| fin. (or so i say now) |
[01 Feb 2010|06:49pm] |
oook, $51 later, no more bento boxes. now i can totally see why many people who get into the hobby go crazy and wind up with tons of the damn things. i can at least kinda justify needing them in that all the nice reusable containers we have here technically don't belong to either of us--they just wind up here and never make it back to the parents. the boxes are cute and i need all the encouragement i can get to eat leftovers on some days.
they obviously weren't cheap, but i'm assuming an import tax or some such thing was included into the already likely highish price as they're character goods. i'm kind of shocked that the two boxes i've been wanting could be found at the same store (which finally reopened probably yesterday). i never thought i'd ever come across the frog style one as there's little to no merch beyond keychains and a few figures to be had in my many searches for it. and once i found out about kutusita nyanko boots i became an instant fan--i have a weakness for little black kitties (panther, nyanko boots, chococat, basement cat *cough*...). it's also got the bonus of coming with an elastic band and matching chopsticks, the latter of which i was actually considering buying separately so i'd have at least one kind of utensils at work.
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| little piece of heaven |
[13 Jan 2010|12:33pm] |
while not necessarily pretty and a strange combo, i love today's lunch. i absolutely adore corned beef (especially when i can have it on a day that's not st. patrick's day) and luckily had a little bit mom gave me this past weekend.
one of my favorite bloggers posted her "recipe" for roasted cauliflower a few days back and i was inspired to try it out. made that last night and the smell as they were roasting was amazing. once it was finally done i was popping little pieces like they were candy. so pungent, tart, sweet, and garlicky; goes nicely with the corned beef as i had no cabbage to fill the "pungent vegetable" gap.
next is my new favorite recipe for a noodle salad. i made some minor adjustments to the ingredients and left out the pork once again. it's light, tasty, and you just can't beat the homemade ginger-soy dressing that goes with it. a few days after i first made it, i then made it for our christmas potluck here at work and was surprised how many people also loved it, especially the dressing.
lastly are some sad looking canned mandarin orange segments. mostly just trying to find something sweet to add as well as clean out the fridge.
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| surprisingly not bored or lonely yet! |
[05 Dec 2009|05:56pm] |
so my story begins last weekend, when i went into the limited for no good reason other than absolutely everything in the store was 40% off. i actually like a lot of their stuff, but it's not the cheapest line and i hate paying a lot on clothing. found a nice, interestingly styled wrap shirt and wound up buying it (works awesomely btw). i also found a pretty black dress that intrigued me enough to actually try it on. it was love, i tell you. but at $58 (regularly $98), i didn't love it that much so i passed. i'll be damned if the dress hadn't haunted me since.
this entire week i'd been eying it online, hoping that a better sale/offer would miraculously pop up--no luck. checked last night and it was now up to $68. checked again this morning, and it was magically down to $58 again (apparently their 40% off everything was back on for today only). my receipt from the previous purchase would give me $10 off a $50 purchase if i took a phone survey about that visit. did that, got my code, and off to woodfield i went to buy it.
i'm terrible with dresses. i don't know why i like/want so many of them when i never wear them and don't feel comfortable doing so. i don't really know all of the "etiquette" and rules about wearing dresses, i just pick what i like. even the lady in front of me in the check out line eased my mind by going so far as to say how nice it would look on me and how something like it was really versatile. thank god because like i know what the hell i'm doing.
at the same time, i do want to be pretty and it seems like the times i could actually use a decent dress seem to be popping up more often. like if we go out for new year's eve again--now i'll have something nice i can freeze my ass off in. no boring pants/shiny shirt for me although, then again, even though we went to the w hotel, david and his friends were all wearing jeans... i'm also strongly considering finally going on a caribbean cruise in 2010 and dressing nicely is a requirement in certain restaurants/nights depending on the ship. besides, at least this will give me an excuse to finally wear the stupid purple/black heels i just had to have a couple years ago. XP
wandered aimlessly around part of the mall looking for shoes, but i just wasn't in the mood and there were people everywhere. i don't like people, they give me a headache this time of year in those numbers. so i went over to mitsuwa to get "lunch". did some more aimless wandering after eating, and bought a crab bread because i was there and it was only $1.97. did some more wandering and wound up in the tea/furikake aisle. i had just planned on cutting through when these little buggers caught my eye.
i don't season my rice and usually these have ingredients i wouldn't use anyway. luckily, it's just gomashio so i may actually use the stuff. otherwise i was totally willing to toss the contents just so i could have the container. i figure i can use him for taking salad dressing or other sauces with my lunch. i got the front one although, let me tell you, at only $2.99 a piece, the other two tempted me greatly.
also finally broke down and bought the candy that's had my eye for ages. now don't get me wrong here, the stuff is tasty, but the package totally lies. it's all pretty and shiny in it's metallic wrapper and it looks like there will be these colorful beads of substance poking out--lies. it's even called "miracle puccho"--i still don't know what the miracle is. miracle that people still buy it after all the lies? what it is, though, is little blobs of a fruit flavored gelatin-like substance (orange & grape i guess) embedded in a chewy yogurt flavored candy (think hi-chew). definitely not a pretty piece of candy once unwrapped. but still tasty.
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| his & hers lunches |
[13 Nov 2009|08:18pm] |
lunch from late last week but i was too lazy to post until now. i don't remember why, but i was craving the massive and delicious plate lunch we'd had in epcot's morocco. lucky for me, the recipe for their couscous is pretty easy to find in multiple places on the net. i would've gone so far as to even make the hummus myself, but resources are a tad limited so i just bought a container of one i know i like.
taste of morocco
couscous salad, grilled chicken, cucumber slices, roasted red pepper hummus, and pita triangles (huge grape halves in the box on the right)
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| not winning any awards for pretty here |
[04 Nov 2009|07:42pm] |
when i went home this past weekend, mom had included a can of sauerkraut in my goody bag she always has ready. i have no clue why she gave me something so random (maybe she remembers how i'd bemoaned the sad excuse for sauerkraut at disney?) but i sure as hell knew immediately what i'd do with it. i love me my pork chops and sauerkraut and haven't had it in awhile. works perfectly in the crockpot, too, so it's easy to throw together and put in the fridge until morning, when i can start it before i leave for work.
pork chops & sauerkraut
pork chops cooked in sauerkraut and caraway seeds. mashed potatoes mixed with butter, milk, sour cream, sliced green onions, and a dash of salt and pepper.
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| all for nothing |
[26 Oct 2009|06:30pm] |
not much to really say about this as i had a feeling while making all this last night that i wouldn't really eat it and i didn't. ate one piece of the vegetable roll and a few bites of everything else--brought the remainder home and it doesn't really even look like i ate anything other than the candy and the miso ball is gone. i apparently reeeeally have to be in the mood for sushi and, even then, i'm incredibly picky and likely really only want my godzilla and buddha rolls from sushi-x. -__-;;
first "real" bento
(t to b, l to r)
ball of miso paste with green onion and shiitake bits, tiny soy sauce bottle, two pieces of candy, and a packet of mayo.
diced peaches from a fruit cup, cold soba noodles with black sesame seeds and green onion.
vegetable roll (carrots, avocado, green onion, shiitake mushrooms, and a smidge of flying fish roe) and spicy tuna inside-out roll (canned tuna, sesame and chili oil, mayo, green onions, and panko crumbs)
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| lunchtime post cuz i'm lame like that! |
[12 Oct 2009|12:36pm] |
build-it-yourself tacos
taco meat stretched with black beans (made from dried beans and not a can this time!), romaine lettuce bits, mozzarella & cheddar cheese, homemade pico de gallo, taco shells, packet of toy story candy, and an apple.
* * *
so this is the meal that kinda fueled my desire for a nice bento box. something i could stash all my ingredients in so things wouldn't mingle and get soggy. i love me my tacos, but i've learned they're just not good made up the night before.
sure, i bought that one cute little box on ebay, but it was exactly that--little. it's too small for me to use for lunch so it's been a glorified candy dish/junk box sitting on my computer desk at home ever since. thought about using it for snacks, but i just don't usually need a whole other separate container for that kind of thing; all my snacks i keep in my desk here are pre-packaged or i bring whole pieces of fruit, which also come in their own "packaging".
instead, i wound up with this great little stackable box from jewel--not even $4 and it was on sale when i got it. it's big enough for my appetite (actually too much depending what/how much i fill it with) and it has a built-in divider in one of the boxes--something i just couldn't find in the cutesy stuff. while i've had it for awhile, this is the first time i've been able to use it for tacos since i typically use a different container i bought at the same time. wasn't able to find the silicon baking cups in stores so i just gave up for the time being and use plain old foil/paper baking cups. as for the cuteness, i guess i just have to settle with my chococat tumbler for now. found more chococat goodies where i got it (and in disney world), but didn't really need what was available.
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| when the gales of november come early |
[10 Oct 2009|08:28pm] |
butternut squash bisque
pureed butternut squash, onion, carrot, celery and apples in chicken stock, apple juice and chipotle tabasco sauce. finished with sour cream and smoked cheddar cheese.
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| a piece of french bread with which to wipe my bowl, good for the body, good for the soul... |
[22 Aug 2009|07:46pm] |
a few weeks ago we ended an incredibly busy day running around up north with dinner at cheeseburger in paradise, since we just so happened to be in the area. i was sorely tempted by the chicken and sausage gumbo on the menu, but i was unsure of it thinking it would be super spicy, as much cajun food is. he ordered a bowl of it as an appetizer and i was hooked after the first bite. yes, it was spicy, but it wasn't the lingering painful heat of hot peppers. i ate as much of my popcorn shrimp and onion six-strings as i could, but by the time i was "done" it was more because of nausea from all the grease and less from simply being full. despite my upset stomach, i ordered a bowl of gumbo all to myself; it actually settled my stomach surprisingly enough. i swear that gumbo was the stuff dreams are made of--i vowed to replicate it.
the "holy trinity" of cajun cooking: onion, bell pepper, and celery
the roux is the absolute worst/hardest part of making this. it's a cup of cooking oil and a cup of flour whisked in once the oil is hot. and you cannot stop stirring it. gumbo recipes using a roux as the thickener say to cook the mixture until it's anywhere from a peanut butter color (new orleans style) or more of a reddish, dark chocolate color. cooking estimates vary and after about 10 minutes, mine had definitely acquired the peanut buttery color. everything to add must be at hand and ready to toss in to stop the cooking of the roux.
what all's in there? black beans, shredded chicken and smoked sausage, parsley, and a variety of veggies: the trinity as well as okra and lots of chopped garlic.
i don't think adding cilantro to the rice you serve with it is "traditional" but i swear that's what was in it at cheeseburger. if i'm mistaken and it was really just parsley, oh well, cilantro's always good. but they called it "island rice" so i highly doubt that consists of just rice and parsley. then again, just rice and cilantro doesn't really sound all that fancy either... not sure if black beans are used either but again, that's what was in theirs. i had to use brown rice as we somehow plowed through the giant 20lb.+ bag of rice we got a few months ago. i'm still under the impression there's some hiding somewhere; it's just not possible we ate it all already--or did we?
worth every damn bit of sacrifice
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| much too young to feel this damn old |
[30 Jul 2009|11:35pm] |
so my birthday is saturday (trying not to think how old i'll be...) and, as per standard behavior in the workplace, i have to bring goodies. i was going to go the easy route and get stuff at starbucks, like i did last year, but then i got the great idea to make blueberry scones. and so the adventure begins.
it first started with a trip to the grocery store after work. i needed a bunch of things to make the scones and picked up a rotisserie chicken for dinner (just sounded so good to go with ravioli). i questioned that the bagger put my 5lb. bag of flour on top of the chicken, but tied the bag tightly and figured it'd be too heavy to do much but maybe slide around--there's a reason i would've failed physics if not for the labs...
got home, opened the trunk and tada! my trunk has been marinated with chicken juice--as had the entire bag of flour. quickly open the bag and assess the damage. paper bag the flour is packaged in is completely damp but ok, still in one piece. gently lift it out and set it on the floor of the trunk. somehow a little hole opens on the top, probably from my finger. check the bag for any more damage and find an entire corner ripping open. shuffle things around and get the flour into a clean bag by itself.
once upstairs, i tear open the bag and scoop out as much as i possibly can. i probably lost at least a cup or so from avoiding flour right against the packaging (on the off chance it may somehow taste/smell like chicken) and any that may possibly have cross contaminated things from touching the floor of the trunk.
and i thought the pecan pies i made for my birthday two years ago was hell--turns out this task wasn't as easy as i thought it'd be. followed the directions to the letter and, well, frozen blueberries add a whole extra level of difficulty by adding even more moisture to the dough so it sticks to freakin' everything. supposed to cut the shaped dough into wedges and place them on the baking sheet separately--not happening... sooo now they take like double the time to cook completely through being one big circle of dough. burned my thumb on the oven rack. and i'm roasting in here and still have one more batch to make so i can make sure everybody can have a whole one if they want. *sigh*
after all that work and using a brand new recipe, i think they turned out perfectly. they taste great and are light and cakey (the perfect density because, after all, they are scones). and now i'm kinda nauseous from eating one of the casualties... XP
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| don't you love how bipolar my posts are? |
[02 Jul 2009|09:31pm] |
| [ |
mood |
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 calm |
] |
i didn't know what to get for dinner last night. by the time i finally decided on yummy yummy's incredibly awesome mongolian beef, it was past 8pm. while within walking distance, i didn't feel like going out that late for a roughly 10 minute walk over there. thought about the frozen pizza in the freezer but, eh, it was covered in pepperoni i'd have to peel off. instead, i wound up making something found on yummy yummy's menu that i order quite often.
chicken teriyaki and fried egg over rice
chicken, sliced onions, and green onions in a packaged sesame teriyaki sauce (not quite the same flavor, but it works). topped with a fried egg, yolk still a bit runny inside.
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| the jokes translate so poorly from planet to planet |
[18 Jun 2009|07:16pm] |
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music |
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Ron White - The Town Stinks |
] |
the man's away and i was hungry and lazy--this is what happens! i was so lazy i didn't really want to go out but it's just so nice right now and i could always use the "exercise". it was a bit on the pricey side, but i can guarantee you this will feed me at least three times so i'm ok with that. plus it tastes so great. shame i can't get like a gallon of that smoothie though...
coconut smoothie, pad thai, crab rangoon, and fried gyoza
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| buzz buzz buzz |
[17 Jun 2009|09:29am] |
while at work yesterday, david told me his sister had found sirotan plushes on sale at macy's on state st., of all places. in hopes they'd have more than the bumblebee version she got him, i decided i'd run all the way down there and look myself.
this wouldn't have been much of an issue if it weren't for the fact it started to rain around 1 and did not want to let up. by the time i got out of work at 5, it was pouring. i didn't really notice how windy it was until i was about a block from home. so windy, everybody's umbrellas were turning inside out; i passed on messing with one. didn't seem that bad when i went to get the bus; getting off downtown was a different story. no sooner did i step off than i get hit with a blast of wind and pelted with rain. at least yesterday was warm...
found macy's but, much to my dismay, it turns out they only had two types--sirotan the bumblebee and sirotan the strawberry. the signs say 50% off the original price ($28) so i pass on getting one myself. i wasn't that crazy about the bee to begin with and the strawberry just looks kinda dumb; macy's buyer sucks. get a bee for alissa like i'd promised and go to pay.
turns out the little bugger was only $9.26 after tax! suddenly that strawberry one wasn't looking so bad. XD i consider the bee, but david's already getting one so there's no point in having two. i figure by not buying either one, i can save the money to get the one i really want from japan, if/when i get around to that. the only other stuffed animal i like is a tiny sting ray that's part of a $50 set, so i leave--soggy, kinda chilled, and disappointed. that's ok, though, i think somebody will really like him; he's all big and soft and squishy. ^^
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| one of the faster decisions i've ever made |
[07 Jun 2009|11:11pm] |
as a follow up to my previous post, the above is my brand new bento box--$5 and coming from hawaii. it's taken me a very long time debating and comparing and just looking, but i finally settled on this one. i liked it's pink counterpart, but lucked out finding someone who had the blue version. it's engrish is a wee bit odd, but for the most part it makes sense. XD not entirely pleased there's no dividers here, but i figure i'll get some kind of baking cups or something like i was planning on getting anyway. going that route also makes it easier to separate things if something needs reheated.
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| waaaant |
[07 Jun 2009|01:46pm] |
i saw this little bugger at target last night and want it so badly. at the time, the only problem was i didn't know when i'd really ever use a paring knife when i already have my beloved kitchen aid set. even worse is that the first review on amazon says the knife was pretty dull. :(
in other news, i've finally decided i'm going to get a little bento box for lunches. i love all the compartmentalization and variety and challenge. unfortunately, i'm having a hell of a time finding anything for it; kinda hard to make a bento style lunch without the box... i found some nice ones at mitsuwa, but they either don't have any separators/aren't cute/have embarrassingly bad engrish/wrong size.
i'm still debating getting a stitch one from ebay, but i worry it'll be too small. and can't find anything for frog style--found a single pic on flikr or somebody who has one, but that does me no good. likely having to buy from the internet creates a whole new set of problems, in addition to those already mentioned, primarily in that i can't see how big a box is in person. many pics/descriptions also don't allude to there being separators so when i see a box like this, it's automatically disqualified.
hell, even going to target and walmart yesterday and i couldn't even find the silicon baking cups frequently used in bentos (only ones i found were heart shaped...). my mom has some so i figured it'd be no problem to find them around here--wrong!
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| at it again |
[28 May 2009|07:50pm] |
i am so happy with myself right now. i'm not sure how or why i was suddenly struck by a craving for lemongrass ginger soup of some kind, but i decided to try making it myself. really wasn't that hard to do, just time consuming--which is usually what happens when i cook. and i think it tastes absolutely fantastic given i just made this up. and seeing as how the weather has been cold and damp lately, soup was just the thing to warm me up.
as i had no clue how to make this beyond steeping chopped ginger and chunks of lemongrass in chicken broth, i did a bit of research on this kind of thing earlier today. i couldn't decide on an exact recipe as all either sounded too bland or had ingredients i didn't want to use/couldn't acquire on such short notice. probably the closest comparison, in terms of ingredients, i could find is an indonesian soup called "soto ayam". beyond kaffir leaves (which i have no clue where to get), turmeric (used for color), coriander seeds and cumin, mine has pretty much the same ingredients. and in terms of coriander seeds, i used fresh cilantro leaves (aka coriander) so i figure it's pretty darn close.
as i said before, it really wasn't hard to make--even guessing what to do the entire way. i brought a large pan of store-bought chicken broth and water to a boil and added the chopped ginger and lemongrass. just kept tasting it until it was flavored enough for me and pulled all the pieces out with a straining spoon...thing... threw in two chicken breasts and let them poach. while they did so, i got into my calming groove of washing and chopping up all the vegetables. by the time i was done with that, the chicken was done; pulled it out and went to work flavoring the broth further. added in my garlic, rice wine, and salt. once satisfied i tossed in the vegetables and shredded the chicken, which was also added. brought it all down to a simmer and added the lime juice and ground pepper. once everything had cooked down, i ladled it over a bowl of cold, leftover wheat fettuccine.
lemongrass ginger chicken soup
shredded poached chicken, bok choy, shiitake mushrooms, green onions, bean sprouts and wheat pasta in a broth infused with lemongrass and ginger, garlic, lime juice, splash of rice wine, salt & pepper and cilantro.
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| 2009 movies to see |
[16 Apr 2009|01:24pm] |
4/21 - Disney Nature
5/22 - Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
5/29 - Up
6/24 - Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
7/01 - Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
8/? - G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra (maybe)
12/11 - Princess & the Frog
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