Summer Bento Blog Hop Inspiration....I LOVE the Beach!

SO, I was inspired today by a Blog Hop that went on today among the Bento Bloggers.  Since today is the first day of summer, they decided to have a hop around that theme.  I was VERY impressed!  My fave item was a bunch of miniature marshmallows on sticks (pretzels) that the artist had actually roasted over the gas burner on the stove!!  How cool!?

Since I LOVE summer...for obvious reasons (I'm a teacher), I figured I would create one for Rich using the same theme.  He has had a Bento every day this week, but I must say that they haven't revolved around a theme.  I am excited to show mine off to you!

Starting at the top left and going clockwise, we have the ocean which is made of blue vanilla yogurt, a starburst sun, a Werther's Chewy SeaGull, and cookie crumb sand.  Next, there are 3 Beach Balls made out of circle I cut out of bread with the top of a medicine bottle.  Then I used edible markers to color in the triangles.  These are Cookie Butter sammies.  The middle consist of a tiny red chocolate candy that I dug out of a jar of misc sprinkles.  These are accented by an orange Hibiscus Flower pick and a mini umbrella!  Below that you simply have some "Whales" which are Dollar General's brand of Goldfish.  Aldi carries "sharks" as their brand.  Finally, you have a little fishy boiled egg.  Hubby was impressed!  I also had a pink flamingo pick in the whales but it disappeared before the picture!

A close up of the ocean scene and beach balls.

You should try "bentoing" because if I can do it, anyone can!  I had a CRAPPY day and I just focused my energy on this for a few and believe it or not, it helped!  Whatcha think of my creation??  I also need some theme ideas. 

Restaurant Review: GrEAT Mongolian Grill

Hubby and I decided to have a date night a while back.  We went and tried a new restaurant that I ran across online through Groupon (although I didn't buy the deal...just remembered the place).  GrEAT Mongolian Grill is located in Cary @ Harrison Pointe Shopping Center.  I now understand why the reviews mentioned that it was never crowded....it's on the back of the center.  I would have never known it was there.  I am SO glad we found it!  Hubby has never liked Mongolian food, but he knows that I love it and we def don't go often.

It was awesome!  The food was fantastic, especially the Sesame Mushroom sauce.  Our service was amazing!  First the food...there was a large buffet right in the middle of the restaurant.  You took 2 bowls:  1 large for Veggies and 1 small for proteins.  They had everything from bean sprouts to zucchini to noodles...probably about 30 different veggie-type things.  For proteins it ranged from tofu to shrimp to steak to calamari...maybe 12ish of those.  My first creation had a little of LOTS of things:  noodles, scallions, onions, mushrooms, carrot, zucchini, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, Napa cabbage, broccoli, shrimp, beef, and chicken.  I'm sure I left something out!  At the end of the bar, there are about 7 containers with things such as sesame seeds, garlic, pepper, etc.  I added some of that as well.  They also use a "stick" system to choose your sauce.  Each sauce is written on a sign with a color beside it.  You place the corresponding stick in your food.  You also choose a chili pepper stick.  Green in mild, 2 greens - medium, 1 red hot, 2 reds very hot!  I chose the Sesame Mushroom sauce out of other sauces such as teriyaki, sweet Asian chile, and a few others.  I went with medium for my heat...and I'm glad I did!  Anyway, once you have done this, you give it to the chefs at the humungous grill.  They ask if you would like steamed or fried rice and give you a number.  Back at the table you stick your number card on the little stand on each table.  The waitress brings it to you when it's ready.  Hubby had a very similar creation.  He order white sauce to go on his...he says he could put it on gravel and it would be yummy!

My first taste

Oh, we started with Endamame.  It was good...just your average with s little sea salt.  It was cooked good, but honestly, I buy it by the large bag in the freezer section @ Trader Joe's for $1.69.  I like it just as well.  It was $3.99 here...I'm glad I got it but don't know if I would get it again because I'm cheap!!

My App

 Rebecca was our server.  She was AWESOME!  She was friendly from the beginning but after we had been there a few times, she warmed up even more.  We ended up exchanging email info before we left!  She hooked us up too!  The prices are:  1 trip - 9.99, unlimited is 11.99.  If you want to bring your unlimited leftovers home, it's 4.69 extra.  Normally this is a small take out box and she brought us a large.  I went up and fixed a bowl 4 different ways, skipping the rice.  I took probably 3-4 bites out of each.  The rest was brought home.  We have a GOOD 4 meals leftover!  Oh, and she laughed at me because I told her that their water was some of the best I had ever had.  She said they had a filtering system in place..well...it was GOOD water!  :)

Our bill was right at $35.  We left Rebecca a $15 tip.  It was a fantastic experience!!

Weekly Meal Plan via the SMARTSHOPPER!

I follow a couponing/deal blog on WRAL.com hosted by a friend of mine and local celebrity, Faye Prosser.  This lady rocks!  She teaches you how to coupon the RIGHT, ETHICAL way!  We call her the "SmartShopper" and her blog is called that too!  Anyway, I just posted my weekly menu plan there so I thought I'd post it here as well!  Hopefully, I will be able to incorporate a few bentos as well!  What do you think??


Monday - Homemade "Hambone Veggie Soup", blueberries/strawberries
Tuesday - Corned Beef Brisket, carrots, potatoes, cabbage (St. Patty's Day again - will be making corned beef hash for breakfast Saturday)
Wednesday - Leftover soup and our fave grilled ham n' cheese topped with a thin slice of tomato (produce box) and fresh basil leaves (YUMMM)
Thursday - Cheese enchiladas (with homemade sauce put up last year), corn on the cob, salad (weekly produce box)
 Friday - my version of Sesame Chicken, broccoli (weekly produce box), roasted new potatoes (produce box) Saturday - HUGE Sea Scallops (Trader Joe's has the BEST), garden peas (produce box), new potatoes (box) and strawberries/blueberries (also from box)
Sunday - Sounds like a great day to use a GROUPON at Backyard Bistro!!
Wow...didn't think I had it in me! Sounds like a yummy week...if I follow through!

Soup is always a win in our house!  Leftovers for lunches!  :)

Puzzle & Penguin Mini-Bento

I have felt pretty close to death for a couple of days!  I hate being sick!  Anyway, I finally cooked tonight...I'm sure my hubby was happy!  I made a big pot of ham/veggie/misc soup...the best!  We are having that for lunch tomorrow.  I made each of us a little breakfast/snack bento to munch on throughout the day.  I bought 2 new sammie cutters from Wally World.  They are CUTE!  I got the puzzle one and a penguin duo!  I hate Wally World but was there checking out a phone deal someone had told me about.  Out of stock - go figure!

Each has a mini penguin sammie and 2 puzzle pieces - filled with....wait for it....COOKIE BUTTER!  YUMMO!  The penguins each have a flower sprinkle for the eyes.  The chili pepper is made from a Trader Joe Fruit Leather.  The ABC cookies are also from TJs and are quite tasty!  Hubby has organic white cheddar mini cracker sammies and a tiny Fruit Stripe packet!

 

 

 

 

 

Cookie Butter: Trader'Joe's Product Review

As promised, a post on Cookie Butter.  Whenever I go to Trader Joe's, which I LOVE, I make it a point to try something new....every time.  There have been a couple of flops, but there have been FAR more YUMS!!  Rich is in LOVE with Cookie Butter.  It is $3.69 a jar.  Best way to describe it is a consistency a tiny bit thicker and "tackier" than Peanut Butter with almost a gingersnap flavor in the background.  You can use it just like you use Peanut Butter.  Our fave so far is to simply roll out a piece of bread and spread a thin layer of the butter on.  We then roll it up.  It's very tasty!  I purchased 2 more jars tonight!  It was funny because we had used about 1/3 of the jar when Rich started panicking over running out!  LOL

Try it out and let me know what you think!  I gotta warn you though...it IS QUITE addictive!!

**Note...I am in no way affiliated with Trader Joe's nor did I receive any form of compensation for saying the positive things about the product!  We just love it!