Today!

Well, the painting of the spare room is well underway, and in a spat of productivity, I found time to make an array of salads.... yes, an ARRAY! My sister was a little bemused as to why I was making 3 different types... an my answer is simple- as a vegetarian, the more the merrier with salads, as sometimes things get dull.

Sigh.

So this was my attempts at 3 new recipes.

At the top is a brown lentil and bulgar wheat salad. Most tedious part of that one was the soaking of the bulgar wheat and the boiling of the lentils... and the cooling.  However, the salad is filling and meaty in a way.

The next to the left is a re-interpreted pasta salad with celery, cucumber, green pepper, spring onion and parsley, with eggs and penne pasta.

The last is a traditional tabouli with mint, parsley, tomato, spring onions and bulgar wheat.  Yum as.

Tomorrow I will be taking one, or more, of these to rehearsal.... and we are making toasted sandwiches as a cast.  Excellent.  I am hoping to be able to participate in "Muffin Tin Monday" next week... the circus theme is most excellent. :D

Pizza preparation

Well, yesterday afternoon some of my students came over for some revision and pizza.... so I kept back some of the dough, and made mini-pizza's today ready to be bento-ed later on.  And the best part is that I totally know what all the ingredients are, so no worries over nasties in the food.

The hardest part was not eating the little triangles myself, and making sure they cooled down out of reach of the beagles!

In other news, I placed an order with J-list the other day, and I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of cuteness in the post...... at some point in time. :D

Snacking in the hospital

Well, today was a total rush to get through.  I had a hospital appointment related to my broken ankle and subsequent operation.  As the radiographers were about to go on strike on Friday, the x-ray was back-logged and rushing to get through all the patients.

But for once I was sorta prepared!

A rushed snack, and a rushed photo sorry....  but here it is.... a selection of nuts and raisins, a boiled bantum egg for protein and 2 yogurt covered apricots.

Sadly, I was delayed in the hospital, which made me a little more hungry than the snack, so I had a salad sandwich from the cafe there.  So "mission-healthy" was on track... until I had a chocolate bar for tea!

Tomorrow I will make some mini-pizzas... at some point....

Good Morning!

What I had not anticipated this week was that darned daylight saving!  I have never felt so tired in the morning.  It was a struggle to get up and fix lunch for the husband and myself- but it is done, and I am feeling rather proud of my efforts.... so proud I am blogging instead of heading out the door or into the shower!

So here it is... in the hamburger bento.  In the bottom layer we have a simple salad of rocket, cheese, avodcado and apple rolled in lemon juice, a boiled bantum egg and lashings of parsley.  In the piigy bottle is some honey mustard dressing.

Top layer has the frittata from yesterday, nuts and raisins, and some yogurt covered dried apricots.  One square meal bar and an apple on the side.

Some have complained with the shaped bentos being too small or impractical.  I have found this one to be perfect for salads and snacks, easy to eat from, and a good size portion.  The top layer is deep as the lid has more space in it.  I cannot sing the praises of this bento enough.

All of this has been put in the wrong bag- but I wanted some yellow brick road influence!

Now I am off for a shower and rehearsal.

The Frittata Master

Well, I am the Master of the Frittata... self proclaimed.  So, as I am currently in my "get back into bento shape" mode, here is my legendary instant frittata... :D  Turn the oven on now... I usually cook at 180 degrees c.

1.  Potatoes.  I prefer to use 2 red desiree potatoes.  Slice and boil til cooked.  Not overcooked.  Arrange at the bottom of a cake tin.  I have opted for the cake tin recently, lined with baking paper because the clean-up is non-existent!  I used to use the ol' silicon tart thingy (not a tin... what do you call that thing?)... but this is easier and does not warp like silicon bakeware. 

2.  Sprinkle frozen vegies from a mixed bag.  I tend to like Watties mixed vege with carrots, corn and peas.... but go crazy.

3.  Check the fridge for fresh vegies that can be added.  Today I added a baby leek. sliced thinnly (instead of onions, as fresh leeks have an amazing flavour)

4.  Herbs.  I have parsley growing rampantly in the garden, so screeds of parsley are being used in EVERYTHING at the moment.

5.  In a jug (or bowl, but I find a 1 litre pyrex jug is perfect for mixing and pouring from) whisk together eggs (I went with 7 small, free-range eggs today) and a dash of milk.... with salt and pepper.  Non-vegetarians could add bacon or ham at this point.  Pour eggy mixture over the vegetables.

6.  Slice tomato.... arrange on the top (I use as a guide of how many pieces I want in the end...)

7.  Sprinkle with grated cheese.  Today I used mild cheddar, but Parmesan is my usual cheese of choice.

8.  Bake until the egg is not runny and the cheese is melted etc.  Usually about an hour, but that is just a feeling really.

Voila!  Completed, perfect frittata without any stress or hassle.  Loves it.  Basically I now eat 2 pieces for dinner, and put the rest in airtight containers in the fridge or freezer, to be taken in bento over the week.

Getting back on track

After what has to be described as the CRAZIEST YEAR EVER I am hoping to be back on Bento track.

For those of you who did not know, I changed jobs this year, and started teaching Drama.... I have described this as catapulting from one chaotic moment to the next, hurtling towards the next performance.  It has been terrific!  We won the Regional Shakespeare Competition and went to Nationals, we won Theatresports for the first time in 19 years of the competition, we put on shows, went on tour doing 6 shows in 2 days, learnt Circus tricks, and now are in the middle of doing school holiday programmes and preparing to present "The Wizard of Oz" in 2 weeks time.  The learning curve is huge, but fantastic.  Or frantastic.

And in the middle, I broke my ankle in a major way (3 breaks, 1 dislocated foot, 1 severed ligament, 1 operation, 1 titanium rod, 8 screws, 6 casts and a moon boot!).... still not at 100%, but so much better than being laid up on the couch waiting for others to feed me.....

Now I hope to be back on bento track....  I have 2 weeks of school holidays to get the bits and pieces sorted, do baking and cooking and start a habit....  While my holidays are busy, I hope to get my lunches sorted for good!

This morning I cleaned out my bento drawer.... and moved the overflow into the cupboard.  This should make things much easier to find and get sorted.  And yes- this is my definition of sorted!  I have the bento's and other larger containers in the cupboard, with small containers and bits and pieces in the drawer.

The drawer- sort of chaotic, but at least I can now rummage for the small things.

The cupboard- relatively sorted... bento's in baggies, tuperware, salad thingies...

A friend of mine has chickens on her farm, and recently gave me a bunch of bantum eggs.  These are currently boiling in preparation for tomorrow.... what will go with them..... I'm not sure yet... but the plan is in motion.