Sino-Jap Bento - Cold Udon with Chinese Stir-fried Greens and Surimi

The weather see-saws between rainy and hazy-hot every few days so I wasn't sure whether I should give it to him or not. It's always a gamble, and I was lucky this time. Lovely hot sunshine for Roast Meat to enjoy his cool noodles.

TLC Bento Day

Roast Meat has no school for the rest of this week thanks to PSLE marking days, so I channelled my energy and TLC towards making a bento for Takoyaki (who, alas, will no longer have PSLE marking days holiday). Although I've lost much of my mojo for kyaraben, I'm not adverse to making use of the tools I have to sweeten things up a little d:)

Menu:

Cut and "stamped" cheese sandwiches

Taiwanese sausages

Fruits and cukes

I loved packing this box up with food. Takoyaki can eat a lot if she's in the mood. Gone are the days of trying to find a smaller bento box for the pitiful amount they could eat in lower primary. Hang on, I've got one more Mouse who has yet to hit the system...

Finally Friday - Clear Pantry Bento

Friday is very much a Clear Pantry Day for me. Partly because my battery is almost flat by then, and partly because Thursday is when my part time cleaner comes and cleans up our pigsty, so I try to keep the kitchen clean after that by NOT COOKING d:) (What a great excuse, haha.)

Today's menu:

Weet-Bix Bites which are just the right size for bentos

Apple wedges (nothing fancy, I'm pooped)

Broccoli

Cheese sticks (cut from a block of cheddar cheese)

Happy weekend! We shall spend ours revising for RM's Science paper, so probably not that happy or relaxing....

Crustless Quiche

Which is what I made with the extra filling and eggs for Tuesday's Mini Quiches. No crust this time, lazy.

Menu:

Flower onigiris with furikake and quinoa

Crustless quiche

Cukes

Tomatoes

Grapes

Terrific Tuesday - Mini Quiche

After the half-success of the Bacon & Egg Cups, here's my next "mini" challenge to myself - mini quiches. Inspired by my friend Yee-fun Lee who made them recently for her daughters' bentos, I finally took the plunge on the weekend.

Mini quiches cooling

The verdict is "yummy" by all, so we're good to put this into bento rotation.

Two Quiches And A Salad

Kimchi Chicken Pocket Sandwiches

For the last school day of this week (for Roast Meat, since tomorrow is the Children's Day holiday), RM requested for these sandwiches which I think I once made him... last year? at home.

He wanted TWO pocket sarnies, which I originally agreed to give him, but then I remembered that one pro of bento is portion control. RM is somewhat overweight so overeating is definitely a no-no.

Hence, I just packed whatever could fit snugly inside his box, and honestly this should be mighty filling for a 10yo's recess.

This is a 650ml box.

Cold Asian Noodle Salad Bento

Made with:

Boiled fresh udon noodles (rinsed under tap water till cool)

Mesclun salad

Boiled crabsticks and prawns

Dressing - soy sauce, sesame oil, freshly ground black pepper, pinch of stevia (you can use fine white sugar)

All mixed up and topped with roasted sesame seeds.

Made Myself Wake Up To Bento This Morning

Menu:

Pizza (dunno what flavour)

Fried chicken drumlet (wrapped with piece of foil)

Salad

Zombified...

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