Finally Friday - (Just a simple) Bento

It's the end of the week and I'm just looking to use up some of my stash. Like the Viennese sandwiches from M&S (RM's favourite and I won't deny I'm rather partial towards them), the cucumber rounds and the apple. Added a ham flower (last seen maybe two years ago?), a wedge of cheese and some pistachios in the green foil.

Let's call it an individual-picnic bento.

Honey Master Chicken over Pasta

I can't believe it's been two years since I last gave my kids a Honey Mustard Chicken bento. Made up a batch last night (leftover from a big pack of boneless chicken legs, half of which I used for steaming with Chinese preserved mustard veg 梅菜) especially for today's bento.

I know everything looks rather yellow and brown but as long as it's tasty and nutritious right....?

Cold Matcha Udon Bento

On this hot, hot summer day (yah right, it's summer all year round in Singapore!), the kids brought some cold udon for their school meals. Topped with shredded cucumber and sausage hearts, this meal was sure to cool them down. Unfortunately, Roast Meat had a bout of coughing and wheezing, so bad that I had to go bring him home from school. Note to self - no more cold food till he recovers.

The dipping sauce was frozen in separate boxes.

Bacon & Egg Cups Recipe

In the wonderful world of Pinterest, I found a recipe for Bacon & egg cups as well as a mini frittatas baked in a muffin pan. Wanting the best of both worlds, I combined both recipes into one and here is the result.

They were a hit with Roast Meat and me, but not Takoyaki or her dad. Here they are in bentos.

RM's Monday Bento

Takoyaki's Tuesday Bento

Recipe for Bacon&Egg Cups
~Makes 12 cups~

Ingredients:
12 rashers bacon
6 large eggs, lightly beaten
pepper to taste
one medium onion, chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 cup grated cheese (I used up some mozzarella, but any cheese would be good)

Method:
Preheat oven to 180C.
Line a 12-cup muffin pan with muffin cases and lay one rasher of bacon around the inside of each case.
Combine all the other ingredients in a medium bowl and stir well.
Divide equally among all the bacon "cups", taking care to prop the bacon up with your fingers as you are pouring the batter in.
Bake about 15-20 mins or till tops are golden brown.

Next time I will add some sliced olives, and perhaps some milk. No salt because the bacon is mighty salty.

Teriyaki Meatballs Don Bento

Last night, I tried out a new recipe that I'd found on Pinterest some time back. Teriyaki meatballs!

Planned overs (which almost didn't make it into the bento because there were some hungry wolves around) for today's bento don't look so pretty but still taste pretty great!

Teriyaki Meatballs Bento

I was glad to be able to give RM a yummy last bento for this term, because I am certainly looking forward to not bentoing these Sep hols!

Hotdogs! Ugly stuff

I've always felt that hotdogs are one of the most obscene-looking foods, but dang! They do taste good d:)

They look really obscene, don't they? Try as I might I simply couldn't find a better way to arrange them. Also, I was in a pickle about the sauces, because I ran out of packet ketchup, so my husband suggested using plastic wrap. Great idea! I also put some mustard in another twist so the kids can have their mustard kick.

These are the last bentos for this term. I'll only be back after the September one week hols! Have a great hols, y'all!

Merciful Monday - Shrimp Paste Rice with Chawanmushi

Many thanks to Delci, the founder of Facebook bento group EZBentos, for sharing how to make these bento-sized steamed egg portions some time back. I found these cute silicone steamer cases from Daiso that are specially designed for this. These are thicker and sturdier than my silicone cupcake cases. Just put the lid (comes with the cases) on and steam for about 10-15 mins on low heat and it's done! If you don't have these, just use thicker silicone muffin/cupcake cases that fit into your bento boxes and cover with small pieces of Al foil.

Today's Menu:

Shrimp paste fried rice (this is becoming a staple in our house)

Chawanmushi

Cherry tomatoes

Apple wedges

Guilty Thursday - Instant Ramen

I ran out of carbs to cook d:( Well, Roast Meat's happy. I did add some leftover shredded chicken from last night's dinner and lots of veggies and fruits.

Monday Already??

I just realised that my last post was exactly one week ago. The rest of the week was bento-free, other than a very simple breadroll-and-chicken set for Takoyaki, as last Friday was Roast Meat's birthday. Hence, from Wednesday on, I was running around procuring ingredients to bake cupcakes for his celebration in school. Phew... Glad it is all over. It was a rather trying week for me as I was having some gastroenteritis on top of running around for some Parent Volunteer projects. Two more weeks and I'll be able to watch all my burdens roll down the hill!

Today's lunch menu:

Onigiris with mixed furikake

Tamagoyaki

Cucumber ribbons and cherry toms salad

Grapes

I have found two more bento recruits! Will be meeting with them soon to talk bento. Yay!

Maniac Monday - Sausages and Tom Yum Soup

I ran out of ideas for decor so decided to just mix all the ingredients - sausage, edamame, furikake - together with the rice. Can say it's something like Bibimbap d:P Although everything's more Japanese than Korean.

Last week, I used the Nami box for Roast Meat because it was the best size in this One Piece set to hold some fruits and veg, but he came back whining that "all my friends laughed at me" and insisted that I never give him that box again. Good grief.

I bento-ed for RM but forgot that Takoyaki also needed a bento today. Thankfully, all the staples were sitting ready in the fridge so I just heated up the soup and packed everything into the different compartments. She only gave me 5 minutes before she was out the door!

Takoyaki loves her Tom Yum Soup (my daughter, hee).

Planned Over Thursday - Kimchi Soup

With Sweet Potato Vermicelli and Five-Spice Grilled Chicken. I got the recipe for the chicken from a Jamie Oliver cookbook and I must say, we really liked it. This will enter our regular rotation of chicken chop flavours, as we have been relying on Cajun seasoning for wayyyyy too long.

Thankful Tuesday - Chimera Sausage and Ghost Onigiri

Did you have a good rest over the long National Day weekend? I ate something that caused a violent allergic reaction in my body and was in horrible pain for 24 hours, but thankfully it cleared up on its own so I did not go to the doctor. 

And hence I felt rather in the mood to beautify things a little.

The little ghost there has NOTHING whatsoever to do with the current Lunar Month. I'd wanted to do a Totoro like I did once but lacked the motivation to do all the details beyond cutting the nori so I changed it to a Pacman type ghost.

The onigiri contains some pork floss and the rest of the food are some chimera sausages made up of cherry tomatoes, cucumber and bratwurst.

Bon appetit!

Wainy Wednesday

What a great day to sleep in. It's usually hot and hazy this time of the year in Singapore but these past couple of months have been mostly rainy and breezy. I'm thankful.

Planned over from last night's dinner - Panfried Cajun Chicken Chop over rice, with spinach salad and grapes. There's some homemade vinaigrette dressing in a separate sauce cup. Roast Meat's favourite dressing.

Maniac Monday is Bread and Bun Day

Bread onigiris for Takoyaki with chicken wings from Ah Ma.

RM wanted this teriyaki chicken bun from Mugiho bakery. Less work for me, yay!

Beef Soboro Bento

A simple, planned-over bento for Takoyaki.