Spooky Skull Cheese and Chili Halloween LunchBots Bento

Spooky Skull Cheese and Chili Halloween Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

It's heeeere! Halloween is today! For the final theme bento, I send the kids to school with thermal food jars of homemade chili (Thermos Funtainer brand for TinySprite, and LunchBots Thermal food jar for MisterMan). I decorated his with a mozzarella cheese and nori skull, and hers with a tiny baby bell pepper jack-o-lantern. The side boxes contain a variation of strawberries, grapes, plums and steamed purple sweet potato. With the weather getting cooler, they're welcoming the thermal bento more and more these days. Are you planning to go out trick-or-treating tonight? Have a great time, all you goblins and ghouls! Happy Halloween!

Jack-o-Pepper Egg Salad Halloween Bento

Jack-o-Pepper Egg Salad Halloween Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

For TinySprite I made egg salad, but instead of a pocket sandwich (which I usually do with this type of filling so that it doesn't fall all over the place) I packed it inside a carved orange bell pepper. I found a pepper that looked pretty pumpkin-like, but was so much easier to carve than a real pumpkin! (Although this is a regulation sized bell pepper, you might like to view my tutorial on carving a mini bell pepper here) I lined it with a spinach leaf to keep the filling from oozing out of the eyes and mouth. I didn't send along the top (although it might have been handy for ensuring safe travels). Along with the jack-o-pepper egg salad, I sent a cup of pickled veggies, some grape tomatoes, strawberries and cantaloupe. Happy Halloween week!

Jack o'cheese Pasta EcoLunchbox Halloween Bento

Jack o'cheese Pasta EcoLunchbox Halloween Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Remember I went through a big jack o'lantern phase at Halloween a few years back? (Check them all out here if you like) Wow, that was weird, wasn't it? I did discover plenty of ways to cut a jack-o-lantern out of food, though. This is my first jack this season, and it's an easy cheddar cutout. I used a squash/gourd cutter that makes these jacks look a little like skulls (to me). So maybe they aren't the *cutest* jacks, but lets see what TinySprite thinks. The rest of this meatless Monday bento includes rotini pasta with zucchini and mushrooms, plus a bonus broccoli sprig. This fit into the EcoLunchBox Solo Cube perfectly. I sent along an EcoDipper to hold the sliced Asian pear and cute sugar plum. A perfectly sized Halloween lunch for my 1st grader.

Curry with Carrot Jack Bento

Curry with Carrot Jack Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

The cooler days call for warmer foods, so the last Halloween bento is a curry bento decorated with a carrot (freehand cut) jack-o-lantern. I used the method and recipe here. I used TinySprite's favorite panda bowl again, with the upper tier stocked with colorful corn, strawberries and grapes. I also packed a cup of house-pickled cabbage and cucumbers. I'm slowly getting my kids used to the pickled flavors we adults like so much; yay! They're even eating the sauerkraut I fermented at home in all its tangy glory. Score! I'm typing up this post while running to the door to appease the hundreds of costumed candymongers that are beseiging me. Laters!

Creepy Egg Skull and Rolls plus EcoLunchbox GIVEAWAY!

Creepy Egg Skull and Rolls Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Let's keep going with the creepy skulls, shall we? This one is crafted from a hard-boiled quail egg, which is naturally skullish -- all you need to do is pinch the cheeks in a little and add some nori details. I made some turkey dog "sushi" rolls using black rice, and decorated the ends with freecut nori designs: bats and vampire faces. There are also some steamed broccoli and a little jack-o-pepper. I packed this bento for TinySprite in another stainless steel EcoLunchbox: this one is called the Solo Cube, and it's just the perfect size for my kindergartner. I packed this box along with the EcoDipper, containing some sliced peaches and berries. This size meal isn't too overwhelming for her, and she has no problem sliding off these lids. They stay on pretty well, but I secure both with elastic bands, just in case. I like the versatility that these two different shapes and sizes offer; you could fit a sandwich thin in the Cube, or some sausage skewers, some meatballs and pasta, or a chicken salad. The round Dipper is just right for a handful of nuts, trail mix, crackers, berries, or melon balls. I was so pleased with this duo that I mentioned it to the folks at EcoLunchboxes and they thought it would be a great idea to offer these two as a set to one of you, my bento-making readers! I know you'll love these as much as I do. They're well-made and look like they're built to stand up to years of daily use. If your child outgrows them, you can always use them for an afterschool or recess snack.

My kids have been taking bento to school their whole lives and I was amused recently to find my daughter bringing home disposable items (from a field trip) because she's so used to re-using. 

If you're interested in trying out the EcoLunchbox Solo Cube and the EcoDipper, please leave me a comment below telling me whether you've made any efforts lately to be more "green", and include your email address so that I can contact you. I'll leave it open until midnight on Halloween night (October 31, 2012, Pacific time). U.S. only please. Thanks a lot for your interest!

For more info, see EcoLunchboxes.
FACEBOOK --- TWITTER --- PINTEREST - 

Ecolunchbox provided the items I used to pack this bento today, but I received no other compensation, and the opinions I expressed are mine.

Added to What's For Lunch.

Egg Salad Pita with Cheddar Jack Bento

Egg Salad Pita with Cheddar Jack, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Okay, I only have about a week left for Halloween bento so I better get moving. Today I made a quick no-cook bento for MisterMan using a sandwich round pita. Have you seen these? They are pocket sandwich rounds which are perforated along their diameter so that you can tear them neatly in half to have two pita pockets. How convenient! I lined this one with lettuce and filled with a few scoops of egg salad. A slab of cheddar carved with a small paring knife into a jack-o-lantern face adds the Halloween charm. Note: if you use a slice of processed cheese, you could do the carving MUCH more easily. But we don't eat prepackaged cheese slices around here. Only the real, extra sharp deal! So he's a little messy, and cracked on the edge, but that just adds to his character. There is a cup of corn off the cob, another of homemade pickled cabbage, a sprig of steamed broccoli, a couple of strawberries (it's not strawberry season anymore, and I really need to stop buying these), and a bunch of lil' grapes.

By the way.... I have a cool surprise coming up soon, and there may be something in it for YOU! Stay tuned!

Baby Jack Snack Bento

Baby Jack Snack Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

This one is just an afterschool snack for TinySprite. I wanted to try making a mini jack-o-lantern from a ... quail's egg. I tried dyeing it in a mix of red and golden beet juice, but I guess I didn't let it soak long enough. I used luckysundae's shaping method but hers came out much better! In fact, my son asked if it was a tomato. Oops. This jack took way too much time for me. After hard-boiling, I had to squeeze with strings into the puffy pumpkin shape overnight, and then I had to soak in dye another few hours (which obviously wasn't enough). Maki uses turmeric and shoyu to get orange; I'll have to remember that for "next time." I tried a hen's egg too, but it cracked along the seams. Also in this teeny bento: strawberries, peapods, carrot and Okinawan sweet potato.

Persimmon Jack and Sausage Bento

Persimmon Jack and Sausage Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Of all my bento boxes, this is the one I get the most email queries about. Unfortunately, it's not available online (as far as I know). I found mine in a dusty corner of a shelf in the housewares aisle of my local Asian grocery, where it probably sat for months. I love the way it looks; the trio of sections is somehow very aesthetically pleasing to me. It's also quite uncommon to find a bento box that includes three subdivisions. The only other one I have is the Lunchbots Trio, which I also love. Anyway, today I've packed chicken sausage with sweet pepper and mushroom stirfry, along with corn, steamed broccoli, carrots, and Okinawan sweet potato star shapes. The fruit section contains grapes, a strawberry, and ... a persimmon jack-o-lantern. Have you started seeing persimmons in your markets? It's not a favorite of mine, sadly. I'd like to enjoy it more, since it's so plentiful this time of year, and since the inlaws have a tree which bears a TON of fruit. Luckily the kids seem to like it though! ^_^

Oh, and I forgot to mention: Foodista.com has selected Happy Little Bento as this week's Bento Blog and Photo of the Week. Thanks a lot Foodista!

Mini Burger and Cheddar Jack Bento

Mini Burger and Cheddar Jack Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

A fun bento that the kids totally loved: burger and fries. Woohoo! Okay, they were turkey oat burgers and oven-roasted fries but still. I also snuck in some roasted kabocha, a couple colorful carrot sticks, broccoli, and a cup of red fruit: pluots, strawberries and raspberries. The burger is topped with none other than our favorite smiling "jack" - I know, I should have used jack cheese! Sheesh. What was I thinking? One more week of jack-o-bento to go... I think I'm gonna be able to pull it off. Hey, maybe next year I should go for a whole month of jacks! Nah only joke..

Orange Pepper Jack O'Lantern Bento

Orange Pepper Jack O'Lantern Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I happened to find the most perfect pumpkin-shaped mini orange sweet pepper at the farmers market last weekend. It just begged to be carved, so how could I resist? I stuffed it with cottage cheese and sunflower seeds after seeding and carving it. This box is convenient for deconstructed fish tacos in that the cod can go in one section while the tomato-onion-avocado-cilantro salsa goes in another. Of course, you can put them together, but it's prettier this way. You can pack the tortillas separately if you wish. I put a fruit selection (strawberry, plum and grapes) in the last compartment, and topped with a purple Okinawan sweet potato bat. I think it looks fresh and colorful. And my boy really did eat the whole pepper, cheese and all ^_^

Jack O'Lantern Onigiri Bento

Jack O'Lantern Onigiri Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Lazy person's bento contains rotisserie chicken and rice. Come on; don't tell me you haven't done the same at least once before! Maybe Sunday after a long weekend and you're too tired to cook anything? I love the rotisserie chicken option. So easy. To keep the Halloween theme going, I made a brown rice onigiri mixed with shredded carrot, and cut a face from nori. A cute pick helps you identify the jack-o-lantern if you haven't already :) Also included: Okinawan sweet potato, corn, broccoli, plum and raspberry.

Jack-o-lantern Calzone Bento

Jack-o-lantern Calzone Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Yes, it is in fact a Jack-O-Lantern calzone! Kind of. Instead of the half moon shape, I tried to make it rounder by closing it on the bottom instead. I found that it's not easy to cut a jack face into a calzone. I didn't want the innards to run out, so I didn't cut all the way through. And I think I made the features too small, for the same reason. Anyway. There he is, and I'm calling him a jack-o-lantern, so there! Also in the container: carrots, kabocha, Okinawan sweet potato, broccoli, star-cut radish, orange wedges, and grapes. Two more weeks to go. Can I do it??

Salmon and Polenta Jack Bento

Salmon and Polenta Jack Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

In today's LunchBot Trio I've packed some wild salmon marinated then broiled in a molasses, shoyu, garlic and ginger sauce. There are some diced roasted potatoes and quartered brussels sprouts in the next section, topped with a polenta jack-o-lantern. Polenta is excellent for carving, in case you were wondering. It's a perfect consistency and quite easy to cut. I recommend it. I made mine with grated white cheddar, but I bet if I had used yellow cheddar it would look more pumpkin-colored. The rest of the bento contains carrots, Okinawan sweet potato, grapes, strawberry and raspberries. Have I mentioned how much I love this three-sectioned box? It's so practical and handy for keeping separate flavors separate. It's hands-down one of my favorite bento boxes.

Roadtrip Jackolantern Bao Bento

tiffin
Roadtrip Jackolantern Bao Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Yes, we took a roadtrip this weekend, which called for a picnic-style tiffin bento set the two kids could share in the backseat. It was the perfect chance to make Jack-O-Lantern baos, don't you think? If you haven't tried it, you'll find that char siu baos are super easy to "carve" -- I've done it a lot. You can either slice off the top layer of brown to reveal the fluffy white bread underneath, or (much easier), simply push in the cut areas to suggest a 3D effect. Cool, right? Each kid got their own tiffin with their own personal Jack, plus I added a couple of tiny carved cherry tomatoes, a broccoli "stalk", carrots, and Okinawan sweet potato slices. The third tier is packed with corn and fruit for the two of them to share. The best thing about these car trip bentos is that everything is finger-friendly and basically mess- and waste-free. Love that. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and Columbus Day!

Ma Po Tofu Jack Bento

Ma Po Tofu Jack Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

MisterMan and TinySprite both get ma po tofu (I adapted Lovelylanvin's recipe) in their bento boxes today. The kid version always looks so bland to me because I have to omit all chili sauce. I think my son would be willing to try this dish a bit spicier these days, but my daughter would surely rebel against any red flakes she might happen to spy. The other half of the LunchBot contains strawberries, yellow cherry tomatoes, Okinawan sweet potato slices, blackberries, and a tangelo jack-o-lantern -- made with tofu eyes and teeth. Heheh!

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. ^_^

Chili and Pepper Jack Bento

Chili and Pepper Jack Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

We had our first rainy day of the season today. It started out nice and sunny, so I got a nice swim in the morning, and the clouds moved in this afternoon. It was full on raining by the time I picked the kids up from school; good thing I had a big pot of chili simmering. It hit the spot perfectly. Best of all, there's enough for tomorrow's bentos for all! Both kids get chili in their respective thermal food jars, plus a separate container for the fruit sides. I even carved a mini sweet pepper jack-o-lantern just for fun. Happy Fall!

Tebasaki and Kabocha Jack Bento

Tebasaki and Kabocha Jack Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Today I packed another guaranteed kid favorite: tebasaki chicken wings. I won't tell you how many we make, but I always make more than I think we'll eat so that there will be enough to pack for bento. Today I cleaned out the wings at the butcher. If you haven't yet tried this recipe (see the method and recipe here), you really should. It's easy, and it's deliciously addicting. You won't be able to stop after 5, or 10, or ... well, now you see why I have to make so many. I skip the shichimi togarashi for the kids, but you can sprinkle furikake instead if you like. They are already salted, so my kids love them just as is, straight out of the oven. They are also good cold or at room temp, making them perfect for bento. I used a deep bento box to pack a bunch of wings, plus the usual sides: corn, broccoli, carrots, pluots, strawberry, blackberries, Okinawan sweet potato car, and my Jack-of-the-day, carved from a roasted kabocha slice. So it's really a Japanese pumpkin jack-o-lantern. How about that? ^_^

Won Ton and Jack Bento

Won Ton and Jack Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

As did many others who participated in the #twitterfoodparty yesterday, I squeezed a bento out of my contribution. I made won ton mein (soup with noodles) for dinner, and simply packed a few extra won tons into MisterMan's bento box. As good as they are in soup, won ton are also just as good by themselves. If this were my bento, I would have drizzled chili oil all over these -- yum. I used my crescent silicone cup to separate the fruit from the rest of the meal, which included purple cauliflower, peapods and a little carrot jack-o-lantern. I took a chance on this dark red plum, and luckily it was a sweet one. I waited until it achieved a little softness to ensure maximum sweetness. I filled in the rest of the cup with that old winter standby, red grapes. Do you notice we are rockin' the orange and black today? Halloween (and SF Giants) colors are in the house! Making our way to the final countdown for Halloween week ^_^

Added to What's For Lunch. Check Shannon's site to see more!

Bat and Char Siu Bao O'lantern Bento

Bat Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Today's double bento post is from last Friday. MisterMan got a bacon-wrapped turkey burger and roasted purple potatoes. He got a colorful selection of veggies including broccoli, purple cauliflower, carrots and a tomato, as well as a piece of corn on the cob. I think that's the first time I actually used 5 different color vegetables in a single bento. Yay! Only bummer is that this one is light on the fruit. I used a bunch of black grapes to design a bat on the corn. You might need to use a bit of imagination. My boy called it an octopus until I hinted that it fell into the Halloween category. After awhile he guessed "Uh, a bat?" Um, yee-ssss. Sigh.

TinySprite gets a more finger friendly bento -- a perfectly round char siu bao just called for transformation into a jack-o-lantern. I cut the features with a small paring knife, and rather than punch out the cutouts, I just lightly pushed them in. So much easier, and it looks fine this way. I used a piece of corn on the cob for the stem, and filled in the rest of the gaps with the same veggies as in her brother's bento. Done! Love these quick ones. Just a few more days of Halloween themed bento, but it's been fun! ^_^