American Bento

I hope you are having a wonderful and restful Sunday.  My morning was CRAZY; two kids acted up for most of it.  Nap time brought about a complete change in attitude and peace now reigns in my house once again.  Thank God!  I have two kids playing in the garden and a third playing with a puzzle in the living room.  Even DH is playing: fencing at a local park with some of our friends.  I thus had most of an afternoon to myself.  What did I do with that time?  Well, I made dinner - a bento box for each member of the family while watching a movie.  :)  What a lovely way to spend an afternoon!


The blue bento is a child's bento and the clear one is the adult version.  There is very little difference between the two.  I will describe the child's bento as the template for the day. 

The top section contains a pot sticker cut in half for easy eating, some dipping sauce, and three square onigiri made with peas in them.  The spaces are filled with grapes. 

The bottom section contains marinated cucumber slices (with sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce), some orange slices, broccoli, and some sauteed chicken.  Carrot sticks and grapes fill in any further gaps. 

The adult version of the bento has more meat and no carrots. 

I was visiting one of my favorite bento blogs this evening and just had to share.  There was a fabulous contest in which 220 people submitted their most beautiful bentos.  I didn't submit anything and I'm glad I didn't.  The work I see is simply lovely and far better than anything I have done!  Please take a look at these amazing bentos!

I shared them with DH and he commented that he would feel guilty eating any of them.  He's such a kind man!!!  :)

DH's bento is done!  He is taking this little beauty to the park today with the kids. 

Of course, the second I packed it, my little girl tried to flip it over . . .   Thank heavens that I packed it really tightly.

From left to right:  Tuna salad in a tomato and topped with green pepper slices, peppers and carrots, cucumber slices, orange slices, banana bread, grapes, and whole wheat rusks.

Well, I haven't posted in FOREVER!  Luckily there are good reasons.  Since my last post, I had bronchitis and sinusitis for 2 months straight, we found a brain tumor in my father's head while he was visiting and meeting the grandkids, and . . .  I am pregnant.  As of this post 22 weeks pregnant (plus a few days).  So, as you can imagine, I've been pulled in 100 directions at once and not nearly as attentive to cute meals as I could be.  But, all that is past us now.  Well, except for the whole pregnant thing.  I'm due in November but as long as I'm feeling good and not waddling around the kitchen, I might as well play a bit. 

Today DH is taking the little kids to the park for a picnic - well those little kids who behave properly anyway.  I am in the process of packing lunch for everyone involved.  I hope to have some quiet time to get work done around the house while the kids get quality time with Dad. 

This is installment one of the picnic bentos.  Today is Friday, so usually, we go meatless.  The littles are eating chicken while DH is eating fish.  I haven't done his bento yet but here are the kids' bentos.

Here it is, all closed up. As you can see, I've added a slice of banana bread (miniature of course).

Everything in this bento is a leftover of some kind.  The Greek yogurt is breakfast food that I keep on hand.  The plum preserves were made last summer and frozen.  The veggies are leftover from salads this week.  The chicken was baked 2 days ago for dinner.  The potatoes were part of breakfast burritos yesterday morning.  Even the banana bread is something I pulled from the freezer: back when my mom and dad were visiting, mom made lovely loaves of banana bread one of which I found in the freezer today.  I thought we had gobbled it all up, but this lone, little loaf was hidden away for a surprise treat!

I haven't done a bento in a long while.  I can only say that I have been focusing on raising our three beautiful children.  This is a lunch I served recently: chicken cacciatore with tortellini, and a cannellini bean, green bean, and tomato salad. 

I never realized how "adult" the food I typically make is until we brought the kids home.  I had planned an Italian sausage and spinach soup - but then realized that kids wouldn't eat it.  So, I turned it into a pasta dish.  This is leftovers repackaged for lunch.

Layer 2: Sausage and spinach pasta.  It isn't pretty but it did the trick.  :)   This dish started life as a soup: chicken stock with Italian sausage (chicken sausage) meatballs that I had sauteed.  I added spinach, tomatoes, pasta (which cooked in the broth), and cheese. 

Since we've gotten home from Russia with our three little munchkins, our DD has been a fabulous help!  She has changed diapers, given up her time so that I could have 5 minutes of my own during the day, and generally been a mini-mom to our other children.  This tremendous gift of self is more than I can ever repay.  She does it without asking and without complaint - even going so far as asking us to plan a date night and get out of the house (providing baby sitting free of charge, of course).  She has tried to get me to stop making her bento but I just can't.  It would be poor thanks for all she does.  So, this bento, simple as it is, is a thank you bento - made with love and gratitude.

I have begun putting together bento lunches for the kids.  It's a slow process because they take a lot of my attention.  :)  Here is my first attempt.

Greetings all!  We are back from Russia with three beautiful children!!!  They are wonderful, bright kids who will certainly keep me on my toes.  I wanted to do a bento this morning for their snack - just to see what they thought of it.  Here are the results.

My sister Parisienne emailed me this lovely bento - her very first!  I thought I would share it with you since I am leaving for Russia tomorrow and am not making bentos until I get back!  :)

We had snow last night and I was hoping, indeed praying, for a snow day.  It would have been so nice to run errands and pack for our trip a little early and have some time to relax!  Oh well!  This little dream of mine caused me to put off my bento making until this morning.  Fortunately, I had some precooked shrimp in the freezer.  As a result, this bento was ready in the flash.



Layer 2 was made from pantry staples and leftovers.  I tossed the ramen noodles with Green Giant Healthy Vision veggies: carrots, zucchini, and sliced green beans in a rosemary butter sauce.  The shrimp are obviously on the side.  I added one lovely leftover item: a breakfast strata.  This strata includes sautéed spinach and tomatoes inside.

We are leaving for Russia by the end of the week and are trying to get rid of excess food in the house.  Supplies are dwindling, so this bento was made from freezer and pantry staples  -  well, mostly from those.  I still have fresh veggies and fruit to put in the top.  Scallops seem pretty unusual in a lunch but I needed something that would defrost quickly since I didn't plan this bento until I woke up this morning.  I think it turned out very nicely nonetheless.


Layer 1 contains fresh veggies and cheese, orange slices, blackberries, and blueberries.  There is also some rice pudding dusted with cinnamon.  The veggies, fruit, and cheese are all fresh.  The rice pudding is premade.


Layer 2 contains a main course of saffron rice, pan-seared scallops, and frozen veggies (Green Giant Healthy Weight veggies: sliced carrots, sugar snap peas, black beans, and edamame).  I've added some white wine to the butter sauce.

I bought these darling little bentos for the kids (when we get them home).  I thought they'd be perfect for snacks.  I decided to put them to the test today - for DD.  She is going down to Denver with me today for adoption paperwork (she turned 18 and is now considered an adult - therefore more paperwork).  Yesterday evening, we had quiche and salad for dinner and I had leftovers.  I was planning to take DD out to lunch and thought a snack later in the day would be good.  Here's her "snack."

While my parents were visiting, we made a trip down to IKEA and I found bento boxes at a Swedish store!  ;)  My DH is amused by this - or at least he was - until he saw tomorrow's lunch.  This is a BIG bento intended for all day grazing.  The new bento box has two layers measuring 10" x 6" x 1.5". There's lots of room to spread out ingredients but nothing can be very high at all.  DH has been having a hard time getting through his school days and is a little run down.  I think he needs a little more TLC than usual, so here we go . . .

We had a lovely steak last night that I remade into this bento for DH and DD.


Layer 1 contains a salad of romaine lettuce, tomatoes, and carrots with Laughing Cow cheese and a dessert of strawberries and oranges and a tiny little bit of gingerbread topped with whipped cream. 


Layer 2 contains a main course of rice, a roasted tomato topped with cheese and herbs, asparagus, and thinly sliced steak.  I've added a sauce of fond de veau, red wine, and red wine vinegar.

Happy New Year!!!!

My parents have just left to return home and I have a house FULL of leftovers.  What's a girl to do?!?!  BENTO!!!  :)

Let me introduce you to my new favorite appliance - the pie maker.  My mother and father bought this amazing appliance for me and it is no ordinary pie maker.  When first they discussed buying one, I suggested that there were cheaper ones out on the market but they did a lot of research.  The Breville Pie Maker is the best available and makes lovely 4 inch pies and quiches - perfect for lunch, breakfast, and well, eating anytime.  I have had hours of fun with it already.

This bento is my first of the new year and it seemed appropriate to use leftovers in a pie.  Mom, this bento is for you!