Monday, March 31, 2008

30 to 36 - Playing Catch-up

I am alive! *whew* It has been a crazy two weeks here in the House of Tsang... haha, get it? (It's a brand of sauce... and my name...) I am seven bento posts behind and feel so guilty for not posting even though I have been browsing other fellow bento-ees. Before I start the massive food post, below is part of the reason I have been MIA (besides my long weekend trip to NYC last week)...

The boyfriend woke up on Monday morning with spots in is eye and by nighttime is missing half his vision in his right eye. By the time he made the appointment for Tuesday morning, he had lost about two-thirds of his vision from the top down. Scary! The doctor determined his retina somehow detached and he had emergency surgery to re-attach it. I know this is not necessarily food talk, but I have been taking care of him (in his patched state, see pic) and am quite exhausted. His vision is coming back slowly, but it'll still take some time to heal completely.

And without further delay, here are my bento's!

I forgot where I found this recipe, but it is labeled "Grandma's Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup" and is the best soup ever! The recipe will be posted on another day as this post is probably longer than an average person's attention span... =\
#30 left: homemade chicken noodle soup
right: organic carrot sticks, cantelope

#31 beef & mushroom melt (to be sandwiched between a
whole wheat english muffin), grape tomatoes, cantelope

Chicken Marsala is one of my bf's comfort foods, so that is what he got on a rainy dreary Rochester day. There is something about mushrooms sauteed in butter that just makes me drool. <=D
#32 bottom tier: chicken marsala with linguini
top tier: organic carrot sticks, dried wild blueberries, garlic/herb swiss, grape tomatoes

#33 sauteed chicken and potatoes with arugala, organic carrot sticks

I got dragged out to shop on a Monday after work to hunt for suits at S&K's crazy two-for-one sale. After traveling to two malls and trying on about 7 suits (the bf, not I), we bought a nice any occasion black suit and a gray pin-striped suit. He looked good.. *wink*. =) It was late, so I convinced him to eat at Biaggi's (an italian style restaurant). We started with Mussels Pomodoro, as always, and lapped up every last bit of the white-wine butter sauce with bread. Just thinking about the sauce is making my mouth water! After polishing that and the bread basket off (we were hungry!), we barely touched our dinners. Got to love leftovers *smiles*
#34 baked penne with prosciutto and shrimp, organic carrot sticks, cucumbers

#35 fruit bento, courtesy of a get-well "Edible" fruit blossom arrangements. They arrange
fruit like a flower bouquet and it was such a nice surprise! Here is the bouquet:
*big cheesy grin*

#36 pineapple fried rice (w/ shrimp and pork), shanghai bok choy sauteed with garlic

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

M I A

Sorry for the lack of posts, i have been really busy and just have not had time to log on. I have, however, been packing bentos and taking pictures so those will be posted shortly. =)

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

029 - Leg Wednesdays

Wednesdays... the famous leg Wednesdays at Buffalo Wild Wings. I was pretty exhausted from work today, so I gave in to the bf's request to order an insane amount of drumsticks. The picture might not do it justice, but this is a monstrous and smothered in honey bbq goodness (that's what I ordered... he prefers the hot buffalo style and mango habanero). The fried rice was inspired by this small korean restaurant at SUNY Buffalo's campus (bf attended UB). I added shrimp and spam to spazz it up, but the typical seasoning includes: salt, black pepper, white pepper, broth, sriricha thai chili paste, garlic, onion, and kimchi. *drools*
steamed green beans, honey bbq drumstick, kimchi fried rice

Sunday, March 9, 2008

27 & 28 - snow, snow, melt away...

*yawn* Moving the clocks ahead one hour last night has completely thrown my schedule off today. I woke up later than normal because of the lost hour, and I feel tired already even though it isn't that late! It is probably just all in my head, but I'm sticking to my story... for now. We went to watch 10,000BC today and it was one of the better movies that I've watched recently. Without giving any spoilers, I have to say that parts of the movie are neither geographically or historically correct BUT there is not a dull moment in the movie.

The first picture below was actually Friday's bento that I forgot to post on Thursday night. Most of the contents were just in the fridge, so they were neatly arranged as my snack/veggie tier. The cole slaw is the second last bit of my batch earlier in the week (made with a bit of wasabi mayo, salt, black pepper, white pepper, lime juice). One of my coworkers commented that the pastrami wrap looked like sushi from the way it was displayed. haha... it does, doesn't it? It must be subliminal, but I craved sushi after work and we went out for dinner to cure my craving. YUM!
top tier: seedless red grapes, organic carrot sticks, happy cow swiss, dried wild blueberries bottom tier: cole slaw, pastrami & swiss cheese wrap (1/2 spinach tortilla wrap)

This is my bento for tomorrow! I made tuna salad on Saturday with: 1 can chunk light tuna in water (drained), celery, carrot, wasabi mayo, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder. I think I am addicted to the wasabi mayo... that little kick is just so good! Ended up using only half for my lunch wrap on Saturday, so here is the other half for lunch. I will be spreading it on the 1/2 tortilla wrap with some swiss cheese slices on top, then throwing it in the toaster oven for a minute to melt the cheese and toast the wrap just slightly. Oh, my company has a break room that has both a microwave and toaster oven that comes in mighty handy! I tried this on Saturday and it was so good. It's a nice alternative to the typical cold wrap, especially on these cold days. By the way, we got hit with a foot of snow yesterday. I opened the garage door this morning to find 1.5 feet of snow banked against the door! =O The bf shoveled while I made dinner... he's so good.
clockwise: 1/2 spinach tortilla wrap (in saran wrap), cucumbers, tuna salad,
red bell pepper, dried wild blueberries, granny smith apple, swiss cheese

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

026 - getting creative with my beta-carotene

As I was peeling the carrot, my lightbulb went off as I looked at the peeler. Instead of the same old boring carrot sticks, I peeled thin carrot strips and rolled several to create my spirals. To secure them and keep from unraveling, I put a single wooden toothpick through the three carrot twists. The corn chowder is not the traditional type of chowder recipe. I sauteed some onion and minced garlic, threw in one can of sweet whole kernel corn, one can of creamed corn, and a half can of water. When the mix came to a boil, I added salt, black pepper, white pepper and stirred in two beaten eggs. Simple soup/chowder that is full of nutritional value. =)
Oh! Before I forgot (sorry yvo), here's a link to the grocery totes on Amazon. They look a LOT nicer than the pictures show, and the plastic bottom insert helps keep the bag from sagging when full. I used it for the first time this past Monday and loved it!!!

top tier: seedless red grapes, green bell pepper, organic carrot spirals
bottom tier: chicken, carrot and bell pepper fried rice
side box: corn chowder

025 - chop suey style

This is the what-do-you-have-left-in-your-fridge lunch. Surprisingly, it ended up tasting a lot like "young chow fried rice" and was delicious! I need to think really hard to remember what seasoning/sauce I added to the mix cause I will probably crave it again in the near future. Oh, not shown in the picture is a side of steamed cauliflower because it looked a little blah with the lack of color.
lunch box: shrimp fried rice

024 - my bf can cook!

Yikes, i am so behind with my postings! Last week was a mix of frustration at work and excitement for my short weekend trip. I had these pictures of bento lunches on my camera, but no time or patience to post them. My trip to Virginia was short but definitely sweet. It was planned nearly two months ago to rendez-vous with my best friend from college (a.k.a. drinking buddy). We hadn't seen each other since our trip to Ireland almost two years ago! There was a lot of catching up, a lot of eating, a lot of drinking, and a lot of laughing. It's quite funny because no matter how long it has been since we've seen each other, it seems like just yesterday and there is zero awkwardness. I love our relationship! =) Saturday night was spent at an Irish pub (we are trying to relive our trip) for dinner and a looooong night consisting of Guinness (the best beer ever)in all possible combinations. Guinness straight up... baby Guinness (Bailey's floated on Khalua shot)... Irish car bombs (Bailey's shot dropped in Guinness)... <=) I don't do this often, honest! Now... back to reality... This was yesterday's lunch, which was made by my truly! He had made a huge batch of his famous homemade meatsauce to last through the weekend. I absolutely LOVE his sauce, more so than my own. Yum-mo!
lunch box: penne with homemade meatsauce
side box: cole slaw with wasabi mayo

by the way, my valentines day rose lasted until yesterday!!! this is it on its last leg...