Double Slider Field Trip Bento

It's field trip time! And you know what that means: the bento will be eaten off campus so it must be completely disposable. I asked TinySprite what she wanted to take and she said "Chili!"Well, that would be a little difficult to pack disposably. And it wouldn't be warm. "Burgers?" Burgers it is! I made her two tiny sliders inside mulitgrain mini-sandwich thins. There are romaine lettuce leaves, thin sliced red onion, and thin sliced cucumber in there too. I packed a mozzarella cheese stick as well, since it's probably her favorite snack food ever. Filling out the recycled strawberry basket container: carrots, satsuma mandarin, grape tomato, and a little cup holding a dried prune, dried Bing cherry, and dried Mission fig. Man, I can't wait until we can have these fruits in fresh form!

Have fun at the museum, TinySprite!

Gold Rush Retreat Bento

Gold Rush Retreat Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I made a special field trip bento today, because MisterMan is going on a retreat to Gold Rush Country! It's probably cold, rainy and there may even be snow on the ground, but he is super excited to try his hand at panning for gold and all that old forty-niner lore. He LOVES history, and he'll be getting first-hand experience of California's heritage. I packed some appropriate food for him to eat on the way up there: shovel-, pick- and gold nugget-shaped pizza rolls (or calzones) to aid in his gold-mining efforts. There's also: grape tomatoes, steamed Moloka'i Okinawan sweet potatoes, a hard-boiled egg, carrots, strawberries, a cup of his favorite pickled cucumbers and onions, and some dried apricots. I also gave him a bag of kettle corn to munch on. The boy's going to need all the nourishment he can get! Go west, young man -- there's gold in them thar hills!

As for TinySprite, she'll be taking a cute doggie calzone to school with her...

Domo Hot Dog Field Trip Bento

Domo Hot Dog Field Trip Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Field trip day! That means a finger-friendly bento packed in a disposable container for TinySprite to take to the zoo with her. The girl loves hot dogs, and I was all set to pack her dogs in rice or something, but then I saw these Sandwich Thins Hot Dog Buns. Or Hot Dog Sandwich Thins; I forgot exactly how they're marketed. All I know is that they were so cute I had to have them, and then I had to make a Domo face on top. Are you with me? Yes, there's a nitrite-free dog inside this "bun", which I decorated with blueberry eyes (stuck on with rice sticks), mozzarella teeth and a red pepper mouth. To simplify things, I used a cheese rectangle for the teeth and then just cut zigzags on two sides of a piece of red bell pepper. This way I can avoid cutting out eight separate triangle teeth. Am I a shortcutting genius or what? Inside this recycled strawberry box I also packed a small bunch of grapes, black- and strawberries, a tiny mandarin, and a couple pieces of Okinawan sweet potato. I wrapped everything in some wax paper before sealing the box closed. And look: Domo can see out the window. Yay!

Jack-O-Pepper Field Trip Bento

Jack-o-pepper Field Trip Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Here's a quickie, and my first Halloween bento of the year. It makes use of the very handy mini sweet pepper as a carvable cutie. I posted a tutorial here. All you need is a smallish, sharp knife and some steady hands. The rest of the bento is composed of TinySprite's favorite summer rolls (a nice finger food that requires no disposable utensils on the road) -- these contain pickled cabbage, lettuce, and boiled chicken. There're also some strawberries, carrots and broccoli, and a little recycled fruit cup container of grapes (not olives). Funnily enough, she actually brought that home because she wanted me to use it again. ^_^

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!

Werewolf Calzone Field Trip Bento

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

MisterMan has a field trip to the wildlife museum, so I thought it would be appropriate to make a werewolf calzone for him to take for lunch. I think my last werewolf bento may have been cuter. Anyway, in addition, it fits in with the Halloween theme too. On the upside, my calzones are really starting to look calzone-shaped. On the downside, I guess it doesn't look all that werewolf-shaped, does it? I tried to make furry edges and pointy ears, but I didn't have enough extra dough for that. I hope the radish and yellow and purple carrot eyes, mouth, and fangs help. This one is stuffed with pepperoni, salami and ham, plus spinach, thin sliced zucchini, baby portobellas and cheese. I think it would be fun to form a plain roll (and easier too). Maybe I'll try that sometime. The rest of this disposable container holds corn, broccoli, carrots, Okinawan sweet potato, peapods, peaches, grapes and strawberries. I kept the calzone separate with the wax paper between. When I closed the box, he fit perfectly, peering out the window. RAWR!

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!

Wonton Field Trip Bento

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

MisterMan had a field trip today (they went swimming!), so I made wontons, which are fabulous for field trips for several reasons. They pack up easily, they are perfect finger food, and they taste great at room temp. If your kids prefer dipping sauce, you could send some along in a sealed condiment cup, but my kids love to eat them as is. I packed as many as I could fit into my go-to disposable field trip snap-lock recycled strawberry container, which I first lined with wax paper and lettuce. There was also room for a piece of corn on the cob, a tiny red apple, carrots, a bunch of grapes (beneath) and a luscious red strawberry. I put a little penguin on the corn too, for fun. This Okinawan sweet potato turned a mottled tie-dye purple color; kind of interesting for a change. I find that the bigger ones are more variegated in color, maybe because it takes longer to cook them evenly all the way through? That's my guess. Still delicious though! I cook them every day because everyone loves them so much; we eat a lot!

TinySprite got a similar one too, but a little smaller in size. She has adjusted well to her new school, and appears to have to same lunchtime issue here too -- eating too er, slowly. She finished everything in this one except two carrots though, so I'm happy about that.
If you've voted for my bento at the Bento & Co FB site "Make a Bento For Someone You Love" Contest, thank you! I always appreciate your readership, your encouraging comments and insightful questions. It's what makes bento such a wonderfully unifying community activity. I'm so glad I started this blog almost two years ago -- just because of all the fantastic friendships and connections I've made here. So... thank you!
Added these bento to What's For Lunch!

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? ^_^

Totoro Bun Bento

Totoro Bun Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

This was the last field trip bento of the summer from last week. Now that school is starting already, it feels like such a long time ago! Anyway, this is another installment in the char siu bao character bento. Lest you fear my boy is tiring of char siu bao, don't worry. He would ask to eat them every day if I let him. My daughter is the same way. I don't know what the big deal is about them. Something about the sticky sweet bun, soft white bread, and sweet pork filling, I guess. Anyway, back to the bento. I've seen lots of people make Totoro out of sesame seed-tinted rice, which makes a nice gray color. Well, my kids aren't big rice eaters, so I guess this is the closest I'll be able to get. After you cut the belly circle, you can cut the ears from that part. The hardest part was cutting the "v's" and sticking them onto his belly. His eyes are radish discs and blueberries, and his nose is a grape. That's it. I also stuck in some carrots, broccoli, cherries, grapes and plum. Happy end of summer to you, bento friends!

Ponyo Bento!

Ponyo Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

We watched Ponyo yesterday, such a sweet and funny film by Studio Ghibli. It really spoke to me, as so much of it centers around the sea. Have you seen it? I especially loved the scenes where Ponyo is running on the giant fish to find Sosuke. She's so joyful you can't help but smile. Something else I noticed is that Ponyo kind of reminds me of TinySprite, in her very um.. high-energy way. Like when they're on the boat and Sosuke is trying to start it while Ponyo is bouncing and chatting non-stop (Is it hot? It's hot isn't it? Are you starting it? Is it starting? It's starting! Yay! Is it working? It's working!)

Today's bento is a tribute to Ponyo using one of my field trip favorites, the char siu bao. I cut her hair and fins from sweet pepper, and tucked some broccoli in the fishbowl as well. Her eyes are blueberries and her nose and mouth are nori stuck on with honey. I should have taken a picture of the (recycled) bowl with the clear lid on, since it kind of looked like a bubble or jellyfish. So cute. The other (recycled blueberry) box contains the fruit: strawberries, grapes, cherries and homegrown apricot. Yes, it's field trip day! They're going to the Lawrence Hall of Science. Have fun, MisterMan!

Rilakkuma and Kiiroitori Field Trip Bento

Rilakkuma and Kiiroitori Field Trip Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Can you guess what day it is? That's right: field trip! They're going to visit a working farm with tractors and everything. I packed another recycled strawberry tub for him, with the standard field trip fare -- sandwich, veggies and fruits.

But this burger is even more awesome than yesterday's. I used the same burger mix and stuffed today's burger with cheese and salami, then pan-fried. The cheese oozed out the side and got all crispy and golden around the edge of the burger, and the parts of the salami that stuck out got crispy-fried too. Yum. And remember, he still gets the carrot and broccoli bits in the turkey burger too. Super score. I lay some dandelion greens in the whole wheat bun and placed the patty on top. I found these little buns and thought they would make a cute Rilakkuma. I used Susan's idea for raisin eyes and nose (but I later pb'd them on), and added a radish muzzle and nori mouth. His ears are salami rounds. And Kiiroitori is there too, to make sure he doesn't fall asleep. I dyed a hard-boiled quail egg with golden beet juice, and it turned a super dark shade of yellow. I love it, especially since it's totally natural! Facial details and feet are nori and carrot. I used grass baran to keep the fruit and veggies separate from the bread. Along with carrot sticks and romanesco, I tossed in a bunch of strawberry cherries, a half plum and a homegrown apricot.

Have fun MisterMan!

Hot Dog Mouse Bento and Yum-Yum Bento Box Book Review

Hot Dog Bun-to Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Can you tell by now this is field trip day? I have lots more recycled containers for the rest of the summer too. I was going to make him a pizza bento, but while I was at the deli I saw this hot dog bun. If I tilted it on end you would see the hot dog baked inside the fluffy bun. Remember in elementary school we had something similar called Pig in the Blanket? On the side, separated by wax paper, I added the veggies: steamed broccoli, yellow cauliflower and romanesco, and raw carrot flowers. In the little (recycled fruit sauce) cup I tossed in the fruits: strawberry cherries (which I think are just Rainier cherry variety), homegrown apricot, grapes and a little lychee. I left his "hat" on for fun. Usually I like to put a leaf pick in the lychee, but I'm not using any accessories that I want to keep, since they probably wouldn't make it back home on the bus.

When I was looking at the plain bun, it seemed a little boring, but nothing was coming to me. So I decided it would be a good opportunity to open up my Yum-Yum Bento Box cookbook and find some inspiration. That's where I saw this cute little mousie! He is made of boiled quail egg, with radish ears, nori facial details and rice stick whiskers and tail. The tail has a double use as an anchoring tool; I poked it all the way down into the bun to keep him stabilized. He still looked a bit lonely, so I added a piece of egg disguised as swiss cheese. I made the holes using a coffee straw.

If you think this idea is cute, wait till you see the rest of the book.

Yum-Yum Bento Box, by Pikko of Adventures in Bentomaking and Maki of cuteobento is filled with full-color full-page photos of cute bento creations, each accompanied by another full page of description, instruction, recipe and helpful tips. I found it very useful for getting ideas for cute charaben. Even if you don't make the entire example, there are tips for using just one of the characters, like I did here. In the book, the mouse is sitting on top of a cute pancake sandwich. I personally love pancake sandwiches so I am definitely going to make this too.

In the back there are a few pages of recipes for snacks and my personal favorite, tips for using natural coloring agents.

My absolute favorite character in this book is the walruses. It is just so adorably creative to use a tiny rice ball for their muzzle, and the mushroom nose is perfect!

At $16.95 in softcover, it's a reasonable and practical addition to any bentomaker's library. Even if you're not skilled at charaben, like me, you will find these characters easily doable and a fun addition to your everyday bento!

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!

Field Trip Bento #2

Field Trip Bento #2, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Today's bento is completely disposable because MisterMan is going on a field trip to the Children's Museum. I usually pack a sandwich, boring as it may be, because it's the easiest thing for him to eat neatly whilst sitting on a bench somewhere in the windy, rainy, stormy weather we've been having lately.

In his whole wheat sandwich thin he gets a fried egg, ham, cheddar cheese and spring greens. I put a bear face on top to make it a little happier. The bear is made of corn tortilla and his facial features are nori. The crown is a piece of cheddar cheese. To make the face to stick to the sandwich, I melted some cheese on the back to "glue" it on.

I also threw in a peeled satsuma mandarin, a giant strawberry, and some cherries. I wrapped it all up in wax paper to keep it from drying out, and I used a grass baran to try to keep the sandwich away from the fruits to keep it from getting soggy.

For the container, I used a recycled plastic strawberry box, which I like because it has a lid which snaps shut tightly. Of course, there are holes all over the box, which is why I had to use the wax paper. Actually, I put the whole thing in another plastic bag with his water bottle, so that should keep everything from drying out too much before lunchtime.

Here's a pic of the closed box.

Have a good time, MisterMan!!