Salted Onigiris

RM has always complained about plain onigiris so I tried the age-old method of salting the onigiris on the outside to add some flavour. However, he reported that he didnt taste anything different. What am I missing??

Bread & buns - easy and convenient bento choice

As I'm sure many bento'ers will agree.

Both brought tuna sandwiches on top of raisin bread for Takoyaki and some store buns for RM.

Mondays are always tiring

Another lovely day when I have to prepare completely different bentos for Takoyaki and Roast Meat. Thankfully, there was less to do for RM because his sushi were all store-bought. No raw fish, safe for bento.

Takoyaki was adamant about bringing (planned over) Spaghetti Bolognese, otherwise known as meat sauce pasta in our family.

Rice always tastes good with Furikake

Sides:

Shallot omelette strips (for a change from tamagoyaki)

Cocktail sausage

Cucumber slices

Easy Peasy

Store bought. Short cut.

Roast Meat came back and asked me why I'd given him strawberries. Ye gods. I didn't realise I'd mixed up their boxes.

Fatigued Friday Sandwich

I found some lovely printed foils and wax paper, all bento-sized, over the last holidays. Yahoo! Loacker Tortina was a gift from my neighbour and after trying one, we're hooked. It tastes like KitKat but of better quality (and I don't buy Nestle products) so I will be hunting for these in stores to add to my stash.

And we come to our second bento staple... Onigiri

This is why it is important to cook extra rice for dinner the night before. So easy to just mix in some furikake and pack into a riceball wrap.

Snack box: 

Prawn rolls and cheese

White and round Mystery item

Recess box:

Jack Skellington apple

Ham flower

Cuke sticks

White and odd-shaped Mystery item

Onigiri

Eclecticism Is Our Frequent Guest Bento'er

Because sometimes you just gotta make do with what you have. Although my family would just call this "Chinese".

Takoyaki's menu:

Preserved turnip omelette (cai bor nng 菜甫蛋) on rice

Kimchi

KFC Roasta drumlet

The usual fruits and cherry tomatoes

RM's was simply a Polar chicken pie. To ensure the students don't get too hungry during the extended hours of single session, there is now a 5-10 minute snack break in class, so I have to provide a small box of fruits or healthy snack everyday. Thankfully, I've been bentoing for some time.

First Fly Lice of 2015 has appeared!

When in doubt, always turn to Fried Rice. One of Roast Meat's most favourite foods in the whole world.

Bento Mojo Cranking Up

And so we take on the second day of school with a simple bento of sandwiches, ham flowers and tamagoyaki. I achieved a(n almost) round tamagoyaki! Will share in another post later.

Happy 2015!

I'm all geared up to bento! (surprisingly, haha). For the first day of school, although it's just one day (Friday), I decided to give Roast Meat a bento because our school is beginning single session this year and we all don't know what's going to happen at recess or how the timetables are going to work out. And RM can't do without his food! He might cry if he doesn't fill that empty hole in his stomach...

So here's a simple toss 'em all together box with somen, homemade salmon flakes, edamame, Taiwanese sausages, shredded lettuce and cherry tomatoes. I had the leftovers last night when I was making it and it was GOOOOOD.

Wishing everyone a blessed and energetic 2015! May we all find the strength in us to bento no matter what!

How To Maximise the Heat in a Food Jar

A few mummies have asked me what they should do if they want to pack hot soup and stews for their children. The solution is simple - use a food jar. They come in different sizes, so get one that you are sure your child can handle the weight and operation of.

This is a Thermos Foogo, one of two I have (the other is out with Takoyaki, haha!). I bought them fairly cheaply at Jusco in Malaysia when they were having a super sale, so the price, converted from Malaysian Ringgit, was about half that of what the major department stores in Singapore were charging. Great deal!

There are many brands of thermal food jars out there, among which the most popular and recognised-as-effective brands are Tiger, Zojirushi and Thermos. You gotta admit it, the Japanese know how to make it right since they use this so much!

Whether you purchase a "good" (read "expensive") brand or a cheaper brand that may lose heat faster, there's one important thing you MUST do to maximise the heat retention of your jar. 

Before you put your soup or stew into the jar, ALWAYS pour boiling water into the jar, cover it up and let it sit for about 5 minutes.

This allows the inner walls of the jar to heat up so they don't start cooling your hot stew or soup down as soon as it is poured in. After about 5 minutes (or as long as it takes to heat up the stew/soup itself), pour the hot water away into a mug and use it for washing stuff. Mine usually has a metallic taste after that so I don't use it for cooking or drinking.

I have tested this with Takoyaki and she said the food was still rather hot by lunchtime. 

Whaddya Know... It's Never The Last Till...

School ends. Although I realise it should actually be "The Year Ends", because I never know what may assail me to bento for fun in the holidays. Ha ha.

But here is the last for the school year at least. I loved giving him a proper box this time instead of the sandwiches I've fallen on the last couple months.

And of course he loves his bratwurst d:)

On a side note, I found some pretty Christmas-themed wax paper at Daiso to add to my ever-growing bento wax paper collection. Muahahaha!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Possibly Last Bento for 2014...

Ham-cheese-cucumber sandwich and fruits.

Spaghetti Shrimp Aglio Olio

Made with quick-cooking angel hair spaghetti, here's another of RM's favs. Keeping things simple, I only sliced some red and yellow capsicum and cucumber to go with it.