Rice Burger (& trying to be paleo)

I am trying to be more paleo, and in many ways I'm succeeding but way too many of my recipes involve rice to give it up! Plus I can't give up sushi - and I won't! *pout*. So I've decided my Amazonian paleo alter ego happens to live next to a natural rice paddy so can gather some rice from time to time as well as being a kick ass huntress & totally working the animal fur bikini (she's my alter ego, she can be however I want!).

Anyway this has been percolating in my mind for a while - it's a fairly common thing in Japan and as the freezer breaking down during the night (grr) the other day meant I had some defrosted burgers to use I thought it was about time I got round to it.

Basically I just cooked some sushi rice in my trusty rice cooker then used the plastic carton the burgers came in* to mould two rice patties which I then pan fried in some garlic oil to make them crispy & give them some colour. Served here with avocado - my favourite way to add a bit of creaminess to savoury dishes without dairy.

*Using the burger carton was a mistake, burgers shrink, rice doesn't! They were way more rice than I needed and I didn't eat it all. Good though! When we get a freezer back I might make some & freeze them - easier than keep cooking bits of rice!

Fish Eggs ... Car Eggs?

So predidictably being unemployed has affected by bento making but as I used my egg moulds for the first time today I thought I would blog them.

Well I think my little fish & car are cool but I know not everyone will. Just some crunchy veg with them coz todays a fast day.

I got the sack today bento 28/8/12

I won't go into the massive favouritism & poisonous in fighting that led to it; you'd think working for a charity would be nice!

This is the first time I've been sacked, well the first proper job - I did get sacked from a waitressing job coz I used to turn up to work off my head & in the clothes I left in the night before. And I argued a lot with the 2nd chef (his hobby was making waitresses cry & I didn't like it. He used to frisbee oven trays at my head straight out the oven). Oh I shagged one of the waiters too. But I digress - my newly unemployed status will undoubtedly negatively effect the amount of bento's I make & post but here is the one I took to work today - and then took home again. I did have some almond stuffed olives as well but I ate them for elevenses.

The starring role in this bento goes to the prawn, papaya & avocado salad I made (with some fennel in too) there's some lemon & mustard seed dressing from righteous in the chick. Very tasty & refreshing.

I also had a sunshine box of veg - left over roast butternut squash, orange & yellow peppers and some radishes.

Some sesame Japanese rice crackers for a bit of carbs and a piece of (gf & df) millionaires shortbread and some friendly bacteria choc too.

A very good bento for what turned out to be my last day!

Feeding Day Bento 23.8.12

Today's a feeding day but I got up late so it's not a very impressive bento! I've got left over paleo dirty rice (still good), some fennel salami, bread sticks with aioli and chocolate pudding, more chocolate and an apple. I doubt I'll eat it all. Then again I don't finish til 4! Another fast day to go this week - I might do it tomorrow.

Fast Day Dinner Bento 22.8.12

So as I've said previously (keep up) I've been 'doing' 5:2 and today was a fast day. I must admit I haven't been counting my 500 calories religiously on fast days but I had a small piece of salmon with veg for lunch and this bento for tea and I don't think that's more than 500!

A little bit of left over turkey, some of those fig & rosemary crackers (made from almonds rather than grains) and some crunchy veg bits. A slightly discolored peach and a wee bit of sneaky chocolate!

Fast days are getting easier & I want less on the non fast days now. I certainly feel better for it.

Lunch Bento 21.8.12

I forgot to take a pic until I'd eaten most of it but you can kinda see what I had!

Swedish meatballs & pickles in the top layer, crunchy nibbly bits in the bottom, with a side tub of the rosemary & fig crackers I made (http://clairesspecialkitchen.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/rosemary-fig-crackers.html?m=1). I am doing the 5:2 way of eating (you eat what you want five days a week and do a fast of 500 calories the other 2) and tomorrow's a fast day so my bento won't be that exciting!

An eggstravagant Lunch Bento 16/8/12

A poor pun but I couldn't help myself! Last of the quail eggs today with some celery salt in the chick. Some Genius bloomer - which I love - with some dairy free spread as my carb; a girl can only eat so much rice and all my usual crunchy veg bits. Watermelon & chocolate pudding to finish - not simultaneously though!

4 days off work now so I don't know how many bento's there will be, if I keep necking this wine there's not likely to be much of anything.

Dinner Bento 15/8/12

I'm a couple of days behind in my bento blogs, time for a catch up.

This one was for my first late shift back after my week off which went surprisingly well. Heat & humidity even keeps kids quiet it seems.

I ate the quail eggs way before the rest of the bento as a snack; they really are perfect for bento's! The chips obv weren't part of the bento originally but the cafe was open & it seemed rude not to have something! Had some left over coconut fried chicken (http://clairesspecialkitchen.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/coconut-fried-chicken.html?m=1) and sweetcorn rice, again leftover. Got the normal crunchy veg bits, some salted almonds & some watermelon and chocolate pudding.

Back to Work Bento 13/8/12

I say back to work but I haven't really done any today. I was organised & packed this the night before to maximise sleep & guarantee me something nice at lunchtime!

I've got some leftover turkey escalopes (griddled with lemon, garlic, parsley & thyme) and samphire (stir fried with garlic & lemon). I also have some hard boiled quail eggs (there's celery salt in the chick), all the usual crunchy bits, some salted almonds & some breadsticks (with aioli in the pig for dipping). For the sweet bit I have a peach (ready sliced to avoid mess) and a chocolate pudding. Good eats!

Bento on a plate 12/8/12

I'm back to work tommorrow so I didn't want to dirty my boxes, I'm planning to be a bit organised & put my bento together tonight to take the edge off Monday morning!

So a plate today but I think it holds to the bento principle! I had so teriyaki crackers (gluten free from m&s), made a tamagoyaki roll - still warm & a bit floppy! Cucumber, daikon & radish for my crunchy bits and a gorgeous peach from natoora. Last of the millionaires shortbread today :-(. 

Bento at home 11/8/12

Not sure about the oaty bakes; they're a bit cardboardy but for the rest I had some potato salad (well potatoes in mayonnaise, I'm not sure that quite counts as potato salad) and some olives in the top box and the last of the natoora fennel salami in the bottom box with some of my usual crunchy bits. Some cherries, millionaires shortbread & a little Probiotic choccy round off my lunch.

Bento at home 10/8/12

It's gonna be hard next week to get used to having to fit the lids on after a week of not needing to!

Today I have Swedish meatballs with a bit of dill pickle on my matryoshka picks - a tasty pairing. I've got some 'deli crackers' with them, I won't be getting them again; they're like blotting paper in flavour & absorbency.
In the other level I have some not quite ripe enough peach (ripen at home my arse), cucumber, daikon & radish and in the little side dish I have a piece of (gf&df) millionaires shortbread  and some Probiotic chocolate.

Bento di Italia 8/8/12

Bit of an Italian vibe to todays bento with antipasti style nibbles & some left over pasta.

It's also the first outing for my matryoshka picks - very cute & I'm a sucker for these kinda things!

From the bottom up I have some salted almonds, rosemary & black pepper olives and some fabulous fennel salami from natoora (http://www.natoora.co.uk/shop/)  via ocado. In the next dish I have cucumber, daikon & radishes along with watermelon which I had as dessert. Finally some pasta (heated) with a beef & ratatouille ragu. Molto bene!

Oh some chocolate buttons too!

Could actually have closed the lid on this one too apart from the watermelon! I'm off to yo sushi for lunch tomorrow so no more bento til Friday!

Bento at home 7/8/12

I don't feel I need to point out I had this at home really when I made no attempt to fit it in properly!

The big blue tub has chicken salad in; there's more in there than the chicken & gf croutons you can see, honest, pea shoots & baby leaves, cucumber, radishes & grated mooli with a lemon & mustard seed dressing (from righteous http://www.loverighteous.com/salad-dressings/). The panda has some very garlicky aioli in for dipping the breadsticks. Watermelon, chocolate pudding & popcorn (sweet & salty) are obvious. Not sure I'm gonna eat it all! 

Bento at home 6/8/12

A healthy bento today. Feel super virtuous (an gonna ruin that in a minute by eating the chocolate).

Prawns with sweet chilli dip, back sesame rice crackers, apple, daikon, radishes & pickles in the chick.

And the aforementioned chocolate of course.

Bento at home 5/8/12

You can tell its at home coz I blatantly couldn't shut the lids! (kinda) fitting it into the box limits the calories & gives me clearly much needed bento packing skills!

Top (l-r)
Breadsticks, tahiniyeh, salami, sausage roll,
Bottom (l-r)
Apple, pepper, daikon with some rosemary & pepper olives along the top.

Some chocolate on the side of course!

Cute bento things comp

Back to School Bento Lunch Supplies Giveaway | AllThingsForSale Bento USA

I am such a sucker for bento bits & bobs & a comp to get some free ones is way to good to be missed. And a comp including light sabers? Count me in!

Lunch Plate 4/8/12

It's on a plate rather than in a bento box but that's only because I was too lazy to fit it in!
I had a gf part baked baguette & one of those anti pasti meat selections all the supermarkets seem to do these days! I had a mushroom craving - my dad doesn't like them so they're not on the dinner menu - so I pan fried some in garlic oil with rosemary. They were very tasty. Some stuffed olives, radishes & pepper slices made up my plate & I had a bowl of cherries after.

Obviously I had some chocolate (in button form) later!

Lunch at home bento 3/8/12

Day 1/10 not at work but I still gotta eat so no reason why not a bento! I clearly wouldn't be able to close the lid on this but never mind!

I have a chicken salad sandwich, an apple, a sliced up baby pepper & a couple of radishes.

I'll prob go upstairs & get myself some chocolate in a minute. 

Lunch bento 2/8/12

I actually made my bento last night so it's actually arranged neatly for a change! It's a yummy one too!

I have some left over roast potatoes (which didn't brown very well but were still crispy), some Swedish meatballs (which may well be a regular - they come cooked & we had the rest heated for dinner yesterday). There's some mayo in the pig to dip them in. In my 'healthy layer' I've got cucumber, pepper, radishes, gherkin & olives and I also have some chilli tortilla curls. A couple of figs, a chocolate pudding & some cheeky wee chocs should finish off the meal nicely! 

It continues to amaze me that I can fit a meals worth of food in that wee box but more often than not I don't finish it.

Japanese Dinner Bento 31/7/12

Actually a bit of a Japanese vibe to my bento today! Due to the always unreliable ocado it had a bit of a store cupboard vibe with a tub of noriben (http://justbento.com/handbook/recipe-collection-mains/noriben-a-true-japanese-classic) made with tinned tuna and some tamagoyaki (http://www.justhungry.com/tamagoyaki) - both using recipes from just bento/ just hungry, the go to Japanese eating sites. It may have been the best tamagoyaki I've made to date. I also had a tub of healthy nibbles that included cucumber, sweet pepper & radishes (from an interesting waitrose selection of mixed types) and there's some Japanese pickles too (thanks to the Japan centre http://www.japancentre.com/ ) in the chick. I'd amazingly already eaten my apple but I also had a couple of figs and a chocolate pudding. Double amazement coz I didn't eat my choc treats or the chilli snacks which I forgot to put in the pic.

No bento tomorrow coz I'm actually out for lunch but I'll be back Thurs!

Burger Bento 30/7/12

I made the spicy mini burgers from one chilli burger (from the coop) squished up into little ones - I may have over miniaturized them. There's mayo in the chick to dip them in. The apache (its the type of potato, I don't know!) potato salad was a bit of a fail coz the potatoes were a bit over cooked but I ate all my healthy nibbly bits (daikon, cherry tomatoes & olives). I ate all the chocolate too but that's hardly a shocker! What is a shock is that I ATE MY APPLE!

Lunch Plate 29/7/12

My lunches at home are half trying stuff out for bento's & half chucking together what's in the fridge!
Today I have some Spanish omelette, crackers, smoked paprika mayo (ie I stirred some smoked paprika into some mayo), crackers, apple, celery & stuffed olives. Just realised I could've had some ham too. Never mind, it's not very good ham!

Snack Plate 28/7/12

This would've made a great bento so it gets a post! I skipped lunch but couldn't wait til dinner so I've made myself a substantial snack! There's some gf breadsticks, celery & apple* for dipping, tahiniyeh (tahini, lemon juice & garlic oil with water to get it to the right consistency) to dip into, a piece of ham & some stuffed olives. Yum. Would need more protein to do me for lunch but that's easily solved.

*the only time I actually eat my apple is  when its cut up as part of a savoury snack so maybe I need to start doing that in my bento's with a bit if lemon juice to stop it going brown

Lunch Bento 25.7.12

Not a particularly memorable bento but it kinda was coz the genius bloomer bread was new to me and yummy and I made the coconut & sesame cookies (see Claire's special kitchen). With the bread I had pork rillette - which I love, it kinda tastes like scraped bits from the bottom of the pan when you've done a pork roast - some nibbly bits of mooli and radish as well as some pickles in the chick. 

Whatever the date was Thursday lunch bento

Yeah, I forgot to post this!

Do you like my new £1.30 lunch box? Bargain of the year!

So another left over bento; duck ginger & garlic stirfry with basmati rice.

I also had some radishes & cucumber (for crunch) and some black pepper ricecrackers. Chocolate pudding too and I actually ate my apple!

Lunch Bento 16.7.12

A left overs vibe today : left over roast potato chunks w/ red onions, griddled turkey escalopes with lemon, garlic & rosemary and pan fried vegetable ribbons. Last nights dinner basically! Not sure why I haven't thought of turkey escalopes before; they're super easy & dad loves turkey!

As you can see I also had some mango and a coconut mochi. There aren't many coconut mochi left - I'm gonna miss them.

I had one of those friendly bacteria chocolate bars in my bag too - it's chocolate but it's good for you!

Dinner Bento 13/7/12

Most of my bento's involve leftovers incase you hadn't noticed and last nights was no exception with cold sausages providing the main attraction. I also had onigiri, radishes & pickles as well as left over butternut squash & red pepper stir fry. For pudding I had a coconut mochi which was from the Japan Centre http://www.japancentre.com/ along with the seaweed wrapped rice cracker which I ate early  but was so nice it deserved a pic.

Lunch Bento 12/7/12

One of two bento's I didn't get round to posting. A simple bento of onigiri that has pork rillette in the middle & is sprinkled with shiso leaf furikake. I had radishes & cucumber to give a bit of variety & the sides, well you can see for yourself!

Train Bento

I had an interview today, more on that later maybe - we'll see!

Not everything is pictured here but you can see I made some onigiri and I had Spanish Omelette and roast belly pork left over from yesterdays lunch & dinner. A few bits of cucumber & radish for a healthy crunch too. In the bag the boxes are balanced on I've got an apple, some chocolate buttons and some seeds. All easy bits eat on the train which is where I feel I've spent most of the day!  

Bed Bento 7/7/12

Not sure this even counts as a bento as it was just stuff I threw together to take upstairs to avoid the shitty tv my parents were watching (ok admittedly to avoid my mum too but that's a whole different blog).

My first time making noriben, I made it with tinned tuna and it's really nice!
Shopping delivery tomorrow so I'm kinda low on everything so the last of the grapes & apple, some prawn crackers and a chocolate bar make up the meal.

It's a few days before I'm back at work so I can't promise many bento's this week - maybe a bed one!

Dinner Bento 4/6/12

Mad time to be posting (its 6am) but can't sleep & don't want to get up quite yet!

Another late shift last night so made a bento but I was so busy I didn't even eat it all! Salted my onigiri the perfect amount though so happy with that! Am having a wee love affair with my onigiri moulds at the moment - simple things please simple minds & all that!

So, with my onigiri I basically had left overs - simply roast belly pork slices with fennel seeds, some stir fried veg (a 'traditional' English mix of carrots, swede & cabbage from waitrose*) and some apple sauce in the panda pot. I ate my chocolate pudding but not the rest of my snacks.

*other supermarkets are available but this isn't the BBC & I like waitrose!

Lunch Bento 2/6/12

Was running a bit late this morning so my bento was a thrown together affair but my onigiri are looking good - I have new moulds!

The onigiri are just salted today with a bit of nori (which makes them easier to hold & eat as well as looking good). I put a couple of cornichons in with the rice to give me a bit of texture and flavour.

The top layer has a couple of sneaky baby left over roast potatoes, a few slices of left over smoked brisket* and the little panda has tahiniyeh** in which I ate with the pretzels. I didn't eat the pudding but I did eat the mango & the probiotic chocolate (genius idea that).

*I also had left over Yorkshire puddings for breakfast!
**Basically made from tahini and lemon juice - I normally add some garlic oil for flavour and a splash of water to get the consistency I like. Nice alternative to hummus if you're avoiding chickpeas like me.

Lunch Bento 28.6.12

Something new in my bento today in the form of smoked chicken - tasty. I also had some salad (dressing in the chick), the last of the yummy dip,some breadsticks, some grapes & an apple, some chocolate pudding & a chocolate bar. Some of it will be my afternoon snack. I'll def be getting the smoked chicken again - but I didn't need quite so much.

Dinner Bento 27.6.12

This is my first go at onigiri, and I used the instructions from just hungry http://www.justhungry.com/2007/01/onigiri_omusubi_revisited_an_e.html - they each have a stuffed olive at the centre. The hard boiled egg halves are sprinkled with togarashi seasoning and the panda has more of that yummy dip in. The chick has lemon & mustard seed dressing in for the salad & I have some paprika corn chips for the dip. Grapes & an apple are my healthy bits and a chocolate pudding and muffin are my naughty bits.

Lunch Bento 26.6.12

Well I said I was going to glam up my bentos and I reckon today I have. Very tasty with a nice variety of flavours. In the bento box I have left over bacon wrapped faggots from last nights dinner (not uber glam but you can't disagree with double pork), some chargrilled Mediterranean veg (from the deli), some French breakfast (?) radishes & some carrot & pumpkin dip (in the panda). The dip is from waitrose & is MUCH nicer than it sounds. It's not often you find a nice gf & df dip. I also have some stuffed olives, some breadsticks (gluten free of course) an apple (which I didn't eat of course) and a chocolate bar. All of frys 'cream'  bars are dairy free - my favourite is the orange though I have a soft spot for the mint too! 

Lunch at home 22.6.12

I make tastier looking lunches at home than I do bentos - I need to up my game!

Got some yummy things coming in my ocado order (hopefully, they're not very reliable) Sunday so hopefully that'll mean better bento's next week!

Lunch Bento 21.6.12

Bit of a poor effort today - my bento's need a glam injection! I over cooked the rice so it was a bit of a mush - overdid the water in the rice cooker in my sleepy haze I think! I have a coop chilli beef burger (bit disappointing) and some left over belly pork from last night's dinner (not disappointing -pork rarely is). On the healthy side I had some grapes too which I'd eaten by the time I'd taken this pic! The pumpkin seeds I keep putting in but not eating! The apple I didn't eat of course - the chocolate pudding pot I did! There's mayo in the little pig for me to dip the burger bits in.

Is it still a bento if it's not in a box?

Or is it just my tea? I'm on a late shift again today :-(.

I didn't have a tub big enough again for my chicken, bacon & avocado salad (well I did but it was in the freezer full of ice nohm - see here http://clairesspecialkitchen.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/chocolate-cupboard-stuff-ice-nohm.html?m=1) so  I made up the salad in a plastic bowl keeping the salad dressing (in the pig) and croutons seperate so everything stayed as it should be and cling filmed it. I've also got a vanilla pudding, soy sauce roasted pumpkin seeds, some Sharon fruit & some dark chocolate Brazil nuts. There is of course an apple in my bag but I think we all know I won't eat it!

Lunch Bento 18/6

I didn't have a tub big enough to put the whole salad in so I transported it in its constituent parts and constructed it in situe. The salad was chicken, bacon & avocado and had a lemon & mustard seed salad dressing and some gluten free croutons. The snacks you can see for yourselves! I gave my colleague a bit of the avocado to try coz she'd never had it. She's in her forties but clearly grew up in 1950 or something! I poached the chicken but wasn't very impressed; think I'll stick to baking it. 

Never Seconds

http://neverseconds.blogspot.co.uk/?m=0

A lunch blog blogging about a lunch blog seems like inception style blogging but this has been my favourite blog for a while.

In case you're not one of the TWO MILLION hits which include celeb chefs Jamie Oliver & Nick Nairn, "Veg" rates her school lunch everyday whilst raising money for http://www.marysmeals.org.uk/ who raise money for the hungry world wide. People all over the world have been sharing their school lunches with her too. Something that should be applauded right? Well not according to Argyll & Bute council who have banned her from taking pics of her school lunches! If they're so ashamed of their school lunches they should do something about them not silence a brilliant little girl who has been using her popularity to do some good.

Argyll and Bute council are on twitter by the way @argyllandbute, just saying... 

Dinner Bento 13/6/12

Sensibly (and uncharacteristically) I got everything out & took a pic before I started eating! The noodle salad was a bit 'what's left in the fridge' and had left over belly pork, smoked duck, cucumber, red pepper & fennel in. The little chick pot has some extra ginger & sesame dressing in incase the noodles soaked it all up. There is also a hard boiled egg with some mayo (in the little pig), some mango, a chocolate pudding pot, a chocolate & date flapjack, some sweet & salty popcorn and some gluten free pretzels. Oh and an apple. I admittedly rarely eat the apple but putting it in makes me feel healthier!
I have lots of snacks coz I don't finish til ten and snacks are needed on the evening shift!

Lunch Bento 11.6.12

I can't keep thinking up titles so I'm just gonna date them!

Today's is rather good I think with smoked duck (from ocado) nigiri*, tamagoyaki (which I burnt a bit - the recipe I use is here at just hungry;  http://www.justhungry.com/tamagoyaki), a selection of crunchy veg (cucumber, radish & red pepper) with some dill pickles, a chocolate pudding pot and some sweet & salty popcorn. Oh and an apple. Rather a feast! It is raining a LOT here and I'm glad I work inside, and can sit at a desk feasting.

*i have a wee plastic mould for making nigiri & one for maki - they don't take much skill if I'm honest. I'll try to remember to take pics when I'm making it. You can get them off eBay for a few quid & they make sushi easy!

Chopsticks

This isn't a bento. I mean it's lunch in a box but it's not a bento. It's a salad in a box I bought from a sandwich shop in the high street & it wasn't very good. It was chicken, bacon & avocado apparently but was actually very salty mashed chicken in mayo with two bits of bacon & no sign of avocado. I also had an allergic reaction to it - god knows what to. But I digress - I am attempting to learn how to eat with chopsticks (i know, at my age?) so I ate it with my training chopsticks. Not sure they are teaching me anything but I've given myself a gold star anyway.

A new blog & a new bento box.

Fitting that the first bento on this blog is in a brand new bento box!

When the box first came (courtesy of eBay, with a free cold bag) I thought it would be too small for my appetite but even today's badly packed (and rather end-of-the-week) bento was enough for lunch.

In the little pot are some cherry tomatoes & radishes then in the two layers of the bento box are sushi rice (with sushi vinegar), Hawaiian teriyaki chicken, hard boiled egg & some cornichons. Not my most creative bento but it's Friday so a using-things-up day. There's also a pot of vanilla pudding there (ecomil - made from almonds!). Oh I had a sneaky little flapjack for later too.

That'll be 3 blogs then

Claire's Special Kitchen was getting a bit bogged down in bentos instead of recipes so bento's will now be blogged here. Blogger won't let me move the old ones but you can pop over there to check out them out.here are some pics of some old ones to give you a taster (my phones always full of old pics).