Mouse Wraps Tiffin Bento

Mouse Wraps Tiffin Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

This bento is another example of no-cook bento. I just realized that I have posted several no-cook bento lunches in the past few weeks, possibly due to the hectic nature of back-to-school and the feeling of having no time as we transition back into the school routine. Sound familiar? It's a good idea to have a series of no-cook bento ideas to fall back on in times like this, just in case you find yourself too busy or tired or maybe you just forgot to go grocery shopping in time. Oh, that's just me? Oops. Anyway, we'd just got back from a Labor Day weekend out of town, and I wasn't in the mood to cook anything after unpacking and all in the 80F heat. So my boy got turkey dog rollups with cheddar, spinach, roasted red peppers, and baby dills in a whole wheat tortilla. I cut it into three pieces and held the wraps together with leaf picks. Then, as I was looking at the three cross-sections, I noticed they looked like little faces with pickle ears, so I decided to add some nori faces. I put the fruit assortment into a stainless steel cup (strawberries, grapes, rasp- and blueberries), then filled in the gaps with steamed broccoli and little baby tomatoes. I also stuck in two tri-color (pink, purple and orange) carrot skewers; I think they look so pretty just aligned together like that. No need to even cut shapes with them. I put everything in my round stainless steel tiffin, which always seems so cool during the hot days. This one comes with a top, shallow tier but I left it out and the lid fastens on perfectly well without it. Score! Totally love this box a lot!

Two Lions Ravioli Bento

Two Lions Ravioli Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

This bento is basically no-cook. The red pepper-cheese whole wheat ravioli just got boiled along with the corn, and the broccoli and peapods got steamed with the same pot. Woo! Big lion has a nori face, and little lion has a sweet potato face on a corncob with nori details. I cut some pink flowers with a metal cutter and poked holes with a coffee straw. Fruit section has sliced plum, grapes (on bottom) and sweet strawberries. Three purple carrot discs round out the color scheme.

I'll admit I made this bento with recent bento articles in mind. Perhaps you've seen them: Here, here and here. Basically they all address the back-to-school task of preparing lunches for kids, and show pictures of cute bento examples. The responses to these articles have been mixed, with several commenters suggesting that making such a bento takes way too long for a typical busy parent to manage, and that cute lunches "cater" to spoiled kids. Well! I'm not going to argue the bento point here but I want to emphasize that what constitutes a cute detail is up to you. I can tell you that I did not take more than 15 minutes (not counting cooking time) to put this bento together. The only skill I used was the ability to punch out vegetables with a cutter and nori with a craft punch. And if I didn't have a craft punch, I would have used pieces of carrots or peas to suggest eyes and a smile (I have certainly done that before). As for spoiling kids, on the contrary: You don't spoil kids by lovingly preparing them a nutritious, fun lunch. I'd rather have them at least try the food before outright refusing it, which is what you're allowing them to do if you don't even try. I think they learn to appreciate food more when they see the care their parents put into it for them, and they'll learn to love food because it's delicious and full of positive memories. Parents can encourage this process by offering their kids' meal in an appealing way they can appreciate. I really believe this. How about you?
This bento was added at What's For Lunch. Feel free to add yours too!

Chasoba and Fruit Bento

Chasoba and Fruit Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

More hot weather means we need another cold (and non-cook) lunch for relief. I love eating out of an icy stainless tiffin, so that's what I used to pack today's bento. He gets chasoba on a bed of crispy lettuce, accompanied by shiitake, krab sticks, ocean salad and green onion. I packed the soba tsuyu in a separate squeeze bottle which I lay in the top tier. The top tier also contained a clementine and a variety of fresh summer berries. I used an ice pack so it all stays super cold for him in this heat. No cute details in this bento, but the variety of fresh colors and flavors should serve to bring out his appetite :)

Sushi and Caterpillar Bento

Sushi and Caterpillar Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

This Bay Area heatwave we've had for a couple days is just what summer is supposed to be like, finally! But soaring temperatures means I don't feel like cooking. Luckily there are ways to pack a bento without cooking. This one contains sushi made with mixed rice and sardine furikake, topped with decorative carrot flower shapes. On the side I filled a lined cup with ocean salad and krab. I added pickled ginger to the little side section. On the other side of this double sushi box I placed steamed broccoli, some Okinawan sweet potato slices (with a radish slice face), grapes and nectarines. There's a slot in the center to hold a pair of chopsticks. I hope MisterMan finds this lunch a cool one that's fun to eat. Hope you're all keeping cool this week too!