Shoyu Chicken ECOlunchbox Bento

One of the standards that makes a frequent appearance on this blog: shoyu chicken with broccoli and potatoes. I used the very sturdy and substantial ECOlunchboxes Three-in-One set, which gives me two tiers to pack a lot of food for my 7th grader. Besides the lower tier that I just mentioned, he gets a container of yogurt with wheat germ and blueberries, plus some plum, donut peach, and grapes. This whole set latches together on two sides very securely and has never come apart in our experience. Hope your week is getting off to a great start!

Chimichurri Pork LunchBots Bento

Chimichurri Pork LunchBots Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I packed TinySprite's bento with pan-fried peppery thin cut pork chops on shredded cabbage, topped with a chimichurri sauce (parsley, cilantro, shallot, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, pepper, sherry vinegar). This version is a bit on the spicy side, so there's just a very little bit for flavor. She also gets sesame-marinated mini bell peppers, pickled cucumbers, carrots and daikon. The last section of the very practical LunchBots Trio holds strawberry, a quartered donut peach, and cherries. And that's it for the week!

Carnitas EcoLunchBox Bento

Carnitas EcoLunchBox Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

MisterMan's bento is packed in the two-tier EcoLunchBox today: he gets leftovers from dinner out, which means super quick bentomaking. Lower tier contains carnitas, Mexican rice, corn, broccoli and Okinawan sweet potato star shapes. Upper tier contains a small box of yogurt topped with blueberries, raspberries, sunflower seeds and wheat germ, plus a selection of strawberry, cherries, peach pie donut peach, and lychee. I love the way I can fit a whole lot of food (lunch and snacks) in this double box. And that's it for the week. Happy weekend friends!

Sausage Zucchini Skewers Bento

Sausage Zucchini Skewers Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

My kids got matching bentos, consisting of chicken and spinach nitrite-free sausage and zucchini skewers. I love the way they fit in the long section of my LunchBot Trio. Veggies went in another section: car-shaped Okinawan sweet potato, corn on the cob, broccoli, and orange and purple carrots. Fruit went in the last section: luscious peaches, raspberries, blackberry, and baby sugar plum.

TinySprite's bento had the same ingredients, in a more petite version. Ta-daaa!

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?

Gyoza Field Trip Bento

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

It's Tuesday and you know what that means -- field trip day for MisterMan! Today they went to the Lawrence Hall of Science to learn about dinosaurs and fossils and shark teeth. Last week we had wontons. What's another good finger food that packs up neatly and easily, doesn't spill or get squashed, and tastes good at room temp? Gyoza! For these I used ground turkey, since that was what I had, but ground pork is traditionally used. I added a variety of other non-traditional ingredients too, like baby choy and soft tofu. I also added grated ginger, garlic, green onion, shoyu, and sesame oil to the mix. I only had medium thick skins, which are easier to work with (especially if you have kids helping you, since they don't tear as easily), but I like the thinner skins better. They make for a more delicate texture. I took some shots of my half-finished batch before cooking. Just for fun.

To cook the gyoza, I pan-fried in a little oil over medium high heat to brown the bottoms, then added water and covered to steam-cook the rest of the way and get the tops soft. The rest of his bento includes the usual summer fare: corn on the cob (under the strawberry), grapes, lychee, steamed broccoli, Okinawan sweet potato flower shapes, and sliced Sweet Peach Pie donut peaches underneath. I didn't find this batch very sweet. Do you like donut peaches? Maybe it's just the harvest available in our area, but I haven't had any super sweet ones yet. I prefer the regular variety. I packed everything up in a lettuce leaf and wax paper, into a disposable strawberry basket container, and he was good to go!

TinySprite got a similar, smaller, non-field-trip gyoza bento, which I packed in her two tier pink oval box. I love this box; it's lightweight, compact, easy to open and close, and just right for a smaller appetite. It used to have a removable divider in the top tier, but I lost it. However, it still works well for keeping the sweet in a separate section from the savory items. And it looks quite pretty too, I think. Happy Tuesday!

Double Pool Bento

Double Pool Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

We're baaaack! We spent some time in Hawaii with family, vacationing and unwinding, and getting our fill of much-needed sunshine and heat. We left the bay area in a thunderstorm, and returned to fantastic 77 degree summery weather. Such a nice transition, I must say. We've spent every single day of our summer break so far at the pool, and tomorrow will be no exception. I've been packing light, cool bento for the kids and me, and finally got around to taking a photo of one. I've used my two-tier stainless steel tiffin, which I seem to do every year around this time: see the previous Pool Bento here. I've also used this bento for road trips (see Harajuku Bento). This time I packed leftover meatloaf which I chopped into small pieces and tucked into a silicon cup with a smaller cup of homemade barbeque sauce (tomato sauce, molasses, apple cider vinegar). This meatloaf is packed full of good stuff: shredded carrot and spinach, quick oats and wheat germ -- all mixed together with egg, milk, Worcestershire sauce, spicy mustard and even stuffed with cheddar. The kids loved it. I was able to squeeze a half orange, donut peach, strawberries, carrot and steamed Okinawan sweet potato into each tier as well. I'm really happy with this twin bento set! If I were more ambitious I would have packed a layer for me (yes, I do have a three-tier version), but ah well. I'll bring my musubi and fruit in another bento.
See you later; we're going for a swim... ^_^