Harry Potter Field Trip Bento

Harry Potter Field Trip Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

It's another field trip bento, which means I hadn't posted a bento since a week ago. Since my 8 year old is currently obsessed with Harry Potter, I figured I should try to attempt a bento he'd really like. Unfortunately, I haven't read any of the books, so I guess I don't really "know" the character. I let him try to guess who this sandwich is supposed to be, and he gamely tried to humor me ("give me a few minutes, I can figure it out!"). He didn't, of course, and when I told him, the first thing he blurted out was "where's his scar?" Okay, I didn't know about the scar, so I ad-libbed quickly. "His hair is covering it up?" "Oh, okay. That's right, sometimes it's covered." Whereupon he lifted up the hair to look for it. Not finding it, he then made his own lightning bolt with carrot slivers to put under there. There's a couple of turkey cheese spinach sandwich thins, a red and yellow capsicum scarf, broccoli, plum (underneath), baby homegrown peaches, cherry, strawberry, and carrot. I used red cabbage, Okinawan sweet potato, carrot and turkey for his face. And why didn't I finish the glasses? I think I have to do a better one. And maybe I should read the book too. Have fun at your pool party field trip MisterMan!

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!

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!

Gyoza Field Trip Bento

Gyoza Field Trip Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

It's field trip time! I just realized today that there are only 3 weeks left of school. Where did the time go? And there are 2 field trips scheduled in the next 2 weeks as well. Seems the teachers want to take a break too, I think. For this bento I decided to pack potstickers (gyoza), which are a great finger food and easy to pack in a disposable container. I used a recycled strawberry basket lined with wax paper, and piled a bunch of gyoza on one side. I've made gyoza before (see this post), and I've used whole wheat wrappers before (see this post), but this is the first time I tried NOT-PLEATING them. It sure goes a lot faster this way, but for some reason they look skinnier this way. Maybe I subconsciously underfilled them. When you pleat them, you can put a bigger ball of filling inside, I think. I'll definitely go back to pleating next time. Anyway, the kids still loved them.

This time I used a mixture of chicken and pork filling, with chopped green onion, spinach, and a bit of shoyu/salt/pepper/oil/cornstarch. Pan fry to get the golden bottom, then add water to the pan and steam. My kids pick these up and eat them as is, but if you like you can pack along a dipping sauce. I found a little fruit sauce container (with lid) that was perfect for yogurt topped with blackberries, sunflower seeds and wheat germ so I put that next to the gyoza. After that I wrapped the wax paper around to keep things sealed, and I put the rest of the food (corn, broccoli, strawberry and cara cara oranges) on top.

I was just able to close the container, as you can see. I put a rubber band around it to keep it from popping open, and slipped a fork and spoon underneath. This bento and a water bottle went into a plastic bag and he was good to go. Yes, it's a lot of plastic, but at least they're all repurposed containers that got another use before disposal. Interestingly, he's going to visit a local grocery store for a behind-the-scenes tour of what it takes to get the food on the shelves and most importantly, how to pick healthy fresh foods. Is that awesome or what? ^_^

Domokun Sandwich Bento

Domokun Sandwich Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

For MisterMan's field trip today he had to bring a fully disposable bento lunch, so I turned to my favorite (recycled) strawberry pack. If you buy strawberries in boxes like this one, with a snap-close lid, you might find it useful to save them for similar occasions. They nest together pretty well and store neatly. I made a roasted red pepper and cheddar melt sandwich on bread so brown and rectangular it spoke a clear message to me: Domokun! So of course I had to comply. All I had to add was red capsicum mouth with radish teeth and halved grape eyes. RAWR!

I also added a ripe strawberry, some carrots and broccoli, and baby dills wrapped in ham. A few dark red cherries helped fill up the rest of the space, making sure everything stayed packed in pretty tightly. I stuck to mainly "dry" extras to avoid soggifying the sandwich. Everything got wrapped in wax paper before snapping shut the lid. So you see I was able to get away with really simple bento lunches this week. Something about summer makes me want to spend as little time as possible laboring over a hot stove, and this way the bento is nearly all utensil-free and kid-friendly. Happy long weekend friends!