New Lunch Set!

     I've been checking out this new product line from black + bulm lately, and I finally decided to spring for a few of their products. They are very clever lunch containers and accessories. One of the items i purchased was this nifty lunch bag. It is pretty simple looking, and at first glance may not seem anything special....

      But if you check out the diagram on the packaging you can see that it opens up to be a little table cloth, or even can be used to sit on the grass.

      Another great item I found was this book of recipes. They seem fairly simple and tasty and there are lots of great pictures to help inspire people!

     So, I didn't try one of the recipes yet, but I was really eager to try the container, so in this box, I have some leftover beef bourguignon that my sister-in-law made (very, very tasty), some slices of baguette, a few cherry tomatoes, and in the other small container is pickled cauliflower. One of the nice features about this container is the removable inner containers (which also have their own lids). I can now easily remove the beef and reheat it in the microwave seperately. Also the container with the cauliflower can be used for sauce instead. Additionally, you can remove both and just use the whole container for another dish. Here you can also see the opened bag, and the cute fork (which has a side that can cut like a knife).

     The container closes up nicely, and has a little loop for the fork.

Very clever and convenient! I am very excited about this new product and look forward to trying new ones and the recipes from the book! Until next time, happy munching!

Decidedly Dumplings

Before work today, I cooked up some pork and cabbage dumplings. I boiled them for 7 minutes and then fried them in a pan for a bit with a bit of olive oil. While they were boiling, I also stir-fried some mushrooms, and napa cabbage. I laid these as the base in my lunch. I also mixed together a sauce with soya sauce, vinegar, garlic and sesame oil and a touch of sugar, and poured it over my dumplings at the last minute after I had turned off the heat, I let them simmer a bit in there and then scooped them out and into my glass container. I coupled this meal with a pair of my favourite chop sticks.

I put it all in this cute neko (cat) bag.

I am very excited to eat this lunch! I think know it will be tasty! Plus, the bag is super cute. I also included a bit of sesame dressing to dip things in should I feel inclined. This was honestly, a very easy lunch to prepare and I would say it probably took little over 10 minutes. My co-workers are always surprised when I tell them that I made my meal in the morning before work, but it doesn't take much time to create something interesting and tasty. You'd be surprised with what you can do in 10 or 15 minutes. If you don't work well in a time crunch, then there is always the option of preparing things before you go to bed. You only need to set aside some time when you find it most suitable, and you too can make a bento, or even just a nutritious lunch, versus buying a lunch. 

Until next time, Happy Munching!

New Ventures

When I go to the Farmer's Market on Sundays, I really get inspired to try lots of new things. Lately, I have been trying to cook things that I have never done before, and try new meats and vegetables that I see at the market. I am trying to remember to take pictures of these things to share with you all.

My mother was so surprised when I called her and told her that I was cooking lamb. It was really unusual because my parents had never served lamb when I was growing up, and I have probably eaten it about 3 times before... I also had a bit of a moral dilemma over it, admittedly. I didn't like the idea of meat from baby animals. It might seem a bit silly or trivial, but I tended to shy away from things like veal and lamb because of this (even though I had eaten them both before), I didn't buy them or cook them.

I know my husband likes lamb, and his family cooks lamb/mutton so I had eaten it at their house twice, and I had seen lamb at the market a few times and I am very curious, so I wanted to try making it for myself once. I put aside my concerns, and decided to buy a boneless leg roast.

I got up early before work and  chopped up some fresh rosemary and I patted it onto the lamb, with some salt and pepper. I also cut up some rainbow carrots, potato and onion and put them around the roast, with a few sprigs of rosemary. It looked delicious already...

I left it cook on low all day while I was at work, and I came home to a delicious smell in my home. I carved up the roast

and I scooped out the vegetables with a slotted spoon.

Everything was very tasty! I also strained the juices for gravy. It was great to see that my experiment had worked out! It tasted good, and I have to say, the vegetables were my favourite part. I decided I liked them lamb, and it turned out well, but in my honest opinion, this is not my favourite meat. But it was a great experience, and I am glad I tried it, and I am not completely writing it off. You never know, I might try something else next time I am inspired to try lamb.

I hope I have inspired you to try something new! It's different when you cook something yourself, you can tweak it anyway you like and you can be honest with yourself about how much you like, or dislike something, and I think you are more likely to like something if you do it your own way, because you know yourself and your preferences. Don't be afraid to try new things, or things you might have written off before! There's always more than one way to do something and you might like something different than you've tried before.

Until next time, Happy Munching!

I made a lot of shepherd's pie, and it was good, so I decided to take it for lunch today! It didn't transfer into the container beautifully, but that's okay, I know it will taste good either way.

In the top tier of this bento, I included some diced fruit salad, some sour cream, a small cheese, fruit snacks and a mini kitkat bar.

This is a new bento box I bought the other day, it is microwave safe so I was excited to try it out.

As you can tell its Hello Kitty, which I love. She's just so cute. Anyways, I packed it all up and it has this really handy handle that clips onto the side on the containers which serves not only to make it easy to transport, but also clips the containers together!

Well, that's all for now,

Until next time, Happy Munching!

Shepherd's Pie

While sitting at lunch with a co-worker today, she had shepherd's pie for lunch. I was inspired to try making it myself, since I had never done so before. I had eaten it before, of course, but never made it. 

On my way home, I stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few items for my pie, when I got home, I started working my magic on it.

First, I started by mixing together some ground pork and ground beef. I spiced it, added some bread crumbs, and mixed it together well, I began to brown it in a pan while I prepared the next layers. I sliced up some mushrooms, cafe and white button mushrooms, and I also chopped up an onion. I strained and microwaved a can of corn and combined it with some leftovers of corn and a touch of fresh salsa that I had mixed together for a meal the day before. Once the meat was cooked, I lined the bottom of a glass pan with it, and I began to cook up the mushrooms and onions. They were the next layer in my pie. I also did not want to waste 45 minutes making potatoes, so I admittedly used instant. I keep these on hand  because they are easy to use, and I buy the kind made from dehydrated potatoes and when I am done making them, they taste delicious. I added fresh chives and dill and some lemon juice to the potatoes, and I added the layer of corn on top of the mushrooms. I then added the thinest layer of cheese and began to spread out the potatoes. After the potatoes came more cheese. 

I baked it in the oven for a bit, mostly to melt the cheese because everything was still hot and was already cooked.

 When it came out, I couldn't wait to try it. I wanted to try to take a picture of the layers for you to see, but it wasn't easy.

I also served it with some sauteed rainbow chard on the side. I had picked this up from the farmer's market, and I had never tried it before.  It turned out very tasty.

While eating, I thought to myself that a great way to make this vegetarian could be to substitute the meat for something like spinach or chard, I think they would taste good together, you could really use any vegetable, or if you like meat, use any meat you like.

I really enjoyed making shepherd's pie, it was so delicious, I only ate it with a touch of sour cream because the flavours were amazing. Previously, I had definitely eaten shepherd's pie with ketchup, but it had never been like this. This is truly my own rendition of it. You can incorporate your favourite foods and flavours into shepherd's pie. Why not make it your own? Try it!

Until next time, Happy Munching.