Archive for March, 2007

Speed Bento Tip: Store pre-cut nori in freezer bag

If you pack a lot of onigiri (rice balls) or decorated rice in the morning, speed up your morning prep by pre-cutting nori into shapes and sizes you use often, and store them at room temperature in a sealed freezer bag with a dessicant pack to keep moisture away from the nori. You can often find spare dessicant packs (silica gel) in packages of nori, dry snack food, even clothing. If you have a lot of smaller cut shapes, try putting them into a smaller container inside the freezer bag. I got the disposable Solo plastic cup below from a pizza delivery (had cheese in it), or you could use tiny Tupperware, plastic wrap, etc.

You can also store the pre-cut nori in the freezer, but you’ll want to wrap the little stacks of nori tightly in plastic wrap and then put them into the freezer bag (squeezing out all excess air from the bag before sealing). If it gets moist upon coming back to room temperature, warm it briefly in your oven or toaster oven until crisp. Recommended storage time in the freezer is two weeks max. for best flavor (source: ä¸»å©¦ã®å‹), but it should keep indefinitely.

Note: Shapes above were cut with a scrapbooking punch (”flowers” in the nori strip) and very sharp craft scissors (faces).

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Published by Biggie on March 15th, 2007 tagged freezing, onigiri or sushi, parenthacks, tips | 14 Comments »

Speed Bentos: Kimchi fried rice leftovers

Morning prep time: 5 minutes each. I packed the leftover fried rice directly into the bento box right after last night’s dinner, and I’d previously made the frozen tuna/potato faux latke, so I just cut up fruit this morning. The box on the left also holds grape tomatoes, Asian pear (nashi) and blood orange slices. I made the fried rice with leftover brown rice, kimchi, bacon, bell peppers, onions, green peas, egg, green onions and Korean chogochujang sauce.

Bug’s lunch was similar, with a little bear cap that your child picks up to reveal a food surprise (makes an otherwise plain lunch more interesting). This one hides cut Asian pear — I think of it like wearing a hat on a bad hair day. (click photo for larger view)

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Published by Biggie on March 14th, 2007 tagged bento, fish or seafood, for kids, glutenfree, lactose free, meat, potatoes, rice | 13 Comments »

Chinese cold noodles (”hiyashi chuuka”)

Morning prep time: 0 minutes. Last night I packed Bug’s lunch at the same time I was plating dinner: cold Chinese noodles (hiyashi chuka) with a variety of toppings: strips of ham, julienned cucumber, egg strips, julienned red bell pepper, beni shoga and a little container of soy-based sauce for the noodles. That way a full bento was ready and waiting in the refrigerator this morning for me to grab on the way to playgroup. I cut everything smaller than the adult version for easy toddler eating.

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Published by Biggie on March 13th, 2007 tagged bento, eggs, for kids, lactose free, meat, pasta or noodles | Comment now »

Mini shepherd’s pie & skewered tomato/cheese “sandwiches”

Speed Tip: When you’re making dinner, make a little extra that can be eaten for lunch (either as is or as a Leftover Remake). Sometimes you can make miniature versions of the dish (like the mini Shepherd’s pie below), other times you can just separate the excess into individual portions and store those in the refrigerator or freezer to speed morning packing. Don’t be ashamed of your leftovers!!! They are your arsenal against boring lunches or spending an hour in the kitchen in the morning when you could be sleeping.

Bug’s lunch today took about 5 minutes to throw together. There are leftover green beans with pecans, mini skewered tomato/cheese “sandwiches” and a mini shepherd’s pie (which Bug devoured). A couple of nights ago I made a big shepherd’s pie (mashed potatoes and cheese on top of a layer of ground or chopped meat and vegetables that have been simmered in flavored broth: simple web recipe here). At the same time, I took two thick aluminum cups (see equipment note below) and made miniature versions that could hang out in the fridge or freezer until I wanted them for lunch. This didn’t take me any extra time when making dinner — just separated out a little into lunch-friendly containers.

The little tomato/cheese skewers are very fast and simple, but add a splash of color and fun to a lunch (I got this idea from Japanese bento cookbook ãŠã„ã—ã„ãŠå¼å½“ “Oishii Obento”.). Cut a slice of cheese (here I’m using Jarlsberg) into four strips, then fold one strip into quarters. Sandwich the cheese between two cherry tomato halves, and skewer the whole thing with a toothpick or long plastic pick (here I’ve used long Anpanman picks). Hollowing out the bottom half of one of the tomatoes and filling it with a dab of pesto sauce would be a good variation — like a mini caprese salad.

My latest trip to Daiso (Japanese dollar store with branches internationally) yielded extra-thick aluminum cups for cooking in (US$1.50 per package, see my SF Bay Area shopping guide to bento gear). Whereas previously I’ve used two regular foil cups together for strength when cooking (see the stovetop mini frittata), these thick cups are touted as being strong enough to cook in on their own (only needing one cup). My experience bore this out, as I was able to fill one with all the shepherd’s pie makings, then easily place it on a baking sheet with my hands). That said, doubling up on foil cups or just using a cupcake liner in a muffin tin would yield the same result, so if I can’t get any more I won’t sweat it. They’re safe for the oven and toaster oven, but not the microwave. Interesting.

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Published by Biggie on March 12th, 2007 tagged bento, equipment, for kids, glutenfree, meat, parenthacks, potatoes, recipe, tips, tutorial or how to | 57 Comments »

Excuse the mess — under construction

You may notice some changes to my LJ blog over the next few days — I finally bit the bullet and got a paid LJ account so I can make better use of tags and other custom features. I’ll be changing the look and feel, and updating old entries with new tags so they’re easier to locate. Hopefully at the end, you’ll be able to find what you’re looking for more easily.