(#221) Roosters bento and birthday's treats

What a super busy weekend I had!!
Last Saturday we had a little birthday party for B, started with some yummy lunch at LaFiamma Pizza downtown Bellingham, then the boys had a great time bowling, then headin home for cake and ice cream. And umm I made his birthday cake Friday night!

Mocha cake with butter cream frosting

Sunday morning we had some fun hiding some presents for him, it was so great to see him so happy whenever he found something, even though it was just a small present.
Later in the afternoon we had another birthday lunch at red robins, then ice cream time at mallards ... and the fun wasn't ended there, we tricked him with all the presents right before his bed time :)
OMG looking at his innocence face that almost crying because he was so happy, he did not think he'd get another presents (and he's totally cool with it). But I swear if I could turned back time I'd love to pause that very moment and enjoy seeing him so happy ... priceless!!!

And Monday morning I made lots of treats for his classmate ^__^
This time I made some LEMPER AYAM, LUMPIA (SPRING ROLLS), and some CENTIK MANIS. It was a hit!! all the kids were so happy and enjoying the treats so much!!

Some GF treats for GF kids

Now back to the bento business.
For tomorrow's I prepared 2 identical bento, contains some stir fried rice noodle with veggies topped with 2 roosters made out of takuan and carrot. Next to it are some roti paratha stuffed with ground beef and spinach, mini bell peppers, cucumber and flowered takuan.

Fruits and snack are packed separately (not pictured).

(#220) Beef Bulgogi Kimbap

I made some beef bulgogi kimbap for tomorrow's lunch, but my family requested to have some for dinner too, so I made a lot more. They love it so much they don't seems to mind having it for dinner :P
Hey there's nothing wrong having kimbap for dinner right?! but my mind always think otherwise, it's like having sandwich for dinner you know ....but anyway as long as they are happy ^__^

So I did not packed too much food since there will be a soupy Friday tomorrow, and I am making some Indonesian chicken soup, so I know my boys must have some.
Along with the beef bulgogi there are also some carrot, takuan, and cucumber in the kimbap. This is actually my very first attempt making kimbap, not bad huh? no more buying kimbap from the store, it's surprisingly easy to make ....where have I been all this time??
Along with the kimbap are some cara-cara orange, cucumber, mini sweet pepper and flowered takuan.

Have a blessing Friday y'all and I hope you will enjoy your weekend ^__^

(#219) Rice and meatballs sheep bento

Yesterday after school both Dylan and Braden were so excited and told me about their exciting experience they had at school. There's shearing sheep show in front of lower and upper elementary students, as you can see in the picture below (I borrowed this pic from PMMS's FB :P) :

With that, I came up with this idea for tomorrow's bento, with the help from yum-yum bento book :

Inside the box are actually some leftovers from yesterday's dinner. I made a lot of chicken and tofu meatballs in purpose, (I am planning make some nasi goreng in the next couple of days).
Anyway, I use little silicone cup to help hold the rice, I put the meatball in the center and use nori, carrot and cheese for facial details and etc.
Next to the sheep are some cauliflowers, carrots, more meatballs and cucumbers. Fruit is packed separately in another box, there are cara-cara orange and kiwi.

Here's the close up :

Here are another pictures :

(#218) Chicken & Tofu Meatballs soup

Today at dinner table I did not say anything to hubby about what's on the menu. I only said to the boys that we're having chicken meatballs soup.
Hubby ate the soup and he said it's so yummy, he loves it!!
And then I asked him "do you know what the meatballs are made of?", then he looked at me and say "you better tell me!"
I was giggling and couldn't help to laugh, and I told him that it's made of TOFU and chicken!!! he rolled his eyes and laughing!! GOTCHA!!

I tricked him!! he does not like tofu AT ALL!!! did I said it out loud??
Had I told him before he ate his dinner about the tofu I swear he wouldn't eat it. Now I know the trick, just let him taste and eat it, he would not have any idea ..LOL
I hope he changes his mind and learned a lessons that tofu can be so delicious, it's all depend on who prepare it!

Anyway, tomorrow's bento contains some leftovers from dinner, it's so effortless and probably the easiest and quickest bento I've prepared.

I put the soup inside a thermal box, the size is pretty big and hold a lot of soup. The soup contains some chicken and tofu meatballs, cauliflower and carrots.
I also packed some veggie fritters (sweet corn, carrots and celery).

 Fruits are packed separately, not pictured

(#217) Chicken Bulgogi Chinese Dragon Bento

I finally got my own Chinese Dragon cutter I always wanted, ever since Sheri posted her Chinese Dragon's bento on CNY a while ago :):)
I don't remember if I ever celebrate CNY, but back home we always got some special treats from our Chinese friends and relatives. So I feel like I've been exposed to the celebration since I was little. Last CNY I didn't got a chance to have those special cake made from glutinous rice flour and brown sugar, we call it kue keranjang.

Today however I, prepared this Chinese Dragon bento because my son Dylan is so fascinated about it, it's so funny while I am fascinated about dragon veggie cutter, my son at school doing all kind of research and projects on Chinese Dragon, Great Horned Serpent, and such.
One day after school he told me "Mommy, do you know that Chinese Dragon has the head of a camel, the neck of a snake, the ears of a cow, the paws of a tiger, the claws of an eagle, horns of a stag, and belly of a clam" And I am like WOW!! what a descriptions! Love it when they are so excited and the first sentence coming from their mouth is "Mommy, do you know that ..... " Always made my day!!!

Here's the picture of Dylan's project :

Okay, now back to bento :

There's a thin layer of ground chicken bulgogi underneath the rice, I topped the rice with Chinese Dragon shape of takuan.
There are also some stir fry tofu and sweet bell pepper with soy sauce, and inside another compartment are some cucumber and mandarin orange.
I also put some flowered carrot sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds just to add some colors.

Here's another picture :

I hope the boys will love it ^__^

(#216) Sliders Pita Pocket

According to the email I got from the school, Tomorrow the elementary students are going to Mt. Baker Theater to see another show, and they advised parents to pack an easy lunch.
I came up with some beef sliders pita pocket, I hope this will be easy enough for my boys. And I also hope the colors are springy enough :P I got these new containers and pics from Korean mall last week and I haven't got a chance to use it.

There also some cucumbers and mini sweet peppers that seems to never go away, I honesty getting so tired of it, and I still have plenty of em :P but as tired as I am stuffing em into their lunches the boys seems to enjoy it so much and I never heard any complains so far (I am crossing my fingers)

(#215) Chicken Dumpling Bento

This is actually from couple weeks ago, I didn't realize it I haven't posted here ^__^

Inside the box are some chicken dumplings with spinach wrappers (love it!!), steamed broccoli and mini sweet bell peppers. I bought 1 big bag of those mini peppers when I do my weekly grocery, and didn't realized that I had another bag sitting in my other refrigerator 0_0 so I ended up with 2 big bags of mini peppers, thanks GOD the boys love it!! (still a lot though!)
I also packed some Korean style roasted sea weeds and some blue berry yogurt for snack time.
Fruit are packed separately (not pictured)

Have a great weekend everybody ^__^ 

(#214) Chicken Dumpling Bento

I made two identical bento for tomorrow's lunch box, but not sure if my 2nd son will be able to go to school :( he's complaining that he had a bad headache this afternoon, kind a make me worry and he did not look too good :( will see tomorrow morning.

As for the bento, I prepared some chicken dumpling along with that are some mini sweet bell pepper, steamed broccoli, carrot, cucumber, and kumquat. I also made some veggie rolled inside a thin slice of beef, I marinated with some Korean BBQ sauce, we actually had that for early dinner today :) was very delish :P
In a separated little bowl are some mango cubes.

Here's another pic :

I think this would be the only post for this week since there will be an early release days until Friday ^__^

(#213) Mini Pita Pockets with Smoked Turkey and Veggies

Another simple sandwich bento for Big Son!!
This time I am using mini pita bread stuffed with some smoked turkey, mayo, lettuce and some diced tomatoes.
I also packed some fruit separately, there are granny smith apple, cara-cara orange and strawberry.

Friday lunches are normally light because of the Soupy Friday things going on almost every Friday, and so the boys can have some soup if they want too. 

Have a fabulous weekend to all my bento pals and see you next week ^__^

(#212) Saba Shiyo-yaki Bento

Today I made some saba shiyo-yaki for me and big son for dinner, the rest of a family members are having spaghetti. It's so normal in the Gladman's house hold to have 2 separate menus at the dinner table :D once in a while ya know :)
I am not too crazy about pizza, spaghetti, meatballs, burgers and so on that's why (not that I don't like it, don't get me wrong). But I'd rather eat rice (just sayin) ..LOL. Being Indonesian I really can't live without rice!! couple days without rice I feel like my stomach isn't digesting.
Every other day I cook rice just for me and I enjoy it with some Indonesian or other Asian dishes that I cook for several days ahead. I can eat rice with the same side dishes for 2 or 3 days in a raw, I really don't mind that :D except for those quick and stir fry kind a food, got to have that fresh and hot!

So for tomorrow's bento big son requested to have some rice with saba shiyo yaki, and spaghetti for Brayden.
And I was thinking this is a good time to finally use my newest wooden bento box that I've been having for more than a month :P
I only took one picture since the spaghetti one is really similar to some bento I have posted in the past.

Anyway, inside the box are some rice topped with saba shiyoyaki and slice of lime.
In another compartment are some mini sweet bell peppers, cucumbers, strawberry, and oranges. I also packed some low sodium soy sauce in a cute tiny bottle.

(#211) Rice and Chicken Bunny&Bear Bento

Yesterday I was too lazy to make bento, even though I still prepared some lunch for the boys since there's no cafeteria at their school.
But I ended up keeping them at home!
This early morning I heard the phone ringing at 4 AM, and whenever I heard the phone ringing at late at night or super early in the morning my thought is always goes to my family in Indonesia. I've been thinking about my mom so much lately.
And my phone was no where to be found, I ran to the kitchen and it was already silent, but I checked the number anyway, and was soooooooo MAD!! yesss I was so pissed to find out that the number calling is one of those telemarketers!!! stupid telemarketer calling customer at 4AM!!! aarrghh >.<
So I was up since then and couldn't go back to bed, then I checked out the windows and there are lots of snows on the ground, must be snowing pretty hard last night, so I decided to keep the boys at home.

Anyway, up for tomorrow's I prepared some rice onigiri shaped like bunny, I cooked the rice in some home-made chicken broth, garlic and ginger (yummyy). Along with that in another compartment are some honey mustard chicken, mini sweet bell pepper and grape tomatoes. I also put some carved carrot for fillers.

Here's another picture, the bear one :

(#210) Yellow Rice Under the Sea Bento

I made some yellow rice for the boys, they were so tired today they got up super early in the morning and headed to Seattle with hubby to do the 5K Seattle Greenlake Race. They finished the race and hubby took it easy running Brayden's pace since Dr. did not recommended him to run, but he's so stubborn what can I say .. :P

So at noon we took them to Mallards Ice Cream at down town Bellingham as a treat, that was actually what motivated B to finish the race, this is his 2nd race for him BTW.

Okay back to the bento, I packed some yellow rice along with some pan fried potato cake, asparagus wrapped in a thin omelet, mini sweet bell pepper and fresh kiwi.

I topped the rice with fish shaped carrots and put some sea creatures food picks to complete the theme.

See you on the next post ^__^