Mabo Tofu Balloon Bears LunchBots Bento

Mabo Tofu Bear LunchBots Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Today the kids get ma bo tofu (see the basic recipe and method I use here), but I added in chopped baby bok choy just because I'm green like that. I sometimes add in pickled mustard greens too, just because I like the sour taste! But I omitted that this time. This batch includes scallions but excludes the spicy bean paste (TS won't abide it) and is layered over white/brown rice in my LunchBots Duo. The built-in divider keeps the mabo sauce separate from the rest of the goodies: black- and blueberries, a very-not-sweet plum, some carrots and a little Okinawan sweet potato star. I reserved some tofu to cut out little bear shapes with nori faces, and gave them a grape tomato balloon to play with. Aww so cute!

Easter Chick Mabo Tofu Bento

Easter Chick Mabo Tofu Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Did I use this panda box for mapo tofu last time? It just goes so well. I love the recipe, but I have been trying to bridge the gap between the spicy-eaters and the nonspicy-eaters, and this time I mixed some of the spicy batch with the nonspicy batch for the kids' bentos. My girl would have none of it, but my boy actually ate the full spice version (over lots and lots of rice) this time! He probably drank a gallon of water with it, but still! I consider it a victory. The top tier contains some cooling grapes, strawberries, carrots, broccoli, and a little quail egg "Easter chick" -- wearing an Easter hat to boot! It's the week before Easter Sunday, so I thought I'd put a few spring characters in there. Did the tiny fluffy chick want to go along with his buddy?

Mapo Tofu Kitty Bento

Mapo Tofu Kitty Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Both kids get mapo tofu bentos today. I halved the batch so that the kids' version would be bland -- er, mild -- and the adults' version would be red hot and spicy! I didn't add any chili bean sauce to theirs, and I placed it in a lettuce cup for neatness and appearance. MisterMan ate the lettuce and all, as I expected, as well as the kitty quail egg, steamed corn, Okinawan sweet potato, carrots, strawberries and blackberries.

TinySprite finished all her bento today; yay! She only left the lettuce but ate all the mapo tofu, peaches, Okinawan sweet potato stars, broccoli, carrot and strawberries. I packed her bento in the Paperchase Daytrippers box, which comes with matching utensils in the upper tier and snaps tightly closed with the cute girls design on the lid. It's the first time I've given her such a "big" box, and was concerned that she wouldn't get around to finishing it again, but the novelty and cuteness won her over, I guess. Super happy about that!