Autumn Bento with Recipes!

Today I wrote on Hapa Bento’s page what I put in my hubby’s autumn-themed lunch (for a contest) and I wanted to share the recipes with you. I will post a photo ASAP! You can check out Hapa Bento pages at hapabento.com

The menu:
Homemade Beef Stew
Roasted Acorn Squash w/ onion, garlic and cheddar
Apple Crisp
Granola w/ Vanilla yogurt (for the ride home)




Beef Stew- Made In Slow Cooker:
I’m a huge fan of my slow cooker, basically, it rocks. You throw it all in, set it to cook, and when you’re ready to set the table, it’s perfectly tender and delish! Hoo ray for slow cookers!

Ingredients:
2 pounds stew beef
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups water (or beef broth, like I use!)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 or 2 bay leaves
1 medium onion, sliced 1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Dash ground allspice or ground cloves
3 large carrots, sliced
3 ribs celery, chopped
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2-3 potatoes, thick cubed

Directions
Brown meat in hot oil, place into slow cooker.
Add water/broth, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, bay leaves, onion, salt, sugar, pepper, paprika, allspice, and veggies. Cover and set for low. Before serving remove bay leaf. To thicken gravy, remove 2 cups hot liquid. Using a separate bowl, combine 1/4 cup water and cornstarch until smooth. Mix with a little hot liquid and return mixture to pot. Stir and cook until bubbly.



Roasted Acorn Squash:
Ingredients;
2 Acorn squash, 1 lb each.
1 large onion, sliced into quarters (8ths is what I do, to make “more from less”) keep intact with bulb end.
4 Garlic cloves, chopped
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Split the squash in half through the equator and scrape out the seeds with a spoon. Set the onion quarters/ 8th and squash halves, cut sides up, on a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, if desired. If squash are very large, cut lengthwise into quarters.
Put chopped garlic cloves into squash quarters and bake/roast for 30 minutes. Remove and cover with shredded cheese and put back into oven for another 10 minutes.



Apple Crisp:
I’m a sucker for sweets, and with apples aplenty I had to make something yummy for my hubby. (He honestly asked me, are you making pies for Thursday, cuz I don’t care about the turkey, I just want pies.” Well, I guess that’s a good and bad thing (makes me re-think my turkey!) For Bentos, turn on the oven, pop this is, let it warm up them scoop into bento dish (or if your bentos are cold, just scoop and you’re done) BUT, if you’re like my hubby, he has to have his whipped cream, so I put that in a little cup/sauce container so he can put it on himself) Have I mentioned that he is SPOILED? Yeah, well so is my Maltese and my horses…

Ingredients:
6 McIntosh apples (or granny smith,), peeled and diced into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup flour or fine graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 stick butter
1 pint vanilla ice cream

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a 9 by 12 baking dish, combine apples, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar. In a small bowl, mix flour or graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar and butter together using the tines of a fork and your fingers, working until even, small crumbles form. Sprinkle topping evenly over apples and bake 15 to 20 minutes until apples are just tender and topping is golden brown.



Homemade Granola:
This is an added snack for my hubby because I like to give him something healthy to have on his way home. To keep the yogurt from making the granola soggy, you may either keep the granola in a baggie or use a silicone baking cup.

Ingredients:
Cooking Spray
3 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup chopped raw, unsalted walnuts
1/2 cup chopped unsalted almonds
1/2 cup chopped unsalted pecans
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins, optional

Directions
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Spray a large baking sheet with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl combine the oats, nuts, maple syrup, salt, cinnamon and the raisins, if using. Spread the mixture onto the baking sheet and bake until golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Transfer the sheet to a cooling rack and let cool completely. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

I hope you guys enjoy all of the yummy recipes, or as Alton Brown calls them, applications. Let me know what you think! I'll try to post our Bentos and recipes as oftern as I can. :)

Happy Monday!