Toast Of The Day: Another Breakfast One!

By now I've settled on a kind of formula for an ideal toast. It starts (usually but not imperatively) with a spread, in this case creamy polenta. I thought about firming it up and pan frying it, but decided to use it in its softer form for contrast here. I also like to have some greens and a protein, then some textural contrast like something crunchy, and finally some interesting tangy or spicy top note.

This one was overwhelmed by the sausage flavor, which was tasty enough, but not as exciting or original as it could have been. I'd mix it up a bit next time.
😊❤🍱🌽🥬🍳🐖

Happy Boys' Day Bento!

Happy Boys' Day!

This day is also known as Children's Day, Kodomo No Hi. In Hawaii when I was growing up we celebrated Girls' Day on March 3, and Boys' Day on May 5th. I made TinySprite a Pucca bento on Girls' Day and today I made a little boy with origami kabuto (samurai helmet) and koinobori (carp streamers) to signify strength. Do you know how to fold origami kabuto? It's a fun activity to do with your kids! May all the boy(s) in your life grow up to enjoy a good, happy and healthy childhood!

In our Ecolunchbox Solo Cube: roast pork, polenta, rotini pasta, carrots, tomatoes, Okinawan sweet potato, hard boiled egg, radish, strawberries.

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.

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.

Pikachu and Bug Meatball Bento

Pikachu Meatball Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

I asked TinySprite what she wanted for dinner yesterday and right away she shouted "Meatballs!" Really? Okay. So I found this recipe for meatballs in a sweet tomato sauce that I thought the kids would like. They were meant to be served as sliders on cute little buns, but I was pretty sure that wasn't gonna happen without meatballs falling out, bread falling apart and general ensuing unhappiness (whining). So we skipped that part. They loved them over rice, though, with the thick sauce gooping all over everything. They both must have eaten 4 or 5 biggish meatballs! I didn't think of it, but next time I'll add shredded zucchini or spinach. Luckily I had a few leftover for bento. I also made cheesy polenta because I think it goes really well with the flavorful tomato sauce, so after placing 3 big meatballs in a lettuce leaf, I freehand cut a Pikachu face from the polenta. I added nori, watermelon radish and carrot details to his face. I snugged him in with some steamed broccoli and raw carrots. Fruit include strawberry, grapes and blood orange.

TinySprite's meatballs are cut in half for ease of eating, and I used a yellow carrot and nori to make a face. There's also a little block of polenta, broccoli and watermelon radish flowers. Her fruit include: cara cara oranges, grapes and strawberry. That's it! If you're interested in the sweet tomato sauce, here's how you make it:

Sweet Tomato Sauce for Meatballs

1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 medium onion, sliced
garlic powder to taste
1/4 C sugar
1/4 C cider vinegar

Heat 1T olive oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 7 minutes, stirring. Add remaining ingredients, and MEATBALLS (use your favorite recipe), and cover. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer 18 minutes or until cooked through, turning halfway. Serve meatballs with onion sauce spooned over. Yummy!

Sausage & Polenta Bento

Sausage & Polenta Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

This bento arose from some random food tweets I was reading in the morning. Someone mentioned they had sausage and homefries for breakfast and I thought that sounded good for dinner, but then I realized I only had purple potatoes. Not sure how appetizing that would look. Then someone else mentioned polenta croutons and I thought: hmm, polenta - perfect! So that's what I made. It really helps that I follow lots of "foodie" types on twitter :)

I gave MisterMan some Trader Joe's chicken / jalapeno (!) sausage alongside some sauteed mini sweet peppers and onions. I actually didn't mean to use the spicy sausages, but I forgot to check, and didn't notice until after I already started frying them up. Oh well. I decided to just give it to them without mentioning my mistake. If you mention "spicy", my girl will shriek "No! Too spicy!" without even trying it. So what do you think? They gobbled it up for dinner. Woohoo!

For some reason kids just love polenta, and I made this one without any butter at all; just cornmeal and cheese. I was going to save some for frying into croutons, but they ate it all up too fast. I decorated with maroon carrot flowers and a little broccoli. For fruits I added a sliced plum and a mini mandarin. Two little chickie pals will accompany him for lunch :)