Hamburger and Pepper Pasta

I think my taste buds have changed on me. I find that lately I not only tolerate some spicy food, but I am actually craving it. Now, for me, jalapeno peppers are spicy...or used to be, anyhow. Lately I adore pepper jack cheese, so I bought some to use this week, not having an idea as to how. There were two peppers, one red, one green, in my fridge that needed to be cooked, so I thought a one pan dish would be perfect for dinner.

Hamburger and Pepper Pasta
1 Red bell pepper, chopped
1 Green bell pepper, chopped
1 Small onion, chopped
1 Clove garlic, minced
2 T Extra virgin olive oil
1 Lb ground beef
2 Cups fusili pasta/elbow macaroni
1 Box chicken stock/broth
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Cup pepper jack cheese, cut into cubes
1 Cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Heat the pan to medium-high heat, add olive oil. Saute peppers, onion, and garlic until soft. Crumble ground beef into the pan, and brown. Add the chicken broth and the pasta. Make sure the pasta is under the liquid, and cover with a lid. Cook for about 20 minutes or until pasta is tender. Turn heat to low, and add the pepper jack cheese. Stir until melted, then add the cheddar. Melt the cheddar and remove from heat. Serve hot.

Sauteed peppers, onion, garlic, and browned beef in the oil.

Chicken stock and pasta added.

Keep the lid on to prevent the pasta from drying out.

Adding the pepper jack cheese.

Adding the cheddar cheese.

Mmmm, super cheesy, peppery pasta.

Grilled Cheese Bento

Right now I am trying to transition my way of cooking and eating to include more organic and local goods as possible. Organic goodies tend to be more expensive, so I have decided to take some time to make the permanent shift. I am a frugal person, so I cannot just waste what I have in my pantry and freezer. The good news is that I have very little processed goods so far. Meals in boxes and freezer bags are not in my house any more. So while my diet and my choices are far from perfect, I am taking some time and making it my goal to get there by January. Wait, not that I think that I can be perfect, but that I think I can give my best effort to be more conscious about where my food comes from and how it is produced.

I give myself kudos for baking my own bread when our last loaf went bad (in Germany the mold grows very fast!). My bread always seems to be smaller than what I get at the store, so it works perfectly for my bento boxes. After I slice my bread, I butter one side of a couple of pieces of bread, slip in a half slice of havarti cheese, and heat it up in my skillet on medium heat. I lightly brown each side, and get it ready to serve my daughter. Since she rarely eats a whole sandwich, I cut it in half, and give her one for dinner, and wrap the other one for her bento box. For my own bento, I cut my sandwich in half and stack the halves on top of each other, keeping the curves together. I wrap my two halves and my daughter's one half in cellophane, then add them to the boxes. My heart-shaped silicone cups hold some cut-up tomatoes, and I cut a plum in half, using cute blue elephant picks to decorate each half. Since the sandwich remains loose, I wedge in a few slices of cucumbers to secure it. My daughter loves hearts, so I add a paper heart with some tape. Cute stuff!

Charaben Bento Box: Happy Worm

Almost too cute to eat!

I love making bento lunches for my daughter, but haven't tried out the character bento, also known as a charaben bento, until today. I wanted to start out with something simple, and quick, so I went with this cute little worm! He is happy, and why wouldn't he be, with those yummy carrots and that juicy strawberry to tempt his tastebuds?

First off, I made a simple wrap using leftover chicken, mayo, and slices of cheese. I had to tuck in the sides before I rolled it so that it would fit nicely in the box. I just rolled it from the short end to short end of the long rectangle...or top to bottom if you are looking at the picture below.

After I folded it like this I rolled it from top to bottom.

After it was rolled, I cut it into three sections. To make sure the sections would fit the box, I placed the whole roll in, took my knife and made a mark of how tall the bento came on the side of the wrap. I cut that section and then cut the remainder in half as well. If a section is slightly too big, try to put the lid on. If it won't close, then you can cut off however much is necessary to make it fit. Easy as pie! Once I had my wrap spirals, I carefully added them to one side of the box, and cut out my sliced cheese shapes using a little kitchen knife. The black stuff is nori, or seaweed, that was cut with kitchen shears. Nori sticks to the cheese easily. After I put his head on, it looked odd, so I made a wavy cut from the side of the cheese, and put it on the bottom of Mr.Worm. That did the trick! Then I cut up a little carrot into sticks and placed them in the bento box along with a strawberry. This took me about 10 minutes to make. I love easy lunch days!
*Nori can be found in grocery stores in the ethnic food sections. They are used to make sushi as well as other things.

Chicken Quesadilla Bento Lunch




Today I needed to cook up some chicken that was in the fridge, so with the request from my daughter to have tortilla's for lunch, I decided to make some quesadillas. They were super easy to make, so I figured it would be wonderful to have saved myself the trouble of making lunch tomorrow if I made bento box lunches with the leftovers. Since bentos are so small, I decided to play with the shape a little. I sandwiched my cooked chicken (sauteed in olive oil and sprinkled with seasoning salt) and cheddar cheese between two wheat tortillas and carefully placed it into my skillet.

On medium heat, I lightly browned both sides. I pressed them flat before I flipped them because I wanted to make sure the cheese acted as a sort of glue for keeping it together.

Once they were done, I cut out four circles with a biscuit cutter and sat the circles aside for the bentos. My daughter devoured the rest of the pieces.

The bottom tortilla was a bit harder to cut through than the top.

I placed the circles into each bento box and added a container of salsa. These containers were actually easter eggs with neat patterns along the sides. They were food safe and closed decently, keeping the salsa properly contained.

These eggs had enough space for the right amount of salsa.

Next, I added some containers of sour cream. These don't have tops, so I used dividers to top them.

The sour cream on the top edges helps the divider sheets stick on.

I finished the boxes with some sliced cucumbers. Both bento boxes turned out beautifully!

I think my daughter can have the elephant one.

This cute bear one will be mine tomorrow!