Bento is a Japanese style home-packed complete meal which typically holds rice, fish or meat, pickled or steamed vegetables and some fruits. Bento is an art and to me it’s a meal I make from my heart to nourish my children’s body and express my love for them by creating simple, satisfying and healthy packed bento lunch. I have tons of bento accessories but I am not an expert like others. I mix bento making with my American-style lunch box and jarred salads or fruits. It makes eating more fun and I enjoy hearing stories from my children about how much fun they enjoyed eating their lunch at school. Bento box is easy, just make sure you have simple portioned left-overs or ingredients that can be pre-cooked and stored in the freezer then warmed up before bento assembly. Bento can even be prepared the night before because the goal of preparing bento is to serve food at room temperature using ingredients that can hold itself fresh until ready to eat within a day.
Whole-wheat flat bread ham & cheese sandwich, Persian cucumbers, Mr. & Mrs. banana, cherry tomatoes and biscotti for desertBento accessory I purchased on Amazon to make fun and cute sandwiches for my kidsBig Sister Bento. I prepared this bento for my elder daughter for school lunch. It includes Paleo turkey avocado wrap, Berkshire sausages, star-boiled egg, baby carrots, sliced kiwi and bananaLittle Sister Bento – after making the bigger version, I have some left-overs, I made this smaller bento version for my little one. This one has a heart-boiled egg.Another bento accessory, I bought it for $1.50, it turns the sausages into cute animalsBear rice balls (onigiri) filled with grilled salmon (left-over from dinner last night), Japanese fried chicken (Karaage), cherry tomatoes, and Hello Kitty Jello for desertBear rice balls (onigiri) filled with grilled salmon (left-over from dinner last night), Japanese fried chicken (Karaage), cherry tomatoes, and Hello Kitty Jello for desert
Cooking made super easy using this pre-packed Crispy Fry Mix from my sister in The Philippines. She sent this to me and I was super excited to try it. It’s very easy to make. I bought my favorite boneless chicken cutlets from a Japanese market. These chicken parts are from thighs and legs used by Japanese to cook “Karaage” (Japanese style fried chicken). I just heated my non-stick pan with Canola oil, placed my chicken in a zip-lock bag, mixed in the Crispy Fry powder then deep fry on medium high.
It turned out well. Extra crispy, juicy and very easy to make.
The Crispy Fry mix is available in Filipino and Japanese supermarkets here in California.
My family and I were in Chula Vista, California. It is a small town in San Diego a few miles to the border of Mexico. Because of it’s proximity to Mexico, you will feel like you are in Mexico when you walk the streets of Chula Vista’s commercial hang-outs. A lot of authentic Mexican places to eat.
While waiting for someone, we entered this small place and we didn’t even know what they serve. Upon seeing the pictures and prices on the wall, it took us about 10 minutes before we could order. I had to feast my eyes into all goodies before I could really decide what I wanted to taste.
We always want to explore new flavors but when we saw the word “Corn” in the freezer, we just couldn’t say no.
I grew up in the Philippines eating corn ice cream, buying from Filipino ice cream peddlers called “Mamang Sorbetero.” It’s a classic flavor every Filipino feels nostalgic about. I’ve seen corn ice cream at Korean markets too. If you have eaten sweet corn on a cob or canned sweet corn and even frozen sweet corn, it’s the same thing! Try it!! I suggest going to a Filipino, Korean or Mexican supermarket in your area. Good luck and I hope to hear stories from people who will dare taste it (if it’s your first time – wink.. wink!).
What to order? Everything is new to me….Found it!! Something I know but curious if it tastes the same as the Filipino version….Sweet corn ice cream. Not too sweet, creamy and soft… I shared this cup with my husband and we enjoyed remembering our childhood days eating “sorbetes” in the Philippines.
November is the usual month of the year that I make kimchi but because our supply wasn’t much last year, I had to make some again. Today, I just made about 14 pounds of cabbages and 1 medium size daikon for my KKakdugi (cubed radish kimchi). It took me almost 4 hours to make it and it was all worth it.
My recipe came from my very good friend Maangchi and I have been using her recipe for about 7-8 years now. A few years back, I posted my Homemade Kimchi blog post, visit the page and enjoy more photos of how to make kimchi plus my personal recipe as adapted from Maangchi’s recipe.
I gave a few jars to some friends. My family will be enjoying our family dinner with our freshly made kimchi! Mmmmm.. I must not have lunch and get ready to feast tonight.
If you have any questions, feel free to leave me a message. If you search my blog using search word “kimchi,” you will learn more on how to make your own. Thanks for visiting my Blog.
Here’s my simple recipe for making nectar for our Hummingbird feeder:
4 cups of filtered water
1 cup of refined white sugar
In a small pot boil water then add sugar and stir until sugar melts. Make sure that nectar is at room temperature before transferring to hummingbird feeders. This is a great recipe and they love it!
Important note: Do not use different forms of sugar except White Refined Sugar only.
Maíz con hielo is a cold, sweet and refreshing desert snack in the Philippines. We used to make these a lot during the hot and humid summer months when we had no school. It’s a very economical treat and it’s very easy to make even minors can do it themselves (except for opening a canned corn, they will need assistance from a grown-up)
The picture shown on my blog is a special version of Maíz con hielo. I ordered this from a small Filipino restaurant in National City and their version includes a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a small chunk of Leche Flan (Filipino Custard). Really, when you want to make this, you don’t need these special ingredients.
Maiz con Hielo with Vanilla Ice cream and custard
Here’s the recipe for Maiz con Hielo
Ingredients:
Canned sweet corn (Whole Kernel or Creamed Style)
Shaved Ice
White sugar
Evaporated Milk (or any milk available)…
Procedure:
In a large glass, put as much canned sweet corn that you like. i usually put 1/4 cup or a little bit more. Then add the shaved ice, sugar (depending on how sweet you want it to be) and milk. That’s it!!! Mix it well before enjoying. You can add any special ingredients like sweetened fruits, nuts, granola, ice cream, etc.
Easy right? I hope you can make some and show me some pictures of what you made. I will make some for my children tomorrow, they love it!
By the way, because we were in a Filipino restaurant, we ordered other delicacies like the Bibingka (Charcoal steamed Rice Cake) and Fresh Lumpiang Ubod (Egg roll Crepe with Palm Hearts and vegetables).
Bibingka (Charcoal Steamed Filipino Rice Cake with salty cheese, sugar and freshly grated coconutLumpiang Ubod (Fresh Crepe rolled Palm Hearts and mixed vegetables topped with sweet sauce, peanuts, garlic…
Inspired by Maangchi, I wanted to create my own version of her Soy Milk Cold Noodle. It was super easy and I loved it. Although my family doesn’t like cold noodle dishes that much, I personally enjoyed the nutty and creamy cold soup base.
This is a very easy and healthy & economical noodle dish perfect for the warm days of coming summer months.
For the recipe, you can visit Maangchi’s website. She is the expert and I am just a fan.
If you have any questions, feel free to leave me a message.
Wash Soy Beans and remove dead floating onesSoak for 10-12 hoursAfter soaking, wash well with bare hands and scrub soy beans together to remove softened skin.After washing the soy beans well, cook for 10-15 minutes then drain.Put soy beans, salt, mixed nuts in the blenderAdd water (2 1/2 cups of water to 1 cup of cooked soybeans) and some ice then blend until smooth
One of my favorite things to do with my family is going on a weekend Farmer’s market trip either locally or wherever we may be (when we are on a trip). I enjoy looking at each stall showcasing their handcrafted products or organically grown produce and/or plants.
We take time walking and enjoying all the “free-taste” offered by each seller. My kids get to taste the products and naturally, they ask us to buy more for them to consume on other days. While we look around what’s available during the season, my husband and I get to plan what we want to cook together, weekday meal plans for the family and the entire weeks’ school and/or work lunch ideas.
Because going to the Farmer’s Market is more economical and healthy, we get to enjoy our food budget with freedom to purchase what is needed and wanted, making our weekend mornings an enjoyable family errand, street food, food exploration day.
One might say, it’s still expensive to go to a Farmer’s Market because only organically grown produce are available and these products are pricier than produce sold by bulk at big supermarkets. Well, I learned from my own personal experience that buying all kinds of meat products and stocking processed food is the main reason why my food budget is exhausted easily. When my family eats fresh and healthy fruits and vegetables, minimize our consumption of meat products and a lot of those “boxed goodies”, we have more spending money left to buy these all-natural foodstuff.
Enjoy the photos I took and imagine yourself at a Farmer’s Market.
For more information about Orange County Certified Farmer’s Market, just like the link. Photos below were taken at the Saturday Irvine Farmer Market located at the Mariner’s Church parking lot.
Bought some fresh Cauliflowers for my cauliflower soupBerries are everywhere!!! I bought some for my pancakes…Always stock up some Hass Avocados for salads, breakfast, snacks, smoothies, etc.Kale and Chard for our Detox JuicingI am never out of Onions… Red Onions are great for salads…Another necessity, Lemons are high in Vitamin C and is needed almost everyday in my kitchen.My Asian ingredient that’s always available in my kitchen, Ginger!! I use it for juicing, soups, stir-fry, steamed fish, etc.Everybody loves spinach!! I know someone who can’t live without it – POPEYE!!!As requested by my little girl, we got some Yellow Peaches. It says “More sweet than my Mother’s Love,” to me, it was sweet but nothing beats my Mommy’s love 🙂Very slim carrots for our Detox JuiceBeautiful Orchids for sale!!Plants for sale too! This is where I got my beautiful Bougainvilleas…Daikon radish very cheap and nutritious… I use this on soups and simple Japanese grated daikonCherries were everywhere!!!My little girl enjoying the wide variety of “Free-Taste,” this is her favorite thing to do when we go to Farmer’s Markets… who wouldn’t enjoy doing this?Kohrabi is a German Turnip. I pickle this, great as appetizer!Fancy tomatoes.. Fancy mixing this into your salad?Vegetable explorer! She loves discovering special fruits and vegetables…Another attention-grabber, red radishes… beautiful and fresh. Easy to add on salads and stews…It’s a must to always but a bouquet here… Price in the stores are 3 time more expensive!Although my eldest daughter doesn’t enjoy eating these (Bitter Gourd Leaves/Dahon ng Ampalaya), she still tries her best to eat some to test her capacity to eat different tastes and textures.. I am so proud of her!Final stop… my coffee from freshly ground organic coffee beans. This is LIFE!!!Some street food vendors at the end of the market for people to enjoy and relax…
Have you tried Detoxification? Juicing for detox is a very effective way for me and my husband to cleanse our body. Why do we do this? Simple, because we love ourselves. We enjoy juicing as a family, we have fun buying our produce from the local Farmer’s Market in Laguna Niguel, Irvine or San Juan Capistrano (California) and we spend time together in our kitchen cutting up, cleaning and preparing for our healthy juice for detox.
First thing’s first, we buy organic fruits and vegetables to make sure our juice is free from any pesticides or chemicals. We make sure to pick the fruits and vegetables that our children like plus a little bit of this and that that they don’t know I mix into the juice but they still love the taste (i.e., celery, beets, ginger, lemon, different herbs, etc.).
Today I went to Sprouts Farmer’s Market with my little girl and she helped me bag all the fresh ingredients for our juice. Our children eat all kinds of vegetables and fruits so she picked the celery, cucumbers, green bell peppers and green apples. Green is her favorite color 🙂 and I picked the rest.
Our photo gallery below shows all the ingredients.
Apple is the most common ingredient we put in our juiceCollard greens in the salad bowl after a good washChia seeds for added fiberNavel oranges to add Vitamin C and sweetness into our juiceWashed and cleaned ready for chopping to fit our juicerSliced thinly to fit our juicerLots of Parsley and CilantroMore green means more detox powerUsing our Omega Nutrition JuicerFast absorption of powerful ingredients and antioxidantsDetox Juice
Juicing for Detox is really easy. We are very lucky to have all these fresh vegetables available locally but really, wherever you are, there are all kinds of produce available to you. Just pick anything that you want and juice them up.
Finding a good juicer is an investment for your health. We use the Omega Nutrition System Juicer that use low-speed juicing. There are a lot of juicers in the market. Invest on one that is durable and something that will last for a long time.
Good luck on your juicing!
Watch Dr. Oz for more inspiring messages on Juicing for Detox:
Click this photo for a link to watch Dr. Oz on Joe Cross’ 3-Day Weekend Juice Cleansing
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