Bento Lunches

Right-before-vacation bento

2009-07-11T00:37:17Z

Husband came home and we are going on vacation. I am SUPER excited. It was much deserved and highly anticipated! We'll be hitting up some states this island girl has never even dreamed of visiting. Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. I will most def have lots of blogworthy food photos for all of you when I return.

This is the last post I will be posting for the next three weeks.

(click for larger image)
Hamburger on wheat bread, lettuce, onions, tomatoes to put in the sandwich, and a mayo monkey.

I'm out!

A lunch built round a garnish

2009-07-10T20:58:33Z

Last night my husband went to a fancy thai restaurant (www.arusthai.com) that was waaaay more fancy than what he was planning for on a weeknight but he brought home the cutest goldfish carrot garnish in a cup for today's bento. So last night I had to come up with a theme around this goldfish.

Bed is Korean ramen noodles, octodog, hot dog fish, red pepper squid, pea and cuke seaweed/coral (don't really have that coral down yet), swedish fish on yogos gravel in sidecar. It was all eaten. yaay.

goldfish behind cut.... .

Ode to Ramona

2009-07-10T20:48:57Z

I decided to try to expand that large eye thing that was a mistake the last time I did it. We are reading Ramona the Brave, in which the lead character, Ramona Quimby, is in first grade and gets angry and scrunches up a classmate's paperbag owl, so I thought trying to re-create the owl would be fun.

PB&J sandwich cut into owl body, cheese with "v" shaped feather cuts, Little Man's initials in cucumber (SH), cherries, goldfish and a few blueberry fillers.

Mine is the pink one - Spanish tortilla wedge (like a fritata or omelette with potatoes and peas), blueberries, pepper scraps, carrots and cuke scraps.

bentolunch @ 2009-07-10T21:55:00

2009-07-10T19:59:42Z

It seems many people were out of groceries today! So was I, usually I plan my bentos very carefully but I could absolutely not find anything green to add :( Maybe the grapes can count as pastel green? D:

There's pasta and sauce, an olive, corn, lentil burgers with ketchup, la vache cheese, grapes, and carrots and hummus for dipping. I'll go grocery shopping tomorrow ;_;

More bentos, finally!

2009-07-10T19:37:34Z

I have been bentoing, but nothing has been looking that special. I got inspired earlier in the week though, so two of my lunches are publishable, haha.

This one has little rice balls made to look like Makkurokurosuke from Spirited Away. I also added cherry tomatoes, olives, radish mushrooms and sliced pickled radish (the yellow stuff) all on a base of greens. The rice was flavoured with cod roe furikake. The eyes are cheese and black sesame seeds. I also have a tea egg in the corner.

MMMMmmmmmm SPAM! The key ingredient in spam musubi! I have four musubis, cherry tomatoes, a laughing cow cheese, a couple of edamame pods, carrot sticks and two more radish mushrooms. I needed a lot of veggies to balance out the spam, haha!

bentolunch @ 2009-07-10T13:38:00

2009-07-10T17:48:38Z

Today's bento and snack bento:

Turkey and cheese tortilla rolls (that kinda fell apart, lol) with a spinach tortilla, grape tomatoes, fresh Ontario cherries (!), little dinosaur cheeses (I seriously love those things), and the leftover tortellini from yesterday.

For my snack bento: banana strawberry skewers (I really love skewering things), wee little grapes on the bottom (sorry, you can hardly see them), and two soft cookies. I love these cookies - they're free of wheat and gluten, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, soy, fish, shellfish, sulfites, and sesame - 10 of the most common allergens. And they happen to be delicious. Bonus!

When I decide to cook a little...

2009-07-10T14:52:50Z

This bento required a bit more effort in that I did some cooking.

Contents:
Italian Potato Salad
Cucumbers with rice wine vinegar and red pepper flakes
boneless ribs with spicy and sweet dry rub
Sixlets candy

For more details on making it, and a quick update about my History of American Packed lunch project (and by quick, I mean SHORT), please check out my blog Boston Bento.

New bento!

2009-07-10T14:28:38Z

Kind of running out of food in the house as is evidenced by the sparse bento I made the other morning:

Carrot sticks, onigiri, and Grilled Pacific Rim Chicken Thighs.

Two Great Helpers!

2009-07-10T14:17:41Z

A couple of weeks ago (I think) someone posted a pic of their daughter on here and my kidlets decided that they wanted their picture on here as well. So this morning while I was taking pictures of my husbands bento I let them be in one.

Top: Mini candy bar, mini airhead, carrots, grapes, crackers
Bottom: Swiss cheese, ham, poppy seed dressing(under cheese) for carrots
Not pictured: bread to make hot ham and swiss sandwich with

Here are my two helpers(bedhead and all). They love to get up early and help me decide what to put in daddy's lunch for the day.
They also love for me to pack bentos for them as well, but I don't do that nearly as often as I should.

bentolunch @ 2009-07-10T09:22:00

2009-07-10T13:23:29Z

I'm really please with how the colours worked out in this one.

On the left there are chicken fingers, a two-bit strawberry coffee cake and a couple of tomatoes as filler. On the right there is a salad made of wild rice and peaches, sugar snap peas and blueberries.

Pita lunch

2009-07-10T08:21:30Z

Child has cheese & ham in pita, with yellow pepper, cucumber and carrot sticks and cream cheese in the bear for dipping. Pineapple on the side and carrot, apple & raspberry juice to drink. I think he's getting a lot less picky, because that's not something I'd have got past him a month or two ago, and today he approved everything again, hurray!

Baby and I have very similar, so I've not pictured it; we have fresh fruit, and baby has cream cheese and grated carrot in her pita, and steamed broccoli instead of veg sticks. Oh, and we have yoghurts (normal for me, baby for her), and she only drinks water (and milk).

Bento #35

2009-07-10T02:08:14Z

I took a break for a couple of days. I just didn't feel like making a good bento. I am proud that I have been using my reusable sandwich box for PB&Js and a side box for my pretzels. I am excited about this for tomorrow though. It should be a pretty good time.

Left: pasta with a red sauce
Right: applesauce, mixed greens, cucumber flowers and raspberry vinaigrette

Korean potato salad and gyoza bento

2009-07-10T01:42:20Z

(click for larger image)
Korean-style potato salad, cherry tomatoes, 2 gyoza, gyoza sauce in Hello Kitty.

This is called Korean-style potato salad because it is a poor substitute for Sorabol's potato salad. Sorabol is a Korean restaurant in town that my best friend and I frequent for lengthy girlie conversation. They bring out about 8 (free!) side dishes with every order. It's always random, so I'm always hoping that this potato salad is on the menu for the day.

Korean-style potato salad
2 potatoes, cooked (I cut mine up into cubes and microwave for 6 minutes)
1/4 block kamaboko, minced
1/4 cucumber, minced
mayo, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste

Mash potatoes until it resembles lumpy mashed potatoes. Mix in other ingredients. Chill and serve.

Aisai Bento

2009-07-09T23:04:29Z

My husband has fallen in love with sushi. (This was the same man who didn't eat SALADS when we first married, but I digress). Anyway, he's gotten nuts for the stuff.

Tomorrow is his birthday, so of course I had to learn to make sushi for him for his bento. This is smoked salmon and cucumber.

Friends, if you're considering learning to make sushi, go for it. It's not really difficult to make. No, this doesn't look as neat as a sushi chef would do it (my first attempt, after all). If you make sure you make the rice well-rinsed before cooking and cooled down to room temperature, be careful not to spread it too thick, roll carefully, then roll it again to seal, and use a wet knife to cut the pieces, you're all good.

Bento Meals: 7/9/09

2009-07-09T21:25:42Z

I apologize in advance for the blurriness of the photos. I figure it's better to have slightly blurry photos (from my cellphone) than no photos at all! :-)

My husband backed the breakfast bento, and I had packed the lunch bento.

Breakfast

Grits topped with scrambled eggs, sauted onions,

orange bell pepper, and cheddar cheese.

(I just noticed that the orange pepper pieces were a smiley face.)

Lunch

Ohjinguh-Nakji Bokkeum (spicy squid/octopus veggie stirfry)

with brown rice and toasted black sesame seeds

(I love how the baby octopi looked.)

(also posted on Be My Bento.)

bentolunch @ 2009-07-09T16:21:00

2009-07-09T20:25:05Z

I'm very sorry if this isn't allowed, but recently I had my Live Journal hacked. The horrible culprit did nothing directly to my journal, but posted several mean and hurtful comments in several community posts. I'm trying to track them all down and apologize directly to those hurt. I'm very sorry for this and intensely embarrassed. Please believe that I would never say such things.

first three (postable) bentos

2009-07-09T20:03:02Z

So, I am in Germany to improve my German. I have lessons all morning till 13h but I can't hold that long without food, I need my lunch at 12. So, I started packing a few things (I had been watching this community before and I had made a few bentos but those are the first few worth posting).

BENTO 1:

Sliced tomatoes, two apricots and a salad made with lettuce, spätzle (german egg pasta) and frankfurter. In the container, garlic sauce. There was also a ritter sport (nugat flavour).

BENTO 2:

Chinese left overs (chicken and noodles), apricots and tomatoes. And this time I took the ritter.

BENTO 3:

Spätzle with pesto and tuna. Green peas on top, two apricots and a tomatoe as well.

My fellow students looked at me with wide eyes, bringing lunch is not something you do very often in Europe (except in the UK). I shall try to do as much bento as possible now because I really like it. So thanks to this community, I am now addicted.

bentolunch @ 2009-07-09T10:35:00

2009-07-09T17:39:59Z

So Tuesday was my orgo exam, and I thought to myself, "Well, self, it's your first bento after defeating the orgo exam, let's make it special!" Then I opened the fridge and discovered there was NOTHING inside to be had. "Oh dear, self," I thought to myself, "what shall I put in my bento box?"

And thus:
Rightmost tier: Two frozen onigiri, with some damp nori put on top of the saran wrap to give it some decoration. Empty space.
Leftmost tier: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich circles. That poor sandwich, destroyed in the name of bento. Oh and a cheese wedge. And some empty space.

As I was cleaning up the dishes and putting my bento to chill in the fridge I remembered that because I don't have class, I can eat lunch at home, thereby rendering my bento irrelevant.

I do like the photography though.

bentolunch @ 2009-07-09T13:14:00

2009-07-09T17:25:21Z

Wow, it's been months since I've done a bento. I'm really intending to commit to them now, because I love them so much.

This is today's bento - rainbow tortellini, chicken-less nuggets, plum sauce, and tomato and cheese skewers. I was intending to use mini bocconcini cheese balls, but it wasn't smelling too good when I opened the container. Alas.

I found something adorable while shopping the other day, as well:

... it's a wee little goldfish container! Luckily it was only two dollars. I'm using it today as my snack bento.

Strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries (let's hear it for seasonal Ontario fruit!) topped with little cheese dinosaurs (at least, that's what they're supposed to look like).

I'm pretty pleased with the fishy, as I have absolutely no real bento supplies. Oh well, no use sitting around bemoaning my lack of bento goodies, as I'm so poor right now that I'm lucky to have tupperware! Hahaha!

569: pasta

2009-07-09T14:48:06Z

Little snack for Muffin today -- leftover baked pasta, lettuce, French green beans (blanched), bread and butter pickles and a tiny tomato. She has started packing her own snack for rehearsals, sometimes bento and sometimes not. So I'm getting a break!

bentolunch @ 2009-07-09T09:18:00

2009-07-09T13:23:59Z

This is a quick bento that is pretty typical of bentos I make mid-week when I am most busy and not that interested in cooking anything extra for lunch. This is also what my bentos look like when I don't have much in terms of leftovers for dinner. Still pretty yummy and seasonal though.

As an extra note, I have decided to do a little project on my blog tracing the history of the packed lunch. In stead of just focusing on Japanese boxed lunches, I am hoping to expand my view a little bit. If you are interested in watching my progress, please check out my blog Boston Bento.

First post and first bento box!

2009-07-09T11:56:07Z

Hello everyone. I'm a stay-at-home dad from Salt Lake City and have been wanting to make bento boxes for my wife for a while now. I've been lurking here, getting ideas, and I finally took the plunge last week. Here is how it turned out:

The top tier has broccoli, watermelon, cantaloupe, and carrots. In the bottom is rice and jerk pork.

Beano pie bento

2009-07-09T11:32:28Z

Top tier: Bakewell tart with strawberrys
Bottom tier - cherry tomato, soy sauce egg, potato salad and 2 beno pies :).

New Bento box

2009-07-09T06:10:34Z

Just received my new bento box from Japan and I love it. So to celebrate - ta da!

Top: heart shaped cucumbers, fresh apricot, steamed green beans and mushrooms sauteed with sake
Bottom: steam rice and pork tonkatsu with mayo container

More Mackrel

2009-07-08T22:56:37Z

This time the mackrel is in the form of smoked mackrel pate in the top right corner. Below that are halves of toasted milk roll. To the left of that there are ham, soft cheese and cucumber rolls with some cucumber sticks underneath and in the top left a Hello Kitty boiled egg with a kitty of mayo and a cherry to fill in the gap.