Sticky Rice Froggy Bento

When afterschool activities run from 4:00 until 5:30 or 6:00, I'm thinking of dinner making itself. Sticky rice is a great self-cooking meal. Just toss everything into the rice cooker, press the button and go! If you have a fancy Zojirushi, you can even set the timer. Today I made a half brown half white batch with shiitake, lup cheong, baby bok choy, and char siu. In the past I've also added chopped kabocha and roast duck. You can use whatever you like, and pack it into the lower part of the cutest Kotobuki Froggy Two-Tier Bento ever. In the top tier, toss in some elephant heart pluots, grapes, and carrots. So easy; my favorite kind of dinner-to-bento meal. Done!

Fried Rice Froggie Bento

Hello leftover rice! This batch was part white rice, part brown rice, and part pearl barley. I cooked the mixed batch rice on the "semi-brown" setting on my Zojirushi Rice Cooker and it came out very well. To make the fried rice, I simply tossed the cold rice into a pan and fried it up with chopped greens (I used baby kale), meat of some kind (ham), and an egg. Drizzle with shoyu and top with green onions. I also decorated with the tiniest red chard leaves ever. I'm thinking they would look cute in a mini bento in the future, since many of my garden greens seem to be of the very small variety, for some reason.

The top tier of this super cute frog bento holds chopped apple pieces sprinkled with cinnamon. Winter fruit is pretty limited, even here in California, but this should make my little girl very happy!

Salmon, Tots and Kale Bento

Salmon, Tots and Kale Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Today's bento is filled with omega-3s, antioxidants, and high-energy foods to aid the brain activity of my kiddos: broiled salmon, kale chips, roasted potato tots, carrots, and a bunch o'berries including straw-, black- and blue-. Packed in the ultra-cute froggie two-tiered bento box and my vintage Keroppi folk from the 80s. Tomorrow is a big day for both of them: TinySprite has an interview for Kindergarten Readiness, and MisterMan is participating in the district-wide Spelling Bee. We're hoping there isn't too much in the way of dexterity tests for TS, seeing as how she's currently limited to a single arm. Luckily her dominant arm and hand are unaffected, so she can still write. If you hold the paper down. As for MM, he's reviewed the word list so many times I find myself using those words in my daily speech more than usual, and each time I do ("Look how regal the dog looks when he crosses his arms like that") I hear him spelling the word in the background ("R-e-g-a-l"). We're crossing our fingers they both do well tomorrow; so early bedtimes for them tonight it is!

Kerori Bento

Kerori Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Today's bento contains broiled teriyaki salmon and asparagus, along with carrots, tomatoes and steamed broccoli. I used some broccoli to make a Kerori (San-x frog character) onigiri. I guess you could say he's partly white and partly green. I kept the grapes and strawberries separate, which is why I love this LunchBots Trio. It's perfect for just that reason. Today's post is short; TinySprite and MisterMan both had activities after school today, and my little ballerina had official group and individual photos taken as well. So much excitement and fun ~ ^_^

Froggie Sandwich Bento

Froggie Sandwich Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

No-cook sandwich bento: salami and aged white cheddar with spring greens and pickles on crusty multigrain bread. Too bad the bread I chose didn't fit the box I chose! I had to slice off a tad bit; oops. I decorated the bread top with cucumber, salami and a halved quail egg to make a happy frog face. Two carrots filled in the gaps, and the rest of the box is stuffed with summery fruit: delicious ripe peach, strawberry, rasp- and blueberries, and grapes. Yes, it's a standard sandwich lunch, but it's still got some fun with it ^_^