Kuri Curry LunchBots Thermal Bento

With the weather cooling down a bit, I'm thinking more about thermal bento these days. And when I saw the cutest kuri squash at the market, I had to make curry. I wish I took a picture of the squash before I cut it. If you haven't seen one, it's a small roundish squash with a tough outer skin in a brilliant red color. The flesh is orange like pumpkin and it's great in curry because of the autumny color! My curry is packed with all kinds of veggies (and ground turkey) like broccoli, celery, onion, carrots, and sometimes mushrooms and potatoes. You can pack it over rice or just straight, like I did here, in the LunchBots Thermal Food Container. I packed a side box with beautiful cara cara oranges (also called red navel in my market) and watermelon balls. I also packed this cute Light My Fire combo spoon fork because it's MisterMan's favorite. It even has a serrated edge for cutting. How cute! Happy Start of Fall!

Curry with Rice Puppy Bento

It's been cool here in the Bay Area, and it's time for some warm thermal bento. I made curry loaded with vegetables, which will be ideal to nourish the kiddos midway through their hectic day. TinySprite still uses this Hello Kitty Thermal Food Jar, and if I add a side box with a selection of fruit - here, grape tomatoes, kiwi, and a tiny satsuma mandarin - it's just the right amount of food for her.

I would put the rice puppy inside the thermos, but I'm sure he would fall apart and disappear before lunchtime, so I packed him separately for her to add at her discretion. I hope she likes this one. Woof! 

Chinese New Year 2014 Bento: Year of the Horse!

Chinese New Year 2014 Bento: Year of the Horse!, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Happy New Year! And Happy Chinese New Year too! This year the Chinese (Lunar) New Year falls on the 31st of January, and will be represented by the Horse. To celebrate, I've made a brand new bento with a horse theme! This one is for me. I used my super kawaii red goldfish nesting bento box because when you turn it on end, it has a horse shape. Can you see it? I made kabocha curry yesterday, so I packed some curry and rice in the big box with a cucumber separator. I decorated the rice with broccoli and cucumber to create a horse face, and added grape tomatoes for nostrils. The baby fish box holds Greek yogurt with raisins, a tiny satsuma mandarin, some carrots and a cheese nori face. This one is a pony. Awww! I hope this upcoming year brings you and your loved ones much happiness and good health. Kung Hay Fat Choy!
Added to What's For Lunch.

Curry LunchBot Thermal Bento

Curry LunchBot Thermal Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Oh yeah, you've seen this one before too. It's the standard keema curry that I always make (recipe here), only this time I added chopped broccoli and yellow cauliflower. You know me. I'll add whatever kind of vegetation I happen to have in the fridge. If you think your kids will balk at the extra cruciferousness, then you can mince it fine, but my kids don't seem to care too much. It makes the curry a little bulky, so I make extra sauce to compensate. Serve over steaming rice for best effect! I packed the curry in our LunchBot thermal food jar for MisterMan, and sent along a side box of the usual: pickled cucumbers, red onions, carrots and daikon; grapes and strawberry, sliced peaches. Yeah, they ate this on a hot summer day, but imagine how comforting it would be on a cold fall day? Not me -- I refuse to think about fall just yet -- we just finished our 1st week of school and I'm still enjoying summer in my mind! ^_^

Rubber Ducky Curry Bento

Rubber Ducky Curry Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Packing some curry today (see the recipe I used here). I made it a lot more "soupy" than the recipe calls for, because I like it that way. TinySprite's Hello Kitty thermal food jar is topped with a handcut yellow capsicum "rubber ducky" taking a swim. The side box holds: a perfectly sweet and unblemished organic (tiny) apricot, sliced nectarines, baby strawberries, a steamed Okinawan sweet potato, and some pickled stuff. The weather's been cooling down a bit (a bit; down to the upper 60s), so this warm bento should be welcome!

Mouse Gets The Cheese Curry LunchBots Bento

Curry Mouse and Cheese LunchBots Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I usually pack the kids' favorite keema curry (see the Just One Cookbook method and recipe I use here) in a thermal food jar, but lately my daughter hasn't been finishing her meals in that container. Is she getting bored of the presentation? Let's try packing lunch in a different container, with a fun radish mousie and "swiss cheese" as a dining companion! Doesn't that make the bento more appealing? The LunchBots Clicks are leakproof, making them ideal for soupy, saucy kinds of foods. The lids are translucent, so you can see what's coming up for lunch too -- a little touch I like a lot. The matching side box, a bit shallower, holds pickled cucumbers and red onions, along with a variety of berries. Just the right size for my kindergartner. P.S. She gobbled it all up. ^__^

Eggplant Curry Without Okra Panda Bento

Eggplant Curry Panda Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I packed eggplant curry for this TinySprite bento (see my method and recipe here), although I had to omit the okra (my favorite element) because I couldn't find any. Perhaps it's out of season. It was still tasty, just without the added special texture that okra brings. It's topped with chopped cilantro. The top tier of the panda bowl holds strawberries and blueberries, a baby satsuma mandarin, grapes, pumpkin seeds, and a tomato with some carrot curls. We have a short week due to the Presidents Day holiday and other activities, so after Valentines Day parties and fun we'll be closing in on the weekend. Woohoo!

Added to What's For Lunch.

Keema Curry Thermal Bento

Keema Curry Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Are you tired of the thermal bento yet? More one-pot meals on the way, I'm afraid. Muahaha! I think this one is my favorite. I adapted Just One Cookbook's Keema Curry recipe, but not by much. I made this batch with more "sauce" so it can get the rice all nice and yummy. Even though I used the medium-hot curry roux block, the kids can handle it just fine. So happy about that! It means that the adults and kids can enjoy the same spicy meal without addition of anything extra to the adult version. Also packed along with this thermal jar: plum, strawberry and carrot.

Warm Winter Curry Bento

Warm Winter Curry Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

After chili night comes... curry night! For some reason, these two seem to go together for me. I love this delicious curry; I used Just One Cookbook's recipe and method here, but added a lot more vegetables to mine, as you can see. For this batch, after browning the ground beef, I added celery, carrots, red capsicum, onion, garlic, and broccoli stalks. In the past I've used potatoes and even kabocha. You can make it as spicy as you like; the ketchup and tonkatsu sauce cuts the heat and keeps it kid-friendly. I packed the curry over rice in thermal food jars, alongside a separate container of satsuma mandarin (I LOVE these babies, have I mentioned?), tomatoes, broccoli, Okinawan sweet potato and sauerkraut. My 9-year-old gobbled up everything you see here. We've got rainstorms forecast for the next 4 days so I am starting to get more into the hearty kinds of meals these days. It's definitely fall around here now!
Added to What's For Lunch.

Curry with Carrot Jack Bento

Curry with Carrot Jack Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

The cooler days call for warmer foods, so the last Halloween bento is a curry bento decorated with a carrot (freehand cut) jack-o-lantern. I used the method and recipe here. I used TinySprite's favorite panda bowl again, with the upper tier stocked with colorful corn, strawberries and grapes. I also packed a cup of house-pickled cabbage and cucumbers. I'm slowly getting my kids used to the pickled flavors we adults like so much; yay! They're even eating the sauerkraut I fermented at home in all its tangy glory. Score! I'm typing up this post while running to the door to appease the hundreds of costumed candymongers that are beseiging me. Laters!

Chickpea Cauliflower Curry LunchBot Bento

Chickpea Cauliflower Curry Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I decided to make a vegetarian dry curry today, using a recipe that called for simply tossing chopped vegetables with olive oil, curry powder and brown sugar, then roasting the whole thing in a baking pan at 400F until tender and fragrant, about 30 minutes. I used diced eggplant, onion, red capsicum, cauliflower, potatoes and chickpeas. It's a nice mild flavor that the kids can handle, and a good way to get them to eat eggplant. I served it over some fresh spinach leaves in their bento, but it's good over hot rice as well. It's on the dry side, which makes it idea for bento, with no thick sauce to drip all over everything. This Lunchbot Quad keeps the curry separate from the rest of the food, which includes: carrots, corn, Okinawan sweet potato and broccoli; strawberries and raspberries; and pluots and blueberries. I thought this was a pretty big meal for my kindergartner, and I was pleased that she was able to finish it all. Score!

Panda Curry Bento Bowl

Panda Curry Bento Bowl, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Curry bowl bento, one of TinySprite's favorites. After this one she asked, can I always have my bento in this panda bowl forever? Um, yes! The recipe I usually use, from Just One Cookbook called Keema Curry, calls for Japanese curry blocks. But since there's wheat in those, I made my own roux to thicken it up with rice flour. Along with ground turkey, there are a lot of colorful diced veggies in this one (red capsicum, carrot, celery, potato, onion). I served it over mixed grain rice in the panda donburi bento box. The top tier holds fresh fruit of summer: blackberries, strawberries and baby yellow nectarines. My farmers market has just started offering various stone fruit such as cherries, peaches, nectarines and apricots. And they are sweet already! They come all the way from the central valley and Sacramento areas, where the temps are much higher much earlier in the season than in the Bay Area. So very happy about that :D

Lentil Curry Chicken Bento

Lentil Curry Chicken Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

MisterMan really liked this bento: it has lots of different flavors, which he likes, and lots of healthy stuff, which I like. I made lentil curry chicken in my slow-cooker, using chicken thighs and adding chopped spinach at the very end. The meat was so tender it fell apart. I also made bhindi (okra) masala, and packed them in the lower tier alongside millet quinoa rice with a radish decoration. [I was asked about my method for cutting the star radish, and I managed to take some process photos that I'll show you next time.] In the upper tier of this classic EcoLunchBox, I packed carrots, grapes and cara cara orange chunks beside a separate container of Greek yogurt topped with strawberries and wheat germ. The little oblong container comes with a stainless steel top to keep the contents secure, and both tiers latch together tightly. I really like the way this one came together, and do you see my cute Moomin cutlery? From my dear Finnish friend :D

Eggplant Curry Thermal Bento

Eggplant Curry Thermal Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I packed eggplant curry in the LunchBot thermal; a perfect warm meal for a cold rainy day. See my method and recipe here. I made it once before and the kids seemed to like it fine. Previously I'd been afraid to cook okra because I know it can get slimey but the key is to add it last and then cook it only until it becomes tender; not too long. Also, don't toss it around too much. It will hold its shape and firmness, and it adds an interesting texture to this otherwise soft curry. You may be seeing a lot of this and our other thermals for the next several weeks, at least until the weather starts warming up. Since discovering the practicality and usefulness of thermal food jars, I am hooked. Since there are so many veggies in the meal, I can pack the other dish with colorful fruit and fun Okinawan sweet potato cutouts.

Dry Curry Rainbow Bento

Dry Curry Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Okay, there isn't really a rainbow in here, but it's pretty cheerfully colorful! I packed MisterMan's dry curry in his metal "apple" shaped bento bowl, which I love. It's good for donburi type rice bowl meals such as this one: I put some mixed black rice (with millet and amaranth) on the bottom, and then scooped some dry curry on top. Dry curry is great for bento because there isn't a lot of soup or gravy to get soggy or leak out. And since this box isn't leakproof, it would have been a concern. I made this dry curry by browning ground meat and sauteeing a mix of diced vegetables such as carrots, bell peppers, celery, garlic and onion - I also added potatoes, zucchini and corn - then sprinkling 1-2T curry to the ingredients to release the aromatics. I added about 1/2C water and 2T tonkatsu sauce, stirred and simmered until well absorbed and "dry." If it's too strong you can add applesauce to sweeten it up, which is what I did. Or you can add ketchup. The top tier of this cute bowl contains cara cara oranges, strawberries, grapes, blackberries and blueberries. And a tomato and a couple slivers of mandarinquat. I sent this lunch to school at room temperature, but it's also a great candidate for a thermal jar, to ensure a hot curry meal on a cool winter day.
Added to What's For Lunch.

Chinese New Year Dragon Bento 3

Chinese New Year Dragon Bento 3, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

One more Chinese New Year of the Dragon bento and that's it; I promise! I made eggplant okra curry, which I think is a misnomer because there isn't any actual curry in here. Perhaps it should be eggplant okra stew. Anyway, it's completely vegetarian, which rounds out our second meat-free bento week. Wow! We haven't become vegetarians, and have no plans to completely quit meat, but I thought it would be a fun challenge to see how long our family could go without eating meat, voluntarily. Now that week #2 has come to a close, I can say that all of them took it like real troupers. No complaints from anyone. Pretty pleased about that! I even got them to all participate in my daily green drink resolution. They don't all love it equally, but they'll all drink it. Heh.
The thermal jar contains the eggplant stew, and the side box contains a selection of colorful fruit: grapes, strawberry, cara cara orange, and Okinawan sweet potato stars. I topped them off with a cheese dragon cutout, using my ultimate elaborate dragon cutter.

 I used it last year to cut a dragon from dragonfruit; you can see that one here. The dragon is playing with a red ball on a stick. I think it represents the sun. Welcome Year of the Dragon; I hope it's an auspicious one for all!

Eggplant Okra Curry Stew

Ingredients

2 large eggplants
1 bunch scallions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
14 oz can chopped tomatoes (if you like it extra tomato-ey, you can add another can)
water or broth as desired
1/2 bunch kale, torn into pieces.
1/2 pound okra, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch slices, angled
1 Tbs chopped cilantro (or more, if you like it, like me)

Preheat oven to 400F, wrap the eggplants in foil and bake for 1 hour, until soft.
Cut each eggplant in half and scoop out the soft flesh into a bowl. Mash.
Heat 2 Tbs oil in a wok and saute the scallions and garlic for a few minutes.
Add the chili powder, cumin, coriander, turmeric and salt and cook 3-4 minutes.
Add tomatoes and simmer 5 minutes.
Add the mashed eggplant, kale and cilantro. At this point you may need to add water or broth to make it saucier. I think I added about a 1/2 cup. If you like it soupier you can add more.
Bring to a boil and simmer until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.
Add okra, stir well to mix, reduce heat, cover and simmer for another 5 minutes.
Remove cover, turn up the heat and cook another 5-10 minutes, until the okra is tender but not too soft.

Hello Kitty Santa Curry Bento

Hello Kitty Santa Curry Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

It's time for curry again, with the nighttime temperatures dipping into near-freezing range these past few nights. You'll probably be seeing quite a bit of the thermal bento jars on this site over the next few months. Like last time (see this bento here) I used a ton of vegetables, but I also used ground pork, which made it very substantial. This batch contains onions, celery, carrots, sweet mini peppers, potatoes, and broccoli. I packed (and served it at dinner) over hot brown rice mixed with pearl barley. This combo results in a chewy rice batch that I really like. The little side car contains oranges, grapes, broccoli, Okinawan sweet potato flower shapes, and a little quail egg Hello Kitty santa with a strawberry hat and suit. Aww! ^_^

Added to What's For Lunch.

Curry Dia De Los Muertos Bento

Curry Dia De Los Muertos Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Today I decided to make vegetable curry, but wanted to try a new recipe. I used Nami's Keema Curry recipe at her popular blog Just One Cookbook. If you haven't checked it out, you really should! She has a lot of great recipes here, and always includes photos and step-by-step instructions. I chose this one because it looked delicious, and it seemed quick and easy (my forte!). I was right on all counts. I omitted the ground pork and added a lot of veggies I happened to have on hand: kabocha, zucchini, potatoes, carrots and onions. I made extra for bento, and it was a good thing I did because the kids inhaled it. I made it mild and added some applesauce too, and they loved it. I packed it into a thermal bento, along with a side container of cinnamon-sprinkled apples, grapes, broccoli, Okinawan sweet potato, and a colorful quail egg Dia de los Muertos skull. Happy Wednesday friends! Shared at Allergy Friendly Lunchbox and What's For Lunch.

Meatballs and Bunnies Bento

Meatballs and Bunnies Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Chicken meatballs today, in tomato-cider vinegar sauce. This batch is made with ground chicken, oats, shredded zucchini, wheat germ, onion and my experiment: quinoa! I cooked the quinoa separately and added it into the meat mixture before simmering in the tomato sauce. Very tasty! There's also curried lentils with spinach and grape tomatoes in another section, black rice topped with two tofu bunnies and a radish "Easter egg", and the usual fruit portion with strawberry, grapes and kiwi. This 4- sectioned bento box comes in handy for meals like this one, with different flavors I'd like to keep separate. Festive, isn't it?

Bento4Japan is still going strong. Remember, 100% of your donation goes to Japan Disaster Relief. There've been some bids on the origami crane earrings I made (yay!) -- these are lightweight, delicate and feminine. Would you like a chance to win them? A lovely gift for your favorite girl, perhaps? Or yourself ^_^

Curry Thermal Bento

Curry Thermal Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Tonight I made curry with chicken, zucchini, onion, celery, and Indian squash. I only had medium-hot so I kept the consistency on the watery side so it wouldn't be too hot for the kids. I served it to them over rice and they loved it. I later realized it would be good for curry udon, if we had any leftovers. I'll have to remember for next time. I packed in the Stanley thermal food jar, which I really like for its heat-retention capacity. I actually did a comparison of this jar and the Zojirushi Classic bento jar and was not too surprised to learn that this one was much better at keeping the contents hot after several hours. It also has the benefit of being smaller and less unwieldy than the much larger Zojirushi. However, I had to pack the cool items in a separate bowl. This is my stainless steel bowl (Daiso) that comes with a tight-fitting plastic lid: I was able to fit in some blood oranges, a mini Fuji apple, some blueberries and a carrot. This bento will keep him warm and satisfied on a cold school day.