Hello Kitty Bento (just for fun)! =^.^=

Hello! The kids have no need for a bento today, but I thought I would make a bento in imitation of the most kawaii charm I have ever seen. It is of course a Hello Kitty bento charm. Have you seen it? I got mine at the gift shop at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles during the Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty exhibit. It just so happens I own the same bento box in real life, so I tried to recreate all the foods I can see in the charm. I took some artistic and culinary liberties, though. I also used TinySprite's toys for my props today...

Happy Friday, friends! Have a great weekend! ^__^

Added to What's For Lunch.

Year Of The Horse Chinese New Year Bento 2014~!

Year Of The Horse Chinese New Year Bento 2014~!, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Tomorrow is Chinese (Lunar) New Year! So today TinySprite brought a horse bun to celebrate the Year of the Horse. I didn't bake it (only decorated with cheese and nori for the face), but she was pretty excited. There's a hot dog in there, and it fits diagonally perfectly inside the EcoLunchBox Solo Cube. I packed some satsuma, tomatoes, and pickled veggies, plus a little cup of sunflower seeds in case the horse gets hungry. Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Beet Kohlrabi Latkes Bento

Beet Kohlrabi Latkes Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Kohlrabi: never heard of it? Me neither, but I saw other people buying it at the market so I thought, why not? Latkes I've never made either, but it seemed pretty straightforward. The recipe called for coarsely grated kohlrabi, beet, and onion mixed with a beaten egg and 2 tablespoons of flour, to be formed into round shapes and fried 4-6 minutes on each side. I added grated zucchini and some cheese, because that's how I roll. I had to squeeze quite a bit of liquid from the ingredients before forming the patties, which ended up holding together very loosely. I'm not sure if that's the way regular potato latkes look or not. I was kind of expecting a more "burger-y" type of patty, similar to the beet patties I made here. The recipe also recommended serving with a horseradish sauce, which sounds great, but I had mine with chimichurri (this stuff is very versatile!). I sprinkled some green onion on TinySprite's two patties, which I packed into the divided container along with a homegrown mesclun microgreens salad topped with shaved iberico and yellow tomatoes, some marinated mini peppers, and a selection of white peach, blueberries and a super ripe dark orange apricot.

Seeing as tomorrow is the last day of school, I made shoyu hot dogs (by request) for the kids to share at their snack party. Can't believe the year is all over and we have the long hot summer ahead of us at last! I don't know who is more excited: me or them! Counting down the hours starting now...
Added to What's For Lunch.

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-Lantern Sushi Bento

Jack-O-Lantern Sushi Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Today's TinySprite bento is no-cook: turkey dog "sushi" with black Forbidden (mixed with white) rice. I made the little jack-o-lantern faces from nori, and the most time-consuming part was cutting the smiles. I first cut a regular smile shape, then cut the three teeth afterwards. The stems are bits of peapods. There are also carrots, strawberries, Okinawan sweet potato, blackberries, raspberries and grapes. Are you getting tired of the jacks yet? Or are you asking yourself whether I can possibly keep it up for another 3 and a half weeks? Good question. I'm betting I will have to start recycling ideas pretty soon. ^_^

Fourth Of July Bento

Fourth Of July Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I made this Fourth of July Bento for MisterMan last week since he didn't have school today, but I'll post it today, since we're finally back home after a long weekend road trip without wifi. He got All-American pigs in a blanket, steamed corn on the cob (with a grape and strawberry face), broccoli & carrots, homemade potato salad (with radish starburst and "4th" cutouts), an Okinawan sweet potato mitt with halved hard-boiled quail egg & nori "baseball", and an all-fruit American flag made from blackberries, strawberries and lychee! Oh, and I also made celery firecrackers for fun. Is that American enough of a 4th of July bento? Hope all my US friends had a wonderful celebration and an enjoyable long weekend. Ready to get back into the summer routine? At least it's a short week for us! ^_^
Added to What's For Lunch!

Double Bears Bento

Char Siu Bear Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Yesterday in the Chinese deli both kids requested buns for their bentos. MisterMan asked for char siu bao and TinySprite wanted a hot dog bun. They both become bears with a little effort and some imagination. All I did for the bao bear is cut an oval for his muzzle and then cut that piece of brown bread (skin) in half for the two ears. The eyes and mouth are cut from nori and stuck on with honey. There's also some provolone cheese for the eyes.

The hot dog bear is made the same way, except he's snuggled up in a sleeping bag. Okay? My 4 year old seemed to buy it, but of course my 7 year old frowned, "It doesn't really look like a sleeping bag because there's no line to separate it." All right. I should have cut a sleeping bag slit. I'll try to remember that for next time. At least, he's got some butterflies that he's watching while asleep under the stars.

They have the usual sides: broccoli, carrot, tomato, corn on the cob, various berries, pluot and peach, and beautiful Okinawan purple sweet potato. This is the first kawaii bento I've made all month, since school let out. Oops! I thought I would have more time to make charaben in the summer but since the kids have been on break I've been preoccupied with other funstuffs :D Now that they're both back in organized summer programs I might start experimenting again. Or maybe I'll make a bento or two for myself for a change? ^_^

Totoro and Catbus Bentos

Totoro and Soot Sprites Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

MisterMan and TinySprite get matching Studio Ghibli bentos today; and they're both almost totally non-cook. I initially wanted to do these for a roadtrip, because wouldn't it be fun for them to eat together and chat about the movie (My Neighbor Totoro)? But I couldn't wait. I really wanted to make another Totoro, and after bento numbers one and two, I think this one looks pretty neat and sharp (if I may say so myself).

It helps to have a very smooth bun to work with. I used my small paring knife to slice off just the top brown layer for his belly, and after pre-scoring his chevron stripes I actually cut around them. They are still connected to the bun, and that way I didn't have to worry about sticking them back on. His eyes are cheese and nori, and his nori nose is stuck on with a bit of honey. I cut his ears from part of the belly and stuck them into slits I cut at the top of the bun. The eyes are secured with rice sticks to the bun.

Okinawan purple potato, when steamed and refrigerated overnight, turn a very dark shade of purple the next day, which makes them quite suitable for soot sprites. Their eyes are also cheese and nori. The rest of his bento contains the usual: broccoli, carrots, strawberry, cherries, grape tomatoes and orange slices.

TinySprite's Catbus is made from a hot dog-in-a-blanket with a potato bread face. All the facial features (Okinawan purple potato, regular sweet potato, cheese and radish) were secured with rice sticks. I hand-cut thin strips of nori for the teeth and eyes, and used bits of spaghetti for whiskers. She got a piece of corn, steamed broccoli, carrots, strawberry, cherries, and rasp-, black- and blueberries. This turned out to be too much for her and she brought the corn home to finish. They loved them!

Yakisoba Hot Dog Bento

Yakisoba Hot Dog Bento a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Twin bento lunches today, using spinach yakisoba: I tossed the noodles along with chopped baby bok choy, sliced hot dogs and onions. Both kids love this meal so I've piled it in here. MisterMan gets a half mandarin (with blueberry and radish face), luscious strawberry and black grapes alongside while TinySprite gets nearly exactly the same stuff. Love these double bento deals!

In other exciting news, #Bento4Japan has exceeded $1500 in funds raised for Japan Disaster Relief -- and it's still going strong. I am overwhelmed by the generosity of the bento shopping community; you all have the biggest hearts!

Sushi Bunnies Bento

Sushi Bunnies Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Who can resist hot dog sushi? Especially when they're hot dog bunnies? For these little guys I simmered turkey dogs in a shoyu-sugar sauce, the way my dad used to do with Vienna sausages when I was a kid. They're really good to eat over rice just plain, or with a fried egg on the side for breakfast. Here I just rolled them up in regular white / brown rice and sliced. I added nori facial details and edamame ears. This is the bottom layer for my 7 year old; I added more on top after I took the picture. There's also a couple of grape tomatoes, carved carrots, steamed broccoli and chopped cara cara oranges. All packed in my LunchBots Uno. Nice and fresh :)

These hot dog sushi were also my contribution to our monthly Twitter Food Party. This month's theme was Hot Dogs. There were lots of fun and interesting takes on the basic dog in a bun; you can take a look at the other entries, as well as examples from previous parties at the flickr group here.

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!