4th of July Field Trip Bento

4th of July Field Trip Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I couldn't let this holiday go by without a theme bento, and it's even a field trip bento at that -- so I couldn't use my star or flag picks (or anything nondisposable). So I settled for as many stars as I could fit in this recycled plastic strawberry package. I hope he gets the theme I was going for! There's a turkey spinach cheese rollup in a whole wheat tortilla, a quail egg with a star cutout that cracked (darn!), some Okinawan sweet potato stars, carrots, broccoli, steamed corn on the cob, red pepper stars, radish, cherries, strawberries and blueberries. I wrapped it all up in wax paper, snapped the box closed, and packed it with a rubber band around it to prevent accidental opening due to excessive swingage. He's going to the Tech Museum for a day of science fun. Then, we've got the 4th off -- yippee! How are you celebrating? Hope you enjoy a wonderful 4th of July/Independence Day!

Mochiko Chick'n Chicken Bento

Mochiko Chick'n Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I made oven-roasted mochiko chicken today (see recipe and method here) and tossed some sliced kabocha wedges in there as well. There's also something in this bento that I don't usually pack. Do you see it? That's right: rice! I got the idea for satsumaimo rice from Hapa bento's Okinawan sweet potato gohan post. I cooked a mix of black and brown rice, then tossed with diced satsumaimo (Japanese sweet potato) which I had tossed in the rice cooker whole midway through the cycle. I cut the imo after cooking, then gently folded into the rice. After packing the peapods, red plum, corn on the cob and Okinawan sweet potato stars, I had a little spot for a tiny hard-boiled quail egg chick. I cut the "eggshell" white with my small paring knife tip, and added nori eyes and carrot beak to the yolk "chick". I have a container of precut nori eyes and such, so that I can just use what I need right away. Too late, I just noticed that the two dots are different sizes. Oops. Still cute though, right?

Pizza Face Bento

Pizza Face Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Look at those luscious lips! Okay, you might need a bit of imagination to see it, but there are supposed to be tomato eyes and red pepper lips on this cheesy, salami, arugula flatbread pizza. I used Mediterranean whole grain flat bread, which is thick enough to stand up to toppings, but which bakes crispy for a cool mini pizza. The other sections of this Sistema double-sided box contain Okinawan sweet potato, corn on the cob, pluots, nectarines, strawberries and blackberries. Smooch!

Mac and Cheese Bento

Mac and Cheese Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Look, it's a thermal bento. In summer. Is it wrong? I was just in the mood for mac and cheese, so decided to pack a couple in my kids' thermal food jars. It's not essential to pack mac and cheese hot, and in fact I bet my kids would be happy to eat it at room temp, but there's something about ooey gooey cheesy mac that sounds so good to me. Last time I used The Pioneer Woman's recipe (for this bento here), and that was really good, but this time I used a bacon mac recipe. It could have used more cheese, I think, but it was still pretty good. I know the side box looks absurdly huge in the photo, but trust me; it's an illusion (it's actually propped up on the thermal jar lid). There's a lot of broccoli in the mac and cheese, so all I gave him on the side is: corn, carrots, strawberry, cherries and pluot.

Bacon Mac and Cheese (based on the recipe here)

8 ounces macaroni
2 1/2 cups milk
4 ounces each grated provolone and Asiago cheeses
2 eggs
2 scallions, chopped
3 slices sandwich bread, torn into small pieces
3 strips bacon
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3 T flour

Preheat oven to 375 F. Butter a 2-quart shallow casserole dish. Cook the macaroni until al dente, about 5 minutes. Drain, transfer the pasta to the casserole dish along with 1/4 cup milk.
Meanwhile, mix the cheeses together. Beat the eggs with 1/4 cup milk in another bowl, add scallions, bread and half the cheese, set aside.
Cook the bacon, remove from pan. Cook the onion and garlic in the same pan, about 4 minutes, then add flour, cook another 2 minutes. Add the remaining 1 3/4 cup milk to the skillet, boil, and whisk until thick.
Remove the sauce from heat and whisk in the remaining cheese, add the sauce to the macaroni and stir to combine. [Here I added steamed broccoli, chopped fine]
Add crumbled bacon to the egg/bread mixture, spread over the top of the pasta.
Bake about 40 minutes.

Piggy Calzone Bento

Piggy Calzone Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I was so happy with the way my pizzas turned out, I decided to make calzones. I rolled the dough (use any pizza dough for this) out into circles, then placed chopped ham, pepperoni, grated cheese and baby arugula on half, and folded the circle in half, pinching to seal the edges together. For fun, I added two balls for ears (which I rolled in flaxmeal), and a little circle for a snout. I intended for it to result in a cute bear face, but the snout rose during baking and I think it looks more like a pig snout now. So a piggy it is. The calzone fits perfectly in one side of the Sistema box, while the other sectioned side contains: corn, broccoli, carrots, pluots, nectarines, grapes, strawberry and lychee. Oink!

Purple Goldfish Bento

Purple Goldfish Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

The theme of today's bento is ... fish! To go with the miso butterfish that I made (method and recipe here), I cut some big-eyed goldfish from Okinawan sweet potato using my very cool goldfish vegetable cutter. I've cut carrots (in this bento) and regular sweet potato (in this bento) before, but this is a first for purple goldfish. I think they look rather vibrant, if not very realistic; do you agree? The mottled color looks kind of cool. It's a bit tricky to get the fish out without damage, and there were a few casualties. A stiffer vegetable would cut more easily. The rest of my LunchBots Trio contains: grape tomatoes, corn on the cob, green cauliflower, carrots, plum, cherries and raspberry.

Back To School Bento

Back To School Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Here's another First Day of School bento. Along with shoyu chicken, corn on the cob, carrots and steamed broccoli, I packed sliced Flavor Rosa pluots, lychees and blueberries inside the stainless steel divided LunchBots Trio. I made a little chalkboard from cheese and nori to commemorate the beginning of school. I freehand cut the numbers and letters with my microscissors. Do you see the little Anpanman? He (a gift from a thoughtful bento friend!) seems a bit apprehensive about all the learning. I remember how bittersweet it was to return to school in the fall. On one hand, it was hard to leave long lazy days of summer behind; but then again it's always fun to see friends again, right? How are your kids adjusting back to school?

Spanakopita Bento

Spanakopita Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Today I experimented with filo pastry pie, which I baked in a muffin tin. I used feta and spinach filling, like I did for spanakopita in this bento. I thought the little pies would make perfectly sized bento portions and the kids would have fun eating them. Besides the spanakopie, I packed the usual sides: corn on the cob, carrots, broccoli, car-shaped Okinawan sweet potatoes, cherries, strawberries, blueberries and a little ripe raspberry. It went over pretty well!

Apple and Stars Bento

Apple and Stars Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I suppose this can count as a back to school bento, with a radish "apple" for the teacher, and a trio of Okinawan sweet potato stars! Although maybe they should have been gold stars. Also included in this round bento: teriyaki salmon, steamed broccoli, corn on the cob, carrots, plum, nectarine and blueberries. The summer fruit are still going strong in our markets, so summer will live on (in our bento) despite our return to school!

Furikake Snapper Hello Kitty Quail Egg Bento

Furikake Snapper Hello Kitty Quail Egg Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Another TinySprite bento. Actually, MisterMan's lunch was provided during this last week of Summer Adventures, so I've been making only the little girl's bento. She doesn't eat nearly as much, so I feel like I can make hers in no time at all! For example, in this bento I gave her a few pieces of pan-fried snapper sprinkled with furikake, then a section of steamed corn on the cob, a few carved carrots, a little piece of steamed broccoli and Okinawan sweet potato heart shapes, some grapes and a sliced strawberry. I had one more spot left, just big enough for a quail egg. And you know what my favorite quail egg character is! I didn't even bother to shape the egg into an oval. Once I add the nori eyes, corn ears and nose, somen whiskers and trademark red ribbon, she becomes instantly recognizable. I can make this Hello Kitty in just a few minutes now. I keep a little container of punched oval and circle shaped nori bits, so I don't even need to dig out the craft punchers. She really is the easiest charaben ever!

We're Back! Pesto Tomato Pasta Bento

Pesto Tomato Pasta Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

This is a bento set from the week before we left on vacation. I didn't get a chance to post all week; in fact, I didn't even boot up the laptop, heh. It was fun to take a bento-break while we visited with family in Los Angeles. The kids love going swimming and playing ball at their cousins' place, and visiting with their grandparents. We got to enjoy a real summer week of 90s temps too! It was great. For these bentos I made spaghetti with pesto and roasted grape tomatoes. I decorated MisterMan's with a colby cheese and Okinawan sweet potato "ice cream cone" while TinySprite got a Hello Kitty face on hers. They both got corn on the cob and various summer fruit like: lychee, cherries, blackberries and donut Sweet Peach Pie peaches. Cool pasta and fresh fruit make a perfectly satisfying summertime bento. Don't you think?

Salmon Teriyaki Bento

Salmon Teriyaki Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

The kids got to pack Copper River Salmon in their bento today; I made a teriyaki glaze for them. I also roasted some quartered baby new potatoes in olive oil and a little black pepper. They really love those. There's more of the beautiful Okinawan sweet potato (which I love), steamed broccoli, and bicolor corn on the cob with the various fruit of summer: cantaloupe, strawberries, cherries, grapes. Oop, forgot the pluots. They'll definitely make it into the next set of bentos. Until next time!

Shifu and Kung Fu Panda Field Trip Bento

Shifu and Kung Fu Panda Field Trip Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

It's another field trip bento for tomorrow: I packed MisterMan a char siu bao decorated as Shifu from Kung Fu Panda. To remove the brown top layer of the bao, I slipped my small paring knife underneath and it came apart easily. His eyes are made from cheese stick and nori. Did you notice his goatee? I also added an egg panda decorated with blueberry ears and nori facial features. On the side: corn on the cob, broccoli, peapods, oranges blackberries and strawberry. Everything is wrapped in wax paper and packed in a recycled self-sealing strawberry box for disposal after use. All finger foods make it an extra bonus; no utensils needed. Have fun!

Scallion Pancakes Bento

Scallion Pancake Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Today I made a batch of scallion pancakes for TinySprite, and decided to make more to pack for her bento. It's perfect for her light appetite, and will satisfy her carb cravings. I adapted the recipe here (from use real butter) but used half whole wheat flour for fun. It comes out a little chewier this way, but the kids don't mind. All you do is make a flour and water dough, roll it out, add chopped scallions, roll it up and roll it out flat again. Do you notice that I used the word "roll" three times in the last sentence? Yeah, it's a LOT of rolling, and it's best to roll it very thin. Now I know why I am not a baker. My arms are aching. But don't let that stop you. It's very tasty and fun to eat! Into this bento I also fit a piece of steamed corn on the cob, broccoli, a grape tomato, and a golden beet-dyed quail egg decorated with nori and a bit of carrot to look like a baby chick. The other section contains a juicy strawberry, supersweet blackberries (love these with Greek yogurt and walnuts!), carrots and grapes. All fun finger foods for my preschooler. ^_^