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Archive for the 'sandwich or wrap' Category

(Chronologically Listed)

Rooster sausage bento from A to Z

Today’s lunch uses sausages with a back story. A couple of weeks ago I had the rare opportunity to learn how to butcher roosters from an expert: Hank Shaw of Hunter Angler Gardener Cook. You might remember Hank from the Food Blog Awards — his excellent hunting and food blog was also recently nominated for a prestigious James Beard Award. I drove up to Sacramento to join him, Elise from Simply Recipes, and Garrett from Vanilla Garlic for an educational afternoon of primal food prep in which one of the roosters got away. I didn’t take anything home with me that day, but the following weekend Hank and girlfriend Holly generously sent me home from a Greek party with sausages he’d made from the same birds — a rare treat.

If you’re interested, see Hank’s full write-up of our rooster excursion, my rooster photos on Flickr (yes, I look demented in my close-up), Elise’s rooster photos on Flickr, and Garrett’s write-up of the rooster afternoon and subsequent Greek party.  All contain graphic images, so the meat-squeamish may want to pass.

Contents of preschooler bento lunch: Rooster sausage (see Hank’s sausage recipe) and sauteed onions with balsamic vinegar, ketchup (Bug’s request), broiled asparagus, blueberries, and a wrapped cheese under the asparagus. We were struck by how dark the rooster meat and sausages were (”running-around meat” is I think how Hank described it).

Morning prep time: 6 minutes, using leftover sausage and sauteed onions from dinner the night before, and leftover asparagus. In the morning I assembled the sandwich, and cut the asparagus into bite-size pieces. Actually, I packed this lunch for my four-year-old a day earlier and dutifully brought it along to preschool, only to be reminded that that was the day of their monthly school lunch where parent volunteers cook a hot lunch for all of the children. D’oh! Many other parents had forgotten as well, and the kids were having a great time telling everyone carrying a bento that they should have their parents take it home and bring it the next day. So that’s just what I did. (Read on for full lunch details.) Read the rest of this entry »

Published by Biggie on May 1st, 2009 tagged for kids, poultry, sandwich case, sandwich or wrap | 11 Comments »

Burger lunches two ways

Making extra food at dinner and saving it for packed lunches is a handy way to speed up lunch prep. Think about the size of what you’re making; can you make miniature versions that would fit nicely into a bento box, like shepherd’s pie?

Today’s lunches both use leftover mini-hamburgers that I had my husband grill at the same time as he grilled the rest of our burgers for dinner. You can take the same burger leftovers in different directions: a traditional cheeseburger, or a lower-carb version with cut-up burgers. I’ve also had tiny appetizer burgers on golf ball-sized buns, secured with a toothpick, that would be the perfect size for a bento lunch. Get creative!

Contents of preschooler bento lunch: Mini cheeseburger with cheddar cheese in pita bread, caramelized onions, sauteed mushrooms, kiwifruit, and cherry tomatoes.

Morning prep time: 5 minutes, using a leftover mini-burger, onions and mushrooms. In the morning I briefly warmed the burger in the microwave to revive the texture, cut the kiwi, and packed the lunch. A quickie. If you don’t have entire cooked burgers already made up, break off a square of ground meat that you’ve frozen in individual portions, thaw it out, and quickly pan-fry it. (Read on for packing details and an additional burger lunch with inarizushi stuffed sushi.)

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Published by Biggie on January 29th, 2009 tagged bento, for kids, meat, onigiri or sushi, sandwich or wrap | 8 Comments »

Holiday injury bento lunch

Over the holidays, we moved our huge cat perch into my four-year-old’s playroom to make room for the Christmas tree. Our cats Moose and Squirrel love it, but moving it out from the wall led to a mysterious mishap when Bug reported that Moose “pushed it over with his head” when I was in the next room.

Sounds like Bugs Bunny physics to me, but Moose isn’t talking. The cat perch wound up hitting Bug on the cheek on the way down and caused a cut on the inside of his mouth. The pediatrician recommended giving him soft foods that weren’t too salty, cut small enough so that he didn’t have to open his mouth wide to eat (no hamburgers). So I packed him a soft lunch with a deconstructed sandwich to eat while things healed.

Contents of preschooler bento lunch: Whole wheat bread, chicken salad, simmered kabocha squash (kabocha nimono, recipe here), and cherry tomatoes. When I served this same kabocha at dinner the night before, Bug said he didn’t like the kabocha he tried before at a monthly school lunch and didn’t want any. But after I asked him to try a bite of mine and tell me if it was the same or different from what he’d had at school, he changed his mind and asked for a portion of his own.

We didn’t manage to isolate what was different about the kabocha at dinner that made it okay for him. I wonder if it was the temperature — maybe he prefers it warm. He does respond well to approaching food tastings as an experiment, though. You know, “I’m not going to make you eat it, but can you figure out what aspect you don’t like? Is it the taste, smell, texture or appearance?” Kids are funny, but at least he’s not a very picky eater!

Morning prep time: 5 minutes using chicken salad from Costco and leftover kabocha (my recipe here). In the morning I trimmed the crusts off the bread and filled the box. Done! Super speedy. (Read on for packing details and the verdict.)  Read the rest of this entry »

Published by Biggie on December 30th, 2008 tagged bento, for kids, potatoes, sandwich or wrap | 22 Comments »

Mini bagel sandwich bento lunches

Last week I discovered that whatever I write while taking painkillers makes very little sense. I tried writing and rewriting posts while recovering from some medical stuff, only to find that Vicodin makes me stupid, dizzy and sleepy. Anyway, all is well with me again — sorry about the unintended break! It’s time to get back to bento with mini bagel sandwiches, a compact way to pack a non-squishable sandwich in a bento box.

Contents of preschooler bento lunch: Mini bagel sandwich with cream cheese and spruce tip jelly from our trip to Alaska (reviewed below), an “octodog” (octopus-shaped hotdog, full tutorials here for boiling, and here for frying) with ketchup for dipping, boiled broccoli with vinaigrette, hard-boiled quail eggs, boiled carrots, strawberries, and grapes.

Morning prep time: 12 minutes, using already-boiled quail eggs from the fridge and the multi-boiling technique to cook multiple things at once. In the morning I made the bagel sandwich while the water quickly came to a boil in my electric kettle (see my earlier post on Kettle Races: Electric vs. stovetop). I poured the boiling water into a small saucepan and cooked the broccoli, carrots and octodog. (Read on for lunch details, a review of local Alaskan jellies, and additional mother/son lunches.)

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Published by Biggie on November 10th, 2008 tagged bento, eggs, fish or seafood, review, sandwich or wrap | 22 Comments »

Sandwiches in combo bento/sandwich case

I regularly use bento boxes and as well as collapsible sandwich cases, both of which have their own pros and cons. A while ago, though, I stumbled across an ingenious box that combined both types in two tiers. This allows me to pack a bulky sandwich or rolls in the top, and moist food in food cups in the bottom. When lunch is over, just collapse the sandwich case portion and set it on top of the bento box — this saves room in the bag while still allowing me to use hard reusable food cups and picks. A full review follows; click on any photo for a larger view.

Contents of preschooler bento lunch: Dinosaur-shaped sandwich of cream cheese and sugar-free strawberry jam on wheat bread, red and yellow cherry tomatoes, kiwifruit, Concord grapes, orange slices, and a raspberry. No peanut butter and jelly sandwich lunches for Bug because of the peanut ban at his school.

Morning prep time: 10 minutes. In the morning I made the simple sandwich and cut it into two dinosaur shapes with the DynoBytes sandwich cutter I described earlier. Slice the fruit, and we’re done. (Read on for full box and lunch details, plus two additional sandwich lunches.) Read the rest of this entry »

Published by Biggie on September 25th, 2008 tagged bento, equipment, for kids, sandwich case, sandwich or wrap | 58 Comments »

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