Welcome!

I created this blog with the desire to make lunch simple, fun and healthy. I had turned to bento to make this possible.
I live with my husband and our adorable pets and we live a fairly busy life so, being able to have a fast fun lunch makes it easier to save money and eat healthy. Bento is for everyone, not just children, and I strive to inspire people to make lunch an exciting aspect of their day, instead of the same old monotonous task and boring foods which inevitably lead to spending too much money on cafeteria food or fast food, or skipping meals all together.
This blog really has grown to be so much more than I had originally invisioned! It really incorporates my love for local and fresh food and making meals fun and tasty, not just lunch! There is great potential for all meals and bento still really inspires me, but I also really enjoy being inspired by the local farmer's market, and different books and I think the blog has really taken off to so much more than just a bento blog. I hope you feel inspired and enjoy it as much as I do!

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Thai Cuisine!

    For date night, my husband took me out for Thai. This was great because I was really wanting to try some authentic Thai cuisine.
The menu had so many choices, it took us quite awhile to decide, but we finally did.

I ordered: Tom Kha Gai, which is a chicken soup with coconut milk, chili, lime juice and mushrooms.
This soup was amazing! I really loved it. I cannot wait to try it again! It was just this perfect balance of flavours.

We also ordered an appetizer. Poa Pia Goong Tod: Springrolls stuffed with shrimp.
These were also quite good. Nice crunchy wrappers with huge shrimp inside.

For our main we ordered: 
Gang Garee Gai: chicken with potatoes, light curry and coconut milk.
This was very good, however I found it a bit sweet. Despite that, the potatoes were amazing, and the chicken was very tender.

...and we had Kao Pad Gai: Thai-style chicken fried rice.

This was very good, and exactly as described. Chicken fried rice.

Overall, I enjoyed our experience in Thai cuisine. I most definitely want to try it again. Next time, I am going to be more adventurous and order something spicy (and of course, that amazing soup)!

Hope you enjoyed your peek at my experience with Thai Cuisine! Maybe I will try to find a recipe for the soup! If I do, I will be sure to share it with you!
Until next time, Happy Munching!



Friday, July 15, 2011

Best Chocolate Dipped Ice Cream Ever

     I am out of town visiting family and my grandmother told us about this amazing place. Its chocolaterie that is in this old house, and it sells ice cream, too. When we arrived, I could not believe the line up! It was so long! But it went very fast. Once, I got my ice cream, I understood why. They dipped our soft serve in Belgian chocolate! I had mine in dark. 


It was so good... The chocolate was so thick! It was just amazing. 
I just wanted to share with you!
Until next time, Happy Munching!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Fresh Homemade Salsa

I love fresh salsa, especially during the summer. I like buy fresh salsa and some good corn chips and eat them as a snack or appetizer. They are great. And you can't go wrong with fresh. Every year, I can my own salsa, and I really enjoy making it... but I had never made fresh salsa before. I had been intending to try it out sometime, but I never really ended up doing it. Finally, I decided to do it.


This was the result!

This salsa was so easy to make, I will definitely be doing it again!
It's simple:
3 medium-sized tomatoes, cored and chopped
1/2 an onion, finely chopped
1-2 tbsp cilantro, minced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
splash of lime juice
salt and pepper
2 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped

Now, its super easy, put the onion and garlic in a strainer and pour a couple cups of boiling water over them. Let them cool. I like to do this first, so they can cool while I prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Next, combine everything together! Feel free to add some additional spices, or take it to the next level and throw in some of your left over grilled corn! Now the best thing you can do, is leave it in the fridge for a few hours to let the flavours develop. 
N.B. When I made this recipe, I was out of jalapeno peppers, so I just threw in a little hot sauce. Also, I used wild garlic. 
Hope you enjoy! Try this recipe out! 
Until next time, Happy Munching!

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Grilled Corn on the Cob

    I went to the market again today to look for some new local things to try. I bought a piece of local beef, the round. I later went to the grocery store and saw some corn on the cob,which I absolutely love, especially during the summer. With these two items, I knew I could make a delicious summertime meal.
     It was especially hot out today, so I did not want to do any cooking inside. Normally, I would boil my corn. Instead, I did some research and discovered there are three ways to cook corn on the BBQ. The first way is to cook it in its husk, the second is to cook it in the inner husk and the third is to cook it without the husk. Cooking with the husk on requires the corn be soaked for 30 minutes. I really wanted to try it without, so we took the husks off.

     The meat I purchased really benefited from being marinated. I did not want to wait for overnight, so I used my quick marinator that works with my FoodSaver that I got for my wedding.  I made up a quick marinade of sake, sriracha, sweet onion mustard, some garlic and roasted red pepper spice mix and lemon pepper. I also poked some holes in my meat. I threw it in the marinator and vacuum sealed it and let it sit for about 20-30 minutes.


While I was waiting for the meat to marinade, I made up a spread to put on the corn. I mixed margarine (I was out of butter, but either really works just fine), minced garlic, sriracha, lime juice, salt and pepper and mixed it together well. 


     Finally everything was ready to throw on the grill!


The corn had to be turned rather frequently and the meat was cooked for 10 minutes on each side. They were both cooked for 20 minutes total.


     While I was waiting for the food on the grill to cook, I whipped up a coleslaw and I tested out the marinator again. I finely chopped up some cabbage, added some olive oil, garlic and roasted red pepper spice mix, some lime juice and some white vinegar, and also some salt and pepper. I left it in there until the meat and corn were done.


     Just as everything was finishing up on the grill, we painted on the spread on the corn all the way around for the last few minutes.


     After taking the meat off the grill, it is important to let it rest for at least 5 minutes. This prevents all the juices from running out when you cut it, which will make your meat dry.
      After resting, I cut it up into slices.


     What a delicious pile of corn!!




    Everything turned out quite tasty. I have to say that this is the best corn I've ever eaten. I definitely plan to make corn again like this. Additionally, I was rather pleased with the quick marinator and I will be using that again too. 
    I really encourage you all to get out there and enjoy summertime food! One of the great perks of cooking outside is that when its hot out, you are not increasing the heat in your home! Not to mention, it helps you get into that summer spirit!
   I hope you enjoy your summer! Stay cool and have fun! Until next time, Happy Munching!