妈妈的爱心香肠炒饭便当

Mum wasn't feeling well yesterday and onli cooked some fried rice for dinner. As she cooked too much, she set aside 1 bowl for my bento today. Why I named it 妈妈的爱心香肠炒饭便当 is coz my mum woke up super early to take the rice out from fridge to thaw and woke me up to remind me to re-fry the rice. Lolz.....

My bento consist of
-Sausage fried rice (chicken franks, fish cakes, scrambled eggs, sweet peas)
I warmed up the rice by frying them with some home-made chili paste, added a stalk of boiled siow pek chye for more greens.
-Iced coffee
-Chocolate truffle

Idli With Dahl Curry for Bento

Aunty Sarah cooked some idli with dahl curry for me last evening. Since i already had light dinner, i decided to keep it for lunch the following day. Woke up early to steam the idli and curry and warm them juz b4 eating at lunch time.

Here's my spread for lunch today! Wow... enjoy!

花生肉酱米粉干

This noodle dish had been revolving round my mind these day and since mum cooked a big pot of spare-ribs peanut soup last nite, I decided to reserve some stock and boiled peanuts for my bento lunch this afternoon.
Woke up quite early this morning to prepare the dish, packed the rice vermicelli, veggie and sauce separately, warm them up just b4 serving and it gave a a WOW effect during lunch in my office.

Ingredients;
Thick rice vermicelli, blanched & drained
Sweet beans, blanched & drained
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 shallot, thinly sliced
Minced pork
1 water chestnut
1 shrimp, chopped
Peanuts, boiled
Oyster sauce
Pinch of sauce
Dark soy sauce
Stock
Thickening agent
Oil for frying

Marinate;
Light soy sauce
Pinch of salt
Corn flour

Method;
-Marinade minced meat, prawns and water chestnut with soy sauce and salt.
-Mix well and add cornflour 10 mins later.
-Blanch sweet peas and rice vermicelli, drained.
-Fry garlic and shallots in oil till fragrant.
-Add minced mixture and fry till meat change colour.
-Add peanuts and stock, season to taste.
-Thicken the gravy and serve over blanched ingredients.
-Enjoy!

Close up on my yummy~licious lunch.

Ekina's Brown Rice Bibimbap

Yummy~licious! I'm enjoying my bibimbap lunch while I blog. Haha... posting and eating at the same time?! Yes, cuz i brough it to office as my bento lunch. seems like i'm getting the kick of bring bentos to office.
I've always love bibimbap and we would always eat from the korean eatery near our office during lunch and i feels that in order to have the taste of Korean bibimbap, the essence lies in their Gochujang. I decided to make something with a twist. Actually this is considered a healthy dish as most of the ingredients are blanched. Therefore, my version will use browb rice and my own special home-made chili sauce.

Ingredients;
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 baby carrot, blanced
A handful beansprouts, blanched
A handful endvies, lightly fry in garlic and oil
Some stir fry seasoned pork strips
Some sambal (hei bee hiam)
Special spicy sauce (for mixing the rice)
Some roasted sesame seeds

Method;
-Assemble the bibimbap by placing brown rice in a serving bowl.
-Lay all the ingredients on top of the rice.
-Drizzle sauce over, mix well & serve.

Here's how it looks after mixing. Yummy! Actually i should have prepared an egg to go with & it will look much better. Oh well, forget it, cuz I'm cutting down on egg intake. I limit myself to 2 eggs per week. haha....

妈妈的爱心饭盒便当

A 爱心饭盒 for lunch today. At the thought of bringing bento lunch to office, mum seems more keen and excited than me. She will giving suggestions as to what to include in my bento and take would take the effort to cook stewed pork the previous night and warm them up early in the morning.
Other than that, mum would wake up early in the morning to cook plain rice, wash some lettuce for me to fry cuz i would always prefer veggies in my meals. Oh, not forgetting the 1 and onli prawn fritters left over from dinner as well. Lucky Mum cooked some sauce and set aside as well, so i just drizzle them over the fritters!

So sweet and thoughtful of mum right? Looks like i didn't give my bento the wrong name! Thank you Mummy!

菜心餐肉炒饭便当

Had a busy week at work. Packed with events, studies, revisions and exams. Here's another fried rice bento for my lunch in office the day b4.

Ingredients;
Cook Rice
Luncheon meat, diced
Egg, scrambled
Chye Sim, roughly chopped
Pinch of salt
Chili paste
Minced garlic
Oil for frying

Method;
-Fry garlic with oil, toss in rice and mix well.
-Push to side of wok, scarmbled egg, add luncheon meat and veggie.
-Mix well with rice, season to taste.
-Enjoy!
Had my bento lunch with unsweetened green tea.

Putu Mayam Bento With Kumar

It's so sweet of Aunty Sarah to cook some kumar for mi to go with bread or prata. Since i have some putu mayam, i would prefer to have it as my bento lunch.

I simply dislike the way my colleague look at my bento and pass negative remarks on it whenever i lunch in. After all, I will be the 1 eating and it is none of their biz rite? 1 of them would purposely walk to my desk during my lunch break to 'peep' at my lunch. While the other fellow would ask me to show her what I'm having for lunch.

Today I'm disappointed as i feels that 'these' pple do not know how to appreciate and respect food of other race. I had Indian food for lunch and my colleague says it looks disgusting & 'yucks'. If it is for her, she wouldn't eat it. Hey come on, reali pissed me off man!
Kumar is not easy to prepare. This is a vegetarian gravy which Aunty Sarah has to grind all the spices and fry till fragrant, all carrots and cauliflower to obtain the sweetness of the veggie, add stocks and bring to boil.

I prefer to sit at a corner to enjoy my bento lunch.

Close up on my lunch. The tasteless putu mayam is a perfect match with gravy as it absorbs the 'flavour' of kumar.

Easy Fried Rice Bento

Forget about hawker food, bento makes my day! Lolz... able to enjoy a homecooked lunch in the office, enjoying a warm cup of tea after that is reali something to look forward to.

Ingredients;
1 cup cold rice
1 clove garlic, minced
Some fried chicken, diced
Holland beans, shred
Light soy sauce
Crabstick, diced
Oil for frying
Sambal chili paste
Pinch of salt
1 egg omelet foldover

Method;
-Fry garlic in oil till fragrant, toss in holland pea, crabstick & chicken.
-Add rice and give it a quick stir.
-Season to taste, fry till done and serve with omelet foldover.
-Enjoy!

My bento consist of hot oolong tea serve with jasmine green tea. Wat an enjoyable lunch!

干炒油面便当

Cooked a simple fried noodle bento for lunch today. Seems like my recent craze is bring bento to work. Hmm... better think of a few other variety to cater for the next few bentos.

Ingredients;
2 pc dried 油面, soaked and drained
1 handful sweet pea, cut into strips
2 baby carrot, cut into sticks
1 crabstick, diced
Some lean meat, cut into strips
Stock
Pinch of salt
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 glove garlic, minced
Oil for frying

Method;
-Fry garlic in oil till fragrant, add in carrot and fry for a min.
-Toss in veggie, meat & crabstick.
-Add noodles and fry for a min.
Add stock & seasoning, bring to full boil.
-When gravy thickens, drizzle in dark soy sauce, mix well.
-Sprinkle roasted sesame seeds over & serve.
-Enjoy!

糯米饭便当

Knowing that Tabby will be here for Dinner, mum cooked her favourite 糯米饭 and since mum cooked so much, i set aside a portion as my bento lunch for the next day.

Since it is glutinous rice, a chinese tea is needed to serve with the meal in order to cleanse the fats from my body, not forgetting i need to digest as well.

When comes to serving glutinous rice, it is my style to serve with lots of garnishes like roasted sesame seeds, fried shallots, scallions, chili paste etc...

Roasted Pork Fried Rice Bento

In order to welcome the 9th day of the Lunar New Year which is the birthday of 'Tian Gong', most chinese needs to offer prayers to Tian Gong and the offerings will start at 12 midnite on 'chu ba'.
Being a Hokkien, we have to make offerings on this day and we've plenty of food like roasted duck, roasted pork, roasted chicken, ang gu kueh, mee sua, red eggs, cakes, fruits, flowers, etc.... All sweet and savoury food.
Since there's roasted pork, i decided to cook fried rice for bento lunch the next day. Hey, it is not easy, after preparations and clearing up till late after prayers, i woke up as early as 6+ this morning to cook. :-P

Ingredients;
1 bowl cooked rice, cold
1 strip roasted meat, cut into slices
1 egg
Some snow peas, shred thickly
1 baby carrot, cut into sticks
1 crabstick, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
Light soy sauce
Pinch of salt
1 tsp homemade sambal chili
Oil for frying

Method;
-Toast roasted pork in a oven toaster till crispy.
-Scrambled egg in oil and set aside for later use.
-Fry garlic till fragrant, add carrots, crabstick & snow peas, fry for a min b4 adding in cold rice.
-Mix well and season to taste.
-Toss in roasted pork and egg.
-Give it a quick stir and serve.
-Enjoy!

What's best is to was away the fats with a cup of hot oolong chrysanthemum tea.

A huge plate for Adam's breakfast! Wonder how is he gonna finish? haha....

Nutella Bread Bento

I'm back to bringing bento to work & today it is a real simple bento with not much creativity in it. lolz.....
My bento consist of a glass of low fat coffee, high fiber white bread with nutella spread, high calcium vege biscuit. If feeling rich, i can even get to enjoy a low fat fruit yoghurt.

Diet Week

Seems like i been putting on weight recently. It reali makes 1 depressed and no motivation in watever i do. And most importantly, no self confidence. Since my other collegues are into dieting as well, i decided to start a dieting plan for the week.

Day 1: Salad with low fat yoghurt dressing

Day 2: Cold tofu with spicy teriyaki sauce.

Oh well, remember to use low sodium light soy sauce when preparing the teriyaki sauce.

Day 3: Low fat coffee with baby bites and vege biscuits.

Day 4: Scrambled eggs with baked beans and greens.

Day 5: Fruit flush diet.

Day 6: Steamed tofu with soy sauce and greens.

When comes to snacking, i will go for baby bites cuz it is low in fat, low calories.

Take a look at the nutrition facts. Super healthy!
All my diets muz be accompanied by fresh grapefruit juice. Probably it's due to the fad diet and the sudden decrease in calories and fats, i lost 2 kg in a week. Congrats to myself! Yeah.......... I muz be more determined to carry on my plans on weekday! Yes.... jia you jia you Ekina!

Bentos For The Week

After a long week of leave, its back to work again. Maybe its becoz its monday yesterday & i'm suffereing from blues, plus got lots of work to clear, i didn't have the mood to blog as i'm dead tired by time i knock off.
But as usual, i will still prepare my bentos for lunch. Here are my bentos for yesterday & today........

Sausage roll bento;
-Omelette wrap chicken sausage in bread roll with cheese & cucumber
-Fruity yoghurt pudding
-Cherry tomatoes
-Fuji apple
-Mixed berries yoghurt
-Fruit juice
Today's bento consist of;
-Curry fried rice
-Tomato & iceberg lettuce
-Apple
-Passion fruit green tea

Ooh...yummy yummy! =P

Spinach Fried Rice Bento

Seems like i only brought my lunch bento once tis week. Dunno izzit a gd sign or bad sign for mi? Am i starving myself during lunch or am i spending $$$ eating junk food? Well, actually its both.
Whenever i need to prepare lunch bento, i will wake up very early in the morning, cut my fruits, pack my bento, dili deili...leave house at 8.20am. However, i been a very good gal, keeping myself fit by walking to work. YES, from hougang to ang mo kio. Takes mi about 35-40mins to reach therefore, i gotto leave house as early as 7.30am. Reaches office still have time to wash up b4 i start my day.

Since i'm feeling abit tired today, shall skip my walking. I was touched by Mum tis morning as she specially prepared a spinach fried rice lunch bento for mi.So sweet of her!!! I still tot i can detox by skipping lunch today. haha...
My lunch bento includes;
-Spinach fried rice with prawns & scrambled egg
-Roselle tea
-Pear & kiwi slices

Chicken Nuggets Roll Bento

Begining of a new week & i'm back to my bento days. haha... Well, seems like last week i was out most of the for dinner, dun reali haf time to prepare my bento. Today shall be back to normal ya?!

When i prepared my bento tis morning, Adam commented that my bento looks more like a kid bento. So childish! Erm......so mean of him to comment that i'm childish cuz we are eating the same thing except his is for breakfast without the cute bento & yakult whereas mine is for lunch. haha...no worries, childish=child like~~~means i'm still young like a kid. Well, depends on how i interpret on tis point rite? :-P

My lunch bento includes;
-Baked chicken nuggets in chili mayo dip,with omelette & cucumber slices.
-Kiwi slices, red apple cherry tomatoes.
-Yakult drink, mixed berry yoghurt & a mango pudding.

Fried Rice Bento

Though i was out having fun last nite, well i wake up early to prepare my lunch bento for today. Mum had some leftover long beans & rice, hence i used them to make into a long beans fried rice.

Simply diced the beans, fried together with eggs, prawns, seasonings & rice. Simple as abc....i added a tsp of sambal chili paste to enchance, sprinkle the top with fried shallots. Wooh...yummy.

My lunch bento includes;
-Long bean fried rice
-Cucumber & cherry tomatoes
-Peach cubes
-Blueberry biscuit, veggie biscuit
-Camomile tea

Lunch Bento

Seems like i'm getting addicted to preparing bentos for my lunch every weekday. I used to pack watever food which mum cooked for dinner the nite b4 into a container, warm it up in the office.
But these few days, i started to plan wat r the foods to be included in my bentos.
Normally, i will have the meal completed with fruits/desserts/yoghurt & fruit juice.

Yummy food for my thurs lunch bento are;
-Stir fry cauliflower with carrots
-Fried promfet with cai po in oyster sauce
-Baked beans,potatoes with luncheon meat,mixed in spicy tomato sauce
-Guava slices
-Mini herbal jellies with nata de coco
-Mango juice

Friday bento is slightly different, i had a theme for it.
Its "Dino land"!!! Doesn't it looked like a dinosaur walking on ground with some pebbles, on the way going into its hidden cave, hid by some tall bushes? Erm....people, use some imaginations. =P
haha.... Initially i wanna make a snail, but as my prawn is too big, makes it looks too scary.keke....

Yummy food for my bento are;
-Stir fry snow peas with carrots, shrooms & prawns
-Steamed gingerly chicken breast in oyster seasonings
-Stir fry cai po with garlic
-Mixed berries yoghurt
-Red apple
-Hot camomile tea

So delicious & satisfying! I'm more & more looking forward to preparing food for my lunch on weekdays. Hmm...let mi think of a theme for next wk. haha... ;-P

My Very 1st Bento

I'm running out of lunch ideas. Having to think of what to eat for lunch? Going to which canteen around my office to buy food? Haiz...sometimes i even skip lunch, save the trouble of walking out under the hot sun juz to buy food.

Mum gave mi a a cute lunch box where she got it FOC when buying toothpaste. Seeing that there were some bread on the table, i decided to make a simple bento for my lunch.

I'm so excited, looking forward to eating my egg mayo sandwich with tomatoes, fruit juice, choco wafer roll, dark chocolate oat cookies & an apple. Wow.. even though its nothing fanciful, but its my 1st time anyway. haha...
I reali enjoyed my lunch so much. Hope there are more to come. :-)

Black Pepper Tuna Crossoinwich

Something different for a change. Other than having rice, rice & rice for lunch as always, i brought ingredients & prepare a crossoinwich in office today.
The meal was completed with grapefruit juice, sparkling water with a slice of lemon. Feels like dining in a cafe when when i'm in the office.

Ingredients;
1 crossiant
1 can tuna chunks in water
Black pepper
Mayonnaise
Salt
Lettuce
Tomato slices
Lightly salted chips

Method;
-Drain off water fm tuna can.
-Mash tuna & mix well with black pepper, salt, mayo.
-Sandwich in between crossiant, lettuce & tomatoes.
-Serve with chips & drinks.
-Enjoy!