Bento Lunch

Sorry I've been gone for so long but Nursing School is a total stressor. It's not that I haven't been baking or cooking a lot recently, because believe me... I have. Cooking is the only way to relieve the stress. So to maintain my sanity during the last few days of school I decided to prepare myself some cute bentos. It's been a while since my last bento excursion, but I decided that it was time to re-invent myself... sounds cheesey, I know...

Day 1:
Fish-shaped Onigiri with ketchup blush
Cucumber "waves"
Romaine Lettuce "kelp"
Soy sauce in a fish-shaped container

I know this bento isn't the most creative, but it totally helped regain my sanity. It also paved the way for the next days bento creation...

Day 2:
Piplup Onigiri (Crown made of dyed egg, nose made of ketchup rice)
Pokeball made of fishball and pepperoni
Hotdog flower and Cucumber-Carrot Star
I was pretty impressed with this one. My mom couldn't believe that I would spend so much time and effort working on a lunch that would be gobbled up the next day... and to tell you the truth, I didn't care. I had so much fun preparing my lunch that it made it even more special eating it. (That sentenced sounded weird). Anywho, it'll probably be a while before I go on a bento excursion again, but it was fun none-the-less.

Bento Lunches Again!

Okay, I'll make this short and sweet. I've made 4 bento boxes that have yet to be given their deserved internet glory :P so here they are...


Day 1: Pita, Humus & Fishsticks Bento

This one was for my little sister... and that means this bento has only trace amounts of vegetables! The top tier of this bento consisted of fish sticks, haw flakes, durian candy, chocolate easter eggs (I bought 1 lb. of them, before the end of easter cuz my sister loves them sooo much :P) and Bak Tong Go. The bottom tier had cute pita bread cut outs and hummus dip, with decorative carrot stars ontop.

Day 1: Onigiri with Wasabi Cream Cheese and Chicken

Here's my bento, I love my veggies as you can see. It consisted of one onigiri (filling was wasabi cream cheese and chicken), raw broccoli, raw mushrooms, durian candy and one strawberry cream filled cupcake. With all those veggies, I can splurge a little on a cupcake... can't I?! hehehe

Day 2: Onigiri with Salmon Cream Cheese and Chicken

This bento was for my little sis (once again, notice the lack of veggies). The top tier contained 1/2 a kiwi, 3 vanilla cream cookies, blueraspberry flavored livewires, and some gummy bears. The bottom tear had one onigiri (filling was salmon cream cheese and chicken) and a homemade ichigo daifuku.

Day 3: Hello Kitty Shaped OnigiriThis one was also for my little sister. I used the new Monokuro Boo bento box I had purchased from Yaohan, it's awesome. Top tier consists of a strawberry biscuit, hawflakes, durian candy and an orange flavoured jelly (notice the jelly's resemblance to Hello Kitty... that is no coincidence). The bottom tier held a Hello Kitty onigiri (using the Yaohan mold), a curry potato croquette and grilled chicken slices.

Woah! I've been a busy "bento" bee lately. My sister thinks I'm crazy, but she appreciates the goodies I make her. She's such a sweetie-pie that I'm just filled with so much joy whenever I make her these lunches... dunno if i'll keep posting about them, but I'll definitely keep making them!

Preparing to make more bentos :)

Hooray... as mentioned in a previous post (click here to see my past bento post) I was determined to purchase some good quality bento accessories. Where better to go than down to the hub of the Asian Culture? RICHMOND!! My family usually goes to Richmond for Yum Cha (either Dynasty or Neptune... but I'll blog about that later, right now is for my bento obsession), so we ended up also going to Yaohan and Aberdeen Mall.

Yaohan had some great finds, on the upper level there's a gift store which sold awesome bento items. I bought: Hello Kitty rice molds, a 2-tier Monokuro Boo bento box, and a Hello Kitty Jelly/Ice mold. Me and my sister, were so excited to go to Aberdeen... cuz you know what that means? DAISO!! We just adore that store, and everything at a great $2... for quality goods. What more could you ask for? Seeing that my bento frenzy has been peaking, I remembered that the last time I went to Daiso I noticed a ton of great items for making great bentos. Well, here's a pic of my great Daiso/Yaohan finds:

At Daiso I picked up some fish-shaped soy sauce containers, a yello 2-tier bento, traditionsl onigiri molds, side dish containers and a madeleine baking pan (not really bento, but I had been wishing I bought it ever since I saw it in the store last month!)

I've been busy using my items and have made 3 new bentos. So much fun!!! I'll be posting them shortly!

Bento Fun in the Sum... kinda rhymes :P

Well, summer school started this Monday. So did my fascination with the Japanese "art" of making bento lunches. I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later, and now that I've started I just can't seem to stop! It's a ton of fun just experimenting with different variations on the Japanese lunch box. For the first day of my summer course I decided to start my experimentation. I've always loved my sister's Hello Kitty lunch box, and although we didn't buy it necessarily for the use in bento lunches it works very nicely. All it needs are separate compartments for the different dishes and it'd be even more perfect. Anyways to continue...

Day 1: Heart-shaped Onigiri Bento

Not the most creative, I know, but considering it's my first time I think it turned out fairly well. I made the same one for my sister, but for her's I added a heart-shaped piece of nori to the top of her onigiri. It looked so cute! Why didn't I take a picture :( Oh well, I'm sure you have an imagination. And my sister hates carrots as well as cucumbers, so I had cut her some kiwi slices and added some teriyaki chicken. Yum! Oh, and the strawberry treat is similar to a fig newton... but made with strawberries (well duh :P)

Day #2: Sesame seed and Smiling Onigiri BentoMy bento for lunch contained the 2 onigiri, one with sesame seeds and the other with a smiling face (so cute!). My mom had bought celery hearts the other day so I decided they would make a good addition to my bento. I also included beef jerky and a korean "french-style" apple pie treat (from H mart, an awesome korean supermarket... only second to T&T!)

My sister, also doesn't like celery or beef jerky (can you believe we're related!) so I prepared her onigiri bento with a hot-dog octopus (at her request) and some cute pepperoni + cheese cut-outs. I added some carrot and cucumber stars in, to add some flair, but I assured my sis that she didn't have to eat them... no pressure hehehe what are sisters for?

Overall, my first experience with bento has been going well. I really enjoy the look of the box, and especially the look on the faces of those you make the lunches for. When their face lights up, and they can see that you've put a ton of care and effort into their meals, it's all worth it.

Memo to self: Must invest in a good quality bento box (maybe with 2 or 3 levels), also must buy an egg mould... the hello kitty and other animal shaped moulds are super cute.