Bagels, cream cheese, and Lox - Very Jewish Lunch for Shabbat

We were invited by our neighbor for a luncheon. It was nice to meet & catch up with our wonderful neighbors. I brought a tray of bagels, cream cheese, Lox, slices cheese. Well received :-)





Also, baked some healthy muffins made with: non-fat Greek yogurt, silken tofu, sugar, bananas, and flour.



For breakfast - I made some Thick Belgian Waffles!!! Yum! (Kosher Parve)
My family LOVED them.





Ingredients:

• 1 Egg
• 50g Organic sugar (non refined)
• 3 Tbs Parve non-dairy whip cream
• 100g Silken Tofu
• 120g Organic all purpose flour
• 20g Corn starch
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 30g melted Parve margarine

Opps. My princess was not smiling - she was too busy tasting - she ate more than 3/4 of one big waffle!



This morning, we had to say good bye to our dear friends - who graduated and going back to Israel. Mira does not understand the concept of good bye - to her best friend. We will visit them sometime near future. I was emotional and sad, but wish them the very best in their new journey.

Shabbat Shalom.

Chicken Sandwich Obento & Home baked Challah Rolls

It's raining and cold - in the middle of May! The weather is so unpredictable lately.
I can't wait for a nice warm spring weather in Ames.
Today's Obento for Stan:

• Organic Smoked Chicken Sandwich on Ciabatta Roll
• Banana
• Apple
• Tiramisu (from Stomping Ground)

I baked some loaves of Challah last weekend. Took some challah dough to make these Yummy chocolate cream marvel rolls :-)
Stan and the princess love these rolls. Well, she learned the taste of "chocolate" with her favorite challah. Is this a good thing or not? I'm just happy that she loves my home baked goodies :-)



Happy Lunch!

Catching up with the lost month - Obento and more.

It has been for a while since my last post. Let's catch up a little bit.
I found this Obento image in my digital camera - Stan's obento on March 30.

• Japanese steamed rice with Furikake topping
• Cucumbers and steamed sweet potato (star-shaped)
• Baked Kabocha squash
• Homemade meatballs with lean-beef, veggies, and tofu

Here are some pictures from April 2. My princess began to use a pair of chopsticks to eat her favorite breakfast (Japanese steamed rice with soft scrambled eggs "iri-tamago").
She was so proud of herself :-)





Here is our Mother's Day breakfast. When I was making this breakfast, I was hoping - someday near future, my princess and husband will wake up early and fix this breakfast for "me".

• Pancakes "Hot cake" in Japanese - (soy milk, eggs, flour, vanilla extract, sugar, canola oil)
• Organic raspberries and blueberries
• Sauteed banana in organic Maple syrup (1 banana sliced, 1 Tsp Maple syrup, 3 Tsp water, 1/2 tsp corn starch)

My princess loved it!



Here is Stan's Obento today.

• Vegetable tofu curry (leftover)
• Mini-Onigiri (Japanese rice balls wrapped with sea-weeds)
• Cherry tomatos
• Boiled snap peas
• Carrots and sliced squash
• Chicken tenders

Happy Lunch!

Weekend Prep for Obento and More

I spend a weekend to prepare some dishes for Obento. Most of them are vegetables. Here are some examples from last weekend.

• Pre-cut and boiled Kabocha squash for freezer
• Pre-washed, boiled, and cut Kale for freezer

• Baked Sweet potato (Wrap a potato in a piece of foil and bake it in a 425F degree oven for about 1.5 hr. I slice the potato and cut-out in fun shapes for my princess)

• Oven Baked Kabocha squash with olive oil, pepper and salt

This is Obento for my husband on March 24

• Chicken Sandwich with frozen organic chicken patty, lettuce, tomato, mustard & Mayo, home baked Challah bread
• Green salad with sweet pepper and tomato (not shown)

Here is Obento for my husband on March 25

• Japanese steamed rice with Hello Kitty Furikake topping
• Cucumbers and mini-tomato
• Garbanzo and white beans, tuna, Kabocha square in tomato sauce
• Steamed broccoli
• Baked Kabocha squash

Bonus - my little princess with her first pair of sunglasses and Hello Kitty handbag (her birthday gift from her grandparents)

Hello Kitty Furikake Bento

My little princess likes to top her Japanese steamed rice with Hello Kitty "Furikake". My mother sent a set of five-flavor Furikake package from Japan. This morning, she had some. I took the left over Furikake for my Obento.

• Japanese steamed rice with Hello Kitty Furikake (Tamago flavor)
• Salad with sweet pepper, tomato, and lettuce
• Baked sweet potato
• Kabocha squash, garbanzo and white beans in tomato sauce

Happy Lunch!

Obento during the last week

I am so behind of my Obento posting. My husband and I have been under the weather and recovering. I baked Challah last weekend (my once a month Challah baking). Mira loves my home baked Challah. It takes a half day from start to finish (I bake six loaves once a month), but it's worth the effort. Every Friday evening, we have a lovely loaf of Challah on our Shabbat table.



Took "Challah" for a blessing and had the roll for our afternoon snack.



Here is March 16 Obento for my husband.

• Japanese steamed rice with Furikake topping
• Vegetable Miso Soup
• Sauteed Veggies
• Lentil salad with French dressing
• Kale salad
• Tomato
• Apples with honey
• Kiwi fruit

Here is March 18 To-go breakfast for my husband.

• Soft scrambled eggs
• Cheese
• Cucumbers
• Peppers, Mayo, Ketchup for taste
• Ciabatta (Italian bread) bun

Here is March 19 Obento for my husband.

• Japanese steamed rice
• Carrots and cucumbers
• Beef and Veggies (I marinated grass-fed beef over night with graded onion, graded carrots, soy sauce, mirin, garlic, ginger, apple sauce)
• Vermicelli with veggies with sweet red peppers

I found this glass container on-line. I used to pack his Obento in a Ziplock container, but did not like the fact that he warms up his Obento in a microwave in the plastic container. I love this.
A perfect size - does not retain color or smell. Dishwasher and microwave safe. I like the clear lid (compare with Pyrex version) comes with this. It's made in Italy. You can find this product from several different on-line stores. I got mine from Amazon.

I hope my husband and I continue to recover and feel better soon.

Busy week Obento #2

Busy week - teaching all day on Thursday and Friday. Had a great class! I was very tired at the end of the day since the whole family has not slept through the night since last Saturday. My little princess has been under the weather and wakes up 2 to 3 times per night. While you are teaching, you still have to get up and going. Yes, I was up at 5 am, repeated the same routine as yesterday. I probably look like a zombie by now.

Here is my Obento yesterday:

• Japanese steamed rice with Yukari Furikake topping
• Veggie Miso Soup (rice and miso soup are my comfort food...)
• Lentil salad with onions, carrots, kale - dressed with home made French dressing
• Steamed broccoli
• Tofu stake curry flavor (dust firm tofu with a mixture of curry power, flour and peper - cook with a little amount of canola oil)
• Salad with kale, "Ito Kon nya ku," fish flakes

Here is my Obento today:

• Japanese steamed rice with Yukari Furikake topping (Yukari topping is so good when you have a small appetite.)
• Veggie Miso Soup
• Japanese omlet with green onions
• Cucumbers
• Salad with kale, "Ito Kon nya ku," fish flakes
• Steamed broccoli
• Baked Sweet potato (serves as a small dessert)
• Boiled bean sprout topped with curry sauce (low budget item!)

Everyone in my family is under the weather :-( Hope to rest this weekend.