BB-8 Bento

Happy Star Wars Day, or May the 4th Be With You!
A little light bento for TinySprite includes her current favorite polenta made with cornmeal, corn grits, and millet; steamed Okinawan sweet potato, little quail egg BB8, tomato, pickled cucumbers, lotus root, daikon and carrot; raspberries and mandarin.

Tuscan Kale Vegetable Bean Soup Bento

Hi! How was your weekend? Here in the bay area we experienced an unseasonably warm and sunny weekend. We (along with lots of other people) decided to spend it at the beach in Monterey Bay, where we were treated to a lot of gray whale activity. We saw them spouting, diving, and even breaching from right on shore. It was very exciting! Back home today, it feels like a complete 180 degree turnaround in weather: cloudy and cold once again. A cold day like today calls for a warm soup bento! I made big pot of vegetable soup with beans and sausage to fortify us through the frigid weather. All right, it's only in the mid-50s but still.

MisterMan will bring this LunchBots Thermal Food Jar to school with him, with this very cool spoon/fork combo utensil, along with a side container of ombre blood oranges, pickled cucumbers and grape tomatoes. I love the way the blood orange segments look. Have you tried this variety before? They taste a little more tart than cara cara oranges (my favorite) at first, but they finish nice and sweet. If you see them in the market, you might want to give them a try. They are easy to peel and you can pack these pretties in segments, as I've done here, or cut them into wheels, as I've done in the past. They look like this on the outside; kind of like blushing oranges. ^__^

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Tuscan Ribollita Soup Recipe

(adapted from Eating Well)

• 1 14-ounce can whole peeled plum tomatoes
• 2 15-ounce cans cannellini beans, rinsed, divided
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 medium leek, halved lengthwise and sliced, white and light green parts only (I omitted; used round onion instead)
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, divided
• 2 whole diced carrots
• 2 stalks diced celery
• 1 cup diced zucchini 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1 bunch kale or Swiss chard, trimmed and cut into 2-inch-wide slices (I used various baby kale varieties)
• 1/4 head Savoy or green cabbage, cut into 1-inch cubes (I omitted)
• 2 cups diced russet potatoes (I omitted)
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/8 teaspoon celery seed
• Crushed red pepper to taste

PREPARATION

1. Drain canned tomatoes, reserving the liquid. Dice the tomatoes. Using a potato masher, mash half the beans into a paste (add a bit of broth, if desired, to make mashing the beans easier). Set the tomatoes and beans aside.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add leek and garlic; cook, stirring, until translucent and tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Do not brown. Season with 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Stir in carrots, celery and zucchini and the remaining 1 tablespoon oil; cook, stirring, until nearly tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Season with 1/8 teaspoon each salt and pepper.
3. When the carrots and celery are nearly tender, stir in kale (or chard) and cabbage. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted, 4 to 6 minutes. Add potatoes, broth, water, the diced tomatoes and juice, the bean puree and whole beans, thyme and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Season with celery seed, crushed red pepper and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally and reducing the heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer, until all the vegetables are tender, 15 to 20 minutes.

Skewers of Sausage, Mushrooms and Peppers Bento

My first bento of the year, and it's a quick and easy one. I pan-fried an all-natural preservative- and nitrite-free chicken sausage alongside some halved mushrooms and chopped red capsicum. Little skewers make it fun to eat with little fingers. I added greenery with a few green lettuce and pickled cucumbers. Everything fits perfectly in my LunchBots Clicks. This box is stainless steel with a translucent plastic airtight locking lid; I love that it's easy for kids to open and close, and adds security for those lunchbag-swingers. I also put some sliced cara cara oranges in a round EcoDippers side box along with a cup of pepitas and chocolate raisins. This bento will go to school with TinySprite. Let's see if it comes home empty^__^

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!

Char Siu Fried Rice Panda Donburi Bento Bowl

Char Siu Fried Rice Panda Donburi Bento Bowl, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Welcome to November! The passing of Halloween signifies the beginning of the hectic holidays which seem to take over the next two months. Are you ready? We are starting the month with a rice bowl. This one contains sliced deli char siu atop homemade fried red rice with egg and shiitake mushrooms, steamed baby bok choy, and sprinkled with scallions. TinySprite loves this kind of donburi, and it's easy to pack in her little cute panda bento bowl. The top tier holds a few strawberries, and assorted pickled veggies, including baby orange bell peppers. I'm hoping I can sail as easily through the rest of the season...

Eyeball Pizza and Mummy Dog Halloween EcoLunchBox Bento

Eyeball Pizza and Mummy Dog Halloween EcoLunchBox Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Eyeball pizza is made with strategically cut red bell pepper for veins, pepperoni and olive um, eyeball, on a mozzarella whole wheat pizza. And just for the fun of it, I wrapped a turkey dog in some dough too, because I knew TinySprite would love that. I even shredded the mummy wrapping (okay, not on purpose). The rest of the EcoLunchBox Solo Rectangle holds a little cup of pickled cucumbers and another one of grapes and a strawberry. Halloween continues!

Salmon, Potatoes and Asparagus LunchBots Bento

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

I haven't used the LunchBots Clicks in awhile, and I really should because I love them. Not only are they stainless steel, but they come with leak-proof translucent lids. You can see what's inside and there's no chance of anything dripping out. How awsome is that? And they are the perfect size for the kids' lunch bento. Here I've packed TinySprite's omega-3-rich salmon furikake in one box, alongside some roasted baby potatoes sprinkled with garlic powder and pencil asparagus. The other (slightly shallower) box contains sliced peaches, pickled cucumbers and pickled red onions. I think this bento is just about the right amount for my chatty girl. She can manage to get everything eaten and still have time to run around outside with her little pals before settling down for the afternoon session of 1st grade. Did your kids settle back into the routine without problems? I think my girl is having a bit of trouble remembering what it means to sit still and be *quiet* during class time >.<

Salmon, Tomato Relish, and Slaw Bento

Salmon, Tomato Relish, and Slaw Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Today I made TinySprite a compartmentalized bento, so I could give her a little bit of several different things. I find that she's more likely to finish everything if there isn't too much of it. She gets a piece of king salmon, pan-fried in olive oil, pepper, and parsley, served beside a red cabbage/savoy cabbage/carrot/onion slaw. Since she loves pasta, I also gave her some tricolor rotini topped with cherry tomato/shallot/garlic "relish" and shaved parmesan. I squeezed some cherries, blueberries and a halved strawberry in the rest of the sections, along with a couple of pickled cucumbers. The four dividers keep everything separate, and since there's no sauce in this bento either, there shouldn't be any crossover leakage. Hope she enjoys this one!
Added to What's For Lunch.

Shamrock Pepper Fried Rice St. Patrick's Day Bento

Shamrock Pepper Fried Rice Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Here's my contribution to St. Patty's Day, since it falls on Sunday and this will be our last bento before then. A four-leaf clover! Can we call it a shamrock if it has more than three leaves? My pepper happened to be four-lobed, so this is the shape we're going with. I fried a beaten egg inside the pepper ring, and then sprinkled some chopped spinach on top. It sits atop a bed of fried rice mixed with ham, edamame, egg and shoyu. I make sure to cook the pepper ring egg thoroughly, as it's not safe to pack uncooked egg for extended periods at warm temps. Alongside the lucky rice: cantaloupe chunks, and pickled cucumbers and onions. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Chicken Hominy Bowl Bento

Chicken Hominy Bowl Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

This one is called Chicken and Hominy Chili, but it's not really a chili; to me it's more like chicken soup. However, for this bento I served it over rice and omitted most of the liquid. So I guess it turned out to be more like chili after all. The flavor is a bit mild for my taste, but the kids seemed to like it, and it's a nice change from the tomato-based chili that we usually make. Along with the cilantro and onion-topped chili bowl, this bento contains: satsuma mandarin, a variety of berries, and home-pickled cucumbers and red onions. Both kids are huge fans of the pickled veggies. I have still to try pickling carrots, cauliflower and peppers.
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Chicken and Hominy Chili Bowl (from Family Circle)

6 large bone-in, skinless chicken thighs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped (I omitted)
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped (I used red)
2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
15 oz. hominy, drained and rinsed
2 T cornmeal
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped, plus more for serving
Tortilla chips and sour cream (optional)

Place chicken in slow cooker and season with salt, cumin, black pepper and oregano.
Scatter onion, garlic, celery, jalapeno and green pepper over chicken.
Pour broth over top.
Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
Stir in hominy and cornmeal. Add more spices to taste if needed.
Cook on high for 15 minutes.
Stir in cilantro, top with tortilla chips, sour cream and more chopped cilantro to serve.

Hinamatsuri Girls Day Bento

Hinamatsuri Girls Day Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

March 3rd is Girls' Day, which falls on Sunday this year, so I made this bento for my TinySprite to enjoy tomorrow. See some of my other Girls' Day bento here and here and here). Along with her favorite shoyu chicken and furikake rice, there's a broccoli tree, the current double obsessions of pickled cucumbers and red onions, and some carrot sticks in the big stainless steel-lined cutie pie box. The smaller, divided box holds her hard boiled egg Hello Kitty girl (decorated with radish ears, nori eyes, carrot nose and soba whiskers), strawberry kimono, radish "fan", tomatoes and carrots. Next to her are a pile of blackberries and blueberries. It's a celebration of cute girlishness and I think she'll love it. Happy Girls' Day to all the girls out there! ^__^

Chili LunchBots Bento

Chili LunchBots Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Chili! I scooped it into the LunchBots Trio over a layer of spinach leaves to keep the juices contained. But as TinySprite said, I probably should have used a container with leakproof sections (or a thermal food jar). The other thing I could have done is packed rice over the chili. Some people also do that in a thermal jar to keep the chili from mixing into the rice until you're ready to eat. But then she wouldn't be able to enjoy the cheddar sun and rays that I decorated! Anyway, she was pretty careful and it didn't spill out of the box; yay! She also finished it all, along with the pickled red onion and cucumbers, carrots, mandarins, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries.

Breakfast For Lunch EcoDippers Bento, Pt. 3

Breakfast For Lunch Bento, Pt. 3, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Breakfast for lunch day! (See BFL bentos 1 and 2 here) Woohoo! I was looking at my EcoDipper containers and happened to notice that they are perfectly sized for whole wheat sandwich mini thins. I took it as a sign to make a sandwich! The EcoDippers are ideal for sandwiches because while their lids slide on securely, they are not watertight. The food inside won't condense and get soggy with temperature changes, which is nice for the food I've packed today. I made a fried egg with shredded spinach in my cute mini round fry pan, which happens to be sized perfectly for both the sandwich thin and the EcoDipper. Is that cool or what? If I had some Canadian bacon, this would have been a cinch. As it was, I only had deli ham (nitrite-free), so I folded it to fit. I also toasted the breads with grated cheddar. I topped the sandwich with a jack cheese bear face and put that into one EcoDipper. I packed the other with a variety of treats: tiny satsuma mandarin, grape, strawberry, house-pickled cucumbers, and a couple of steamed Okinawan sweet potato slices. What a cute little TinySprite-sized bento set, don't you think?

Herb Chicken and Potatoes LunchBots Quad Bento

Herb Chicken and Potatoes LunchBots Quad Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I used a new chicken recipe today on the kiddos: skinless boneless thighs oven roasted in olive oil and herbes de provence. But you can use whatever herbs you happen to like: rosemary or oregano, for example. I roasted covered for awhile, then removed the cover to brown. And since I had the herby olive oil, I decided to toss some potatoes and roast those too. I like them crispy and a little burnt, but I didn't pack those. The rest of TinySprite's LunchBot Quad contains: home pickled cucumbers, tomato, carrot, grapes and strawberry. Super loving the way my girl is growing into the Quad these days ^_^

Tacorice LunchBot Bento

Tacorice LunchBot Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Today's tacorice isn't packed in a bowl for once; I thought I'd change it up, and the LunchBots Duo fits the bill perfectly. One side holds red and white rice topped with taco meat, chopped tomatoes and lettuce, grated cheese and a steamed Okinawan sweet potato heart shape. Other side is divided by silicone cups for: strawberries, pickled cucumbers, and blueberries. We ate this at dinner with tableside guacamole and tortilla chips. Yum!

Rudolph Calzone Christmas Sistema Bento

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

Only two weeks to go until Christmas, and I'm happy to present my first Christmas themed bento for the year! Heh. Oops. I should look to my past Christmas bento flickrset for inspiration, I think. Anyway, this one boasts a reindeer-shaped calzone, which became Rudolph with the addition of a red button nose pick. All I did was glue on some nori eyes (with honey) and I was done. Woo! There are a couple of pizza slices underneath Rudolph, packed in one half of my new Sistema Bakery bento box. The box says that the volume of this BPA-free divided box is 630ml, which might surprise you. The tight-fitting (leakproof) lid is domed, allowing extra space for bulky food items. Plus, it costs less than $7~ I love this box! The other side was just right to fit a little satsuma mandarin, a handful of blackberries, a grape tomato and a cup of pickled cucumbers. Toss this box into the lunchtote, and you don't need to worry about anything. TinySprite can see exactly what she has for lunch, and she made sure there wasn't anything left to bring home. ^_^

Black Rice Jook Thermal Bento

Black Rice Jook Thermal Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Have you eaten black rice? Also known as Forbidden Rice, it's received press lately for its high levels of antioxidants, on a par with blueberries. It has a nice, mild flavor, and a pleasing (to me) purplish color that is retained after cooking. I've used it to make jook before (see my method here), and this time I added sliced lup cheong (Chinese sausage), celery and broccoli stalks. You can also add chicken, mushrooms, fish, or whatever else you'd like. It's an easy meal to make: I used a ratio of 1 cup of rice to 8 cups of water (or broth). Simmer about an hour to 90 minutes, adding the rest of the ingredients for the last 30 minutes or so. I scattered chopping green onion on this serving packed in my Stanley thermal food jar, but you can also add cilantro, ginger, pepper, chili oil, even shoyu as your taste dictates. It's another kind of comfort food that's especially satisfying on these cold wintry days. I sent along a side box containing a satsuma mandarin, some grape tomatoes, and the ever-present mini-cups of home-pickled cucumbers and fermented sauerkraut. Simple and fast, yet hearty. I had some for lunch myself, too. ^_^

Added to What's For Lunch.

Grilled Furikake Chicken LunchBots Quad Bento

Grilled Furikake Chicken LunchBots Quad Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I felt like using the cute LunchBot Quad today because the divided sections are so handy it almost fills itself. I simply grilled some chicken, sliced into bite-size pieces, lay them in one section side by side, and sprinkled with sodium-free, MSG-free furikake. Next, I cut some garlic-roasted baby asparagus for the next section, and added a couple of grape tomatoes and a flower-shaped steamed Okinawan sweet potato. A third section got tiny silicone cups of homemade sauerkraut and pickled cucumbers (and a carrot), and in the last section I squeezed some watermelon cubes and a peeled satsuma mandarin. See what I mean? You've seen all these components in my bento before; some of them happen to be stocked regularly in my fridge for an easy go-to. TinySprite's kindergarten appetite is fairly small, so a few items of each food group will just about fill her up. The Quad is ideal for this purpose; love it!

Tasty Chili Bento

Tasty Chili Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

So the weather turns a little cool and what do I immediately think of? Chili! I winged it with this batch, not really measuring any spices but just adding and mixing until everything tasted just about right. Do you ever do that? I may have gone overboard with the chili powder and cumin, but I didn't hear any complaints. Just in case, I also sprinkled a little Maui brown sugar to tone down any excess heat. I had just enough left to pack for two bento the next day, served over white-brown-barley-quinoa rice. That was a close one. For my girl I used the Hello Kitty thermal jar. I decided to use the enameled stainless steel box I got at Daiso for the refreshing extras: delightful satsuma mandarin, cubed watermelon, carrot, pickled cucumbers, home-fermented sauerkraut, and a grape tomato. I hope this will keep the TinySprite going all day.

So Cute TinySprite EcoLunchbox Cube Bento

So Cute TinySprite Cube Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Wow, I just realized that I've taken a week-long hiatus from bento-posting. I kind of missed you all! After Halloween last Wednesday, we had the following two days off (for parent-teacher conferences), so we spent the long 4-day weekend at the coast. We stayed in Aptos, a town on Monterey Bay, and explored Pacific Grove, Santa Cruz, and most of the rest of the quaint towns in between. The kids had fun at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and we built sand sculptures on the beach and visited a real lighthouse. After we got back, what with the time change and all the election excitement, blogging fell to the wayside. But now I'm back! Today's bento is another cute one using the EcoLunchbox Solo Cube that is my current favorite box. I decided to squeeze in four silicone cups to fill with a variety of goodies. From upper left: two hard-boiled quail eggs and skewered nitrite-free salami, pickled cabbage and cucumbers, steamed corn and broccoli, and a fruit mix of cantaloupe, blackberries and raspberry. It turned out to be just enough for my kindergartner's highly unpredictable appetite.

Speaking of the awesome Ecolunchbox, I picked a winner from among the 50+ of you who commented on my giveaway post (fantastic, clever, ingenious ideas for going green, by the way~! I loved reading each and every one of them!) -- it was Michelle, who uses flannel baby wipes and cotton diapers. Wow! She has four kids so I hope her new EcoLunchbox helps make her lunchpacking easier and more fun. Let us know how it goes, Michelle! Thanks to all of you for entering and sharing your eco-ideas with the rest of us. Happy bento-making!