Bento Supply Shopping At Sunrise Asian Food Market

Just the thought of Sunrise Asian Food Market in Eugene Oregon is enough to make me want to move there. There are many things I like about Eugene and Sunrise is one of the top things on the list. I've been known to take the 2-1/2 hour trip north just for shopping at Sunrise and Trader Joe's.

Being true to their name, Sunrise carries food items from all over Asia. Some of the aisles are dominated by foods from a particular region in Asia. Thailand, India, Japan, China and Korea are the ones which readily come to mind.

They also have lots of bento making accessories from food jars, rice makers, dishes and just about anything you could want. My favorite pair of chop sticks in a case were purchased at Sunrise years ago. On my last trip I purchased various rice molds (remember my heart and star rice molds.) Years ago I purchase a mold to make my own California rolls. Which do on occasion usually in the cooler months of the year.

Here are many varieties of the seasoned soybean pockets I stuff with rice for breakfast. They have an impressive produce area. Their deli area has the largest rice cooker I have ever seen in my life. Next time I will make sure to get a picture of that.

Many soybean cakes and various varieties of moochie (not sure if I spelled that right.) The owners of the store are very friendly and helpful. So if you are in the area stop by and tell them I suggested it.

Until Next Time. . . . .

Kathleen

Bandon's Beach Loop

I thought I would give you a view of the beach at Coquille Point in Bandon.

Breath taking. The rocks look like various objects such as a seal and there is also Face Rock over here somewhere. I think I'm at the wrong angle for you to see that one though.

The steps going down to the beach. I will say Oregon maintains their beaches well.

Until Next Time. . . . .

Kathleen

Port of Bandon and the Boardwalk

Here is some pictures I took on Sunday of the Bandon Harbor Boardwalk. Beautiful weather and very little people in sight.

The little outdoor theatre. I sat right on these steps on the Fourth of July and watch an awesome fire cracker display.

There are lots of Oregon myrtle wood benches around to sit on. The little building in the back is a sheltered area you can bring food into or it is great place to sit while you people or nature watch.

The sign on the shelter.

Inside the shelter - more myrtle wood.

more views from inside the shelter.

Look you can play chess or checkers but you need to bring your own pieces.

These two chairs are my favorite places to sit. That is the crabbing dock across from the shelter. Sometimes there will be a seal down in the water.

This is one of views from inside by the two chairs.

A view from the boardwalk near the shelter.

The story about the fishes decorating the boardwalk.

And some of the fishes. Once again that is the crabbing dock across from the boardwalk.

One of the fish huts you can purchase some fish and chips.

The front side of the fish hut.

And across the street is Cranberry Sweets which the famous Rachel featured on one of her shows.

I hope you enjoyed the little tour.

Until Next Time . . . . . .

Kathleen

Bento Lunch

I'm still trying to work out breakfast but this week I am focusing on lunch. Since I'm trying to save a little money and watch what I eat - I've decided to work on Bento Boxes.



This bento box is going to be for salads. I keep the greens on the bottom under the ice ring and my salad dressing in the little container. I put canned Salmon in the little container to the left. The top of the box is where I put my mid-morning snack.

I used a hair band I got from the dollar store to attach my small container of salmon. Then I have Mandarin orange slices and another small container of almonds.

I put the whole thing in this cute bag. My bentos are not that exciting yet. I do want to get into the fancy ones with Eiffel Tower shapes and all but for a start here we go. So please leave me a comment telling me what is your favorite packed lunch. I'm listening as I need lots of ideas to get up to fifteen lunch ideas.

Thank you sister Suzy (she is my sister and not a nun) for signing up to follow my blog. As I suspected my blog must be very dull as I only have one follower. Not that I don't appreciate you Suzy as I do believe me - I really do. You don't have to be a blogger to follow my blog. My sister Suzy doesn't have a blog - not yet anyway.

Until Next Time . . . . .

Kathleen

I bought a Rice Cooker

I've been doing soup and rice for breakfast so I purchased this rice cooker. I can't believe how much better the rice is - it is so fluffy and the grains are so long. Didn't know what I was missing. I got this rice cooker from Costco for $29.99. You can get smaller ones from Walmart or Target but this one had a delay timer which I like. The rice cookers will keep your rice warm after cooking.

This is a bento of some rice pockets I took one day to lunch but I've since started eating about three pockets with rice with my soup for breakfast. This bento has hummus which I got from costco in these cute little packages. I usually eat the hummus with a small bag of carrots for a snack. There is also a little soy bean filled rice cake -a small sweet. The small bottle on top of the rice pockets is filled with more of the sprinkles which are already on top of the pockets. I'll tell you more about that next week when I do bentos for lunch. I'll also take a picture of how I've been doing the pockets for breakfast sometimes with a little shrimp and a spicy sauce. I use to purchase those type of pockets from a market for breakfast but now I do my own. The little blue ring in the back is an ice ring.

Here is my little bento box all put together. I got this one at the thrift store for .99 - I guess it is missing a few items such as a little container which fits in the middle and the utensil on top. But for 99 cents I can live without that.

The missing container would go in the middle of the ring.

This is what the pockets look like when I purchase them from the Asian market.

These are also some rice presses I got as the Asian market in Eugene (will have a post on that next week.) It is fun to press the rice into shapes to give the food a different look.

I've been eating Progresso Soups for breakfast. I've purchased some miso stock so I will branch out next week to making miso soup.

Until Next Time. . . . .

Kathleen

Breakfast The Meal of Champions

Here is a picture of Sunday breakfast from a couple of weeks ago. I like to make a big deal out of Sunday breakfast and use my Rose Chintz China. I usually listen to opera but on this day it was Easy Listening Chinese Pop music. After breakfast I settle in reading the Sunday Newspaper.

So my goal for the month of January is to get a handle on meals in my house. I don't like feeling lost about what to make for meals. I want to get 15 good lunch and dinner recipes that I can use to plan tasty, healthy meals. With the economy the way it is and with a slight reduction in my pay checks (medical insurance went up at work) I want to be able to make sure I am getting the most all around for my money.

I thought this week I would concentrate on breakfast. I'm not one to eat cold cereal and I don't seem to be able to tolerate oatmeal. I love it - it just doesn't seem to love me. I've been making shakes every morning with frozen fruit, tofu, yogurt, orange juice and vitamins. I want to actually do the math and count the calories etc. just to make sure I'm not over doing it.

I've been exploring other options. I've been reading about what the Japanese eat as they have the longest life span. That is until the start eating like Americans. From what I've read they tend to have miso soup, rice and some meat usually fish. That actually sounds good to me. My sister Suzy and I use to love eating soup for breakfast when we were kids. So my plan for breakfast is to get 3 or 4 things I can alternate with during the week. If any one has suggestions I'm all ears as I would love some input.

So Until Next Time. . . .

Kathleen

Goals for the New Year

Happy New Year Everyone!

I've been inspired by Melissa at her "The Inspired Room" to start New Year Goals by the month. You can see Melissa's goals at this link http://theinspiredroom.net/2008/12/31/a-beautiful-life-12-months-of-goals/

As Melissa has done I've created goals for the year focusing each month on something specific. Here is my list.

January - Meals
February - Physical
March - Expanding Horizons
April - Solitude/Spiritual
May - Family
June - Environment
July - Financial Freedom
August - Contentment/Happiness
September - Routines/Daily Rituals
October - Hospitality
November - Gratitude
December - Giving

You may notice that many of my goals are the same as Melissa's. If you haven't checked out Melissa's site you should as the site indicates it is very inspiring. http://theinspiredroom.net/ She is a very recent ex-Oregonian who has just moved to Washington. I wish her all the best in her brand new home.


I'd love to hear about your goals so please leave a comment with your thoughts for the new year!

Until Next Time. . . .
Kathleen