Playing Catch-Up

Ack, sorry I've been so busy all this week! Luckily, I've kept my camera by me to take some snapshots of what I've been up to.

I got a double-boiler for $5 at a thrift store, score! So here is my first round of chocolate-coated stuff. I coated maraschino cherries, bananas, marshmallows, and filled up a couple of my silicone cupcake cups with chocolate. My favorites were the straight-up chocolate cups-- going to experiment further with these as my bravery in the kitchen increases.

My-firstest-ever-from-scratch pound cake. *sniff* It was great, but sort of dry. Got good reviews from my taste-testers! This cake is more like a gain-a-pound cake, if you know what I mean. Two cups of butter! This is probably one of the more labor-intensive recipes that I've used, and am glad the cake turned out so well. Still a complete novice in the kitchen, but hey! I think I'm learning a few things. Not that Chem Ramsey would dare let me near his kitchen...

Tonight's bento box, which I have eaten most of already. Baby carrots on a bed of edamame beans, white basmati rice with green curry simmer sauce for dinner. For desert, I invested in an apple core-cutting device and cut up one of Nicole's apples she picked from a farm, used a leftover raspberry chocolate cup, and stole a lemon bar from the mix recipe (shaaame!) that I had made earlier. When life gives you lemons, make lemon bars for your friends!!

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Red Curry Bento

Omnomnom. I work as a police aide on my campus, and my hours can get a little strange-- I work from 12AM till 8AM, so sometimes I like to pack up my bento box with goodies. Tonight is no exception! I have red curry sauce on basmatti rice, a hard-boiled egg on a bed of lettuce, fresh grapes, green tea mochi, and iced animal crackers. All my stuff was really simple to make, since I was in a hurry. Even though it's not gourmet, it's relatively cheap and quick to make for even a novice:

Hard-boiled egg-- You need a single raw egg and a handful of iceburg lettuce.

-Boil a pot of water that is filled to about 2 or 3 inches.
-Carefully place the egg into the water. Let the water simmer for about 10-15 minutes.
-Take the egg out using a spoon or ladle. Wait for it to cool.
-Gently crack the hardboiled egg's shell and peel the shell and skin away.
-Cut the egg in half. Use one half and place the other half in the fridge for later.
-Line the bento with lettuce. Place egg on top.

Red curry rice-- You need 2/3 cup of basmati rice, your favorite storebought red curry sauce (I got mine from Trader Joe's), and some shallots.

-Boil a pot of water that is filled to about 2 or 3 inches.
-Put 2/3 a cup of basmati white rice in a strainer. Run water over the rice and stir to wash it.
-Carefully place the washed rice into the boiling water. Let it cook for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally.
-Use the ladle to pick out one or two grains. Blow on the grains, and test them to see if they are cooked and ready to eat.
-Strain the rice over a sink. Pour rice into bento box.
-Carefully stir in as much red curry sauce as you prefer.
-Thinly slice shallots on cutting board-- as much as you prefer.
-Sprinkle shallots ontop of rice.

Well-- err-- the rest I bought at stores or pilfered from the school caf. If you are curious-- I bought the mochi at an E-Mart.

Poor Student's $2.50 Bento Meal

I got my bento box in the mail today, yay. In celebration, I cooked up my first bento meal. It was really quick and cheap to prepare (although it's not that healthy). Not including money for the actual lunch box, I payed only $2.50 for this meal.

Here's what I included:
-Grape tomatoes and steamed carrots on a bed of spinach leaves
-Stovetop seafood flavored ramen with diced carrots
-Fruit medley of grapes, strawberries, and apple slices soaked in soda water
-Storebought green tea mochi and Japanese biscuits with chocolate filling

Wondering how all this was just $2.50? Here is my secret!
At CNU, there is a great salad bar included in the meal plan. I assume that all over the country, there are these secret salad bars that include everything from Velveta cheese cubes to spicy bananna peppers. I take a to-go box and do my "grocery shopping" in the comfort of my campus's cafeteria and salad bar. I pilfer the tomatoes, carrots, spinach leaves, grapes, strawberries, and apple slices from the salad bar. Ramen is $.20, a six-pack of mochi is $1.30, and the biscuits are just $1.00. There you have it! Poor Student's $2.50 Bento meal.

The presentation was adequate for a first Bento box (In my humble opinion). Like the obsessed freak I am, I ran off to Anime Club with my little Bento and showed it off. It was make-a-plushie night, and I'll upload my plushie tomorrow. (:

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