Apple carving skills!

Just a quick post this morning as I browse for new ideas for more tasty bento lunches.

Apple carving!
I've seen different types of carved apples in other bento blogs and I while I have tried to make the bunny (not very successfully... let's just say the bunny is always missing an ear) I had not tried to make the other types of apples. See my picture below!

Pictured here are a two bunnies (not maimed), a flower, and a checkered apple. I am very proud of how far my knife skills have come (I have cut my thumb while chopping carrots since this picture but that's a different story of sleeping preparation of lunches). I also tried to make the leaf pattern wedges but also I butchered the apple so I ate that one first. Also it ths picture is my favorite dip for apples, peanut butter yogurt! It sounds kind of weird but wait until you try it. I first heard about this dip in a fitness magazine (I think) and since then it has been my favorite snack. I mix about 1 to 2 tablespoons of peanut butter into one small container (4 to 6 ounces) of plain greek yogurt. I garnished the dip with some unsalted peanuts. Sometimes I like to make it a little sweet and it that case I will use honey or half plain and half vanilla yogurt.

I love to pack this dip in my bentos. It is a very thick dip so I never have to worry about it spilling over or leaking out.

This is also a high protein dip if you make it with greek yogurt. Four ounces of greek yogurt can contain 10 grams or more of protein. When eaten with apples you get a nice dose of fiber and protein to keep you full.

Enjoy!

Bubble Tea!

Oh my goodness! This stuff is sooo tasty, but that is because of how much sugar it contains. Every since Cafe 88 opened up right next to campus, I have gone there at least once a week to order a bubble tea and sometimes something to eat, but mainly for the bubble tea. Anyhow, if you do not know what bubble tea is allow me to explain. It is black or green tea mixed with milk/cream or fruit flavors and spiked with tapioca pearls which are nice and chewy. This place also offer "jellies", which are multi-colored tangy-sweet jello-like pieces. Once I realized how much sugar is in this concoction (I haven't actually looked it up) I decided I would try and make the drink myself to save myself some calories and help keep my teeth from rotting in the future.

So this is my modified version of bubble tea. I added pureed fruit for some texture as well as flavor, along with 1 tablespoon of sugar, about 1/4 cup tapioca pearls, ice, and topped everything off with a nice black tea. Here is the result.

You can see the blueberry pieces floating at the top with the ice. I thought the tea was very tasty, however J. didn't like the pieces of fruit in his so he decided to strain the drink. His drink still tasted like blueberries since the tea was hot when we mixed everything together. Tasty stuff. And since I've decided I will make most of my drinks this way (I say most) I have ended up drinking fewer all together just because it takes a little bit of effort and planning to make the tapioca and tea and puree the fruit and strain the drink and actually drink it... which is probably better for me overall. :)  Cheers!

Back to it... Sushi making evening

Hello! I have been away for so long...

I had a few finals and projects, presentations, etc., etc. going on at the end of the semester, but now that's done with. It is time for a break.

But on to my lovely sushi! I was so proud of some of our sushi we made. I have made sushi a few times (maybe twice before) and I was feeling daring to make some sushi for our lunches. So I convinced J. to help me. It takes a lot to set up for us to make sushi (see my picture below)

This is how I prepare to make sushi. I try to anything and everything we might want to add to the rolls close at hand. Soy sauce, wasabi, sesame seeds, nori, sushi rice, shrimp, tuna mayo with wasabi, sesame salmon, carrots sticks, asapagus, cream cheese slices, steak, cheddar cheese sticks, tofu pouches, and much more.

All the fish was cooked because I would rather someone else prepare the raw sushi (plus I live in the middle of U.S. and the only fresh fish you might find here is catfish :P ). But everything turned out tasty. Here are some picture of our sushi rolls.

The picture is a little out of focus. Oh well. In this photo there are tuna mayo and asparagus rolls, sesame salmon with carrots and asparagus rolls, salmon tofu pouches, and shrimp, carrot, asparagus, and cream cheese rolls; I also made and inside out roll with the sesame salmon and topped it with toasted black sesame seeds. All were super tasty.

Here are a few of the rolls that J. made.

This roll contains steak, smoked cheddar cheese, carrots, and asparagus. J. is not a big fan of fish; he especially doesn't like tuna, so he decided to make some steak sushi. I wasn't sure how it would taste, but it was surprisingly tasty.

I thought J's rolls turned out exceptionally pretty because of the color contrast. We had so much sushi (I wish we would have invited some people over to help us eat it) but because the fish was all cooked it kept really well in the fridge for lunch the next day.

Look for more posts from now on. I'm hoping to have 4 to 5 posts a week, but let's see how it goes.