Domokun Calzone Bento

Domokun Calzone Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I made fun calzones for the kids; using regular pizza dough for MisterMan and the Gluten-Free On a Shoestring recipe for TinySprite. I filled with a variety of meat (pepperoni, salami and ham), plus arugula and cheese, then for Domo I sealed it up in a vaguely rectangular shape. While the dough is still sticky (don't dust with flour), add on some little dough pieces for arms and legs. They'll stick there without falling off throughout baking! I'm showing you MisterMan's version here. This version will puff up during baking because it's a regular yeast flour dough, but the gluten-free version will just sit there and look just the way it looked before baking. In a way, it's easier to bake creatures using gluten-free dough for that reason. But I think puffy Domo looks kinda cute. I put some red capsicum and cheese details on his face, along with black capsicum eyes, and tucked him into the stainless steel tiffin with some steamed broccoli. The upper tier contains steamed corn off the cob, carrots, blackberries and blueberries, strawberry, lychees and plums.

Here are some other Domos I've made (using sandwich bread): here and here. And my first one, for a field trip (he looks kinda funny to me now) here!

Added to What's For Lunch.

Anpanman Burger Bento

Anpanman Burger Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Today's bento features meeeeeeat! I made beef/turkey burgers for the kiddos. This one is MisterMan's, since it's packed between two whole grain sandwich thins. He can put the frisee inside the burger along with a squirt of ketchup inside the pig bottle. Every time I see a round bun I see Anpanman now. If you go back in the archives you'll see it's true. I made one ages ago here, and a more recent one (that I think looks much better) here, and then a naked burger here. The tomatoes are from my home garden, and the orange sunsugars and yellow pear varieties are doing really well right now. I had to barricade them to keep the dog away, since he loves fruit. I used red pepper for the mouth, and blueberries for eyes. I know, I forgot the eyebrows. Darn! He fit perfectly inside the EcoLunchBox, with the upper tier holding a selection of: carrots, pluots, strawberry, golden raspberries, lychee, purple cauliflower, and corn. I had to slice the tomatoes in half to fit, but the nice thing is that the top pushed everything down so it didn't move around too much, but not so much that it smushed. That's what I call a perfectly packed bento.

And by the way, it was our end-of-summer twitter food party today, and the star item was ... yogurt! I made cannoli ice cream. It was really an excuse to put pistachios and dark chocolate together in a creamy, divine way. And also to eat ice cream. ^_^

Carnitas Bowl Bento

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

Hello! Today's bento is for MisterMan and it's a rice bowl. I made a carnitas bowl: hapa rice (half white half brown plus quinoa) topped with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, carnitas (slow-cooked pork fried crispy), and cheese. You could also add chopped onion and cilantro, or salsa and avocado as well. Like tacorice, it's perfect for a donburi-type bento box, and so much easier to eat than trying to hold the ingredients inside a tortilla. The kids love eating rice bowl bento. And luckily, I have this stainless steel apple bowl for him and a panda bowl for her. I love the simplicity of packing these; you can just toss everything together and you're done. The upper tier contains blueberries, lychee, carrots and strawberries, and an Okinawan sweet potato crown. They conquered their first week of school and were victorious! I only hope the rest of the school year goes as smoothly. Super glad it's Friday tomorrow though -- happy weekend friends!

Chicken Rice Wraps Monbento

Chicken Rice Wraps Monbento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Today's bento is packed in the gorgeous Monbento Original bento box. This company has only a few products in its line, but this particular box comes in a rainbow of colors, with a multitude of colorful accessories to go with it. It's a beautiful, substantial piece of lunchware. I never would have considered getting one of these fancy bento boxes for my kids, but the generous folks at Monbento offered to send me one to try out. How nice! The first thing I realized is that this two-tiered box is BIG. The company says it holds 4 cups, which is nearly twice what you might need for a school age kid. It'd be nice for an adult, though. I decided to try it out with TinySprite first.

I made two "summer rolls" for her, which are basically a rice paper wrap containing shredded chicken, lettuce, and pickled carrots and cucumbers. She LOVES these, and always begs for them at Vietnamese restaurants, where she promptly eats the entire plateful. I'm not that skilled at packing and rolling them tightly, but I did manage to seal the deal without any rips or holes. I wrapped the wraps in plastic, which I don't usually like to use, because otherwise they are prone to dry out if not eaten right away. As you can see, they take up quite a bit of room, so it was nice to have some extra space to snug two of them together in one tier along with a hard-boiled egg buddy and a couple of Okinawan sweet potato slices. The bottom tier has its own black lid to help keep things contained (and probably would keep things from drying out as well). I filled the top tier, which comes with a removable separator, with assorted fruit: peach wedges, strawberry, grapes, lychee, homegrown cherry/pear tomatoes, and broccoli. I didn't have to squeeze the fruit in, and an appropriate amount fit very nicely. I was very pleased with the space I had to use in this bento. It was a bit heavy, but I coached her on how to open it safely (without dropping the whole thing), and she reported that everything went well. And she did end up eating the whole thing! MisterMan was a bit put out that he didn't get to use it. I said "But it's fuschia. You don't mind using a fuschia box?" To which he replied, "It's kind of purplish. And boys can use purple you know." OH. Well, now I know! I'm glad, too! Okay, next one is for my purple-friendly boy. ^_^

Deconstructed Fish Tacos LunchBots Quad Bento

Deconstructed Fish Tacos Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Me, I love fish tacos. I like to grill the fish (I used cod here) in salt and pepper, then pile it into a tortilla along with onions and cilantro and a heaping dollop of salsa. Good right? But with kids, it never works out. Don't tell me your kids haven't at some point held the taco sideways so everything fell out, or took a bite and tore the whole thing in half, or dropped all the contents onto the floor and commenced screaming. Come on! After about age 8 (in our house), they finally seem to get it. But until then, I have discovered that it's easier to just forget about filling the taco and just let them eat the thing piecemeal. I've packed deconstructed (DIY) tacos before, where I roll up the tortillas and let them do what they will. Usually they eat them separately, plain. So I saved myself some trouble and used the Lunchbot Quad to pack a few pieces of cod in lettuce, and a cup of salsa (onion, tomato, cilantro, corn, cumin, pepper). She loved it. She especially liked the fish spear. I also squeezed in some white peach, blueberries, grapes and lychee, and some decorative carrots. What could be easier?
Added to What's for Lunch.

Portobello Pizza Bento

Portobello Pizza Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I saw this portobello pizza idea somewhere...maybe on Pinterest or something? Anyway, it was described as a low-carb way to enjoy pizza. Gluten-free too; so I gave it a try.

Here's the method I used:
1. Dust/clean portobello mushroom cap, and remove gills with a spoon to create a little mushroom "cup."
2. Cut off stem.
3. Fill with your choice of toppings (I used shredded zucchini, bell pepper strips, spinach, pepperoni, cheese)
4. Top with cheese if you like, and bake at 350F until mushroom and toppings are softened, and cheese is melted.
5. Alternatively: put cheese in first, and layer toppings on top.
6. Bake at 350F until everything is softened and bottom cheese is melty.

Well, the first thing I noticed is that since the mushroom cap doesn't absorb any moisture, it can fill up with moisture from the veggies. It might be better to saute the veggies before putting them on, maybe. Also, I prefer the cheese on the bottom version, because I like the fresh vegetables looking nice on top. In fact, you can reduce the cooking time as much as you like, and keep the veggies on the crunchier side, too. Still good that way. Anyway, my boy wanted to take one to summer adventures program, so I packed one in this Sistema-look-alike box. The only thing different about this box is that there are 3 divided sections on the fruit side instead of 2. I took the picture with the pizza inside the big section, but actually what I did was close the fruit section and place the pizza on top of the lid in its wax paper before closing the domed lid on top of it. Worked great! He liked all the attention his weird pizza got. In the fruit section: corn on the cob, carrots, broccoli, peaches, lychee, and cherries.
This is a fun meal that the kids can help with, and you can pile a lot of stuff in those portobellos :)

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!

Gluten-Free Mac and Cheese Bento

Gluten-Free Mac and Cheese Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Yes, it's the peak of summer and I made mac and cheese. It's TinySprite's favorite, and she's been asking for it, so how could I refuse? She ate two bowls for dinner, and requested another serving for lunch, packed in her Hello Kitty thermal jar. So here it is: my special version of ka-broc-mac and cheese. There's a side box of summer-ripe cherries, homegrown sunsugar orange cherry tomatoes, a homegrown yellow pear tomato, a cup o'blueberries, and a sweet lil' lychee. See how Korilakkuma looks like she's hugging it? That's just exactly how I feel about lychee too. ^_^

I've posted my ka-broc-cheese recipe before (here) but this time I've made it wheat-free and soy-free. The only changes are a substitution of brown rice flour in place of the whole wheat flour for making the roux, and the omission of the spicy soyrizo. Actually, I made this batch in parts, because I happen to love the soyrizo in here, so I just kept it separate to mix in later. I also had to make separate kinds of pasta (quinoa elbows for the gluten-free version and whole wheat elbows for everyone else). It was a bit complicated, but totally worth it. If you don't have any issues with wheat or soy, I would keep to the original recipe; it works and tastes just as good as this one. I know, I know, it is totally untraditional, and the cheese isn't smooth and creamy with everything I've thrown in. But it is substantial, and it fills you up, and you don't even have to worry about a side salad or something. Cuz the veggies are already IN THERE. Woot!

Wheat and Soy Free Mac and Ka-Broc-Cheese Method/Recipe

Cook 8oz (or more if you like) quinoa (or corn) elbow macaroni, 10-12 minutes or until just al dente. Drain.
Steam or microwave 5 slices kabocha (or more) and one small head of broccoli until softened.
Grate the kabocha and mince the broccoli.
Melt 3T butter in a saucepan over medium low heat.
Whisk in 3T brown rice flour, 1tsp dry mustard, a few pinches of pepper, and a sprinkle of cayenne pepper until smooth, a few minutes.
Add 2 cups milk.
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, 6-8 minutes, until milk comes to a boil.
Add: 2C (or 3C, or more) shredded cheddar, parmesan, or whatever cheese you happen to like. Stir to incorporate.
Add the grated kabocha and the minced broccoli. Stir.
Add more cheese if you like it cheesier.
Add pasta, stir to completely incorporate.

Is it more cheddar on top of my lovely creamy cheesy sauce? 

No.... muahahaha!!

It's shredded kabocha. Really.

Look: you can barely tell it's in there.

I'm serious. The cheesalicious flavor overpowers the kabocha.

Yeah, that's a lot of broccoli.

Okay, it's kind of lumpy now. 

If you don't like it, go ahead- add more cheese.

Go on, it's okay. It's cheese! It's all good.

Sausage Arugula Pasta Bento

Sausage Arugula Pasta Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Now that the kids are getting older and their appetites are getting bigger, I find myself reaching for the more spacious bento boxes more frequently these days. My preschooler can still use the cute little one tiered character boxes, but probably not for much longer. And my almost-4th-grader definitely needs more food. This summer he's been very active, with various enrichment programs such as cooking, chess, mad science, and sports. He can eat a lot. I found this nice-looking two-tiered box today and thought it would be perfect for him in the coming months. It supposedly holds over 1000ml, but I find that the containers themselves take up space and there isn't a need to pack super tightly. This one has a snug-fitting upper divided tier that sits deep into the main compartment. Thus, I have to be careful not to pack the bottom too high. I like the gasket in the lid and the two double latches, as well as the transparent nature of this Clic-Tite box, made by a company called Novo. Here I've packed a quick-cook meal of thin whole wheat spagetti, wilted arugula and spinach, and pan-fried chicken sausage to layer in the bottom on a lettuce leaf. The top holds a silicone cup of yogurt with blueberries and sunflower seeds, another of steamed corn off the cob, carrots, cherries, strawberries, lychee, Okinawan sweet potato and regular sweet potato.

 

Bolognese Panda Bento

Bolognese Panda Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Who says gluten-free has to be boring? Here's a bento for TinySprite I whipped up quickly using leftovers from dinner: pasta bolognese (naturally gluten-free) tossed with brown rice tube pasta, topped with romano and parmesan, and oregano. She's a meat lover, this girl, and meals like this are very satisfying for her. I'm happy to be able to pack it in her favorite panda bento bowl. She had previously asked to "always use this box please" - so I'm trying. The upper tier contains some super sweet dark cherries, a couple of pristine white lychee, Okinawan sweet potato flower shapes, a baby homegrown white peach, a homegrown apricot, some black splendor plums, and fresh corn off the cob.

Bolognese Sauce (from Real Simple)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1 carrot, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 pound pancetta, chopped
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup whole milk
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 teaspoon red pepper (I omitted)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano, or 1 tablespoon dried
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (I omitted)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

In a Dutch oven, over medium heat, heat the oil. Add the onion and cook for 2 minutes. Add the celery, carrot, and garlic and cook for 5 minutes more. Add the pancetta and cook for 5 minutes, then add the beef and cook until brown. Add the wine and the remaining ingredients and simmer for 45 minutes. Serve with cooked pasta. Sprinkle with Parmesan.

Sticky Rice and Canadian Bacon Bento Bowl

Sticky Rice and Canadian Bacon Bento Bowl, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Twitterfoodparty showed up this month in the form of bacon. You can check out this month's submissions on twitter by searching the hashtag #twitterbaconparty. I rarely cook bacon at home but happened to need a gluten-free alternative to lup cheong for the sticky rice (method here) I was planning to make. Most Chinese sausages and deli meats are marinated in shoyu, making them no-nos in a gluten-free diet. I steamed some sliced lup cheong separately to be mixed in everyone else's servings, but TinySprite was satisfied with diced and pan-fried Canadian bacon in hers. The overall flavor just wasn't traditionally the same, but it'll have to do, since I don't plan on learning how to make my own Chinese sausage! It was still tasty enough, though. I packed some in her favorite panda bento bowl, along with a selection of fruit in the top tier: cherries, lychee, blackberries, peach, and sweet potato. Next month's theme will be strawberries!

Piggie Norimaki Bento

Piggie Norimaki Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Did not feel like cooking anything for bento, so I prepared the quickie backup bento of turkey dog rice and nori rolls. Not technically "sushi" but along those lines. I used a mixed rice (red, white and brown plus quinoa) for these rolls. After cutting into bite-size pieces, I decided to add little piggie faces to them, pink as they are. The rest of the bento contains the usual carrots, peapods, steamed broccoli and Okinawan sweet potato, strawberry, blackberries and lychee. Yes, lychee! I spied them in the markets here this past week, and I am extremely excited about it. As you can see, they are wonderfully white, juicy and sweet: my favorite fruit of summer. Well, early summer. Until mango season. Heh.

Added to What's For Lunch.

Piggy Calzone Bento

Piggy Calzone Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I was so happy with the way my pizzas turned out, I decided to make calzones. I rolled the dough (use any pizza dough for this) out into circles, then placed chopped ham, pepperoni, grated cheese and baby arugula on half, and folded the circle in half, pinching to seal the edges together. For fun, I added two balls for ears (which I rolled in flaxmeal), and a little circle for a snout. I intended for it to result in a cute bear face, but the snout rose during baking and I think it looks more like a pig snout now. So a piggy it is. The calzone fits perfectly in one side of the Sistema box, while the other sectioned side contains: corn, broccoli, carrots, pluots, nectarines, grapes, strawberry and lychee. Oink!

Salmon and Potatoes Bento

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

It's teriyaki salmon again, this time with roasted baby potatoes tossed in olive oil and garlic powder. I packed the rainbow in the LunchBot: white lychee, red dinsaur pluot, orange carrots, yellow carrot (with nori dog face), purple carrots, and purple Okinawan sweet potato (cut into bunny shapes which you can't ascertain). I'm still stretching out the summer fruit, since they are still available in my farmer's market. Think I can make it last through September?

Back To School Bento

Back To School Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Here's another First Day of School bento. Along with shoyu chicken, corn on the cob, carrots and steamed broccoli, I packed sliced Flavor Rosa pluots, lychees and blueberries inside the stainless steel divided LunchBots Trio. I made a little chalkboard from cheese and nori to commemorate the beginning of school. I freehand cut the numbers and letters with my microscissors. Do you see the little Anpanman? He (a gift from a thoughtful bento friend!) seems a bit apprehensive about all the learning. I remember how bittersweet it was to return to school in the fall. On one hand, it was hard to leave long lazy days of summer behind; but then again it's always fun to see friends again, right? How are your kids adjusting back to school?

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!

Deconstructed Salmon Sandwich Bento

Deconstructed Salmon Sandwich Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

This bento is a do-it-yourself sandwich, featuring butteryaki salmon (see my method here), some wild greens, a few slices of buckwheat bread and provolone cheese. The components all fit nicely inside the separated section of this dual lunch box by Sistema. I wrapped the bread inside wax paper to keep it separate from the rest of the ingredients, and decorated with a triplet of provolone bunnies and a mushroom-cut radish. The other section is divided, and allowed me to fit quite a bit of extras: corn on the cob, broccoli, carrots, Okinawan sweet potato flowers and tomatoes on one side; and lychees, strawberries, superdark plums and blackberries on the other. The plums were so juicy I had to drain them off before packing them in! MisterMan loves these deconstructed bentos, and he gets a lot of attention during lunchtime while he assembles his lunch. A bright cheery summertime bento for my boy ^_^

Mahimahi Summer Bento

Mahimahi Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I found a nice mahimahi filet today so decided to do the furikake mahi mahi that is so popular in plate lunch in Hawaii. It's so easy; the way I do it is 3 steps max: squirt with kewpie mayo, sprinkle with furikake, then carefully pan fry both sides. I added three tiny fish shapes cut from radish, with sesame seed eyes, and a grape tomato for color. The next compartment has bicolor corn on the cob, bicolor Okinawan sweet potato star shapes, and purple and orange carrots. For fruit he has lychee (yummmmmy!), sweet yellow peach, and cherries. Everything fits just right in this cute and practical Lunchbot.

Some exciting news about my bento from last week: it reached the final 20 in a contest sponsored by Bento & Co: "A Bento For Someone You Love"! There's a vote going on at the company's Facebook page to determine the final winner -- the grand prize being a trip to Kyoto. If you have a chance, I would appreciate a vote from you, my wonderful readers! The site is here: Bento & Co. You have to "like" the page first, then click on the purple "Participer" button, then scroll through the entries. They're not labeled, but mine is currently on page 3 and looks like this:

Thanks very much for your help! I'll let you know the results :D

Somen Salad of Love Bento

Somen Salad of Love Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Note: I entered this bento in Bento & Co's contest to "Make a Bento For Someone You Love". It placed within the top 20 finalists, and won a gift certificate to the Bento & Co store!

Today's bento consists of what I think of as quintessential summer food: somen salad. Here are some other ways I've packed somen salad in bento: here and here. Have you had it? In Hawaii we eat it a lot when the weather is hot and humid. My dad had a method of making the somen noodles. These noodles are very thin, so you must not overcook them or they'll become mushy and sticky. As soon as they're done you have to cool them down to stop all further cooking. During this cooling step, my dad always pulled single serving size bundles of somen out of the basket and twirled each into a kind of little nest, keeping each bundle separate from the others. When they've cooled to room temperature, he stored the bundles next to each other in an airtight container in the refrigerator, with a paper towel just under the lid to absorb any condensed moisture. Then, when you're ready to make your salad, you can quickly and easily pull out as many servings as you need. Ta-daa! For today's salad, I used non-traditional toppings along with some of the usual: julienned omelet, ham, carrot and lettuce, grated purple carrot, and fresh corn off the cob. I arranged them atop the somen in a pleasing rainbow array. I chose the round tiffin because I like the way the ingredients look in a circular pattern. Plus, the stainless steel serves to keep everything cool. The top tier fits on top and is just deep enough to accomodate a variety of summer fruit: strawberries, cherries, lychee, black- and raspberries, and sliced yellow peach. The tiny blue container contains dressing for the salad. I almost forgot about the heart radish in the center; something needed to go there. Just now, as I was typing this, MisterMan walked over and looked at the picture of this bento he ate today. Immediately he said "Oh, I liked this one! I especially liked the radish heart because it reminded me how much I love you." ^_^