Kuri Curry LunchBots Thermal Bento

With the weather cooling down a bit, I'm thinking more about thermal bento these days. And when I saw the cutest kuri squash at the market, I had to make curry. I wish I took a picture of the squash before I cut it. If you haven't seen one, it's a small roundish squash with a tough outer skin in a brilliant red color. The flesh is orange like pumpkin and it's great in curry because of the autumny color! My curry is packed with all kinds of veggies (and ground turkey) like broccoli, celery, onion, carrots, and sometimes mushrooms and potatoes. You can pack it over rice or just straight, like I did here, in the LunchBots Thermal Food Container. I packed a side box with beautiful cara cara oranges (also called red navel in my market) and watermelon balls. I also packed this cute Light My Fire combo spoon fork because it's MisterMan's favorite. It even has a serrated edge for cutting. How cute! Happy Start of Fall!

Tuscan Kale Vegetable Bean Soup Bento

Hi! How was your weekend? Here in the bay area we experienced an unseasonably warm and sunny weekend. We (along with lots of other people) decided to spend it at the beach in Monterey Bay, where we were treated to a lot of gray whale activity. We saw them spouting, diving, and even breaching from right on shore. It was very exciting! Back home today, it feels like a complete 180 degree turnaround in weather: cloudy and cold once again. A cold day like today calls for a warm soup bento! I made big pot of vegetable soup with beans and sausage to fortify us through the frigid weather. All right, it's only in the mid-50s but still.

MisterMan will bring this LunchBots Thermal Food Jar to school with him, with this very cool spoon/fork combo utensil, along with a side container of ombre blood oranges, pickled cucumbers and grape tomatoes. I love the way the blood orange segments look. Have you tried this variety before? They taste a little more tart than cara cara oranges (my favorite) at first, but they finish nice and sweet. If you see them in the market, you might want to give them a try. They are easy to peel and you can pack these pretties in segments, as I've done here, or cut them into wheels, as I've done in the past. They look like this on the outside; kind of like blushing oranges. ^__^

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Tuscan Ribollita Soup Recipe

(adapted from Eating Well)

• 1 14-ounce can whole peeled plum tomatoes
• 2 15-ounce cans cannellini beans, rinsed, divided
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 medium leek, halved lengthwise and sliced, white and light green parts only (I omitted; used round onion instead)
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, divided
• 2 whole diced carrots
• 2 stalks diced celery
• 1 cup diced zucchini 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1 bunch kale or Swiss chard, trimmed and cut into 2-inch-wide slices (I used various baby kale varieties)
• 1/4 head Savoy or green cabbage, cut into 1-inch cubes (I omitted)
• 2 cups diced russet potatoes (I omitted)
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/8 teaspoon celery seed
• Crushed red pepper to taste

PREPARATION

1. Drain canned tomatoes, reserving the liquid. Dice the tomatoes. Using a potato masher, mash half the beans into a paste (add a bit of broth, if desired, to make mashing the beans easier). Set the tomatoes and beans aside.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add leek and garlic; cook, stirring, until translucent and tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Do not brown. Season with 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Stir in carrots, celery and zucchini and the remaining 1 tablespoon oil; cook, stirring, until nearly tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Season with 1/8 teaspoon each salt and pepper.
3. When the carrots and celery are nearly tender, stir in kale (or chard) and cabbage. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted, 4 to 6 minutes. Add potatoes, broth, water, the diced tomatoes and juice, the bean puree and whole beans, thyme and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Season with celery seed, crushed red pepper and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally and reducing the heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer, until all the vegetables are tender, 15 to 20 minutes.

Enchilada Soup LunchBot Thermal Bento for Fall!

Enchilada Soup LunchBot Thermal Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Everyone is talking about the upcoming fall weather, and I'm starting to get excited about fall soups. So even though it's not exactly cold yet, we're having chicken enchilada soup (see the recipe and method I used here). As usual, I added a lot of nontraditional extras such as zucchini, carrots, corn, celery, and leeks. It was good (if a tad bit spicy). I served TinySprite's portion over rice, and she ate hers without too much complaint over the heat. I get to use the LunchBots Thermal food jar for this bento, and packed it along with a side container of white peach, grapes and strawberry. Happy Fall!
Added to What's For Lunch.

Curry LunchBot Thermal Bento

Curry LunchBot Thermal Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Oh yeah, you've seen this one before too. It's the standard keema curry that I always make (recipe here), only this time I added chopped broccoli and yellow cauliflower. You know me. I'll add whatever kind of vegetation I happen to have in the fridge. If you think your kids will balk at the extra cruciferousness, then you can mince it fine, but my kids don't seem to care too much. It makes the curry a little bulky, so I make extra sauce to compensate. Serve over steaming rice for best effect! I packed the curry in our LunchBot thermal food jar for MisterMan, and sent along a side box of the usual: pickled cucumbers, red onions, carrots and daikon; grapes and strawberry, sliced peaches. Yeah, they ate this on a hot summer day, but imagine how comforting it would be on a cold fall day? Not me -- I refuse to think about fall just yet -- we just finished our 1st week of school and I'm still enjoying summer in my mind! ^_^

Rubber Ducky Curry Bento

Rubber Ducky Curry Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Packing some curry today (see the recipe I used here). I made it a lot more "soupy" than the recipe calls for, because I like it that way. TinySprite's Hello Kitty thermal food jar is topped with a handcut yellow capsicum "rubber ducky" taking a swim. The side box holds: a perfectly sweet and unblemished organic (tiny) apricot, sliced nectarines, baby strawberries, a steamed Okinawan sweet potato, and some pickled stuff. The weather's been cooling down a bit (a bit; down to the upper 60s), so this warm bento should be welcome!

Lemony Chicken and Orzo Soup Bento

Lemony Chicken and Orzo Soup Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I got this chicken soup recipe from Bon Appetit magazine and it went over pretty well. I substituted chicken breast meat since that was what I had, and the meat was tender. It made a pretty big pot of soup, and the family completely slurped it all up. Good thing I reserved some for the Hello Kitty thermal. The little side box holds: blackberries, strawberries, Okinawan sweet potatoes, and the usual pickled stuff. This time I added sliced kiwi in with the bittermelon, and the sweet fruit actually helps cut the intense bite of the bittermelon, if you eat both together. Unfortunately, the kiwi gets soft and falls apart in the solution, so you have to add it upon serving. I think it looks pretty. If you don't think you'd like bittermelon, I suggest you try it this way. It's not bad!
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Lemony Chicken and Orzo Soup (from Bon Appetit)

1 T olive oil
1 medium leek, white and pale green parts only, halved lengthwise, sliced crosswise 1/2" thick
1 celery stalk, sliced crosswise 1/2" thick
12oz. skinless, boneless chicken thighs
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
Kosher salt, fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup orzo (I used whole wheat orzo)
1/4 cup chopped dill (I omitted)
Lemon halves (for serving)

Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add leek and celery and cook, stirring often, until vegetables are soft, 5-8 minutes. Add chicken and broth; season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer until chicken is cooked through, 15-20 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate. Let cool, then shred chicken into bite-size pieces. Meanwhile, return broth to a boil. Add orzo and cook until al dente, 8-10 minutes. Remove pot from heat. Stir in chicken and dill. Serve with lemon halves for squeezing over.

Keema Curry Thermal Bento

Keema Curry Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Are you tired of the thermal bento yet? More one-pot meals on the way, I'm afraid. Muahaha! I think this one is my favorite. I adapted Just One Cookbook's Keema Curry recipe, but not by much. I made this batch with more "sauce" so it can get the rice all nice and yummy. Even though I used the medium-hot curry roux block, the kids can handle it just fine. So happy about that! It means that the adults and kids can enjoy the same spicy meal without addition of anything extra to the adult version. Also packed along with this thermal jar: plum, strawberry and carrot.

Curried Lentil Farro Soup Bento

Curried Lentil Farro Soup Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

This winter has been extremely cold around these parts -- 30s at night and only 40s-50s during the day! It definitely calls for warming foods at lunch time, such as those that can be packed in a thermal food jar. Today I made curried lentil barley soup for protein-packed nutrition. For TinySprite I left it a little "dry" to make it easier to eat without spillage. She toted along a little side container containing: a mini cup of blueberries, steamed broccoli and Okinawan sweet potato, a satsuma mandarin and a dried pluot. My favorite local stone fruit farm sells the dried version of my favorite summer fruits so we can pretend it's peak summer. They don't add sugar but the pluots, nectarines and peaches are unbelievably sweet. Just one will overwhelm your tastebuds with a sublime explosion of sweetness. Can you tell I like them a lot?

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Curried Lentil Farro Soup
(from "Super Natural Every Day" by Heidi Swanson)

2T olive oil
Large onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1T curry powder
1/2 cup farro
1 cup lentils
6 cups vegetable broth (or water)

Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat, and saute onions, celery and carrots until softened, a few minutes. Add the curry powder; stir until fragrant. Add farro, lentils and broth. Bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer covered for 30 minutes or so. Taste; add salt or more seasoning as desired. You can also add other vegetables too, like squash or potatoes, or add more of the ones in the recipe as you like. It's quick and easy. I added extra cumin (because I like it). You can also top with yogurt mixed with lemon juice.

Warm Winter Curry Bento

Warm Winter Curry Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

After chili night comes... curry night! For some reason, these two seem to go together for me. I love this delicious curry; I used Just One Cookbook's recipe and method here, but added a lot more vegetables to mine, as you can see. For this batch, after browning the ground beef, I added celery, carrots, red capsicum, onion, garlic, and broccoli stalks. In the past I've used potatoes and even kabocha. You can make it as spicy as you like; the ketchup and tonkatsu sauce cuts the heat and keeps it kid-friendly. I packed the curry over rice in thermal food jars, alongside a separate container of satsuma mandarin (I LOVE these babies, have I mentioned?), tomatoes, broccoli, Okinawan sweet potato and sauerkraut. My 9-year-old gobbled up everything you see here. We've got rainstorms forecast for the next 4 days so I am starting to get more into the hearty kinds of meals these days. It's definitely fall around here now!
Added to What's For Lunch.

Bratwurst with Apples 'n Peppers LunchBots Bento

Bratwurst with Apples 'n Peppers LunchBots Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

This one is another selection of little bites for TinySprite, this time in the super cool LunchBots Clicks series. This is the small set, which includes one stainless steel rectangular container with a 320ml capacity, and another one with a 480ml capacity. As you know, I am a huge fan of the other LunchBots, and I use the Uno, Duo, Trio and Quad regularly. I was very excited to see the company come out with a set like this: the same high quality sturdy stainless steel body but with a tight-sealing, gasketed lid. The lids click closed on all four sides similar to the way the Lock & Lock boxes work. The lids are made of translucent blue plastic and are completely leakproof! That's right -- your food stays in contact with stainless steel but is safely protected from spillage through tossing, dropping and inversion! I don't know about you, but this is just about as close to perfect as I can imagine. Besides this small set, there's also a medium size for adults or bigger appetites, and even a large set that would be great for picnics or roadtrips. How versatile is that? I'm very impressed.
For this meal I quickly grilled some brats alongside some sweet peppers/chopped apples/celery for the bigger box and layered some sliced stone fruit, berries and edamame for the smaller box. I think the amount of food here is perfect for my kindergartner's lunch and snack, plus she can manage the click-locking lids easily by herself. Total win!

Chili Thermal Bento

Chili Thermal Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Oh man, this looks like a fall / winter bento. But chili is such a great one-pot meal that I can't resist making it throughout the year. Toss in all the vegetables you can think of, simmer in a tomato-based broth with beans and sausage, and that's it. Even gets better the next day. Can't beat that! I pack thermal bento in the morning right before the kids leave for school. They should stay hot for at least 4-5 hours. I pack the fruit selection in a stainless steel box to go alongside, and I don't have to worry whether they're getting their daily servings of vegetation. Simple ^_^

Green Drink!

Green Drink, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I've been asked about my green drinks a few times, so I decided to write a bit about them. I just started making and drinking them for about 2 weeks, as one of my new year's challenges. So far, I LOVE them.
Seriously.
If you're not familiar with green drinks, do a google search. You'll find tons of recipes, articles and news tidbits, with lots of celebrity chefs and TV personalities touting them. I'll admit that I first heard of them from my mom, who started drinking them because she saw it on Dr. Oz. Once it registered, I found that many of my own friends are drinking these things too. The nice thing is that you don't need a special juicer or high-powered blender to make them. I only use an ordinary old blender with 2 speeds, and it works fine on the foods I've used so far. Also, you don't have to feel limited to an actual recipe -- use whatever you like! And experiment with flavor combinations. It's a lot of fun! I have a standard true-green drink that I like to make. I happen to like the pure green color, which is why I don't add other colors to this one. I also have a favorite red drink too (I will share this one later). If you mix all kinds of fruit and vegetables, you may end up with a brown drink -- which isn't bad, but it won't have the beautiful vibrant color that you see here. This is my recipe:

Sheri's Green Drink

1C almond milk
handful of spinach (maybe 1/2C packed)
handful of dandelion greens (or any other greens that you prefer, like chard, kale, lettuce, choy)

[blend these ingredients first, to get better liquification]

1 celery stalk
1/2 cucumber, peeled
1 apple, peeled
1 small orange, peeled
1/2 lime, peeled
1/2 avocado
1 inch ginger, grated
1T wheat germ (or flaxmeal)

Blend the remaining ingredients, in batches, so your blender won't blow its motor. If you have a high-powered blender, then just throw everything in at once.
This recipe makes about 4 cups. I drink about 2 and a half cups at midday, and save the rest in the fridge to share with my kids later. It tastes.. well, green, but with a sharp, tangy, fresh bite. If you prefer it sweeter, you can add fruit. Even a couple of strawberries will sweeten it up quite a bit, but then the color will change. I really like it to stay greeeeeen. And it might be too soon to tell, but my usual winter allergies seem to be less pronounced. This drink will give you energy, fortify you for the day ahead, fill you up, and make you invincible! Okay, I made up that last part. Maybe.