Sardine Corn Don + Herbal Chicken Soup

What a fancy name when all you have to do is scatter the toppings on top of the rice.

Gosh! I am SO sick of corn, but it's all the Mouse wants, plus it does come in a big packet.

So guess what's sitting on top of Takoyaki's rice as a garnish...

That's right! Just to use the packet up, haha!

BTW, that there's a new cutlery set I found during our recent vacation to Taiwan. I had actually been keeping an eye out for cutlery sets with fabric covers, given that bento culture is much more prevalent there, and boy was I pleased to find this! Of course I bought 2 sets, was there a need to ask?

OMG... THREE different bentos

Thankfully, two of them were made using leftovers and NOTHING needed to be reheated in the morning. Yay! (Otherwise I would certainly have had a meltdown.)

Takoyaki's - chicken mayo 

Roast Meat's - Cheese sausage "hotdogs"

Mouse's - biscuits and mini sausages

Aaand.. it's back to Rice

A very simple meal of rice mixed with steamed chicken and corn. My China Mouse.

2017 Day Two

I gave myself an early break, haha! This is probably the only bread item my Mouse will eat (ungrudgingly) - "sausage bun".

Happy 2017!

And here we go with Mouse's very first school bento. I hope he's able to finish it.

Simple kimchi-bokkeumbap (fried rice) with chicken bits as this boy loves rice and kimchi.

Last Bento of 2016!

I am looking forward to taking a goooooood loooooong break these upcoming holidays because once school begins next year, Mouse will be in Primary School and with his food allergies (and most of all, knowing his shy nature), I have good reason to believe I have to bento EVERYDAY.

Kimchi-jjigae for Takoyaki. Poor Sec 3 girl has extra lessons during her end of year holidays, so they can get started on next year's topics.

Macaroni Bolognaise

For Takoyaki, who loves pasta in meat sauce, and is willing to bring a (heavy) food jar despite her heavy bag. Bless her heart and stomach.

Thai Basil Minced Beef Don

Finally... This yummy dish has reached my bentos... The first time I cooked this, the result wasn't very well-received, so this time I tried adjusting my ingredients and thankfully, they enjoyed it. Takoyaki, in particular, liked it enough to accept this for her bento today so here it is.

RM, who is home these four days thanks to PSLE marking, also asked for the same bento for his lunch at home today, so I made a total of two.

In a Japanese Frame of Mind...

I went to an excellent sushi restaurant yesterday, and enjoyed possibly the best quality sushi (handmade by the chef behind the counter) I've ever had in my life. Of course I haven't seen much, always going to more economical, machine-made sushi belt restaurants, but my taste buds are incredibly discerning.

Still reliving the taste of that wonderful food I had, my body automatically started making preparations for Japanese style bentos.

Although, regrettably, the rice is not the Japanese type but some blend of Thai rice (eww, not nice, not buying anymore after we finish this bag), but pretty much everything else is quite authentically prepared.

And my mojo felt that some picks were in order so out they came! Brighten up the boxes with their adorable faces no end.

I realise that I haven't been packing fruits into their bentos for a loooooonngg time, but it's obvious there's no space for anything else in most of my kid-sized bentos.

Perhaps it's time to get some bigger ones, since both kids can eat and Roast Meat is going to Secondary School next year (I'm sure his appetite will never grow less!)

EVOO Sardines Over Healthy Rice

That's about it.

Challah French Toast

Ahhhh... how I love challah... the rich moist eggy taste of homemade, braided bread. I made this bread two days ago and today it's just right to be transformed into French Toast.

Cue French Toast lover - Takoyaki, who asked for 3 slices, and got them!

Takikomi Gohan Don with Sauteed Prawns

The Japanese version of the Chinese Savoury Rice (I don't know any official name for it because different regions add different ingredients to cook with the rice). Japanese people call it Takikomi Gohan.

Essentially, it's rice cooked with dashi or some savoury stock, with other ingredients such as carrot and mushrooms and even meat to further flavour the rice. I added some miso to the stock this time, and it was AWESOME.

It's the first day of PSLE for Roast Meat and I am all nerves, despite this being my second child sitting for the PSLE. However, it's HIS first time right? So it doesn't mean I shouldn't be nervous, haha!

Chicken and Ham Onigirazu

The Onigirazu has returned! This time it's chicken breast and ham. Yummy~

Macaroni with Sardines in Tomato Sauce

What an awesome east-west combination!

I quite discovered this dish by accident, when I ran out of fresh ingredients to dish up a bento for RM some years back. My only resort then was to turn to canned food, and since I had some leftover Sardines in Tomato Sauce in a pan (from dinner), I decided to just toss it with hot angel hair spaghetti.

Strike! He came back all smiles and reported that he absolutely LOVED the taste, so this became our not-so-regular bento meal. Unfortunately, no one else in the family, other than myself, likes the idea of that, so it's currently restricted to being a bento dish and not a family dish.

The Only Common Thing is Rice

Welcome back to another episode of Same Day, Different Bentos...

On top we have Takoyaki's bento which is simply a repeat of Soegogi-guk (Beef and Radish Soup). The girl loves this so much even I am a little taken aback.

And for the fussypot who doesn't like the soup (why are my children such extreme opposites), I had to fry some rice for him. Since I had to drag the wok out anyway, I went (what I consider the whole hog) and made one of his favourite ones - Shrimp Paste Fried Rice with chicken cubes. 

One thing about these Zebra bowls is, I can't do much fancy presentation in them, or at least I don't have the kungfu yet. Maybe I'll go work on this after PSLE, which begins next week *shudder*