Bento Corner

Tulip bento with shrimp fried rice, croquette, and fruit.

The shrimp fried rice is made from the package seasoning and I just added shrimp, egg, and rice to it. The quail egg tulips were a last minute effort -- I was trying to make something else, but it was taking too long and I was running out of time.Croquette left over from the last batch I made and fruit. I found organic cherries at my local farmer's market for $5.00/pound! What an incredible deal!

It is so hot today! Taking the kids to a nearby park for some water play after school! Should be fun! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Tried making croquette from scratch and it turned out pretty tasty. Recipe to be posted later.

I actually ended up dipping one of my fingers into the oil! I am very accident prone, apparently...

Kuma onigiri made earlier this week, but my husband just got around to uploading the photo -- he's been having a tough week with his business.

I forgot what was in this kuma onigiri (also suffering from mild memory loss b/c it's been generally hectic around these parts). I think either shibazuke or umeboshi. Bento also includes yakisoba, cream corn croquette, tamagoyaki with shirasu and spinach, and cherries for dessert.

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.