Tuna Salad Bunwich

A Meatless Friday Lunch Post

Lent is here and I have been wanting to make a post about lunches we can pack for families observing the Lenten Season.  Lent is the season for penance and prayer before Easter.  Typically Catholic families fast or abstain from meat, and other activities they love as part of their penance, as they pray.  For devotees, there's hardcore fasting and abstinence happening around this season.  Some don't actually eat on Fridays, which I honestly can't survive.

I grew up in a household that actually remove one meal in a day, and just 2 small meals for the other 2.  No snacks.  So when hunger strikes, water is your best friend to flush out gastric juices, and push hunger away.  One great way to lose weight.  Ha! 

My family and I love food.  We can actually live without almost anything except food.  So I asked the kids to come up with stuffs they can abstain in observance of Lent.  No answer.  So I suggested, we all stay away from meat like chicken, pork and beef.  The only meat we can eat is seafood, like fish, clams, crabs, lobsters etc.  Still yummy I know.  So I just limit our meat intake to fish and shell foods.  And no eating out on Fridays. All agreed.

So today's lunch is our leftover breakfast that I never get the chance to eat.  So I packed it and brought it to work for lunch.  I snatched my daughter's soy drink, and mandarin orange fruit pack with purple grapes to keep me filled till dinner time.  And lots of bottled water.

My daughter had 2 bean and cheese burrito, grapes and soy drinks as well.  My son ate in school. Cafeteria served cheese quesadilla, fruits and milk.  Hubby had tofu and spicy eggplant with rice. Morning was rough for me so no pictures for those yumminess were taken. 

Do you abstain or fast on Lenten Fridays?  Show me your lunch.  You can post it on Instagram and tag @OhMarieOh so I can see.

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All bento accessories are available through Bento USA,

the cheapest and most complete online bento products in the USA.

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Thank you for your support!

If you need weekly meals straight to your inbox, try MOMables.

It's our one-stop shop when we're on a lunch rut.

Vongole

Last year my sister had a break from work and finally visited us in summer.  She stayed with us till after my daughter's 8th birthday in December.  It was a wonderful time to catch up and bond again.  The kids loved her around. The last time we saw each other was back in 2010.  Though we facetime and Skype regularly, nothing beats up close and personal.  Her stay with us gave me a huge break in the kitchen as well.  She's one great cook, who pleasantly served dishes to us meal after meal.  One of the meal that caught our attention was Vongole.  It was our first to have this dish.  My kids devoured it each time it's served.

But when I tried it in my kitchen, I couldn't do it just the way she did.  She cooks by taste. She doesn't keep a recipe in hand.  So if you ask her, she'll give you the ingredients, but the rest is up to you. Oh boy!

 

Just like most, I struggle in the kitchen too from time to time. And when I say struggle, that means trouble.  Before I could really whip up a meal, I have to check several recipes and make sure it tastes good in my mind.  When I can't visualize its outcome, it's a no-no.  So just imagine that.  Chaos huh?!

I experiment a lot. I try recipe after recipe.  Often, I modify it till I get the right yum for my family.  I have been experimenting on Vongole that I couldn't get it right.  It's just Vongole for some,  but somehow the recipes I tried just didn't quite hit the right "umph" for my buds. Nothing close to her Vongole.  Finally last night, I hit it off.  I included the recipes  for you to try and let me know how you like it. Critique me!  Perhaps you can help me twist it a bit for a better appeal.

The Recipe

Ingredients:

1 package of spaghetti noodles, cooked according to package instructions.

2lbs clam, shelled

1 cup clam juice

extra virgin olive oil

1 stick butter, unsalted

1 Tbsp garlic, minced

1 medium onions, thinly sliced

3 tomatoes, diced

salt & pepper to taste

red pepper flakes, optional

Gouda cheese, grated

dry white wine
herbs (basil, cilantro, thyme, lime)

Procedure:

1. Cook spaghetti noodles according to package instructions.  Set aside.
2. Boil 2 lbs of clam in a pot of water. Save 1 cup of clam juice for later.
3. In a separate skillet, heat olive oil and butter.  Saute onion till tender.  Add in garlic,diced tomatoes.  Let it cook for 5 minutes till tomatoes are soft. 
4. Add in clams, a cup of its juice, white wine, salt and pepper. Let boil.
5. Add in herbs of your choice.  We used cilantro for this particular dish.  Simmer for another 3-5 minutes.
6. Pour on noodles. 
7. Serve with grated Gouda Cheese on top with red pepper flakes for a little kick.

Serves: 6-8

Leftovers may be packed on any Easylunchboxes for school or work the following day.  Pack them with your favorite side dish, such as fruits, Hawaiian dinner rolls, or trail mixes on yogurts.


If you love Healthy Eating Starts at Home, you may subscribe via email to get all my posts straight to your inbox. No spam mails, just healthy food ideas for your lunchboxes.

All bento accessories are available through Bento USA,

the cheapest and most complete online bento products in the USA.

Other bento gears are also available thru My Amazon Affiliate Link.
Thank you for your support!

If you need weekly meals straight to your inbox, try MOMables.

It's our one-stop shop when we're on a lunch rut.

Quesadilla Strips with Layered Dip

Today's lunch was originally inspired by a friend's Meatless Monday bento, Jenn of Bento for Kidlet, which can be found here.  Check her out and see other awesome lunches linked up to her party.  Hers was mouth watering nacho lunch which gave me this idea for the kiddos' lunches.  But since mine are not huge on beans, I omitted that and substituted it with salsa.  This is actually their first time to eat quesadilla with sour cream and guacamole dip, so I separated it from the salsa, just in case. They love quesadilla, but I've never sent them this way before.  And it was a huge hit.  According to Mr. G, it couldn't be better!

I decided to cut the quesadilla into strips instead of the traditional triangular shape, so they could scoop and dip it better in the Mini dippers, mess-free.  Mr G is a clean-freak. He doesn't want his hands get messy and gooey when eating.  One reason why burritos and tacos won't work for him, unless I wrap them nicely that allows him to reposition his food on his hand.

Missy A loved it as well sans the salsa and guacamole. She came back home with salsa and guacamole left behind.  Fine with me. At least she ate them without any fuzz.  I just noticed one thing though. I think she peeled some of the cheese off the tortilla and tossed it on her EasyLunchboxes.  Y'all know that she doesn't like cheese and I would be lucky if she eats a piece.

I hope you all have a wonderful lunch.

Happy Wednesday!!

All bento accessories are available through Bento USA,

the cheapest and most complete online bento products in the USA.

Other bento gears are also available thru My Amazon Affiliate Link.
Thank you for your support!

May the 4th Be With U: A Star Wars Bento HOP

Welcome to the DARK Side!

May the 4th is a day dedicated especially for Star Wars.  Or should I say in the GEEK World, May 4th is Star Wars Day.  My family is a huge Star Wars fanatic, and so does my fellow Bento Bloggers and Friends. I must admit I'm the lesser fan amongst them all, coz they know all the rightful terminologies associated with Star Wars and I simply lack the capability to store that in my system. I can watch the film over and over, but not absorb the needed force to be a true Jedi.  So pardon me for anything not suitable you might find on my post.  I deserve to be corrected should I misled you.

My fellow BBF (Bento Bloggers & Friends) are once again doing another bento hop.  This time in 2 groups of 16-17 participants, so as not to overwhelm you hopping from one lunch to another.  Consider yourselves forewarned, our bento madness can become addicting but fun.  So beware!

Since this hop falls on a Saturday, I thought of making a surprise big breakfast for my kiddos. Big breakfast for us mean a combination of carbo, protein, dairy and fruits.  Today is a big day for Mr G coz he's trying out for the Swim Meet this morning.  Keeping our fingers crossed that he'll make it to the team.

 

The kids were very excited of this big breakfast. I had to prepare them the night before because of a busy morning schedule ahead of us today. I served them buttered apple cinnamon pancakes with a maple syrup on the pink cup, all-natural hotdog where Darth Vader sat with the Jedi's light sabers on their quest to defeat him.  They also had hard-boiled eggs with the Sith Logo and Storm Trooper Cuties oranges.

 

Mr G reacted on this lunch. He said that Darth Vader has a Red Saber.  He neither has blue nor green. So I had to explain to him that they were the Jedi's.  He loves the cheese cut-out though.  He thinks its cool.

 

How did I make this? Since I am not an awesome food artist, I researched considerably for Star Wars logos, than faces. I sketched and pre-cut on parchment paper, traced on cheese and cut. The logo on the egg was drawn by an all-natural food-safe writer. 

I originally made an onigiri lunch for this hop, but I messed up the nori decals.  So I did the easy way out, and prepared an appropriate meal for the kiddos this morning.

Next stop is Sarah of Bentoriffic.  Let's see what she has served her girls for this hop. Please push the button below, that you might find at the beginning, middle, or end of each post, to teleport you to the next portal of entree - either the DARK or LIGHT Side. The Best of Luck!!

Once you've completed the hop...

I hope you had a wonderful time hopping from one entree to another.  We're happy to have you around as always!  Please jot me a comment, it will surely bring cheers :)

Have a fun and wonderful Star Wars Bento Hop!!

All bento accessories are available through Bento USA,

the cheapest and most complete online bento products in the USA.

Other bento gears are also available thru My Amazon Affiliate Link.
Thank you for your support!

Steamed Salmon Sushi Rolls

Happy May 1st!

Time flies so fast.  Before we know it, school is off and summer break kicks in.  I am usually one of the most excited person for this time-awaited break.  For us, this means an endless trip to Disneyland, Universal Studios, Legoland, Discovery Center, Sea World, the ZOO, playdates and picnics at the beach. But this year, I'm not quite liking it because I would have to work fulltime, and kids would be left home with nothing special to do until I come back home after work. I have discussed my work schedules with my kiddos, and they seem pretty good with change now that they've grown. I have arranged a weekday off from work to bring them to playdates, movies and picnics in between, and reserved the bigger trips on weekends with hub.

Sushi is on board again.  This time we made it pretty healthy for the growing kids.  I know that nothing is better for a kid's tastebud than a SPAM Musubi.  But let's face it, it's not very healthy when consumed on a daily basis, or say frequently.  I don't want to send sashimi (raw sushi fillings) to school either.  So I thought of steaming the salmon first to be on the safe-side.

Why salmon? Simply because we love salmon and it's one of the healthiest fish one can consume.  It's packed with all the essential nutrients that one need to live a healthy life.  Salmon is classified an oily fish, which is a good protein source, omega 3 fatty acids, and Vitamin D.  Do you know that calcium needs Vitamin D to be absorbed and synthesized?  Vitamin D is important for the health of our bones. It protects our bones and helps in calcium absorption. Primary source of Vitamin D is the sun, but with its harmful effects nowadays, we often lather our skin with sunblock.  Thus, shielding the essential effects of the sun to our body.  So where else can we find Vitamin D?  The answer always points to foods and supplements.

The kids are having Salmon Sushi Rolls for lunch today. Salmon were marinated with salt & pepper with lemon rind. Placed on a dish and steamed on a double boiler. Steamed for about 15-20 minutes. The sushi was filled with salmon flakes and a wee bit of light mayo.  You can always skip the mayo if you wish.  But mayo gives off a nice flavor to the salmon when eaten with rice.

My sushi rice was made with a drizzle of sesame oil, sesame seed and dried bonito mix.  I used to make it with Sushi vinegar, but somehow kids love it better without it. And rolling makes it easier for me too.

Have a great lunch!! 

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the cheapest and most complete online bento products in the USA.

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Thank you for your support!

Tortilla Roll-Ups

The busy days are over and I'm back to blogging lunches once again.  Yay for me!!  I was struck with a bad seasonal allergy lately though and still recuperating from it. None of the allergy meds actually worked, but helped a bit to be functional in the kitchen.  So I tried to keep my lunches quick and easy to prep and pack.

Today would be quite different. I know I've packed this years ago, but I have to revive it since the kids actually love tortilla.  Mr. G was the one excited to see this back on his box.  He loves the wraps better than traditional sandwiches.  And let's face it, he's tired of my pandesal (a Filipino wheat dinner buns that I make use of a lot instead of regular dinner rolls).  Also, clean up is easier coz it doesn't have lots of crumbs after prep.

The kids both had ham and lettuce tortilla roll-up today.  Honestly, I love making them because it's just like making sushi, only it's easier and quicker.  You can make and pack everything up in 15 minutes or less depending on how quick you roll and cut.

To make this, you will need:

☻ 8" or 10" tortilla wrap

☻ cream cheese

☻ ground mustard

☻ honey cured ham

☻ baby lettuce, spinach or any greens

Directions:

1. Spread the cream cheese onto the tortilla wrap.
2. Sprinkle a bit of ground mustard. Not too much coz it's quite spicy (accdg to my kids).
3. Place a layer of a slice of ham deli & baby lettuce on one end of the tortilla.
4. Fold that end over and roll all the way to the other end.  Make a slightly tight roll so they hold pretty well.
5. Cut about 2" apart, or as desired.  

Have a great lunch! Hope your kiddos would love it for school.  They would do great for after school snacks and on field trips as well.  Please jot me a comment. I'd love to read them.

Today's post is linked up with I ♥ Lunch Linky Party

over at my fellow BBF, Rachel of Following In My Shoes.

Check it out!

All bento accessories are available through Bento USA,

the cheapest and most complete online bento products in the USA.

Other bento gears are also available thru My Amazon Affiliate Link.
Thank you for your support!

A Vegetarian Lunch Combinations

What are Lunch Combinations?

These are lunches that are made up of common ingredients but are prepared and packed in many different ways, especially made for picky but "cute" family members.  Cute is inserted there because I love them dearly no matter what.  And I don't intend to pick on anyone else about anything there...LOL!



I have been packing lunches for 3 each day for years. And soon, it will be four of us.  It's tough when it comes to packing to each one with individual preferences.  My husband is not picky so he's off the hook. But I try to pick only the healthy ones for him because he has to lose some weight.

As you see the image above, each one had tortilla, cheese, strawberry, eggs, corn and greens
(except for my littlest eater who's the pickiest one of all).



These are the lunches for my boy and my man. And oh yeah --- SPOT the DIFFERENCE!!
Mr G loves playing that game, so let's all play along.

All answers goes on the comment box, please :)



First lunch was for my man, he had a garden salad of all sorts of the healthy fresh stuff with Italian dressing on those pink and blue cups. He also had hard boiled egg white, a couple of strawberries and cheese quesadilla.



My boy's lunch was a garden salad similar to his dad but with string cheese and without an egg.



And my littlest one, who wouldn't eat cheese quesadilla, had a home-made corn tortilla chips with string cheese and strawberries and harboiled egg whites. No greens on her EasyLunchboxes but all on her juice.

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned that I was never successful feeding cheese to my little girl.  I've tried all sorts of cheese and the only one that solved the problem was this particular string cheese made by Galbani Precious Cheese.  The TRIVIA on the packaging made it interesting for the kids to peel the cheese and eat them as they enjoy the answers to the trivia.  Not only that but it got a tasty taste as well. It's not bland like any other mozarella cheeses.  It's a wee bit salty that gained the thumb of approval from my little girl.  Best of all they are made with all-natural ingredients and rbST-free milk.

Are your kids picky about foods as well? How are you able to cope up with that?

For a better treat, I have linked this up with Bento For Kidlet's
Meatless Monday. Please push the button below to visit other linked meals.



Bon apetit!

All bento accessories are available through Bento USA,

the cheapest and most complete online bento products in the USA.

Other bento gears are also available thru My Amazon Affiliate Link.
Thank you for your support!

Hello! How Are You?

It's so great to be back to the BENTO World!

Work has been on the way of my blogging world. I have been hired to open and manage a dental office for an excellent dentist that I've been working with for quite a while.  He bought an existing dental office, and my job is to put everything together from set-up to operations. It's quite overwhelming for me since I've been a SAHM for almost 4 years since I went back to my job last August. This has eaten my time as well to blog.  But just so glad that bento-ing has been in my system already, so it just comes naturally each time I wake up in the morning.  The only thing is I never get the chance to photograph them anymore.

Photography is my OCD. I want it as perfect as it could be.  But nothing is perfect especially when I don't possess the right camera.  So I try to work things around with whatever I have in hand.  Same thing with food. I open our pantry in the morning and make use of my inventories that could make up a healthy lunch for the family.  That's why weekend shopping is crucial for us.

Lunch above is an example of my April unplanned lunches.  The previous days kids just had a chicken patty sandwiches, and thought of re-purposing the chicken patties that I still have in hand. It can't be chicken sandwich again for today and tomorrow. So I thought of throwing it all together with a garden salad of organic baby spinach, romaines, California sweet olives, crab sticks, and corn kernels.  For a more carb diet, I added some tortilla chips to help my boy and my man be filled for lunch.  Of course it will never be complete without any fruits.  Fruits have always been part of their meals each time.

And of course, I eat at home too.  Usually I'd eat something different from what I pack.  But the day came out quite busy to prepare a special meal for myself.  So I get to eat whatever they are having for lunch today. 

What have you been eating lately?  I'm sure you've got tons to share. Care to jot me a comment? Let's chat :)

All bento accessories are available through Bento USA,

the cheapest and most complete online bento products in the USA.

Other bento gears are also available thru My Amazon Affiliate Link.
Thank you for your support!

A Burst of Spring

Spring is absolutely here!  

SO let the COLORFUL lunches begin.

It's always nice to pack lunches on spring-colored lunchboxes.  It adds colorful inspiration when it comes to planning.  And that is when I am thankful The EasyLunchboxes has created another genius product to tag along when on trips.  It just matches every single color of my silicone cups at home.  It makes packing lunches so fun and vibrant.  They honestly look good on pictures.  Don't you agree with me?

This lunch is so simple to prepare. It's just chicken and bean taquitos cut into halves for the stalk, and grape tomatoes to make as a bud blossoming on springtime.  Should have added some greens for the leaves, but my pantry is out so that will do for the day.  On side compartments are green pears and a couple of chocolate chip cookie treat.

Have a wonderful day!

All bento accessories are available through Bento USA,

the cheapest and most complete online bento products in the USA.

Other bento gears are also available thru My Amazon Affiliate Link.
Thank you for your support!

Chicken Nuggets, Corn Kernels & Melon

Finally the kids are back to school after Winter Break. They've been off for 3 weeks and they've been missing their friends and teachers. Honestly, I love to be with my kiddos every single day of my life, but there are times I wish for ME time too.  And that's when I want my sanity back...LOL!! Kids can drive you crazy at times. Don't you agree?

We're always good on first days. No jitters...no tantrums...always on time & early. These were the days when the kids were still excited and hyper.

For their first days, I didn't make anything special, but fulfilled their requests. Missy A had her favorite chicken nuggets meal with BBQ sauce on her green condiment cup, corn kernels and melon cubes with a puppy food fork. Everything packed on her favorite Goodbyn Small Meal Box.

Mr. G got a similar lunch except that I doubled the portion size.  And his lunch was packed on his favorite blue lidded EasyLunchboxes.

The kids also had their Emergen-C Raspberry Drink (pre-mixed to boost up their immune system this flu season) on their individual Goodbyn bottles, and a package of Mini Oreos for their sweet treat.

Breaded Salmon + Brown Rice for Work

Finally got the chance to take a picture of my hub's lunch for today. I usually would prepare my kids' meals first so I could stage them while the kids were still asleep.  And would prepare breakfast next. His lunch would always be last since leftovers never look good on pictures the next day unless I heat them up. Honestly, hub's never picky as long as he has something packed.  One of the several things I'm so grateful for.  

This morning, I had time to cook for him. Finally! I was able to thaw some salmons overnight. I made him breaded salmon over brown rice.  He also had some melon cubes and fresh garden salad that he prepared after I took a shot of this.  I wasn't able to wait any longer.  The kids were up and didn't wanna miss to blog about his lunch too by the time I got back from school.

Here's his lunch!

Seasoned and breaded Alaskan salmon.  One of his favorites so far.

And packed on our favorite EasyLunchboxes.

Have a good lunch, everyone.

Happy back to school!

All bento accessories are available through Bento USA,

the cheapest and most complete online bento products in the USA.

Other bento gears are also available thru My Amazon Affiliate Link.
Thank you for your support!

Aknowledgements:

Karioka, Panittone & Cheese

Saturday was my first day of work for the year 2013.  I work part time in an office that has off lunch hours. Technically it's been set for 1:00pm, but it actually depends on the bulk of work, or patients should I say.  Mostly, it doesn't happen till 2- 3pm.

I follow my body clock. So when I'm hungry, I eat {no matter what}.  Yes. And how do I do that? Simple. I pack my lunch wherever I go.  It doesn't have to be big and heavy. Anything that can fill up and satisfy an empty stomach is good enough.  Don't you think?

Today, I packed some home-made Karioka {coconut crunchy balls} with maple syrup on the pink cup, panitone with Brie cheese spread on the yellow cup.  And of course a few slices of Christmas aged cheese to munch on while working. Everything packed on a LunchBots Trio. Believe it or not, this saved my day.  It got me worked better and efficiently without any cry of hunger pangs.

I usually can't survive a meal without a rice, but I like finger foods whenever unplanned circumstances arise. It's the easiest way to sneak food into your mouth while working.

I hope you had a great weekend before school even resumes on the 7th, and start un-packing those bento tools once again. Let's re-start making lunches fun like never before.

All bento accessories are available through Bento USA,

the cheapest and most complete online bento products in the USA.

Other bento gears are also available thru My Amazon Affiliate Link.
Thank you for your support!

School Lunches: Hotdogs OR Corndogs

Today was a better day. I packed the night before for a smoother transition this morning and it worked perfectly well. Staging were done the night before too. And the hot foods were baked and cooked in the morning. So they taste just right by lunchtime.

Missy A has grapes, oranges and oven-baked hotdogs with ketchup for lunch.

 A frozen yogurt and juice pouch for her snack, just perfectly thawed by snack time.

  Mr. G has corndog instead, shelled edamame, grapes and oranges.  I also packed 2 bottles of yogurt drink for snack and lunch in case he needs more.

My hub has all of our dinner leftovers in his Easy Lunchboxes: 

Chinese Spicy Porkchop, Spring Rolls & Tofu.  

An apple and an orange fruit on the side for dessert.

All lunches are packed in our favorite Easy Lunchboxes.
Have a great Thursday!

~Marie

Bento at Work: Fish & Veggie

I pack lunches to hub daily but I seldom feature it. Why? Most of the time he packs his own lunches to work. And you guessed that right. He'd normally just toss dinner leftovers into his glass bento box whichever way he wanted it.  But ever since I got our Easy LunchBoxes, he packed better on his own. Then I started taking pictures of his bento works, which he lets me before leaving for work.  On his ELB, he packed multi-grain brown rice, grilled red snapper, salted eggs & tomatoes, and garlic spinach.  All home-cooked the night before.

Bento At Work: Shanghai Eggrolls & Bean Sprout

I know that this does not come regularly, but there are days that I just have to do it, especially by special request.  I got one today by HUB.  And so I complied. But cute lunches aren't allowed. So I just have to pack whatever I could.

He normally wants his lunches on a glass dish with a rubberized lid. He dislikes plastic especially when reheating stuffs on the microwave. For some reason, he agreed when I offered the Easy Lunchboxes.  My guess?  He must have seen it in his work place too.

Gotta find out who's packing on ELBs. 

For today's lunch, I packed home-made Shanghai Eggrolls cut into halves, brown rice, and bean sprouts. For your information, my eggroll is packed with grated vegetables. I hid it on ground meat & shrimp so no one would even detect it.  And they're crunchy and yummy as ever.

Bon appetit!

~Marie