Bento, anyone?

Ok, just today I discovered a whole new world of cooking that I'm definitely going to have to explore... soon! I am absolutely amazed by the photos, and I've sat here for too long a while surfing around various sites in awe of these creative meals.

Many of the meals I've seen so far are full of exotic vegetables and sushi, but there are also tons of pictures of kid-friendly meals, like the one below. (Photo found on Photobucket, I don't know who took it.) My 4 year-old daughter would just love this!

From what I can tell, Bento is basically a very creative Japanese way of packing lunches in tiny containers and compartments. There are special Bento containers, but you can also do it using simple (frugal) things like cupcake papers.

Since I really do need to go do other things, I'll just leave you with a quick list of the links I've been enjoying:

What is Bento?http://www.airandangels.com/bentobox/intro.html

Lunch in a Box: http://lunchinabox.net/links/
Bento photos on Flickrhttp://www.flickr.com/groups/bentoboxes/pool/
This one includes some cute kids' themed lunches:http://mmmbento.livejournal.com/
Bento Yum: http://www.bentoyum.com/

Bento AND WW: http://pikkopots.blogspot.com/

I'm sure I'll have more on Bento later, as I said, I've just discovered this for the first time today. When I have more time, I'll clean these links up and put them into my sidebar. If any of you are into Bento, I'd love to hear from you!

Menu Plan Monday 7/29

Welcome! I've participated in MPM for quite a while now, over on my old cooking blog, Amy's Cooking Adventures, but this is the first menu I've posted since I moved to this new blog last week.

Weight Watchers points are included when available.

• MONDAY: leftovers
• TUESDAY: my Tater Tot Casserole and stewed tomatoes

• WEDNESDAY: new recipe: Italian Ricotta Tomato Pie (10pts as written, but I'm going to sub some lower-calorie ingredients.) and tossed salad

• THURSDAY: new recipe: Crockpot Chicken and Stuffing (7 pts) and steamed broccoli (0pts)

• Crockpot Chicken and Stuffing (The recipe came from a WW forum called Bootcamp Buddies, (here), but since the recipe is buried way down in the thread, I thought I'd go ahead and just copy it here. I hope it's good- I don't usually post recipes that I haven't personally tried!)

  6 boneless skinless chicken breasts

  1 box stove top stuffing mix

  1 can 98% FF cream of mushroom soup

  1/2 cup water or chicken bouillon
  

  Spray a 3 1/2 quart crockpot with cooking spray. Add chicken breast. Combine stuffing, soup and liquid. Spread over chicken. Cook on low 6-8 hours. (7 points/ 6 servings)

• FRIDAY: broiled pork chops (2pts) with Italian potatoes/ mixed veggies (a frozen blend from Sam's)
  

If you came directly to this post, be sure you check out the rest of my new cooking blog, including the yummy strawberry pie recipe I posted the other night!

Head on over to I'm An Organizing Junkie to share your menu or see what others are eating this week!

P.S. If you know anything about soccer & can suggest a good "dummies"-type book or website, please pop over to my main blog for a minute and leave a comment-- thanks!

Strawberry Pie

Tonight I made Strawberry Pie without using store-bought "gel" for the first time. Who knew it was so easy, and so good?

Here's the recipe I used, and my photo-- the picture doesn't really do it justice, though! I could just give you the recipe link, but then I can't add in my own notes! ;)

STRAWBERRY PIE

• 4 cups fresh strawberries (I used one grocery-store container & cut up the big ones.)


• 3/4 cup sugar


• 2 tablespoons cornstarch


• 1 (.6 oz) package strawberry gelatin (mine was strawberry-banana flavor)


• 1 1/2 cups water


• 1 graham cracker crust (Next time, I want to try a chocolate crust-- I used a store-bought graham cracker crust this time because they were on sale for $1 each-- can't beat that!)

Slice berries and place into pie crust. Stir together the sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan, then add water, mix, and bring to a boil. Simmer a few minutes until it begins to thicken. Add gelatin and mix well. Cool the mixture a few minutes, then pour over top the strawberries in the pie crust. Refridgerate until firm (mine chilled about for 45 minutes before serving).

We did, of course, top this with the mandatory whipped cream. :)

That's it! It was SO easy, and so good. Next time, I want to try it with a chocolate crust, and I might even add in some sliced bananas. Yum!

Bloggy Giveaway Winners

I didn't get a chance to post my winners last night. I did, however, hold my drawings and notify each of them.

• 
  Winner of the Relaxation Set from my main blog: Andie from Prochnow Blessings
• 
  Winner of the Soup Mixes cookbook from this cooking blog: Sandi from 4 Reluctant Entertainers
  

Thanks to all who participated! I was amazed at how many giveaways there were... and I found some great new-to-me blogs along the way. What fun!

If we only had a grill...

I'd love to be grilling up a bunch of brats... ok, and some burgers for my husband... and oh, yes, don't forget the grilled corn-on-the-cob!


We don't have a grill... we left our last one at the old house because it was too rusty difficult to move. I keep hoping to find a good deal on a new one, though... that seems reasonable with end of season sales, right?

In the meantime, I'll leave you with a yummy method of grilling potatoes that I learned from my parents. Take a baking potato and cut several slices width-wise, but don't cut completely through the potato... leave about half an inch or so attached at the bottom. In between the potato slices, place pats of butter and big slices of onion. Wrap in foil and grill until potato is tender.... yummy!

The Great Bloggy Giveaway Carnival

Well, I guess there's no better way to break in the new blog than to bribe people into commenting, is there? LOL!

Since this is my new cooking blog and all, I'm giving away one new copy of "The Soup Mix Gourmet". It's a big thick book full of recipes that all include, you guessed it, soup mixes.

The Soup Mix Gourmet By Diane Phillips / Harvard Common Press Create delicious meals that beat the clock using dry soup mix or canned condensed soup, the short-cut ingredients that pack a knockout flavor punch. Dry and condensed soups have the power to turn a ho-hum dinner into a really great meal. In The Soup Mix Gourmet Diane Phillips shares her know-how for making the most of these timesavers, giving you hundreds of fresh new ideas and old favorites reworked for today. With a little help from your soup pantry, you can create fabulous, flavorful meals to suit every occasion.

Sorry, but I can only ship within the USA. I'll draw a winner Friday evening (Eastern Time)- please be sure to leave me your blog address or email so I can let you know if you've won.

TO ENTER: Comment below and tell me what your favorite homecooked meal is. If you leave me the recipe or a link to the recipe, you'll be entered twice! (EDITED TO ADD: If you don't tell me your favorite meal in your comment below, your entry doesn't count-- seriously! I just want to know that you actually read this entry, and didn't just drop a quick comment before going off to enter the next contest. I don't think that's unreasonable, do you? )

Don't forget to visit my main blog, Tiny Blessings, for another give-away. And, of course, be sure you check out all the other great give-aways during this week's carnival over at Rocks In My Dryer!

Moving Day!

I've decided to move my old cooking blog here, to Blogger, since Blogger's widgets make it so much easier for HTML-impaired persons like myself. This will also simplify things when I want to make posts-- I'll only have to log in one place to post to both blogs. Anything that makes things easier is great in my book!

Bear with me while I tweak things and get them the way I want them to look!

P.S. Since I wasn't sure I'd have this site up and running today, my Menu Plan Monday post for this week is over on the old site!

You can ignore this: Technorati Profile . It's just a technicality!