All in Good Food

Simple Stir Fry with Couscous

2012-01-15T19:02:00.002-05:00

This was my lunch for today. Something very simple but different from what I have been having lately. Ingredients are chicken breast, bacon, broccoli, walnuts and couscous. I also mixed in soy sauce and a little miso paste for flavor. Also in the bento I made a mix of Fuji apple chunks, raspberries and pecans. Quick, easy and tasty.

Not only does this work well as a hot meal…..

But it also works well at room temperature in a bento…..

I’ll take you through the step by step on how I made this in a later post.

Thanks for stopping by.

Itadaki masu

I’m Back

2012-01-13T07:32:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone long time no see. I’m sorry to have been away for so long. You see I work for a very popular museum in the retail department. I began working there the summer of 2010. Within 3 months of being hired I was being trained to run one of the small stores within the complex. That training set me up for my bigger elevation in 2011 when I was given the responsibility of running a specified store to accompany the traveling exhibit on display at the museum. After that I was asked to do the same for the next traveling exhibit that arrived. You may ask well why are you tell us all of this, well this is the reason I was not blogging for so long. Sometimes life gets busier than expected and some things have to be sacrificed for the time.

Needless to say I am trying to get back into the swing of things and get back to blogging. I did continue to make bentos for my lunches every day although I just did not have the time in the mornings to always take pictures of them. The ones I did I will post up soon in my next blog post. With that said I want to let you know there are some exciting changes that are coming in my life that is going to give me the opportunity to explore more with my cooking and food exploration but I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag just yet.

I want to thank all the people who continued to follow my blog even when there was no new content for them to read, but I am back now and hope to have more for you in the near future. Please stay with me and thanks for your support.

Slow Cookers/Crock Pots Yes or No

2011-05-21T08:53:00.000-04:00

I use my slow cooker quite often so I was wondering how often others are using one and why? Here are just a few questions regarding slow cooker/crock pot use to help me gage how popular and versatile this appliance is. If you would like to participate please answer the questions in the comment section and thanks for your help.

Q: Do you own a slower cooker?

Q: If you own a slow cooker, how often to you use it?

Q: What have you cooked in it?

Q: What have you cooked in your slower cooker that did not turn out the way you expected?

Q: What do you like/dislike about cooking in a slow cooker?

When Life gives you lemons…….

2011-05-14T06:40:00.001-04:00

I wasn’t sure how I was going to start this post or what I was going to write for that matter so it took me a few days to gain my composure so that I could get the right words to paper. This post is created just to inform my loyal readers as to a development that has risen in my food blogging world. Back in March of this year I was reading one of the blogs I follow under my quilting blog and the writer was talking about using Google alerts to track possible uses or misuses of your blog posts. Now I had done searches before on the internet concerning my blog and hadn’t found any misuses of my posts or recipes so when I used Google alerts I didn’t expect to find anything.

As my readers know I’m not a trained chef, I am just someone who loves cooking and loves food in general. So my recipes are simple dishes I mostly created to help me overcome having a very small budget for groceries and very little time to cook hence the name of my blog All in Good Food a play on the term all in good fun because I like having fun with my food; cooking, eating, displaying, photographing; all the joys of a foodie.

Well here is the news readers! What I found out was that a large appliance company who I will not name in this post has taken my blog’s name. They claimed they researched the name and purchased the domain name in January of 2010, however if you have been with me from the beginning you know that I created this blog in 2009 and have been posing to it ever since then. As a matter of fact I not only have this blog here on Blogger but one of the same name on Live Journal. I created them both in my early days on blogging because I was new to blogging and wasn’t sure which company offered the best service for what I needed. So although I began posing to only one of my blogs on a regular basis I still have the two blogs.

I did contact this company at that time to inform them of the fact that my blog already was using the name All in Good Food but it wasn’t until recently that they replied to my email stating that they did research on the name and purchased the domain name back in January 2010. This company claims they did research on the name but I am the one how has the twitter name allingoodfood42, a fan page on Facebook under the name All In Good Food, a flickr account under allingoodfood42, a gmail account under allingoodfood @ gmail.com. Apparently they did not research to see if anyone was already using the name. Which is a sad commentary on the fact that big companies don’t get that fact that the food blogging world is large and should be acknowledged.

I know that my posts recently have been sporadic for various reasons but I take pride in my blog and do not want to post anything that was not worthy of being posted. If I didn’t feel the recipe I came up with or the pictures I took were ready for posting I did not post them. With that said I am here to let you know I will not be changing my blog name. The REAL All in Good Food is right here on this blog from an everyday foodie and home cook just like you.

I do have to say that I will from now on go out of my way to not buy any products from the company I mentioned above, however that is my choice that is why I will not mention the companies name. I am not here to slander anyone, I am just here to defend and hold on to my passion that I have and am working hard on. Although I do have the dream of attending a highly rated cooking school in the near future it is to hone my skills and not to become a professional.

I hope that you will continue to read my blog and support me as you have in the past.

With all my love and thanks,

Marisa

Back to work Bento

2011-04-15T09:46:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone, well it’s back to work time. After being off for three months it’s good to get back although while I was off I was not idle. I caught up on a lot of my sewing/quilting and had loads of fun.

Well since today’s shift is a short one, only 4 hours I kept my bento very simple. I also cheated a bit and purchased a Lunchable that was created for field trips. This one included bread, turkey, cheese and mayo packet to make a sandwich as well as an apple sauce cup, small bag of cookies, small bottle of water with a Kool Aid Singles packet. I thought they were very nice with the sandwich and drink included but I did modify it. I took the whole thing apart and just kept the sandwich and drink part.

The sandwich is turkey and cheese and I added lettuce and it came with a packet of light mayonnaise which is hiding under the sandwich. I will put the mayo on when break time comes. Also in the kit there is this mini bottle of water, so cute, and a Kool Aid Singles packet but I decided to make some peach tea instead. I added some trail mix and a fruit snack pouch, which I will probably eat on my ride home.

Yeah I know it’s not as balanced as I would like but I’m trying to get back into the “bento” swing of things. I haven’t made bentos on a regular basis while I was off. So stay tuned for more to come.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day.

Till the next bento.

Itadaki masu

Getting Healthy: Let's Start By Being Real Because It Needs to Be Said

2011-02-27T05:14:00.004-05:00

Note: I know this post is very long but I ask that you please take the time to read it through fully so that you can understand me and my journey better.

Ok I said I was going to be honest with these posts about my weight loss and I am. About three years ago I lost my job and subsequently had to change my way of thinking. As I look back I think it was a good thing that happened and possible saved my life. I worked for a health insurance company and ironically the longer I worked there the more weight I gained. I can honestly say it was from the sedimentary atmosphere (I sat at a deck all day), the stress (I had to make a certain production and accuracy amount for my work), the food (my department was always having potlucks for peoples birthdays and the such and the café food wasn’t the healthiest), and taking all of that with me when I left work everyday.

Without making excuses I would say that the time between 2001-2007 was a very highly stressful time for me. In 2001 my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer just before she retired from the same company I was working for. She went on to do fine until early 2005 when the cancer came back and ultimately she passed away in December of 2005.

In 2003 I bought a home at the same time my parents sold my childhood home and moved down to Georgia. I don’t think I was really financially ready to buy the house and subsequently lost it in 2005.

In 2004 my daughter entered her first year in high school. The year started out on the wrong foot. Because of the many school closings in the area she ended up starting school 3 weeks late. Starting out like that in your first year is not good and very stressful. Ultimately she began having anxiety attacks and after hearing about my mother’s cancer relapse she began cutting. In 2005 I began home schooling her for the last three years of high school.

In 2005 I moved out of my home and into an apartment which I can honestly say I loved living in and we stayed there for two years and moved out when our lease was up in 2007. However even though we loved that apartment we still did many things to escape the pain and sadness we had bottled up from prior years.

As well as working in the high stress job, dealing with my mother’s death, and my daughters emotional state I’m not sure how I got out of it with no severe health issues. I guess at the time I was in denial. Yes I went to the doctor for regular check ups but because I did not have high cholesterol, high blood pressure or any signs of cancer I thought I was ok. When I looked in the mirror I knew I wasn’t an ideal weight but I did not see myself actually how I was. I can honestly say by 2007 I was weighing 245-250lbs.

You may be asking well what was your lifestyle like? How were your eating habits. Didn’t you exercise? Well in answer to those questions. My eating habits were awful. I ate a lot of processed foods, fast food and there was a 7-11 right next door to my apartment complex. So you can imagine. Pretty much I would come home from work so tired from being stressed out I would collapse after pulling out some processed food or stopping on the way home for fast food for dinner. I did not begin exercising until the spring of 2007 when we began walking at a park near our apartment, which I enjoyed and wish I could still go there.

2007 was the turning point in my life. In July I lost my job. Yeah losing my job is not the best thing in the world but it was the best thing to happen to me. The day I came home and told my daughter it was like the sun began shining again after a long stormy darkness. I could actually see a bright future for us.

In August of 2007 I spent a month in San Francisco training to be an English Language Instructor and completed the course on my 40th birthday. Just before leaving I knew I needed to get myself prepared for all the walking I would need to do in San Francisco so I began walking every morning as well as my walking in the park and was up to walking about 3-4 miles a day combined. I felt the changesin my body happening and was feeling good.

When I got back home I enrolled in on-line college courses, graduated and received my bachelors degree in 2009 and subsequently began my first blog All In Good Food. I will explain what has been going on with me/us in the past 3 ½ years more in depth in another post because I believe it deserves particular attention to the details in an attempt to maybe help others that are most surely in the same or similar situation.

I must say I began All In Good Food as a result of embracing my love for food and learning how to cook healthy tasty and convenient food. Because during that time I had long periods with no job I had to come up with inventive recipes that I could cook on a very restricted budget. That is were a lot of my recipes on the blog came from.

So when I say that losing my job back in 2007 saved my life I truly mean it. I believe that it forced me to make long needed lifestyle changes that put me onto the path to a healthy, happier life.

Please join me for my next post.

P.S.

I have to tell you that my daughter is doing very well and has developed into a well adjusted young woman. She is 20 years old now and got married last year to a wonderful young man who is in the navy and under deployment at this time. She has a dream of being a musician and has her own blog called Journey To Vaudeville. She is also my partner in the company we are in the process of starting. So she is doing very well.

You can email me at allingoodfood@gmail.com

Getting Healthy: The Beginning is Now

2011-02-26T08:56:00.005-05:00

Hello everyone it is time for me to get very real here. If you follow my Blog, twitter or Facebook then you know I have never posted a picture of myself, well I take that back I did post one from Thanksgiving after my daughter and I put up our Christmas tree this past year but that is it. There is a reason I haven’t put up any pictures and that is my weight. Don’t get me wrong my self-esteem is not low it’s just my body is unhealthy and there are factors in my health history that warrant me making this change more aggressively now. So I will be honest here about whats going on in my life, my weight loss, my exercise, my set backs and my triumphs all without excuses.

Current Stats

Sex: Female
Age: 43 (will be 44 this year)
Weight: 198.8
Height: 5’3”
Illnesses: Asthma (currently under control)
Health History: Breast Cancer (Mom), Upper Respiratory issues (Paternal Side of family)

My Weight Goal: 130lbs That means I will need to loose about 70lbs (roughly) (at my current weight it would be 68.8lbs)

I am asking all of my foodie friends for food or recipe suggestions and to keep me very honest about my food choices. All I ask is please be nice about it, berating someone will get you nor me anywhere and I will not post any comments that are negative or belittling. I will try not to be annoying on this journey but I ask for your patience and understanding. With that said the journey has begun.

Update: You can email me at allingoodfood@gmail.com

Just a Little Appetizer: Chicken and Broccoli Mini Tacos

2011-02-06T08:13:00.005-05:00

Hi I just wanted to share with you a little appetizer I whipped up yesterday.

I was looking for something light and filling to eat for lunch yesterday as I was in the middle of reorganizing my sewing area. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. Although I have not written a post on it yet I have spent the last year working on making my own tortillas and through trial and error I have finally found the recipe balance I like. I know what you are thinking why go through all that trouble when you can just buy them in the store? Well I like to have the flexibility to make them any size I want and to add any flavor I want to them. You don’t get that with the store bought. As of yet I have not see them in the 4” rounds or in square shapes. I also have the ability to make chips any size and shape I want. That is the key right have the flexibility to have it the way you want it.

Well I am not going to cover making the tortilla dough in this post. This post is for the appetizers I made from them. I will have another post and link to the tortilla recipe and preparation. So here we go.

This recipe is very simple and easy. You can even have things pre-made and set aside to assemble and heat up later. This is perfect for those busy days or for an after school snack for the kids. As I have been working a lot with my sewing lately I needed another quick and easy go-to recipe.

Ingredients

1 chicken breast (cut into thin slices)
10 large broccoli florets
Cheese of any variety you like (shredded or sauce)
Home made tortillas
Yellow mustard

1. Make tortilla dough, following what ever recipe you are comfortable with, and roll, press and/or cut to desired size.

2. Pan sear the chicken piece.

3. Once chicken is fully cooked. Add taco seasoning of choice to taste and a small amount (I didn’t measure the amount but I would say around 3 tablespoons) of chicken stock or water to the pan. Note adding the liquid helps to coat the chicken better with the taco seasoning.

4. In the same pan add about a tablespoon of butter and let it melt. Don’t clean the pan between cooking the chicken and broccoli so that the broccoli can get some of the flavor from the taco seasoning. Once butter is melted sauté the broccoli. Note I use frozen broccoli and let it thaw out in the pan when it is cooking to retain it’s color and flavor.

5. Once broccoli is cooked remove it from the pan to a cutting board and let cool enough to handle. Cut into slices.

6. Then assemble. Lay down your tortilla, cover with cheese, add broccoli slices, then the chicken.

Note: Sorry I don’t have step-by-step photos. A lot of the time when I try out a new recipe I forget to take photos of the steps. So the next time I make it I will remember to take the photos and update the post.

I hope you will try these out and let me know what you think and if you tried anything different ingredients. These are designed to be very flexible to taste.

So until next time, Itadaki masu!

Bento #26

2011-01-27T01:08:00.004-05:00

Rice with shredded carrots, mini turkey burgers, tamagoyaki, grapes.

So until my next bento, Itadaki masu!

Bento #25: Back to basics bento

2011-01-23T08:57:00.003-05:00

Sometimes I feel you have to go back to the beginning to regain what you feel you lost. Lately my friend rice has not been coming out right and I could not figure out why. Then I realized to began to suffer the fatal flaw that happens to some cooks and that is complacency. Most of the time when I cook I don’t measure I cook by taste but there are times when measuring is needed and/or required to get the taste right every time. So what I had been doing was not measuring when I cooked my rice I would just eyeball the amount of rice and the water that went into my rice cooker. Well this past week I went back to my old ways and measured out my rice and my water and the result was my perfect fried rice.

Being a free spirit when cooking is good at times but when it comes to basics keep it by the book so to speak.

Here is my bento from Friday. Fried rice, sautéed broccoli with cheese sauce, and turkey patties. Can’t get more basic than that.

So until my next bento, Itadaki masu!

New Years Eve 2010

2010-12-31T21:43:00.003-05:00

Every year like everyone else I take time to say good bye to one year and hello to the next. Usually this comes with good food good drinks and my family. So here are some photos of this years goodies. Enjoy.

New Years Eve 2010 Goodies

Corned Beef and Swiss bites (of course on rye with mustard), Grapes, Carrots sticks with dip, Nachos with cheese, Chex Mix (a classic), Special Fruit Punch, St. Julian Sparkling Cider (for later toast)

Corned Beef and Swiss Bites

Always Alcohol Free Celebrating
St. Julian Sparkling Apple Cider

I hope that your New Year's Eve celebration is fun and safe. See you in 2011

Bento #24

2010-11-21T08:44:00.003-05:00

This was lunch from Friday. Although it was very tasty I over cooked the egg noodles. I don’t seem to have a lot of progress with egg noodles. It’s always a hit or miss thing for me. Sometimes they come out perfect then others they are soggy and taste like paste. Oh well I’ll keep trying at it.

Ok let’s begin with the bottom part because that has the meal where as the top part has dessert/snack. The bottom part has salisbury steak that has been chopped into smaller pieces, the egg noodles mentioned above with brown gravy and sautéed broccoli.

Now the top part is filled with a bunch of grapes and a Rice Krispies Treats® that I cut in half and spread peanut butter on it. I then cut it in small bights. I think peanut butter on Rice Krispies Treats® is my now obsession but I will try Nutella next.

So until my next bento, Itadaki masu!

AllThingsForSale.com Bento Gear Giveaway at Bentobloggy

2010-11-17T01:03:00.001-05:00

Now I am always up for a good giveaway and this one is a great one for any of my fellow bentoist out there. As I was going through the list of blogs I follow I came across the new post from Emily at Bentobloggy. She is having a giveaway of a wonderful bento set from AllThingsForSale.com. When she talked about the selection being great and the prices being very reasonable she wasn’t kidding. I went over there to check them out myself and have already made a mental list of things I want to buy. It is nice that they are here in the states and that your items don’t take forever to get to you. I have already bookmarked them myself under my bento accessories.

So if you are interested in entering this give away head over to Bentobloggy and while you are there check out her bentos I think you’ll like them.

Update: Project Herb Garden

2010-11-16T15:34:00.003-05:00

So in my last post I had a picture of the herb packets that I had. I also told you that I was in the process of deciding what herb(s) I wanted to start with. Well I have been doing research on the internet and reading books to help me in my process (I will list them at the end of this post). I found one source that said to start by looking at the herbs and spices you already use and go from there. So that is exactly where I am going to begin. If you are familiar with any of my recipe or bento posts you will know that I love dill and use it a lot.

So I have decided that my first plant will be Dill (Anethum graveolens). I have been doing general research on dill and will begin doing specific research today. The seed packet I have is Dukat Leafy Dill. I’m not sure what the different varieties of dill are but as soon as I find out I will let you know.

I know I may be starting this project at the wrong time as it is fall and I am in Michigan but this is for an indoor herb garden and I didn’t think it would matter. I’ve been looking at the layout of my kitchen to see where I can set up this herb garden because I will have to use a grow light because my kitchen has no windows and I have a cat and I don’t want him chewing on my herbs when I’m not looking. Maybe I will also grow him his own herbs so that he will leave mine alone.

Well there is my update keep checking back to watch my progress.

Till then, happy growing.

My references so far:

The Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosch (Google books copy-read only) (Herbs Chapter 8-begin on page 383)

GardenGuides.com

Renee’s Garden (The seed packets are from Renee’s Garden)

Bento #23

2010-11-15T08:30:00.003-05:00

I had to work yesterday and the weather was not the greatest here in Michigan. No we don’t have any snow yet but it was cold so I wanted a bento that was very filling. I meant to post this bento when I got home from work yesterday but was just too tired. I’ve been living in Michigan all my life but the cold air still wipes me out.

This was yesterday’s lunch and I must say it was very delicious and filling. It is made up of 3 small yaki onigiri. I think I love yaki onigiri better than regular onigiri but I have been experimenting with different flavors so maybe I can come up with some that I can make my go to flavors. Growing up I always put salt, pepper and a lot of butter on my rice so plain non-seasoned rice or rice only season with salt does not appeal to me. I know that may seem like a very American attitude but I do try foods from all over and then adapt them to my own palate. I feel food is not stagnate it is ever changing and that should be ok. We should always remember traditional recipes or ways of cooking but we also have to remember that people’s tastes are diverse and should be respected. Ok I just ran off on a tangent I do apologize.

Now back to the bento. I also had french cut green beans that were cooked in soy sauce. I first placed them in the microwave with a little soy sauce poured over them then I grilled them on my griddle with a small amount of butter. I was hoping I could come close to the taste I get when I sauté my broccoli but didn’t work this time. Next time I’ll try it in a skillet. I included a bunch of red grapes and that is what is in the top part of the bento.

In the bottom part I have tamagoyaki made with dill and cheese. I am going to have to invest in a real tamagoyaki pan. Right now I make it on my griddle and it seems to come out fine but to be honest I have never eaten one made with an authentic pan in the traditional way. So a tamagoyaki pan goes on my wish list. Lastly I added cut up salisbury steak left over from dinner the night before and there we are.

So until my next bento, Itadaki masu!

Blogiversary & Herb Project Announcement

2010-11-11T09:57:00.004-05:00

Today is my official blogiversary but there will be no bells and whistles going on here. Although I am happy to have made it through this past year and I have learned a lot in the process I don’t feel that this blog has lived up to its potential yet. All in Good Food will strive to do better in the coming year to fulfill the goals that I have set so stay with me and see the transformation and growth.

Now to the first project of the year for All in Goof Food and that is the Herb Project. What is the Herb project you might ask? Well I realized that I work so much better with goals and deadlines I have created this project to help me learn more about herbs and spice I may or may not be using in my recipes. I find that in my area I am hard pressed to find some of the herbs I need for cooking so I thought why not grow them myself. So is the birth of my Herb Project. I haven’t come up with a catchy name for it yet but I’ll be working on that.

So here is the project. I will be researching, planning, planting, harvesting and creating recipes with the herbs I will be growing. As I have never grown herbs before I am researching what are the best herbs for me to grow and as I live in Michigan I will need to grow them indoors for now. I want to get some plants to start with but they will be hard to find at this time of the year. However I was recently given some seed packets so I will start with them. This project will take you through every step on my process, good, bad and ugly. I will be taking notes as closely as possible so that I may learn from my mistakes as well as my triumphs.

So I ask you to stay with me on this journey and any advice from those who have grown herbs before are welcomed and encouraged, I just ask that you be respectful and positive, nastiness is not necessary or welcomed here at this blog. With that said I already have a plan in mind and will share that with you in the next post.

Till then.

Bento #22

2010-11-08T06:25:00.003-05:00

When I take my bentos to work I try to keep them very simple and yesterday's was no exception. I made some of my homemade turkey chili the night before so I just cooked up some penne pasta and mixed it together. I love cheese on my chili and my pasta and chili so I put a bit of shredded cheese in the top along with some french cut green beans that were seasoned with soy sauce and black pepper. A very simple lunch.

So until my next bento, Itadaki masu!

Bento #21

2010-11-07T06:20:00.001-05:00

Here is another simple bento I had for my lunch yesterday. I took a steak filet and sliced it into thin slices and then I cut the slices into bit sized pieces and grilled them on my griddle. I cooked the egg noodles in brown gravy that was left over from the Salisbury steak we had for dinner Thursday night. I just added a little water and added the noodles and let them cook till they were soft. I then topped it with two small pieces of bacon that had been wrapped around the steak filet that I cooked along side of the steak. I also had butter sauté broccoli. I love my broccoli this way because I love the roasted taste.

So until my next bento, Itadaki masu!

Bento #20

2010-11-06T08:07:00.003-04:00

This was the simple bento I had for lunch yesterday.

This bento consists of simple white rice seasoned with butter, salt and pepper along with tamagoyaki made with dill and shredded cheese. No not your traditional tamagoyaki but the taste appeals to me. There is French cut green beans which I cooked with soy sauce for seasoning and two pieces of General Tso chicken from dinner the night before. As I said very simple but very tasty.

So until my next bento, Itadaki masu!

Bento #18 and #19

2010-11-06T07:28:00.003-04:00

Here are a few bentos I managed to take a picture of after my computer crashed. Just thought I’d share them with you.

Bento #18

Bento #19

So until my next bento, Itadaki masu!

Wow How Time Flies

2010-11-03T21:31:00.004-04:00

As I was trying to decide what my next post would be I looked up and realized that as of November 10th it will be 1 year since I began this blog. Wow how time flies. When I first began I wasn’t quite sure where to start, what to write about, or what was my culinary passion. I have to admit I floundered for a bit until I found a niche which was posting the bentos I had been already creating. But I thought to myself I don’t want to stop there so I began to post my experimental dishes and creations and that felt good.

Cooking I have found has been an evolution of sorts. As I learned more about food and ingredients I became a better cook. When I was younger I dabbled a bit in cooking but other than pastry or dessert dishes I never pursued it seriously. Well now my time has come. No I don’t want to be the “Next Food Network Star” or work in a 3 or 4 star restaurant but I do want to cook the best food I can for me and my family.

I think when I am passionate about something I get very focused and intense about it. That is sometimes a good thing and sometimes not. Cooking requires you to be very focused but flexible at the same time and the key to good cooking is finding that balance. So in this new year I have decided to pick 4 key things and focus my efforts on them.

And they are first of all making balanced bentos. I have been creating bentos for about 3 years now and the process has helped me immensely in understanding portion control and balance in my meals. I have struggled a bit but with struggle comes progress. It also helps to have a strong bento community that I am involved with. I have learned about different foods, recipes, techniques (for aesthetics purposes) which is one of the keys to the appeal of bentos. I must also say this community is very supportive and helpful which is great.

My next endeavor is in baking. As a young girl I wanted to be a pastry chef and make all those wonderful delights that most everyone loves, but I think I let fear stop me from pursuing that path but no more. At this point in my life I am not sure if I am up to going to a formal school to become a patisserie but this is the information age and I think I am good at understanding information that I find in books, TV shows and the internet. Don’t get me wrong I do want to go study under some good teachers but I feel that a more intimate and personal setting is for me. I have fallen in love with the Cooking Channel show Rachel Allen Bake. When I watch her I understand what she is telling me. Eventually I want to sign up for her cooking school and keep going from there.

This new year of my blog I am also starting a 365 project. I decided I want to learn more about herbs so I am going to take in the next year and work on my 365 Herb Project. I will also be studying spices and their uses as well. As I want to give this project its fair turn I will wait to explain what I am doing in its own post.

Lastly I will be focusing on my time management. Yes I know that this may not seem to be directly related to cooking but I assure you it is. Without time management foods can burn or not be cooked enough, pastries and desserts can become disasters and over all chaos in the kitchen will ensue. Ok that last bit was a bit over dramatic but as we all know we can never get time back once it is gone so we must use it wisely.

Well that is the update to what is going on here at All in Good Food. As many of you know I had not been posting for sometime because my lovely computer decided it wanted to crash on me. So now that I finally have my new one I will take this opportunity to start a new. New year (blog year), new me. With the understanding I have gained from blogging and cooking I hope to have new and exciting posts for all of you to read. So here’s to a new year.

乾杯 (Kanpai)

I'm Finally Back

2010-10-20T13:13:00.004-04:00

Hi Everyone,

If you followed my blog with any regularity then you know that I have not posted anything new for a while. Back in July I had the unfortunate luck of having both my desk top and my lap top computers fail on me keeping me from being able to do anything. If you follow me on twitter you may have seen me tweet about this. It has been a frustrating 3 months but I finally have a new computer and will begin posting again soon.

I thank you very much for your patience and your continued support. Talk to you soon.

Marisa

Contest and Review at A Pocket Full of Buttons for a Flirty Aprons

2010-07-11T17:42:00.003-04:00

Ok so I was just sitting here today at my computer looking up recipes and surfing twitter and I came across a giveaway. Now I am always ready to enter giveaways to try and win so when I saw a tweet from someone I had just started following on twitter whose blog I had begun following the other day I decided to check it out. The giveaway is at A Pocket Full of Buttons for Flirty Aprons and it drew my interest.

Now I must tell you I don’t normally wear an apron when I cook because I could never find one that fit me right or because it was not very stylish. However the aprons I saw at the Flirty Aprons website are so cute and stylish I couldn’t resist entering. Flirty Aprons also sales aprons for men and for children as well. As I am torn between two different aprons if I am lucky enough to win I will most certainly be buying the other. But go and check them out yourself.

If you go right over to A Pocket Full of Buttons-Flirty Apron Review and Giveaway you can enter as well. The review of these aprons is very informative and seems very honest and that’s what caught my attention. Below are the two aprons I really liked. So go right over and check them out for yourself.

The design is called Cherry Blossom

This design is called Chic Pink

Good luck to everyone who enters.

*Please note that all attached photos are the property of Flirty Aprons.*

Getting Back to the Business of Writing

2010-06-30T08:55:00.010-04:00

Ok it’s been over a month since I wrote my last post and yes I am well over due for a new one. I have been doing a lot of experimenting on recipes and taking a lot of pictures but did not feel I was ready to write up a post on the various recipes I’ve been working on. Weather it’s because I felt I wasn’t ready or I was not inspired enough to write I have to push past those feelings or I feel I will never write again. So here it goes.

Mini Ham and Cream Cheese Sammys made from rolls made from Grandma May’s roll recipe

Lately I’ve ventured back to the passion I had when I was a teen which is baking but I have been exploring the world of homemade as apposed to semi-homemade and it all began with my Grandma Mary’s dinner roll recipe. Before I ventured into the world of food blogging I had a resurgence of a desire to really cook by learning as much as I could about ingredients, food production and how everything works together. I have had a desire to work more with locally grown foods and products. Although I love making things from scratch I do believe there is a place for pre-made products such as mixes and seasoning packets as much of my readers already know. I choose to embrace both aspects of the food world as I am not a food snob. There’s a place for everything and everything has its place.

So this post will be the introduction to a new aspect of food exploration. I like to find out how versatile a recipe is and how many different ways I can change it and still keep it the same if you know what I mean. Just like Alton Brown feels about multi tasking utensils in the kitchen I feel the same with recipes. I know that not all recipes can be multi taskers but the ones that are will be used more in my kitchen than the others because they are more versatile. I am a simple cook although I am sure I can tackle a complex recipe with no problem. I love to explore the dishes that are from the home and then see if they can be changed in any way to accommodate different tastes or occasion.

Chicken Pancakes made from using a basic home made pancake mix

Most of us have had pancakes at one time or another and most use a prepackage pancake mix, as I used to myself but every since the first time I made pancakes from scratch I have not purchase any pancake mixes. With this simple recipe I was able to come up with my loaded chicken pancakes which I have been told look a lot like a fritter. This is what I am talking about when I say a versatile recipe. What else can I do with it? What other I direction can I take? Can this recipe be used as a substitute for a fancier recipe? Asking questions is my way of exploring the world of cooking and food.

I hope you will stay with me as I post up my explorations.

The Bread Art Project

2010-05-22T20:03:00.005-04:00

Below is the bread art I created in support of The Bread Art Project by the Grain Foods Foundation to support Share Our Strength. This toast is call Yo-Yo Mania.

This spring the Grain Foods Foundation is teaming up with Share Our Strength® in their efforts to end childhood hunger in America by 2015.

Share Our Strength helps to close gaps between nutritious food programs and families in need. Join us as we support them in their efforts to end childhood hunger through their program Operation No Kid Hungry™, by creating art at breadartproject.com. The Grain Foods Foundation will donate $50,000 to Share Our Strength and will make an additional $1 donation for every piece of Bread Art submitted and approved, up to a maximum donation of $100,000, now through June 30, 2010.

Bento #17

2010-05-12T09:08:00.002-04:00

Bento #17 was from Sunday dinner. I know it was Mother’s Day but we didn’t do anything special. I had been retrying recipes for homemade tortillas and I finally got one that worked for me. So I decided to make a stir fry and have tacos for dinner. The stir fry was very simple consisting chicken, chopped broccoli, chopped red bell peppers and shredded carrots with a little soy sauce.

Now for the bento. In the bottom part I had mini chicken stir fry tacos, mini homemade tortilla chips and tamagoyaki with harvest dill seasoning. In the top part I had watermelon and strawberries for dessert. This dinner was very simple but very filling.

So until my next bento, Itadaki masu!

Bento #16

2010-05-07T09:51:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day here. The sun was out the temp was just right. So I decided to make a lunch that I though would be great for a picnic bento. All the items in the bento are what I think of as standard picnic foods. Normally I would have the broccoli raw with other salad items or a dip but I thought about these broccoli bites I like to make when we have movie night.

The broccoli bites look very much like they are tempura broccoli and in a way they are. I have tried to cook them using a tempura batter but they never came out right. So one day I was frying some chicken strips where I coat them with flour then drench them in an egg and water mix then back in the flour before frying them. Well I wondered if this technique would work on broccoli too. I took several florets out of the freezer and followed my technique and they came out so delicious. If you think about it I am using the same ingredients for the tempura batter only in a different way. I believe in whatever works better for you is how you should cook.

For yesterdays lunch bento I kept it very simple with my picnic food. In the bottom tray I had fried chicken strips, tempura (my way) broccoli, two small square onigiri flavored with Hidden Valley Ranch Harvest Dill Dip Mix. In the top tray I had chunks of sweet watermelon and 4 oatmeal raisin cookies.

So until my next bento, Itadaki masu!

Home (Made) Easy Loaded Chicken Pancakes

2010-05-02T07:30:00.005-04:00

Today I want to share with you one of the yummy creations I have made. Sometime early last year I was making pancakes. I had some chicken I was going to shred to make chicken salad and my mind started working. My original chicken pancakes had only chicken and shredded cheese in them. I only added a small portion of the chicken and cheese to the batter so those looked more like regular pancakes then these. Over time I began to experiment and added this and that to it to see what worked. What you see in this post today is what has evolved from a curiosity of what would I get if I put chicken and cheese in my pancake mix. That is the beauty of this recipe you can easily change it for taste or ingredients on hand.

Ingredients

1 cup flour
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp baking powder
1 egg
1 cup milk
2 tbsp oil
1 medium chicken breast shredded
1/4 cup of chopped cooked broccoli*
1/4 cup of shredded cheese*
2 tbsp of real bacon bits*

* Amounts are an estimate because I usually eyeball these ingredients.

The chicken breast was cooked in my slow cooker. It stays very tender and moist. But any baking method will do that keeps the chicken breast tender and moist.

1. In a medium bowl combine all the dry ingredients of flour, sugar, baking powder.

2. Add the shredded chicken, chopped broccoli, and shredded cheddar cheese to the dry mixture and mix together. This will coat these ingredients and help them to incorporate in the final pancake batter.

3. In a small bowl combine the wet ingredients of milk, egg, and oil and whisk until mixed.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until everything is thoroughly incorporated but be very careful to not over mix the batter so that the pancakes can be light and fluffy.

5. Let the mix stand for about 3 minutes. This will allow the mix to rest and expand slightly as it sits and that is what gives the pancakes their fluffiness.

6. Heat a pan or griddle on medium heat. I use an electric griddle and heat it between 250 and 300 but check you own settings and heat consistency.

7. Place a small amount of butter or oil in the pan or on the griddle and coat the surface. I personally prefer using butter as I don’t make these on a regular basis. I feel it gives them a better taste but use what you prefer. A butter flavored cooking spray works well too.

8. Cook pancakes on one side until golden brown then flip to the other side and cook the other side to a golden brown. I usually brush a little butter on them when they are finished but this step is optional.

And you’re done. I hope you enjoy them as much as me.

So until the next recipe, Itadaki masu!

Bento #15

2010-04-30T15:14:00.001-04:00

Ok now it’s time for lunch. Again I kept it simple. I decided to try out the bamboo steamer I purchased from j-list and it worked out perfect. As you can see I made matching bentos for my daughter and I. These bentos were as purchased from j-list. They are not expensive and not as sturdy as my others but they work.

Now for the contents of the bentos. Both bentos are exactly the same. The main part contains steamed broccoli and steamed onigiri wrapped with chicken. I had rice left over from this morning so I made more onigiri but I wanted something different so I wrapped them in thin slices of chicken and steamed them, then I brushed on a little soy sauce.

The second compartment contains a wedge of laughing cow cheese, red and white grapes and homemade wheat crackers. No I have not found a recipe for making homemade wheat crackers yet but I was able to do the next best thing in a pinch. I had some whole wheat flatbread wraps in my fridge. Using my medium size square cutter I cut out squares from it. I placed them on my griddle with no oil or butter just dry and let them toast until crisp. Then I brushed on a little butter lightly salted them and there you go.

This lunch was very filling and tasted wonderful.

So until the next bento, Itadaki masu!

Bento #14

2010-04-30T08:37:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone I thought I would change things up a bit and do another breakfast bento. As we all know breakfast is the most important meal of the day so I wanted to share this one with you. As you all know I like to keep thing very simple in my bentos and this one is no exception. For this one I pulled out one of my sandwich boxes as I did with my breakfast bento before. I feel you don’t need a lot for breakfast just the right foods will do. I like to have high protein foods in my breakfast to help wake up my brain. So here we go.

This bento consists of simple grilled chicken that has been lightly seasoned with pepper and seasoning salt, red grapes, trail mix and mini yaki onigiri (my way).

You may be asking what I mean by yaki onigiri my way. Well I took my rice and mixed in a little butter (the way I have eaten since I was a kid), a little soy sauce and pepper. Then I micro scramble two eggs and mixed it in. Then I shaped them with my cookie cutters (these are the only cutters I have in my bento stash), place them on the griddle. I fried them on the top flipped them and fried the bottom. Then I brushed on a little soy sauce and flipped them again then brushed on a little soy sauce on the other side. Let it grill for about 1 minute then removed them.

These yaki onigiri are bite size and I love them. They are the perfect size for my smaller bentos. I also have larger cutters that I use for my larger bentos.

This bento was a great pick me up this morning.

So until my next bento, Itadaki masu!

Home (Made) Easy: Turkey Chili

2010-04-26T08:57:00.018-04:00

Here is a quick and easy turkey chili that I came up with one day. I had never made chili from scratch before so I didn’t have a recipe to go by. I always loved my dad’s chili but like me he always cooked by taste so he did not have a recipe written down so I was all on my own. This turkey chili has very few ingredients and despite using the slow cooker does not take a long time to make. If you don’t want to use a slow cooker or don’t have one just let the chili simmer in a pot on the stove for about 1 hour. The flavor of this chili gets better the longer it cooks.

Ingredients

1 lbs ground turkey
6 oz chunky salsa
1 packet chili seasoning mix (I use Hot Chili Seasoning for a spicier taste.)
1/2 packet taco seasoning mix
1/2 to1 cup water or chicken broth

Seasoning

Salt
Pepper
Seasoning Salt

Extra – If you like it extra spicy – add to taste
Cumin
Cayenne

1. Preheat slow cooker on high.
2. Brown ground turkey in a skillet and season with salt, pepper and seasoning salt.

3. Once the turkey is browned pour in 1 package of chili seasoning and 1/2 package of taco seasonings then mix thoroughly.

4. Add 1/2 to1cup of water or chicken broth and bring to a boil. Note: If you prefer a denser chili leave out the water. For a less dense chili add water to the desired thickness.

5. Turn heat to low, cover and let the mix simmer for 5 minutes.

6. Pour chili mix a long with 6 oz of salsa into the slow cooker.

7. Leave slow cooker on high for 1 hour then turn down to low for 2 hours.

The chili can be made the night before and left to simmer in the slow cooker on low overnight. This will intensify the flavors in the chili.

This chili is very versatile. It can be added to pasta or rice and can be used with nachos. It also freezes well.

Serve it with your favorite topping along with some garlic bread, cornbread muffins or crackers.

I served mine with corn muffins, half and half (Iced Tea and Lemonade) and chocolate chip cookies. The chili was topped with shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

Itadaki masu!

Bento #13

2010-04-20T04:44:00.002-04:00

While I was on my short break from blogging I did continue to make bentos on a daily basis. Some worth photographing and sharing and some that were not. Here is one of those I thought was worth sharing. The bento box I used for this one is one of my favorites. It is in the shape of a fan and I was lucky to find it for next to nothing on eBay an few years ago. I’ve been dying to use it and this time I had my chance.

This bento consists of a few experimental foods and some of the usual. First off I made tamagoyaki sprinkled with cheese, mini farfalle (bow tie) pasta mixed with salsa and cheese. Then I did some experimenting. I used puff pastry and made some broccoli and cheese bundles. I wrapped broccoli florets in thin slices of chicken breast and I made salsa and cheese chicken wrapped bundles.

The items in this bento have now become some of my staple bento items and you will definitely see them in the future either the same or as a variation. I will post step by step instructions soon.

So until the next bento, Itadaki masu!

I love my Bob Kramer Series Shun Utility Knife

2010-04-19T03:53:00.010-04:00

Hi everyone as you all know I have been away for a short while. I just needed to take a short hiatus to recoup, reorganize, reenergize and regroup. I just wanted you to know that I am back and will continue to give you wonderful posts on recipes, bentos and tips.

Before my short hiatus I enter a contest held by Eric Ackerson @My Hungry Tum. I usually don’t enter contests but I really liked his blog and was fascinated by how it was written. The contest was to win a Bob Kramer Series Shun Utility Knife. I have to admit that I had never heard of the knife brand before but when I saw the photo of the knife I fell in love with it. I could tell that it was a high quality knife by the pattern you can see on the blade. That pattern is created by the forging of multiple layers of stainless steel together which creates a strong, flexible and sharp blade. You may ask where I learned something like this well I remembered seeing a program about how a Katana or “Samurai sword” is made and it uses a similar process. After entering the contest I decided to do a search on this knife to learn more about it and came a cross a video here.

Each knife is meticulously crafted by 150 expert artisans to achieve the precise heft, balance and shape of Bob Kramer’s original design. The 3mm steel blade is composed of an SG2 core (64-66HRC) clad with true pattern-welded nickel and Damascus stainless steel for a beautiful, razor-sharp and lasting edge.

Gently rounded and richly grained red and black Pakkawood handle is crafted in Bob’s signature contoured shape, and mirrors the curve of the palm for a wonderfully natural hand-feel.

Use this utility knife for jobs smaller than those that require a chef’s knife.

Made in Japan.

From: http://www.surlatable.com/gs/shun-bob-kramer-series-utility-knife-18.shtml

I must say the performance of this knife is wonderful. As you can see the knife is cutting through the chicken like it was butter. I must however let you know that the chicken here has been slightly frozen to make it stiff enough to be able to cut thin slices. Note I learned this trick from watching the last The Next Food Network Star program. In one of the episodes Melissa d'Arabian used this technique to make chicken slices that where very thin. However I must tell you that I tried this same technique with my old knife with not so good results. Although my old knife is sharp and of good quality and it can cut slices of chicken breast just not as good. I found out from my research that keeping your blades honed is a necessary task. So I will be buying a honing tool to use for my old knives but for my Shun I will be sending that into the company to have them hone it for me.

As you can see in the photo above the slices were so thin you are able to clearly see the outline of the knife underneath the slice of chicken. As you can see in the photo below the slices came out beautifully.

This knife has become an intricate part of my cooking. Although I can use it for almost everything from cutting meat to cutting vegetables I don’t like to cross use my knives. So I am looking into buying more of the Shun brand knives for my various cooking needs.

However, I did try it out on vegetables before using it on my meat products and the results were just as wonderful. When I was creating my j-cation bento contest entry I used it to cut the red pepper I used to make various parts of my Maneki Neko. As you can see I was able to cut small then slices that were perfect for the paw.

I must say that winning this knife has been another step in my cooking education which I feel is a never ending process. I want to thank Eric @My Hungry Tum for having this contest. The world of the Shun knife has been introduced to me and I don’t think I can ever go back to the ordinary.

Entry for the j-Cation Virtual Bento Box Battle - Maneki Neko

2010-04-01T02:05:00.003-04:00

Ok I have been out of the bento loop to a few weeks but I am now back with my entry for the j-Cation Virtual Bento Box Battle with my Maneki Neko or Beckoning Cat. I have to admit this was a definite challenge for me because I usually don’t do character bentos. I think I needed to accomplish this one to get myself back on track.

This bento is filled with tamagoyaki with nori, mini turkey burgers seasoned with a packet of vegetable dip mix, sautéed broccoli and apple cinnamon flower tarts with craisins. The cat consists of plain white rice for the body, red bell peppers for inside the ear, collar, mouth and on the paw. I used nori on the paw and for the inner eye and fried egg for the outer eye. Angel hair spaghetti was used for the whiskers and a pink edible flower petal for the nose. The collar is decorated with sour cream dot flowers.

From my reading the Maneki Neko are sometimes shown holding a gold coin called a koban which was used during the Edo period in Japan. The koban is supposed to be worth one ryō but because as in any society early monitary units could very. The one I made although not gold has the value of two million ryō as depicted in the kanji written on it. The coin was made of a tortilla cut into an oval. Then I wrote the kanji (千万両) or two million on it using food coloring and a tooth pick which reads . I have to admit that is came out better than expected. I did use Google translator to make sure what the kanji said.

Well there you go. I hope to have another bento posted soon.

Until next time Itadaki masu!

Say Hello, Say Goodbye

2010-03-29T08:37:00.002-04:00

Hi everyone I had all intentions of writing up this post sooner but something always came up and pushed it farther back on my list. I’ve pondered on how I would write this up and was not sure what I was going to say. Well the time has come albeit a little late to introduce you to two other members of my family who are my cats. If you are a Food Buzz friend of mine I know you have seen my BW who is my avatar and if you follow me on twitter you have seen my Remus as my avatar. Both are very special to my family. So you will understand why I said this post was somewhat late in the making. I really wish I could have introduced them at a better time.

This past weekend I had the unfortunate duty of having to put my oldest cat BW to sleep. She had been with me almost all her life which was 20 years. I found her as a stray and took her in and she has been part of my family ever since. I remember the first time I saw her. She came roaming around my house about a week before my daughters 1st birthday. I didn’t take much notice of her because I figured she belonged to someone in the neighborhood. My aunt who has worked with animals told me she could tell that she pregnant but she was a very young cat. A couple of months later she came around again and I could now tell she was close to giving birth. It was around November or December and here in Michigan it is very cold. So I took her in because it was obvious to me that she didn’t belong to anyone because she was roaming around in the state she was in.

Eventually she had her kitten but because of her being so young or just not having the proper instincts her kittens died. I knew that if I had taken her to the Humane Society they could only hold her for a few days and if no one claimed her then you know what happens. That is when she became a permanent part of my family. She grew up along side my daughter as my second child. She sat with us when we were sick or upset, she slept with us, she protected us and she loved us as we did her. I know most people who don’t have a pet as part of their family will never understand the impact of a loss like this and that’s ok. I just needed to write this not so much for telling everyone about my loss but I think more for helping me cope with the loss.

With that said I would like to introduce you to my second and now only kitty Remus Lupin. He will be 6 this year on April 11. When he was given to us we where told that he was a girl so he was originally named Samara. We soon realized that the name would not fit him so we changed it. He was supposed to be my daughter’s cat so as she was really into Harry Potter at the time she decided to name him Remus Lupin after the character that turns into a werewolf. I must say he does not live up to his namesake. He is sweet and playful, loving and very much spoiled and I have to take the blame for that.

When we first got him he was like a ball of fur. We took him with us almost everywhere. As I drove he would lay on my shoulder and sleep. When we went out walking my daughter hold him and cuddle him. As he got older he would ride in the car with us and lie in the back window and sleep, he loves riding in a car. He’s very playful and loves to lie on my legs when I sleep. I don’t mind because it keeps my legs warm. He’s sweet and spoiled and likes to follow me around. He’s still like a little baby sometimes and likes to cuddle up next to me when I am asleep. He’s my special boy.

As I said before I wish I had introduced them earlier but here they are now.

Home (Made) Easy: Oatmeal Raisin Banana Nut Cookies

2010-03-21T23:17:00.004-04:00

Ok call me crazy but last week I was craving oatmeal raisin walnut cookies and banana nut bread at the same time. So I decided to combine the two into one recipe. For this recipe I went to my tried and true Oatmeal Cookie Jiffy Mix. As you may know from my other oatmeal cookie recipe this mix lends itself to a variety of experimental cookies. You will get roughly 18-20 cookies out of this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 box Oatmeal Cookie Jiffy Mix
1 egg
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 very ripe medium banana mashed to a baby food consistency
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (can increase if desired)

Directions

Empty box of mix into large bowl, add egg, butter, mashed banana, and chopped nuts and mix well.

Let mix stand for 10 minutes to stiffen.

Drop 1 teaspoon of mix on cookie sheet about an inch apart for expansion.

Bake at 380° for 10-12 minutes. (experiment with your oven) Normally I would cook them at 350° but I increased the temperature due to the added moisture of the banana.

Remove from oven and place on cooling rack (if you can stand to let them cool).

There you go, you are done. Enjoy. Next time I will be trying out the recipe with an oatmeal cookie recipe recommended to me by another blogger. This does not mean that I won’t continue to keep my Jiffy Mixes in my pantry. I am rebuilding my recipe book because I won’t always be in a place where the mix is readily available to me.

So until next post Itadaki masu!

Bento #12

2010-03-20T22:59:00.004-04:00

I wasn’t sure if I was going to post this bento because I feel it’s so bland but I changed my mind. This bento is one of my throw together bentos. I have been so uninspired lately with my bento making. Don’t get me wrong the bento itself was very tasty and filling but as far as in a photographic since it is not interesting.

The first section is filled with sauté broccoli, penne paste with butter, salt, pepper and cilantro and my Breaded Turkey Zucchini Patties. I used one of the patties as a natural baran between the pasta and broccoli.

In the second section peeled pink grape fruit, dried apricots (natural baran), walnuts, a few fruit snacks and Oatmeal Raisin Banana Nut Cookies.

Hopefully my next bentos will be a little more photogenic.

Until then Itadaki masu!

Home (Made) Easy: Breaded Turkey Zucchini Patties

2010-03-20T20:38:00.005-04:00

The other day I was feeling a little inspired and wanted to try out some new recipes. I have to admit I’m not good at recipe writing because I cook from feel most of the time. Yeah I know that is not good if the dish comes out tasty because how can I duplicate it if I don’t have it written down. Well most of the time I do take pictures of every step and try to write everything down immediately after. Well for this recipe I forgot to write everything down and I did not take a photo of every step. So here is my attempt at remembering what I did.

When I do cook by recipe I like recipes that have very few ingredients because I believe there is less chance for mistakes then. I believe it is important for someone who is cooking a recipe for the first time to get it as accurate as possible to have a baseline to go from when you attempt to tweak it to suit your own tastes. So when I create something I usually keep the original recipe down to only a few ingredients with room for expansion.

The other day I was looking for something different. Recently I have been trying to stay away from a lot of fried foods in an attempt to take off a few pounds but I began craving something fried. However instead of going out to a fast food place I decided to make something at home. That way I can control the ingredients that will go into it.

I went into my pantry and found that I had some zucchini that I bought for another project. I didn’t want it to go bad so I decided to experiment with some dishes. The first one I made I won’t mention now because it came out less than stellar. Then I decided to add some to some ground turkey along with some shredded cheese I had and it was on. Here is the result of my labor.

Ingredients
1 lb ground turkey
1/2 cup finely shredded zucchini
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1 1/2 cup of panko breadcrumbs
1 1/2 cups of vegetable oil

Seasonings
Salt
Pepper
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)

Batter
1 Egg
8 teaspoons cold water
4 tablspoons of flour

Note that all of the seasoning is approximated because I very rarely measure except when I am baking. I will update this post the next time I make this dish with true measurements (I hope ;~)).

Directions

1. Combine ground turkey, shredded zucchini and shredded cheese then season to taste. Mix well

2. Take about 1 teaspoon full of the mix and create small patties. Place them on a plate and cover them with wax paper and place in the refrigerator to chill and firm up for about 30 minutes. The firming not absolutely necessary but I find it makes the patties easier to handle when putting into the batter and panko bread crumbs.

Note I used the following method to create my patties for this recipe. (see photo below)

Wax paper roll method:

· Tear off a piece of wax paper about 12 inches long.
· Take mixture from the bowl and form it into a rough sausage shape.
· Place on the wax paper about 5 inches from the end.
· Place the end of the wax paper over the turkey roll leaving a short edge you will use to hold on to.
· With a cutting board place it against the roll on top of the wax paper and pull to form a tight even roll.
· Then roll up in the remainder of the wax paper, twist the ends closed and stick it in your freezer to chill and firm up for about 20 minutes.
· Once chilled remove wax paper and place on a cutting board. With a very sharp knife cut off even slices about 1/2 inch thick.

3. Once the patties are chilled make the batter and in another bowl put the panko bread crumbs for breading the patties.

4. Combine the egg, cold water and flour in a bowl and mix well. Also this is the time to turn on your skillet to heat the oil. Note I did not give a temperature amount for the oil because I know that every cook surface is different. I place mine to medium heat and that worked for me. Please experiment with one patty to check to see if you temperature is right.

5. Dip the patty into the batter covering it and then place it in a bowl filled with the panko bread crumbs.

6. Cover the patties with the bread crumbs and set them aside on wax paper the set.

7. Place no more than 3 patties in at a time so as there is not a significant drop in the temperature of the oil.

8. Fry to a golden brown. Let cool and serve.

These patties can be cooked in advance then reheated. I use a toaster oven set at 380° for 10-15 minutes. These patties are also the perfect size for bento so they will be included into my bento stash in the freezer.

I will be experimenting with other vegetables and seasonings and will keep you updated.

So until next time.

Itadaki masu!

Letting the Sunshine In

2010-03-17T23:20:00.004-04:00

Speading the Sunshine Award

I arrived at my blog today and found a pleasant surprise. I had been given a Sunshine Award by a new blogger friend Eric Ackerson from My Hungry Tum. Eric’s blog is absolutely wonderful in its concept of exploring foods from around the world through the national dishes of each country. I was introduced to Eric’s blog when he began following me on twitter and when I saw what his blog was all about I loved it.

I feel that the entire world is connected by food. At any given time we are all eating and enjoying the tastes of the different foods of where we live or of places we might like to go. Food is universal we all need it to survive and anyone who is given the gift of talent to be able to prepare delicious meals for family and friends are truly blessed.

It took me a while to hone the skills that where inherently passed down to me by my parents who where great cooks. That is why I enjoy sharing my flavor and taste with others. As I was passed on this award so shall I pass it on to others. The following 12 people are only a few of whom have been a source of inspiration to me in my short time as a food blogger. Seriously I wish I could pick more than 12.

When I began my journey into Asian food I found a blog called Rasa Malaysia written by Bee Yinn Low. This blog explores the gambit of food from many different Asian countries. I find it a great source for anyone who is looking to explore those types of ethnic foods.

Hapa Bento written by Debra is a blog that is about bentos and the bento making process and is a constant source of inspiration for me in my bento making education. Debra explores multinational cuisine and fits it into the bento process.

Happy Little Bento written by Sherimaya is another bento blog that has been a great inspiration to me. I am always amazed at how she is able to make her bentos with foods that some adults won’t eat but her kids will. She is also a very nice person and is always very encouraging.

Hawai`i’s Bento Box Cookbook written by Susan is another bento blog that is I feel an inspiration to parents of small children. Her beautiful bentos are fun and appetizing. Susan is also a very sweet person and very helpful.

Bentolicious is written by Lia who I must say is a great kyaraben or charaben bento artist. I call her an artist because she is able to take these characters that kids love and turn them into something very edible. She is always there with a kind word when you need it and even when you don’t.

Itadakimas written by Debbie Davidson is only one of her blogs that take you right into the culture of Japan. I began following one of Debbie’s other blogs on etegami as further exploration into the culture of Japan and found this blog and her other one on Japanese confections which have been a great source of inspiration to me.

Cook Japan is another source for Japanese cooking I have found. The recipes explore cooking Japanese recipes in different conventional ways.

What’s Cookin’ Italian Style Cuisine is a blog about homemade Italian cooking. Claudia gives you recipes that are in my opinion easy to make and tasty to eat.

Cooking Korean food with Maangchi I found this blog when I began my exploration into Korean cuisine. Through her YouTube channel and her blog she takes you through recipes that make cooking Korean food look easy and very tasty.

Eat, Live, Travel Write is a blog written by Mardi who takes you into the world of French cuisine. Her love of France and the French culture is exhibited in the recipes she posts.

Savory Japan is another blog that I have recently found that contains a wealth of information on Japanese cuisine and culture.

Japan Food Addict is a new blog I have recently found. It is filled with a gold mine of Japanese dishes that anyone can attempt.

Even though it may appear that I am very focused on Japanese cuisine and culture, which I am, I still enjoy foods from all over the world. I love finding recipes to try from different cultures and incorporating them into my daily life. Although I have name 12 blogs that has inspired me in my journey through the realm of food and food blogging there are so many more blogs I wish I could mention. To the people I have listed thanks for your inspiration and please pass this award along to other deserving recipients.

To the award winners, please pass this on to your favorite bloggers! Here are the Rules:

Put the logo on your blog or within your post
Pass the award on to 12 bloggers
Link the nominees within your post
Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog
Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award

Thanks for the inspiration, and pass some sunshine around!

Bento #11

2010-03-15T16:54:00.003-04:00

Bento number 11 is another very simple bento. However everything in this bento with the exception of the boiled egg was seasoned with Hidden Valley Dip Mixes. I like using these mixes because they are very quick and versatile. This bento consisted of dill season rice, dill season tilapia, seasoned green beans and a bowled egg.

First off I used rice from my bento stash. I measured out 1 cup and placed that in a microwave safe bowl with 2 tablespoons of chicken broth made from the last time I cooked chicken and about 1/4 teaspoon of Hidden Valley Dip Mix Harvest Dill flavor. I mixed and microwaved it for about 2 minutes. Then I thinly sliced a baby carrot to decorate the top and give it a little more color.

Next I place 1/2 cup of canned green beans in a microwave safe bowl. I seasoned it with some of the HVR original dip mix (I ran out of the harvest dill) and mixed it. I microwaved it for about 1 minute.

I prepped the tilapia the night before by cutting it into small nugget sized pieces and then I seasoned them with the HVR harvest dill dip mix. When I was ready to cook it for the bento I went to the recipe for Korokke Pan by Cooking With Dog from You Tube. I found that cooking method worked out well for cooking the tilapia as well.

I added a boiled egg (“green”) baran between the tilapia and the green beans which qualifies this bento for the Hapabento March B.O.M.B. challenge. The egg was not season. However I did cut it with a paring knife in the zig zag design for a decorative effect.

There we go. Until the next bento.

Itadaki masu!

Bento #10

2010-03-13T15:08:00.003-05:00

This bento is actually from my dinner a couple of days ago. I was as always looking for something simple to fix because I had been so busy lately. My daughter had been craving salads lately so we have been having them for dinner for a few days.

This salad is made up with organic romaine lettuce chopped and organic spinach chopped as its base. To be honest I only like to eat raw spinach because I don’t like the taste of it cooked but if there is anyone out there who has a good spinach recipe that you think will make me like cooked spinach by all means share.

The additional topping consist of shredded cheese, julienne carrots and bite sized chicken pieces. Normally I would add a chopped boiled egg and leave it at that and put on a light dressing. This time I forgot to boil the eggs so I decided to add some chopped walnuts and pretzel pieces from a bag of Ghardetto’s placing the toasted brown bread bits on the side.

The dressing was made from 1/4 cup of light sour cream with Hidden Valley Ranch Dip Mix added to it to taste (about 1/4 teaspoon) and about 1/2 teaspoon of 2% milk. Most people would say why go through all of that trouble. Just use a light ranch dressing instead. I have to tell you in my opinion there is a distinct difference in the taste.

I must say I thoroughly enjoyed this salad and anyone who says a salad can not be a meal doesn’t know how to make a real salad.

Until the next bento.

Itadaki masu!

Bento #9

2010-03-09T20:14:00.004-05:00

I’ve been busy lately so I’ve been keeping my bentos very simple. This one is from last week. The top part contains a simple turkey pasta salad with chopped spinach on top. The bottom part contains a strawberry fan, sliced bananas, blueberries and honey roasted almonds.

Itadaki masu!

Bento #8

2010-03-03T14:54:00.004-05:00

Here’s another very simple bento.

Yesterday I wrote up my bento post really fast. I have been in a bento block for a little while and wanted to get that post up as soon as I could because I finally came up with a bento I felt worthy of posting.

Well this bento consists of a chicken salad lettuce wrap. The chicken salad is made up of baked chicken breast (shredded), shredded cheese, carrot sticks, boiled egg, with a small amount of Hidden Valley Ranch Dip Mix and Kraft Mayonnaise with lime juice. The wrap is romaine lettuce. You can also see three little wraps made from the remaining pieces of the lettuce leaves. Waste not want not. There is also walnuts and trail mix along with Michigan grown Fuji apple slices and a Baby Bel cheese round.

I was looking to make something very simple and light but filling and I think this bento hit the nail on the head.

Until the next bento.

Itadaki masu!

Bento #7

2010-03-02T12:02:00.007-05:00

Today’s bento is very simple.

Chicken Salad Wrap: Consists of baked chicken breast (shredded), shredded cheese, carrot sticks, boiled egg, with a small amount of Hidden Valley Ranch Dip Mix and Kraft Mayonnaise with lime juice.

Crunches: Gardetto’s pretzel snack mix

Fruit: Michigan grown Fuji apple slices

Snack: 1 piece of dark chocolate

I made this bento for my daughter. She wanted something very simple and light.

Until the next bento.

Itadaki masu!

Bento #6

2010-02-22T13:26:00.003-05:00

This is just a quick post for today’s lunch bento.

Today’s lunch consists of my breaded rice balls (baked), onigiri with broccoli and baked chicken (its hard to see in the center), baked breaded tilapia fingers, baby carrots, broccoli, baby bel cheese and two wedges of laughing cow cheese.

I have been really busy lately and my sleeping is way off so I tried to keep today’s bento very simple.

By the way I split this bento with my daughter it was so filling.

Itadaki masu!

Home (Made) Easy: Fiesta Rice Balls

2010-02-16T08:16:00.006-05:00

As I was trying to come up with my bento for Valentine’s Day I was trying to figure out what can I put in that is different from my usual stuff. That is when I remembered seeing an episode of Road Tasted with Bobby and Jamie Dean on the Food Network. The episode was called New York-Forgettaboutit and they went to a place called Landi’s Pork Store. At this place they are famous for a deep fried rice ball that looked absolutely delicious. Ever since then I have been trying to figure out how to make rice balls myself but could never get them to come out right until now. I owe some of my success to Claudia of What’s Cookin’ Italian Style Cuisine. She wrote a post on her Grandma Victoria’s rice balls. So I was then inspired to do my own. My recipe differs form Claudia’s and the one at Landi’s because I wanted to achieve a different taste.

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked rice
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1/2 cup Broccoli cooked and finely chopped
1 Tbsp Hidden Valley Ranch Fiesta Dip Mix
3 Tbsp parmesan cheese
2 Eggs
Panko Bread Crumbs
Flour
Cayenne
Cumin

Prep Note:

Cook and chop broccoli. I love that taste of my broccoli. I sauté it in butter with a little garlic powder. I use a frozen broccoli and put it in the pan frozen. Once the broccoli is coated with the butter/garlic I turn down the heat slightly and put on a lid to help it thaw out then turn the heat back up to finish cooking them. However for this recipe I only kept them in long enough to thaw them out so that they could be chopped to go in my rice mix.

Directions:

Take one cup of cooked rice. This recipe works better if the rice is left over from the previous day or even two days prior. Put it in a skillet with about 3 tsp of vegetable oil stirring constantly to heat up the rice.

Then add in 2 tbsp of soy sauce and mix together.

Once thoroughly mixed add in the chopped broccoli as well as cayenne, and cumin to taste. Remove from the heat to another bowl to cool slightly.

Once cooled add in 1 egg, the fiesta dip mix and parmesan cheese and mix well.

Roll the rice mix into 1/2 inch balls. Because this mix is very sticky I suggest that you roll all of your rice at one time before going on to the next step.

As these can be deep fried or oven cooked either method you chose should be preheated. Heat your skillet to medium and your oven (I use a toaster oven) to between 380°-400°.

As this next part can be very messy I suggest that you do this part in steps also. In a bowl put in about a half of a cup of flour. Then roll all of your rice balls in the flour before moving on to the next step. I have also found that when you let the rice balls rest after flouring them the egg and panko bread crumbs stick better.

Then take the floured rice balls and first roll them in the egg in bowl 2 and then the panko breadcrumbs in bowl three. Roll one at a time and set them aside on a plate to rest before dropping them into the hot oil.

Drop in only 4-5 rice balls at a time as they will brown up very quickly. Keep turning them in the oil till they are a golden brown. Then remove and drain.

If you are using the oven method just line them up on a pan after rolling them in the egg and panko bread crumbs, that has been sprayed with cooking spray and drizzle them with any oil such as olive oil. I did not do this with the batch that I baked and even though they still came out tasty they were a little dry on the outside.

Serve alone or with a complimentary dipping sauce like one made from the Hidden Valley Ranch Fiesta Dip mix that was used in the rice mix. Also if you have any left over they can be eaten the next day. Just place them in the oven on 380° for about 5 minutes or until crispy again. I am not sure at this point if they can be put in the freezer for later as I did not have any left over to test but when I make another batch I will test it out and update this post.

Note: Please test out the oven temperature of your own oven because I used a toaster oven for this recipe and a large oven will heat up more than a toaster oven. So all of the temperature references are according to how a toaster oven will cook.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe as much as I did making it.

I would also like to thanks Claudia of What’s Cookin’ Italian Style Cuisine for the inspiration for these rice balls.

So until next time.

Itadaki masu!

Home (Made) Easy: Loaded Oatmeal Cookies

2010-02-15T21:10:00.008-05:00

I love oatmeal raisin cookies but even better than that are these loaded oatmeal cookies. Although I am able to make these kind of cookies from scratch sometimes I like to make them the semi homemade way. They came out Fantastic!

I began by using Jiffy Oatmeal Cookie mix. For those of you who don’t know. Jiffy is the product of the Chelsea Milling Company located in Chelsea, Michigan. The company was established in 1930 producing great baking mixes. The Oatmeal Cookie Mix is only one of 22 different mixes the company makes. I will introduce more of these mixes in later posts.

With this cookie mix as a base I added a store bought trail mix to the cookie mix. Using this cookie mix made it easy to customize these cookies to suit my own taste.

To begin combine the cookie mix, 1/4 cup butter (softened), 1 egg and 2/3 cup of trail mix and mix thoroughly. Drop teaspoon size amounts on a cookie sheet and bake at 350°. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

The mix will yield between 18-20 cookies. Note I used my mini cupcake pan to make mine more cluster like. But you can make the cookies any size you want but know that the larger the cookies the smaller the yield.

These cookies can actually be made with any basic cookie mix but I have used Jiffy mixes for years and I love them. As well as being really great mixes they are also inexpensive. This mix only cost me .65¢ at my local Meijer store. If you are in an area that sells Jiffy mixes please try them out I think you will like them too.

These are the same cookies that can be seen in my Special Holiday Bento for Valentine’s Day.

Come back for more recipes using different Jiffy mixes.

Itadaki masu!

Jiffy Mix website: http://www.jiffymix.com/

Bento Special: Holiday #1

2010-02-14T19:40:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone today’s bento was put together for my daughter and me for today. I know very little about Chinese New Year and neither of us are Valentine people but we always like doing things for each other on special occasions. I decided for today to fix a combine bento for the two of us instead of two separate bentos. This gave me a chance to use one of my larger two tier bentos that I don’t use very often.

What I made for today’s bento was in tray 1 bacon wrapped chicken in sesame sauce, fiesta rice balls, penne pasta salad with roasted broccoli with garlic and parmesan and cheddar cheese hearts. Plus baby carrot sticks and tortilla hearts.

The second tier has chicken taco cones, 2 wedges of laughing cow cheese, thin wheat crackers, white chocolate macadamia nut cookies (daughter’s favorite) as well as loaded oatmeal cookies, plus a small amount of trail mix to snack on.

That was today’s bento I shared with my daughter. I wish all who celebrate a Happy Valentine's Day and a wonderful Chinese New Year celebration.

Note: As I did not want to take up a lot of time when preparing this bento I will write up how I prepared some of the items in my bento in another post. Thanks for understanding.

Itadaki masu!

Bento #5

2010-02-10T06:28:00.008-05:00

Today’s bento is very simply full of love. I racked my brain on how to bring out the spirit of Valentines Day in my bento. When I was at the store I went to the Valentines section and found a multi-size heart shaped cutter set and I guess the wheels began to turn. Then I saw the Fish & Salsa Bento by Sherimiya of Happy Little Bento and though I could do mini chicken tacos. Yeah I know my bento is a far cry from hers but it was the taco aspect that caught my attention. You know I like to work in miniature. Then I thought what else can I do to go with the tacos of course chips and salsa and that is when it hit me. So that’s how this bento was born. It’s very simple in presentation but big on taste.

In the first part there are mini chicken tacos and baby carrots. In the second part there is salsa and heart shaped home made tortilla chips.

Here’s how the tacos were made. Basically I baked a medium chicken breast in my crock pot. I find this method leaves the chicken nice and juicy every time I cook it. It took about 2-3 hours on low to cook but the slow cooking keeps the meat from drying out and as I am up very early it was ready by lunch time. I usually cook two or three chicken breast at a time for various recipes so look for more to come.

Then I shredded the chicken breast by hand. I like the texture I get better than chopping it. I then put it in a skillet with the juices from cooking the chicken plus about 4 tablespoons of store bought chicken broth. Then I put in about 1/3 of a packet of taco seasoning, cumin and cayenne to taste. After the chicken simmered for about 5 minutes I added about 2oz of chopped red pepper to the pan to cook for about a minute to release its flavors then I added about 7oz of french cut green beans. Let it simmer for about 3 minutes then its ready to serve.

I got the small taco shells by cutting 9” rounds out of larger tortillas. Don’t worry I used the leftover tortilla at another time. I put on a small slice of cheddar cheese and a small amount of the chicken mix. Then I put them in my toaster oven for about 4 minutes to melt the cheese and lightly toast the outside.

Then there is the heart shaped tortilla chips. I simply took three different size heart shaped cutters and cut out the shapes from a tortilla. I then fried them in vegetable oil however they can also be baked in the oven. Then I seasoned them with table salt although they can be seasoned any way you with. I usually make my tortilla chips by just cut them into simple triangles but in honor of Valentines Day I cut them into hearts. I served them with store bought salsa (I haven’t tackled making my own salsa yet). There you go.

Itadaki masu!

Home (Made) Easy: Mini Pot Pies

2010-02-04T08:26:00.004-05:00

Today’s recipe is a mini pot pie I came up with. Today’s pot pies are made with my basic ground turkey mix. For me this mix is one of my staple mixes that I can go to for many different dishes. It mixes well for pasta and rice as well as a base for my chili and spaghetti. The dishes are endless.

As with many of my dishes this one is very simple to make and put together. I like to keep pre-made pie dough in the freezer as a got to. I use my Wilton mini muffin pans to make the pies because they are the perfect size for my bentos also they make the perfect bite size meal.

Basic Turkey Mix

Ingredients

1 lb Ground Turkey
6 oz French Cut Green Beans
1/4 cup Chicken Gravy [est.] (I usually use brown gravy for more flavor but I changed it for this recipe)
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)
Seasoning Salt (to taste)
3 tsp Vegetable Oil (or any oil you like to cook with)

Added for this recipe: (optional)

Cayenne Pepper (to taste)
Sesame Oil (to taste)

I cooked up the turkey as usual (see this post) the only difference is I used chicken gravy instead of brown gravy. I also decided I wanted a little kick to it so I added cayenne pepper (about a 1/2 teaspoon) to the mix. I then wanted to add some cumin but realized I didn’t have any. I forgot to replace it the last time I went to the grocery store. So it’s substitution time. After the mix was cooked I add some sesame oil. Yeah I know not exactly like cumin but it gave the mix a smoky and nutty taste so it worked for me. Once the mix was done I let it sit and cool for about 30 to 45 minutes stirring the mix occasionally to help it cool. I know it was going to be heated up when I put in the oven but for some reason I didn’t want to put the hot mix right into the uncooked pie crust. I thought it would make it get soggy and not bake right. I’ve never baked a pie from scratch so this was a gut instinct I don’t know if there is anything to it.

While the turkey mix was cooling I prepared the pie crust in the muffin pan. I cut out rounds in two different sizes for the top and bottom. Top 8” and the bottom 9” around. Because this was made in a muffin pan I had to make the measured cuts to make it easier to assemble. Even though the pan is nonstick I lightly sprayed it with cooking oil. Just as an aside I had a set of these pans before and did not spay them when I cooked with them every time and when things stuck to it the surface was ruined. Not taking any chances this time. I put the bottom round in the muffin cup and gently pressed it in.

When the mix was cooled I put in about a teaspoon in each cup (sorry I didn’t measure the amount) but basically I filled it to have a slight mound on it.

Then I added the lid sealing it as you do with any pastry by wetting the edges with water. Because of the size of the pot pies and how close they sat to each other, instead of using a fork to crimp the edges I used the blunt end of a knife. This kind of made them look like the crimping you see on the store bought ones.

I then cut slits in the top for ventilation in a star shape. Then I baked them in my toaster oven for 10 to 15 minutes at 425° or until they were lightly golden brown. I have to be very careful with my toaster oven because the heating element is only in the center and it can burn while cooking very easily.

Once they come out and have been cooked to a tasty golden crispiness I let them sit for about 5 minutes and then it’s time to eat or pack in my bento. The good thing about these mini pot pies is that they are good at room temperature so great for a bento or lunch box. However they can be reheated easily in the microwave for 30 to 45 seconds. Try not to over heat them or they will get a little soft and not have the crispiness of a pie (unless you like them like that).

I also made some mini apples pies but I will leave them for another post.

Itadaki masu!

Bento #4

2010-02-02T11:27:00.001-05:00

Today’s bento was my breakfast bento. It was very simple and I must say very tasty. This bento consists of rice which is layered on the bottom. The rice was season with just salt, pepper and butter. Then the top layer consists of ground turkey seasoned with salt, pepper, seasoning salt, sesame oil and soy sauce. Next came the broccoli. I used frozen broccoli that I stir fried in a pan with butter until no longer frozen then taken out and chopped into smaller pieces then put back in the pan to cook a little longer. I like the flavor of the slightly browned broccoli. The eggs were supper scrabbled in the same hot pan after the broccoli. They were seasoned with salt pepper and dill. I don’t know I have just grown to love the taste of dill in my eggs. This was my micro-breakfast. I hope you like it.

Itadaki masu!

From Around the World: First attempt at Pot BingSu

2010-01-29T21:23:00.005-05:00

A few weeks ago my daughter and I decided it was time to attempt making pot bingsu. Well I call this post my first attempt because although it did not taste bad to me I could have done better. I followed the instruction from Aeri from aeriskitchen on her You Tube Channel. I think the next time I will have all the ingredients set up ahead of time because of working with the ice. As I was reading and following the instructions the ice began to melt as you will see in my pictures.

Ingredients

1½ Cup Crushed Ice
⅛ Cup Milk
3 Tbsp Red Bean for PotBingSu
2 Tbsp Condensed Milk
1 to 2 Tbsp Crushed or Chopped Pineapple
3 Tbsp Chopped Watermelon
2 Tbsp Sticky Rice Cakes for PotBingSu
1 to 2 Tbsp Corn Flakes

Here is my out come. Just a note I did try two batches that day hence the two different bowls. I just wanted to share my first attempt.

Crushed ice and milk

Added sweet red bean

Added condensed milk

Added pineapple, watermelon, sticky rice cakes and corn flacks

Finished

I realized later if you look at the finished picture you won’t see any sweet red beans. That is because I forgot to put them in the second batch.

Oh well this was my first and technically second tries so third times the charm.

See you then. Itadaki masu!

My First Award

2010-01-26T22:49:00.006-05:00

Thank you Bentobird for sharing the Happy 101 award with me! I love coming to your blog and seeing your bentos it keeps me inspired.

10 Things That Make Me Happy

1. My daughter and spending time with her.
2. Knowing my dad is happy and healthy
3. My two cats BW and Remus Lupin
4. Cooking, experimenting with recipes and making bentos
5. Quilting and sewing
6. Traveling, seeing new things and learning about new cultures
7. Going to museums
8. Listening to different types of music
9. Reading an intriguing book
10. Coca Cola and chocolate

I would like to share this award with these other wonderful bloggers who have been very encouraging to me in my new blogging venture:

Sherimaya of Happy Little Bento
Susan Yuen of Hawai`i’s Bento Box Cookbook
Lia of Bentolicious
Debra of Hapabento
Claudia of What’s Cookin Italian Style Cuisine
Michelle of Taste As You Go
Mardi of Eat, Live, Travel, Write

Last but not least I would like to send this award back to Bentobird. I’ve been blogging for such a short time and although I follow a number of blog sites I really interact with a small few. To these people I want to say thank you for being helpful and encouraging.

This award asks that you:

Copy the award image into a post.

List 10 things that make you happy.

Tag 10 bloggers who brighten your day

Put in a link to their blogs.

Notify the award receivers.

Recipients can link back to the sender's blog if they wish!

Bento #3

2010-01-26T09:04:00.003-05:00

Here is bento #3. As you can see one side is filled with the fried rice cakes and grilled bacon wrapped chicken in sweet n’ sour sauce from yesterdays post.

The other side is filled with sliced carrots, a wedge of The Laughing Cow® Garlic and Herb light cheese, slices of pear and Kellogg’sTM Cherry Fruit Snacks.

I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this bento.

Itadaki masu!

Home (Made) Easy: Fried Rice Cakes and Grilled Bacon Wrapped Chicken in Sweet n` Sour Sauce

2010-01-25T16:50:00.012-05:00

I love bacon I have to say that up front. Anytime I can find a chance to use bacon in a recipe is alright with me. Well I remembered watching Paula Dean one time make some appetizers that were chicken wrapped in bacon then rolled in brown sugar and it sounded so delicious I have been dying to try it. But alas I did not have any brown sugar on hand. However I remembered I had a packet of sweet n`sour sauce in my freezer that I had not used and the light bulb came on. Here’s what I did.

Grilled Bacon Wrapped Chicken with Sweet n` Sour Sauce

I cut my chicken into small bites. You can use chicken breast, tenders or thighs but in this recipe I had tenders on hand. I then cut my strips of bacon into four parts. I wrapped the bacon around the chicken bite and placed it on my grill. I grilled it until the chicken was cooked. Although the bacon is not crispy at this point it is cooked. I found that if you try to cook these bites until the bacon is crispy your chicken will be over cooked. Once the chicken bites were cooked I put them in a bowl with the sweet n` sour sauce and thoroughly covered the bites. It was that simple. I am still searching for a recipe for sweet n` sour sauce I can make myself.

Fried Rice Cakes

Along with the chicken I made fried rice cakes. I took a bowl of rice and mixed in some soy sauce to taste. There was no measuring here. That is it.

Now for the cooking. I cooked them on my griddle with a little bit of butter until they were brown. The way I got the square shape (before I cut in half to make the triangles, was by using my largest square cutter. I put the cutter on the griddle (after spraying it with cooking spray-butter flavor of course) and I packed the rice into it to the edge. I let it cook until it was golden brown on the first side and firm enough to flip. Then I flipped it to the other side and removed the mold. Let it cook until golden brown.

Remove from griddle and let it sit and cool for about 5 minutes and with a sharp knife (It has to be a really sharp knife so that when you cut it the rice cake does not get crushed or fall apart) cut it from corner to corner. That is also the reason why you let is cool before you cut it. I took some of the extra sweet n` sour sauce and put it on the rice cakes and there you go.

See tomorrows post where I put these two in a bento.

Itadaki masu!

Bento #2

2010-01-22T06:23:00.006-05:00

This was a real simple bento I made from left over ground turkey pasta mix. I added wheat crackers and Mini Babybel© cheese (original) cut in half. I love this pasta mix because it tastes good whether hot or at room temperature so it works well for a lunch on the go.

Itadaki masu!

Home (Made) Easy: Ground Turkey Pasta Mix

2010-01-21T19:11:00.009-05:00

Here is one of my simple “go to” meals that I can whip up very quickly. When I was in school recently working on my bachelor’s degree I didn’t have a lot of time on my hands to cook sometimes, so I developed some go to meals that I could fix quickly with a small number of prepackaged ingredients.

Ingredients

1 lb Ground Turkey
14.5 oz French cut Green Beans
1 pkt Brown Gravy mix
1 cup pasta (your choice)
1/2 cup Shredded Carrots
1/14 cup Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

For Flavor (to taste)
Salt
Pepper
Seasoning Salt
Cilantro

I take a pound of ground turkey and brown it in a skillet adding seasoning to taste. I keep it simple and use salt, pepper, cilantro and Lawry’s Seasoning Salt. The seasoning may see a bit heavy but I noticed that turkey is very bland if not sufficiently seasoned. While the turkey was cooking I mixed one packet of brown gravy mix with 1/4 cup of water. This is less than the mount listed on the package. I wanted the gravy to coat the turkey but not be watery.

Once the turkey is browned I add in a 14.5oz can of french cut green beans and let them heat up in the skillet with the turkey.

Now here is where I vary sometimes. The type of pasta I add depends on what I have on hand or what I have a taste for. I have used egg noodles, elbow macaroni, bow tie or other pasta in the mix. This time I cooked 1 cup (measured before cooking) of spiral pasta according to the instructions on the box.

Then I added the pasta, shredded carrots and shredded sharp cheddar cheese to the turkey and green bean mix.

And there you go ground turkey pasta mix.

I know it’s simple but sometimes simple is the way to go.

Itadaki masu!

Creamy Tomato-Basil Pasta w/Chicken

2010-01-16T12:55:00.031-05:00

Back in December I was unexpectedly asked by Love My Philly blog if I would be interested in testing their Creamy Tomato-Basil Pasta w/Chicken recipe. As I am new to food blogging I was very surprised and flattered to be asked and excited about participating in this. The experience was invaluable to me in my quest to improve on my cooking skills.

I found this recipe very easy to make and easy to adapt if necessary. However, I must say that the next time I make this recipe I will prep my ingredients ahead of time to make it more convenient and time saving. I also used chicken tenders instead of chicken breast as in the recipe. If you follow the directions below you should breeze right through this recipe with no problems.

* Recipe and directions provided by Love My Philly blog.
* Photos by Marisa Lyn for All in Good Food blog

Prep: 30 minutes
Makes: 4 servings

Ingredients

3 cups penne pasta, uncooked
¼ cup KRAFT sun-dried tomato dressing, divided
4 small boneless skinless Chicken Breasts
1 cup fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
½ tsp. each garlic powder & black pepper
4 oz (1/2 package) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, cubed
2 cups grape tomatoes
½ cup KRAFT shredded parmesan cheese
8 fresh basil leaves, cut into strips

Directions

1. Cook pasta as directed on package.

2. Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp. dressing in large skillet on medium heat. Add chicken, cover. Cook 5 to 6 minutes on each side or until done (165º F). Remove chicken from skillet, cover to keep warm. Carefully wipe out skillet with paper towel.

3. Add remaining dressing, broth, and seasonings to skillet; cook 3 to 4 min. or until heated through.

4. Add Neufchatel; cook and stir 2 to 3 min. or until Neufchatel is melted. Stir in tomatoes, cook 3 min.

5. Drain pasta. Add to ingredients in skillet with Parmesan and basil, mix well.

6. Serve topped with chicken.

I want to again thank Philadelphia Cream Cheese who reached out to me to participate. They were gracious enough to provide me with coupons and a cookbook for my participation. I know that others also participated and I can’t wait to see how the recipe came out for them.

I hope you will try this recipe for yourself. By the way this dish is great the second time around.
So… Itadaki masu.

Writers Note: I have to say that after writing this blog I realized that instead of using 4oz of the Neufchatel I used 8oz (the full package). So my sauce was creamier than it should be. This mistake was unintentional but it did not hamper the taste of the dish. It was still delicious.

Bento #1

2010-01-08T08:05:00.004-05:00

Well here it is. I have finally stepped out of my comfort zone and am posting one of my bentos. I have made many bentos before but I never took any pictures of them till now. This bento is very simple. The larger compartment is filled with rice mixed with a little soy sauce and sautéed broccoli. The smaller part is filled with parmesan encrusted tilapia and tamagoyaki like rolled egg with dill and cheddar cheese.

With my very first posted bento I also want to give a thank you to the sites and their authors who helped me start my journey and have inspired me in my journey into bento making and Japanese cooking.

Just Bento and Just Hungry by Makiko Itoh
About.com Japanese Food by Setsuko Yoshizuka

Another source I have to credit is a book I found in the library Japanese Women Don’t Get Old or Fat by Naomi Moriyama and William Doyle. I found it interesting and very helpful during my beginnings into Japanese cooking.

Give `Em Props Special Edition – Update

2010-01-03T12:57:00.001-05:00

I want to give a big thank you to Claudia of What’s Cookin’ Italian Style Cuisine for letting me know about another Food Photography Showcase Site I hadn’t heard of. This site like the others is set up for food blogger to showcase their food creations and check out other bloggers. It is also for everyone to get inspired by what they see. The site is called Photograzing and if you have never been there stop by and explore for yourself. Photograzing is part of the Serious Eats community which appears to be another site dedicated to the exploration and sharing of everything food related. You can not only find recipes but see reviews of restaurants, join in on chats with other food enthusiasts and find out the latest food and entertainment news. So stop by both sites and expand your world of food.

Give `Em Props Special Edition

2010-01-02T18:41:00.001-05:00

As I wrote in yesterdays post today I will be having a Special Edition Give `Em Props post. It will be featuring our favorite food photography sites and some food blogger portals. I know as a new food blogger I am not familiar with a lot of sites that give me the opportunity to enhance my blog awareness and showcase recipes that I have done. So in an effort of helping myself as well as other blogger old and new I am presenting a few sites where you can go to post your food photography and a few food blog portals where you can join communities.

Food Photography Showcase Sites are basically there for foodies to show off their cooking and or photography skills. Bloggers have the opportunity to submit photos of dishes or foods they have created for other bloggers to see. This idea is very good because it promotes an exchange between bloggers all over the world. We as human beings are visual people in general. We usually look at the pictures in a recipe book before we even read the recipe. If the picture is appealing then we are more likely to try the recipe. Well that is what these sites provide, a visual reference for recipes we may have or may never have attempted before. The photo lineup is ever changing so you will be exposed to many different recipes on a regular basis. Not only that but you will be exposed to bloggers you may or may not be familiar with. In a way they are helping to open up the food blogger community for all of us. Below are a few of these sites. So go visit and see how you like it.

Taste Stopping

Refrigerator Soup

Food Gawker

Taste Potting

Another type of site that is there to help the food blogger is portal sites. These sites are designed to create a community of food blogger not unlike that of Facebook or MySpace. You are able to exchange recipes, befriend other bloggers, post your own blog entries and showcase your own recipes. The purpose of these community sites is to help food bloggers connect with other food bloggers they otherwise may never come across. So if you are not familiar with these sites check them out. If you are not yet signed up on one of these sites maybe consider it. The exposure you will gain to other bloggers could prove invaluable. So here are a few sites to consider.

Food Buzz

Food Blogs

The Foodie Blog Roll

As a food blogger I am always looking for sites that will enhance my food and cooking experience and here is one site to be considered.

Here is The Daring Kitchen were cooks can go to challenge themselves and their abilities. The Daring Kitchen is set up with cooking and baking challenges featured each month. According to the site information it was designed to help everyday cooks and bakers improve their skills. You will have to register on the site and follow the rules set forth by the administrators, but in essence the site is designed to help hone and discipline you with in your cooking. Once you’re registered each month you will be presented with a cooking and or baking challenge depending on which group you are registered under. So if you are ready to challenge yourself and your cooking try The Daring Kitchen.

I know that I have only grazed the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the food blogging community so if there are any sites like the ones mentioned above that you believe need to be mentioned post it in a comment or send me an email and let me know who they are. I am always up to exploring new sites and reporting about them.

Thank you so much for coming to this Give `Em Props Special Edition.

So see you next Friday with a regularly scheduled post. Until then Itadaki masu.

Give `Em Props

2010-01-01T23:23:00.004-05:00

Well it is 2010. Today is a new day in a new month in a new year in a new decade. I believe this is the beginning of something wonderful. With everyone so busy with the holidays, cooking and/or traveling I didn’t see too much going on in the food blogging world as far as recognitions, blog changes and/or new blogs. However things did seem to pick up a bit after Christmas. You know the end of the year usually brings changes, wrap ups and awards or recognitions. This year is no different. So without further ado here is a recap for the past two weeks.

If you are looking to find out more about foodies you know or maybe you don’t know go over to Travel Eat Love blog. Meghan’s new series Friday Foodie Feature is really informative. This series allows bloggers to get to know each other in a way that is not always possible. So if you are interested in getting to know many new bloggers check it out every Friday and you can meet a new blogger. Below is the list to date of the bloggers that have been featured.

12/18/2009 Mardi of Eat Live Travel Write
12/25/2009 Julie of Savvy Eats
01/01/2010 Marisa of All in Good Food

As I said earlier there are often bloggers who decide that they want to go into the new year with a redesigned or new blog well here are two such bloggers.

First off is Melody formally of Bouchon For Two. She has changed her blog URL and twitter user name and you can now find her at Gourmet Fury (blog) and she is now @GourmetFury on twitter. If you loved and followed Melody before get over to her new blog you won’t be disappointed.

Another blogger who is putting her blog through a redesign is Jen of My Kitchen Addiction. The new set up is designed to make it easier for visitors to navigate through to find what they want. The redesign so far is really nice and very user friendly. If you are a regular follower I believe you will like the changes. If you have never been to her blog before take a trip over there and check it out.

Let’s give a big congratulation to Bee of Rasa Malaysia who has announced that she finally has a book deal. Personally I have followed her blog long before I became a food blogger myself and I absolutely love it. She brought together recipes from many different Asian cultures into one location. If you have not been to her blog I suggest you take a trip over there. Much success on your book Bee you really deserve this.

This week I will be having a special edition Give `Em Props post on Saturday featuring our favorite food photography sites. I know as a new food blogger I am not familiar with a lot of sites that give me the opportunity to enhance my blog awareness and showcase recipes that I have done. So in an effort of helping other blogger old and new I am presenting a few sites where you can go to post your food photography. So see you on Saturday for the Give `Em Props Special Edition.

Well that is it for today. If I have missed any recognition, blog changes or new food blogs this week I do apologize as I can only go by what I pick up from the bloggers I follow. If you would like to have any recognitions, blog changes or new food blogs posted up just let me know either by direct message on twitter @allingoodfood42 or by email at allingoodfood@gmail.com

So until next Friday Itadaki masu.

Give `Em Props

2009-12-25T11:45:00.005-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone. No post today. I just want to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday with your families.

See you next Fiday.

Give `Em Props: Update

2009-12-20T10:03:00.004-05:00

I thought I would give everyone an updated link to the Olympic torch run by Jennifer Finnigan (@Jennigan). If you missed her run with the torch on Friday here is a YouTube link to check her out. She is the second person to take the torch in the video according to her twitter. Again I want to say congratulations Jennifer and great job. I know that had to be an awesome experience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PDQEDhSGDw

Give `Em Props

2009-12-18T12:25:00.006-05:00

Hi everyone this week seems like it went by so fast but there was a lot going on so let’s just recap what was happening in the foodie world this past week.

Well as most of us know who follow her on her blog, Twitter or Food Buzz, Michelle of Taste As You Go recently was hired by Scripps/HGTV. What an awesome opportunity for her. Way to go Michelle we know you will do well.

Next, one of our top bloggers is at it again. Mardi of Eat, live, travel, write is always challenging herself in her cooking so she has finally taken the next step and took on the Daring Cooks challenge for December with a Beef Wellington dish that looked absolutely delicious. It doesn’t end there her Beef Wellington also made it on the front page of Food Candy. Awesome job Mardi. By the way she will be going to France for 2 weeks on what I call a food lovers dream. In that 2 weeks she will be in Paris and Brittany and if you would like to learn more about her tentative itinerary you can see it at the bottom of her post here. Mardi have a safe and fun trip and post a lot.

If you have seen the post Big Mac: Make Your Own, Have a Party on Local Lemons you would know that not only did the food look delicious and inviting but that one post has spurned, by it’s overwhelming popularity, a new series for Allison in Fast Food Slow… The news doesn’t end there her Big Mac post also made it on the front page of Lifehacker. Way to go Allison with the 2 for 1 this week. Check out her second post for the series Fast Food Slow: Homemade Chicken Nuggets. What will she come up with next? Follow her to find out.

Let’s give congratulations to Jen of Tiny Urban Kitchen who made it on the Food Buzz Top 9, for the first time, with her Oven Roasted Kale "Chips". Great job.

This week we saw an addition to one our favorite Bento blogs. Pikko at Adventures in Bentomaking announced that you can now find her on Facebook. So stop by and become a fan.

This announcement popped up today but I decided to include it on today’s post because next Friday is Christmas.

Meghan from Travel Eat Love also one of our top food bloggers also made it to the front page of Food Candy with her Wednesday food and wine post. I must say I have to really thank Meghan because she and her new website were the catalyst for this new series. Thanks Meghan.

I wanted to leave this item for last. It’s not food related but it does involve a member of our foodie universe. Today Jennifer Finnigan who goes by the twitter name @Jennigan will be carrying the Olympic torch in Canada today at 1:39pm PST. This is the link she posted http://www.ctvolympics.ca/ to watch! I just recently became a follower of Jennifer on twitter and I think this is going to be an awesome experience for her. Let’s give her our support.

Well that is it for today. If I have missed any recognition, blog changes or new food blogs this week I do apologize as I can only go by what I pick up from the bloggers I follow. If you would like to have any recognitions, blog changes or new food blogs posted up just let me know either by direct message on twitter @allingoodfood42 or by email at allingoodfood@gmail.com

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Be well, safe and happy.

So until next Friday Itadaki masu.

Give `Em Props

2009-12-11T10:00:00.004-05:00

Well it is Friday and we have a lot to recap on for the past week. We have see a lot of activity in the food blog world from new bloggers to existing bloggers being recognized for there efforts. So let’s get started. This week we begin with recognition that came about a few days before the inaugural post of this series under the name of Foodie Blog Updates.

Food blogger Michelle of Taste As You Go is no stranger to being recognized to her excellent writing. This time Taste As You Go has been added to the Blogroll for Citizen NYC that recognizes who they feel are the best blogs around NYC. Taste As You Go was also voted as one of the Best of the Week (December 4, 2009) on Sweet Foods Blog for the post Samsung “Skill It” Event with Food Network’s Melissa d’Arabian. Way to go Michelle keep up the good work.

Thanks to Michelle of Taste As You Go for introducing us to a new food blog From Seed to Stomach by Andrea D. According to her blog she wants to explore real food from its source to the plate. Check out her blog I really enjoyed reading her posts. They are written in a straight forward and non-pretentious manner. You can tell her heart is in what she is writing about. So visit the blog and see for yourself.

Most of us know Taste Stopping as a place were bloggers can go to post their foodography and get a fair and objective assessment of their photos. Well Taste Stopping will also be heading to Camp Blogaway in May 2010 as a presenter showcasing the very foodograhpy that many blogger have submitted. Keep up the good work.

Again one of the veteran bloggers Dara of Cookin Canuck has had some of her recipes featured in Saveur Magazine’s newsletter and holiday guide. Congratulation and hope to see more.

Food blogger Mardi of Eat, Live, Travel, Write is also no stranger to being recognized for her writing. She has been asked many times to attend various food related events and report on what she finds there. Her assessments of these events are very informative and the writing takes you right to the event as if you were there standing right next to her. So it is not a surprise that she would be picked to be on the front page of Food Candy with her recipe Chocolate Chili Con Carne. We look forward to seeing a lot more from you in the future.

This past week several food bloggers have been recognized by Oprah.com in their Food section under Deck the Blogs. These bloggers have been participating in the Share Our Strength 12 Days of Sharing Campaign. For those who do not know Share Our Strength is in their own words “A national organization that works hard to make sure no kid in America grows up hungry.” The following blogs were recognized for their participation:

Jen Schall – My Kitchen Addiction
Michelle Stern – What’s Cooking
Gina Rau – Change Becomes Change
Diana Bauman – A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa
Jaden Hair – Steamy Kitchen
Kate Miller – Cooking During Stolen Moments

Check out their blogs if you haven’t already.

Again I have the pleasure of introducing you to a blogger Brad at Eat n Listen. I have corresponded with Brad several times and he is a very nice person. Brad has a very interesting blog with colorful writing and delicious pictures (My fave is the bacon bowl salad). He is what he calls a self proclaimed baconholic and he and his friends love all things pork. He has some very interesting recipes so go and see what happening on his blog.

Well this brings me to the conclusion of my first official post of “Give `Em Props” and I hope you liked it. I hope to improve over time as I really get to know my fellow food bloggers more and more. If I have missed any recognitions, blog changes or new food blogs this week I do apologize as I can only go by what I pick up from the bloggers I follow. If you would like to have any recognitions, blog changes or new food blogs posted up just let me know. So until next Friday Itadaki masu.

New Feature Series

2009-12-07T16:11:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I wrote a post entitled Foodie Blog Updates recognizing the food blog Travel Eat Love’s new self hosted site. After writing this I decided to make this a regular feature on my blog. So today I decided to write up a post to explain what this feature section is about. This section is designed to showcase food blogs that have gone through changes such as moves or new set ups for the site, have been recognized as being a top blog site or are new sites to the food blogging world.

Originally I just named the series Foodie Blog Updates however after thinking about it I have decided to rename the series “Give ‘Em Props.” This series will be posted up every Friday to showcase the week’s activities and achievements. I will do my best to catch things that have been posted to twitter or on the bloggers own sites but sometimes things may be missed. If there is an acknowledgement that you feel should be mentioned please email me at allingoodfood@gmail.com or direct message me with the information on my twitter @allingoodfood42. So stay tuned for more to come.

Foodie Blog Updates

2009-12-06T17:43:00.001-05:00

In an effort of expanding my cooking knowledge I am always looking for new foodies to follow. Today I saw a tweet about Meghan Malloy @Travel Eat Love who is now hosting a new blog. I was curious about her blog and wanted to learn more. I am happy that she was able to get her self hosting blog up and running so that I can see what her blog is all about. The set up is very simple in nature but I like simple. Everything looks easy to read and easy to look up. If you would like to check her out you can find her at http://traveleatlove.com/. Good luck Megan and I can’t wait to read more of your posts.

Bentos and bonds: In response to the post by Linda Rolle on Just Bento

2009-11-23T18:10:00.008-05:00

Recently I read a post on Just Bento by Linda Rolle who is a guest poster, about how making a bento lunch is not just for nutrition but also can build a bond between a parent and a child and I can’t agree with her more. I have to admit that I am fairly new at bento making and I still have a lot to learn. I am not Japanese in nationality or Japanese American but I have embraced the idea and use of bento in my family’s lives.

I am a single mom and my daughter is now 19 years old and we all know that most teenagers don’t have the best diets. Well I admit that I was a contributing factor in her unhealthy eating habits. For several years due to stress and other factors my daughter and I ate very unhealthily and I am ashamed to say we gained a lot of weight on that path which was not good because my daughter is diabetic.

However two years ago things changed. We made the change to using bento to help change our eating habits. I decided to look up more on bento boxes and meals and what they were all about. I had seen bento meals before in Japanese movies and shows. However, I had no idea on how to buy a bento box or how to prepare food to go into it. Then I found Just Bento and I found out that I could make bento meals for my family using food that I was use to preparing as well as finding new foods to try.

So for the past two years we have been on a journey with our bento and have collectively lost over 80lbs in the process. As for my daughter’s diabetes it is under control and she feels great. My daughter and I also use our bento to spend quality time together. We will take our bento meals out somewhere and sit, eat and talk which helps me stay a part of her life. As for myself I have also spent the last two year finally earning my bachelor’s degree and making those bento meals has helped a lot because I don’t have to stop my work to make a meal for us.

I must say that Linda Rolle is right I have not just learned more about being creative with the food that I put in the bento boxes but I have opened my daughter up to new foods and being open to trying new things. When I try a new recipe she is my biggest critic and my biggest supporter.

My daughter and I own several bento boxes that we enjoy using and I have to admit that we are still buying more to add to our collection. Yes we use each and every one of them and love every minute of it.

This is just one set we own.

Mine

My daughters

If you are interested in finding out about bento boxes or recipes that you can try in your bento boxes I suggest stopping by Just Bento (you can find the link on the side). There are also many wonderful bloggers out there who have wonderful recipes and beautiful pictures of their bento. If you would like to read the post that Linda Rolle wrote you can find the link below. Explore the world of bento you may have fun in the process.

Bento: The Magical Bond for Parents and Children by Linda Rolle
http://justbento.com/handbook/guest-post-articles/bento-magical-bond-parents-and-children?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+justbento+%28Just+Bento+-+meal+in+a+box%29&utm_content=Yahoo%21+Mail

Getting to know Me

2009-11-10T07:52:00.007-05:00

I thought my first blog should be about who I am. I am a mother, designer, recent grad, teacher, home cook and lover of food. Two years ago I decided to change careers so I went back to school to finally get my BBA and open my own business. At that time I took a good look at my life and decided to make a lot of changes. I began really cooking more and I do mean really cooking. Before with my hectic schedule there were a lot of short cuts which included a lot of calories. I was concerned about my health and my daughter’s health because she is diabetic. Once I changed my way of thinking about food and cooking I am happy to say that my daughter’s diabetes is under control and we both have lost a lot of weight in the process. I have a fresh perspective on food, eating and cooking and I want to share it here.

My passion for food began very early in life. I remember the year Santa brought me an Easy Bake Oven for Christmas. I was so excited that I wanted to cook everything in it. I decided that year I was making cookies for New Years Eve with my Easy Bake. Hey don’t laugh they came out really good. Ok you can laugh because the memory makes me smile every time I think about it. That eventually fueled my passion for sweets and at one point I wanted to become a pastry chef but that’s another story for a later time.

I come from a family that loved to get together and eat. I remember growing up and going to my grandmother’ s house for holidays where all of my aunts, uncles and cousins would come together and everyone would bring a dish filling the table to capacity. It was great and the food was always good. Memories of my family get togethers and food go hand in hand in my world and I want it to continue.

I am happy to say that I have passed this passion on to my daughter who after getting her Easy Bake decided she wanted to become a pastry chef also but that soon passed for her as well now we just like making things for ourselves, family and friends.

I hope this gives you a little insight into who I am and I hope you will join me on my journey.