Desert Camel and Palm Bento Lunch!

I attempted a Japanese-style bento today with rice, scrambled egg with mirin, miso-seasoned ground pork, spinach and steamed carrots. Not shown is a tiny bottle of soy for extra seasoning. It could be eaten at room temperature, but it's probably better warm. Since I am paranoid about using plastic in the microwave, I used a flat rectangular glass Pyrex dish we had as the bento box.

Also, as long as you use wheat-free soy, this is a gluten free meal!

I think it came out pretty cute! I made the rice this morning and put a layer of it on the bottom. It's pretty thin, so there should be enough toppings to mix in. The camel was made by using a camel cookie cutter. I put it down on the rice and filled it with the cooked miso ground pork, and just tapped it down with a fork. When I pulled up the cookie cutter, it surprisingly stayed in perfect shape. The palm tree is made from a slice of steamed carrot, which I sliced up so Mike can mix it in later. The leaves are boiled spinach leaves, and the sand is scrambled eggs with a little mirin added for seasoning. Mirin is a seasoned Japanese cooking wine that is just a bit sweet. It's delicious!

I hope he likes it!

Owl Sandwiches Bento Lunch

I used some of our new cookie cutters today to make this owl bento lunch. I thought I'd share the whole process so you can see how the sandwiches are made, and how you can get your fixings to fit inside the sandwich. My sandwiches today were simple, just mayo and turkey, with lettuce as the "wings" of the owl. You can totally put in cheese and other things if you want, using the same method.

First, you have to find the best way to maximize the bread! I made two sandwiches from the two slices of bread. It's much easier to cut the bread first, before making the sandwich.

I'll post some recipes soon for using up all that leftover bread! I actually have a couple days worth of scraps saved in a bowl right now.

Next, you'll want to lay out your deli meat on a paper towel. Ours is from Whole Foods and it's an actual turkey breast that they roasted, so it doesn't have all that filler stuff and seasonings/water, etc to hold it together (so it's a bit dry). 

Just cut down and then use all the extra meat that's outside the cutter and pile it inside, so it fits in an owl shape.

Once they're in there, I just put mayo on the bread shape, put it on top of the meat (mayo side down, obviously), and flip the paper towel over.

That way, it fits perfectly onto your owl bread, it's all nice and even, and this way even the little ears have meat/fillings, etc. Yum!

I used my oval cutter to cut the wings out of lettuce, and a sharp knife to cut little triangles for the beaks. Almond slivers and (don't laugh) balled up bits of brownies are the eyes. Weird, I know. On the side, we have Rainier cherries from the farmer's market this week, black seedless grapes, and some pieces of skewered string cheese. Delish!

Lion on the Savannah Bento Lunch Box

I saw a cute lion on Pinterest the other day. It was made with a flower shaped cutter for the mane and a circle cutter for the face. How easy is that? I love browsing online; it's a constant source of inspiration and also reminds me to think outside the box!

For my lion, I used my tiny flower sandwich cutter for his mane (out of Colby Jack cheese). His face was made with a circle fondant cutter (out of provolone). I also added a body with my oval fondant cutter and then just used a knife to make little legs. I wanted them to be larger on one end than the other, so they'd be more like paws.  

I cut out a tail, and for the little puff on the end of his tail, I ripped the cheese with my fingers. It naturally tore that way, with the perfect little "fur" edging.

His face was made with Chinese oyster sauce (although you could totally use BBQ sauce, teriyaki sauce, or anything dark) and a toothpick.

The sandwich is prosciutto and provolone. Yum!
















On the right, I made a sun out of a mango, using my largest circle cutter and then a knife to cut the triangles around the sun. You could probably just throw in a circle though, and call it a sun. I guess I had extra time this morning to work on details. :) 

Below that we have celery "grass" and a totally-out-of-place panda with peanut butter. Oh well!

Quick as a Bunny! Bento Lunch

Today's bento is full of bunnies and bunny burrows. I had to make something fast, so I just cut half a green apple for a shrub/bush, piled in some Annie's Honey Graham Bunnies, cut out two colby jack cheese bunnies, and made a peanut butter and jelly "rabbit hole" using my circle fondant cutter. I squeezed some orange juice on the cut side of the apple to keep it from getting brown. Add some silicone grass and leaves and we're done!

Under The Sea Bento Box Lunch with a Crab Sandwich and Seastars/Starfish

Mike and I are vacationing soon and are excited to see all things ocean-y. Following that theme, I decided to make him a crab sandwich today, with sea star accompaniments. Our crab sandwich is on one of Yamasaki's (local Japanese bakery) delicious butter rolls, with ham and cheese (no actual crab). His legs and claws are made of carrot, and his eyes are provolone cheese with carrot centers. 

I have to mention that we've been getting ham from the charcuterie counter at Whole Foods, and they make it in-house. It is absolutely delicious and the pigs are ethically raised on an organic diet, which is important to us. It was only a couple dollars more per pound than the local grocery store deli, and totally worth it!

As an accompaniment to the sandwich, I have Korean melon that I cubed, topped with blackberries and a piece of starfruit. Korean melon has a yellow, striped outside, is about the size of a large coffee mug, and smells delicious. Tastes sort of like a crunchy cantaloupe. I linked a good description and pics above if you'd like more information. Starfruit is something I get to eat all the time when I travel to Hawaii or Hong Kong, but not so much here in the States. I bought some at the local market, but I wasn't impressed with the flavor. Still, it looks beautiful in a bento!

Finally, a bird's eye view of the whole bento put together. The extra treats on the side are "jujubee" star candies from Whole Foods.

Poison Dart Frog Bento Box Lunch

Mike and I love frogs, so I thought I'd try to make a froggie bento today. I was going to try and make one from an apple, but I googled yellow dart frogs, and they were so adorable! I ended up using a yellow bell pepper. Grape fruit roll ups are the patterns on his skin; I cut them with scissors. I smushed some fruit roll up scraps for his eyes. He's sitting on top of some egg salad (hidden) and my ever so useful silicone leaves and grass. On the side, we have broccoli and hummus (in the little pig) and blackberries. 

Here's a pic of a real poison dart frog. What do you think?

Close up of my froggie: 

Tropic and Arctic (Bipolar) Bento Box Lunch

I had all the supplies to make penguins today, but I also had strawberries that I wanted to turn into alligators, so I just went with it and made them both! Alligators are tropical and penguins are from the frigid climes of Antarctica, but hey, in a bento they can peacefully coexist. 

My alligators are simple - I just cut strawberries on their sides with little teeth, used pieces of chocolate for their eyes, and put them into a "pool" of greek yogurt.

Close up:

My penguins are made from black olives and mini mozzarella balls, with carrot beaks and feet. I used a piece of pasta to spear them together. Very simple, took me only a few minutes! They are chilling next to a peanut butter and apple jam "iceberg." These would be so cute for a party appetizer. I got the idea from our Pinterest page.

Friday Review: Dip, Dressing and Sauce Containers - Panda, Pig and Chick

I just bought these items about 2 weeks ago, but they have fast become my new favorite bento accessory! Next to the silicone ware and animal picks, they are just about the most useful thing for putting together cute, yummy lunches. 

Panda, Pig and Chicken Dip and Sauce Containers - perfect for holding hummus, peanut butter, ranch, etc!

For those of you that have children who may not carry their lunch boxes all carefully into the classroom, these little guys will be invaluable. The lids are easy to put on and take off, and they keep all liquids and runny dressings secure until lunchtime. No more dressing all over the sandwich! They may look tiny, but they hold plenty enough. We've been testing them out for a week and whether it's hummus, ranch, peanut butter or just salt and pepper (for hard boiled eggs or whatever), it's just the right amount.

The containers open like Easter eggs and have enough space in them for condiments.

I bought these at the Tokyo Japanese Outlet here in Los Angeles, and they were about $5.00 for the set of 3. Totally worth it!

Super Fast 10-minute Bento (with fruit, nuts, and bunny gummies)

Some days it's just hell to get out of bed, and today was one of those days. So I used the old bento fall back trick - stuff it full of colorful silicone cups and animal picks. And again, I stress it every time...prep, prep, prep! And also store things in your pantry or freezer that you can just toss in, like nuts, snacks, muffins, etc. It will really save your morning. 

Today I had about 10 minutes. I made a quick ham, cheese and mustard roll up on a tortilla (side note: the cheese was used previously for decorations and had lots of holes and punch outs from cutters, but in a roll up or sandwich, no one notices!); I cut two pieces to put all pretty on the side and stuck animal picks in the other two pieces. Dumped in my pre-prepped fruit stars and flowers, some bunny gummies from Whole Foods, sunflower seeds from Trader Joe's, and cut up a kiwi. Presto! 10 minute bento.

Top/bird's eye view:

Ham & Cheese Roll Ups on a Flour Tortilla, Mango & Watermelon Flowers and Whole Foods Bunny Gummy Candies

REVIEW: This was a favorite! Mike ate everything (and I had thought there was too much food). It helps that fruit is in season and delicious right now.

Owl Sandwich Bento Box Snackwith a Stars and Flowers Fruit Salad

Mike only needed a snack today, so I made him a peanut butter and jelly owl friend to take to work. I cut two large eyes out of wheat/oat bread, using a circle cutter, and from the scraps, cut a triangle using a knife. Then I placed them on a piece of bread and used them to determine how to cut the owl face; I just sliced a little off the sides and made little pointy ears. 

Then I slapped on peanut butter, used jelly to affix the eyes and beak, and grabbed two of my fruit roll up circles for his eye balls (I have tons of circles and ovals pre-cut and ready to go). Presto! PB&J owl.

Owl Bento Sandwich made with Peanut Butter and Jelly and Fruit Roll Up Eyes on Wheat Bread

Watermelon Star with Pear and Mango Flower Fruit Salad

I had cut up all the fruit this weekend so it just a matter of arranging it all pretty in the box. A giant watermelon star, with mango and Bartlett pear flowers. Here in Southern California we are on our way into summer already, so there will be lots more fruit available for the bentos! 

Tip: I cut the pears last night and kept them this nice, bright white by tossing them into pineapple juice (pure juice, no added sugar!). I let them soak for a few minutes, then took them out and put them into a glass tupperware. You can use any acidic juice such as lemon or lime, but I like pineapple best. I keep a couple cans of it in the pantry for this purpose. It works great on apples and bananas, too!

REVIEW: Everything got eaten, but the pears were difficult to pick up with animal picks (not pictured). They were a little too ripe. I might try making flowers with apples in the future, since those are much firmer.

Elephants Everywhere! Flatbread Elephant Bento Lunch

I used my super handy elephant cutter set to make elephants out of flatbread. You may remember my other handy bunny cutter, which I used to make SJP's salad. I made three elephants in a vegetable enclosure, with hummus on the side for dipping. Kiwis and turkey/swiss roll ups round out this meal.

Three Little Flatbread Elephants with Turkey and Cheese Roll Ups, Hummus, Broccoli, Carrots, Cucumbers and Kiwi.

the elephant is four pieces put together to make a 3D animal

Here's a couple more close-up pics of the elephants. They came out so cute! Mike pointed out that the texture and appearance of the flat bread would be so perfect for a cow. If only they made a cow cutter set!

Close Up of Flatbread Elephant

You could also make these elephants out of vegetables; I had made the bunny out of carrots. But sometimes it's hard to find a veggie that's big enough for the body of the animal. I think I might try watermelon this summer, that would be pretty cute!

REVIEW: Everything got eaten except the cucumbers and the broccoli. Mike hates both so I wasn't surprised, but I am going to find a way to make broccoli so cute, he eats it! I did discover, through this bento, that he will eat cucumbers in sandwich form. So if your kid or favorite someone is a picky eater, keep trying it in different forms - you'll eventually find a way (and if all else fails, bake it into bread)!

Kiwi and Strawberry Peacock Bento

Some people make their bentos around a character or idea that they have, and they build it. I do the opposite. I look at a piece of food and think, "what does this look like?" or, "what can it be?" Today, the kiwis (especially since our "old vine" kiwis grow weird) and strawberries looked like a peacock to me, so that's what we went with. Do you see it? 

On the bottom we have an onion bagel with Cuban style fillings - ham, pickles, mayo, mustard, and lettuce, flanked by potato chips. I cut the middle of the bagel out to lessen the carb load. This way the top and bottom are a little thinner and the whole sandwich fits into the bento box. 

REVIEW: Mike ate the whole sandwich and chips, and the strawberries. He left ALL the kiwi. Partly this was because there was a lot of food, but also because I made the kiwi peacock the night before. If your kiwi is already ripe, prepping it the night before will just make it juicier (not a good thing). It sort of stuck to the bottom of the container. Kiwis are like avocados - there's a very small window where they are still firm, but perfectly ripe, and you've got to eat them right at that moment. 

Little Piggy Bento - Pig Flatbread Sandwich!

As I keep bento-ing, I learn new ways to keep offering variety with the lunches. One easy way is to change up the bread. This week we didn't buy any sliced bread and instead, we got bagels, flatbread, and butter rolls. It's like getting a new canvas! 

Today's lunch is a piggy flatbread sandwich with turkey, mayo, mustard, lettuce, provolone cheese, and avocado. YUM. I made the nose with ham and two sizes of my oval shaped fondant cutters. The ears I just cut with a knife, and the eyes were made from my tiniest round fondant cutter and the nori punch (I just put together a mouth and an eye together, overlapping, to make a round shape with a tiny hole in the middle). 

We have three kinds of fruit on the side - kiwi stars, two strawberry hearts, and honeydew flowers, with our ever-so-useful animal picks. Close up of the kiwi stars:

Mike also has celery sticks and peanut butter in the tiny piggy container. I love this container because it has a lid (no spilling, no mess) and it's SO CUTE! I also got a panda and chick with this set. 

REVIEW: This lunch got a "delicious!" rating and almost everything got eaten, although most of the peanut butter was leftover in the little piggy. Guess it holds a lot more than I thought.

Easter Duck and Bunny Sandwich Bento!

I put a little more effort into today's bento to make up for yesterday's quickie bento. Today we have a duck/chick tuna salad sandwich, and a bunny hummus and avocado sandwich. I used egg whites and nori for the eyes, fruit roll ups for the bunny nose/mouth, and carrot for the beak and feet. I also used the same cutters for the sandwich bread on the avocado, so that it would fit perfectly onto the bunny shaped bread. In retrospect, the bunny body looks a lot like a turtle, so I might have to try that sometime in the future! How fun would it be to decorate a turtle shell?

Since Mike's had two days of veggies, we went back to fruit for today. I had cut some Caracara oranges yesterday, and peeled a kiwi, so we have oranges, kiwi and pineapple, dressed up with a bunny pick. 

Here's what it looks like all together:

I hope he likes it!

REVIEW: Hummus and avocado was a hit, probably because it's something new! And it was plenty of food. Yay.

Very Late Friday Review - Egg Molds

Finally, my "Friday" review on one of my bento products: Egg Molds. If you've googled bentos online, you've seen tons of pics of these molded eggs. They come in the shape of cars, fish, bears, bunnies, and there's even quail egg molds (although, it's so difficult for me to peel quail eggs that I don't personally think it'd be worth it). I bought these two as a set:

I found them pretty difficult to use. First, the egg needs to be hot in order to mold properly and not break/crack. Then, you have to peel it perfectly (while it's hot!), or there will be "pock marks" on your bunny/bear's face. You shove them into the egg mold, close the lid and snap them shut, then dunk them in cold water for 10-15 minutes.

Since Mike and I buy our eggs from a lady with backyard chickens, they are super duper fresh and are therefore awful to peel. Taste? Awesome. Aesthetics? Suck. The top layer of egg frequently sticks to the shell. We usually make egg salad if we hard boil them. We've tried every trick in the book to peel them (running cold water, putting them in the fridge overnight, etc), but it just doesn't work.

Therefore, I've rarely had the occasion to use these molds. In theory, they are great, but then again, how often are you really going to be giving your child a hard boiled egg to eat, plain? At least in my experience, I'm making a variety of things, such as deviled eggs, egg salad, putting it into tuna salad, egg sandwiches, whatever. It's rare where Mike would want to eat a whole, plain, cold, hard boiled egg. 

So buy your bento items carefully. Spend your money on things you think you'll actually use frequently (in my experience this would be cookie/veggie cutters, an awesome paring knife, and a good frosting spatula for spreading PB&J). 

Frushi! Otherwise known as Fruit Sushi, with a Bunny Sandwich

We were out of town this past weekend so I apologize for the haphazard postings and missing Friday Review. I will post a review soon on another awesome (or un-awesome) bento product! In the meantime, I have figured out how to get posts to self-publish, so in the future we will have full bento coverage when we're on vacations. Yay!

On Sunday I played around with fru-shi, which is sushi composed entirely of fruit! It is super cute and fun. I made the rice with coconut milk (just substitute the exact same amount of light coconut milk for water in the recipe) and a little bit of sugar (about 2 tablespoons per cup of dry rice). Be sure to use light coconut milk, otherwise your rice will come out way too creamy and it won't stick together properly. You need to make it sticky Asian rice style, not Latin rice style (use a pot, not a pan, and don't use oil).

Next, you just cut up any type of fruit you want, into sticks (to put inside rolls) or into "sashimi" to lay on top of rice, like nigiri. Fruit roll ups make the perfect "nori!" Other helpful tips: use the sharpest knife possible, and wipe it with a damp towel after every cut. Dampen your hands before handling the rice, so that it won't stick (but don't dampen too much because you'll get your fruit roll ups all soggy). Also refrigerate your rice; it's easier to mold when it's cool (opposite of regular rice), due to the creamy texture of the coconut milk.

Frushi would be adorable for an afternoon tea, or as appetizers/desserts. It is also gluten free! My Sunday efforts included pineapple "rolls" and Caracara orange "nigiri":

For this morning's bento I didn't make nigiri, I just did pineapple and orange "sashimi" and mango-coconut rice "rolls." I love that I have silicone grass dividers for the frushi! I'm also trying to do an Easter theme for this week, hence the PB&J cut-out bunny sandwich. 

REVIEW: Everything got eaten, which is always a good thing. I've noticed the times that things don't get eaten is when it's a repeat, or there's not enough variety. So no fruit for tomorrow since there was an overload of fruit today!

"Hiding the Leftovers" Bento

Inspired by some Easter posts I saw online, I tried to make a "bunny bread" for today's bento, using crescent roll dough from Trader Joe's. I stuffed the bunny with provolone cheese and chopped up leftover turkey (yep, too many leftovers = creative lunches), and made another roll stuffed with artichokes, sun dried tomatoes, and provolone. The veggie stuffed roll is on the left, with melon stars, half a Caracara orange, and tucked in the back, some plantain chips and a little fruit snack flower. On the right is my attempt at the "bunny" with some celery sticks and peanut butter, and little fruit snack flowers for color. I brought some of the stuffed rolls for myself for lunch today, so I'll let you know how they taste...

Although I'm not spectacular at creating the bunnies yet, they were super easy and you should give them a try! Just buy the ready-made dough in the refrigerated section of your grocery store, chop up whatever you've got in your fridge, put them on the dough and roll them up! I baked them at 350 degrees on parchment paper. I liked that the Trader Joe's brand was not greasy and did not leave any grease marks. Plus it didn't smell artificially buttery like the Pillsbury brand.

The dough was easy to handle - some of them I just wrapped and pinched them closed, and they look like little balls. With some cheese decorations, or decorations with the leftover dough, they could be any animal or item you want them to be. Plus they only took 12 minutes to bake. Easy and neat solution for leftovers! I made everything last night except the celery sticks and the fruit snack flowers, so today I just arranged it all into the bento box. 

REVIEW: No complaints about this lunch, but I suspect it wasn't a favorite, either. I think those crescent rolls would be better if they were ham and cheese, or maybe proscuitto and swiss? Something with a little more flavor. The fruit leather flowers were a huge hit, and easy decorations, so now they're on our regular shopping list.

Fish Sandwich Bento

This bento sandwich started out with me staring at the two butter rolls I had left from last week, thinking, what do these look like? Ice cream cones and snails went through my head before I thought, "goldfish!" And that's what we ended up with today. The pic isn't as wonderful as I hoped it would be, since it is super gloomy outside today.

I chopped up leftover turkey from dinner last night and mixed it with a little mayo, then hollowed out the inside of the bun and stuffed that in. Ripped up some lettuce leaves and laid them inside the bun, poking out as "fins," and made a little eyeball from a slice of string cheese and the smile from a nori (dried seaweed) face punch. I think it came out cute! What do you think?

This Sunday I also prepped a lot of fruit (prepping is key to making bentos quick and easy in the morning!), including organic strawberries, Galia melon stars, and caracara oranges. It's citrus season in California right now, hence all the varieties of oranges I've been using lately. Caracaras are pink inside, sweet, mellow, juicy, and totally delicious. If you have them in your neighborhood market, try them out! We actually bought ours at Trader Joe's; didn't make it to the farmer's market this weekend, thanks to the LA Marathon street closures.

Mike also has roasted plantain chips above the sandwich and cheddar rockets (Trader Joe's version of goldfish crackers) below the sandwich, for crunch. I think he'll love this bento, it's got all his favorites!

REVIEW: Mike liked the sandwich but wasn't able to finish all the fruit. The melon got rave reviews. It's hard to know what's too much food and what's too little. This is the big bento box, and it frequently comes back with something leftover. When I'm packing it, though, it looks too small. Go figure.

Friday Review: Animal Food Picks

These food picks are absolutely the go-to item out of all my bento supplies. When you're running late or your brain isn't working, or you failed to prep a single thing, these little guys are life savers. They will make anything cute. Stick a few into an ordinary sandwich, and you've got a zoo. They're handy for quail eggs, fruit, cheese, and veggies, and also eliminate the need for utensils. 

There are two different types displayed here: single picks and what I call "multi" picks. The ones on the left are from one package and came with short ones and tall ones. I've used the short ones for skewering string cheese or roll ups, which was super cute in my coworkers lunch bento, and I plan to use the tall ones for sandwich "stackers." The multi picks on the right are great for mushier things like fruit or mini sandwiches on soft breads.

I will say that I have not used both the tall single skewers or the tall (elephant and giraffe) multi skewers because they do not fit well into the bento boxes we have. If I laid them down sideways, that might work, but I tend to pack the boxes full, so there's really no room. The shorter picks all can stand straight up and still fit, so they are more useful. 

They're reusable and more durable than party picks or toothpicks, and super easy to wash - I just dump them all into a dish of hot soapy water and swish it around a bit. Just don't let them go down the drain, especially if you have a garbage disposal! 

These types of picks should cost you no more than $5.00 max, for a package of at least 10-15. They also come in lots of different varieties, like hearts, flowers, leaves, even little hats. If you don't have a store that sells this type of thing in your neighborhood, Amazon online has a pretty good selection. But if it's over $5.00, they're totally ripping you off. My single skewer picks are going for $11.99 on Amazon and I bought them for $1.50 at the Daiso store. 

Slightly Squashed Bear Bento

Bears are a popular theme in bentos, probably because they are easy to recognize and easy to make - just eyes, nose, and ears, and they can be done any number of ways. For today's bento I had bought some butter rolls at the local Japanese bakery, Yamasaki, and decided to make a bear face from it. 

You could make any type of sandwich and apply the same decorations. Mike's is a ham and cheese with lettuce/mayo/mustard sandwich. I used a mini circle sandwich cutter to make the two ears out of cheese, and then I used the flower cutter to make the nose, but just sliced off two of the "petals." I don't have a lot of cookie cutters in my repertoire so I have to get creative. I cut a triangle piece of nori for the nose. For the eyes, I used two slices of string cheese and punched some eyes from nori using one of my face punches. Originally I had just laid the cheese face on top of the bun, but then I ended up cutting into the top layer of the bun and really sticking the cheese into it, to make it more secure. You could do it either way. The ears are actually laid inside the sandwich.

This morning when I pulled out the sandwich, he was a little squashed from being in the bento overnight, but still pretty cute:

I had also prepped the fruit last night, so this morning all I did was throw in pistachios, then mix sunflower seeds with chocolate covered sunflower seeds, and put a little chocolate on top for dessert. Lots of protein, lots of fiber. Yummy lunch!

Tip: If you prepped eyes/noses/ears for a few sandwiches and put them in a baggie in the fridge, you could make sandwiches for a week in a few minutes a day. I also had the lettuce cut, washed and stored in a tupperware. It lasts for a week if there's a sprinkle of water in there for humidity. Food for thought! 

REVIEW: Mike ate everything except the pistachios and some of the sunflower seeds. Pistachios two days this week was boring, apparently. :) Also, sometimes there can be too much food in these larger bento boxes, but then the smaller one looks too small! Tough to gauge, but I think I'll figure it out as we go along. Fruit fills you up, but then digests quickly, so it's a little bit of a balancing act.