Bento Challenge

120109bento
Originally uploaded by moonshae

Hello once more, oh blog. I still eat gluten free but have been mostly very boring in the last year or so since I got lazy and stopped posting. I have been inspired lately however by a Bento Challenge from maki of Just Bento so once again I am getting on the blogging wagon to track my progress as well as record any gluten free bento experiments.

My goal/NY resolution for 2009 was to take more care of me. Which sounds simple enough but not the way I intend it. Taking care of me means getting out and seeing people again, keeping my house cleaner (not "cleanclean" but a nice environment to be in), get regular haircuts for once, attempt clothes beyond the jeans/tshirt for school and black pants/shirt for work, lose some weight, eat healthier, exercise, lose my fat wobbly (and hated) upper arms and above all stress less.

Last year was the year of my finally getting some mental health advice and seeing someone regularly for no other reason than I get very worked up over very insignificant things. I don't see them anymore and haven't in months but lately I've found I need to start working on being happy and more carefree again because I'm noticing a downward spiral which is NOT GOOD.

So before Christmas the hair was cut from the long grown out previous cut (a year grown out) and suddenly everyone was saying how good I looked. I've made another appointment and everything.
I made myself some skirts to wear with tshirts to ease into the less jeans idea and some new pink slip on runner style shoes (I walk a LOT, to and from work etc) to wear with them so I can't say "oh but I'd have to wear heels and I'm walking so I can't wear a skirt!" I'm even wearing on today!
I joined the gym at work (hurrah for salary sacrificing!) and am planning to go before work the three days a week I work (Tues/Thurs/Fri). This may change once the university semester starts and the aerobics roster gets changed. I like aerobics and am hoping there are some I'll be able to get to - dance! Please! *fingers crossed*
I got a 2009 diary and am determined to fill it with some social events. I have a party on Friday and a yum cha party on Saturday (both birthdays). Please ignore the fact that yum cha mostly contains gluten. I'm being bad, so there! (Plus, lately I've discovered I can have SOME gluten without getting sick at all. I'm not coeliac after all, just intolerant so this makes sense. I say it does.)
The bento challenge started yesterday but I got in early and had one every day last week as well as stocking my freezer up with some gluten free baked goods as an experiment ->

Mini muffin trays are awesome. I bought one just for the challenge and recommend it to all bakers out there. I like baking and baked goods but if you're the only gluten intolerant person in the house, odds are you'll end up with most of a cake to yourself. Not good for the butt! My first baked experiments were:
Woolworth's brand orange and poppyseed cake mix and Woolworth's brand pizza base mix

The cake I just made as directed and put it into the muffin tray (well greased). Meh. Tasty enough but next time I'll be adding something to give them some more flavour... maybe orange juice instead of some of the water, or some orange rind? They lack oomph but are definately tasty. I also didn't ice them so maybe that would help? Not sure how that would work for freezing though and I'm going to try and avoid extra calories from tasty icing. Be very careful when cooking though... I ended up with burnt bottoms on all of them so watch them like a hawk and don't believe the back of the packet unless you REALLY know your oven.

The pizza mix I've used several times before and liked it. I have often gotten the excess dough and baked it into a "roll" which I always thought was more like a scone. So that's what I did - I made 'scones.' I made these as directed and added half a chopped onion and a handful or so of grated cheese. Oh. My. God! These things are tasty! The onion flavour is not too strong and gives this bite sized scone a nice addition of flavour as I didn't want to add butter or anything. The cheese mostly isn't noticeable but it was probably good to add for extra binding power.

Day 1 Bento 12/01/09