Happy news: we're expecting our first baby! However, this is the reason I haven't made a bento in a while. I'm in the first trimester and I've been having some unpleasant symptoms, including an unfortunate aversion to food in general. The pregnancy is going well, however I don't feel well in the mornings and haven't felt like making bentos. :( I'm hoping to get back to making them in a month or two.

In the meantime, I encourage you to check out some of my favorite bento contacts on Flickr. These bentos really inspire me!

Anna the Red

Bento Mom

Cuisine Paradise

Nonochan

Pikkopots

Egg/cheese/tortilla rolls, broccoli, carrots, and strawberries.

Hubby got me a surprise gift last weekend -- a portable lighting studio for taking bento photos! I tried it for the first time this morning (note the electric blue backdrop!).

Top Left: Alternating layers of asparagus omelette, melted cheese, and tortilla. Top Right: Tomato flower on top of salad. Bottom Right: Homemade carrot cake. Bottom Left: Another tomato flower on top of more salad. (The hidden salad contains carrots, blanched asparagus, and cucumber.)

I made this for my husband. The plan was to put everything in the larger oval box, but of course it wouldn't all fit! I grabbed a tier of another bento box for the dessert: apple hearts and homemade pumpkin muffins. Big box: Onigiri with a fishcake inside, decorated with ham and carrot. Ham & egg hearts, broccoli, asparagus, grape tomatoes, and ham flowers. I also included some ginger sauce for the veggies, but the sauce containers didn't make it into the photo (regrets!). I was inspired by bentomom to make the ham flowers! But mine are sloppy -- I need more practice! They don't even look like flowers, LOL.

Left: Flowers made out of carrot, red bell pepper, white cheese, and green beans. There are stir-fried vegetables under the rice. Right: Apple stars on top of mineola tangelo sections. Two small slices of lemon cake with mint garnish.

I feel like there is something missing in the lower right corner -- I really wish I had added small carrot flowers to the mint! I didn't think of it until later! *pout* Here's how the Lock & Lock container looks when it's closed up:

*Sigh*...bad lighting today! This was my attempt to make leftover stir-fried veggies look pretty. There are noodles under the veggies, and some storebought veggie dumplings on the side. The top tier has strawberries, part of a mineola tangelo, and some chocolate covered raisins.

I made this for my husband! It contains broccoli with toasted sesame seeds, a green pepper omelette rolled in tortilla with cheese, and orange segments with flowers cut from a slice of yokan. The jar is full of salsa for the omelete rolls, and there is a container (half-full) of ginger sauce for the broccoli.

The omelette rolls were very easy and quick, especially because I had some leftover grated cheese on hand. Here are the steps I took:

1. Warm a tortilla in a medium size non-stick skillet (I like mine lightly toasted on both sides)
2. Place the tortilla on a plate or cutting board and sprinkle grated cheese on top.
3. Beat one egg with a little salt (and/or other desired seasonings) and have it ready.
4. In the same pan, saute about one tablespoon of tiny chopped peppers (or other vegetables) in a little vegetable oil. The trick is to cut the vegetables very small! Saute for 1 or 2 minutes.
5. Pour the beaten egg over the vegetables in the skillet, and jiggle it around to coat the bottom of the skillet. Cook for about 1 minute until the edges are set.
6. Flip the omelette over and cook for about 30 seconds on the other side.
7. Slide the omelette over the top of the cheese on the tortilla. The omelette will melt the cheese.
8. Roll up, let it cool for a minute, then slice!
9. Make sure the rolls are cool before placing in a lunch box.
   

The jar is from a gift set of tiny jams and jellies. I saved all the jars and lids. This Lock & Lock container is just deep enough to fit the jar with lid.