DIY: Seafood Vegetable Fried Rice & Eggrolls

I have been fond of cooking lately at home.  I believe that this is the only way to healthy eating coz you eat anything you like, and you control what gets into your system.  This is so true since you have the freedom to choose the right ingredients for your family.

We love Asian cuisines.  All of them.  And we love to eat as well.  We hop from one resto to another to try out new dishes.  Anything we love, we try to make them home-made next time.  Google is a huge place to find the perfect recipe for any food.  Then customize  ingredients according to what works best for you.

As you already know, I'm training my kids to eat meals we already eat at home to school.  That way, planning for school lunches would be a breeze and economical in a way. Imagine sending leftover dinners to school the next day. Let's re-phrase that. What about a re-purpose leftover dinner?  That might sound a little better, right?

Eggroll Recipe: Combine ground meat, minced shrimp, minced onion and garlic, carrots,
salt and pepper together. Roll them up with the use of a shumai or gyoza wrappers for a mini roll, perfect for school lunches.

Say, you had eggrolls for dinner. Do you think your picky eaters would eat them again the next day? Would it be better if it goes with another new dish? Or a repurpose dish?

I repurposed rice for that matter. I made a Seafood-Vegetable Fried Rice which has almost everything on it.  I made use of medium grain brown rice, instead of just white, to take care of fibers and grains. You can never go wrong with corn kernels.  They always add a sweet taste to any cuisine. It's not anything like sugar.  It's whole grain and it's a healthy additive to any cuisine. Add some greens with the use of sweet peas or edamame, carrots, if you wish, and some shredded crabsticks.  Season with Asian seasoning (1 part soysauce, 1 part sesame oil). YUM!!

I would absolutely say, the kids had a hearty meal.  They love it!  I hope you consider to re-purpose your dinner leftover sometime.  It makes our mornings simpler.

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.
EasyLunchboxes can also be purchased here.
Thank you for your support!

A Week of BIG and SMALL Bento School Lunches

It's been a whole week of crazy schedules last week, when blogging is not a part of it.  I was called to work twice during the weekday, and once on a weekend. Then the rest of the days were volunteer duties in school.  Well, like it or not, but I am that one of those crazy parents who love to volunteer their precious time for their children's classes, no matter what the duty calls for. And, I honestly LOVE it.  It feels good to be needed.  It satisfies me all the way.  What's worst? I was invited to be a part of the PTA-Board Committee the following school year. Of course, I finally accepted after constant invitations for a year now.  So get ready for the drama!

Asian Fried Rice

This lunch was inspired by Momables' menu plan.  I have been sending varied rice meals to school, but never thought of making use of Asian Seasoning which is an equal mixture of soysauce and sesame oil drizzled onto the rice as you stir-fry.

My girly-girl, Missy A adores flowers.  And, she eats anything shaped in florets.  So in her 2-tiered bento box, courtesy of Bento USA, I packed 3 Asian Rice shaped in florets by making use of a 4-shaped onigiri maker {found at the end of this post}, grapes and Oreo cookies on flower-shaped bento cups.

On Mr G's Aqua-lidded Easy Lunchboxes, he got a similar lunch and sides except its cuteness. No more cute shapes for my 4th grader boy. He just wanted me to toss everything in his box.  Glad I could still make use of my silicone cups though.

Breakfast Sushi Rolls

Sushi is one of the best rice meals sent to school without the need of any utensils.  May not be the easiest one to make for most, but once mastered, you'd be hooked like a PRO.  Right now, I'm challenged to make the inverted sushi rolls, which Nori sheets are placed in between the rice and the filling. Are you in?

 

On Missy A's Goodbyn Mix and Match Box, she had half of the amount of sushi roll Mr. G got on his EasyLunchboxes {below}.  Both got apples for fruit sides. The only difference was that Missy A got hers chopped up, while Mr G 's apples were chunked up. Broccoli florets for my veggie loving swimmer, and a choco chip cookie for my sweet tooth little fairy.

 

DIY-Pizza Bagel Lunchables

Addicted to pizza lunchables? Why not DO IT YOURSELF.  It's easy.  All you need is any type of bread. I have used pita breads, thin bagels, thin wheat round breads, and pocket breads.  I even tried Pillsbury's pizza dough, and they worked just fine.  I send them pre-toasted to get the crusty taste of a pizza crust. They taste better.  Then pack it with shredded cheese of your choice, meat toppings, marinara sauce, and a fruit.  Don't forget the spoon to scoop up the hearty sauce and spread them onto the bread crust.

On Mr. G's EasyLunchboxes, he had shredded 4 types of cheese (Mozarella, Parmesan, Cheddar, & Monterey Jack), spaghetti sauce, and turkey pepperoni.  On his other compartment, he had some strawberry hearts.

Bagels

Since we had a stash of bagels at home, I thought of sending in bagels for Thursday as well.  I worked on this day, so something quick and easy was highly favored.  Another easy and simple lunch to go by on rush mornings without compromising healthy nutrition.

Missy A's Goodbyn Mix and Match containers was filled with PB & J bagel thins, 2 heart bento picks of red globe grapes, and a strawberry on a heart shaped cup.

On Mr G's Easy Lunchboxes, a ham and cheese bagel was accompanied by some strawberry wheels and dill slices.  Best of all, it held a special Lunchbox Love Note to send this lunch with a burst of LOVE.

Leftover Dinner

I was called to work again, so Friday's lunch was just a leftover pizza dinner.  It was homemade though, so it wasn't that bad after all.  I was thinking of packing a different lunch, but the kids insisted on pizza.  So it was pizza all the way with a little fruit heavy for Mr G {Aqua ELB}.

On both of the kids' EasyLunchboxes BRIGHTS, they both had each one's portion size of pizza and oranges. On their smaller compartments, Mr G {aqua lid} had kiwi and Missy A {pink lid} had whole wheat fishy crackers swimming on a yellow cup.

It was a long and winding lunch making last week.

So glad you were able to drop by today.

Thanks for stopping by!

All bento accessories are purchased through Bento USA,

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

Other tools are also available thru My Amazon Affiliate Link:

Thank you for your support!

Bear Loves ONIGIRI

First of all, I'd like to make a BIG thank you to my Secret Santa, Keitha of Keitha's Chaos for the generous Christmas Bento Gifts I received last Christmas, which made this day's lunch incredibly possible. I am no expert when it comes to ONIGIRIS. But with this little help, I was able to come up with a very cute lunch for my kids.

On our EasyLunchboxes, each one got a bear and a heart-shaped onigiris, with their favorite holiday ham leftovers.  On each smaller compartment are rows of grape tomatoes, and some raisin grapes.

Wishing everyone had a fabulous lunch!

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.

Day 12: I am thankful for RICE

One of the mostly used staples in our kitchen is rice. We are huge rice consumers and can't survive a meal without it.  So just imagine when we get into shortage of rice crops? We'd surely starve.

Adults eat brown rice, which is low in saturated fat, and very low in cholesterol and sodium.  It is also a good source of Selenium and Manganese.  They are best to prevent chronic illnesses such as Diabetes and Hypertension.

We eat all kinds of rice except the forbidden rice, which is black in color. Not because of its taste or its color, but because I haven't found where it's sold yet.  But I'm sure it would be a long discussion with my kids why it's black, of all colors. We don't have any Trader Joe's or Henry's nearby, and I'm not a diligent driver who would drive far and beyond just to find what I'm looking for. I'm mostly an online shopper who'd rather skip the long lines and busy hours.  Not unless it's just across the street or less than 5 miles away.  Hub does it for me. I just give him all the list and the brands that I prefer.

Bento Weekly Round 4

Monday (11/7) for Teriyaki Beef served over steamed rice, some oranges
to neutralize the beef flavor after meals, and some edamame
for the greens.

Tuesday (11/8) for mini corndogs with ketchup and mustard on those
mini smidgets, snowflake Ritz crackers, and some sweet red grapes.

Wednesday (11/9) for romaine & broccoli florets salad with  real bacon bits,
raisins, crab sticks, and cheese.  Dino nuggets on the side
and young corns on a toothpick for easy finger-eating.
Ranch and BBQ sauce on the smidgets.

Thursday (11/10) for fried eggrolls that has been drained and
 blotted off really well to prevent it from being soggy later.
Lined it with lettuce strips to help sip up the grease.
With red grapes and baked cheese crackers on the side.  Ketchup on smidgets.

Friday (11/11/11) for Veterans Day Holiday!
No school to honor all those who served
for our country.
Thanks a bunch!!

See you next week!
c",)

Project Lunch Box - Week 3

Today is a fresh start.  

A new challenge to fulfill.  

It's the Project lunch Box.

This is the 3rd week of the Challenge.

However, it would be my first since I saw the post quite late.

I was a little too busy fulfilling my Brown-Bag Challenges

in the month of September.

Everything Grilled-Up for a Strawberry-filled Monday

Grilled 4-Cheese Quesadillas, Chicken Nuggets,
Strawberry Wheels, BBQ sauce & a BABY RUTH.

I felt like grilling this morning since I woke up 10 minutes ahead of my alarm clock.  It's another week of brown-bagging for my son to school.  I thought of bringing back Chicken Nuggets since it's been a while since he had it.  This time I paired it with Quesadilla wedges. Four of each.  A Baby Ruth Chocolate for his treat. And a bunch of extra strawberries to fill him up.

Cheeseburger & Salad Tuesday

Today is quite big for my project lunch box by special request.  

Due to my recent success of packing his lunch for the Brown-Bag Challenge, 

my son has learned the value of eating healthy.  

Cheeseburger and Asian Green Salad

 with Ranch and oranges on the side.

We called it Asian Green Salad because of the dressing and some ingredients.  We made use of Romaine lettuce, imitation crab meat, corn kernels, raisins, orange wedges, bread croutons and Thai fish sauce as the dressing.

But for his salad, we did a few alterations.  I crushed the bread croutons into crumbs-like and made use of Ranch dressing instead.  Try the Thai Fish Sauce and let me know how you liked it.

Shrimp-a-licious Wednesday!

Rice with sweet pea and corn, shrimp and asian pear cutlets

with juice pouch.

For a healthier option, I've always mentioned to substitute rice with quinoa.  But since I'm still training my kids' palates to different tastes, I have to break it gently.  It'd come along the way.  My grilled shrimp were marinated with salt and pepper, thyme and lemon juice.

Hotdogs for Thursday

Hotdog on a bun, strawberry halves,
and some oreo cookies for
some lunchbox fun.

Hotdog on a bun is a classic lunch idea.  But it does not disappoint little tummies.  A matter of fact, it is what pleases them most.  Today was supposed to be tuna melt sammies, but he opted for this instead.  And so be it!

Cheese Pizza Bagels for TGIFriday

Home-made Cheese Pizza Bagels,
broccoli and corn on the side and some
of his fave strawberries.

My Cheese Pizza Bagel is just simple to make.  

I'm sure most of the moms could make this. 

It's as easy as spread, sprinkle and bake.

(Ing: spaghetti sauce, shredded cheese, mini bagel halves)

Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes.

I'm glad I made it through this week's challenge and had clean lunchboxes at the end of each day.  I will be making Just a Bunch of Momsense's comment card soon to add to my son's lunchbox.  Maybe that could help me plan my lunch meals for the following weeks.  You might want to check that out too so you have an idea what I'm talking about.

See you next week!!

Brown-Bag Challenge: The Final Week (Days 17-21)

Monday: Left-overs Seafood Vegetable LoMein, Roasted Chicken & Fruit Delights

We had a splendid gathering last night with friends at home.  We did a lot of catching up.  And we found ourselves almost eating the entire time we were together.  Non-stop I shall confess.  But we have prepared healthy comfort foods so there's nothing much to worry about extra time at the gym the following day.  The kids did their part of getting to know each other.  Bonding while playing nicely.  But the mess after was a great thing to deal with.  We started late lunch and ended up past bedtime.  So there wasn't enough time to clean-up well & prepare for the next day's brown-bag.  We woke up late and just packed leftovers of LoMein and Roasted Chicken from lunch and dinner yesterday.  A repeat but a comforting meal indeed.

Seafood LoMein

Roasted Chicken

Fortunately, my son had an early release today at 12:30 pm.  So I needed not to worry about him much.  I sent him to school with fruit delights.  A mixture of grapes, strawberries, blueberries, and orange slices that will stuff him till lunch at home.  At home, he ate the LoMein as well and was happy and content.

Have a hearty meal everyone! ^-^

Fruit Delights

Tuesday: Pinwheels and Strawberries:

Ham & Cheese Pinewheels
and Strawberries

Fall weather is officially in.  I can feel the cool morning breeze here in SoCal.  And it's getting harder to rise up early in early to prepare the brown-bag.  Nonetheless, I habe to force myself to prepare for my loved-ones breakfast and lunch tummy fillers.

Today, the brown-bag had sweet Ham and Cheese with Lettuce Pinwheels.  It's one of my son's favorites that I have long forgotten.  It took Healthy Eats' Nutritionist Toby Amiador to remind me that it still exists.  So for a change, I packed that with halved strawberries on the side.  While we ate the leftovers for breakfast.  I have to make one with cheese and one without, since my daughter doesn't eat cheese.  Oh for goodness-sake! Even when we dine out, she'll eat anything as long as there are no cheeses...please :-)  It's not that she's allergic to it, she just didn't like the taste of cheesy dishes.

Hubby packed Chili and Chopseuy Vegetables with steamed rice.  I will be volunteering for my son's school after lunch today so I would have to eat from home before I go.  My choice of anything yummy to eat from home.  Might as well heat up a bowl of chili over steamed rice.  Comforting and fulfilling for a cold day.

If anyone needs a recipe for anything I have prepared, just let me now by leaving a comment.  I'll be happy to provide them for you.

Have a wonderful meal, everyone!

Wednesday: Home-made Cheese Bagel Pizzas

I am a bit excited today to create my home-made pizza bagels, as inspired by the frozen pizzas bought in supermarkets.  My children are pizza fanatics.  And since I pledged on preparing my brownbags as healthy and home-made as possible, I decided to make my own pizza bagels for my kiddos.

It's very easy.  

I just needed 3 ingredients for this. 

A store bought mini-bagels, 

bottled veggie-spag sauce, 

and shredded cheese.  

Pizza Bagels, Plums & Muffin

Procedure:  

Preheat oven at 425 degrees.

Lay-out the bagels on cookie sheet

Spread sauce, sprinkle with cheese, and bake for 10-12 minutes.

Results are healthier, cheesier and yummier pizza bagels.  The kids were excited because they sprinkled the cheese for me.  Next time, I'll just have them do it by themselves, then I'll take it to the oven for baking.  I gave him plums and cupcakes to neutralize the cheezy-ness of his lunch.

Honestly, I'm proud of myself for all the lunches I've made since the start of the challenge.  I never knew I could do wonders when challenged.  I'm happy I made my kids eat a healthier meal each time.  Best of all, my hubby's happy as well.  I guess I will continue this challenge forever.  And I will keep blogging coz it's what makes it exciting as well.

Happy brown-bagging!

Thursday: Pesto Chicken Farfalle

Just to let you know that this is a Broccoli Challenge as well by Kelly. I am doing 2 challenges simultaneously because it inspires me to prepare healthier meals, and encourages my kids to eat healthier as well.  So it's like hitting 2 birds with one stone.  Well.... this one is hitting 2 challenges with one blog and preparation.

Today's brown-bag was Pesto Chicken Farfalle with Broccoli and Nectarines on the side. This lunch is very simple to prepare. I have made the pesto sauce in advance and have stored it in my fridge.  It's made of basil leaves, olive oil, garlic and cheese.  All blended in my blender since I don't have a food processor.  But at times when I'm out, and just crave for it, I make use of any store-bought traditional Pesto Sauce jar.  It works just fine. We have a left-over chicken rotisserie from last night, so I cut it into small pieces to mix with my farfalle noodles.  I separated broccoli from my pesto farfalle because it was by special request.  My 3rd grader is like Kelly, a broccoli fanatic.  He wants to munch his broccoli by itself to satisfy his palate.  But for grown-ups, I tossed it along the pesto chicken farfalle to make it look more appetizing, and not bland.  I topped it off with shredded mozarella cheese.  And of course my fruit dessert would be the famous nectarine wedges.  Blueberry would look better with this but he just gobbled it all up last night before going to bed.  So this is what's left, and we have to make it last.

Pesto Farfalle, Broccoli,
Nectarines

My husband didn't pack his brown-bag today because of a lunch meeting this afternoon.  Lunches will be provided in their office.  So I guess, we'll consider that as his brown-bag for the day.  I'm crossing my fingers that he'll make healthier choices though.

Have a wonderful brown-bag everyone!

Friday: Fancy Garlic Rice & the Works:

Hurray! It's the last day of Healthy Eats' brown-bag challenge.  I must say I did fairly well and made everyone happy.  I have fulfilled my goal and my kids are eating healthier.  But it will never be the last day for my brown-bag chore.  It actually just began.  And I have pledged to myself that I will continue to pack and create healthy lunches for my family, and share ideas as well with other moms in need.

Garlic Rice, Strawberries

and Choco-fudge Muffin

Today's brown-bag is garlic rice with hotdogs, corn and sweet peas.  For healthier option, try QUINOA as a substitute to rice.  Strawberries and a choco-fudge muffin for dessert.

I stir-fried my hotdogs bits with garlic and oil.  I made sure that the hotdogs are slightly browned before I add in the rest of my ingredients (cooked rice, corn kernels, and sweetpeas) over medium to high heat.  You can actually add in carrots as well, edamame or broccoli, depending on what you have in stock.  Then let it cool before packing so as not to create dew inside the container.  I was told that dew is responsible for spoiled rice if you packed it still hot.  Or you might want to throw in ice pack in the lunchboxes to be safe.  I do all the time since he likes to eat his food cold anyways.

Recipes to follow.  Please check back later.

We're teaming up with fellow food bloggers to host a Brown-Bag Challenge, a month-long initiative to eat consciously and save money by packing a lunch each weekday instead of eating out. Join us here and share what you're eating on Facebook andTwitter with the hashtag #brownbag.

I'd like to link this up with Family Fresh Cooking's Project Lunch Box - Week 2.  Feel free to click on the badge to be linked back to Family Fresh Cooking's post.