Broccoli Biscuit Muffins - Easy Make Ahead Bento Box Lunch

If you have tried bento-ing at all, you know by now that prepping is the key to making things fast and easy. But how can you make the prep part fast and easy, too? One awesome way that I've discovered is the biscuit muffin. Just grab a can of those refrigerated biscuits, prep what you'd like to eat with them (broccoli, ham, cheese, asparagus, cauliflower, whatever), and put it all into a muffin tin. Bake according to the directions on the package, and voila!

The first time I made it, I used the whole biscuit in each muffin tin, and they came out kind of doughy. Not raw dough, but too much dough, not enough filling. This time, I tore each biscuit in half horizontally (along one of the flakes) and used only half the biscuit per muffin tin. They came out much better:

These were broccoli and fresh mozzarella balls (in retrospect, I think I should have used shredded swiss because fresh mozzarella doesn't melt as well as I would have liked). Right out of the oven, they're amazing. Cold, they're decent, but they would be better warmed at least a touch, if you use cheese.

Regardless, they are quick and easy to make, and they work well for bento lunches:

For this lunch, we are broccoli heavy - leftover broccoli and bell peppers, with ranch and hummus (in the chick and piggy), and blackberries. If you want to add more protein, a boiled egg or some nuts would be great, or some peanut butter and celery. Easy, quick and simple bento!

Caterpillar Bento Box Lunch

I've been thinking about doing a caterpillar for awhile; I love the way cucumbers look when they're cut and layered, and I figured a caterpillar would be perfect and easy! I will say I am desperate for my new kitchen tweezers to arrive; it is so hard to position little nori pieces and to make faces without something small to help you! Today I used cucumber pieces to make the antenna and mouth of the caterpillar, and black sesame seeds for the eyes. I think he came out pretty cute!

Here's our caterpillar with the whole bento box:

In the panda we have ranch dressing for all those crisp, fresh veggies; an orange half from our friend's orange tree, and on the right, Japanese potato salad, and Korean melon with blackberries. Japanese potato salad is traditionally mashed, with mayo and little pieces of carrot and cucumber (I remove all the seeds). Sometimes it has a little bit of sugar or seasoning in it, but I just added a teaspoon of Mirin (Japanese seasoning) instead.  

Close up of the potato salad and blackberries:

The red bell pepper "star flower" was an afterthought; the box just needed a little something extra for color. My triangles aren't all even but it still came out pretty cute!

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: 

Back to Basics - Simple Egg Salad Bento Box Lunch

After Monday's and Tuesday's crazy bentos, it was time to tone it back down and get back to 10-minute bento making! To be honest, this morning's bento took me more like 20 minutes because I had to make the egg salad, but if I had prepped it the night before, this would have totally been a 10-minute bento.

Although it's super fun to make bentos all creative and cute, the real point is to have a healthy, portion controlled, colorful and visually stimulating meal. I kept that in mind with today's lunch. Although all the components are simple, we have lots of color and a good balance of protein, fiber, and fruits/veggies. 

On the left there's egg salad sandwiches with lettuce. On the right, we have celery sticks with peanut butter in my favorite panda container, blackberries, and sunflower seeds. I added fruit roll up flower garnishes to brighten up the box a bit.

As a side note, I would like to say to whoever invented fruit roll ups - thank you! They are the perfect color splash to bento lunches. Tip: be sure to dry off your veggies or whatever you put fruit roll up flowers/stars/etc on, because if they are wet, they get all goopy. Ick.

And just a final close up pic of the blackberries, which are coming in season here, and look just delicious!

REVIEW: Both Mike and I agreed that the blackberries have been delicious!! Just another reason why it's so important to eat fruit in season and local, if possible. It just plain tastes better. 

Camping Bento Box...Campfires, Tents and Bears, oh my!

One of our favorite activities in camping, and so when I saw a camping bento online (click here to see it our Pinterest page), it totally inspired me to make my own! 

I used red, orange, and yellow bell peppers to make the flames, celery for the logs, and black olives for the fire circle. Carrot shreds are the heat and embers coming off the fire. Sorry about the crappy picture today, it's gloomy and raining in Southern California, so I had no natural light.

On the right we have "Berry Mountain," complete with little bear friend! 

And a peanut butter and apple jam tent. I used fruit roll ups for the tent outline and opening. 

The full camping bento!