Bento #15



Ever since I saw the P260 salmon at Sbarro that I couldn't afford, I had a craving for the fish. So when I saw some at the SM Supermarket, I just had to get one slice! (Even if it still was a little pricey.) Oh Salmon, how I love you!

Top tier: Lightly fried salmon with soy sauce and kalamansi
Bottom tier: Steamed broccoli and rice

Bento #16



Also known as my "fresh from Baguio" bento.

Main box: Broccoli and pork strips in oyster sauce, egg
Sidecar: Strawberries with condensed milk

Bento #17



Since I've been eating a lot since the trip to Baguio, I thought I'd try a no-meat, no rice day. Ergo...

Left: Peanut butter sandwich (wheat bread) on a piece of snow lettuce (I think)
Right: 1 orange, sliced

The fates worked against my diet plan, though. We had a department lunch at Brazil, Brazil, which only served an all-barbecue buffet. I had barbecued pork, chicken, beef and seafood for lunch. And rice. In short, everything I said I wouldn't eat that day! Guess I'll just have to move the diet to another day.

I did have this bento for dinner. The good thing about a sandwich and fruit bento is that you can eat it on your ride home without making a mess, and without spreading a strong food smell in the airconditioned FX.


PS. I really need a bento userpic. :/

Bento #14


Omuraisu (Rice omelette). Fried rice inside the egg wrap contains mixed veggies and tuna chunks. I should get a ketchup dispenser so I can make designs next time.

Tomorrow's bento is fried chicken and spaghetti, which would be leftovers from my sister's birthday bash today. I chilled them early so they won't spoil. I'll probably also bring pizza, if there are any left over, so I'll have something to eat for merienda.

X Marks the Spot


Hepa A/B vaccination

My sisters and I got our Hepa and HPV shots last Friday. The hepa-A&B shot on my right arm hurts more, but the HPV shot hurts longer (my left arm still feels sore after 3 days). We need to get two more booster shots after these.

( HPV shot )

( Miscellaneous Photos )

I got a free digital photo frame from Samsung last week. I've just now loaded it with photos and displayed it beside our bathroom. Now, everyone stops and smiles before and after they go to the toilet.

Debt-Free!

I paid up my 4-year-delinquent salary loan at SSS last Friday. I took advantage of their condonation program, in which you won't have to pay the interests on your loan anymore. The only drawback is that they won't let you get another loan for 2 years. But that's okay. At least now, I'm totally debt-free! Yatta!

It's been some time since I posted photos of my bento. I haven't been making visually appealing bentos in a while.

Anyway, I got this very nice red two-tier bento box from Daiso last year:


I've been using it often, but I couldn't post pics because I got reiichiru the same thing for Christmas, but in black. I didn't want her to see it before she got my present. :)

I'm temporarily using an old elastic hair tie as a bento strap until I can make one. The only bento straps available at Daiso are in horrid neon colors, which clash violently with the classic red of my box.

Here are my bento for the past two days:

BENTO 12


This is the second incarnation of my fried eggplant bento. Top tier is fried eggplant with soy sauce, sliced bologna and salted egg. Bottom tier is rice (obviously). Bologna slices are leftovers from the previous night.

BENTO 13


Top tier (shown at the bottom of the photo) is an omelette of button mushrooms, broccoli, green peas, corn kernels and carrots. Bottom tier is rice and two slices of fiesta ham. Button mushrooms and fiesta ham are leftovers from the holidays. I got the rest of the vegetables from the vegetable sale section at SM Supermarket for a little less than P20.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to eat this bento because we had a department head lunch with the boss.

The trouble with getting my paycheck seven days early is that it gets spent earlier as well. I have to stretch the meager remainder until the 15th, and I still haven't paid the electricity bill yet. *headboink*

Because of this, I'll have to make frugal bento for 2 weeks. Today I brought fried eggplant and salted egg. Yumyumyum! I've been craving for fried eggplant since the new year. (I think this is my body's way of telling me I'm on meat overload. ;p) I think I'll bring the same thing tomorrow. It's super-cheap, too: P10 for 2 eggplants and P9.50 for a salted egg. Rice is free since we get paid in rice for renting out our garage space to a neighbor with no garage and a shiny new car.

***

Speaking of bento, I've been watching the bentolunch community for a while, and I noticed I can tell a bento-maker who grew up in a culture where rice is a staple food, from those who are rice newbies. Rice newbies usually look for flavor on their rice -- they sometimes add salt or soy sauce; and even if they try to become purists and eat their rice plain, they treat the rice like some sort of side dish. Mashed potatoes, mixed veggies, buttered corn -- these are side dishes. They're optional. Rice isn't. At least, not for native rice-eating people.

The rice newbies don't have the concept of "kanin at ulam" (we usually translate "ulam" as "viand" but it really is a whole 'nother thing), so therefore can't appreciate how almost impossible it is for us to swear off rice for long periods. Rice newbies can enjoy their viands/food without the side dishes. But our ulam can never be complete without rice. Can you imagine adobo, sinigang, kare-kare without rice? (Even hotdog feels wrong without rice, for me.) Rice is part of the overall taste of the dish, and that's why it can never really be classified as a side dish.

Ever notice how, when native rice-eaters are asked to name their favorite dishes, none ever thinks of including rice on their list, even if they eat rice every single day? Because rice is always there. Like air. You take no notice of it when it's there, but would absolutely die when it's gone. Only when a non-native rice eater starts to feel this way will they be able to experience rice the way we do. :)

Here are my bento for the past two weeks:




I made these all after I learned about the five-color rule (well, more like guideline hehe), which says that any given bento should contain all of the following five colors: green, yellow, orange or red, white, and dark brown/black/purple. I usually have trouble having yellow represented, though.

Note the preponderance of broccoli. I love the vibrancy its green color gives to the bento.

( Each bento in detail. )

Tomorrow is fish day!



Lunch and dinner bento contents: a bear-shaped fish cake, a salmon ball, a fish ball, and fish tofu, with steamed broccoli and rice. I'll also be bringing a container of mixed fruit (apple and mandarin orange), and a banana, for munching between meals.

Total cost: ~P27 each

***

I just got the new Lock & Lock container (bottom bento). My old food boxes are just too small for lunch and dinner (I use them for packing snacks). What I really want, though, are the nice black or red lacquered Shokado bento boxes like this. I hope I'll find one when reiichiru and I go to Little Tokyo on Sunday.

My first try at making onigiri:



The sidings consist of steamed cauliflower and boiled eggs. I filled both onigiri with fried chicken. One was okay, if a little dry. But the other one fell apart when I was halfway into eating it. I think I added too much filling. I didn't add any salt to the rice, since the nori was salty enough for me. :)

( Adobo onigiri bento for tomorrow. )

Total cost for fried chicken onigiri bento: ~P35 each (not counting the leftover fried chicken used for filling)

Total cost for adobo onigiri bento: ~P7 each (not counting adobo and roast chicken left over from dinner)


I won't be posting these at the bentolunch community, though. I'll just post my fancier bento there. Hopefully, I can come up with some postable ones over the next weeks.

Work has been stressful lately, so I wanted to bring something that will make me smile. (Why do I always have to counter stress with food, though? T_T)



Left and Center (lunch and dinner): rice balls with chicken torikatsu bits, chicken torikatsu strips, tomato slices, and boiled egg with peppercorn eyes and ketchup mouth.

Right (snack): mandarin orange slices

Total cost: ~P35 for everything

I joined the bentolunch community! I always pack food for my morning and afternoon snacks, anyway. Might as well post pics. :D

Here's my bento for the day:



Left: assorted grapes
Center: boiled broccoli with cashew nuts
Right: broccoli and peanut butter sandwich quarters.