Bento Corner

This is not a repeat...this is Mimi -- Hello Kitty's twin sister with a yellow ribbon on the opposite side. *beams*

Bento includes par boiled cauliflower sauteed with ham in ketchup -- I know it doesn't sound great, but I found the recipe in my bento book and it was not bad. Below Mimi is tamagoyaki with spinach and to the right is salmon patted with flour seasoned with salt and pepper and pan fried. I also put in some tartar sauce with the salmon since my kids eat it better this way. Tartar sauce is made with sweet relish and mayonnaise mixed to taste. And on top of Mimi is sliced apples.

You can tell I am getting really lazy with bento lately. I mean, Mimi should really have 3 whiskers on each side, but I thought two was enough and I was running out of room and time...

My daughter finishes the summer session of preschool in 3 more days! But she (and therefore I) really get no break since she starts kindergarten the following week...

Billy goat bento -- or does it look like a sheep?

My husband took one look at this bento and said, "This is a repeat." But it's not really -- I meant for this to be a goat, not a sheep. We had left over chow mein and since I haven't used noodles in a while, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to change things up a bit (read: I was too lazy to pass up an easy bento packing opportunity).

Also added tamagoyaki with nori left over from the goat face and kabocha. When I asked my daughter about the bento after school, she said, "Well, it was good, but when I bit into the kabocha I streched my legs and ate it," or something like that. I didn't get what she meant, so I asked a second time about the kabocha and she said the same thing. It's a very Japanese way of answering things since she didn't directly say she didn't like it. I believe she was trying to convey that when she bit into the kabocha it made her toes curl like when you are eating something you don't like but can't spit it out so you muster the courage to chew and swallow.

And that, ladies and gentleman, is how a parent can build endurance in their 4 year old...

My daughter's preschool went to the local park on a hike and this was the bento I made for that event.

My daughter started preschool last spring when she was 3.5 years old. She has never been a big eater and even her pediatrician was worried about her growth. She would eat in small bites and chew her food morsels for what seemed like eternity. At that time, I used to make bentos for her but barely put anything in there because she took so long in eating her food. I would include only one roll of onigiri, and 2 other oakzu in small portions. When I think about that time I am amazed that she has maybe doubled to tripled her eating portion. And she comes home and eats a pretty healthy portion for snacks too!

So, for this bento, I included 3 onigiri -- 2 umeboshi and one sake (salmon)! I am so happy to just be able to write something other than umeboshi or shibazuke! Ha! I also sprinkled some denbu on the cheeks of the onigiri, but you can't really see it very well.

Bento also includes sweet teriyaki chicken; salad with orange, wakame, and shirasu; and edamame and grapes on picks.

See where my husband decided to take this photo? It's on the railing of the deck. He is really getting brave where he takes his photos. He is pretty accident prone too, so I don't even want to think about what would happen if he actually dropped the bento...

Chirashi sushi with unagi -- it's supposed to be a sunflower...

I made chirashi sushi with unagi and decided to arrange the egg that goes on top in shape of hearts. I started playing around with it and thought maybe I could pull off a sunflower. I arranged the nori in criss-cross patterns in the middle and thought that was sufficient. Then my husband looked at it and said you need seeds in the middle so I scattered the sesame in. In my opnion, I thought the criss-cross nori was enough, but I see now that is what is done in Japan -- that's how I draw sunflowers too. Big yellow petals, with criss-crosses in the middle. I never thought about seeds...

Bento also includes okra ohitashi (frozen variety), asparagus rolled in bacon, and cherries. I've never made asparagus rolled in bacon, so this was my first attempt. it was not bad except I should have tried rolling maybe 2-3 spears instead of just one. I thought one spear just ended up being too salty...I also steamed the asparagus a bit first just incase it didn't cook enough by just fying it in the pan along with the bacon.