A Sunday Afternoon 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. 

  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS

Wow!!! My work is completely outclassed.

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!!!  :)

  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS

Picnic Bentos: Part II

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.

  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS

American Bento Part II: A Picnic in the Park (AKA The Bento Strikes Back!)

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.


Since it's summer, everything here is meant to be eaten cold.  On the left is Greek yogurt topped with homemade plum preserves along with some peppers, carrots, and cucumber.  On the right is the main course: diced chicken breast, potatoes sauteed with onions and peppers, and then topped with peas. 

I love this bento shape for the kids.  It's not as cool as the multilayered bentos I use for DH and our eldest DD (who is starting college soon by the way), but each compartment has the ability to seal on its own.  For little tummies, this is about right in terms of size.  I can make things more complicated if I choose by adding subdividers or keep it simple. 


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!

  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS

Baby Bento 3: Chicken Cacciatore

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. 

  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS

Sausage and Pasta Bento

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 1 is a small green salad and fresh fruit.  There is dressing in the cup in the center.  I've added a square of lovely dark chocolate as a special treat.


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. 

  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS

Thank you DD for being wonderful bento!

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.


Layer 1 is the usual veggies and cheese, Greek yogurt with blackberries, and some crackers. 


Layer 2 contains red, purple, and golden potatoes tossed with carrots, edamame, sugar snap peas, and black beans.  Roast chicken tops it all.

And just because I can, here is my DD with our other little girl.  They look so alike! 


Oh, and please excuse the top of the fridge - it looks a dreadful mess!  It is the only place in the entire kitchen that the kids don't seem to be able to reach.  I tossed a bunch of things up there in an attempt to stop them grabbing everything in sight!

  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS

Baby Bento 2: Lunch

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.


On the left is a maccaroni and cheese type item.  It's whole wheat macaroni that I have combined with a sauce made from leftover vegetable soup from the night before, a little milk, cornstarch, and some cheese.  The kids seemed to love it!  On the top right are more veggies: pepper, sugar snap peas, some yogurt and a cube of cheese.  The bottom right compartment is clementine and watermelon.

  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS

Baby Bento 1: A Morning Snack

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.


There are carrot slices, apple slices, honey dew melon bits, French toast fingers, and vanilla yogurt.  My mom's reaction was that this sounded like too much food for a snack but the cup in the middle of the bento is a mini muffin cup with just a few bites of yogurt in it.  Everything else is likewise small.  My idea was to provide some variety so that if they didn't like something, they had lots of options.  The only thing left in a bento were a few bits of carrot that didn't get eaten. 

How did the kids like it?  Well, here they are eating it.  Our little girl was finished so quickly that I couldn't get a picture!



  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS

A Guest Bento

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!  :)


This is a low carb bento.  The main course is mashed cauliflower, BBQ pork, and tomato.  The top layer contains carrots and cheese with grapes.

Bravo Parisienne!  I can't wait to see more!!!

  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS

Shrimp Ramen

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 1 looks very much as it always does.  I've filled this layer with fresh veggies and cheese, fresh fruit and for a special treat: gold fish!


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.

  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS

Scallops à la Bento

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.

***

Saffron Rice in a Rice Cooker

My rice cooker has a brown function so that I can sauté things in it.  It also makes rice in 10 minutes, so I tend to make rice in the morning if I need it for a bento.  I thought about using some leftover rice from a Chinese restaurant that I have in the freezer but I wanted a splash of color.  White rice and scallops (which are also white) would have been too visually bland.  So, here's what I did.

Ingredients:
     1/4 cup diced onions
     1/4 tsp spigol (a saffron substitute)
     2 cups chicken broth
     1 cup of basmati rice
     1 tbsp butter
     salt and pepper to taste

Sauté the onions in the butter.  Once they are translucent, add the spigol or saffron.  Then add the rice, stirring to distribute the spigol.  Add the chicken broth, salt and pepper and turn on the rice cooker.  Ten minutes later, you have a lovely yellow rice!



  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS

Quiche - In a Tiny Bento

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."


Quiche on a bed of green leaf lettuce with tomatoes and a red wine vinaigrette.  Yum!

  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS

A New Bento Box and a Special Lunch to Go in It

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 . . .


Layer 1 contains the vast majority of the fun stuff in this meal.  Working from left to right, we have herbed goat cheese (the small wedge in the upper left corner), smoked salmon, slices of cheddar and Swiss cheeses, tomatoes, carrots, black forest ham, salami, peppers, cucumbers, and peanut butter filled pretzels.  This is all served on a bed of lettuce. 


Layer 2 contains crackers, Swedish toast, strawberries, blackberries, and orange slices. 

This looks like a HUGE amount of food, but there isn't really that much here.   I've given DH 8 little slices of cheese plus a small wedge of goat cheese.  There isn't much smoked salmon.  There are 1.5 slices of ham and 2 slices of salami.  The key here is that there is a lot of variety and it is arranged to look more substantial.  Even the fruit is not a huge amount: 2 strawberries, 1/2 of an orange, and 7 blackberries.  I will admit, though, that there are a lot crackers in this bento. 

  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS

Steak & Asparagus Bento

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.

  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS

Leftovers in a Bento - 2012

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!


This is a single layer bento consisting of homemade turkey pot pie and salad.  It is super simple and (I think) quite cute!   How did I make the pot pie?  Well, I took pie crust, put it into the pie maker and shaped it to the container.  I added some leftover mashed potatoes (about 2 tsp of it) and then a few teaspoons of turkey in gravy (also leftover).  I added a few peas and diced carrots.  Viola!  Turkey pot pie is easy as, well, pie!  Thanks Mom for cooking up a storm.  I am packaging leftovers to make meals for when we get home from Russia with the kids.

That reminds me, dear readers, DH and I will be going to Russia to bring home our three kids this month.  Bentos will likely be more kid oriented in February.  We are looking forward to a very big change in our lives - a wonderful change.

Wishing you the very best this new year,
Moi

  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS