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One of my favorite Christmas presents this year (besides the awesome hockey stick Amy got me!) was from my folks - the Mr. Bento lunch jar.

I’ve been perusing the Flickr photo pool of Mr. Bento lunches for the past few months, realizing that my standard fall 2007 lunch of yogurt, string cheese, crackers, Luna bar and a piece of fruit just wasn’t cutting it any longer. I was bored with my lunches (and usually hungry around 4:15 anyway - which often meant a trip to the vending machine), ready to start bringing more varied foods, and completely in the right place to welcome Mr. Bento into my life.

The first two days back to work I found myself slipping into old habits even with Mr. Bento - mostly because we hadn’t shopped for groceries after being gone for almost 11 days over the holidays. Cut veggies, cheeses, clementines, and trail mix - ho-hum (although colorful…)

Yesterday, though, we had leftovers in the house and I was so excited to pack up my Mr. Bento and bring in a real lunch for once! Guacamole, vegetarian enchilada casserole, chips, and bulgar/feta/grape salad - YUM!

I’m excited to keep bringing varied lunches to work this semester, and hope to take a photo of lunch every day so that I don’t get back into a rut.

Apparently I need the specter of NaBloPoMo over my head to get me blogging every day. Or every week. Whatever. Kind of like Otter needs me to put treats on his nose so he’ll behave. (He hates me for this trick.)

Some small nothings for your entertainment this fine weekend:

Work: This semester has been a doozy - lots of stuff going on at work (mostly good) and lots of stuff going on at home (hockey, mostly). It’s kept me busy and exhausted most nights. I’m looking forward to the December break and January’s wintersession on campus. Our group has a bunch of mini-workshops lined up, the first time we’ve taught most of them. Wintersession gives us some time to test-run courses to see if they should go into regular rotation. We’ll see - I’m hopeful.

Married life: Amy and I have been horribly lazy last night and tonight. The sofa has buttprints in it.

Food: On Thursday night we went to eat at Ka Carlos, a Cape Verdean restaurant in Dorchester with our friends Lib and Steph!TP. The service was definitely on island time, but the food was good. We all shared sauteed octopus and friend yuca. Lib got a spicy shrimp and veggie dinner, Amy got a spicy cajun-like chicken dinner, Steph!TP got conch, and I somehow managed to order a Denny’s Grand Slam (without pancakes). It claimed to be Portuguese beef with eggs. I guess I didn’t read the menu very carefully because there were some words next to the English description which apparently meant “with a heart-attack sauce and french fries too.” Ah well, it was still pretty tasty, my arteries notwithstanding.

Dogs: Maggie and Otter are funny. Ever since their Thanksgiving kennel trip, Maggie’s been all chow-houndy. Normally she’s happy to sit back while Otter inhales his meals, eating only when she’s good and ready. He probably snarfed up all her food in the kennel, causing this backlash on her part. Whatever it is, I love watching the two of them eating at the same time. Otter’s so tall that when his tail wags it completely clears Maggie’s back.

Knitting: I started knitting again, on my Janda sweater. Finally did some frogging on the front piece, which I made too long. Finished that and cast on for both sleeves last night. The easiest way to make sure your sleeves are the same length? Knit them at the same time. No photos this time - alas - but perhaps in the morning when the light is better.

Speaking of knitting, I’d like to get back to it, maybe finish the cuffs tonight and start in on the actual sleeves themselves. It would be nice to finish this before 2008, given that I started it in 2006… Ack!

This is one of my mom’s most popular holiday dishes. There’s never been an actual fight over them, but if our family and friends were a tad less Minnesota-proper, I can envision it.

Swedish Shrimp and Onions

1C canola oil
3/4 C white wine vinegar
1/4 C capers and juice
2 1/2 t celery seed
1 t salt (total)
Tabasco to taste
1 pkg Louisiana Crab and Shrimp Boil seasoning
1/2 C celery tops
1 1/2 # shrimp (16-20 count) shelled and deveined, tails on, frozen in bag, not cooked
2 C sliced sweet onions
7 bay leaves

In leakproof container (i.e. Rubbermaid) with lid combine oil, vinegar, capers, celery see, 1/2 t salt and Tabasco. Set marinade aside.

In large pot heat 2 qts water to boiling. Add shrimp boil seasoning, celery tops and 1/2 t salt. Simmer 5-10 minutes. Add shrimp and cook until they turn pink, 1-2 minutes. Do not overcook. Drain and hold under cold running water. If you bought shrimp with shells and veins, now is the time to remove shell and both veins.

Alternate shrimp, onions and bay leaves in Rubbermaid container. Pour marinade over. Cover and chill for 24 hours, turning several times.

To serve, drain marinade, remove bay leaves and celery tops and arrange shrimp and onions on a platter with shredded lettuce, crackers and lemon slices. Or serve in pretty bowl without any condiments.

P.S. We usually don’t have this at Thanksgiving, but almost always have it at Christmas. YUM!

Amy cooks some really great, easy dinners for us. When she’s not around I have to fend for myself, and while I don’t eat cereal for dinner, it’s often not much more complex than that. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear I was raised by wolves. Who don’t cook. And I wasn’t.

At any rate, here’s one of Amy’s regular recipes. Easy, quick, tasty, and healthy!

Moroccan Chicken

• 2 boneless chicken breasts
• salt and pepper
• 4 garlic cloves, slivered
• 2 T olive oil
• 3 t honey
• 1 1/2 t ground ginger
• 4 tomatoes cored and chopped
• zucchini, quartered and slivered
• 1/2 c chopped cilantro

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-low heat.  Add garlic; cook until starting to soften (1 minute).  Stir in tomatoes, ginger, salt, pepper, half the cilantro, and 1/4 C water.

Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated but is still somewhat saucy, 6 – 8 minutes.

Stir in honey; add chicken and zucchini.  Return to a simmer & cover.  Cook, turning once, until chicken is cooked through and zucchini is tender (10 minutes).  Stir in remaining cilantro.  Serve over Couscous.

This blog post is supposed to be about “true secrets.” But you know what? I’m too braindead after this incredibly long day to confess any true secrets to you. Instead, I’ll tell you that Amy’s making a really awesome dinner, even if it sounds wacky.

Braised Greens + White Beans

2t grated ginger
hot pepper
6 cups chopped greens (which can be steamed)
1 can (14-16oz) white beans, drained
2t soy sauce
2t sherry
1t rice vinegar
1.5t brown sugar

Mix soy sauce, sherry, vinegar, and sugar with a can of drained white beans and let them sit for a while. Saute the ginger and hot pepper; add greens to pan and saute. Add white beans + sauce and heat through.

Serve with big hunks of good crusty bread. I also eat it with a beer, but that’s optional.

Super tasty! And now I’m off to eat some and head to bed.