Bento

I was recently given some bento making supplies. I often search the web for neat bento images because I think it is a really neat way to do lunch. I am not all that creative and my first few bentos always left me really hungry. It turns out I was eating child size ones when I did some reading. So, I started making something similar to those shown above (those are two seperate days I was just thinking ahead) and then supplementing it with a sandwich or something. They have been fun and I am amazed how contentedly full I am the rest of the afternoon. I have been lazy this last week or so and I have been noticing the difference.

Fried Rice

I received some nice new pans for the holidays (mine are sort of a hodge podge of what I received as hand-me-downs and what I could find on sale. Nothing really reliable so this was a wonderful gift) and proceeded to experiment.

We had some leftovers I wanted to use up so I fried two eggs and scrambled a bit, added some left over rice, frozen peas/carrots, and a healthy dose of soy sauce and sauteed until tender.

It wasn't too bad.

Nachos!

My fiance really loves nachos and I have slowly been coming up with my own recipe for making them at home based on our own personal preferences and what I come across online.

Essentially:
Brown hamburger or ground turkey and then add about 1 cup of water mixed with a healthy dose of taco seasonings (Penzey's has a great mix).

I drain a can of diced tomatoes (I like Del Monte's mixed blends and usually use the green pepper/onion one), a can of sliced olives, and some chili beans.

I layer chips, shredded cheese, the veggies, and meat until the pan is full and pop it in the oven for 10 minutes until the chips soften and the cheese gets all melty.

Incidentally the dish pictured above was a holiday present that I am really liking. I never would have picked it out for myself but I am glad I received it because I think it is going to fill in some gaps in my kitchen utensils quite nicely.

Dark Sweet Cherry Crisp

There is a brand of frozen fruit I like. It is a little expensive but the fruit is generally better than what I can get fresh (except of course when it is in season) and it is already cleaned/de pitted/ de whatever. It comes in these huge bags. I had bought a large bag of dark sweet cherries with the hopes of making cherry crisp. In my online searching I mostly found tart cherry recipes but this one looked really promising.

I doubled the recipe since I had well over twice that much fruit and I mixed some cinnamon and nutmeg in with the oat/crisp portion. It turned out really yummy!