American Bento

Friends,

School is letting out shortly and I am getting ready to make a wonderful trip to Russia.  My husband and I are adopting three beautiful children and have a court date shortly before Christmas.  I hope to be back in time to post some fun, bento inspired, healthy snacks for the holidays.  I may not make Christmas but will do my best to have something special for New Years.  Please keep my family in your prayers.  Next month may be filled with meals for toddlers instead of teenagers!  At least, that is what we are all hoping for!

Thank you all and I wish you all a very merry Christmas!

Fontevrault

I've been asked to share my recipe for baguette here.  Unfortunately, it wouldn't be ethical to share the recipe itself since it comes from a wonderful book:  Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.   If you click on the title, it will take you to Amazon.com.  I don't participate in a referral program but thought it might make life easier for you to be able to click and read reviews. 

I like this method of making bread because it is fast and easy and yet healthy.  Fast and healthy rarely describe the same food, so it is nice to support an effort to help families (a) eat real homemade food and (b) offer ways to do so without spending all day in the kitchen.  Don't get me wrong; I enjoy cooking.  But, I also have a lot of other projects to work on. 

The premise of the cookbook is that you make a basic recipe and keep that dough in the fridge.  When you want to make bread, you simply pull out the amount of dough needed and shape your loaf (your 5 minutes of work).  Then, you allow the bread to rest and later bake it.  There isn't a lot of kneading involved or even proofing yeast.  Instead, the recipes in this book use more moisture and add vital wheat gluten. 

Some loaves should rest for as much as 50 minutes.  Baguettes require less rest time and bake more quickly (since they are more narrow).  This works for me because I get up at 5 am to make lunch and breakfast for my family.  I really don't want to have to get up any earlier than that.  So, I make baguette and sometimes hit the snooze button.  :) 

The baguette pictured in my "A Sandwich Bento" entry is the basic whole wheat bread recipe.  I've made some changes. I use white whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour.  I also made small "mini" baguettes.  These are approximately 4 inches long.  Once I've allowed the dough to rest, I moisten the baguette with water and sprinkle a mixture of rosemary, garlic, salt, and pepper on top.  I then slit the top of the dough. 

I do hope you will consider looking at this book.  It might even be available at your local library.  I have found that I bake more frequently because I have the dough ready.  I also find I spend much less money on bread.  I think my total cost for a conventional loaf of bread might be $0.50 with these recipes.  Fancy breads like a herbed baguette would cost far more at the store.  I have spent as much as $4 for a nice loaf of bread at Whole Foods.  Now, I can just make it at home!

This bento is made from leftovers.  Tonight we've had a lot going on.  Dinner was an afterthought: a rotisserie chicken from Walmart and a quick salad.  This bento grew out of that simple meal. 

Layer 1:  Cucumber sandwiches and mini tomatoes start off the meal.  A muffin, yogurt, strawberries, and orange slices make for a sweet ending.

Layer 2: A main course of chicken leg, potatoes tossed with herbs, green beans, onions, and carrot.  There is also some mashed sweet potato and a small salad.

This bento is a single layer meal made of leftovers from a delightful dinner.  Here are ravioli filled with cheese and topped with tomatoes, mushrooms, roasted red pepper and more cheese.  I've used cucumber slices to hold the ravioli in place so that I could add some fresh veggies: tomatoes, carrots, and peppers. 

This is a bento that DD tells me is her personal favorite.  She enjoyed the lunch so much that she has asked me to make it several times.  It's nice to feel appreciated, especially when the lunch requested is so easy!

Layer 1 is my usual assortment of veggies and a dip.  Dessert includes plums, strawberries, and low carb cheesecake.  I make the cheesecake in advance and then freeze individual portions.  I can then pull out a treat whenever I need to.


Layer 2 is a small salad and a chicken sandwich on homemade baguette.  The baguette is whole wheat and topped with a rosemary herb mix.