Rubber Ducky Curry Bento

Rubber Ducky Curry Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Packing some curry today (see the recipe I used here). I made it a lot more "soupy" than the recipe calls for, because I like it that way. TinySprite's Hello Kitty thermal food jar is topped with a handcut yellow capsicum "rubber ducky" taking a swim. The side box holds: a perfectly sweet and unblemished organic (tiny) apricot, sliced nectarines, baby strawberries, a steamed Okinawan sweet potato, and some pickled stuff. The weather's been cooling down a bit (a bit; down to the upper 60s), so this warm bento should be welcome!

May the 4th Lentil Sausage Bento

May the 4th Lentil Sausage Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I know it's not May the 4th yet, but since it falls on Saturday this year, I'm sending MisterMan to school with his Star Wars bento today. I tried a new lentil potato sausage chard "salad", which can be served hot or cold. If you want to serve it cold, you can toss with balsamic vinegar or sherry vinegar. I cooked French lentils with diced purple potatoes, then added pan-fried chicken artichoke sausage, mushrooms, onion, garlic and celery. I tossed in shredded chard at the end just to wilt it a little. If you omit the sausage, it could be a vegetarian option. I thought it was pretty good, and refreshing on this hot day. The top tier holds a big strawberry, carrots, fancy-cut radish, broccoli, and pickled turnips and kumquats. Do you see the Star Wars reference? It's very simple, but I hope he gets it. Light sabers were cut from red sweet pepper and cucumber. Happy May the 4th (a few days early)!

P.S. You can see the other Star Wars bento I have made in the past here.

Slow-Cooked Pork Stew Bento

Slow-Cooked Pork Stew Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Yeah, I know it's not fall yet, but I had a little pork shoulder so I decided to toss it in the slow cooker with some potatoes, carrots and celery and make a kind of stew. It had been cool for a few days last week and I can smell fall coming, so we might as well dust off the stewpot and get ready for those hearty warm meals. This kind of bento is a cinch to pack, because all I do is heat it up and ladle it into the thermal food jar just before the kids go to school. The little side box with fruit (peach, strawberries and blueberries) can be packed the night before. It might not be the cutest looking lunch, but it's nutritious and filling, and it'll keep my kids satisfied though the afternoon. And... that's the whole point, right? Happy Bento-ing! ^_^

Last-Day-Of-School Salmon Bento

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

Wow, it's been so long since my last bento post! Seems like we've been on summer vacation forever! Luckily, it's only the 2nd day of actual summer so far, and I for one am really looking forward to the next 2 months of fun and freedom! We've been out of school since the first of the month, so there haven't been any new bento since then. I'm showing you the last few bento I made during the last week of school, when it was just too busy to post and blog. They should look very familiar, and I've come to rely on salmon/asparagus/potatoes as one of my standard fall-back bento. Happily, the kids love salmon, which I prepare in a few different ways to change it up (butteryaki, furikake, cajun, miso, dijon). Misterman's version comes in the EcoLunchbox while TinySprite's is packed in the cute 4-sectioned plasticware box. There's also yogurt with fruity toppings in there too.

The kids have just now started their summer sessions, so I'm back to packing bento again. But since I've gotten accustomed to not-blogging (and feeling like enjoying a relaxing summer), I may not post each one. Instead, I'm thinking of showing you the other things I'm cooking up in the kitchen these days. I've been baking and making ice cream and have all kinds of good things planned this summer...

Hope you all are enjoying the best season of the year!

Chinese New Year Dragon Bento 2

Chinese New Year Dragon Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Aaaand, it's another Chinese New Year bento! It's the Year of the Dragon - in case you forgot. Today I used my super cool slim stainless steel double box bento set (called "Zen" from Bento & Co) because I wanted to have a place for my dragon to rest until lunchtime. Each of these boxes is identical, and each has its own lid with gasket. When the two tiers are stacked and bound together with elastic, they are perfectly sealed. The left box contains salt grilled salmon with some lime wedges, roasted potatoes and kabocha strips (both sprinkled with garlic powder), and a bunch of grapes with a beautiful strawberry. The right box is layered with slices of cara cara oranges. I am super excited to see these fruit too! Now I am stocked up on blood and cara cara. They complement each other well -- the dark red blood oranges are tart and the pretty pink cara cara are sweeter. On top of those I lay my dragon made from cucumber, with quail egg and tomato eyes, tomato nostrils, and wispy green fire. I also cut some fierce fangs from the cucumber. His body is represented by the cucumber scales behind his head. Do you see him? I am trusting MisterMan with both tiers of this bento set for the first time, and I'm a little nervous! I hope he doesn't fling his bag around too much. RAWR!

Added to Allergy-Friendly Lunchbox Love.

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?

Radish Doggie Bento

Radish Doggie Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

MisterMan gets chicken sausage and baby potatoes, steamed broccoli, peapods and purple carrots, grape tomatoes, strawberry, grapes and cara cara oranges. Cute detail provided by radish slice and nori. Woof! The background I used is the poster I got from The Fillmore after the Paul Simon concert last week. It was a 2 hour show and he (and his band) sounded great. The highlight for me was the title track from Hearts and Bones, my fave album. He also rocked That Was Your Mother, with the zydeco vibe, and got the whole place dancing to that one. And lest you wonder whether his 69-year-old voice might be failing, he pulled off a haunting Sound of Silence, alone with his guitar, in the semi-darkness without a hitch. The Fillmore theatre hands out free apples and specially designed posters for sold-out shows; a nice bonus. I love this one with the art deco-esque feel!

Lemon Garlic Salmon Bento

Lemon Garlic Salmon Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Salmon today was broiled in olive oil with pepper, garlic and lemon juice. I served it with potato "chips" that I tossed in the same pan to crisp up. Also in this bento is steamed broccoli, yellow carrot flowers and cherry tomato ladybugs with nori detail. I stuck the nori on with olive oil. You can't use water; you'll find the nori will just curl up and fall off. The bugs are sitting on steamed baby potato halves. Everything looks so garden-y in the lettuce leaf, doesn't it?

For fruits he gets red grapes, a kumquat for contrast, a luscious strawberry and some cara cara orange wedges. These oranges are back in stock in a big way at my local market. Yay! Good thing too, since we probably each eat one a day.

Don't forget to enter the Hawaii's Bento Box Cookbook giveaway here!