Well, to continue where I have left off, I will be sharing a very nutritious soup recipe made from burdock root.  You may have seen burdock root at the grocer’s but never know it can actually be cooked into such a delicious soup.

But appearances are deceptive and beneath it, the goodness of burdock can be plentiful.  See this article if you are keen to find out more information about Burdock.

Ingredients (Serves about 4-5 adults)

• 1 Burdock root (about 30 cm long), peeled, washed and cut into small pieces
• 200 g boneless pork loin, cut into small pieces
• 2 tablespoons wolfberries
• 8 dried honey red dates
• 6-8 cloves of garlic with skin intact
• 3 litres of water

Instructions:

Step 1:  First bring the water in the stockpot to a boil.

Step 2:  Place the pork loin pieces in a separate bowl.  When the water has boiled, scoop some water over to scald the pork loin.  This is an important step as scalding will remove the remaining traces of blood on the pork.  You will notice a layer of “scum” floating on the surface and will be glad that you have skimmed it off before putting these pork in the actual soup!  Yikes. 

Step 3:  Drain the pork pieces before transferring it back into the stockpot.  Put in the rest of the ingredients.  Aren’t the colors beautiful?

Step 4:  Bring the water to a boil again at high heat.  When it has boiled, lower to small heat and allow the soup to simmer for 2.5 hours.

Step 5:  After 2.5 hours, the soup should have turned a really nice flavorful reddish orange color and the water level should have dropped to about 2/3 of its original level.

Step 6: Add salt (about 1 teaspoon) and a dash of pepper to taste.  Mix well.  Turn off the heat.

Step 7:  Serve soup hot and ladle them straight into the lunch jar if you intend to bring them out to keep them as warm as possible.

How does this look?

For those who have not eaten burdock before, I would say it taste somewhat like potato, but less starchy.  In fact, the first time my mom cooked it, she tricked me into thinking that it was potato and I didn’t suspect a thing.  Haha.  So much so for my ignorance then!

This soup recipe can also be an all-in-one meal if you are not fussy.  Just bring some cooked rice to go along with it for a simple, yet satisfying lunch.

Well, I hope to make it up with this interesting recipe today.  It is really simple and there is no baking involved for these cakes!  No oven, no-preheating, only steaming required and I bet you should have all the ingredients already in your well-stocked kitchen.  LOL.

Ingredients (Makes about 20 small cupcakes):

• 4 eggs
• 160 g sugar
• 175 ml soda
• 200 g plain flour

Yes, that’s all the ingredients needed.  For soda, you can get ice-cream soda or 7-up.  If you wish to add a citrus taste, Fanta orange would be great.  I used Kickapoo, a local lime-flavored soda drink which taste somehow like Mountain Dew, for the fun of it.  Maybe next time I might try making them with sparkling Ribena for a grapey taste, or even Coca-Cola?  Haha.  As long as it is a sweet carbonated drink, I think it will still work the same.

Hey, doesn’t this sound fun already before we even start?  Get your kids to help in the measurements and blending.  I bet they will love it!

Instructions:

Step 1:   Crack all the eggs and put the sugar in a large mixing bowl.

Step 2:  If you are using a mixer, blend the mixture till it turns frothy and cream in color.  I used a whisk instead to beat the eggs and sugar manually.  It took me about 20 minutes.  Just a rough guide in case you do it by hand too.

Step 3:  Add your preferred soda to the mixture and mix well. Lastly, add in the flour bit by bit and mix well too.

Step 4:  Lay muffin paper cups on a muffin tray or in my case, I used individual muffin tins.  Fill the cup each to its brim with the mixture.

Step 5:  Heat up a steamer.  Place these cups to steam for about 6-7 minutes.

Step 6:  To check if the cup cakes are ready, prick one with a toothpick.  If the toothpick comes out not sticky, the cup cakes are cooked and ready to be eaten.

Step 7:  Place each cup cake aside to cool.  Repeat Step 3 again until mixture runs out.

Well, I hope this steamed cup cake recipe gives you another light meal idea of what you can pack for your kid’s lunch box.  Top it up with some cheese & ham or steamed vegetables for a balanced and healthy meal.

You can also pack these as an afternoon snack for Hubby or make them for picnic meals.

Hope you like it! 

It makes quite a well-balanced dish for children as well as there is chicken, potato and carrot, an all-in-one solution if mummy feels lazy!

Ingredients (Serves 4 adults):

• 200 g boneless chicken fillet, cut into bite-size pieces
• 2 medium sized potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 small carrot, peeled and diced
• 1 tablespoon garlic, finely chopped
• Half a cup of water
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• Cooking oil
• Dash of ground pepper

For chicken marinade, you will need:

• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/3 teaspoon salt
• Dash of ground pepper

Instructions:

Step 1:   Mix ingredients for chicken marinade in a mixing bowl.  Put in the diced chicken fillet and mix well.  Allow it to marinate for 1 – 2 hours.  This is how it should look.

You can leave it to marinate overnight too.  Remember to cover it with plastic wrap and keep it in the chiller.

Step 2:  Heat up a wok or pan with cooking oil.  Fry the potato and carrot cubes till they are cooked.  Remove and set aside.

Step 3:  Remove the excess cooking oil, leaving about 2 tablespoons in the wok for the next step.

Step 4:  Put in chopped garlic and when it starts to brown, add in the marinated chicken fillet cubes.  Stir-fry till cooked.

Step 5:  Transfer back the potato and carrot cubes, add in water and light soy sauce and stir-fry for another minute.

Step 6:  Turn down the heat a little and let the stew simmer for 1-2 minutes.  Add in a dash of pepper, mix the combo well for the last time and serve.

Just a few steps and you are done, isn’t it easy?

Of course, not forgetting to set aside some for my lunch box too.

This is a very simple tofu dish you can try.

Ingredients (Serves 4 adults):

• 100 – 120 g of minced pork
• 250 -300 g soft/ silken tofu, cut into cubes
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1 small carrot, diced into small cubes
• 1 stalk scallion (spring onion), washed and chopped
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup corn starch mixture (2 tablespoons corn starch mixed with 1/3 cup water)
• 3 teaspoons light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• Ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon hua tiao chiew (chinese cooking wine)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1:  Marinate minced meat with 1 teaspoon of light soy sauce and a dash of pepper.  Mix well and leave it aside for about 30 minutes.

Step 2:  Heat up the cooking oil in the fry pan or wok.  Add minced garlic when oil is hot.

Step 3:  When garlic starts to brown, add in the minced meat.  Stir fry till it is cooked.  Add in the diced carrots and scallions.  Stir fry for another 30 seconds.

Step 4:  Add oyster sauce, 2 teaspoons of light soy sauce, hua tiao chiew and a dash of pepper.  Stir fry again to mix well.

Step 5:  Add in water and cover the fry pan with a lid.  Allow the stew to cook for 1-2 minutes.

Step 6:  Remove the lid and add in the silken tofu cubes.  Ladle some sauce mixture over the tofu cubes and cover the fry pan again for another minute to cook the tofu.

Step 7:  Finally, add the corn starch mixture slowly into the stew, stirring it carefully to keep the soft tofu cubes intact.

Does this look really easy?

I only took about 10 minutes to prepare the ingredients and 10 minutes to cook this dish.  In fact, if you are rushing for time in the morning before going to work, you can prepare the ingredients in advance.  Marinate the minced meat, chop the scallions and carrots the night before.  The next day, just take them out and cook!

Aren’t the colors beautiful?

For an even easier variation of this recipe, you can replace the carrots and scallions with half a cup of frozen peas/carrot/corn mix.

This dish is best served piping hot, so if you are bringing it to work, ladle them into a thermos food jar immediately to keep it warm.

For me, this tofu combo makes a simple all-in-one meal as well as it has meat, vegetables and tofu.  All I need is just a bowl of steamed rice to go along with it.  YUM…

Enjoy!

Fast forward 25 years later, this is the current lunch box that I have been recently using.

It is an improvised type of tiffin carrier which can keep the food warm.  There are three individual food containers in the set, great for a staple (rice/ noodles) and 2 dishes (meat/ vegetables) or even soup.

To transport it, just stack up the three containers, clasp the handles together and they will be secured in place.  It is very easy to carry around and best of all, the surface is not hot as the exterior is insulated by plastic.

Sometimes, I also use it as a dinner box for Hubby if he comes back late for dinner as the food can be kept warm for about four to five hours.

A tip to share about using food thermos containers:  Fill the thermos with some hot water before you use it.  Pour the water away just before putting the food in and it will stay warmer for a longer time.

I do use microwaveable food containers at times too, but this lunch box does without the need to heat the food up as long as it is consumed in a short time.

Sometimes I feel so lazy and hungry that the thought of opening up these boxes and being able to start eating immediately is just bliss!  Haha.

Almost 25 years of age!

My mum kept these in her kitchen cabinets all these years and when I got married, she gave it to me as part of the dowry.  Haha.  Isn’t it amazing?

Although it may look like any simple lunch box and water bottle, but they bring back fond memories for me.  We got this lunch box and water bottle for my first year of school.  I remember we went to a now-defunct Japanese department store to buy them.  At that time, Made In Japan products were pretty expensive but I liked them so much that we got them all the same.

The square lunch box is really very small and I remembered all I could fit in was a slice of peanut butter bread or some cornflakes.  I also remember an incident where this cute lamb water bottle leaked and my whole bag of books became wet as a result.  I was really scared then, being so new to school so I think I cried buckets.  Haha.  Fortunately, my teacher did not scold me but comforted me instead.  She even helped me lay the books out in the sun to dry.

Looking back, it’s really embarrassing right?  But kids will always be kids and at that age, I did not know how to handle the situation, except to cry and look pathetic.  And now it has become something that we always laugh at when we recall our childhood days!

Lunch boxes, to me, do mean three things…

1)  Lunch boxes are meals of love, especially if they are prepared by someone whom you love too

When I was in my first year of school, my mum will prepare peanut butter sandwiches for me daily.  She was worried that I may not know how to get the food from the canteen as I was still very young and new to the school.  Sometimes I even protested bringing my lunch box when I saw my friends having the choice to buy what they like to eat everyday.  Of course as I got older, I had more freedom but it was also then that I understand that it is because she was greatly concerned about me going hungry.  Isn’t that a form of love?

Sometimes, I do see male colleagues bringing their own food for lunch.  We will jokingly tease each other “So, eating a meal filled with love today?”  Well, it is true in a certain way.  Their wives have taken the effort to prepare these meals, cooking and packing the food nicely in the lunchbox.  Isn’t that a display of affections too?

2)  Lunch boxes are often healthier than food you buy outside

You have a say in what goes into your lunch box as compared to what you get when you dine outside.  If you do not like MSG (monosodium glutamate) in your food, you can substitute it with natural flavouring.  If you do not like too much oil, you can control the amount you put while cooking.  It’s up to you to create variety in your lunch box.  Beats eating the same food outside everyday right?

3)  Lunch boxes = you spend less during lunch = more $$ at the end of the month

Not everyone thinks this way though.  Most people see lunch as a time where they can socialize and mingle with their co-workers, so they feel that spending on a $10 lunch is worth the money as compared to bringing a lunch box which may only cost them a third.  Sometimes bringing a lunch box might also give others the wrong idea that you are being anti-social.

Well, you don’t have to do it everyday, probably two days out of five days is sufficient to save you some money that can go to the groceries or bills.  A penny saved goes a long way, especially in times like this, where a global recession is looming in the skies.  If the whole family brings their own lunch boxes to work, the potential savings could actually look quite substantial!

So are you a lunch box lover or hater?  There are people who think it is lame to bring lunch boxes and they will never want to be seen with it.  But you will be amazed that there are people who can’t do without their lunch boxes as well!

Where do you stand?

A big welcome to my new blog, www.easylunchboxrecipes.com!

It’s a new milestone for me as this is my second baby.

Well, I’m sure you have some idea about what I’ll be writing on this blog, just by the name of it right?

Yup, this is the place where I am going to share lunch box recipes of different cuisines around the world.

Sounds yummy to you?

I’ll also make sure every recipe is easy to follow and quick to cook, and most importantly, suitable to be packed into lunch boxes.  Or dinner boxes if you work the night shift ya?

Alright, let’s get cracking, time for some cooking!