When I was struggling, these are the words that came to me this morning. I didn't realize they're from Isaiah 43:1 until later tonight.

Image from http://www.123rf.com/photo_16410356_decorative-red-wooden-christmas-hearts-on-rustic-background-with-copy-space.html

I made this image up today after reading the line in a facebook post my cousin wrote (apparently the idea/line comes from a Christian music song):

 



bento #165

Last bento of this group; the next one will have to wait until I take the time to make more.

- Hello Kitty character onigiri
- tamagoyaki
- ham wrapped around green beans
- pork tonkatsu, with Bull Dog sauce in the orange container
- one dark little cherry
- potato salad (with corn, carrot, and cucumber)

bento #163

Time for some curry!  I was watching Japanese videos on youtube, one of them contained curry, and that led to this bento.  Used up my last square of curry, so time to head to the Asian grocery at some point.

- Hello Kitty rice (isn't it nice that rice is white?  Makes it so convenient to make Hello Kitty!)
- curry with pork, carrots, yellow pepper, and onion
- tamagoyaki
- potato salad
- strawberries

bento #162

Wanted to use up some bologna and try making fried rice.  I've never really made it before, which is surprising!

- sweet potatoes, cooked on the skillet and finished with a little honey
- grape skewer
- baby carrots
- yellow peppers with sesame seeds
- friend rice (with egg) topped with bologna flowers, green onion stems

bento #161

The last of the soboro bentos...I made quite a few of those.

- ground beef, egg, and pea soboro with red pepper accents
In the right tier, a "rainbow" of:
- sweet potatoes, steamed
- pickles
- mushrooms
- red pepper

bento #160

Bento with some leftovers

- a tier of white rice sprinked with sesame seeds
- leftover beef stir-fry
- spinach and corn saute
- grape skewers
- picked ginger
- sweet potato cooked with honey

bento #159

Wow, I hadn't realized it had been so long since I had posted a bento!  The funny thing is that I have at least a half dozen in my folder that I hadn't posted, along with the two that I made today.  So, be prepared for a few posts this week.  :)

Back on the soboro bento track...

- Ground beef, pea, and egg soboro over a bed of rice
- sauteed kale
- a few blueberries
- sauteed mushrooms
- sweet potatoes steamed with a little honey

bento #164

It's a good thing I vaguely remember what this bento contained because the photo didn't turn out so great!

- onigiri with furikake around the edges
- pork rolls with spinach and cheddar cheese
- corn sauteed with spinach
- grape skewer
- baby carrots

I try to get as many colors as I can in a bento-- didn't have anything red to include this time.

bento #158

Another soboro bento.  I often make up batches of  bento-type foods, or even make two or three bento at the same time.  But I learned that I do like soboro!

- ground beef and egg soboro with peas.  I tried to make rice flowers stick out a bit, but it was hard to give them definition
- sliced mushrooms and red pepper
- sweet potato, steamed with a little honey
- stir-fried kale

bento #157

I just realized I have several bentos I made a while ago but never posted.  Here we go!

Soboro bento!  I made a ground beef soboro, egg, and then some steamed peas for the green part

There's also stir-fried kale in the pink cup and red and yellow peppers.  Lots of veg here!

I created this image today and wanted to post it.

It's a combination of two books I've read recently-- 1000 Gifts by Anne Voskamp and Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard.

image taken from http://fineartamerica.com/featured/lone-flower-daryl-marquardt.html

bento #156

Another go at inari zushi-- these look cuter than the ones I made last week, little Rilakkumas.

- potato salad with corn
- yellow pepper
- hot dog "flowers"
- tamagoyaki
- spinach cooked with garlic and sesame chili oil
- Rilkakuma inari zushi and cherry tomatoes

all packed in my new Jiji bento with Jiji chopsticks!

bento #155

I made matching bentos for when my friend came over; we've been watching Foyle's War, a British mystery show, so I thought these would be fun to eat while we watch.

Each bento contains, in the larger tier:
- kara-age
- onigiri with salmon furikake around it
- a piece of tamagoyaki
- an octodog
- spinach cooked with garlic and sesame chili oil

In the smaller tier:
- potato salad with corn and a cherry tomato
- yellow pepper slices
- raspberries and a jelly

bento #154

Got a little sandwich press and wanted to try it out... this bento was actually from a while ago, like when I had kabocha squash.  Cute tiny sandwiches make a nice snack but could never fill me up.

- rabbit, flower, and bear bologna and cheese sandwiches.  They don't show up as well on whole-grain bread
- okra
- kabocha squash
- grape skewer

Great snack!  There's also a little gummy hiding in the pink wrapper...

bento #153

Kara-age bento!  I'm borrowing a deep fryer from my parents, so I got to deep fry it this time.  I've also had fun making french fries, churros, and a few other things I don't normally make.

- kara-age with a cherry tomato
- potato salad with corn
- okra and a piece of tamagoyaki
- raspberries my friend Casey brought me
- onigiri with salmon furikake
- two octodogs (well, I think they had four and six legs each)
- jelly treat

bento #152

Decided to try my hand at inari zushi... perfect Saturday afternoon activity, right?  I saw a cute one with a cat on pinterest and happened to have tofu skins from a recent visit to the Asian food store.  My cat looks more like scary cat than cute cat, though.  :)

- inari zushi, 3 pouches
- potato salad with corn
- 2 pieces of kara-age
- yellow peppers and cherry tomatoes

I'm running out of veg, which is why there's nothing green in here!  As it was, I had to bike to my friend's house to get the cherry tomatoes  :)

bento #151

I found two bento pictures I hadn't posted here... I think I made these in March.

Here's what I think is in here:
- fried chicken wings? maybe?
- bean sprout and red pepper stir-fry
- slices of kabocha squash and takuwan
- mushroom
- grape skewer and okra!

with an onigiri on the side in the triangle container.

bento #150

I've been craving Japanese food.  Watching RRcherrypie's videos on youtube-- why are they so addicting?-- and I bought a few craft/gummy kits to make during the school year.

That lead to me getting out my bento and manga cookbooks, and of course then I had to cook.  I'm borrowing my parents' deep fryer (they hardly ever use it), so I could make kara-age!

I'm pretty sure I used this box with my last bento... probably because it's new.  And, black goes with everything!
- spinach with sesame seeds
- kara-age
- tamagoyaki (probably the worst-looking ones I've ever made)
- orange pepper and bean sprouts
- rice with some snap peas and carrot flowers

And, I just realized that 150 is a pretty exciting number!

What I eat

Whenever I google "healthy frugal recipes," I get recipes and blogs where the meat is the center of a recipe.  But when prices for food have risen lately (ground beef is no longer a super-cheap option), that won't work for me.  Plus, I eat quite a bit!  I can't afford to eat a whole chicken breast for each meal, so most of the recipes I find won't work for me.

The meal plan I posted a few days ago is unusually meat-heavy for me-- there are only three meat-free options on there (actually, that's not too bad; although two a week would be better, I know from experience that those will be saved for last or possibly never get eaten).  I don't usually eat meat-centric meals like tikka masala, hamburgers, and maid-rites; I will limit the sandwiches to one per meal and eat potatoes/fries and vegetables for filler..   If I'm using ground turkey or ground beef, I'll usually use a quarter of a pound for one day's worth of food(2-3 meals, depending how far it goes and how hungry I am), and the chili on the menu will use a quarter pound and makes a large pot: I use a can of tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, kidney beans, water, an onion, pepper, and spices.

My ideal meal is some meat (a chicken tender or two), a whole grain, and lots of vegetables.  I like to cook my meat and veg together whenever possible, so I like stir-fries, etc.  I'm not a fan of soups unless they're heavy, like stews, but even those only keep me full two hours or so.

So, do you have any good meals to share that have the meat as more of a side than the main?  I'll try to share a few of my favorites in the coming weeks.