Big Shiny Bento

This week the family has been sick, so nothign much has been getting done.

Last night my wife and I met some friends at a local sushi buffet. Thats right unlimited sushi.

I describe it as japanese dim sum because they bring it right to your table, and there are salads, noodle and rice dishes, and terriyaki meat as well as sushi, sashimi, maki, and so on.

1000 islands of sushi is on Carling at Clyde in Ottawa and is fairly new. Like the other sushi buffets that have started up, their all you can eat dinner price is not cheap, but great for what you get at $21 on week nights.  The food is made fresh where possible when you order (salad, sushi, steak thrown on the grill, etc.) so its not instant service, but its really fast. Getting the right amounts of something was a bit tricky - we had a good laugh when we got 1 tempura mushroom in a basket.

Because you can order anything from seaweed salad, to steak, to curry chicken on rice to sushi this is a great place to take a group with mixed tastes. But you must bring your appetite. If not, you can order one or two dishes like at a normal restaurant, but its more fun to sample many things.

We will be going back there shortly, let me tell you!

Yay - back to bento today.

But no pictures.
The bottom layer has boiled baby bok choy in a garlic soy sauce, boiled thin slices of butternut squash, and 1/4 cup of 2% cottage cheese.

The top layer has 1 cup of rice in either end with pickled carrot on top, with a boiled egg in the middle topped with soy sauce.
Its not galmorous, but its not bad. Its really high in protein at 22g, ok for fat at 7g, and a nice little meal at 424 calories. As you can tell I’m into diet mode now.

Yeah, I’m getting strange with the titles now.

I made sheppard’s pie and it seems to be hanging around for a while somehow. Its just the standard cooked ground beef with BBQ sauce on the bottom, a layer of corn, topped off with a nice layer of mashed potatoes browned on top.

Despite the family eating from this cassarole for over 4 days now, its still here! Now I’m not claiming any fish and bread style miracles here, but knowing this I’ll be able to make the food last longer than before!

Last night I tried to use up some cabbage, and made a really good dish.

1. Cut cabbage into squares, and stir fry until soft with a bit of oil.
2. Add diced cooked ham. Stir fry for a while on medium heat. (Juice will come out of ham to start the sauce.)
3. Add a large tablespoon of dijon mustard, and a 1/4 cup of table cream. (You get dijon flavor, but no spice.)
4. Simmer it for a while to reduce, tossing to coat with sauce.
5. Serve to happy people!

Yup thats the basis for today - super easy sorta Kim Chee-like recipe.

Kim Chee is a Vietnam staple. Its pickled spicy cabbage with other goodies added for good measure. You can also find it as a flavour of some instant noodles.

My simple home version is - shred some cabbage really fine. Boil it until its just soft, not mushy. Drain it, and add hot sauce with garlic. Toss and serve. Alternately you can add the flavours to the water, and a touch more after draining.

I’m having this along with ramen noodles and my own veggie mix based on Teriyaki Experience veggie mix (bean sprouts, green peppers, mushrooms, cabbage, and onion - all thinly shredded).

I’m starting to lose weight ever so slowly. So now I’m going to eat better and watch the decent speed up!

Soon I might even look this thin!

I tried a dish for supper last night that turned out really well.

Diced ham, shredded and pre-cooked cabbage, and rice - equal amount all three. And it was left in the pot for a long time, so the rice is really soft. Its very mild and needs another sauce or flavor with it.

Again no picture due to no camera.

Just brought PBJ sandwiches and a clementine today.

Ate them for breakfast, so I got a Subway salad for lunch.

Not sure what I’ll be snacking on this afternoon.

Sorry, but no bento today.

When I started my bento-ing and this blog it was partly with the intention to eat better, and lose a bit of weight.

I have started to make my weight more of a prority now. Diets are bad, but its good to aim for a better balance in what you eat. For example I don’t eat enough fibre, and i eat too many starchy carbs and not enough good natural carbs.

I set a modest weight goal for when my second child will be born, and hopefully I will surpass it. I want to have more energy by then - I’m sure I’ll need it!

You wont be seeing much more about this, but I will comment when I hit big goals along the way.

Have a good weekend!

With a roast ham to use up, I’ve started to get creative!

The bottom layer is 2 BBQ pork buns and frozen mixed green and yellow beans.

The top layer is all sliced ham and mustard sauce. The sauce is just a white sauce with a good dollop of prepared mustard - it isn’t a strong flavor, and its bright yellow!

Again no camera, so …

Welcome to 2008! Hands up who has broken their resolutions so far! I guess if I had made a resolution I would have broken it already- I play more Warcraft that maybe I should, but I’m ok with that.

Lunch today is leftovers from New Years day. In my family its normally a big meal, almost like Christmas day.

Today I have homemade scalloped potatoes (thanks for the cream Dad!), mixed yellow and green string beans with carrots, acorn baked squash, and leftover beef and pea rice from last week. Dessert is caramel apple pie. I also brough snacks of a Reese SnackBarz, almonds, and 100% fruit gummies.
As you can tell from that list, I’m not on a diet right now. But one of my goals for this year is to eat healthier than last year. I guess that means fewer trips to McDonalds and Burger King. With my wife expecting I’ve cooking at least one green veggie per meal, usually with a 2nd veggie and its been working well. Now how to eat healthy and keep costs down.. hmm…

Sorry about no picture, but the camera is packed away somewhere still. I need to get some stand in pics for when this happens.  Maybe this one..