Minnie's Dinner - Picture Frame Bento

By the shady eaves of the wood, two red bunnie graze on delicious grass as larks fly over a snow-capped mountain in the distance.

Edge of woodland scene

This is my first time making a bento picture, and I sure hope Minnie Mouse likes it! As far as I know, they're all her favourite foods, so the added picture factor will surely make her smile. Her Daddy gave me some feedback on the first bento that she didn't like the sesame seeds on the greens, so I'll take note of that. It's always important to ask for feedback from the bento diners.

The background is angel hair spaghetti tossed with chicken drippings from the boneless roast chicken thigh which forms the mountain. Sliced cheese was trimmed, placed on the chicken and toasted gently to allow the cheese to melt slightly. The trees and grass are blanched long stem broccoli while the birds are nori on the rest of the sliced cheese. Check out the How To for the tomato bunnies here.

Swimming Power Bento Lunch

And so Mr Roast Meat begins his first, school-sponsored (ok, should be Ministry Of Education-sponsored) swimming course today. To give him lots of energy for the lesson, I gave him some angel hair spaghetti tossed with chicken drippings for lunch.

Roast chicken angel hair bento

Leftover Warm Soup Day

And true to their nature, both Takoyaki and Roast Meat cannot come to an agreement on which soup to bring (one hates soup A and the other dislikes soup B), so they each bring a different soup.

The other items on the menu are the same, thankfully. There's a cheese sandwich, veggies and fruits for each child.

Takoyaki's Beef Radish Soup Bento

 

RM's Cream of Mushroom Soup Bento

Salute to a friend and Hokkaido Fair

Today, I met an old acquaintance, a Chinese lady who has a Japanese husband. She told me she wakes up 1.5hrs before her husband and kids leave for work and school, to cook and prepare bentos for all of them. April, you are awesome!

Roast Meat's recess consisted of an edamame korokke (croquette) from the Summer Hokkaido Fair that's happening now at Tampines Mall. This is a yearly event that we all look forward to, when we can indulge in Hokkaido gelato, sushi dons, ikameshi (braised squid stuffed with rice) for me, and I get to buy half a year's worth of chinmi (pickled seafood). Yay!

Korokke bento

 

Then, RM had a Learning Journey to the Science Centre after school, so I brought him lunch when I went to pick Takoyaki, who has a short day. I do think the food looks really good in the new Totoro box d:)

A filling lunch before a field trip

Lunch menu:

- Rice with gomashio

- Blanched long stem broccoli

- Ketchup prawns

- Scrambled eggs with mushrooms and yellow capsicum

- Grapes

Overnight Angel Hair Spaghetti

Equals more sleep for Day 2 of Term 3. A very quick bento because the sausages were cooked during dinner prep, and angel hair spaghetti takes only a few minutes to cook. Roast Meat loves my pesto and can eat it anytime, with lots of parmesan cheese on top. 

I used another new bento box from my recent bento purchase from Bento&Co, and I love that the round shape makes it easier to wash compared to boxes which have corners. Round boxes are always my preferred choice for packing greasy foods such as pasta and fried rice. And breaking out a new box is always fun d:)

First Day of Term 3, 2013

It was with a weary heart that I faced this day. Ahh... no more late nights!

Thankfully, I didn't have any nightmare last night about waking up late for school this morning as was my wont, and bento-making proceeded comparatively smoothly (meaning the tot didn't wake up).

I decided to use the new Totoro box for RM today. I hope he takes good care of it. Simple stuff - PB sandwich pocket, seaweed chicken, edamame and a clementine.

Takoyaki is very happy to face this new day, because for the first day of Term 3 they are actually going to the zoo for a field trip! Wow... She asked for some store bought sausage buns to share with her group at the zoo, as well as some strawberries.

My white light bulb blew, so this pic was taken in the old, original yellow light. It sucks.

New Bento Boxes (again)

Bento&Co had a promotion sometime earlier this month which provided free shipping worldwide, so I grabbed the chance to buy a few bento boxes which I had set my eyes on. It took about 15 days to reach me, of which part of the delay was caused by the terrible haze we had in June. I salute the postal service and their commitment to delivering all our mail on time!

From top left, going clockwise: 

- Brown wax paper with newspaper print for onigiri days and oily food, I'd wanted another design but it was sold out d:(

- A kawaii elephant-shaped oshibori (wet napkin holder) which is for Mouse when we go out

- A practically matching food bowl for the oshibori

- A 3-tier round bento for Takoyaki, specifically requested

- A Totoro themed rectangular box for Roast Meat

Can't wait to use them!

New Bento Receiver - Minnie Mouse

It was with great pleasure that I presented her first bento to my niece, a lively 6-year-old, whom we shall call Minnie Mouse (not to be confused with my youngest child, Mouse). Minnie will be receiving occasional (and hopefully to become more regular) dinner bentos from me on some weekday evenings, as an effort on my part to relieve my parents who are caring for her and her 2-year-old little sister while their parents are away at work.

I had wanted to begin with some spaghetti to get her comfy with the idea of dinner bentos from 二姨 (Jee-Yee or Second Aunt as she calls me), because Minnie Mouse LOVES noodles, but it seems she may not like the pesto which I'd planned, so I gave her rice instead (which was what my family was having for dinner).

Menu:

Salmon-filled onigiris with gomashio (on the ends)

Cold boiled chicken with gomadare (sesame sauce)

Blanched 小白菜 (bokchoy)

Cherry tomatoes

And this should be the last. Really.

Till the next term begins d:) Takoyaki is ecstatically anticipating what she calls her "real holidays to begin". Today is her last day of supp class and after that she's heading off to her classmate's home for a playdate with her clique of girlfriends.  Well, I do think she deserves a bit of a break. For a bit. Before I start freaking out and load her with practice papers, heh heh.

This was actually her bento yesterday. Just a simple ham, cheese and tomato sandwich with fruits on the side.

Holiday Supp Class Bento #1

Well, it seems that my break is not going to come for a few more days yet, because Takoyaki has supplementary classes for the first week of these June hols. We were not sure whether the school canteen stalls would be selling food, so we decided to just pack a bento for her today. Turns out they will be open this week, so I don't have to bento everyday.

I kept it simple by using a store-bought hot dog roll, and adding a kiwifruit, cherry tomatoes and some M&Ms.

Last School Bento for Term 2 2013

I forgot to plan, heehee. And had bad dreams overnight of not having anything to give RM at all, nor time to prepare. Serves me right.

So my last resort was a packet of instant ramen, to which I improved the nutrition by adding some boiled prawns, edamame, and corn. I barely had time to cool everything down and take a pic before rushing out the door with the kids.

I'm looking forward to the June holidays!

Leftover-Roast-Chicken Salad and Onigiri

These bentos were speedily made last night after dinner, with only minimal washing and cutting (fruits and veggies). Really convenient for me because these last few weeks I have not been able to get up earlier to bento in the mornings. 

Salad: Shredded roast chicken with drippings, chopped up red and yellow capsicums, chopped tomato, topped with a dollop of fresh tomato salsa made by Takoyaki. This girl is getting to be quite the cook and baker! (when she wants to be, which is not very often, alas.)

Onigiris are simply rice mixed with furikake and homemade gomashio. We had some for dinner. Yum. I hope Roast Meat unwraps his onigiri successfully *gulp* He's never done it before but I have given him instructions. My biggest fear is that he will drop the whole thing on the floor while trying to unwrap. Uh... better not to worry too much huh? d:)

Here's my video on how to use an onigiri wrapper.

Takoyaki has a kiwifruit.

RM does not

And tomorrow is the last school day of this term! I only have ONE last bento to make, for RM. What shall I prepare?

Garlic and Herb Butter Pasta

The same homemade spread I use for garlic herb toast tastes superb with hot cooked pasta, but unfortunately RM will be having his cold because one of the fundamental rules of bento is making sure everything is cooled to room temperature before packing to avoid spoilage. He will still love it anyway, especially since there's practically a mountainload of grated Parmesan cheese on top.

 

Ingredients:

Blanched broccoli

Surimi crabstick

Garlic herb butter

Cooked fusili

Grated Parmesan

Clementine

Counting down to June hols 2013

It's the last week of school for both kids, and only 4 days, so they are jubilant d:) I'm starting to wind down a little, but still intend to make hay while the sun shines and prepare nutritious bentos for them to bring to school while I may.

For today, both had the same - pork jerky sandwiches with grapes and cherry tomatoes.

Takoyaki's box, which she didn't finish!

Roast Meat's box which he DID finish

And tomorrow is a holiday so the week ends early.

Yay!

Those are macadamia nuts in the panda

Perhaps it's because we have all been taking turns to fall sick, but I am so low on energy, even though I've been going early to bed every night. It will be good to take a rest and not have to wake so early this Vesak Day weekend.