Beef Stew in a Bento Box

Bento Box sounds cute . It makes me feel I am back to the elementary school  :-) I like to carry the little bento box and being little kid again

I got this cute Zojirushi Bento Box from the CSN store with their gift card. If you are like me need to spent a long day in the office or school, or, just feel like to be young, or just feel like to have home cooking instead of eating out , try these cute bento boxes

This would be my IDEAL bento box : I hope someone could make it for me !!!

It comes with three boxes with different sizes, and a pair of chopsticks. The nicest thing of it , is it can keep food WARM, or COLD , for up to SIX hours. Since I don’t like overnight food, and I prefer to cook early in the morning , this is perfect for me. I will bring them to the office and the food still hot when I have it for lunch!

So , I test it out with my beef stew (which is a very popular dish now!)

With pressure cooker, this dish is just so much easier to make:

4-5 carrots, about 2 cups of beef stew chunks, 1 yellow onion, 1/3 cup light soy sauce, 1/3 cup of cooking wine. For about 30min in pressure cooker . Done!

The beef is completely breaking down…., as well as the onions. Both carrots and onions give the stew a sweet flavor. I bet you will love it

Yeah – lunch time :

with Sauteed Kale, black berries, and beef stew !

Enjoy !!!!

A Buitoni Salad for the Record High…. 105F!!!!

The summer is going crazy in DC. Hot , hot , hot!! it has been above 90 since June 1st for more than 40 days. This weekend? hit the record high…

I need Salad, COLD, to cool me down….

A Buitoni Three Cheese Tortellini Summer Treat!

I got the coupon from Buitoni Foodbuzz Tastemaker program, wakakaka, so finally I got to try this Italian version of Chinese “Wonton”. Btw, don’t forget to hit the Buitoni website – u got hear classical music , haha

The Ingredients are really simple:

1. A bag of Buitoni Three Cheese Tortellini,

2. Two tomatoes

3. Edmmame ( I LOVE ‘em!)

4. Onion ( obviously I put too much…it burnt my stomach! so please, a little bit onion flavor will be good enough!)

the Dressing:

Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, Dill, Pinch Salt.

Toss and Enjoy!

The Tortellini tastes ‘cheesy’, yet not that heavy compared to four cheese one. If you are looking for a light and fresh Italian dinner, it might be a good option (least Cal. among all the others). The wrap is VERY chewy, compared to our Wonton version.  Yet I am a little bit disappointed: Buitoni seems very generous about the ‘wrap’, yet there isn’t that much filling. If there is more filling inside, it would be even better ~

I am already thinking of try another flavor of Buitoni !! any suggestions?!

Hope you stay cooooooool, dear friends!

Finally Back to My Daily Routine

When I look back, I found that my blog almost become a “travel-log” instead of a “food-log”….yeah, June was crazy for me , I was out of town for almost one month. I only went grocery shopping twice – and my fridge is usually under the ‘empty’ state. Finally, my life gets back to normal in July.

I prefer to cook the food myself instead of dinning out ( I wasn’t like this before I discover my talent in cooking! hahahaha ) Getting a bit tired of eating out, I will switch back to the home-made food mood:

My breakfast with HOME-MADE high fiber corn muffins:

The ingredients that boost the fiber include the flex seed, wheat bran, and black sesame seed

The mistake I made:

Too little Butter … I only use about 2tsp for 12 muffins. It turns out so dried out!!! I didn’t know the oil would make such big difference   now I still have 6 left, and maybe I need to invent some new way to finish them!

The lunch was pretty good :

The Cabbage and Chinese Sausage Stir-fry, Turnip Stir-fry, and Chicken Soup These are all my comfort food!

And ……………………………………………………………………………the big news is : I finally got a MacPro!!!

I have been thinking of a MAC for two years, somehow I couldn’t make up my mind to actually buy one.  Yet this summer I got grant for the computer – hooooray! Let’s spent it on Mac!

it’s a pretty good deal for student :

$1199 -$100 (student discount) – $100 ( free all-in-one printer!) – $200 (free Ipod!) = $799!!!

btw, this blog is written on MacPro ! Wahahahaha

The Memory Lingers On

I have been back from Europe for quite a while….yet the memory still lingers on….

I think someone who has sweet teeth like me,  should stay in Europe for a longer time, where so many delicate sweets will satisfying the endless desire of chocolate …..

This is why:

When I wake up in the morning, I can dazzle my eyes with these never-ending chocolate stand….

Spread this thick and creamy chocolate cream on my breakfast toast…

Brush my teeth with chocolate toothpaste;

Order a chocolate bar for snack

and have a sip of chocolate beer ….

Woooooow, life is full of ….CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!

hehe, maybe I should drag myself from the chocolate fantasy land now ! Because, something is great happening in my ‘ blog career’ The people from CSN store has choose me to be their preferred blogger ! Hooray! I just checked out one of their table lamps, and look at this cute table lamp:

hehe , isn’t that a great light house table lamp Have fun exploring your favorite one!

You can’t talk about Switzerland without Sweets

I guess European are pampered. With all the delicate desserts created, who says life is not beautiful? A stop at local bakery, or corner cafe, or even the restaurants that feature themselves with the most rustic food, a sweet-ending is also a must to win that smile from their loyal customers. Chefs are realizing their sweetest dreams in that small plate of delicacy.

Like this Walnut Parfait, light cream paired with a strong whiskey flavored syrup:

or this Hot Chocoalte

Or this frozen hazelnut icecream cake:

Or this chocolate candy shop:

All echo this beautiful peaceful country:

Switzerland – Wonderland

The Jungfraujoch in Switzerland, gorgeous weather ,  Beautiful sunshine

The Zellerhause in Zurich, a very popular place for “Bratwurst” (Sausage). Herb Flavor and fatty sausage, with very creamy house-made potato salad…

Very World-cup style Bouquet

The Jewelry is everywhere …

If you would like to order a salad, you will feel the generosity of Swiss people in terms of their cheese….Half of the plate is filled with cheese. So please, say “cheeeeeese”