This one's from Tuesday -- I have a little backlog going. :)

Left: Clementine sections, mango, cucumber shapes, strawberries.

Right: Inarizushi with spinach mixed into the rice (one at top, one at bottom), egg with carrot flowers, broccoli (blanched), cucumber butterfly.

Things I learned from this bento: I can't cut mango very well -- need to practice! And my cookie cutters won't cut through nori! The butterfly was supposed to be nori...but the cookie cutters simply wouldn't put a dent in dry nori. I tried wetting the nori, but then it tore up when I used the cutter. Hmm...I had just assumed cookie cutters could be used. I was running late that morning and couldn't figure it out. I think the cucumber looks cute, anyway. UPDATE: I've learned that because nori is the consistency of paper, it is best to cut it with scissors or paper punches. Of course! *bonks hand on forehead*

I used a cookie cutter to remove flower-shaped notches from the egg and replaced them with carrot flowers.

The inarizushi was super easy to throw together because I had leftover rice in the fridge. Also, I buy frozen spinach in bags so it's easy to grab a few chunks at a time whenever needed. Safeway's O Organics brand is very good. Here's the steps I took:

1. Microwaved leftover rice for 30 seconds. Tossed it with some rice vinegar. (of course sushi rice could be used, too)
2. Grabbed a few chunks of spinach from the freezer bag and microwaved it for 30-45 seconds. Squeezed out excess water with the back of a spoon. Mixed some spicy ginger sauce into the spinach.
3. Mixed the spinach and rice together.
4. Note: I bought the inarizushi tofu pockets at a Korean grocery called Lotte. I used them straight out of the bag (they are packed in water). First I gently squeezed excess water from the tofu pocket with a paper towel. Then I stuffed it with the spinach rice mixture. I put one face down and one facing up in the bento. Done! (This was the quickest part of the whole bento, haha!)

The tofu pockets are a bit sweet, so the vinegary rice is a good compliment.