Left: Thai-peanut noodles with red bell pepper, broccoli, and scallions; garnish of lime and chopped, roasted peanuts
Middle: dried raisins and cherries; sundried tomato and cheese rice scrackers; mini pecan cookies
Right: honeyed fruit with a twist of lime -- pineapple, plum, strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries
GF products used: Thai Kitchen Thai Peanut Noodles, Matsuya "sembei" rice crackers, Mi-Del cookies, Sun-Maid goldens & cherries

Top: homemade vegetarian gyoza, grape tomatoes, carrot stars, cucumber flowers, piggie with gyoza dipping sauce
Bottom: lemongrass-chili noodles with tofu, broccoli, red bell pepper, and carrots (gluten-free)

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A speedy veggie bento today. The gyoza went straight from the freezer to the pan, and the tasty noodles were courtesy of Thai Kitchen. I only had to soak the noodles in hot water while I prepped the veggies and tofu, and I threw everything together with the flavor packet in my trusty wok. The wok allows me to use much less oil than called for as well (2 tsp as opposed to 2 tbsp).

And check this out. Cutest baby toy ever!

Left: ladybug of tomato-fried rice and onions, nori accents
Right: mom's vegetarian eggrolls, grape tomatoes, broccoli

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I need to get my mom to teach me how to make these eggrolls. Sooo good. The amazing thing is that these were made in March...of 2005. Have I ever mentioned the wonders of the FoodSaver? It is amazing I tell you! I make huge batches of food, portion it out, and freeze it using the FoodSaver, which sucks all of the air out before freezing, and the food never is freezer-burned and lasts forever. The hubs and I always are amazed at how fresh everything tastes, even if it's been in the freezer for months (and in the case of these eggrolls, years)!

Left:  homemade vegetarian gyoza, grape tomatoes, gyoza dipping sauce
Middle:  rice topped with toasted sesame seeds, wok-fried broccolini and red bell pepper in Island Teriyaki sauce
Right:  cherries, mini-choux a la creme pastries, fresh lychees, raspberries, petite pudding

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This weekend was both good and bad.  Bad, because our freezer door popped open for the second time while we were out, and we had to throw away the entire contents.  The first time it happened, I rationalized that the food would be ok.  But after the second time...*sigh*  Goodbye stored goodies and recent Trader Joe's haul.  It was oh so painful.  Good, because I was uber-productive in the kitchen, the results of which will be seen in this week's bento.

Today I packed some of the gyoza that I made yesterday.  The filling is carrot, green cabbage, leeks, ginger, spinach, and some cilantro, seasoned with a bit of sugar, sake, salt, and toasted sesame oil.  I used plain water (as opposed to water with a bit of cornstarch) to seal the dumplings this time, and it turned out so much better!  The hubs gave the dumplings two thumbs up.  =^.^=