and spoons.)  So my chopstick skills to this day are laughable; most anyone I know has a better grasp than I, including every single non-Asian friend I have that I have eaten at an Asian restaurant with. 

So the rice?  It's not a new thing - I've posted about this restaurant leftover before - but I made my life even easier than frying it last night.  I just made fresh rice (in my rice cooker), and when the rice was almost but not quite cooked all the way, I dumped in the cut up steak.  When the rice was finished, I stirred it all around, adding the onions and sauce from the carton, and let it sit for a few minutes to warm through (while I prepped my side dishes in the first pic), and voila, delicious and filling dinner! 

... and delicious, filling leftovers for lunch today :)

Happy bento~!!!

Feisty Bento #276: More Mess

In the cup: sour cream topped with lots of fresh cilantro, for mixing into the jar
Jar:  chili topped with shredded cheese (recipe to come, it's a new version of my previous chili recipes)
Frozen individual portion of Mandarin oranges - I have to check on the brand for these, but it's 80 calories a cup, not sure if that includes if you drink the juice - ummm, who said I do that?!  :P

Okay.  I am not having good luck with the lunch jars lately.  The frozen cup of Mandarin oranges - I froze it because I wanted to keep my sour cream cold, right?  But when I took everything out to have lunch, the plastic part of its cup had broken, I guess during the freezing process, and it leaked juice all over my thermal insulated lunch bag!  WRAGH!!!  Since it's just juice, luckily,that'll rinse right out, but still, I was NOT happy!

Also: thanks for all the tips about the other lunch bag!  I wound up soaking it with some dishwashing soap and then rinsing it off, letting it dry.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do this right away since I had to rush out to take care of a semi-emergency the other night, so I don't think all of the oils came out.  Thankfully, the bag is a dark maroon, so I guess it won't look too bad with a stain... I'll let you know how it looks once it's fully dry (it wasn't dry yet when I last checked).  Boo. 

Sorry for not updating - I actually was out sick the past two days, had some... issues.  Blegh.  I'm back now... and it's snowing!!!

This was the view while I waited for the bus this morning.  BLEGH.  Perfect day to stay in, I tell you!

The view from my bus (of another bus) so you can see how much snow it was.  Sigh.  The downside of living in NYC.

HAPPY BENTO~!!

Feisty Bento #273: Winter Wonderland

So I decided on a total whim to try adding crushed pineapple - that's what's in the cup - to the beef stew.  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't exactly the oomph I was looking for... but then I gave up, and ladled out the rest of the stew into sandwich bags for freezing and eating at a later date.  Maybe it's just me.  I'm sure it tastes good, just not as good as I'd like.  Ah well!  Can't always hit a homerun! 

Jar: beef stew
Cup: crushed pineapple
Not shown: a pudding cup I had as dessert.

You like the background?  My sister gave me a bunch of nifty kitchen items for Christmas, including this trivet/cutting board/decorative piece.  (I normally don't liken trivet to cutting board, but the package it came in said it could be used as both!)  It's tempered glass and so far, it's taken up a permanent spot betweeen my bamboo chopping block (on which I do not chop; I put other, smaller cutting boards on top of it to prep veggies or meats) and the stove.  Cute, right?  Also pretty fitting as it's meant to snow between 4 and 7 inches tomorrow.  Are you reading???  Unless you're in a colder climate than me, stop complaining about the weather!!!  *shakes fist*

Happy bento!!!

Feisty Bento #272: New Stew

Jar: beef stew (recipe to come; needs a little tweak)
Cup: broccoli stem and shredded carrot kinpira - the last of it, unfortunately :(

This first attempt at stew (I've made beef stew before... it's hard to explain... whatever!) needs a little tweak.  I want a slight sour tang to it, since the flavor is smooth and rich.  I'll have to taste it more when I get home tonight to really play with the flavors.  Maybe it just needs more pepper?  But when I eat it, I just want it to have a slight sourness to it that is missing.  Hmm.

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!!!