#007: SouthwesTamagoyaki Experiment = Failure

Calories: 123

Contents: Watermelon slices, two celery sticks, SoutwesTamagoyaki, Spinach

I love the slightly sweet tamagoyaki recipe I use but, being from the southwest, eggs to me typically means cheese and hot sauce. I've been trying to modify a tamagoyaki recipe to have that same feel but so far no luck. Today's adventure was no more successful than the last. Rather than mixing in soy sauce and rice wine vinegar (yes, still using the vinegar recipe instead of mirin!) I mixed in Cholula hot sauce and a small amount of taco seasoning. Interestingly it had the "kick" without the flavor. Would not recommend.

#004: Southwest flavor and Mr. Fiskar!

Calories: 207

Contents: Raw Celery, Steamed Carrots, Honeydew Stars, Hard-Boiled Mr. Fiskar egg, and leftover long-grain white rice with shredded chicken, salsa verde, and green pepper stars.

I felt like I was relying too much on fruit to get my plant foods in so I tried to incorporate a few more veggies this time. The flavors didn't work super great together but alone they tasted fine and I love vegetables in any form, so it's not something I'd swear off of in the future.

This was my first time using a hard-boiled egg mold. It wasn't too tough but the design didn't show up as brilliantly as I expected. I think I need to get the egg hotter before placing it into the mold and submerge the mold in much colder water.

I feel like I've been relying too much on tamagoyaki for a protein source so, along with the egg that I just couldn't escape (look how cute he is!) I repurposed some of the left-over white rice from the previous failed experiment and tossed it in a pan with salsa verde and a bit of shredded chicken. It was delicious.I ended up eating at home so I was able to reheat the dish; I'm unsure if it would have tasted as good at room temperature, which is how I've usually been having my bento.

So far this has actually been my favorite bento, I think just because I love southwestern food though!