Mini Sub Box

Mini Sub Box

Mini turkey and meunster cheese sub on homemade roll. I packed the tomatoes and lettuce on the side to keep the sandwich from getting soggy. I also packed some potato chips, strawberry and kiwi salad, celery sticks with peanut butter (in the yellow tub), cashews, and an apple.

I asked my husband to pick up some leaf lettuce. I had this nagging feeling that he would buy romaine. I don't know how or why I knew this. I buy and prepare all kinds of leafy greens for the family, but somehow I just knew he was going to buy romaine. So I called him and I was right. He said it was a good thing I called because he was just about to buy romaine. So I reiterated: leaf lettuce. Somehow he still came home with the wrong lettuce.

Iceburg :|

Seriously...I thought it was a joke. I mean how do we go from leaf, to romaine, back to leaf, to iceburg?

Sigh. Once I realized that he was not going to produce a head of leaf lettuce from some secret hiding place, I went from mildly annoyed to furious. I mean I called him to make sure! I walked him through it as he stood in front of the lettuce at Sun Harvest. How on earth could this happen?

I went on for a while. I mean I had a really hard time wrapping my head around how this could have happened. Among my immidiate thoughts, I wondered if he did this because he does not take me seriosuly. If he can't take me seriously when it comes to lettuce, what else could he do to hurt me. He was wise to walk away. Although some part of me always hopes he'll just pull it together and (a) recognize that while I have strong feelings for lettuce, my reaction is connected to something bigger, (b) be able to calm me down and reassure me of his love when I am upset thereby working to rebuild the trust we so clearly have not entirely worked out,  (c) maybe just get it right the first time. It's not rocket science. Ugh.

But then that analytical part of me kicks in and I realize that he (like many of us working class brown folks) did not grow up with a variety of dark leafy greens. I get it. I do. Iceburg is cheap. Usually it's the cheapest so most of us are familiar with this one. Still, considering all that, leaf was on sale for less than iceburg and I walked him through it! Or so I thought.

This thought process took a few minutes. I worked it out as I continued to make dinner. Once I finished I was just tired of it all. Then I just felt silly. I mean if that's the worst he can do, I guess I should count myself lucky. Could be worse, right. Could be much worse. As a matter of fact, it has been. But you can probably guess that from the trust issues oozing out of this story. I wonder sometimes if he half-asses things like this so he won't have to do them again. You know I very near threw in the towel and conceded to live by the "If I want it done right, I'll just do it myself" rule. But that just makes more work for me. That's the last thing I need.

Speaking of more work, I made my own bread for these subs. I actually like baking bread a lot. It's really relaxing (when I'm able to do it in peace). But I don't always have the time to make bread that requires kneeding everyday. That's an all day event. This is why I love Zoe Francois and Jeff Hertzberg's second book: Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day . I checked it out from my local library and have renewed it twice just to hold on to it longer. I will buy it just as soon as I can afford to :)  
 
I made the sub roll using the whole wheat brioche recipe from Zoe Francois and Jeff Hertzberg's second book: Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day . Unfortunately the recipe in the book has errors so don't try to follow it from the book. It won't work. I found that out the hard (and expensive considering my graduate student salary) way. Thankfully, the authors posted the corrected recipe online on their website . This dough is wonderful! So far I've used it to make doughnuts, chocolate pockets, hamburger buns, and mini submarine rolls. The sweets didn't last long enough for me to snap shots. Next time I promise.

Whole Wheat Brioche (replace recipe on page 275 in the book)

Makes enough dough for at least two 2-pound loaves. The recipe is easily doubled or halved.

4 cups white whole wheat flour (we use the white whole wheat for its lighter color and flavor)
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
2 1/4 cups lukewarm water
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted or (zero trans fat, zero hydrogenated oil margarine) or (neutral-flavored oil)
3/4 cup honey
5 large eggs
Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water) for brushing on the top of loaf

The following are the basic instructions for brioche, for more details refer to the book.

1. Mixing and storing the dough: Whisk together the flour, yeast, salt, and vital wheat gluten in a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) Food Storage Containers .

2. Combine the liquid ingredients and mix the m with the dry ingredients without kneading , using a spoon, a 14-cup food processor or a heavy duty stand mixer with paddle.

3. The dough will be loose, but will firm up with chilled.

4. Cover (not airtight) and allow the dough to rest at room temperature until it rises and collapses, approximately 2 hours.

5. Refrigerate it for at least 2 hours before using. The dough can be stored and used over the next 5 days.

6. On baking day, grease a Non-Stick Brioche Mold or an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch nonstick loaf pan. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 2-pound (cantaloupe-size) piece of dough. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball. Place the ball into the prepared pan and allow to rest, loosely covered with plastic wrap, for about 1 hour 45 minutes. (dough should no longer feel cold and will have a bit of spring to it).

7. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, with a rack in the middle of the oven.

8. Just before baking, use a pastry brush to paint the loaf’s top with egg wash.

9. Bake the loaf near the center of the oven for about 40-45 minutes. For smaller or larger loaves you will need to adjust the resting and baking times.

10. Remove the brioche from the pan (see page 50) and allow it to cool on a rack before slicing.

Spicy Thai Tuna Box

Bumble Bee Spicy Thai Tuna Box

Packed this box for my husband. I had a coupon for Bumble Bee Tuna Sensations so I figured I'd try the Spicy Thai Tuna flavor. He said it was pretty good but reported that the tuna was a little sweet for his taste. I packed this with some homemade grilled rice balls (onigiri), lime wedge, garlic chili paste (in the green tub), steamed broccoli and tomato salad, almonds and golden raisins, and grapefruit slices. I used to buy already made onigiri from a nearby Japanese grocery store called Minano, but then I learned how easy they are to make ahead and freeze following this tutorial by Biggie: Making and freezing yaki onigiri, onigiri. What a time saver! I don't think I will buy this flavor tuna again. I'd rather make my own by mixing regular tuna (from a pouch is better because it's already drained) with fresh lime juice and garlic chili paste. Yum!

Meatless Monday Bento!

Mini Veggie Calzone Bento 

We are trying to cut down on the amount of meat we eat. So today's lunch and snack bento consists of mini veggie calzones with marinara sauce for dipping, salad with homemade honey and red wine vinaigrette, fruit salad (mango, kiwi, and grapefruit), and pumpkin pancakes (cut into flowers) left over from breakfast.

Mini Veggie Calzones 

Mini Calzones stuffed with red and green bell peppers, onions, tomato, and cheese made using the Basic Pizza Dough Recipe. Faces are made out of red and green peppers. The dough uses white flour. I know, I know. White flour bad. I am working on a whole wheat recipe I can feel good about.

Basic Pizza/Calzone Dough Recipe
1 1/2 Cups warm water (110-115 degrees)
2 Tbsp sugar
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
3 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
   1/2 Cup bread flour
1 Tbsp coarse salt
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Combine water, sugar, and yeast. Proof until foamy (about 5 minutes). Mix flours and salt in seperate bowl. Add oil to proofed yeast mixture. Pour yeast mixture into flour mixture and knead for 10 minutes. Dough should be elastic and slightly sticky. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl (I use non-stick spray), turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about 1 hour).
Punch down dough and refrigerate until needed (this dough can keep in the fridge for up to four days, but it is best the next day) or use immediately. Divide into three pieces for three 10-14" pizzas or smaller pieces (4-5 oz) for mini pizzas or calzones. Shape into balls and place on floured work surface. Let dough rise another 45 minutes covered loosely with a piece of saran wrap sprayed with non-stick spray. While dough is resting, preheat oven to 550 degrees with baking stone on lowest rack.
Brush crust with garlic butter, butter, or olive oil and bake until golden brown (about 5 minutes for mini pizzas and 10-15 minutes for larger pizzas).


Pumpkin Pancake Recipe
1 Cup sifted flour
1 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 Cup milk
1/2 Cup pumpkin puree
2 Slightly beaten egg yolks
2 Tbsp melted butter
2 tiffly beated egg whites

Preheat large shallow pan to meduim. Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In a seperate bown, combine milk, egg yolks, pumpkin, and butter. Add dry ingredients to wet stirring just until moistened (over stirring will result in tough pancakes). Fold in beaten egg whites. Tada!

1/3 Cup batter = 1 pancake.