My hectic days--the forgotten bentos

i know--i know..
blame me for being so long neglected this blog and forgotten to write any new bentos i've made >>>guilty face

anyway, i go to deep with my new activities. i have to take care hubby's need in every days' food supplying--house works--while on the other side, i have to deal with the creative stuffs (making handmade toys), look after the bento club with beloved friends from 3 different countries (now, we have reached 101 indonesian members and continue to grow in number since the bento club was held on last week in the month of April 2011), and lead a garment business and consumer goods too. 


ok i admit it.
it was hectic days to live. :,)


i've got my first alert here. yesterday, the doctor said that i've got variant angina. it's a syndrome typically consisting of angina (cardiac chest pain) at rest that occurs in cycles. It is caused by vasospasm, a narrowing of the coronary arteries caused by contraction of the smooth muscle tissue in the vessel walls rather than directly by atherosclerosis (buildup of fatty plaque and hardening of the arteries). It occurs more in younger women . Two-thirds of patients have concurrent atherosclerosis of a major coronary artery   >>> hard words to understand huh? :D in short words,  i have to slow down a moment. 

well, i cut off the communication on my facebook, the blogs, phone--for these few days, and take some rest. I've been neglected some questions, orders and cooperation offers. i'm so sorry for the inconveniences of all my costumers. but i assure you, this is the best for now. and i'll be back soon.

so, since i have lots of spare time today, let me share you the bentos that i've been made for days behind.

1. still remember the javanese bibimbap a.k.a pecel at my last post? still with  the traditional concept, on april the 18th, i made this :

my review on that day was : "since i overslept this morning, and i haven't cooked the rice yet, and i ruined the dish recipe too..T___T (great!) well, i finally ended up with this bento : hot plain rice with egg curry spice and the gardenia fish in tauco sauce..."

2. on April the 25th, i've made this one :

it was kimbap--the korean sushi. i made this not with the bamboo sushi mat, but only with clean napkin. it shows that, you don't really have to try so hard to have the japanese stuffs for making the japanese cooks. you can use the other equipments at your kitchen to help you. anyway, we had some arguing stuffs on the day before. at the morning, i've made him this as mark of my apology..and very grateful for having such a patient hubby like him :

i'm sorry for what i did before,
you know the reason WHY i did it,
though i messed it up, and we all make mistakes.
i had no idea what i was getting myself into,
but anyways, i just wanted to say,
that i am really sorry.
i ♥ u

3. on April 26th, i decided to make the korean dishes for hubby's bento today. there were korean hamburger and korean pancakes. :) i made the photoshop writing there of korean that said : Annyonghaseo. i've thought it's a korean for : "bon appetit"..but then someone told me, that it isn't. anyonghaseo is a greeting word like "hai", "hello" something like that. After this silly simple mistake, friends from the bento club called me with "Mrs. Anyong--haseo" :D :D i often laugh at this. but i love it :,)

 
 4. April 27th, actually I am more familiar with "kimchi bokkeumbap". It's a popular variety of fried rice prepared with Korean pickled cabbage. But since hubby doesn't really like kimchi, so, i skipped the kimchi thing--and left only the "bokkeum bap"--fried rice. but different with the fried rices from many other countries, this bokkeum bap doesn't need any seasoning instead salt, and sweet soya sauce if you like it. But even though the seasons are simple, it tastes rich. bokkeum bap is using three kind of vegetables, so those make bokkeumbap as a healthy dish!

and this time, the writing is correct !!! :D (it's korean for "fried rice"--bokkeumbap)

5. April 29th, I was trying to make the kyaraben (charaben--character bento). but i knew, it didn't work :D actually i was trying to make chicks here, but instead make them, i was give a try to my new bento kit of character cutter---and made this fat yellow couple.

i made grilled chicken tulips and the egg plants burgers----i know--it looks horrible huh ? :D


6. May, 9th, hubby asked me again to make him bento after being absent for a week. I didn't make something special, but he liked it :

the onigiris were formed to triangle shape and i put some flavor on it before. i gave rice vinegar, sesame oil, salt and sugar. the dishes were baby kailan in oyster sauce, tamagoyaki, and tilapia fish in dabu-dabu condiment. 


7. my latest bento. i've made this--just yesterday. with the bad condition of my angina, i still forced my hubby to go to work, caused i knew that he got lots of things to do. the angina got worst after i made this. and hubby insisted not to go to work at the end. well, this is the simplest bento i ever made : the rice burger. 

that's all :) i'm trying to consistent in making the bento for hubby these days. but i knew that i couldn't do it better than these. after all..he still loves me so much. and i do too :,)



cheers.

Javanese bibimbap a.k.a PECEL ! ^______^

another colorfull bento!! ^____^
looks like bibimbap huh? :D
but this is 100% INDONESIAN. we call it with 'pecel'.
different from korean bibimbap, all the veggies here are boiled and plain. We do not eat this with gochujang, but instead with chilli pasta, we mix it with peanut sauce. we also add fried tempeh and tofu as the additional dishes.
while in the other tier, we have brown rice, with fried shrimp in condiment, fried egg (sunny egg-but i roll it so it looks more stylish :p), and some mixed fruit. lovely..

actually this theme caused by friend's request, he said he misses Indonesia so much after years in Brunei.  he misses his homeland's cuisine. and he asked me to make bento si ayah with the original indonesian contents.

this morning, after i tagged him on this photo at my facebook, he said,
"I miss my home so badly, thanks to you, for making the traditional ones and tagging me on the picture....it cures my homesickness..."

I'm so pleased to know that.. :,)
wishing him to get home soon....

xoxo

Sundanese Traditional Cuisine

A WEEK !!!
yes, i didn't make any bento for a week. My last bento was the 'aishiteru' theme, that i've been posted at last wednesday. That's because i'm a lil bit busy here for these few days, besides, last week hubby got fever--so he didn't go to work and that caused me in pausing the bentoing activities too.

well, today i made him this humble bento. Hubby loved it so much, he thanked me a lot this morning for making him bento again. And the menu was fit his taste.
These are "Sundanese traditional Cuisine". The Sundanese are an ethnic group native to the western part of the Indonesian island of Java, like us :D--but we're not the native, actually we're Javanese that stayed in the land of Sundanese. You know something--The name Sunda derives from the word su which means goodness. Sunda also means light, cleanness, bright, and white.
well, because of that, i try to make the bento's menus as simple as possible.

in the tier there were: hot plain rice with corn maize, baby nila fishes, fried tempeh-tofu, stir-fry watercress leaves, and condiment with shrimp paste in it. yummie :D
well hubby said, these remains him to the root-culture of national culinary. indeed.

happy wednesday, all !

*wish me luck, i'm in the progress of making these bentos to a book. well.. hopefully :D

love, kisses and hugs.

Aishiteru

what a busy day!
goede middag girls  \^___^/



Indeed a busy day--even days.
Just on this beginning of week, I've started another online shop. 
Quite smoothly with my first e-shop of educative toys liliput for kids, now i make the liliput for moms and gadgets bento si ayah. For 3 years i've dream to make another branch of liliput for kids, named as liliput for moms. It'll sells things that mommies need. Now, the dream comes true. 

my first original brand : Liliput

dream comes true-my second brand : Liliput for moms

While gadgets bento si ayah actually came from friends on my facebook that asked me, not only to write the review of dailies bento si ayah, but also sells the gadgets that bento si ayah needs in making. That's because, lots of them eager to make bento, but didn't have the gadgets cause the difficulties in finding them or the expensive prices. my gratitude for them *

my bento e-shop for bento gadgets

but, for now, i only sale them through my facebook. i haven't made the blog yet. only liliput for kids, but in indonesian, not yet in english. Check it out on here. 


well, 
for today's bento i made the aishiteru theme.
like usual, i never did have any ideas or plans before i made the bento. like today..

do you see the mantou? according to Wikipedia,

Mantou, often referred to as Chinese steamed bun/bread, is a kind of steamed bun originating in China. They are typically eaten as a staple in northern parts of China where wheat, rather than rice, is grown. They are made with milled wheat flour, water and leavening agents. In size and texture, they range from 4 cm, soft and fluffy in the most elegant restaurants, to over 15 cm, firm and dense for the working man's lunch. (As white flour, being more heavily processed, was once more expensive, white mantou were somewhat of a luxury in preindustrial China.)

i was curious. Usually we consumed this by buying them from the dept.store. They have the marvelous and cute shapes. So i tried to make it by myself. This is my first time. :)

The sticky dough and the difficulties in forming them, were paid with the scent from the steamed bun and the taste. i love it so much T___T (even though the shape is horrible and quite simple :D)--the shortcoming is only on the fact that the bun turns to a bit hard if cold :D. well, cause of that, i tell hubby to put the buns in the rice cooker for 10 minutes before the lunchtime. anyway, i brought him 3 buns here. they're about 5 x 3 cm. But hubby said, he's full enough only with two buns. So he gave the rest to his coworker.
and, do you see the apple craft? it says "Ai"--the japanese means "love". yes, at first i didn't have any ideas for today's theme. but then i saw the buns... i made them with love, indeed. so, i thought, why don't we use the 'love' theme for today. Then i asked hubby to search for the picture of this word in japanese. He wrote it on the paper .. very stiff :D that paper is my guidance in making the apple's craft. I put some heart picks to emphasized the atmosphere.

 

here they are! the dishes that made hubby goes mad :D He looooooooooooooves these so much. And just after the dish cooked, hubby stood in front of my kitchen's door and asked me "can i have my breakfast earlier pleeeeaasee" --after i gave him a little try for the dish.
well, this is gyoza. This is what Wikipedia said :

Jiǎozi 餃子 or 饺子 (Chinese transliteration), gyōza (Japanese transliteration), Mo:Mo: or Momocha म:म: or ममचा (Nepali transliteration), or pot sticker is a Chinese dumpling widely spread to Japan, Eastern and Western Asia.
Jiaozi typically consist of a ground meat and/or vegetable filling wrapped into a thinly rolled piece of dough, which is then sealed by pressing the edges together or by crimping. Jiaozi should not be confused with wonton: jiaozi have a thicker, chewier skin and a flatter, more oblate, double-saucer like shape (similar in shape to ravioli), and are usually eaten with a soy-vinegar dipping sauce (and/or hot chili sauce); while wontons have thinner skin, are sphere-shaped, and are usually served in broth. The dough for the jiaozi and wonton wrapper also consist of different ingredients.

I made the filling from the mixture of shredded cabbage,  well cooked beef diced in the very small cut--like minced meat, grated ginger, scallions, garlic, soyu, and olive oil.  If you like, you can make the filling from almost every things..minced chicken fillet, vegetables (for the vegen), shrimp, sausage, anything :)

as vegetable-dish, i made him "cauliflower in sweet gravy". this is a perfect combination! :D Well, below, is hubby's breakfast :

so humble isn't it :D and i made one too for hubby's coworker. there you go girls, bento si ayah for wednesday!! 


love, kisses and hugs.

2 days of bento-ing reviews

buongiorno !!
\^___^/


ok, i haven't posted the Friday's bento yet. 
so, i'll post it with today's bento :D


oh,
my friends on my facebook, like usual, asked me to write down the recipes. all of them, they said--for the friday's and today's. 
so, i'll write only the selected menus ok? check them out!
---

Friday, 1st April 2011

this is hubby's new lunch box. we bought it because i love the colors, the space are minis and enough for his portion. even though his coworkers asked him whether it's enough or not, hubby said the portion was perfecto, enough. not too small, but not too full too.

`Well, these are the menus : 

the rice tier was fits for 1 1/2 rice bowls. so i compacted the rice to the small tier and gave fried tempeh that i molded to bear shape. and the watermelon formed from kyuuri and imitation crab stick. while the watermelon seeds made from the kyurii seeds itself. 

as the side dishes, 
first i made him chicken wing in oyster sauce with sesame seeds sprinkle. he loved this so badly. at first, i didn't trust him. but then, i tried it my self, and yes, it was delicious :).


this is the recipe :

chicken wing in oyster sauce with sesame seeds sprinkle

ingredients :

6 chicken wings

2 cloves of garlic, chopped 

1 cm ginger, sliced thinly

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce

sugar, pepper and salt to taste
100 ml of fresh water

sesame seeds

oil to saute

how to:

1. season the chicken wings with salt. 
2. fry the chicken wings until cooked, set aside.
3. heat the oil and saute until fragrant the garlic and ginger.
4. add the fried chicken wings, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, salt and pepper.
5. pour the water, and cook until the sauce shrinking and the seasons seep.
6. sprinkle with sesame seeds at the top.

there you go, that simple!

as the base is the cajun red beans. I found the original recipe from ken's blog. but i did some differences, since i didn't have the ingredients he asked for. here is the bento si ayah's recipe :

cajun red beans

Ingredients:

smoked beef sausage (cut into small pieces)
1 cup onion (diced)

celery (diced)

green pepper (diced)

garlic (chopped)

chicken stock

red beans (rinsed and drained)
red paprika powder and  cayenne pepper (or to taste) 

oregano

bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat.
2. Add the sausage and saute until lightly golden brown, about 5-7 minutes, and set aside.
3. Add the onions, celery and green pepper to the pan and cook until tender, about 7-10minutes.
4. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
5. Add the stock, beans, ham hock, paprika, cayenne, oregano, thyme, bay leaves, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
6. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer covered for 1-3 hours.
7. serve it

i also made him asparagus with poached egg in dill sauce. my friend said, poaching egg is the parameter of the expert chef :) because, even though it's a simple task, but it needs a precise timing and heat. lots of cooker, make this not in the perfect form : the egg yolk is too well-cooked, or they couldn't move it to the top of dishes without breaking the egg yolk. 
well, at first i thought, i was failed too. but then hubby said, the poaching egg is perfect. the egg yolk very dilute and i could move it to the tier without breaking the egg yolk. fuuuh.. :D

hubby's breakfast was the same menu :)

that's all for the friday's bento :)

--------

Monday, 4th April on 2011

the same tiers, with the different menu! :D
like usual, i didn't plan any for the menu. my friend said, today's menu are Italian! well, i guess they're right.

yummie!
the main dish is baked rice with smoke-beef sausage. with side dishes of spaghetti with chicken cutlet, Javanese steak, and brown mashed potatoes. as my friends' requests, i'll write the baked rice recipe and the javanese steak.

baked rice with 
smoke-beef sausages

ingredients:

oil 

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/2 part of onion, diced

1 tablespoon of worcestershire sauce

1 tea spoon of tomatoes puree

100 ml chicken stock

pepper, salt to taste

100gr mixed vegetables (you can use the packed ones, but bento si ayah prefers to cut the vegetable itself, it's fresher) 

red chilli pepper, seeded, sliced thinly

cooked rice

smoke beef sausages, cut to pieces

the topping:

butter

1 tea spoon of wheat flour

150 ml milk

cheese, grated

direction:

1. heat the oil, saute the garlic with onion until fragrant. add the worcestershire sauce, tomato puree, and chicken stock. stir well. add the salt and pepper, mixed vegetables, and the red chilli pepper. set aside
2. as the topping : heat the butter, add the flour. while stirring, pour the milk and cook until it gravy and thickens. add the cheese. stir well. set aside
3. take the aluminum foil dish, put the rice in. 
4. give some mixed vegetables with seasons, the top topping, and the sausages.
5. baked in 180 degrees heat, for 20 minutes. 
6. ready to serve

the second is Javanese steak.

don't forget to reserving the mixed vegetables as one of the compliments. you may serve this with french fries, local potato fries, or brown mashed potato fries like bento si ayah.

12:50 pm

ahahaha, actually i don't think it's important to write the hash (brown mashed) potatoes recipe  here :D but since my friends keep asking about this, ok--i'll write it :D

all you need to do is :

Beat the egg in a small bowl.

In a medium bowl, mix together egg and onion with mashed potatoes (if you like, you can grated it, or diced it like mine). Add salt and pepper as you desire.

if you want to make it crispier, try not to use any eggs in it.

At a medium setting, heat olive oil in a medium size frying pan. Scoop the potato mixture into the frying pan in 4 inch circles, pat with a spatula to flatten the mounds to approximately 1/2 to 1 inch thick. Cook until bottom is browned. Flip the patty over and brown the other side.

anyway, this is how bento si ayah serve the dish :

Javanese steak

ingredients :

tenderloin beef, sliced thinly

butter

mixed vegetables

sauce :

oil

garlic

wheat flour

milk

salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste

marinade:

salt

pepper

nutmeg

sweet-soy sauce

how to:

1. first marinate the beef with the seasons. keep it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
2. heat the butter on the pan, and grill the beef.
3. for the sauce : heat the oil, saute the garlic until fragrant. add the flour, milk, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. stir until thickens.
4. serve the steak with sauce, mix vegetables, and the potatoes. 

simple isn't it?
hope you can make it too at home :)

well, i arrange the same menu for hubby's breakfast in the smaller portion, with fruits too. 

and the same menu for hubby's coworker order. there you go :) that's all for today girls..
love kisses and hugs 
xoxo

Italian meets Japanese

Good morning all :)
Actually I'm still sleepy..
after we woke up this morning, hubby and i still enjoying the lazy time in bed. We were giggling and chuckling and joking that we won't wake up and still being lazy at home. 
but then when i looked at the time, i realized that we have to wake up now, or i won't be able preparing hubby's bento--and he won't be able to be at work on time. 
so then--finally we woke up! :D


while i was preparing the food, he was helping me with washing the dishes. sweet :)


--
anyway, i made these as his bento :

err..i'm a lil bit annoyed by the bunny. Cause two of them are in the 'mature' arrangement, while this one is a lil bit childish--so, actually, they're not in the match :D

well, I'm trying the new recipes here. after Googing and searching for the original recipes in the internet, i finally found the recipes that suits on us--by combining some existing recipes with my own taste.
and since friends from facebook asked for the recipes, so--here they are :

edamame risotto with grilled shrimp

i know, that i should use the arborio rice, or other medium or short grained rice. but since too hard to find the arborio, and it costs expensive here, so i'm using the ordinary daily rice. :) The original risotto usually using some dry white wine--but we're  prohibited to consume it, so i skip it.

so, here are the ingredients :

oil

red paprika powder

garlic powder

black pepper

these are the spices to marinate the shrimp. off course  you'll need shrimps that have been peeled.

onion, diced

clove of garlic, chopped

rice

chicken broth (if you are a vegen, besides using the vegetarian shrimp, you'll may change the broth to vegetable broth)

edamame (japanese green soy beans)

parmesan cheese, grated

butter

salt and pepper to taste

lemon juice

and mint, chopped (optional)

how to :

1. mix the marinade seasons  and marinate the shrimp for at least 15 minutes.
2. melt the butter in large sauce pan
3. add the onion and saute until tender
4. add the garlic, and saute until fragrant
5. add the rice and stir to coat with butter
6. add  half of the stock (broth) at time and stir while simmering until it's gone. continue until the rice is cooked al dente. since i'm using the ordinary daily rice that usually harder and thinner than the arborio, i give at about 4 cups of broth for 1 1/2 cups of rice. And I just stir it occasionally, preventing so the rice won't be too soft and be like porridge. 
7. mix in the beans , cheese and butter. stir until the butter and the cheese has melted.
8. remove from heat, and mix in the lemon and mint.
9. don't forget to grill the shrimp until cooked. serve it.

the second one is Okonomiyaki. like Wikipedia said, okonomiyaki is a Japanese savoury pancake containing a variety of ingredients. The name is derived from the word okonomi, meaning "what you like" or "what you want", and yaki meaning "grilled" or "cooked".
so, i made the vegetarian one. i add vegetables ingredients in it. here is the recipe :

Japanese Okonomiyaki

whole wheat flour

water

egg

cabbage, shredded

sweet carrot,grated

zucchini, grated

green onion, chopped

sausages (if you are a vegetarian, use the vegetarian sausage)

how to:

1. mix the flour, water, egg, cabbage, carrot, zucchini, and green onion in large bowl. if you like, you may add some pepper and garlic powder to taste.
2. heat some oil pan.
3. pour the mixture and top it with sausages slices.
4. cook on medium heat until golden brown on both sides. (i use the small pancake pan, it will help to control the size of the okonomiyaki)
5. when you serve it, top it with okonomiyaki sauce and mayonnaise. but since i can't find the instant one here, after reading few recipes and Wikipedia, i use the recommended sauce of Worcestershire sauce. it contains of malt vinegar (from barley), spirit vinegar, molasses, sugar, salt, anchovies,  tamarind extract, onions, garlic, spice, and flavoring. The "spice, and flavoring" is believed to include cloves, soy sauce , lemons, pickles and peppers. 

easy huh? it's like making the omelet and definitely healthy. 
and with these fruits fiesta, 

hubby's bento were ready to take away :)

for hubby breakfast, i gave little portion of these menu.

my facebook friends asked me whether these too little for hubby's breakfast. Hubby asked me not to give him too much portion for his breakfast, cause he worried that he'll be sleepy after eating.  

that's all for today girls :)
love, kisses and hugs!

"thanks dear, for the yummiest breakfast--ever!"

...hubby said that this morning :) and makes me fly. Actually, I did not plan anything for the menu. I just wanted to wear the bamboo lunch box again. I'm curious, how to make it looks nice. 
And hubby's breakfast consists of a combination of his bento's menus:

 

Well, after searching in the fridge, i finally decided to make Mexican fajitas,  chicken salad in Indonesian nuts dressing, and cap-cai (Cap cai is the name of  a popular Chinese cuisine that unique because it has so many vegetables cooked as the ingredients). 

 

Do you see the red lily there? Two days ago, it blossomed! How excited i am..and i immediately took the picture.

it looks so lovely--and--so RED :D that's why i used this lily as the background for today's bento-picture.

Anyway, 

first, i made him Mexican fajitas.  Actually i found this from Kevin-closet cooking on his blog

. 

You may see the original recipe there. But since i didn't have any cilantro, so i didn't use it :)

then i also mixed him a chicken salad. The original recipe is from  Kevin's too. But since i didn't read the Thailand things so i made my own recipe and named it. Here it is : 

chicken salad in Indonesian nuts dressing

Ingredients:
1 batch Thai satay marinade--(i'm using the teriyaki marinade, actually you can make the thai satay marinade by your own self, but in case you don't have too much time for this, use the instant marinade of teriyaki would be fine)
1 pound chicken breasts (boneless and skinless)
4 cups salad greens--(i don't have any, so i use purple cabbage, and edamame)
2 avocados (stoned, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces)
1 small cucumber (sliced)
4 green onions (sliced)
1 handful cilantro (chopped)--(i didn't give it too..)
1/4 cup peanut sauce--(i'm using the ordinary pecel dressing of indonesian salad ^^v)
2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut milk--(nope, didn't use this too)
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 birds eye chilies (sliced)--(since the nuts dressing already hot, i didn't add any)
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons peanuts (roasted and chopped)

Directions:

1. Marinate the chicken in the Thai satay marinade (or the teriyaki) in the fridge for 1 hour to overnight. 
2. Grill the chicken over med-high heat until cooked and slightly charred, about 3-5 minutes per side. 
3. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes and then slice it thinly. 
4. Mix the salad greens (or any veggies you have) , avocado, cucumber, green onion and cilantro in a large bowl. 
5. Mix the peanut sauce, coconut milk, lime juice, fish sauce, chili and sugar. 
6. Toss the salad and dressing. 
7. Divide the salad between four plates, top with the chicken and garnish with the chopped peanuts.

There you are. I bet if you make this with the original recipe, it would be more appetizing :) Add the cap-cai, some fruits of fresh oranges, pears, and dragon fruits--then hubby's bento is ready to take away! 

That's all girls. Visit the Ken's blog, will you? You'll find tremendous and yummiest recipes there! 

Love kisses and hugs :)