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...

Salmon and Lil' Mouse Bento

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

This week's salmon and rice format is packed in a newish two-tier strawberry shapes bento set from Daiso; so cute right? And only $1.50; you can't beat that. The only problem is that it's just a tad bit big, so I think the salmon layer probably moved around a bit by lunchtime. TinySprite gets red rice and salmon with furikake kabocha, a little cup of steamed corn off the cob, and a cute radish mouse. The lower tier contains white peach slices, cherries, blueberries and homegrown sunsugar and yellow pear tomatoes. Simple but satisfying.

Piggie Bento

Piggie Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Today's bento is the very convenient "More Leftovers" bento; yay! Are you familiar with this type of bento? It happens when you make an extra large batch of kiddos' favorite meals, some to eat over the next day or two and perhaps some to freeze for later as well. Love them. I tucked the balsamic chicken pieces in a lettuce leaf and snuggled some steamed broccoli next to them (sound familiar?). I made a fresh batch of mixed rice: this one consists of Thai red rice, white, brown, bulgur, tricolor quinoa and oats. Adding a mix of various grains to your rice gives an extra nutrional boost. Plus, it adds interesting texture and flavor too. It's a lot more substantial than plain white rice and goes great alongside all kinds of food. Luckily we all love it, but if your family is hesitant, try adding just one or two extras, like quinoa or pearl barley, to start. You might be surprised at how much you grow to like it!

Okay, so back to the bento. I used the mixed red rice to form an onigiri, since yesterday's came back totally eaten (yippee!). Piggie details are made from purple and white potato and purple carrot. The usual sides are here: carrots, strawberries, blackberries, grapes and tangerine half. All packed in my new LunchBots divided stainless steel lunchbox. It's very cool; the divider is permanent and the stainless steel lid "snaps" on without latches. It seems pretty secure but I wouldn't put liquids inside since it's not watertight. We'll see what my boy thinks of it tomorrow. Happy Hump Day, bento friends!