Cool breezes

Ham-Salad Bento

2009-04-20T07:48:11Z

Yet another bento produced during Easter break :)

Top: Mango, grapes, blackberries.
Bottom: Chinese ham-salad w/ celery, cucumber and carrots.

Mexican Salad Bento

2009-04-17T11:27:55Z

Nowadays it seems like the only times I can manage to make bento is during either holidays or vacations, in other words, I'm far from my former bentoholic days a few years ago, when studies weren't that tough. I made this bento originally for sis, but as she was so busy running in and out of the house she forgot to take it with her. So, I did what any 'good' sister would do, and decided that it should not go away wasted XDDD It tasted delicious! Oh, and she got the muffin though haha XD

From left: Mexican chicken and blackbean salad, cranberry bran muffin.

Spicy Korean somyeon bento

2009-01-08T20:15:06Z

I bought this Korean cookbook while in Singapore, and immediately took interest in this recipe for gochujang beef-shiitake somyeon (somen-like) noodles. It was indeed very spicy, but oh-so delicious :)

Top: Mixed fresh fruit salad (orange, kiwi, fuji-apple), Lotte Zero chocolate, some (nasty) pickles.
Bottom: Spicy Korean somyeon noodles w/ beef, shiitake, onions and gochujang (red pepper paste) mix.

Holiday leftover bento

2009-01-07T16:07:09Z

I'm actually quite happy Christmas is over now. Had it been when I was younger, I know I would be a bit sad, but now one week or so is more than enough for me. So what better way to move on than finish up some holiday leftovers ;)

From left; Veggies and pickles (lettuce, pickled cucumbers and beets, cherry tomatoes), various cold cuts (one of spicy lamb, Christmas ham, Norwegian cured ham - like a salty parma-like type), Edamer-cheese sticks, cranberry-apple chutney, filled apricot confections (see recipe under) and homemade panforte. And yes, that is Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf lurking in the salad forest ^__^

Almond-filled chocolate-dipped dried apricots

200g almonds (ground, you may remove the skins if you wish but I like the rough texture of it)
1 dl sugar (I used erythritol, a sugar free sweetener with texture like sugar)
1 tbsp lemonjuice
1 egg white
25 dried soft apricots (although may need more or less depending on their size)
100g dark chocolate (melted)

*Mix the ground almonds with the sugar, lemonjuice and eggwhite. The texture should be like a slightly rough textured marzipan.
*Open the apricots like a pouch, in which you can fill a small amount of the almond mixture and seal it tight.
*Dip half of each apricot in melted chocolate and leave to cool so the chocolate can set. Enjoy!

"One Pound Gospel/1 Pound no Fukuin" Episode 1

2009-01-04T12:17:41Z

So its back to the dorama watching mode :) Haven't been able to treat myself to some dorama loveliness for a loooong time, and it feels so good to finally explore some new pleasures! This particular dorama called One Pound Gospel (1 Pound no Fukuin) I just discovered today while reading the manga it is based upon, made by Rumiko Takahashi, the creator behind the popular titles such as Ranma 1/2 and InuYasha. And it stars Kame as the main character!! :D At first I thought it sounded a bit strange while reading through the plot and manga (I've never been a boxing fan) but it is SOOO GOOD! After one episode I can't wait to watch the remaining eight now.

The story is about a talented young boxer called Kosako Hatanaka (Kame), which, despite his huge potential, finds himself constantly being defeated because of his big appetite, which he can't control. Thus he must participate in higher weight classes, and therefore his coach, Mitaka Hideo and female coach/boss Mukoda Seiko makes him work hard to lose weight, thus having him eating less. This is of course hard for this food-loving athlete, who during a weight loss regime finds himself collapsing during a run in the park. He wakes up in the arms of the nun Sister Angela (Kuroki Meisa), who gives him some tea to revive him. Instantly he finds himself drawn to her, first thinking she is Holy Mary, and draws courage from her to fight on. After this he still finds it hard to go on living with no food, so he thinks of quitting boxing altogether, especially after not being able to meet the weight requirements. But after Sister Angela accidentally bumps into Mukoda, which, despite being very unhappy with Kosako, still can't forget his potential, she convinces him to continue with boxing, working hard to meet the requirements set for him and not being a "gutless glutton".

Even though I just watched one episode thus far, I must say this looks like it might turn out to be one of my most enjoyable doramas yet! It's packed full of humour, and the actors are great! I especially love Kosako's coach and boss, the spunky Mukoda Seiko, which as a child was a tomboy beating up all the bad guys at school and has a great passion for the sport of boxing. I also adore Kuroki Meisa as the lovely Sister Angela (I've always thought there is something beautiful and romantic about nuns, even though I'm not religious at all). The characters, especially Kame and Kuroki, seem to act very well together, and this makes the series even more fabulous! Like I said, I just can't wait until I get to see the next episodes ^____^

Maki-bento

2008-12-22T13:53:35Z

Long time since I used my bento equipment now, and it was indeed a joyous reunion ^_^ And get this, I even made it during my exam period! Guess I needed the de-stressing factor of cooking (since when did I think cooking was de-stressing, more like the opposite LOL)

Clockwise from top left: Sugar free konnyaku-jelly cups (one acerola and one grape), Lotte Zero chocolate, soy sauce usahana, clementine wedges, smoked salmon maki rolls, pickled ginger and wasabi.

A Belated Merry Christmas!

2007-12-28T21:03:03Z

Was a little bored and made another bento =___= lol no, but my I had too much quinoa...err well let's just say my sister was very happy with it ^___^ Also, I want to wish you all a belated Merry Christmas. Hope you have a great holidays :)

From left: Quinoa tabbouleh (it works just as well as with bulghur wheat, if not better), sugar free caramel sweets, sugar free strawberry yoghurt and fruit (clementine and apple cubes) to dip in the yoghurt.

So far xmas has been very well. The weather has not been, however. I guess this is the only xmas I've experienced with a minimum of snow :( and that is my only request for my Christmas holidays. Thankfully we had some on Christmas Day and on the night on xmas-eve, but it rained away O__o Hopefully the forecasts are right and it'll come some over the weekend, so at least New Years can have a bit of snow. I was very happy with my parents xmas-present for me, as I got the only thing I wished for; a new acoustic guitar ^___^ Up until now I've been using my electric one, but I've been missing the calming sound of an acoustic one, and our old one is done for. I can't wait to start using the Remioromen guitar-tab book I bought last summer ^^ Also, surprisingly, I got a WaT -poster from my mother, so Eiji and Teppei now can grace my room with their presence XDDD *not fangirling at all* XDDD Hope you're all doing great ^____^

Holiday bento

2007-12-23T17:55:07Z

Heeehee how long has it been since my last bento?! XDDD I sure don't remember, but here is one anyway since I now got the time for it. Since it's Christmas and all, I made a semi-xmas inspired bento, for my sister.

Top: Clementine, strawberries, a low carb sugar free gingerbread biscotti and homemade sugar free marzipan-balls covered with dark chocolate.
Bottom: Christmas seasoned lunch meat, cucumber and red bell pepper, quinoa with some kimchi-furikake and a nori-seal ^_^

MadTV - Bobby Lee - Korean Soap Opera

2007-10-12T20:30:35Z

Heeehee! I saw this one a few years ago on MAD TV, and it suddenly occured to me that it's quite like many of the kdramas I've seen. It's a gem ^_^ Anyways, just had to share this with my dorama-buddies!

Swedish-goody bento

2007-10-01T09:43:06Z

This weekend I went shopping in Sweden. Since it's not a holiday, the supermarkets were well-stocked in on groceries (when most of us Norwegians don't go and 'rob' them of all the stuff lol). This time, I was uber happy to find the laughing cow light cheese triangles that they were sold out of last time this summer. And to celebrate, I made a bento with (almost) all ingredients shopped in from Sweden ^_^

Clockwise from left: Cauliflower and broccoli with ham (got the idea from a Japanese bento book), cherry plum tomatoes, sliced-up turkey sausage, cheese triangle, sugar free caramel candy and Kasugai sugar free acerola candy (found one left in the cupboard - wohoo!) and baby carrots.

And also, completely non-bento related, I just can't say enough of how I enjoy the physiology labs we have this term at uni! We already had a digestive lab on reindeer and a diving lab on seals these past two weeks, and today we had metabolism on a reindeer on a treadmill! Obviously we're very privelieged in having access to wild arctic animals on campus so we can study them. The hard work comes afterwards though, doing all the numerous calculations and writing the loooooong lab journal XDDDDD So I figure I shall just start now, so I don't end up sitting up till 2am in the morning trying to finish the deadline, like I did last night - yawn ~_~

A bento for myself

2007-09-16T13:19:17Z

Made this bento for uni tomorrow, and I used leftovers from my lunch today. Simple and quick, and finally a bento for myself after a long hiatus.

From left: Ham and leek-omelette, cherry tomatoes and broccoli sprigs (grown locally), 2 sugar free fruit chews, sugar free/low carb granola bar cut into pieces.

Yet another one!

2007-09-13T17:54:35Z

Looks like I'm getting all this self'dicipline thing together after all! Having some extra time on my hands lately, today had room for another bento, which I also made for my sister.

From left: Tabbouleh (made with bulgur wheat, spring onions, tomato, cucuber, mint, flat leaf parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, salt/pepper and garlic), bacon burger (sliced up), Norwegian seasonal apple (the best apples EVER!), mandarin segments w/ chopped mint (no sugar added-brand).

Looong time since last time!

2007-09-12T17:22:58Z

Oh man, I think I can date my last bento-entry from June! Now, however, to cheer up my tired sister, I made her a bento using the Hello Kitty-pasta I gave her for her birthday (among other bento stuff I gave her). It was fun to finally have some time for bentoing again, I just now realize how much I've missed it ^_^ So here ya go!

Top: Mixed veggies (carrot stars, haricot verts, red pepper) tossed in sanbaizu-dressing courtesy of the wonderful

ss_biggie, octodog and crabdog (lol) on top of basmati rice.
Bottom: Hello Kitty pasta shapes tossed in a homemade tangy tomato sauce.

Finished with exams - Yay!!

2007-06-14T10:01:31Z

Aaaah finally finished with all my exams ^_^ time for summer vacation (even though I'm planning to work as well) but it's sooo nice to be done! What better way to celebrate than with a bento?

Clockwise from left: Teriyaki chicken, last of the pineapple meatballs, rolled ham, cucumber, cherries, watermelon and crabsticks.

Bento made without thinking properly...

2007-06-10T20:25:24Z

My mother went away on a business-trip to Iceland earlier today, and that means, despite my uber hectic schedule, I have to make lunch for my sister. Since we were out of bread (she usually gets sandwiches, except for those occations I make her bento though!) I decided to take leftovers from today's dinner and make her a bento for school tomorrow. And what comes to my mind? Yeah, they have tomorrow off school, so she could have eaten something at home...Oh well, she loved it and she'll eat it anyway ^_^ (I'm majorly sleep-deprived...can you tell?)

Top: Chinese scampi/leek and peanut stir-fry.
Bottom: Brown rice sprinkled with shiso-ume furikake.

Another Korean bento

2007-06-03T19:56:38Z

It's nearing in for my exams now. This friday I have one, and then my last one on the 13th. *sigh* it's just so much work. I do however find time to eat, and tomorrow I will be eating yet another Korean bento while cramming through some cell biology.

Top: lettuce leaves, watermelon cubes.
Bottom: Fried fish fillets, meat patties and zucchini (Saengsòn chòn, Ton chòn and Hobak chòn), cherry tomatoes, daikon kimchi, soy/sesame dipsauce and a lime wedge.

New bento!

2007-05-29T04:54:02Z

I bought a new fuku usagi bento last month that I haven't gotten around to use yet. I think this is more suited to my taste than the one I had previously (the two-tiered one I sold). Also, I got my very own ~~Canon~~ Olympus digital camera for my birthday, so I also got to use that to take today's bento picture ^_^

From left: Spicy Cajun-chicken, steamed broccoli, pineapple meatballs, strawberries.
Not shown: Garden salad with balsamic dressing.

It's asparagus-season!

2007-05-09T18:56:40Z

Yay for spring, and asparagus-season! I love asparagus, especially combined with some parma ham, parmesan cheese and roasted pine nuts. However, in my bento I decided to make it Japanese, with chicken-asparagus rolls. I haven't had this for soo long (I guess a year ago...when the asparagus was cheap like now ^_^) Combined with some soup and fruit in my thermal bento, it's perfect!

Top: Mu woo gook (Korean radish- and beef soup).
Bottom left: Cubed cantaloupe melon and pear.
Bottom right: Wedged tomato, chicken-asparagus rolls.

(Uhm...and yeah, feel free to critizize the bad lightning in the photo - but it was evening after all!)

Bento for family

2007-05-01T19:50:26Z

I wasn't really in the mood for bento-food today, so I just made myself a regular chicken salad. But I decided to make my mother and sister one instead. I haven't made bento for my mother before, so this is exciting! I have a slight feeling she'll eat by herself tomorrow, if she's too embarrased to eat this slightly kawaii-sh lunch along with her co-workers...

From left: Danish 'hakkeboef' (loosely translated 'chopped steak' made of minced meat) from last day's dinner on top of shredded iceberg lettuce, tomato wedges, boiled eggs shaped like a star and a heart, sugar free ranch dressing in the HK-container for salad, 70% dark chocolate.

My mother is even more low carb than me (we're talking strictly Atkins here) so that's why the bento is lacking (much) carbs.

Made mostly from freezer-foods: Onigiri with yasai furikake and a nori-panda, tsukune (chicken dumpling), boiled kuma egg, pineapple meatballs, tomato wedges and iceberg lettuce.

If anyone's interested I've put up a few more bentos and accessories on eBay. It's a blue fuku Usagi bento with three new nori punches, and a diecut Hello Kitty bento with Hello Kitty cookie cutters.

Quick bento

2007-04-27T04:08:30Z

Guess what? Managed to sqeeze in extra time for yet a bento today! Mostly made from things that were avaliable at home though, so it was pretty easy. I also got to use some of those meatballs I'd made earlier this week.

Top: Veggie japchae w/ mungbean noodles, ketchup (in HK-container), pineapple meatballs, grilled fishcake shaped into ume flowers.
Bottom: Sliced kiwi and apple wedges.
Side: Hello Kitty yasai furikake for Japchae.

Kmovie: My Boyfriend is Type B

2007-04-25T11:42:40Z

So, I figured, for the time beeing, since I have no time whatsoever to watch any doramas in series, I’d manage to at least watch a j- or kmovie. And I did ^_^ (whoa bento AND movie…what’s up with me?) Thank goodness exams are over in two months, then I’ll binge in both bento-making and doramas (I’m planning on continuing on Mars, finish Boku dake no Madonna and Kurosagi, and hopefully start on Tatta Hitotsu no Koi and Pride). I also have some finished doramas (Kou kou kyoushi and Ace wo nerae) to write rewiews from soon. Expect to do that after exams are finished as well. Until then, movie reviews will have to do. But they are doramas too, ne??!

So, behold my review from the kmovie

Ever thought that a guy with type B may be inappropriate for you? Well, in the opinion of the cousin of Ha-mi (Han Ji-hye), Chae-gyun, B is for BAD when it comes to men. She works as a dating matcher, who connects the blood type of guys to their personalities. According to her, blood type B stands for selfishness and pig-headness. However, the slightly shy and faith-believing Ha-mi (who happens to be type A – conservative and introverted) is on the search of the perfect, kind boyfriend that can take the bus along with her. So when she accidentally meets up with the B-type guy named Young-bin(Lee Dong-geon), Chae-gyun is all but happy about it!

Young-bin is not what you would call the perfect gentleman, although he knows how to charm a girl if he wants. By accident Ha-mi sends a text message to the wrong number, which happens to be Young-bin’s. When she gets off the bus she’s on, she crashes into him, and they both drop their phones. Ha-mi’s one get smashed by a car, and she asks Young-bin if he can get her a new one. However, he just laugh it off, saying it wasn’t his fault. When he walks away, Ha-mi snaps his phone from him and gets away on the next bus. She then discovers that it was him she textmessaged, and her belief in faith gets even stronger.

'Can I have some wine, Young-bin?' 'Sorry, I don't have any more so I can't give you!' - Gentleman behaviour? Hardly!

A few days later, they decide to go steady. Ha-mi is thrilled to present her new crush to her cousin, but she sees right through him and is far from impressed. In fact, she tries to do anything to stop her from dating him. But Young-bin manages to get Ha-mi out anyway. He does seem to have the right touch when it comes to be a nice guy, but there’s more to him behind that pretty face. It’s usually Ha-mi that has to pay for everything, and Young-bin gets to use her to his advantage without any sense of guilt. Though Ha-mi just thinks it’s his special way of being, she later starts to wonder if there’s anything to her cousin’s fear about boys with blood type B…

Young-bin repairing Ha-mi's broken shoe. He didn't really want to buy her a new one then... Oh, well - at least he took the time to fix it ^_^

But as the relationship progresses, along with Young-bin’s childish behaviour, Ha-mi notices that there may be something that’s causing his abnormal behaviour. Young-bin has many unpaid bills, and is struggling to find work. He’s launched many ideas, but no company has yet find them interesting. When Ha-mi lends him a helping hand, he gets upset and shoves her away. This hurts Ha-mi, who then thinks their relationship is over.

Young-bin and his father eating the dinner Ha-mi made for them. Young-bin needed to show his father he lived in a proper apartment, so he made Ha-mi rent her's out for him while his father was there. The father demanded Ha-mi to make them dinner. Like father, like son...

Later on, Young-bin realises the damage he’s done. To make it up to her, he sets his working abilities to work, creating an electronic apology letter to her. This obviously does the trick, and though he’s still somewhat of the same person, they seem to like eachother very well!

Chae-gyung (Ha-mi's cousin) and Ha-mi eating while crying over their heartbreaks. Love sucks!!

Well, what’s there to say? As so many of the Korean comedies I’ve seen, this is equally as absurd. I was pretty much very pissed at Young-bin for being able to treat Ha-mi like he did, I actually loathe people who behave like that in general. But there are some very sweet scenes here that’s completely gorgeous. Like when Young-bin fixed Ha-mi’s dress at the movie theatre, and when they got into the elevator and raised their hands pretending to be superman. Not to mention the apology letter – aww, cuteeee!!

Nevertheless, they look kawaii together ^_^ Let's just hope Young-bin got his act together!

The movie did have very good actors, and it was very funny at times (after all, this is a comedy). It doesn't last that long either, so if you don't like it you wouldn't waste that much time. Anyhow, I'm glad I watched it. Lastly I have some pics of the gorgeous main actors :)

Han Ji-hye looking kawaii! Lee Dong-geon looking brilliantly handsome!

^_^

Soba treat bento

2007-04-25T08:21:43Z

I figured since I have been working so hard lately, I'd reward myself with some extra carbs - healthy, that is. And by far one of my fave dishes, I made soba noodles, after a recipe from Nigella Lawson, although I modified it slightly by adding ponzu sauce. Yummy!

From left: Sesame soba noodles, cucumber sakuras, watermelon, tsukune, ponzu sauce in the bottle.
Snack: Royal gala apple.

2 bentos again

2007-04-23T04:37:08Z

Yep, I made bentos for me and my sister today as well. I'm very proud of myself actually for beeing able to make time for it ^_^
Also, remember I've put up some bento boxes and stuff on eBay!

My bento:

Left: Green beans, ham/cream cheese/cucumber-rolls, pineapple meatballs, crabstick tamagoyaki, chili dip for meatballs.
Middle: Plum wedges, greek cucumber dip for veggies.
Right: Carrot and cucumber stalks for dip.

Top: Pineapple meatballs, green beans, crabstick tamagoyaki, plum wedges.
Bottom: Steamed basmati rice, Hello Kitty yasai furikake.

Selling bento boxes!

2007-04-22T16:23:10Z

I just wanted to tell you all that I've put up some of my special bentos on sale at eBay, since my collection has definetely gotten out of hand recently. If anyone is interested, check it out here

Items for sale include Sailor Moon onigiri boxes (NEW!), Fushigi Yuugi bento, Candy Candy bento and a dolphin bento with a smiley face nori punch. All in very good like-new condition. I ship worldwide as well :)