Chicken and Broccoli Lunchbots Bento

The comfort food of my childhood shows up often in my bentomaking as an adult. How coincidental that chicken and rice is a prime combo for bento. It's delicious hot, cold, or room temp😊❣

Today's Lunchbots Clicks contain: shoyu chicken, broccoli, mushrooms, furikake rice, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, tomatoes.

Happy π Day!

We'll celebrate March 14 (3-14) with mini blackberry & raspberry pies in the kids' bento. I made the pies in jar lids, an idea I got from Sarah Michelle Gellar's book "Stirring Up Fun with Food" - they are the perfect teeny size to fit into a bentobox. Hope you guys have a great π 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!

Creepy Egg Skull and Rolls plus EcoLunchbox GIVEAWAY!

Creepy Egg Skull and Rolls Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Let's keep going with the creepy skulls, shall we? This one is crafted from a hard-boiled quail egg, which is naturally skullish -- all you need to do is pinch the cheeks in a little and add some nori details. I made some turkey dog "sushi" rolls using black rice, and decorated the ends with freecut nori designs: bats and vampire faces. There are also some steamed broccoli and a little jack-o-pepper. I packed this bento for TinySprite in another stainless steel EcoLunchbox: this one is called the Solo Cube, and it's just the perfect size for my kindergartner. I packed this box along with the EcoDipper, containing some sliced peaches and berries. This size meal isn't too overwhelming for her, and she has no problem sliding off these lids. They stay on pretty well, but I secure both with elastic bands, just in case. I like the versatility that these two different shapes and sizes offer; you could fit a sandwich thin in the Cube, or some sausage skewers, some meatballs and pasta, or a chicken salad. The round Dipper is just right for a handful of nuts, trail mix, crackers, berries, or melon balls. I was so pleased with this duo that I mentioned it to the folks at EcoLunchboxes and they thought it would be a great idea to offer these two as a set to one of you, my bento-making readers! I know you'll love these as much as I do. They're well-made and look like they're built to stand up to years of daily use. If your child outgrows them, you can always use them for an afterschool or recess snack.

My kids have been taking bento to school their whole lives and I was amused recently to find my daughter bringing home disposable items (from a field trip) because she's so used to re-using. 

If you're interested in trying out the EcoLunchbox Solo Cube and the EcoDipper, please leave me a comment below telling me whether you've made any efforts lately to be more "green", and include your email address so that I can contact you. I'll leave it open until midnight on Halloween night (October 31, 2012, Pacific time). U.S. only please. Thanks a lot for your interest!

For more info, see EcoLunchboxes.
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Ecolunchbox provided the items I used to pack this bento today, but I received no other compensation, and the opinions I expressed are mine.

Added to What's For Lunch.

Balsamic Vinegar Sesame Chicken Lunchbots Bento

Balsamic Vinegar Sesame Chicken Lunchbots Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Chicken and rice, chicken and rice... la la la la laaaa... Is there any more that needs to be said? Well, all right; I'll say a little more. This is the balsamic vinegar sesame recipe I got from Maki at Just Bento, except I used a shoyu substitute and kept it sweeter and less vinegary. I made it before here. It gets divided treatment in this Lunchbots Trio, in a bed of lettuce by itself, next to a cup of furikake rice, homegrown cherry sunsugar tomatoes, and steamed Okinawan sweet potatoes. Peaches and berries round out this plain jane basic lunch bento. I've resolved to start with the Halloween bento next week. For sure I'll be able to get in at least a week of spooky scary creepy bento! Or at least a few cute jack-o-lantern ones. Those are my favorite!

Chickpea Cauliflower Curry LunchBot Bento

Chickpea Cauliflower Curry Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I decided to make a vegetarian dry curry today, using a recipe that called for simply tossing chopped vegetables with olive oil, curry powder and brown sugar, then roasting the whole thing in a baking pan at 400F until tender and fragrant, about 30 minutes. I used diced eggplant, onion, red capsicum, cauliflower, potatoes and chickpeas. It's a nice mild flavor that the kids can handle, and a good way to get them to eat eggplant. I served it over some fresh spinach leaves in their bento, but it's good over hot rice as well. It's on the dry side, which makes it idea for bento, with no thick sauce to drip all over everything. This Lunchbot Quad keeps the curry separate from the rest of the food, which includes: carrots, corn, Okinawan sweet potato and broccoli; strawberries and raspberries; and pluots and blueberries. I thought this was a pretty big meal for my kindergartner, and I was pleased that she was able to finish it all. Score!

Monster Fingers Bento

Monster Fingers Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

The last Halloween bento of the season! Monster finger calzones with almond fingernails. One of them even has a bloody wound, which was unintentional but actually looks pretty real, right? There's also carrots, broccoli, strawberries, raspberries and "diced" dragonfruit. Get it? Happy Halloween from the conflicting forces in our house! Hope you had a safe and scary night with lots of goodies in your candy haul!

Spanakopita Bento

Spanakopita Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Today I experimented with filo pastry pie, which I baked in a muffin tin. I used feta and spinach filling, like I did for spanakopita in this bento. I thought the little pies would make perfectly sized bento portions and the kids would have fun eating them. Besides the spanakopie, I packed the usual sides: corn on the cob, carrots, broccoli, car-shaped Okinawan sweet potatoes, cherries, strawberries, blueberries and a little ripe raspberry. It went over pretty well!

Mochiko Chicken and Kabocha Bento

Mochiko Chicken and Kabocha Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Today's bento for MisterMan contains pseudo-mochiko chicken (oven-roasted instead of deep-fried), roasted cherry tomatoes, and broccoli and kabocha which I steamed in the rice cooker. That's right, it's kabocha yet another way. I've had my Zojirushi Induction Heating rice cooker for years now, and I never realized you could open the lid during cooking to add other food to be steamed toward the end of cooking. In fact even though someone told me it was okay, I was still afraid the thing would blow up, shut down and catch fire. I tested it a few times, opening and closing the lid, before adding the steaming rack with my broccoli, satsumaimo and kabocha. I added them the last 12 minutes of cooking and it came out pretty good. The kabocha was just perfect. My kids don't like it too mushy so I left it with a little crunch and it's so sweet you don't even need to add anything else. Look how the beautiful golden hue of this squash adds to the appeal of the bento! If you haven't tried kabocha yet, I hope you can find some to try. There are nearly countless ways to enjoy this healthy and nutritious squash. I ate some, fresh steamed, atop a bowl of the fresh-cooked rice it steamed along with; and it was a simple and delicious snack. Also in this bento: fall plum, raspberry, kiwi and carrot flowers. Everything packed up nice and snug in my LunchBots Duo, which happens to be exactly the right size for my second-grader. I love it ^_^

Froggie Sandwich Bento

Froggie Sandwich Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

No-cook sandwich bento: salami and aged white cheddar with spring greens and pickles on crusty multigrain bread. Too bad the bread I chose didn't fit the box I chose! I had to slice off a tad bit; oops. I decorated the bread top with cucumber, salami and a halved quail egg to make a happy frog face. Two carrots filled in the gaps, and the rest of the box is stuffed with summery fruit: delicious ripe peach, strawberry, rasp- and blueberries, and grapes. Yes, it's a standard sandwich lunch, but it's still got some fun with it ^_^

Gyoza Bento

Gyoza Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

After the wonton project, I decided to make gyoza. I used Maki's recipe on Just Hungry, and they came out pretty good. The kids liked these too, but I guess they might prefer the wontons a bit more since they are huge soup fans. Anyway, I tucked a few gyoza into a stainless steel box along with a little container of shoyu/rice vinegar sauce. He also has a cup of pickled veggies (carrots, cucumbers and daikon) and a cherry tomato for color. I used a piece of lettuce to keep the gyoza separate from the other stuff; I think this qualifies as "edible baran" for entry in hapabento's B.O.M.B. contest!

I put the fruit in a separate box: black plum, Cara Cara oranges, raspberries and blueberries in this section. Have you tried Cara Cara oranges yet? There is some controversy over whether they are in fact actual grapefruit hybrids, or just look like grapefruits with their pink flesh. Anyway, supposedly they are less acidic and more sweet than regular oranges. We tried them at the Ferry Terminal farmer's market in San Francisco last weekend and were hooked! They really do taste sweet and berrylike, and their pink flesh is rather cool.

This has turned out to be Dumpling Week over here at the Happy Little Bento house. I find that dumplings really make people happy... even the word dumpling makes me smile. You too? :)

Garlic Shrimp Bento

Garlic Shrimp Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

For this bento I sauteed some shrimp in garlic, butter and lemon juice; then packed them into the box with some cilantro rice, steamed broccoli and carrot flowers. I usually use bigger shrimp ('cause I like the big ones), but the smaller ones came out pretty well too. And they cook super fast, which is a plus for me. The kids ate the shrimp for dinner with whole wheat bowtie pasta, which I cooked together with the broccoli in a single timesaving step.

I was able to find a bunch of summery fruits so I had to stick them in: along with the winter standard mandarin segments -- sliced strawberry, raspberries and blueberries.

I wanted to try making lemon risotto to go with the shrimp, since someone gifted us with a bunch of their backyard Meyer lemons, but ran out of time. Maybe I should use them for something sweet anyway, like lemon bars or some other dessert. I saw a recipe on twitter for limoncello bread pudding! Hmmm...