Bento Corner

Shokupanman onigiri with hambaagu.

Shokupanman is one of Ampanman's close friend. I made him look quite feminine, but he will have to do. The eyebrows and nose outline is made of kizami kombu and the red is umeboshi. The onigiri has umeboshi in the middle.

Bento also includes hambaagu which is a Japanese meatloaf except it's pan fried instead of baked. My daughter looked at the hambagu and sighed saying, "Oh, hambaagu (again)". Which is strange considering I rarely make hambaagu since I am not too fond of them myself. I think I've only made hambaagu for her one other time in her 4.5 year lifetime. I mean, really -- what's the deal, yo? Wondering if she's picked this up from her peers who get hambaagu in their bentos often.

Bento also includes carrots stir fried with tarako, pan fried sweet potato, broccoli, and CA grapes. I've never made the carrot tarako stir fry, but have been wanting to try it for some time now. I love tarako and although it's good cooked, I like it best raw with hot rice.

We were in a rush this morning because I had to leave the house at a certain time to meet with my friend. I thought this bento would not be time consuming, but it took way more time than I thought.

I think the baby chicks took quite a bit of time...maybe because I haven't made them in a while. I also realized I had no carrots in the house so I used umeboshi for the beaks. Last night I planned on making baby chick eggs, mushroom rice onigiri, gyoza, and mandarin orange salad. But then at the last minute I realized I had no green vegetable in the bento, so quickly boiled edamame and put them on a pick with a red flag to include some red in the bento. Not sure what went wrong, but I'm usually done with bento at around 7:45, but by the time I was done with bento and looked at the time it was 8:15 or so (?!).

We ran out of the house and I ended up getting to the school 10 minutes later than the scheduled time. My friend arrived about 10 minutes after I did, so I didn't feel too badly. It's hard to get things going on a Monday morning.

Bunny bento onigiri with tamagoyaki, sausages, and fruit.

The bunny bento has chopped shibazuke inside which is one of my daughter's favorites (her favorite is umeboshi). I haven't used it in a while but when we were visiting Japan, my mom put out umeboshi for her and I was reminded of how much she likes umeboshi/shibazuke. The tamagoyaki has kanikama (imitation crab) in the middle. Bento also includes broccoli and fruit. I finally found CA grapes at my local grocery store! Woohoo! My kids love grapes but I always wait until CA grapes are in the stores so they have to do without all winter long (at least in my house).

It started raining again in the Bay Area. So strange that this week has been feeling a lot like summer and then suddenly rain. Wondering what is to become of the birthday party at the park this weekend. Hope it clears up by Sunday...

Hello Kitty bento with tamagoyaki, stir fry, and fruit.

The Hello Kitty is an umeboshi onigiri. My daughter was thrilled about this bento, as were her teachers from what she tells me. The bento also includes edamame, tamagoyaki, stir fried vegetables and chicken, and strawberries for dessert.

My days are so busy these days accompanying my daughter for  playdates, birthdays, and various summer outings... We brought out the kiddie pool in the backyard already. It's nice to be able to enjoy this great weather before it gets too hot...