New Lunchbots Boxes and Cutters

Have no bento to post, but too excited about these new boxes I got from lunchbots, I thought the lids are made out of plastic because it's so colorful, but I was wrong! everything is stainless steel ... sooww kewl!!!!

I love the Uno and Duo, it's perfect size for my boys, and I'll have to start making bento for hubby now that I have the Eco lunchbot ... perfect size for him... ^_^

And I also got this Ateco cutters .... I did not expect this to be so tiny, OMG it's so cute!!! I am so excited and can't wait to use it ^_^

Okay, now for some good and bad news,
As I mentioned HERE that today I am cooking some Indonesian chicken soup (Soto Ayam) for D&B's school for the Soupy Friday. So I cook the same amount of soup as I normally made in the morning then dropped it at the school around 12:15PM. I told the teacher I could not stay there too long coz baby G needs a nap so badly, so I left school then heading home.
Went there again to pick the boys up at 3:30PM and D&B's teachers said that I have to cook more next time. Everybody loves the soup!!! some of them wanted to have the second bowl but they could not! the soup is all gone!!
I had a mixed feelings between good and bad ... I felt so good that they love the soup so much, but at the same time I felt so bad to those who wanted to have more ...
Anyway, there will be so many soupy Fridays to come, next time I'll make sure I make more.

(#124) Mummy Bento

Yesterday was sunny here in Bellingham, so I prepared this mummy bento early in the evening then took pictures right away ^_^
I am an amateur bento-er, so most of the time I preparing things at night, that way I can enjoy myself and have FUN doing it. I sometimes try to prepare bentos in the morning but all I can do is only make a very simple sandwich, I have to work my speed up.
And still I don't like to do bento in the morning since I have to get the boys ready for school plus still taking care of one and a half baby boy who is very active.

Inside the box :
Nasi uduk/Indonesian fragrant rice, its a jasmine rice cooked in coconut milk with some Indonesian bay leaf, lemon-grass and some other spices.
I shaped the rice by hand and wrapped it with white egg sheet (I omit the yolk).
And mummy has his buddy there, I do not now what to call, but he looks friendly ...LOL
On the next box I pack sliced of cucumber, peeled tangerine, yellow and green beans, mixed baby tomatoes, yellow carrots and kiwi berries.

This below picture is bento for D, he said he wants mummy's buddy to be scarier, I tried to make Frankenstein, but failed, I could not come up with a good idea for his ears .... but D still like it and he said it looks scarier.

Tomorrow I am not sure weather I can pack them another Halloween bento or just simple sandwich, I have to do some preps for Soupy Friday, its a fund raising program at the school where parents can join their kids to enjoy a dollar bowl of Soup. I'll make some soto ayam, it's Indonesian style chicken soup.... yumm!!!

(#123) Halloween's bento

I am so disappointed with the pictures taken of this Halloween's bento >__< ... for one, the bento itself is so unflattering and it was soooo dark outside PLUS the lighting in my house is terrible!! I use an extra LED light bulb but the result is too harsh (me not likey!!), and to make it worse I picked the wrong background color ..... *darn it!!!* ...
Good thing there's always next time when it comes to bento-ing. And I'd still have lots of chance to make another Halloween bento.

I copied Sherimiya's Jack O Lantern idea using tangerine. Bought some over the weekend and I have to use it before its all gone!! my boys love tangerine so much.
The rest are Salmon teriyaki, rosted red potato with EVOO and fresh parsley, steamed broccoli, green and yellow green bean, mixed baby tomatoes, yellow baby carrots, tangerine and kiwi berries.

And uh .. guess what??? remember the purple (almost black) green been that I bought from the farmers market the other day? I blanched it this evening and its color turning green :P ... no point to buy some more next time, unless if you want to serve it raw.

(#122) Think PINK Bento

Before I start with my Pink bento, I'd love to share this good news that got me all excited over the weekend and it makes me feel so much better right away ^_^. I WON this Awesome wilton giving away from Kelly (Thanks Kelly!!), she hosts THE CROUCHING MOTHER, HIDDEN TODDLER, you can read details HERE.

Okay, now to the bento business, after seeing so many friends posting their pink bentos and see pink here and there, I am proudly join the event of Breast Cancer Awareness hosted by BentoBlog, Please join me with this event, you can read more details HERE. I also dedicated this bento post to a close friend of mine who has survived from breast cancer last year.

I made this mini Vietnamese rolls with scramble egg, rice noodle, and lettuce inside, I seasoned the egg so my boys wont need any sauce. I tried to dye the wrapper with some bit's broth but did not come out as pink as I thought it would. Maybe I put a little too much water into the bit. It was kind a disappointing, but it is what it is. My original plan was to serve the rolls with some leftover chicken, but then there would not be any pink on the box, so I changed my mind. I boiled some egg with  leftovers bit's broth (Bad choice!!!), the result is also disappointing, so I decided to put just a view drops of red food coloring, and I think I get some kind a pink that satisfied me.

The rest are steamed broccoli, grape tomatoes, green grapes, sugar snaps and kiwi berries.

When I get all the foods done, I realized that I do not have any pink boxes, then I checked my food picks collection I could not find the pink note food picks that I have. I must've give it away to a friend of mine who has a girl. But I am glad I still have some other pink color food picks.
Back then I thought I'd never make any pink bento since I do not have a daughter. So I am so glad to joint this even coz this probably gonna be the only chance for me to make pink bento.
Y'all have a blessings Monday!

"If children have the ability to ignore all odds and percentages, then maybe we can all learn from them.  When you think about it, what other choice is there but to hope?  We have two options, medically and emotionally:  give up, or fight like hell."  ~Lance Armstrong~

"Cancer is a word, not a sentence."  ~John Diamond~

(#121) Vietnamese lemon-grass chicken

This is gonna be my last bento for the week since there's no school tomorrow. And I am kind a glad coz I feel like I have to take a break from making bento. Besides I don't feel okay for the last couple of days. Hope by Monday I'd get better and ready to pack some more bentos.

For today's bento, I packed the boys some Vietnamese lemon-grass chicken, this is one of my family's favorite dish. Serve with jasmine rice cooked in chicken broth and  fresh parsley. My boys love it so much!!! I'll post the recipe in the future.

The rest are purple cauliflower, mixed baby tomatoes and asparagus. On the next tier I packed some navel orange and kiwi.
This time I am using my new panda and frog bento boxes that I just got from amazon.com. ^_^ The boys are so excited this morning, I can't wait to pick them up.

(#120) Spinach ravioli with EVOO and herb

Got really bad headache since last night .... I hope I am not getting sick. So I prepared something fast and easy for the boy's lunches, I wasn't going to take a picture but I ended up did it :D

I cook some spinach and cheese ravioli, and the rest are steamed broccoli, asparagus, peeled and sliced oranges and mixed baby tomatoes. I also pack some raisins and gold fish crackers for snack.

I use thermal lunch boxes this time to keep the ravioli warm on lunch time.