(# 264) Smoked salmon sandwich heart bento

Still trying to make heart theme bento this month :P
I only prepared one bento and this is only for big son! my 2nd son doesn't like sandwich, the only sandwich he can have is PB&J, I am not sure if I should be happy or sad about it, ya'll know it could be a hassle sometimes.

Anyway, I did not do much to this bento, I just put some flowered carrot on top of it, snug some purple carrot and yellow sweet pepper on the sides. I also wrapped the sandwiches into single serves so it wont be messy when he eat it.

Okay, I don't know if this would be too cheese for him but I knotted the box with those red heart ribbons ... LOL ...

(# 263) Deep fried Pollock 2 hearts bento

Keeping up with the February theme, I prepared this very simple bento for the boys :

It contains some seasoned rice topped with 2 hearts made out of sweet red peppers, deep friend Pollock and sweet mini yellow peppers. Fruit are packed separately (Not pictured).

Enjoy!

(# 263) Aburage rice heart bento

It's February already!! time really do fly!

For tomorrow's bento I am trying to start with tomato hearts bento, inspired by my bento pals Maki Ogawa, her creativity is beyond belief!! seriously!!

My tomato heart version ain't even close to hers, hers are so perfectly shaped. I'll try this trick again in the near future, see id I can keep up with the theme.

Back to the bento, I actually will pack them some meatballs soup, I did not include the soup to the picture, I'll pack it tomorrow morning so it will stay warm once the boys having lunch. You all know I pack bento at night most of the time, I do that for a very obvious reason, to avoid morning chaos with 3 boys! ...LOL

Anyway, inside the box are some cauliflower (I separated from the soup), aburage stuffed with seasoned rice, navel orange and heart tomatoes.

Enjoy!

(# 262) Roasted Beef Bear Bento

Up for tomorrow's bento I prepared some leftovers, I made roasted beef with pop overs and gravy for dinner tonight.
I packed the roasted beef in a bear silicone cup and topped with bear cheese cut out.
There are also some strawberries, steamed broccoli and carrot.

I also packed some pop corn for snack, I found those cute containers at michaels :P

Happy Tuesday all ^__^

(# 261) Fried rice Nautical Bento

Hello my bento pals,
It's been a while since my last post, January goes so fast and bit crazy for us, hubby's birthday, kids got sick and so on.

But today I manage to make bento for them ^__^

It's simple fried rice with shredded chicken and veggies, next to it are some Mandarin orange, fresh strawberries and mini sweet yellow bell pepper. I put ship flag, ship cheese cut out, carrot anchor and carrot whale to keep up with the theme :) Enjoy!

(# 260) Fried rice with meatballs bunny bento

Up for tomorrow's bento I prepared some fried rice with Indonesian meatballs (home-made), this is actually leftovers from dinner's tonight :)

I topped the rice with bunny carrot, using nori for facial details.

Next to the rice I arranged some English cucumbers, steamed romanesco and Granny smith apples slices with some pomegranate seeds.

I also packed some plain yogurt with honey on the bottom and pomegranate on top, for snack time :)

Enjoy!

(# 259) Chicken Potstickers Snowflakes Bento

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you are all had a great holidays!
Yesterday we had a little tease of snows, big flakes and last quite sometimes but they melted right away,  what a tease for we haven't got any snow this winter.
This is my first bento this year, but I wasn't pay attention when I edited the pictures so it still has 2012 on the watermark ... and I am too lazy to fix it, I am now having Garfield eyes and just can't stay on the computer for too long.

Today's bento featuring some chicken potstickers and Vietnamese rolls with some snowflakes decorations, big boy loves it! but B isn't too crazy about the Vietnamese rolls, anyway here are the pictures :

I made the snowflakes using snowflakes cookie cutters I got from amazon, originally designed for fondant cake decoration, but hey it works for bento too, matter of fact I am using tortilla for the snows, because I am out of white cheese, came out perfect! and I am happy.
Along with potstickers there are also some romanesco, I was so excited when I spotted this at my local grocery store, grabbed 2 heads and pay almost 7 dollars ... I think it's overpriced but no surprised at all for this is such a rare items. I should try to grow some for next summer.

Inside the Vietnamese rolls are some cilantro, julienne carrots and jicama, thin sliced cucumbers, egg omelet, and rice noodles. I omitted the mint and thai basil because my boys do not like it, they are fine with cilantro though.
Happy Wednesday everyone!!

(# 258) Rice snow flake bento

Tomorrow's bento featuring rice snow flake ... it's not snowing here yet this winter, but I am sure hoping to get some soon. The boys too can't wait to play snow balls outside, making snow man and having cup of hot chocolate afterwards, no school days .. and just snuggle watching movies with brothers while mommy baking some goodies ... ah the joy of winter.

I used snow flake cookie cutter to shape the rice, then I arranged some scramble egg around it, but I am a bit disappointing with the egg colors, they are somewhat a bit pale so the snow flake isn't too clear.
I used store bought eggs while my chicken are slowing down laying eggs.

Anyway, next to it are some stir fry tofu with sweet peppers, purple and regular carrot and grape tomato. Fruit and snack are packed separately.

Oh by the way, I was wrong when I said tomorrow would be my kids last day of school before winter holiday, turned out they still having school until next Wednesday the 19th, but they'll have ski lessons on Monday so I'll only have 2 more days to pack my boys bento this year.

(# 257) Rice noodle daisy bento

I prepared two identical bento for tomorrow's, so I only made 1 picture tonight.

I love love love this bento boxes and I think I use it quite often, just the right size for my boys.

Anyway, inside the box are stir fry rice noodle with chicken meatballs and carrots, topped with some sliced mini sweet peppers, I tried to arrange it to look like a flower. I topped it again with daisy provolone cheese and carrot.

Next tier contains fresh kiwi and satsuma orange.

This week would be my kids last week of the year before winter holiday. The school is resuming January 2nd next year. I hope I can still make one last bento of the year tomorrow, will see ^__^

(# 256) Panda and saba bento

Tomorrow's bento featuring panda onigiri :P
I am so excited to get this new bento gadget ... I think I did alright for first time using it ... will use it again in the future for sure ^__^

So in between the 2 pandas I put some steamed broccoli topped with purple carrots.
There are some saba shiyoyaki, carved carrot and fresh mini sweet peppers.

I topped the saba with carrot in this picture ^__^

(# 255) Tricolor quinoa salad with grilled chicken

Tomorrow's bento featuring quinoa salad with lots of veggies and topped with grilled chicken marinated in garlic and herb. I put some baby zucchini, baby spinach and bell peppers in the salad.

Inside the next box are some satsuma orange, kiwi and mini grape tomatoes.

I am sorry for short post, I hope I am not getting sick, have a great weekend everyone ^__^

(# 254) Chicken pot pie Elephant and Bunny bento

I made chicken pot pie for dinner the other night and I have little leftovers of the fillings and the crust, so I made single serve chicken pot pie in disposable tin cups. I topped the pie with elephant and bunny, I hope you can see its shape.

Next to the pie are some fresh pineapple, kiwi, satsuma and mini grape tomatoes.
I also packed some garden salads in a separated box, it contains baby spinach, bell peppers, and extra thin sliced yellow and regular carrots. Raspberry and walnut dressing is packed in a little bottle.

Here's a close up picture, I put carrot pick in the tomato for the bunny .. my kids say they are cute!

(# 253) Stuffed Aburage/Bean curd bento

I made simple stuffed aburage (bean curd) lunch for my boy's bento tomorrow. I got this ready to make aburage complete with its sauce from Korean Market last weekend. I hope my boys will love it, I know my oldest son will :P

Next to the rice are some grilled chicken (leftovers), mini sweet peppers, satsuma, mini heirloom tomatoes and fresh sliced kiwis.
I also made provolone bear just to make this bento looks cute.

(# 252) Steamed bun bento

This is my first bento after Thanksgiving :P I think everybody understand who wants to cook after Thanksgiving ... :P
I was so lazy and tried to finished our Turkey leftovers, we had lots of turkey sandwiches lunches, turkey fried rice, turkey this and turkey that ... UGH!

But today I forced my self to make steamed bun, please check the recipe HERE, you can stuffed with any meat you wish. This time I used beef, because that's what I have thawed, normally we love chicken, but beef isn't too bad, my family love it!

There are some sugar snaps next to steamed buns, red Texas grapefruit, and mini heirloom tomatoes, I tried to make it cute by adding nori facial details and leave stems.

I hope you can spot the bunny face in the mini heirloom tomatoes in this bento. My kids think they are cute ^__^

(# 251) Fried noodle with grilled chicken - bear bento

This is the only bento I have for this week, and I only made one picture too :P been so lazy lately ;-)

This simple bento contains some fried noodle, grilled chicken and mini Roma tomatoes. I topped the chicken with a provolone cheese bear, facial details for bear is made of nori.

There are also some satsuma orange in a separated silicone bowl.

For snack time I packed some plain Greek yogurt in a little glass, to make it more flavorful and fun I layered some granola on the bottom, yogurt, some maple syrup and topped it with strawberry slices. Yummm!!

Happy weekend everybody ^__^

(# 250) Open face salmon sandwich bento

The other day when we had Vietnamese Pho for dinner I stopped by the Euro market nearby, and bought this organic dark rye bread with caraway seeds, and I looove its flavor, I honestly did not expect it to be that good but it goes really well with salmon gravlax.
I made gravlax some time ago after I bought local wild salmon from my neighbor who always going fishing when salmon is on season. It turned out really well and I am so pleased with the result.

I use low fat cream cheese for this open face sandwich.
For fillers I put some mini Roma tomatoes and peeled satsuma orange. Snack are packed separately (not pictured).

I only make 1 bento picture since my 2nd son isn't too crazy about salmon, so I fixed him whole wheat bagels with cream cheese, and I thought I just posted WW bagels bento last week.

(# 249) Bagels with egg bunny bento

Tomorrow's bento featuring whole wheat bagels with cream cheese and hard boiled egg bunny plus some red bell peppers.
I was too lazy to cook this evening so we went out having Pho for dinner, as a result I pack a non cook bento, I already have some boiled eggs handy.

Nothing's fancy in this bento, but I tried to make it more fun for the boys, so I turned the egg into a bunny (I hope it looks like one :P) my youngest son just said it looks like a mouse to him ... and he's 3 BTW!

I love this thermal stainless steel bento box I just got a couple months ago, just the right size for my boys.
I purchased similar ones long time ago but I wasn't really pay attention on the sizes, so once I received it I  was a bit disappointed because they were way to big. But I am sure I will be able to use it one day. I love  collecting bento boxes anyway :P

Have a great weekend everybody ^__^

(# 248) Fried rice with tofu and fish sausage

Hallowen is over and now we're back to regular bento, hope I won't bore you with my simple bento.

It's been a while since I last packed some fried rice for the boys, this simple dish is always safe my day during the busy times. And YES! today I was so busy trying to get everything done before I pick the boys from school. We had an early dinner, packed some leftovers for lunch then take a quick pictures before heading for trick or treating.
I honestly am not happy with the result of the pictures I took .. but I am still post it anyway :P

I threw in some some fish cake, eggs, and peas & carrots in the fried rice, so it's already contain some protein and veggies. I topped the rice with some flowered carrot and picks to make it more fun.
In the next compartment I put some pan fried tofu in a lettuce bed. There're also some fish sausage in a flower skewer.

Recently I purchased some lights to help me making a good pictures at night, and I am not quite get it yet, so these pictures looks too bright, I need to learn more and I am excited!

Have a great evening everyone!

(# 247) Rice with sweet minced beef BAT bento

Wrapping up Halloween theme bento I prepared this yummy rice with sweet minced stir fry beef. I know many of you must have known already on how do I make the bat shape in the middle of the rice, but for new visitors to my blog I'll let you know how.
First, you place a bat shape cutter in the center of the bento box, put some rice on the outer side and pat it gently  to make sure the rice would stay in form. Then spoon the beef in the center part, gently release the cutter and ta daaa!! that's it!
I use red bell pepper for the eyes and 2 rice grains for its fangs, I also put some peas on top of the rice just to add some colors.

On the next part of the box are some fresh kiwi slices and halved satsuma O'Lantern with red bell pepper for facial details.

Happy Halloween!!! I hope you are all have a very Spooktacular one ^__^

(# 246) Salisbury steak ghost bento

Up for tomorrow's lunch I packed the boys some leftovers. I made two identical bento for both of them.
We had some Salisbury steak with mushroom sauce and mashed potatoes.
I layered some mashed potato on the 1/2 buttom of the box and layed the coffin shape Salisbury steak on top of it, then I put the R.I.P letter cheese cut out.

 
There are some sweet corn in a separated silicone cup, topped with a ghost. I made the ghost using a provolone cheese and nori for facial details.
Next to it is a sweet yellow pepper O'Lantern. Fruit and snack are packed separately (not pictured)

Enjoy!