Everyone Has A First – Here Is My First Bento

18 Oct
My Very First Bento

The month of October is a crazy month for my family.  Thus, I’ve opted to simplify my life and order school lunch for Ms. Little Bubbles.  I’m not very happy about it, especially since it comes at cost of $6 a lunch!  Wow! And I don’t even know if she is eating it all.  You know, growing up, my school lunches were 45 cents.  Let me say that again… 45 cents.  I don’t consider myself that old, but wow, times have changed.  Hummm…. maybe I am old.  LOL.

So, given my lack of current bentos, I thought I’d dig deep and show you my very first bento.  I highly suggest that if you are going to start bento making, take pictures! And if you are brave enough, share them with the world.  My first bento was not very imaginative, or neat, but i think it was a little balanced.  However, what got me psyched about making bentos was the feedback I got from my friends on Facebook.  They were great, and made me want to do it over and over again.  After this first bento, I made a few missteps (another post) but as with all things in life, practice counts, support makes you feel fantastic and a little imagination always helps.  🙂  Ahh… Life is like a bento box.  LOL.

Contents:  Ham and cheese sandwich, imitation crab stick, strawberry, grapes and a yogurt drink.

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She’s Back – Hello Kitty! :-)

12 Oct
Hello Kitty Mac and Cheese

Hello Kitty Mac and Cheese

She is back! 😉  My quick and easy Hello Kitty couldn’t stay away for long.  Although, she almost didn’t have a bow because I didn’t have my usual standby bow ingredient – kamaboko.  I stood looking in my refrigerator for a few seconds thinking “now what???” and then I saw the apples!  Ah ha…. I used the apple peel as the bow. It was a bit hard to cut out but I think it worked out okay.  I guess you can say this bento has a few of my favorites, or Ms. Little Bubbles favorites – Lunch Bots container, Hello Kitty, steamed cinnamon apples, mac and cheese and ginger cookies.  🙂

Contents:  Mac and cheese, steamed cinnamon apples, ginger cookies

 

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It’s simple, it’s fast, and she loves it. Mac & Cheese Bento.

11 Oct

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Today is yet another quick bento. Humm… I’m not sure if I can even call a thermos lunch a bento.
Today Ms. Little Bubbles is having mac and cheese with hot dogs in her thermos. In one of my favorite Elph containers I have cinnamon apples, edamame and steamed carrots. The cinnamon apples are so good! I had to stop eating them so she would have some for lunch! 🙂

Contents: mac and cheese with hot dogs, edamame, carrots and cinnamon apples.

Pizza Bento? What are you talking about?

6 Oct

Pizza Bento

This is my American version bento.  Some people think that bentos always need to have Japanese food in them.  But this is not a Japanese food bento.  This is an all American bento – filled with Hawaiian pizza (pineapples on pizza still weird me out, but my kids love it).  Again, I haven’t had much time to think of cute bentos, so this is one that was thrown together very quickly and then decorated with flower picks and the cute bunny baran.  🙂  If you haven’t noticed, I tend to use the same things over and over again.

Contents: Hawaiian pizza, strawberries, carrots and crackers

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Hot Dogs and Rice (don’t laugh)

5 Oct

Hot Dogs and Rice

As I started to write this entry, I realized how weird hot dogs and rice may seem to some people.  I’m Japanese and it’s normal for me to eat rice with everything.  Don’t laugh, I’ve even been known to eat it with my spaghetti.  🙂

I’ve been busy with work lately, and haven’t had time to think of cute fancy bentos, so Ms. Little Bubbles has been getting fast and dirty bentos.  This bento took me less than ten minutes.  I made the rice and hot dogs the night before and just had to cut the carrots and slice the strawberries in the morning.  The all beef hot dogs were sauteed in shoyu (soy sauce) and mirin.  I would have added onions, but Ms. Bubbles doesn’t like onions.

Contents:  Beef hot dogs, rice with furikake, carrots, strawberries and crackers

 

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My Nori Punch Collection

29 Sep

Nori Punch Collection

I have a rather simple nori punch collection.  I feel like I have a lot, or at least it takes up a lot of space.  But, I’m sure there are bento bloggers out there that have a lot more than me.  🙂  You may wonder why I need so many punches, but each one serves a different purpose.  I started my collection with the ones on the top.  They are great for larger onigiri, but if you try to make a small onigiri, the faces are too large.  If I want smaller features on my food, I’ll usually go for the quail egg punch (the bottom row, third from the right), or the green and yellow, multi-purpose punch (the bottom row, third from the left).  These are great punches that punch out smaller features. I do have a preference for punches that use metal cutters because the cut is cleaner. The Hello Kitty punches are cute, and I use them, but they are made of plastic.

For tips on how to care for your nori punches, visit Bentolicious‘ blog.

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Plain To Cute With One Bunny Baran Sheet

28 Sep

Which is cuter?

This morning I made a quick leftover bento.  This bento took les than 10 minutes to make.  The teriyaki chicken and rice was from last night’s dinner.  I threw the carrots and broccoli in the microwave for a quick steam, cooled them in the freezer before putting them in the bento.

The picture on the left was the bento I was about to put in Ms. Little Bubbles lunchbox.  But I felt something was missing.  So I put a cute bunny baran food partition next too the carrots. I think it adds a quick bit of cuteness, that required little effort.  🙂  What do you think?

Contents: Teriyaki chicken, rice, carrots, broccoli, and strawberries

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I Love My LunchBots Bento Box

26 Sep

Love My LunchBots Bento Box

Last week a blog reader asked me if I had any suggestions for bento boxes that are BPA free.  One of my favorite bento boxes that meets this need is my LunchBots box.  I love this box as it is stainless steel and comes in various sizes that are divided or not divided.

After reading this comment, I was inspired to use my LunchBots box for Ms. Little Bubbles lunch.  This particular box is divided, but you can’t see the divider because it is covered by lettuce.  If you decide to use this box, I do want to offer a bit of advice – although there is a divider, each section is not completely sealed. Therefore, don’t put food that contains water or sauce on one side thinking that it won’t run to the other, because it may.  To be safe, if you have food that contains sauces or are a bit juicy, such as watermelon, you should use bento cup liners and/or silicon cups.

For information on the BPA levels in other Japanese bento boxes, please visit Just Bento’s Blog.  She’s wonderful and offers a lot of information.

Contents: Yaki soba, grapes, ginger cookies and strawberries

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Another Bento Must – Vegetable Cutters

25 Sep

Vegetable Cutters

I feel like it’s been awhile since I made a bento post.  Last week the family took turns passing around a cold, so I decided to go the easy lunch route and packed food in Ms. Little Bubbles thermos.  Fast and easy, but homemade.  On Thursday, she asked if I was going to make her a “pretty lunch” that day.  I ended up make her a quick sandwich bento, but didn’t have the energy to make it fancy.

While I took a one-week hiatus, a reader asked me how I added star carrots to my bento.  The picture above shows a few of my vegetable cutters.  They are stainless steel and have plastic tops that can be taken off.  The plastic tops are great because if you are trying to cut a raw carrot, they allow you to cut them without hurting yourself.  Each cutter came in two sizes – small and large.  Below is a picture of how I store them. I take off the plastic tops and store them in a stackable container. The flower cutters in the middle of the container are actually cookie cutters.  And although they are pretty, I rarely use them because they can’t cut through vegetables.  I have used them on cheese and softer types of food, but it won’t work on vegetables.

I purchased my cutters at a local Japanese grocery store.  However, if you do a search online, you’ll find numerous stores selling them. It’s probably easier to find cutters that don’t have the plastic tops, which is okay.  I just like the added convenience of the tops.  🙂

Vegetable Cutter Storage

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Ten Minute Hello Kitty Sandwich

14 Sep

Hello Kitty Sandwich

Just like the day before, I had no idea what to make this morning.  😉  Thus, another sandwich day for Ms. Little Bubbles.  Making this Hello Kitty sandwich is really fast and easy (you just need the right tools) and requires little brain power at 5:30am!  I did watch the clock and it only took me 10 minutes to make this bento.  My brain was a little fuzzy, so I added the additional hearts without really thinking about the “layout” and feel like it might be a bit too much.  But that’s okay…. 🙂

Hello Kitty Bento Kit

Contents:  Ham and cheese sandwich, Swiss cheese for the Hello Kitty, strawberries, kamaboko, crackers


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