Happy Halloween

For the last school day before Halloween, I thought I would get into the spirit and make up a couple of themed bentos.  The first one is for my son.  It is a rice ghost with Spam Jack-o-lantern cutouts, and some yellow peppers.  

For my daughter, a Jack-o-lantern rice ball with Masago.  There is some shepherd's pie, celery sticks and a little Hello Kitty candy.

Roasted Chicken with Olive Calzone

Lunch today is a roasted chicken with olive calzone, skewered Graber olives, pickled sugar snap peas and a heart-shaped slice of pumpkin pie (with some raspberries for color). :)  Hope you all are doing well.  Sorry my posting has been so scarce.

School's Back in Session!

Today's bento consists of pork (topped with salsa), broccoli, seaweed, rice (seasoned with soy sauce and rice vinegar), and a cute cherry tomato.  The kids have missed their bento lunches:)

Galbi-Marinated Tri-Tip

Tri-tip that has been marinated in a Korean galbi marinade along with oi muchim (marinated cucumber) are what the kids are having for lunch today.  Also in the box is white rice with some Pokemon nori cutouts.  In a small separate container, there are some fresh whole apricots and a small packet of furikake.

Storm Trooper Bento

I found some really great Star Wars cookie cutters and used the Storm Trooper one this morning to make salami sandwiches.  I could have gotten more elaborate and made nori cutouts for the facial details, but I didn't have enough time. The little salami rosette doesn't really go with the Star Wars theme, but whatevs:)  Also in the box are pickles and apples.  My son is super excited about this one.

Spam Musubi

Last two weeks of school!!!  The kids want bento and of course they wanted these, their absolute favorites:)  They both got 6 pieces of the Spam musubi, cucumber that has been marinated in seasoned rice vinegar and soy sauce, and watermelon for dessert.  I put up the recipe for Spam musubi on my Martha site.

Kero Kero Keroppi

My Keroppi looks a little funny, but my daughter likes it anyway. ^^ Served with salmon, cucumber flowers, carrots, and a side of watermelon.

Panko Crusted Spicy Chicken Bento

Today's bento had crispy chicken breast pieces, sliced carrots, dipping sauce in the little container and a chocolate covered strawberry for dessert.   My son loved this one:)

Early Children's Day celebration

My Japanese friend and I celebrated Children's Day with our children earlier today. Japan and Korea celebrate on the same day. We both had previously scheduled activities on Wednesday after school, so we had to have a party a couple of days early.

I made two mini, strawberry cakes that look like koi nobori. I should have tested the icing before making the blue eye. It had some liquid that settled, which ran down the side of the cake.

I made bulgogi and formed rice into pandas, chicks, kitties, flowers, and onigiri, and filled in space with strawberries.

BBQ Ribs Bento

Today's lunch has leftover ribs from last night, some rice with furikake, a couple of edamame pods and fruit (mango, raspberries, and blueberries).  My son was a little disappointed that I could only fit in 2 ribs, but it's a minimum day today, so he can eat more when he comes home:)

Korean Galbii Bento

I have not been getting up early enough to do any character bentos.  Instead, I have been focusing more on the food.  Today I cut up freshly broiled galbi (making sure to trim off all of the fat) and put it alongside a cup of Asian coleslaw and some rice with furikake.  I added a couple of grape tomatoes for some color. The lime slice is for him to squeeze into the coleslaw if needed.  It's not the most exciting lunch, but as long as it gets eaten, that's all that matters.  If I weren't worried about the smell factor, I would have included some kimchee, but you know, I wouldn't want to cause him any unecessary embarrassment...not today anyway;p

Mini Meatballs

Today's colorful lunch consists of Tarako (cod roe) rice balls and mini meatballs with sweet and sour sauce.  Also in that tier are grape tomatoes and some sliced cucumber.  Second tier has grapes, strawberries, and blueberries. 

They haven't had a bento in a while so they were pretty excited to take these to school.  Also this happens to be a Totoro bento box, and my son has watched "My Neighbor Totoro" at least 8 times in the last few days (he was home sick) so he was extra excited:)

Spring Break

We are on Spring break so I will be taking a two week hiatus.  Hope you all have a wonderful Easter!  See you soon:)

Stromboli Bento

Stromboli is sort of a baked sandwich, cousin to the calzone.  This one is for my son who likes pepperoni.  The second container has some fresh fruit.
My daughter prefers a deli style stromboli. Her's has swiss cheese, ham and turkey.  Her bento box is slightly larger so she got four slices today:)

Recipe on my Martha Blog

Deli Chicken Sandwiches

Another sandwich day for the Krajee family.  This time it was on yummy Ciabatta bread and the sandwiches wrapped in deli paper so they don't fall apart.   Chicken, cheese, lettuce and tomato in the sandwich, sliced pepperoncini in smaller cup and sliced fruit in the larger cup.  Small piece of blondie for dessert.

Bad Badtz

Once again, I've fallen into a rut of not feeling like getting up early to prepare more than an average bento for DD. *sigh* Cutting out Badtz Maru from nori was simple, though, so this is what DD got this morning, along with mahi, carrots, and apple slices that are not pictured. Presentation is still the story of my life. One day!

Carnitas Bento

I made it for dinner last night, so it's another leftover.  But it's one that they like:)  In the box are carnitas, refried in a dry pan to crisp up, tortillas, fresh guacamole, and a side container of fresh salsa.

Steak Fried Rice Wth a Side of Steak

Still using the meat from the BBQ. Today, I chopped the steak up and stir fried it with cold rice and added some chopped kimchi. Then I slice some more steak and pan grilled it, cut it up into bite size pieces. This is lunch for the kids and breakfast for me.
Also in the box are edamame and apples.

Leftover Chicken Bento

We barbequed chicken breasts and beef last night, so we have plenty of meat for bentos this week. The challenge is being creative enough to not have the kids think they are eating the same thing every single day.

Spam Musubi

Spam musubi, cut into two-bite slices, edamame, and some carrot cake for dessert:)

Bite-sized Fajita Bento

Last night we had marinated tri-tip for dinner, so for lunch I cut the meat into bite-sized pieces and reheated them in a grill pan.  I made some fresh salsa and fresh flour tortillas and turned it into a mini fajita lunch for the kids.  I added some grapes for color and a nice sweet bite afterwards and put the salsa in a separate container.  I think they will love this.

Sammies

Nothing too fancy-schmancy today. Just some sammies on homemade bread. Included a pickle and a large strawberry. Hearty, healthy, and delicious:)

Grilled Salmon with Lemon/White Balsamic Vinaigrette

There are two lunches that my children never seem to get tired of: Spam musubi and salmon. Today's salmon lunch has a lemon/white balsamic vinaigrette spooned over the top. I placed flaked pieces on baby lettuce leaves and included rice with furikake and some celery. There is a lemon wedge in there for them to squeeze over their salmon. Not pictured here is a smaller side box I included with cut up cantaloupe.

Smoked Sausage and Broccolini

Today the children got sliced, grilled smoked sausage, rice with Wakame Chazuke furikake, and sauteed broccolini. As a special treat, I included a small amount of Meyer lemon pound cake in the silicone cup.

Cornish Pasties Bento

I took advantage of leftovers today and made the kids meat pies. In the box are 2 cornish pasties, carrots, and a salad. Salad dressing is in the container. Recipe can be found on the recipe blog

new bento box

My first post of 2010!

Towards the end of January, my husband and I were in New York for a wedding. While we were there, we took a trip out to Mitsuwa in New Jersey. It's like a Japanese mini-mall. There's a huge grocery store, a food court with several restaurants, packaged confections and sweets, a hair salon, Japanese nail place, bookstore, video store, and stationary store.

Introducing my newest bento box!




It debuted last week with a Japanese-style bento with rice, napa cabbage, braised beef, and wakame (seaweed) salad.




The top compartment is divided into thirds. I took advantage of that design by packing a deconstructed Western 三色ご飯 today. It literally means three color meal. Traditionally, it's served in a bowl with rice on the bottom and the toppings in a stripe formation on the top. Today's version is kale, egg, and ground turkey. Growing up, my mom made a four color version: black shredded nori, brown ground beef, diced sauteed green peppers, and yellow scrambled eggs.

Galbi marinated skirt steak

They both ate everything!!! Enough said.

Not the prettiest bento by far, but successful indeed. Behind the giant pickle slices are thin sliced skirt steak that I marinated in a galbi marinade and grilled on the bbq last night. As you can see, there is some furikake sprinkled on the rice and I included some sauce in the container.

Asian Wing Bento

I made chicken wings for lunch, but it had to be packed to go so here is what I packed for the kiddos.

In the box: Asian inspired chicken wings and fried rice, recipe here .
Pickled cucumbers and a cherry container with extra soy sauce.

Long time no bento, bento

I used the homemade bread from yesterday to make salmon salad sandwiches. Because it is the last school day before Valentine's Day, I added some heart accents. I used a couple of heart food picks, made some heart peperoni cutouts, and used a heart-shaped Wilton food cup(it's squished in there though so you can't really see the shape).

Also in the box are plums, carrot and cucumber slices, and a mini cupcake for dessert:)

Love is in the air

I was thinking I would make a few Valentine themed lunches this month, and so I started today, the first day of February. DD loves to get pancakes in her lunch, so I made heart-shaped ones today. I colored the batter pink but forgot that the browning on the outside would hide the pink. I added a few pieces of turkey bacon, some carrots, egg flowers, and heart-shaped cantaloupe. I still really need to work on presentation. I'm always running out of time and feel rushed, so I don't take the time I should to make it all look prettier. *sigh*

Dog days

Today's bento for my daughter included a mommy and baby doggies made of rice, smoked sausage ears and nose, and nori eyes; broccoli florets; carrots; blueberries. I like bento that is cute but easy to put together.

More Pokemon

My daughter loves to watch Pokemon cartoons and movies, as well as play the Nintendo games. So today was another Pokemon themed bento. My cousin gave me the idea. It features Snorlax, made of rice and nori of course with cheese and carrot accents. I used individual rice grains to make the claws. To the side, I made a corn and egg recipe from a bento book and used hot dog to make Dugtrio. My food marker was acting up, so the eyes could have been better. I used carrot for the noses. Then I added cucumber slices, a couple of grape tomatoes, and two orange wedges. This was a hit with my daughter because she ate virtually everything. I thought for sure the tomatoes would come back home, but to my pleasant surprised she seems to now like tomatoes...after I've forced them on her enough times. hehe

Bento for 01-12-10

I'm late in posting this, but this was my daughter's lunch earlier today. I made rice balls and coated them with aonori, black sesame seeds, and roasted sesame seeds. I don't have a mortar and pestle, but really need to find one, so I can crush the seeds into a more powdery form. I held the balls together using a stick of uncooked spaghetti. I also included some shrimp, broccoli, and kinpira, with a side of orange wedges.

Breakfast for lunch

My daughter always wants to have lunch at school on days the cafeteria is serving breakfast food. I discourage her because while cafeteria food is bad enough, I think that typical American breakfast foods would be even nastier. I decided to fix her a bento today of teddy bear shaped pancakes. I used Nutella to draw on a face. I should have put it in a baggie, cut a hole in a corner, and piped on the face, but I was too lazy and running out of time. Also included is tamagoyaki with cucumber sticks; chikuwa, a tubular fish cake, with a stick of cucumber pushed down the hole in the middle and then cut; apple slices.

Happy New Year!

We are back to our normal schedule this week. I received two bento books for Christmas, and was able to purchase a few accessories. This made me excited for the chance to make bento once again.

I made this bento yesterday for my daughter. Inspiration was drawn from one of the books and a blog.