This Little Bento

Chilaquiles

2012-01-30T11:24:00.002-05:00

Clockwise: Zucchini muffin, chilaquiles (recipe here), tortilla chips, mango pieces and grapes.

Bento Buddy Container

2012-01-27T12:16:00.001-05:00

Ravioli, Babybel cheese, banana, pineapple, and clementine segments.

The blue container is a "Bento Buddy" from Laptop Lunches. It fits nicely in this square Lock & Lock. My other Lock & Locks are shorter, so the Bento Buddy wouldn't fit in them.

Flower Shapes Sandwich

2012-01-25T12:32:00.001-05:00

Left: Egg, cheese, and bread sandwich with the scraps tucked in around it.

Right: Banana, zucchini muffin, and strawberries.

Leftover Pizza

2012-01-24T10:57:00.003-05:00

For our 2-year old: Leftover pizza, apple flowers with pineapple chunks, and shortbread cookies.

Mini Pita "Calzones"

2012-01-18T12:46:00.001-05:00

Left: Mini pitas stuffed with mozzarella, spinach, artichoke hearts, and pizza sauce.

Middle: Zucchini muffin and clementine wedges.

Right: Apple stars and more clementines.

Mini Pitas, Falafel, Zucchini Muffin

2012-01-17T11:30:00.003-05:00

Left: Three mini pitas with hummus and cheese.
Middle: Falafel and a boiled egg with yolk removed.
Right: Berries from the freezer and a zucchini muffin.

Today I wanted to sneak in something that our toddler hasn't tried before, namely the falafel from Trader Joe's. I didn't notice until putting the lunch together that the falafel and muffin look similar in color. I can guess which one he'll like better!

First Bento Lunch For Our Son

2012-01-16T11:25:00.003-05:00

Our two year old son started at a new daycare today where I will need to provide his lunch every day. This is the first lunch I have ever packed for him! I don't think there is enough color in this lunch, but I was trying to stick to food that I know he likes. These days, most of his favorite foods are beige, white or brown! :\

Left: Sandwich with hummus, artichoke hearts, and muenster cheese.

Right: Apple stars with mango pieces, popcorn with the hulls removed, and two cat shaped cookies.

Small Containers for Bento

2010-09-04T22:33:00.003-05:00

Since having a baby, I haven't been making many bento lunches. But I have been collecting these baby food containers for when I start making bentos again. I thought they might be useful for dividing foods, or for dips and sauces. Each container is about 3" wide at the top.

The top round one is a Motts applesauce container. It came in a six-pack -- these containers don't have lids.

The left round one is a Target Up&Up brand baby food container (this one held pureed peaches). It is very sturdy and has a sturdy lid. It came in a two pack for 82 cents at Target.

The right square one is a Gerber baby food container with lid. It is not as sturdy as the Up&Up container, but the square shape could be useful. It came in a two-pack for 96 cents at Walmart.

(I had actually planned to make all our baby food, but ended up supplimenting with storebought food after I started working again.)

Snack Bento

2010-03-19T10:38:00.001-05:00

A snack for my husband. Cherries, apple, clementines, and homemade gingerbread.

Jungle vs. Desert

2010-02-20T12:55:00.000-05:00

This was the first bento I've made since before our son was born last December! I made it for my husband. The colors are so drab on the right side, I think it (unintentionally) looks like a jungle landscape on the left and a desert landscape on the right.

Left Side: Skewered olives, cheese and sausage with carrot sticks and mustard on the side. Right Top: Homemade apple cake with an apple heart on top. Right Bottom: Hummus with small tortilla rolls.

Simple Birthday Bento

2009-09-08T19:09:00.002-05:00

This is probably the least elaborate birthday bento I've made for my husband. But he still enjoyed it! :D The pregnancy is going well so far at 27 weeks.

Top Left: Lentils and rice topped with 3 Trader Joe's crabcakes. Bottom Left: Bowtie pasta and green beans with homemade pesto sauce in the container. Top Right: Gala apple. Bottom Right: Homemade choco cake with raspberry glaze icing in the container.

Homemade Frittata

2009-07-24T10:58:00.003-05:00

I'm slowly trying to get back to making bentos, at least until the baby comes. This one is for my husband. Left Side: Crabcakes from Trader Joe's (slightly burnt!), tartar sauce, and homemade zucchini frittata. Right Side: White cucumbers slightly pickled in rice vinegar (with some basil leaves for garnish). Apple flowers and hearts.

Another Hiatus

2009-04-30T20:16:00.002-05:00

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!

New Lighting Studio

2009-03-04T23:09:00.002-05:00

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!).

Tomato Flowers

2009-02-16T17:51:00.000-05:00

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.)

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-13T21:22:00.003-05:00

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.

Something's Missing...

2009-02-06T18:41:00.002-05:00

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:

Stir-Fry Bundles

2009-02-03T22:51:00.000-05:00

*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.

Omelette Rolls

2009-01-23T11:49:00.004-05:00

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:

Warm a tortilla in a medium size non-stick skillet (I like mine lightly toasted on both sides)
Place the tortilla on a plate or cutting board and sprinkle grated cheese on top.
Beat one egg with a little salt (and/or other desired seasonings) and have it ready.
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.
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.
Flip the omelette over and cook for about 30 seconds on the other side.
Slide the omelette over the top of the cheese on the tortilla. The omelette will melt the cheese.
Roll up, let it cool for a minute, then slice!
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.

Chococat Bento Box

2009-01-12T18:48:00.002-05:00

My first bento of 2009. Left Top: Dried cranberries, roasted almonds, and chocolate almonds. Left Bottom: Boiled egg with carrot flowers, surrounded by broccoli. Right Side: Cheese flowers on a salad of lettuce, carrots, cucumber, and chickpeas.

I used my new Chococat bento box which I purchased for $8.95 from a Sanrio store in Florida. I was excited to see a Sanrio store there, since the one in the mall near my house closed down a few years ago (in Maryland). I also scored a Chococat bolster pillow! Anyway, here are some photos of the box...it comes with a tiny fork and spoon, and has a locking top just like my beloved Lock & Lock containers.

All closed up and ready to go:

Matching Bentos

2008-12-16T22:36:00.002-05:00

Our kitchen project is still going on -- painting the cabinets is taking much longer than I ever expected! But our 1st year wedding anniversary was yesterday, and I managed to make bentos for both of us! This one was for my husband. From left to right: Storebought veggie dumplings (from the frozen section in H-Mart), two fish full of spicy ginger sauce, broccoli (blanched), clementine, assorted fish cakes with yellow bell pepper, chocolate covered almonds with dried cranberries.

Mine was very similar (below), but instead of fishcakes, I had a salad with cucumber and yellow bell peppers.

Bento Hiatus

2008-11-07T21:17:00.003-05:00

I think I'm officially on bento hiatus for awhile. Between being sick and then traveling out of town in late October, I haven't made any photo-worthy lunches lately! And now we are gearing up to paint our kitchen cabinets, which means a big mess in the kitchen until Thanksgiving. Hopefully I'll get back to making bentos in December!

In the meantime, here is a great place to visit for lots of cool bento photos: http://www.flickr.com/groups/bentoboxes/pool/

Lots of Orange

2008-10-17T12:59:00.002-05:00

Looks like orange overload. This was for my husband. Left: Three chicken shu mai from Trader Joe's, rice, and broccoli. Right: Orange segments, carrot slices, and salad dressing for dipping the carrots. The panda has spicy ginger sauce for the shu mai and broccoli.

10th Anniversary (at work) Bento

2008-10-09T16:06:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was my 10th Anniversary at work, so I made myself this lunch! (Other than that, the day passed with little fanfare. Heh.)

I made a special treat for myself: Tofu Fish Sticks! And I made the letters with my favorite cheese: Muenster! And I included one of my favorite flavor combinations in the top left compartment: Kiwi slices and dark chocolate! The other compartment is filled with asparagus and yellow squash. I also brought a side container of ketchup (not shown) for the tofu fish sticks.

Everything In Half

2008-10-06T17:00:00.002-05:00

Top: Half of a kiwi, two halves of a boiled egg with basil leaves and red bell pepper hearts, almonds for filler. Bottom: Half of a small tomato with some aparagus tips, steamed yellow squash with fresh ground black pepper, and some basil leaves for garnish.

This is my first bento lunch in more than two weeks! I have no good excuses. This is one of my NEW bento boxes that I won by coming in second place at the bento photo contest over at Not Exactly Bento! This bento box is really nice, with simple, light green inner and outer lids. I'll try to snap a better photo of my winnings sometime soon.

Mishmash of Leftovers

2008-09-19T17:46:00.002-05:00

It's mostly leftovers today! Top: Chinese eggplant with garlic and ginger, carrots and cucumber, choco covered almonds, and a blueberry breakfast bar. Bottom: Refried beans rolled in spinach tortilla, cheese pieces, carrot and red bell pepper, udon noodles with blanched broccoli and black sesame seeds.

I meant to put the cheese IN the tortilla rollups, but I forgot! So I used the cheese pieces as filler between the rollups instead.

More Flowers

2008-09-17T17:37:00.003-05:00

Our camera doesn't seem to do well on overcast days. I'm seriously thinking about making or buying a mini lighting studio! Top: Broccoli with sesame seeds, red bell pepper, carrots, cucumber, and chocolate covered almonds. Bottom: Flowers made of cheese, red bell pepper, asparagus, and carrots, with broccoli at the bottom. Hidden under the spinach tortilla are tortilla wraps with refried beans and cheese.

The inside container at the top is actually from a smaller Lock & Lock container. I wanted a little more room for the flowers. Most of the Lock & Lock inner containers are not swapable, because the main containers are such different sizes. Even this one is not a perfect fit!

Here is a photo from my camera phone at work. I'm happy that the flowers stayed intact!

Cheesy Flowers

2008-09-12T17:41:00.002-05:00

I went a little crazy with the mini cookie cutters this morning. Left: Boiled egg, grape tomatoes, carrot flowers, cucumber, and basil leaves. There is spicy ginger sauce in the fish bottles (for the egg). Right: Carrot and cheese flowers with asparagus stems and basil leaves, and grape tomatoes. There is an Indian-style stew of kidney beans, chickpeas and spinach hidden under the rice!

Frequently Asked Questions

2008-09-12T01:40:00.001-05:00

Here are some bento-making questions that people often ask me.

How do you fill those little fish bottles with sauce?

It's all about the suction! To fill the fish, take the cap off and squeeze the fish to remove air. Then place the tip of the fish in the sauce (such as soy sauce), and release the pressure of your fingers. The suction will pull the sauce into the fish. (You might need to pour some sauce into a small bowl to accomplish this.) Cleaning the fish is easy -- you just squeeze the fish several times in some soapy water, then squeeze several times in clean water to rinse. This method also works with other small plastic sauce bottles.

Where do you buy your bento gear?

I've had difficulties finding Bento supplies in my area, so I usually turn to eBay. Here are two eBay stores where I've bought bento boxes and supplies:
Bentos and Beyond
Bento Obento Shop

I've also purchased bento boxes from JBox.com.

We own three Lock & Lock containers (so far!) --- we got two of them from H-Mart and one of them at Target. I've also seen Lock & Lock containers in Walmart.

How big are the Lock & Lock containers that you use?

Our smallest, with two removable compartments, is 550ml / 19OZ / 0.58QT.
The next size is the square one with four removable compartments, which is 870ml / 29OZ / 0.9QT.
Our largest one has two removable compartments, and one of the compartments is sub-divided. It is 800ml / 27OZ / 0.85QT.

Where else can I go to learn about making bento lunches?

Lunch in a Box by Biggie has a ton of tutorials, tips, and recipes. She also has an extensive Lunch Links list where you can find more bento blogs, resources, and online communities.

Just Bento is another great bento blog with recipes and more.

Cooking Cute was the first bento site I discovered, and I've learned so much from the tutorials there. Especially how to make gyoza!

Birthday Bento

2008-09-08T16:43:00.001-05:00

Well, it's not really birthday themed! But today is Hub's birthday, and this is what I made for him. Clockwise from top left: Boiled egg with carrot flower, surrounded by asparagus that was sauteed with olive oil and chopped garlic. Homemade cinnamon roll and two choco almonds. Salad with carrots, cucumber, red bell pepper, and a cheese flower. Shrimp with cocktail sauce on top of more lettuce.

More Sandwiches

2008-09-05T18:50:00.003-05:00

Kind of similar to Wednesday's bento. I've been fascinated by this head of red lettuce that we bought recently -- it has beautiful leaves that are half green and half purple-ish red. But there wasn't much sunlight today, so it doesn't translate well in the photo. :(

Top: Red and green lettuce, carrots. Bottom: Cheese and hummus sandwiches on homemade dill bread, with carrot garnish and surrounded by broccoli.

Flower-Shaped Sandwiches

2008-09-03T17:05:00.002-05:00

Top: Red and green lettuce with salad dressing in the bottle, dark chocolate covered almonds (cut in half), carrots garnished with basil leaves. Bottom: Cheese and hummus sandwiches on homemade dill bread, surrounded by broccoli.

The bread recipe is from Bread Machine Magic by Linda Rehberg and Lois Conway.

Baby Squash

2008-08-29T15:18:00.002-05:00

I tried out a new backdrop and lighting for today's photo. And look -- a real bento box instead of Lock & Lock! I have really gravitated toward Lock & Lock this year, so my other bento boxes have been a bit neglected.

At my work complex, they have a small farmer's market every Thursday. I hadn't bought anything until yesterday -- these baby squash and zucchini were too tempting to pass up. I steamed them whole last night (for about 8 minutes), then plunged them in ice water, drained and dried them off, and stored them in the fridge. So it was easy to throw together a bento this morning. The rest of the lunch contains: Carrot flowers, spicy basil leaves, sweet basil leaves, a chopped up tomato, and cucumbers.

It's all vegetables, though--not very filling! I had to have a supplimental snack in the afternoon.

Purple Hull Peas

2008-08-26T17:17:00.001-05:00

Left: Purple hull peas with rice and spinach, topped with a decoration of grape tomatoes and carrot. Right: Cheese rolled in tortilla, and my last black bean taquito from Trader Joe's. For afternoon snack and dessert there is a breakfast bar and dark chocolate covered almonds.

The purple hull peas are from Nana's garden, and the tomatoes are from my boss's garden.

One For Him, One For Me

2008-08-15T16:38:00.004-05:00

Somehow I managed to make lunch for both of us today. This one was for Hubby! Left: Broccoli. Hummus rolled in tortilla. Two cherry tomatoes. Right: Pepperoni and muenster cheese on animal picks. Two fish full of sauce. Homemade cucumber pickle. Two chicken shu mai from Trader Joes, with spicy basil leaves on top.

This one was for me. Left: Taquitos from Trader Joe's. A really nice tomato from my boss's garden, garnished with spicy basil leaves. Right: Broccoli. Hummus rolled in tortilla and three rolls of muenster cheese.

Not Exactly Bento Photo Entry

2008-08-13T21:10:00.004-05:00

Check out the photo contest going on at Not Exactly Bento! Here are my entries! Luckily we can enter photos of older bentos. These are two old favorites of mine:

This one was from March 2008. I made it for my husband. Left: Shrimp with cocktail sauce, broccoli, animal skewers with pepperoni and cheddar. Right: Cheese crackers, more broccoli, strawberries, and two fish full of mustard.

This one was from March 2007. I made this one for me, thus it is vegetarian. Top Left: Cheese and hummus sandwich, carrot flower and lettuce garnish. Top Right: Clementine segments and strawberries. Bottom Left: Leftovers -- Asparagus sauteed with garlic, zucchini baked with parmesan cheese. There is a pepperoncini between the two. Bottom Right: Boiled egg and carrot slices with lettuce garnish.

TJ's Taquitos

2008-08-11T17:46:00.003-05:00

This was a pretty fast lunch to throw together, because the taquitos came from the freezer. I microwaved them for 30 seconds, then sliced them.

Left: Black bean taquitos from Trader Joe's. Salsa in the little oval container that I saved from a Ralph's deli purchase. I put the lid on the oval container before transporting this lunch. Right: Homemade quick cucumber pickles, broccoli, muenster cheese rolls and carrots.

Zucchini Pancake

2008-08-04T18:04:00.003-05:00

This one was for me! Left: Zucchini & onion pancake leftover from dinner, salad with cucumbers, carrots and tomatoes. Right: Dark chocolate covered almonds from Trader Joe's, more cucumber slices, a bottle of salad dressing, and some plum wedges.

The little oval plastic container is a sauce container that came with some spring rolls that I bought at Ralph's when we were in San Diego last month. It's the perfect size to fit in my bento box! It even has a little lid, not pictured here. I only have this one so I'm going to try to take good care of it -- hopefully it will last for many lunches.

The zucchini, cucumbers, and tomatoes are from my boss's garden -- he brought a lot of vegetables to share at work. We also have zucchini from my in-law's garden. Fresh homegrown veggies, yay! The two spicy basil leaves (on the cucumber) are from my own little herb garden.

Lots of Fish Containers

2008-07-03T21:35:00.002-05:00

For my hubby. Left: Grilled bratwurst, blanched broccoli, and some fish containers with mustard for the brats. Right: A small yokan, a Babybel cheese, more broccoli, onions, and pickle relish in a celery boat (for the brats). The two fish at the top hold soy/vinegar sauce for the broccoli.

Leftover Pork and Spaghetti

2008-06-27T17:52:00.001-05:00

For him. Right: Leftover pork decorated with carrot flowers, broccoli, and scallions. Left: Salad with carrots, red bell pepper, and cucumber. Slice of banana bread.

For me. Clockwise from top left: Leftover spaghetti. Slices of banana bread with almonds to fill the gap. Salad with carrots, broccoli, red bell pepper, and cucumber.

New Lock & Lock

2008-06-20T20:28:00.001-05:00

For my husband. This is our new Lock & Lock container! It's a little smaller than our other Lock & Locks. Left: Salad with carrots, cucumber, red bell pepper. Bottle of salad dressing near the back. Right: Tiny shrimp with cocktail sauce (bottle is half-hidden), croutons for the salad, babybel cheese, and sliced kiwi.

The croutons went soft by his lunchtime, probably because of the kiwi. I'll keep them in a separate packet next time.

Shrimp, Green Beans, Apple, Egg

2008-04-30T23:09:00.003-05:00

For my husband. This is the last bento for a while because we're finally going on our (belated) honeymoon trip! Clockwise: Shrimp with cocktail sauce. Green beans seasoned with lemon juice and sesame oil. Apple stars. Boiled egg with sugar snap peas, and a fish full of sauce for the egg.

Shu Mai and "Beef"

2008-04-28T17:09:00.003-05:00

For my husband. Recently he asked for smaller lunches because he doesn't eat a big meal at work. So I'm trying out this tupperware container. It's shallower than the Lock & Lock and smaller than my bento boxes.

Contents: Three chicken shu mai from Trader Joe's (two are hidden), apple flowers and carrot flowers, sugar snap peas, salad dressing in the bottle, two pieces of wheat gluten "beef" leftover from a Chinese restaurant, salad of lettuce and carrots, cucumber slices in the middle with a mint leaf garnish.

Salad for Hubby

2008-04-24T21:28:00.001-05:00

For my husband. Top Left: Cheese crackers, Babybel cheddar cheese, bottle of salad dressing. Top Right: Apple hearts. Bottom: Ham with mustard on animal picks, salad with cucumbers, carrots and onions.

Minneola Tangelo

2008-04-22T21:38:00.001-05:00

Lunch for my husband. I made a ham and cheese sandwich on homemade bread (Buttermilk bread made in our breadmaker). Unfortunately I squashed the sandwich trying to get all four sections to fit in the box. The fourth section ended up in a separate container!

Anyway, the lower compartment contains carrots, red and yellow bell pepper, and banana peppers. Upper compartment contains a fruit strip divided into two rolls, and a luscious minneola tangelo.

We discovered tangelos recently at H-Mart. They are so sweet, great flavor. I think it's my new favorite fruit!

More Lady Apples and Blood Orange

2008-04-18T16:11:00.001-05:00

For my husband. Left: Ham and cheese wraps surrounded by raw veggies. Right Top: Ranch dressing to dip the veggies (in a tiny jelly jar), and leftover veggie scraps. Right bottom: Lady apple and smooshed fruit strips on top of blood orange segments.

For me. Top: Babybel cheddar cheese, blood orange segments, homemade pumpkin muffins, and a smooshed fruit strip still wrapped with its paper backing. Bottom: TJ's cheese tortellini, carrots, red and yellow bell pepper on a bed of lettuce (lots more lettuce underneath). I have salad dressing at work to pour over the tortellini and veggies.

New Camera

2008-04-16T16:55:00.002-05:00

I'm still trying to figure out our new camera. I can already tell it will take better photos than the old one. I just need to get comfotable with the settings. This lunch was for me. Top Tier: A lady apple and organic fruit strips. Carrot scraps and blood orange. Homemade pumpkin muffins. Bottom Tier: Hummus and cheese rolls. Salad of carrots, bell peppers, lettuce, and chickpeas.

This lunch was for my husband. Clockwise from Top Left: Salad of lettuce and bell peppers. Four Trader Joe's chicken shu mai on top of rice with carrot flowers and bell pepper. Blood orange and organic fruit strips. Ham and mustard rolls with cheese on animal picks.

The fruit strips are FruitaBu brand Organic Smoooshed Fruit "twirls". I found them at Target! They come in long ribbons. I thought it might be fun to try shapes with them, but they are actually very sticky and hard to work with. They are tasty, though!

New Bento Box

2008-04-13T12:37:00.002-05:00

Purchased for $6.99 at H-Mart in Catonsville, MD, USA. The design seems to be a Beatrix Potter knock-off, LOL. It shows a family of bunnies playing music (including one playing the drums, which is obscured by the glare in my photo.) Anyway, I really like the divided top tier. If you turn the top tier upside down, the whole thing collapses for storage.

Fried Rice and Roasted Vegetables

2008-04-09T17:07:00.002-05:00

Top: Hummus and cheese rolled up in spinach tortilla. Raw red bell pepper, chickpeas, and cucumber. Bottom: Fried rice (my husband made it and it was yummy!). Roasted vegetables: onions, brussels sprouts, red bell pepper, zucchini. The whole bottom tier is leftovers from last night's dinner. Mmm.

Pizza and salad

2008-04-08T10:21:00.001-05:00

Top: Salad of lettuce, baby spinach, chickpeas, red bell pepper and cucumber. Bottom: Two homemade pumpkin mini muffins, dark chocolate chunks and roasted almonds. Homemade pizza with spinach, asparagus, and minced garlic.

I made the pizza dough in our breadmaker. The homemade pizza sauce and the pumpkin muffins were from our freezer stash!

Today's bento all closed up and ready to go. The salad in the top tier scrunched down nicely inside.

Brats

2008-04-03T20:05:00.004-05:00

For my husband. Left: Two homemade potato momos. Bratwurst with grilled peppers and onions. Right Top: Mustard for the brat, cheese crackers, and organic orange choco cookies. Right Bottom: Green beans with red pepper flakes, cheese and carrots.

Super speedy bento for me, since I was running late for work! Clockwise from top left: Three homemade potato momos. Spinach and chickpea salad. Roasted almonds and organic orange choco-chip cookies. Hummus with spinach tortilla rolls.

Here is my "recipe" for the potato momos.

Potato Momos

2008-04-01T21:24:00.003-05:00

Top: Strawberries from our freezer stash, salad with cheese flowers. Bottom: Three homemade potato momos.

Adding frozen strawberries in my lunch was an experiment, which I won't be doing again! The strawberries thawed into a watery, mushy mess. Luckily the paper cupcake wrapper held all the liquid, so my salad didn't get soggy. I didn't expect the strawberries to taste like fresh or anything, I just didn't realize they would deteriorate that much. From now on I'll stick to putting frozen strawberries in icecream and and frozen drinks! (And making strawberry syrup, yum.)

The momos were good. The filling is similar to a samosa, but the wrapper is a gyoza wrapper.

Getting a Facial

2008-03-27T17:22:00.003-05:00

This is my entry for Iron Bento, Battle: Faces! Our pampered lady is made of mozzarella cheese, cucumbers, strawberry lips, and cheddar cheese to (try to) define the jawline. The skin is spinach tortilla. Under the tortilla is a good amount of refried beans and cheese. On the right are the usual suspects: strawberries, dark chocolate, broccoli, and carrots.

Looks like she has a lot of lipstick on, and I guess you're not supposed to wear lipstick while getting a facial, but I'm in love with strawberries this week and I couldn't resist using them for the lips. By the way, the mozzarella cheese is supposed to be a head wrap.

I came up with this battle theme so I figured I'd better make an entry! This battle theme is on until April 5, 2008. I hope others will join in!

Strawberries!

2008-03-26T17:20:00.002-05:00

I was very happy to find strawberries on sale this week. I made this lunch for my hubby. Left: Shrimp with cocktail sauce, broccoli, animal skewers with pepperoni and cheddar. Right: Cheese crackers, more broccoli, strawberries, and two fish full of mustard.

After making one for him, I had just enough time to throw together this one for me: Lettuce and chickpeas, broccoli, cucumbers and asparagus, strawberries. I didn't pack salad dressing with this because I already have some at work. :p

Pasta Bento

2008-03-25T17:44:00.000-05:00

Left: Pasta with spaghetti sauce, asparagus sauteed with garlic, two mozzarella butterflies. Right: Cucumber slices, dark chocolate bar, salad with chickpeas.

Rare Saturday Bento

2008-03-22T09:32:00.002-05:00

A rare Saturday bento, for my husband who is off to a friend's house for their fantasy baseball draft. He actually requested that I make him a bento, which was a proud moment for me! Left: Animal skewers with pepperoni, ham, and green pepper. Six shrimp and a couple of asparagus spears. Right Top: Two bottles of cocktail sauce for the shrimp and a fishie full of mustard for the skewers. Cheese crackers. Right Bottom: Cheddar and mozzarella stars, more asparagus.

The Lock & Lock just wasn't big enough for everything, so I included a separate container for apple hearts and homemade pumpkin muffins.

I Love Asparagus

2008-03-21T17:10:00.001-05:00

Front: Salad with chickpeas, cucumber, asparagus slices, and cheddar/mozzarella flowers. Back: More blanched asparagus and the centers from the cheddar flowers. Roasted almonds and two organic ginger creme cookies.

New Bento Goodies

2008-03-19T20:53:00.004-05:00

Some new bento gear arrived in the mail today! I purchased these at Bento Obento Shop on eBay. I'm excited about the sauce containers because they come with a little eyedropper to help fill them. And I love the land animal picks -- they are even cuter than the sea animal picks that I already have! I've seen both of these items in bentos made by other people on Flickr -- I'm so happy to have my own sets now! The darling little erasers were a free gift in the package.

Better Than Yesterday

2008-03-18T17:34:00.002-05:00

Clockwise from top left: Boiled egg on a bed of sauteed asparagus. Babybel cheese, homemade pumpkin muffins, dark chocolate chunks and almonds. Rolled spinach tortilla with garlic hummus for dipping, tomato garnish. TJ's pesto tortellini with italian dressing in the container.

This bento was very satisfying. I had the hummus and tortilla for a mid-morning snack and ate the rest in two parts over the course of the afternoon.

I managed to make two bentos this morning. Part of my egg migrated over to my husband's bento...

For my husband. Left: Pork and broccoli on top of rice.* Top Right: TJ's pesto tortellini, soy sauce egg.* Bottom Right: Apple slices and homemade pumpkin muffins. The bottle at top is red sauce for the tortellini.

*My father-in-law made the pork, broccoli, rice, and soy sauce egg. I just bento-fied them. :)

Burned the Samosas

2008-03-17T17:19:00.005-05:00

Left: Broccoli stalks, two TJ's samosas with a dorky smile made from cheese scraps. Right: Salad with cheese/carrot flowers. TJ's blueberry breakfast bar. Dark chocolate chunks and roasted almonds.

Sadly I cannot recommend the Trader Joe's samosas. Too many carrots and untraditional things in there, and not enough potato -- in my opinion. (These were the frozen varienty, comes 6 in a box.) I burned the first two, trying to cook them in the special box in the microwave PER THE INSTRUCTIONS ON THE BOX...lots of smoke came out of the microwave when "done". It's a miracle our touchy fire alarm didn't go off. It might be because I tried to cook two instead of all six at once. Anyway, those two turned black as coal -- inedible!

BUT -- I'm happy that I finally figured out the settings on our camera. Even though I wasn't happy with the lunch, I think the photo is clearer than my latest bento photos. My hubby had been playing with the camera settings and I didn't know it! So my previous photos for 2008 are rather inconsistent in color/clarity/graininess...ha! Now I know how to reset the camera, so I'm hoping to improve my photos.

Green Green and more Green

2008-03-14T17:05:00.002-05:00

My bento is excessively green today. But anyway I wanted to try a bento in this Rubbermaid container. It is 6 1/4" across and very shallow. The lid takes up all of the headroom.

Clockwise from top left: Cream cheese/spinach/carrots wrapped in spinach tortilla. Broccoli. Two homemade pumpkin muffins. Chickpeas and lettuce. At the top is a bottle of Italian dressing.

Help From the Freezer

2008-03-11T17:22:00.002-05:00

For my husband. Left: Pesto tortellini from Trader Joe's. Meatballs from the freezer (storebought). Tabasco sauce in the fish and spaghetti sauce in the bottle. Right Top: Blanched asparagus with some carrot flowers. Salad dressing in the fish. Right Bottom: Blueberry breakfast bar from Trader Joe's, cut into pieces. Two homemade pumpkin mini muffins.

For me. Bottom Tier: Boiled egg, blanched asparagus. Pesto tortellini from Trader Joe's. Top Tier: Bottle of salad dressing to pour over everything in the bottom tier. Babybel cheese, carrot scraps, Trader Joe's blueberry breakfast bar, and two homemade pumpkin muffins.

The meatballs were from a bag in the freezer and all I have to do is microwave them for about 30 seconds. I recently individually quick froze the tortellini from Trader Joes, so they too can be cooked up by the handful. They go in boiling water for about 6 minutes. I ran cold water over the tortellini when done so they would be cool enough to put in the bento. The pumpkin muffins are fresh, but I individually froze the rest of the batch, so they should make easy sweet treats for future bentos.

The blueberry breakfast bar is last minute filler for both bentos because I ran out of time to think of anything better. Not that the bar isn't delish! It just seems a little overkill with the muffins. (Of course I ate them both anyway!)

Sandwich On a Stick

2008-03-05T17:46:00.001-05:00

For my husband. Left: Pepperoni and ham sandwich on two skewers. Right: Broccoli, grapes, organic gingersnaps.

Salad Bento

2008-03-04T18:17:00.002-05:00

For my husband. Left: Salad. There is a fair amount of lettuce under the veggies. Right Top: Grapes and storebought organic gingersnaps. Right Bottom: Pepperoni and cheese skewers. Salad dressing in the bottle. I also sent along a packet of croutons.

The lid would not lock down until I rearranged the cookies to lie flat! This rectangular Lock & Lock box is a tiny bit more shallow than the square one. Also, I learned that hard cheddar cheese doesn't work well on these plastic picks (skewers). The cheese cubes kept splitting apart. So I put the sad little cheddar bits away and used a Babybel cheese instead. The softer cheese worked well.

Bento Supplies Organization

2008-03-03T00:14:00.002-05:00

Over at LunchInABox.net, Biggie asked readers to share their methods of organizing bento gear. I don't have a ton of bento supplies, but there's enough that I felt the need to organize them about a year ago. I keep the small stuff in a set of Sterilite drawers...

1st Drawer: Sauce containers and plastic picks. 2nd Drawer: Mini cookie cutters. 3rd Drawer: Paper punches (got them on sale for $1 each at Michael's), two onigiri molds and a tulip hot dog cutter (haven't used the cutter yet).

My bento boxes are in a easy-to-reach lower cabinet with a glass door.

There are my beloved Lock & Lock containers, on top of a red Lunch&Go box. I've used the Lunch&Go a couple of times, but it's a little too big and deep for regular bentos. I've got three Japanese boxes (yay Totoro!). I've also stored some leftover sauce containers from Baja Fresh and Quizno's. Under those sauce containers is a sandwich box that I purchased at Target last year for $1. It's still in plastic, never used! It's small, but it might be good for a snack bento.

Thanks to Biggie for suggesting this post! Check out her blog for speedy bento tips and more!

Leap Year Bento

2008-02-29T22:55:00.002-05:00

For my hubby. Left: Turkey and provolone on sea animal picks, with some croutons. Right: Broccoli and red bell pepper; kiwi chunks with grapes.

A Two Bento Day!

2008-02-28T18:19:00.002-05:00

For my husband. Left: Turkey, cheddar, provolone and mustard sandwich on skewers with some red bell pepper. Right: Boiled egg, broccoli, carrots and red bell pepper. The fish is filled with spicy ginger sauce.

For me! Top: Boiled egg, broccoli, red bell pepper scraps. The fish is filled with spicy ginger sauce. Bottom: Tofu fish sticks with some broccoli and pepper flowers.

The tofu recipe is from Vegan Lunch Box. I like to make a batch, individually quick freeze them on a cookie sheet, then put in freezer bags. Then I can pull out however many I need for lunch! I microwave them for 30 seconds to a minute depending how many. I like to eat them with ketchup.

First bento in a long while...

2007-08-14T20:27:00.000-05:00

Today I decided to make a bento verrrry last minute before heading out to work. That's why there's not much to this one! But it's my first bento in our new house, so I'm happy.

Clockwise from top left: Leftover sauteed portobello mushrooms. I threw on some raw carrots for color. Next are two Babybel cheeses with the wax still on. Below that are some broken multigrain crackers for the cheese. They were too big to go in the box whole! Last are some fresh strawberries, which were on sale (yay!) and which inspired me to make a bento in the first place today.

Favorite Bento Resource

2007-04-15T18:20:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted any bentos in a long while. I got sort of busy with wedding plans, doing some freelance work in addition to the day job, fixing up the house for selling, and preparing to move to our new house! I've been so tired in the mornings (and been sleeping in so late) that I haven't put together any blog-worthy bentos. I'm hoping to get back to it this week!

In the meantime, I recommend a visit to this Flickr photo pool to see some great bentos by some very creative people!

http://www.flickr.com/groups/bentoboxes/pool/

I love looking at these photos -- it's a great place to get ideas and the people are nice. :)

On an unrelated subject, I've been experimenting with making origami flowers. I posted some photos here.

Turkey and Cheese Can Be Cute

2007-03-16T16:46:00.000-05:00

Top Left: Red delicious and gala apples.
Bottom Left: Swiss cheese, cheddar cheese, and turkey deli slices on skewers. I spread a little mustard on each turkey slice before folding it up.
Right: Two inarizushi with spinach mixed into the rice. Four shrimp shuimai dumplings (storebought) with carrot garnish on a bed of sauteed asparagus.

I made this for my fiance. I managed to add two more turkey & cheese skewers after the photo -- they were a bit squashed under the lid, but it did close! (This is our Lock & Lock container with two of the inner containers removed.)

Cheese and Crackers

2007-03-12T23:12:00.000-05:00

Top: Re-used Quizno's sauce container filled with cream cheese, topped with blanched asparagus and carrots. Triscut crackers with some cheddar cheese slices and tiny egg flower. There is also broccoli filling the empty space around the container, but it's hard to see in the photo!

Bottom: Sliced boiled egg, asparagus sauteed with garlic & olive oil, and some carrot flowers.

Four Squares

2007-03-07T22:33:00.000-05:00

I'm loving our Lock & Lock container!

Top Left: Cheese and hummus sandwich, carrot flower and lettuce garnish.
Top Right: Clementine segments and strawberries.
Bottom Left: Leftovers -- Asparagus sauteed with garlic, zucchini baked with parmesan cheese. There is a pepperoncini between the two.
Bottom Right: Boiled egg and carrot slices with lettuce garnish.

Quizno's Salad Container

2007-03-06T12:03:00.000-05:00

Yesterday's bento was in a Quizno's salad container that I saved from eating out. I love the shape!

Contents: Sliced boiled egg with carrot flower, broccoli, homemade vegetarian gyoza, cucumber slices, strawberries, more cucumber, asparagus, and a clementine in the middle. The fish is filled with spicy ginger sauce.

Guest Bento: Cute Onigiri

2007-03-04T20:25:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple of bentos that Brenda made last week. Yum!

Here is Brenda's description:

First is a goodluck Bento for [your] Dad. I made the onigiri? spelling? with a Shamrock cookie cutter. and used nori in my paper punch, it is sitting in a bed of spinach and alfalfa sprouts. The heart is a pickled beet and two pieces of candied ginger. The second Bento is a onigiri shaped by hand from directions out of my new Bento Book called Bento Boxes: Japanese Meals on the Go by Naomi Kijima and Laura Driussi. The onigiri is surround by verte mar beans from my garden. The fruit is kiwi,clementine sections and frozen wild huckleberries. The squash is out of the freezer, I had so much that I steamed a lot of it and froze it. Crushed red pepper is on the top. These were a lot of fun to do!. love b

Lots of Green Veggies

2007-03-02T18:41:00.000-05:00

Left: Plain rice* onigiri with black sesame seeds, avacado slice, and cucumber flower on top. Brocolli at four corners of the rice. Asparagus on top of tofu fish sticks.

Right: Grapefruit, banana, dark chocolate.

*The rice has a little rice vinegar mixed in. Not pictured: Sauce for the vegetables and ketchup for the tofu. I always forget to include them in the photo!

Here's another photo of the same bento. I couldn't figure out the best lighting.

Frozen Spaghetti

2007-02-28T19:10:00.000-05:00

Top: Spaghetti w/ parmesan surrounded by asparagus (sauteed with olive oil & fresh garlic).

Bottom: Cucumber, carrot shapes, kumquat, tofu fish sticks.

This was my first use of homemade frozen spaghetti, per the speedy bento tip that I learned here. I froze mine in rectangle shapes w/parmesan on top, perfect to drop in this bento box and frame with some asparagus leftover from last night's dinner. The spaghetti had thawed perfectly by lunchtime.

Peeled Grapefruit

2007-02-27T21:36:00.000-05:00

Top: Grapefruit segments and cucumber.
Bottom: Homemade vegetarian gyoza with cucumber and carrot garnish. There's some rice & spinach underneath.

This was the first time I've actually peeled a grapefruit. It wasn't easy! The membranes are quite tough. I guess that's why it's normally cut in half and eaten with a spoon. Anyway, it tasted great!

First Lock & Lock Bento

2007-02-26T23:53:00.000-05:00

Nothing cute today, but it's the first time I used a Lock & Lock container (purchased at Target). This lunch was for my Sheu. I had kinda crammed the sandwich slices in there, and he reported that they were hard to get out. Oops! But he still thanked me for the lunch. :)

Clockwise from Top Left: Apples & kiwi, ham & cheese sandwich, green beans with a pepperoncini, spaghetti with a meatball.

Onigiri and Spring Rolls

2007-02-23T19:07:00.000-05:00

Top: Round onigiri with spinach and chopped aburaage, homemade spring rolls, cucumber flowers.
Bottom: Sliced boiled egg, cheese sandwich, olive and cilantro garnish.

We had some aburaage (fried tofu pouches) that had too many tears and holes to be used for inarizushi. So I chopped them up and put them in the onigiri. It was pretty good! The spring roll recipe is modified from Martin Yan's Chinatown Cooking.

Pork Siu Mai

2007-02-21T11:05:00.000-05:00

Today's bento for Sheu.

Top: Clementine segments, raspberry cream cheese icing on pecan sandie cookies, broccoli.

Bottom: Homemade pork siu mai dumplings, broccoli, rice with sesame seeds.

My grandma made the cookies last Christmas. She sent us a lot of different cookies, so I froze many of them. Perfect for a February treat! I improvised the cream cheese topping with frozen raspberries.

Fruit and Chocolate

2007-02-19T18:33:00.000-05:00

Top: Boiled egg, haricot verts, cream cheese sandwich spirals, carrots.

Bottom: Cucumber with oregano, clementine segments and kiwi with dark chocolate pieces.

The spirals were a little blah. I thought some herbs would be enough to flavor the cream cheese....nope! Must use a better filling next time.

Post Valentine's Day Snack Bento

2007-02-16T18:46:00.000-05:00

I meant to do this on Valentine's Day, but the roads were so icy, we worked from home and didn't do bentos that day!

Left: Homemade pumpkin muffin with cream cheese icing, dark chocolate m&m's.
Right: Apple hearts on top of clementine segments.

Had a little mishap with this one: The icing stuck to the bento lid, so when the bento was opened the muffin lifted right out and m&m's went flying! Not well engineered, but it's the thought that counts, right?

The pumpkin bread recipe is quite good. I made a loaf and about nine muffins from it. I forgot to substitute one cup of brown sugar for the white, as a friend suggested...will try that next time. It was still pretty good with all white sugar.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Downeast-Maine-Pumpkin-Bread/Detail.aspx

Apple Hearts

2007-02-13T01:10:00.000-05:00

Today's bento for Sheu:

Top: Apple hearts, carrot flowers, kiwi slices (hidden under the apples), mini sandwiches of pumpernickel, ham, swiss, & cream cheese.

Bottom: Saffron rice, zesty lemon chicken, broccoli, carrot garnish.

And one for me:

Saffron rice, asparagus, cucumbers and kiwi with carrot butterflies, three homemade veggie patties, broccoli, boiled egg. I forgot to put my sauce containers in there before taking the photo! A-1 sauce goes well on the veggie patties.

UPDATE: I actually should have said "yesterday's bento", because these were our Monday lunches. (since I posted so late, the post is dated Tuesday) Why the clarification? Because Monday night, Sheu proposed! And of course I said YES!! I didn't mention it until now because I wanted to tell family first... Anyway, the photo of his bento above will always have special meaning to me. :D

Another Two Bentos

2007-02-09T19:06:00.000-05:00

I managed to make two bentos this morning, one for my boyfriend and one for me. Here's the one that I made for him:

Top: Apple slices, carrots, baby portobellos sauteed in A-1 sauce. There are clementine segments under the apples.

Bottom: Broccoli, onigiri with slice of broccoli stalk on top, three homemade vegetable gyoza, fish full of spicy ginger sauce.

Here's the one that I made for me:

Left: Baby portobello mushrooms sauteed in A-1 sauce, broccoli, carrot scraps, cucumber with slice of broccoli stalk on top, clementine segments.

Right: Black eyed peas, spinach, tomatoes and garlic simmered with Indian spices. The flower is made of cucumber and carrot. :)

A Little Of Everything

2007-02-08T19:16:00.000-05:00

Another bento for Sheu. We had a lot of leftovers, so I wanted to see how much variety I could get in the box. Click photo for more info.

Top: Three shrimp shiumai dumplings (storebought), one piece brocolli, tofu fish sticks, beef stir fry, haricot verts & carrots, zesty lemon chicken.

Bottom: Quick cabbage pickle, carrots, boiled egg, clementine sections, kiwi, and pineapple hiding under the other fruit.

The beef and chicken are leftovers from dinners that Sheu made. This was the first time I tried making "Quick Cabbage Pickle" from the Bento Boxes cookbook. Basically you mix cabbage with a lot of salt, let it sit for a few minutes, then squeeze the water out. It's pretty salty tasting--I'm not sure I'll make it again.

The tofu fish sticks recipe is from Vegan Lunch Box.

Bald Butterfly

2007-02-06T18:52:00.000-05:00

I made this lunch for Sheu today. I forgot to put antennae on the butterfly! It looks bald, haha. You can click the photo for a closer view.

Top: Ham-swiss-mustard rolls on sea animal picks, cucumber slices, carrot flowers, mango and kiwi.

Bottom: Bed of veggie fried rice leftover from Thai restaurant; butterfly made of boiled egg, carrot, and nori; branch made of haricot verts.

Sorry to report that the butterfly didn't survive the commute to Sheu's office. When I IM'd to ask him if the butterfly was still intact, he IM'd back, "The egg? I see some egg on one side and some green beans in the corner." I need to learn how to make my bentos jostle-proof!

A Dental Excavator Works the Best

2007-02-06T00:28:00.000-05:00

My dear step-mom Brenda made her first bento this past weekend. Her photo and description are below. That wasabi mustard egg looks soooo good!

This Bento is my first and there is enough food here to last more than one meal….. which is great. My busy life…and I’m sure other’s have the same problem…. doesn’t allow me time to do this everyday. So I will just store the leftovers in my fridge at work and eat different things each day. I really intrigued my co-workers today with my “very pretty lunch”!

My mega-Bento lunch contains steamed broccoli and mushroom caps, brown rice with tamari decorated with hot pickled carrots cut with mini cookie cutters. A boiled eggs sits in the middle with a star cut out and filled with a wasabi-mustard sauce and sprinkled with paprika—sort of an oriental twist to a deviled egg I guess….Two Beldi oil cured olives complete this dish. Next is a mixed green salad with cucumber, grape tomatoes, more Beldi’s and grated purple carrot. The carrots are purple on the outside and orange on the inside. My neighbor and best friend is an Organic Farmer and these carrots were part of my Christmas present. The cutout from my egg sits in the middle. The fruit is a Clementine with heart shape cut out, I used an old dental excavator instrument to help peel out the shape, it was perfect! Very small and sharp I recommend this for everyone. Hehe…. and last - Kiwi slices. Very yummy… brenda

Old Camera, New Flickr Account

2007-02-05T19:27:00.000-05:00

Sheu loaned his (very nice) camera out this week, so I pulled out my somewhat crappy old camera to snap the bento I made for him today. This is also the first time I've used Flickr.com to host the photos. You can click the photo for a better look.

Top: Three storebought shiumai dumplings on a bed of rice w/ sesame seeds (with carrot flowers on top); mini sandwiches of pumpernickel, mustard, and swiss cheese; ham & swiss cheese rolls, lettuce.

Bottom: Clementine sections and strawberries, banana peppers and olives.

Two Bento Day

2007-02-03T18:13:00.000-05:00

Friday I made a bento for my boyfriend:

Left: Clementine sections, kiwi flowers, mango chunks, and strawberries.

Right: Two spinach inirizushi with red bell pepper on top, two shrimp shiumai dumplings with carrot stars on top, boiled egg with inlaid carrot star, green leaf lettuce.

The shrimp dumplings are from a frozen package we got at Lotte. They are really tiny! I tried to microwave two of them following the package directions at 3 minutes. They burned to a black and brown crisp! I guess the direction are for doing all 16 at once. I did two more at 1 1/2 minutes and they turned out alright.

After that I was a bit rushed with my own bento:

Left: Mango, kiwi, strawberries, clementine.

Right: Three homemade veggie patties, boiled egg with inlaid carrot flower, lettuce and cucumbers, spinach rice (left over from Sheu's inarizushi) and carrot garnish. Not pictured: A-1 sauce for the patties.

The veggie patties are a recipe from Betty Crocker's Cookbook. Here's my earlier post about them. They turned out to be a great freezer item! I froze them on cookie sheets then put them in a freezer bag. For the bento, I just popped three of them straight from the freezer into the microwave for 30 seconds, and they were ready to go! They are yummy with A-1 sauce.

Late For Work Bento

2007-02-01T23:21:00.000-05:00

I was really, REALLY running late for work this time, and hadn't planned to make a bento at all, and look what happened anyway. I threw it together in five minutes and it was actually pretty good!

Top: Mango slices and strawberries, Newman's Own Ginger-O's cookies.

Bottom: Tofu Fish Sticks, broccoli and carrots. Not pictured: a container of ketchup for the tofu.

I had made the Tofu Fish Sticks the night before, for the first time. It's a recipe from Vegan Lunch Box. They turned out sooooo well! I was very pleasantly surprised! Very easy recipe (if you have a food processor) and very tasty. They go well with ketchup.

You can get the recipe for Tofu Fish Sticks here. Highly recommended! Note: I used milk in place of the soy milk that the recipe calls for.

I blanched a big batch of broccoli earlier in the week and keep it in a container in the fridge. It's easy to throw some in a bento or stir-fry. I've read that some vitamins might be leached out from blanching, but I think it's better than eating no broccoli at all! (for me, crispy blanched broccoli is easier to eat than dry, hard, raw broccoli)

My First Inarizushi

2007-02-01T17:51:00.000-05:00

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.

Stray Piece of Red Bell Pepper

2007-01-31T22:48:00.001-05:00

Welcome to my bento blog! This bento is from last Monday.

Left: Clementine, strawberries, weird cucumber shapes, and lettuce garnish.
Right: Three homemade vegetarian gyoza, two onigiri with spinach mixed into the rice, lettuce, and two fishies filled with spicy ginger sauce. The piece of red bell pepper is sticking out at an odd angle because I didn't really know what to do with it! I was running late for work at that point...heh.

I learned how to make the gyoza from the great tutorial at CookingCute.com. I have several batches in the freezer now, and they are a cinch to cook straight from the freezer!