Ingredients

1 cup elbow macaroni

1 can(15.5 oz) black beans

1 can(15.25 oz) whole kernel corns

1 cup mix frozen carrots and peas

1 cup celery (diced)

1 medium size skinless chicken breast (cubed)

2 medium size fresh tomato (diced and skinless)

10 strips of smoked bacon (sliced thinly)

3 pips peeled garlic

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 can chicken stock

1 can(24 oz) tomato sauce

salt, sugar and pepper for taste

Grated Parmesan cheese

Method

BROWN bacon in a pot. Take the bacon out  and drain the excessive grease leaving only one tablespoon.

SAUTE chicken in the same pot and add tomato paste. Stir.

ADD garlic, celery, chicken stock, tomato sauce and three cans of water. Let boil.

STIR in the macaroni and cook till al dente.

ADD black beans, corns, tomato, carrots and peas, salt, sugar and pepper for taste. Let the soup come to a quick boil and off heat.

SERVE with bacon and parmesan cheese on top.

A very popular snack and lunch in Hawaii and it is my boys favorite.

Ingredients

7oz   Spam Classic (sliced into 5 pieces)

4 cups   Cooked white rice

1/2 cup   Teriyaki sauce

2-3 sheets Nori/Dried Japanese Seaweed (cut in half)

Musubi mold or Spam can

Instructions

MARINATE Spam with teriyaki sauce for 5 mins. In a skillet, brown Spam until lightly crisp.

SPREAD some rice into musubi mold.

PLACE a slice of Spam into the mold.

TOP with some rice and use rice press from mold to compact the Spam musubi. Remove from mold.

WRAP with nori. Serve warm or chilled.

They are:

Fish, Cuttle Fish and Squid balls

Baby Bak Choy

Carrot slices

Asparagus

Battered Fish

Grilled Chicken

Barbecue Pork

Rice with Seaweeds

Sweet and sour sauce

Orange slices

Ingredients

2 cups of rice (rinsed)

2 Thousand year old egg, rinsed (Pei Dan)

1 cup lean pork (sliced thinly and lightly coated with cornstarch)

2 tbsp Tong chai, rinsed (optional)

Yau Tiu, sliced ginger, chopped scallions, fried garlic, salt and pepper

Method

COOK rice in rice cooker with 6 cups of water for half an hour. Add more hot water later if porridge becomes too dry.

ADD the eggs and meat into the cooker. Stir. Cook for another 10 minutes.

SCOOP out the eggs and let cool. Peel and cut into small pieces.

ADD the eggs and tong chai(optional) in the porridge again and stir.

SERVE hot with Chinese donuts(Yau Tiu), sliced ginger, chopped scallions, fried garlic, salt and white pepper.

Calzone,  pierogi, empanada or curry puff, they are turn overs and have fillings inside. Whichever you prefer to call it, I prefer mine as mini hot pocket. I used a curry puff mold from Malaysia which is very similar to pierogi/empanada mold to make the turn over. Instead of pastry as the outside skin, I used a slice of bread with ham and cheese for the fillings. Lightly toast it in the oven and serve. They make a good to go snacks and my kids love it.

Ingredients

8oz. Pork links (cut into half an inch cube)

3 stalks Asparagus (cut into 2 inches)

1/2 medium size Red bell pepper (slice thinly)

2 eggs (lightly beaten)

1 cup Milk

1/2 cup mix shredded Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese

Salt and pepper

Method

PREHEAT oven to 400 degrees.

SAUTE the pork links in a skillet until brown. Remove and drain excess oil with paper towel.

COMBINE all ingredients except red bell pepper in a medium size casserole dish. Then place red bell pepper on top.

BAKE covered with a foil in the oven for 25 minutes or until set. Remove foil.

BROIL. Leave under broiler for a few minutes to get a golden brown color. Serve.

2 cups Glutinuos rice (soaked at least 4 hours)

10 tbsp castor sugar

1 pandan leaf

1 cup thick coconut milk

1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

Red dates and raisins for decoration

Method

In the rice cooker, mix all ingredients together and leave to cook. When it is ready, scoop the rice into a dish. Gently press down the rice with a spatula. Decorate with red dates and raisins.

You will need:

1 1/2lbs salmon fish, 4 slices of ginger and half a cup of teriyaki sauce.

Method:

MARINATE fish with ginger and teriyaki sauce for 15 minutes.

STEAM on a rack in a pot or rice cooker with some boiling water for 10 minutes or until fish is cook.

SERVE hot with some cilantro for decoration.

 Inside bento box:

Mix of white and brown steamed rice

BBQ pork skewed together with green bell pepper

Steamed asparagus wrapped with lightly sauteed lean ham
Fried egg with chopped kai lan leaves

Teriyaki sauce in small container

Pickled lettuce

Oranges

This is a mac and cheese with seafood theme. No real seafood ingredients though, it was just another way to make the kids meal more interesting. Just another way to upgrade the box mac and cheese.

Ingredients for the theme

 Ham, cheddar cheese, franks, enoki mushroom, asparagus and seaweed(sushi).

Method to make frank Octopus

Cut a frank in half and slice eight tentacles carefully on each half.

Blanch for a few minutes in a pot of boilling water and take it out for decoration.

For the eyes, I cut out two tiny circles of ham and cheese with my small piping tip and gently stick it on the octopus.

*In the same pot, I also blanch the asparagus and enoki mushroom.

 To cut out the seaweed circles – Simply use a clean single hole paper puncher to cut out the circle shape. It is a lot easier then using a piping tip or scissors.

Here is my recipe for easy baked mac and cheese.