Pastrami Egg Roll Eshly Bento

Today I made another recipe from the Lucky Rice Cookbook that I received earlier this past summer. Last time I made garlic smashed cucumbers and it was a perfect side addition to our bento repertoire. I was intrigued by the Pastrami Egg Rolls because I am a huge fan of pastrami and this seemed like a fun way to use it in bento. There wasn't a picture of these in the cookbook so I'm not sure exactly how the author meant for them to look, but I laid the pastrami strips inside the wrapper neatly in a couple different ways.

I also made a vegetarian filling since I was going to be deep-frying anyway, and it seems more balanced to add at least some vegetables. I preferred the vegetarian rolls, maybe because I ended up packing way more filling in those. But not surprisingly the kids really liked the salty cured pastrami and sauerkraut ones; I also added strips of swiss cheese in the pastrami ones (although this wasn't asked for in the original recipe).

There are two issues with egg rolls in bento: 1) egg rolls are best eaten freshly made, when they are maximally crispy and 2) now I remember why I don't like deep frying. The second reason isn't really a bento problem, it's mostly a personal dislike of spattering hot oil (and then cleaning up the mess after). The recipe, however, is a good one if you happen to like pastrami and sauerkraut. It might be even better with thinner sliced meat packed more fully, but ours was very delicious as well. Hope you can try it and see for yourself soon!

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.

Christmas Tree O Christmas Tree Bento

Christmas Tree Side Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Yeah, okay, maybe it's just a broccoli tree like all the other broccoli trees. But this one has a star on top! And star ornaments on the branches! Can we just call it a Christmas tree bento? I hope she'll go for it! Besides the festive "Christmas tree" there is my ever-present, favorite satsuma mandarin, a few blackberries, a lone grape tomato, and the dwindling cup of home-pickled cucumbers. I have another six pickles to go, so this exact same cup will be present in several more upcoming bento boxes. Just to warn you. There isn't anything in the thermal food jar yet, which is why I'm not showing you the interior, but I am planning to pack the kale-white bean-chicken sausage-vegetable soup that we had for dinner. It's a typical winter warming bento, which is so nice when the weather is cold, isn't it?

Red Drink!

Red Drink!, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

You've heard all the buzz about green drinks, right? Well, green schmeen. Sure green is great (and here's my go-to green drink recipe), but you can make a delicious, healthy, refreshing drink of just about any color you desire. Here's one of my favorites: Red Drink! Actually it might be more of a hot pink drink, now that I look at it. Doesn't it look gorgeous? You might even be able to get your kids to suck it down; I know mine do. That beautiful scarlet hue is mainly due to beets. That's right, you heard me: beets! Raw beets are a good source of vitamin C, folate, and iron, and have a natural sweetness that make them a good base for a vegetable juice. Did you know that? I'll give you my recipe, but really you can alter the amounts and kinds of fruit however you choose. That's what I do. The intense red color comes from the raw red beet and red cabbage. And maybe from the berries too.

Sheri's Red Hot Pink Drink

1C almond milk
handful of red cabbage

[blend these ingredients first, to get better liquification]

1 small raw beet (or 1/2 medium beet), peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks (I chop it because I'm using a regular Oster blender. If you have a superblender then feel free to toss it in whole)
1 celery stalk
1 apple, peeled
1 small orange, peeled
1 banana
1C strawberries (or raspberries, or cherries, or other red fruit)
sunflower seeds

I blend the remaining ingredients in batches, since (as I said), I don't want to blow my blender's motor out.
This smoothie tastes fresh, sweet, yet vegetal. Trust me; it's good. Oh, and just a tip: don't wear white while you're making this one. Bottoms up!

How To Cut a Radish Star

How To Cut a Radish Star, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I've been asked how I make the star-cut radishes. You know, the ones with the star-shaped cut in the center; basically the most common cut I ever make (besides the radishroom). It's really very easy, which is why I do it so often (along with the flower cut baby carrots which I always do as well). There may be other ways to do it, but this is how I cut a radish star.

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1. Start with a radish; remove root and stem.
2. Cut in half with a sharp knife.
3. Place the radish half on the cutting board, flat side down. Make the first cut at a slight angle, near the center, right down almost to the bottom. Make the second cut a slight distance away from the first cut, at an angle, to meet with the first cut at the bottom, to make a V wedge.
4. The wedge will stick to your knife and slide out easily.
5. Turn the radish 90 degrees and make a similar V wedge perpendicular to the first one.
6. There will be two half-wedges instead of one due to the space left by the first wedge. Now you have a cross.
7. Repeat the wedge-making cuts right along one of the angles made by the cross.
8. See? Repeat one last time along the last angle.
9. There you have it! A lovely star. Or firework, or flower blossom.

Any knife will suffice. You can also make the wedges all start at the same point at the bottom of the radish, so that they look like leaves of a plant. Don't you love how a few easy cuts can add an elegant touch to your bento, in just seconds? I'm a big proponent of quick and easy bento decoration. If I can do it, it means you can get by with basic knife skills and not a lot of extra effort or time. Hope you can try it yourself. Have fun!