Mabo Tofu Balloon Bears LunchBots Bento

Mabo Tofu Bear LunchBots Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Today the kids get ma bo tofu (see the basic recipe and method I use here), but I added in chopped baby bok choy just because I'm green like that. I sometimes add in pickled mustard greens too, just because I like the sour taste! But I omitted that this time. This batch includes scallions but excludes the spicy bean paste (TS won't abide it) and is layered over white/brown rice in my LunchBots Duo. The built-in divider keeps the mabo sauce separate from the rest of the goodies: black- and blueberries, a very-not-sweet plum, some carrots and a little Okinawan sweet potato star. I reserved some tofu to cut out little bear shapes with nori faces, and gave them a grape tomato balloon to play with. Aww so cute!

Three Bears Chili Bento

Three Bears Chili Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Today was the wintery-est summer day I've ever experienced. It was cold, gray and stormy all day long. I was very tempted to put the heat back on but I couldn't bring myself to do it. It's practically July! Weird. Anyway, it seemed a fitting day to bring chili to lunch, tucked into a lettuce leaf and topped with shredded cheddar and three mozzarella cheese bear faces. As you may recall, I was informed by MisterMan that he does in fact like "raw" (unmelted) cheese, despite what I've reported here, and that it's only STRING cheese in particular which remains undesirable. But it's the SAME cheese, you say. Whatever. I think I got the whole rainbow in here with the sides: strawberry, carrots, oranges, broccoli and blackberries. Woo! He went on a bowling field trip today and said he bowled a 110, including 5 strikes. Um, what? Turns out the kids have their own alley (probably with wider lanes and no gutters!). He had a blast, saying it was "just a hair better than the tech museum."  ^_^
Added to What's For Lunch!

Bear Friends Bento and Apple Bunnies

Bear Friends Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

We're back to school again after a week off for Spring Break. Did you miss us? I admit it's a bit slow getting back into the routine; I have to stock up the refrigerator and start menu planning again. So today's bento is a no-cook one consisting of ready-bought mini char siu baos. I cut the ears using a round cutter for a guide and scoring with a paring knife, then propped them up with a bit of rice stick. The facial details are cut from nori and I also used an oval piece of mozzarella cheese stick. The cheese is stuck on with rice stick too. The nori sticks well to cheese, but the eyes I glued on with honey. There's also steamed broccoli, orange and purple carrots, a half mandarin, black grapes and a strawberry. Here are some closeups of the bear friends:

Today was our monthly Twitterfoodparty, and this month's theme was apples. There were lots of delicious and creative recipes using this year-round fruit! I knew I wouldn't have time to cook anything in time, so I resorted to that bento staple, the apple bunny. Here I've carved a family of three, happily munching a broccoli-topped carrot together. Aren't they sweet? You can get the ears to curl if you let them sit in ice lemon water for awhile. The lemon will keep the apples from browning. Just a few cuts (and maybe a bit of practice to avoid shortened ears) and you've got a quick cute addition to your ordinary bento. Yay!