Korean Bento

A Re-Purposed Lunch

Did you ever wonder what happens with dinner leftovers in most household nowadays?  Tell you what, most re-purposed them in many different ways. For the kitchen ingenious, they create a total different dish out of it.  For working moms, they may pack them for work the following day.  And still for the some, may even freeze them to serve on lazy days. Now which one are you?

We are the people who either re-purposed them for work lunches (yes! We eat the leftovers), or freeze them for any lazy days.  Now that the kids are older and are less picky, they share the chores with us to consume whatever is left.  And they don't mind at all.

The secret to that is the bento-style lunches.  Nothing cute looking anymore, but I make sure they look appetizing and good.  If I need additional compartments, I make use of silicone cups sold mostly at any local Daiso, or online by Bento USA.

Today's lunch is a leftover dinner from our Korean Restaurant dining.  We always order a little too much to what we can actually consume.  Aside from the hefty servings, my daughter was a bit full from her snack before we went to church last late Sunday afternoon.  I like to pack foods in to-go boxes.  I feel it's a great excuse to skip cooking for half a day or so.

Korean dishes is one of our favorites.  From appetizer to dessert, it's all delectable.  So for this bento, I packed Vegetable Kimchi, Chap-chae glass noodle, Beef Bulgogi with Spicy Chicken on a half cup of steamed rice.  To finish the meal, oranges to neutralize all after tastes.  All in on our Easylunchboxes.

 
For my boy, on his Fit & Fresh Bento Lunch Kit, he had a 3/4 cup of steamed rice, half cup of Beef Bulgogi, and oranges with plum for dessert.

 
Lastly, my girl brought in warm steamed rice on her favorite thermal kids' funtainer from Thermos. She also had a half cup of non-spicy Korean Chicken teriyaki to go with her rice, and plums to snack on for recess.  All klip it plastic containers by Sistema.


Hope you enjoyed today's post.
Happy 1st of September!

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.

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.

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.

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.

HESH Heart 13

A Year End Review

Year 2013 has been truly an amazing and productive year for us, as a family. A budding year that sparked a promising and a stable career for me. A career that gave me the flexibility to work and care for my kids full-time.  The career that gave us the capability to purchase our very own home after 11 years of married life. It is also the magic year that dismissed our son from ASD after careful re-assessment.  A fulfilling year that put me into the PTA board member, and my son into Student Council Alternative President.  A threatening but miraculous year, when dad had a stroke, but had overcome it without any nerve, organ, or vessel damage. A forgiving year that rescued my marriage and my family from breaking apart. Truly, God is wonderful and great. I thank him for everything.

I am also thankful for being a part of the Bento Bloggers and Friends for the much needed inspiration and support in almost everything, may it be bento-related or not.  I have continued to pack lunches to school and work despite of my hectic schedules and busted camera.  But of course, with my new DSLR, I think I'd be able to go back blogging my lunches in 2014. Hooray for that!

We, the Bento Bloggers and Friends, have agreed to put up our favorite thirteens. I would not consider it my top 13, but my favorites. How did I choose my favorites?  Here are the criteria that influenced my choice.

1. Pageviews
2. Most Requested Meals
3. Ease of Preparation
4. Blog Hops
5. Recipe

Hover on the images below and click the individual images to direct you to its corresponding blog post. Enjoy the following posts and hope that this will bring inspiration to your 2014 lunch packing madness.

Thank you!!

Have a healthy and blessed 2014!!

Please push the button below to see more 13 Favorites from the rest of the Bento Bloggers and Friends.

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.

Happy Holidays!

A Holiday Bento Inspiration

It's Christmas and I'm so proud to present to you a Holiday video that Easylunchboxes have produced and collaborated.  It contains all the beautiful festive lunches that my Bento Bloggers and Friends have done to inspire all bento-enthusiasts and aspiring bento-makers.

This is the best gift anyone could ever have.  Healthy foods.  Made out of love and ingenuity.  Packed in the #1 and best-selling containers....The EasyLunchboxes. 

Here's wishing everyone a very happy Christmas!

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.

Bean Sprout Veggie Wrap

Meatless Monday for your Lunchboxes

This is being linked up to Meatless Monday Linky Party over at Bento For Kidlet.

I have finally convinced myself to pack lunches for myself to work as well.  Mostly because I work from 8:30am -1:30pm, which gives me ample travel time for school pick up daily. And get tummy growls by the time I'm in school waiting in line till the kids are out.  Seriously, I eat lunch at 2:30-3pm daily.  And that depends too if there are emergency PTA duty in school.  I find myself eat like a horse by the time I'm home, just to compensate the meals I missed.  Definitely not healthy. 

 

I wasn't so sure what to prepare for dinner last night. I found myself staring at our fridge looking at bean sprouts, tofu, carrots and green beans.  Then I opened the freezer and saw the chicken legs staring at me.  Scary ha! I was honestly so exhausted from our Pumpkin Patch trip that afternoon, and I'm just looking for something quick and easy to prepare for dinner, but something healthy and the kids would definitely eat.

 

I decided to sauté the bean sprouts with the other veggies I mentioned earlier. Easy but boring.  So I thought of wrapping them up for a bean sprout roll, for which we call it, the "Bean Sprout Veggie Wrap."

My husband is not huge on bean sprouts because of his not so good childhood memories.  But when I started this dish, he changed his outlook towards bean sprouts, and had given it a second chance.  Great! My kiddos especially love this because it's crisp and juicy when eaten raw.  They love it as an appetizer when we dine in Korean Restaurants. But I have to think of a way to serve it to them.  And wrapping it isn't a bad idea after all.  I've seen my mom served it for us when we were growing up.  And we love dipping it in a spicy vinegar sauce.

This is easy. Just sauté all the veggies, drain the excess liquid once cooked. You can either toss it or save it for your rice.  It's yummy since it's already flavored with seasoning.  Wrap them up with a lumpia (eggroll) wrapper, about 2 sheets each.  We usually deep fry them to give the wrapper a crispy touch.  But for healthier option, just brush olive oil on both sides of the wrap and put them in a 450-475 degrees F oven for about 10-15 minutes on each side. Watch them so you don't burn them.  I make use of a toaster oven so it would take a while. Once it turns light brown, turn them right away.  Refrigerate any leftovers.  Reheating is done the same.

We all had this for dinner last night, and lunch for this noon.  Please excuse the  picture above. It was photographed by a camera phone so it wasn't at its best.  I am already at work writing this post, and just needed a picture to go by since I left my decent camera at home.

Please head over to Bento For Kidlet Meatless Monday and see what other contributors have in store for you.  If it's from Bento For Kidlet, it must be the best :)

 

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.

Pizzadilla!

Food for your Lunchboxes!

My schedules had been crazy busy for the past weeks. How have you been?  I honestly miss blogging a lot, as I have tons of lunch pictures on my camera. And I'm trying my best-est to upload them on my computer to start blogging the kids' lunches once again.  Bare with me. This busy momma has so much on her plate right now. We will soon catch up and get back on track.

The kids are requesting for PIZZA lunch. I don't have the needed ingredients for the crust, so I have to think of a way to deliver it in the best possible alternative.  Then I thought of PIZZADILLA.  Why not? I have all the ingredients to stuff it.  Back in November, I featured Pizzadilla for the very first time on my blog before it became famous.  I was even undecided whether to call it Pizzadilla or Pizzawich. If you missed that post, check it out here!

This lunch is very easy and quick to prepare.  I have an electric griller that does the trick for me each time. It's all about warming both sides of the flour tortilla before even spreading the marinara sauce over, then add cheese, pepperoni, olives, mushrooms, etc.  You can eat it like we normally eat a pizza, or top it with another warmed flour tortilla.  Flip. Wait till cheese has melted, and tortilla is slightly toasted and crisped. Then serve/pack.

Prep ahead of time!

• Wash and pre-cut fruits and vegetables the night before.
• Decide which lunchbox to use and have all the silicone cups, picks, utensils, napkins, and other gears ready on the kitchen countertop by night.
• Refill water bottles and refrigerate them.  If you're using non-thermal bottles, you might want to consider to freeze them overnight to double as icepack for lunches, and be thawed in time for recess and lunch, and still cold.  Consider that for warmer weathers though.

We need lunch ideas as well. We are open for suggestions.  If you have any lunch that you would want to be featured on my blog, please send me an email along with your name, the lunch picture and description.  I will gladly feature your creation!  All lunch credits belong to you. 

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.

Salami & Cheese Sub Kebabs

Kiddos are so fond of the sub sandwiches lately and I have to keep the lunches interesting so as they not look similar every single day.  It looks like they have an addiction to Subway Lunches lately.  Subway is quite expensive if you get them on a daily basis, keeping in mind the nitrate content of each cold cuts.  So I try to keep things at the minimum if I could.   At the most, driving all they way to whole foods market to get them the nitrate-free ones.

The other day, I posted Turkey and Cheese Subwich.  Today they asked again for another sub, but I have to be creative for my little girl, who's a little picky eater.  This time I presented it the kebab way.  This is not the first time you might have seen this across the web. As a matter of fact, this is a copycat <wink>...not my original creation, but worth the research and the hardwork to skewer them sub per sub into my flexible plastic coffee stirrer.

How did I do it?  It's pretty simple.  All you need is the patience to do them. No creative touch required, but awesome if you could spare some. Cut open the sub lengthwise, stuff it with your choice of coldcuts and cheese, lettuce if you have a stash in your pantry, olives are optional. You can add tomatoes and onions.  Cut them into 4's, and skewer 2 of the cut pieces into one skewer.  At the very end, place a pickle, a marshmallow or a grape to hold the buns tightly in place.

They both got same lunches, but Missy A has a smaller portion of this version.  Pudd'n Pouches for Recess.  Honest Kids' Juice for Missy A's lunch drink, and Organic Valley Milk for Mr. G's lunch companion.

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.

Turkey & Cheese Subwich

Today's lunch is a DIY - Subway Lunchable.  
Everything what my kiddos would love to put in their sub.  I tried to put them all together, but I'm afraid that they might turn soggy by lunch time.  So we put all things on the side, but the TLC - turkey, lettuce and cheese.  No tomatoes and onions.



Not sure if I already mentioned that Mr G has started with his ortho appliance prior to the actual braces.  He has the palatal bar attached to his upper first permanent molars, with the bar across his palate.  We thought it was easy at first, but foods get caught on the bar, and is a nuisance for him.  Since then, I tried to cut food as bite-sized as possible so he could chew his food and lessen the chance of getting caught in there.

For a time he's been on soup-based meals.  Anything goes.  For one, he's not a very picky eater.  And secondly, he eats healthy by choice.  So his lunch tomato-based soups were mostly veggies and shredded meats to satisfy his proteins, carbs, and enough calorie to get by the day.  I will blog them, so you get the idea what he had on those days.

Now that he's over the transition stage, we're back to be eating normally.
Also, he has asked to eat cafeteria meals with his friends on some days, which I allowed.
So he wouldn't feel that he's missing out so much.

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.

Corn on a Cob: A Whole Grain

Lunch doesn't need to be complicated all the time.  It can be something as simple as corn on the cob, and still make it healthy for the whole family.

Remember that corn is a whole grain, which plays an important role to prevent chronic illnesses such as hypertension and diabetes.  So if it's in the line of your family history, it's best that we switch diets into more whole grains, and corn is one of them which is the easiest and most economical way to serve a fulfilling meal.

We love corn because of its endless possibilities.  You can serve it steamed, grilled, stewed.  May be buttered,  salted, sprinkled with cheese, or simply eaten as it is.  We love corn not only because of its nutritional value, but also because of it's natural sweetness.

 I can't find a corn skewer to put them on each end, so my little girl could hold onto it, and eat them better mess-free.  For a bento-maker, I say it's a must-have.  So I'm off on a hunt for one or more.  If anyone knows where I could get it locally or online, please jot me a comment.  I would greatly appreciate it.

 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.

Let's Rock the Lunchbox!

Summer break is over and hope everyone had a wonderful one.

Thank you to all those who entered my Back to School giveaway. 

It was a blast! 

Congratulations to Shannon F. and Andrea A. I hope your children are enjoying the bento goodies.

Continue to be inspired and welcome to the Bento World!

To all others, Welcome to the School Year 2013-14 of lunch packing madness.

My posts will be different this year.  It will be a round up of a week of lunches instead of daily posts.  You might also encounter individual lunch posts on special occasions, or 2 parts of a week long lunches weekly, depending on how my schedule goes.  As most of you now know, I went back working already effective May of this year.  So I won't be able to commit myself blogging on a F/T basis, while the kids are in school. As always, lunches are prepared and packed daily in the morning, and some others that can be pre-cut the night before, are done as usual.  I will be indicating, though, which were pre-cooked, pre-cut, or pre-packed.  That way, you will have an idea how to budget your time wisely when packing foods for your loved ones.  Any ideas or suggestions are always welcome on the comment section.  But they are moderated to get rid of spam, so it takes time for them to show up.

We have gone back to school officially on August 19th.  And our schedule was on a minimum day for the entire week.  The kids still get a recess in the morning, and a lunch before dismissal.  So technically, the schedule didn't help at all with my lunch-packing madness.

Honestly, I wasn't even much prepared when the kids went back to school. I have the week's menu, the gadget, but the pantry supply.  My newly married sister and her hubby were in town.  We were busy showing them around and restaurant hopping.  We forgot about the stuffs that should go inside the lunchbox. Oh no!!!



But thanks to Honest Tea, Stonyfield, Annie's Homegrown, and Organic Valley, who have teamed up with bloggers to come up with creative and healthy lunchbox ideas for their back to school project called,
"Rock the Lunchbox".

My supplies came in late in the mail, since my first shipment got lost.  But it wasn't a problem to them at all. They replaced and sent me another, as soon as their stocks came in.

The kids were pretty much amazed to see new product lines in their boxes this school year. And it wasn't just any other product, they're by Honest Kids, Annie's Homegrown, and YoKids Yogurts by Stonyfield.  Healthy lunchboxes items that my kiddos are familiar with. So the introduction was much more of a pleasure.

If I were to pack this again, I would probably pre-cut all fruits as this adds up to the time spent in packing in the morning.  You'd be lucky if you get kids up early and eat breakfast quick without being told to.  Then packing everything up in the morning wouldn't be a problem at all, and still make it out in time for a drive to school.

If you're unsure of what to pack on a daily basis, please push the Rock the Lunchbox button on topmost of my post, or here for instant inspiration.

Do you want another giveaway?
I will be hosting another one by Rock The Lunchbox sponsors.
Here's a teaser to see what's in store for you.



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!