For Father’s Day, I got bluefish one of these. For its maiden [lunch] voyage, I packed it with some refreshing summer fare – a pasta salad [just throw together, shrimp, chicken, rotini, olive oil mayo, celery salt/season all, peas & grated carrots] and avacado & cucumber rolls [with pickled ginger & soy sauce]. I think may have made bluefish’s co-workers jealous.
These are so simple and the bitty fish has a blast making them. All you need is a package of crescent rolls and two kosher hot dogs [cut length-wise into quarters] and little hands to roll the piggies into their blankets. You could be adventurous and put cheese in these, as well.
I cooked this batch in the toaster oven [on my wee silpat] at 375 for 15 minutes. Depending on your oven, you may need more or less time. Just keep an eye on them, and let them get nice and brown so the centers get cooked.
This is one of my favorite bento staples, as it’s both fresh and filling. I got the idea from the lovely ladies over at Laptop Lunches, but this is my variation on a theme. You can use tuna fish or chunk chicken, and I like to use olive oil mayonnaise. As for the cucumbers, pick out ones with a wide girth – it makes it easier to scoop bowls for filling. I cut pieces about 2 & 1/2 inches long and use a grapefruit spoon [a paring knife works, too] to hollow out the cuke, leaving the bottom in tact [note: if you're using an end piece, just cut a bit off the end so it has a base]. I also use the same batch of chicken salad to make a sandwich, as I’m usually feeding a grown man with this lunch.
As for the containers I use for bluefish bento, I have the New Wave Enviro Stainless Steel Food Container and the LunchBots Pico Stainless Steel Lunch Container, the latter fits two halves of a sandwich perfectly.
Though you may think I’ve given up my on my culinary explorations this past month – ’tis not so! I simply haven’t had the time to photograph and document my adventures. With bluefish’s new job, I can’t promise 2010 and will be rife with free time… but I will do my best to post at least once a week!
For now, last night’s feast.
shroomy beef burgundy [in the crock]
2 large boneless steaks [cubed]
16 oz halved button mushrooms
1 small sweet onion [diced]
1 – 10 & 3/4 oz can of condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 – 1.2 oz package of brown gravy mix
1 cup warm water
1/4 to 1/2 cup of [drinkable] red wine
Set your crock pot on high and pour in water, gravy mix and mushroom soup. With some oil, brown the onions on med heat and then throw the ’shrooms in and brown together for a few minutes. Turn heat down to low and put lid on. Simmer until shrooms are about halfway cooked. Pour the onion, shrooms and all the juice into the crock pot. Cube beef [I did 1" cubes], salt & pepper and then dredge [coat the beef in a light dusting of flour, and then brown on med/high heat]. Put the browned beef in the crock pot, pour the wine over everything and give the mix a stir. Cook on high for 2 to 3 hours and serve over rice. All of my fish enjoyed this dish! [And, I find this dinner goes quite nicely with the rest of the bottle of red wine.]
best white bread [seriously]
[I got this recipe here and adjusted the amounts to make a 2 lb loaf].
1-1/3 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons white sugar
1-1/3 (.25 ounce) packages bread machine yeast
1/3 cup vegetable oil
4 cups bread flour
1-1/4 teaspoons salt
Place the water, sugar and yeast in the pan of the bread machine. Let the yeast dissolve and foam for 10 minutes. Add the oil, flour and salt to the yeast. Select Basic or White Bread setting, and press Start. [Note: I took this bread out 10 minutes early and it was perfect - so, check on the loaf at the end to keep it from burning. Also, I used two packages of yeast and put it on the quick bread setting.]
I have never seen bluefish gobble up homemade bead like this loaf. It really is a superior white bread machine recipe. I’m going to have to try this method with other breads.
Last Monday, bluefish started a new job. You know what that means? [Besides the fact that I've had almost no time to post new entries.] You guessed it – I’ve started making bento lunches for both of my boys! This was my very first dual lunch spread:
For bluefish: Steak over rice with hard boiled egg [car-shaped] on greens and fresh avacado. For onefish: Steak over rice with boiled egg [bunny-shaped] on cheese and baby carrots. My guys seem to thrive when they load up on protein.
To make the steak extra tasty [they would both be eating in chilled, after all], I pan-fried good cuts of steak in canola oil [with a little salt and pepper]. Once it was done [just slightly pink in the middle], I sliced it right out of the pan and dipped each strip in a combination of soy sauce and walnut oil then laid it directly on the bed of rice. YUM.
These days, I always seems to be making dinner at the last minute. I’m constantly trying to come up with recipes that take less than 20 minutes… because as soon as twofish even senses I’m cooking she throws herself around the kitchen, writhing in agony and angry-talking at me because I’m not paying enough attention to her. This was tonight’s recipe [serves two big and two bitty people].
bitty baked potatoes
Four medium-sized [round] baking potatoes
Four pieces of center-cut bacon
One large chicken breast [cut into tiny cubes]
Two cups of broccoli [chopped and steamed]
Two slices of American cheese [or shredded cheddar]
Salt & pepper
With a fork, punch holes in the potatoes. For speed reasons I cooked the potatoes in the microwave – 3 to 4 minutes on each side at full power, then 2 minutes on each side at half power. Fry the bacon on medium-low to the crispness of your liking. Take the bacon out of the pan and cook the chicken in the bacon drippings. Crumble the bacon into the pan with the chicken and fold in the steamed broccoli. Salt and pepper to taste.
Scoop out the center of the cooked potatoes to make little bowls [set aside the leftover potato].
Fill potatoes with bacon/chicken/broccoli mix and top each with a quarter of an American cheese slice [or shredded cheddar]. Pop in microwave for about 30 seconds [just enough to melt the cheese]. And… dinner.
[for the teeny tiny ones, take the potato centers and leftover bacon/chicken/broccoli mix and mash/puree together.]
I love bluefish. He works hard day in, day out and never expects meals to be made for him. However, I do enjoy feeding him and making things he likes to eat. So, it’s been a pleasure to see him devour almost everything I’ve made since I started this blog. One thing he loves [but doesn't make for himself because of his work schedule] is fresh cut vegetables. So, today I gave him some veggie flowers:
They were not hard to make. I just peeled and cut some carrot sticks, cut up some avocado for the “grass”, used my flower veggie cutter for the blossoms [Xan enjoyed some carrot blossoms today, as well!] and I served it with a side of sweet honey Catalina dressing. And, don’t worry about the leftover carrot being wasted. I enjoyed those pieces while I was fixing the snack!
This was our dinner last night:
I wanted to make something that everyone could eat that was fun, fresh and appetizing. Onefish, bluefish and I love almost everything you see there (the turkey rolls have avocado and mozzarella inside them). Twofish, who is only 14 months old, can’t get enough of hummus and fresh fruit so she was covered with this spread. Also, that fresh garlic bread was amazing. I’m embarrassed to say it wasn’t from scratch (or even from my bread maker), but the fresh garlic butter-sauce was all mine. It was quite a hit with everyone, and everything but a couple baby carrots were gone when I carried the tray back into the kitchen.
Onefish is going to flip when he opens his new bento box tomorrow. Like so many three-year-old boys, there is nothing he loves more than trains. Planes land in third place, but only because “Harry Potter’s flying car” is firmly in the number two spot. In any case, I think he’s going to enjoy these turkey breast shapes (three layers on cheesy rice crackers, with nori accents and a pepperoni tower/station, riding on top of string cheese clouds/cobblestones) a great deal:
Though, after running around with his little friends all morning, he may be more excited about actually eating the second layer (halved grapes and orange slices) of his bento box:
And here’s his new Kamio Dreamy Friends frog bento box all ready to go:
I think I’m experiencing kawaii overload with these little boxes!
