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.

Happy Halloween!

This year, my husband had to work until 7pm on Halloween, so I was getting set for the kids by myself this year. It was really fun, although there were a few obstacles, and everything worked out great. I had already decorated a few days before hand, I just had to add the finishing touches... some strobe lights and some creepy music, and some candles... and let's not forget the pumpkins!

It had been a long time since I had carved a pumpkin by myself, I usually pick out what I want and my husband carves it. This year, we hadn't had time to carve them early, so it was up to me to carve at least one!

I carefully selected a pattern, but I didn't want anything too easy or too boring, and I though to myself, I know exactly the perfect thing.... Jack Skellington. The Nightmare Before Christmas has been a favourite movie of mine for so long and when else can you carve the Pumpkin King's visage on an actual pumpkin? So I set out to carve him up! It was definitely tricky, especially the mouth, and my hand was so tired afterwards, but it was worth it!

I snapped this picture and sent it to my husband at work to show him what I had carved! I left the second pumpkin for him to do when he got home. I put my pumpkin outside and waited for kids to start coming and there were way more than last year! 

When my husband got home, he started on his pumpkin while I made dinner. When he was done, we brought his outside to join mine and took some pictures:

I had picked out a Jack Skellington pattern for him too, but a different looking one. It was neat. They looked great all lit up. One had a light in it that changed colours and the other blinked on and off.

They looked awesome on our step, and we got lots of compliments on them.

We brought them in at the end of the night, and I took one last photo... and then I moved on to use what I had harvested from them... PUMPKIN SEEDS!

It had been a long time since my parents had cooked up some pumpkin seeds after I had carved a pumpkin as a child, but while I was carving our pumpkins, I was impressed with how great these seeds looked and I wanted to use them. I looked up some tips online and I set them out on a baking sheet to dry overnight.

The next evening, I tossed them in some olive oil and some salt, pepper, and roasted red pepper and garlic spice, and spread them out on a sheet and put them in the oven at about 250 for a bit over an hour, checkin on them periodically.

They turned out delicious! Crispy and flavourful! The spices even seemed to have caramelized a bit in the oven, they had such a wonderful taste to them. I was glad that I decided to roast them!

What did you carve in your pumpkin this year? Did you roast your pumpkin seeds?

I hope you had a Happy Halloween! I know I did!

Until next time, Happy Munching!

Turkey Dinner Bento

After Thanksgiving, we all have lots of leftovers available, and they usually make great lunches, and even dinners as we clear them out of our fridge over the week. 

Now, these leftovers don't make the most beautiful bento, but they sure are delicious. 

I've included buffet carrots (carrots with a cheese sauce, onions and topped with some crispy bread), stuffing, turkey and mashed potatoes. I included on the side (but didn't take a picture of) some homemade gravy. I put this in a microwave safe container because I like my turkey leftovers served hot.

I made a turkey all by myself this year for the second time in a row. It's still a new experience, and I am learning a lot, and I really enjoy trying these things. This year, I covered the top of my turkey in bacon strips. Everyone kept telling my how I had to try it,  and well, I would say it was a tasty trick. I am not sure how much it really enhanced it from last year's version, its hard to tell because I bought a different type of turkey this year, too, but I liked how it turned out!

Enjoy eating your Turkey Dinner leftovers!

Until next time, Happy Munching!

A Throwback, Nutritious and Delicious

We've pretty much all had this before.... peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but, it doesn't have to be that boring. I like to make mine interesting by using peanut butter and apple butter. The more rich flavour and thicker texture pairs really well with the peanut butter. I paired my sandwich with some green pepper, broccoli and mushrooms, and some cocktail tomatoes and some dressing.

This meal is a bit of a throwback to school days, but it really is nutritious, easy and delicious. It is a pretty well-balanced meal, and I think that we shouldn't easily dismiss PB & J. Mix it up, remake an old favourite and try some OLD things sometimes! You might be surprised at how much you missed them!

Until next time, Happy Munching!

Super Simple Lunch

We don't always have a lot of free time in the mornings when we are heading out to wherever we are supposed to be, whether that is school, work or an appointment, sometimes we throw together something quick, or completely miss the opportunity to make a lunch to bring.

This morning was one of those days for me and I threw together this very quick and 4 item bento. I have included a red bean bun, some pickled radish and carrot, a boiled egg and some asian pear.

I would most definitely not call this a perfect bento, but I would say that this is a good example of something quick and easy that one can throw together that rates fairly well as healthy and will let you make it through the day.

Next time you are in a rush, consider having some easy to grab pre-made or even pre-prepared items on hand. I was glad that I had some boiled eggs ready in my fridge and some of the buns. That way when I was in a rush, I just had to grab them, no cooking required. We don't always have time to make a lunch from scrap in the morning, or time to make something great the night before, so I would really recommend this type of method to anyone who might tend to be rushed in the mornings. ;)

Until next time, Happy Munching!

Ramen!

Mostly everyone in their life has tried instant ramen before, whether they realized what it was or not. Instant ramen is something most people think of as a poor student's diet, or an easy meal, something lumped in with Kraft Dinner and such usually. I believe instant ramen is highly underrated, and has much potential to make a delicious meal.

Today, I wanted a delicious bowl of ramen with more than just noodles and broth! I thinly sliced up some mushrooms and napa cabbage and I also took a few pieces of thinly sliced beef from the freezer that I usually use for hot pot, I placed these things on top of the raw noodles in my bowl and poured boiling water over top of them. I covered it with a plate for the recommended time, and when it was cooked, I threw in my soup base (this is my preferred method of making it). Out came this delicious soup!

I really encourage you to try making instant ramen something more than a poor student's food! Try adding vegetables and thin cuts of meat you like! You can use ham, or any pre-cooked meat if you prefer, you can even add a boiled egg! Anything goes! 

I hope I have inspired you to reconsider instant ramen and to try something new! Until next time, Happy Munching!