bento friday: favorite recipe roundup

This week has been kind of hectic, and I've been sick, so unfortunately I have no bento to share with you.  But!  Instead, I've put together a roundup of some of my favorite bento recipes that I use so so often, in photo essay form.  NOTE: all pictures in this post are taken from justbento.com or justhungry.com, specifically from the recipes linked.  They are used here with permission from Maki.

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Maki?  Maki is my hero.  My bento-hero, at least.

One of my favorite quick and delicious bento side dishes is carrot kinpira.  So yum.  

And hey!  Look!  You can make kinpira from other stuff too!  Rock on.

Maki's chicken teriyaki recipe taught me that teriyaki sauce is super easy to make, that it's very tasty, and that it's silly to buy pre-made teriyaki sauce in a bottle.  Apparently Japanese folks think that stuff sold in stores is kind of bizarre.  

Soboro is another super tasty recipe, though it does require prep.  It's not something you throw together on a weekday morning; rather, I'll spend some time on an occasional weekend making a big batch (usually from lamb), and then freeze small portions to use later as filling in onigiri.  

Bored of teriyaki?  Lemon chicken nuggets are a tasty alternative.

Tamagoyaki is a now-and-forever staple of my bento-making.  There's a bit of a learning curve to its construction, but once you've messed up a few it'll work out fine.  Super tasty, good reheated or at room temp, veggie-friendly, and Husband loves it.  Win. 

And finally, Maki's spicy lentil snacks get fantastic reviews and are apparently super tasty, but I still haven't gotten around to making the dang things.  I even bought red lentils months ago, and yet.  So I'm putting this one on here to remind me to make the darn things, and then I can tell you how it went!

Happy bentoing!

today I love...

...Leo's recent post about savoring life.

Sometimes all that's needed to re-center from a state of frantic distraction is to take a moment, really pause, and really be where and when you are.

It's something I desperately need to learn, and am working on embracing.  Leo, of course, articulates it incredibly well.


Every Wednesday(ish), I write about something I love that day.  It doesn't necessarily have to be remotely related to anything; it just has to be fabulous!

today I love...

...this little kid.  At the ripe old age of eight, she's decided to not only express herself in a fun and unique way through fashion, but is doing it in an inspiring crusade of historical education.

Check it out.


Every Wednesday, I write about something I love that day.  It doesn't necessarily have to be remotely related to anything; it just has to be fabulous!

today I love, jumptoast edition

When sitting in a toasting circle around a campfire, there's a phenomenon known as the 'jumptoast.'  That's what happens when it's not really your turn with the bottle, but you claim it anyway, for Very Important and time-sensitive reasons.

This warrants a 'today I love' jumptoast, despite today not being a Wednesday.

Today I love the internet.

Most of the time it's hideously offensive and thoughtless and cruel, but occasionally something really awesome turns up.

This summer, BIC came out with silly 'for her' pens (annoyingly implying that we girly-types are completely incapable of using Normal Manly Pens), and Amazon reviewers responded in a marvelously snarky fashion.

Now they've gone and done it again.

Even the notorious cesspool Reddit can occasionally be decent.

The internet is an amazing tool, and it's truly up to us how we use it.  I'm all for making it a safe space to actually talk about important stuff when needed, and to enjoy humor when that's needed.  To find like-minded folks to remind you to appreciate what you have.  To celebrate the people and things in this world that aren't shitty instead of just complaining about the things that are.  To embrace the fabulous.

Claiming a little corner of it is the first step, and I'm very happy that I have the opportunity to that.  I'm learning more every day about what I want to create, what I feel like the world needs, and how to make that happen.  Thank you for coming on this journey with me.

today I love...

...this amazing artist.  He makes these incredible mandala-like scenes and sculptures out of... table salt.  In a squeeze bottle.  Dude.


Every Wednesday, I write about something I love that day.  It doesn't necessarily have to be remotely related to anything; it just has to be fabulous!

today I love...

...this. 

Every Wednesday, I write about something I love that day.  It doesn't necessarily have to be remotely related to anything; it just has to be fabulous!

today I love...

...this love story.   No matter how you feel about the war and the people fighting it, this is beautiful.



Every Wednesday, I write about something I love that day.  It doesn't necessarily have to be remotely related to anything; it just has to be fabulous!

today I love...

...this beautiful video* about being alone.

I've never lived alone, and generally have had issues with being alone in general.  I dislike coming home to a dark, empty house, and prefer to have people around. 

I think that finding peace in just being with myself would be a good thing to work on. 

Every Wednesday, I write about something I love that day.  It doesn't necessarily have to be remotely related to anything; it just has to be fabulous!

* via The Simple Dollar

today I love...

...this dad.   He showed his son such beautiful acceptance with a little act of fearlessness.  He stepped up and became the role model his kiddo needed.  Beautiful.

Rock on, dude.



Every Wednesday, I write about something I love that day.  It doesn't necessarily have to be remotely related to anything; it just has to be fabulous!

today I love...

...hobbit houses.

Self explanatory.  I want one retroactively to play in as a kid, and I want one now to play in as a grown-up.



Every Wednesday, I write about something I love that day.  It doesn't necessarily have to be remotely related to anything; it just has to be fabulous!

today I love...

...this narrative of the difficulty in navigating the waters of healthy eating culture.   I like to think of myself as a healthy and ethical person, and I deeply enjoy cooking with local produce.  I adore Michael Pollan's sensible way of approaching food.  I do my best to ignore silly food trends.

But sometimes it's hard.  Sometimes the research is a trap.  Sometimes I just need to step back and regain perspective.



Every Wednesday, I write about something I love that day.  It doesn't necessarily have to be remotely related to anything; it just has to be fabulous!

today I love...

...this periodic table.  Yeah, I went there.



Every Wednesday, I write about something I love that day.  It doesn't necessarily have to be remotely related to anything; it just has to be fabulous!

today I love...

... Julie D'Aubigny.  She was a totally rockin' 17th century lady who kicked a whole hell of a lot of ass.  It's well worth reading about her ridiculously impressive achievements.   She's my new hero for badassery.



Every Wednesday, I write about something I love that day.  It doesn't necessarily have to be remotely related to anything; it just has to be fabulous!

today I love...

... this video.  A video blogger apparently got a bunch of 'fat-shaming' feedback, and this is her response.  This is the best thing I've seen in a long time.  You, my dear, totally rock.

Wednesday's normal 'love' feature is a bit late this week, due to the holiday.  Enjoy!



Every Wednesday, I write about something I love that day.  It doesn't necessarily have to be remotely related to anything; it just has to be fabulous!

today I love...

...the best halloween costume ever (via Already Pretty).

Just go see it.


Every Wednesday, I write about something I love that day.  It doesn't necessarily have to be remotely related to anything; it just has to be fabulous!

today I love...

...Gala Darling's list of 100 things to do instead of procrastinating on the internet.

Like most of us, I've found myself wasting away more hours than I'd like to think about on lifehacker, various blogs, and very occasional flash games.  Plus, there's wikipedia effect.

What if we all got off our collective butts and, say, participated in real life occasionally instead of checking facebook?  I suspect the world would be a little bit of a better place.

Also, Gala Darling epitomizes my idea of fabulosity.  She's my hero.



Every Wednesday, I write about something I love that day.  It doesn't necessarily have to be remotely related to anything; it just has to be fabulous!

today I love...

...this guide to organizing a kitchen.  Check it out!  Shortly after changing my name, I write about geeky organizing.  Go figure.

I've moved a lot in my life, and consequently have set up quite a few kitchens.  Like the author of this article, I've pretty much always used the 'where will it physically fit?' method of deciding where things go.  Perhaps it's silly, but I find the notion of consciously organizing the space in order to group things near where they'll be needed and with the other objects they're used with seems pretty radical.

Kind of makes me want to reorganize the kitchen.  I get urges like that a lot.



Every Wednesday, I write about something I love that day.  It doesn't necessarily have to be remotely related to anything; it just has to be fabulous!

today I love...

...this choreographed marriage proposal.  I can't get over how unbelievably fabulous this is.  It must have been so much fun to put together!  Go watch it.  Really.

Okay, so mine was pretty epic too: sunset, castle, bonny banks of Loch Lomond.  But I can still appreciate some rockin' amateur choreography.



Every Wednesday, I write about something I love that day.  It doesn't necessarily have to be remotely related to anything; it just has to be fabulous!