Oh, Bento

Far too much food

2009-09-29T00:11:00.000-07:00

Bento #55 (Mine) :.A really full box of stuff. lol. rice ball(Kodoma) with nori faces, 6 gyoza, narutomaki slices, fried teriyaki tofu, mushroom chunks, daikon pickles, and romaine lettuce. Packed in 1 of 3 tiers from my Korean picnic bento set.Sidecar: Kiwi butterflies and slices, navel orange segments and the last of my rambutans.This is waaaay to much food for me. I usually only eat(and really

Fishy Print Kinkachu Bag

2009-09-27T19:24:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday! Which means I didn't make bento, but I made something for it! :DI bought this fabric over a year ago at a cute little store in downtown Seattle. It was going to be for a purse, but I never got around to it. And then, yesterday I found this tutotial. Here are the results: It's hard to see the handles in this one. But they are there. A view of the inside lining.This bag is HUGE

And now time for some faces

2009-09-26T16:39:00.001-07:00

I just love my onigiri mold! It's basically my most useful and most used tool. *hugs*Bento #54 (Mine) :Left: Rabutans, red and green bell peppersRight: White rice onigiri with nori faces and handlesTiger: Leftover "Fiesta dip" Another thing I love is my nori punch. I think lunch is so much better when pieces of it have faces. XD Some of my friends make fun of me, others are in awe of my lunches.

First day of school and the first day of Fall

2009-09-24T16:56:00.000-07:00

Hello! I've been gone for so long! Just haven't had time to post. Now that school has started, I'll be making lunch pretty much everyday again. Yay! I missed my bentos.Bento #52: (mine) First day of FallIt's hard to see but we have: Turkey and pepperjack on maple leaf shaped skewers, bird shaped onigiri sprikled with umeboshi furikake, maple leaf/acorn shaped mushroom slices, romaine lettuce, and

Packages Galore

2008-09-26T21:53:00.000-07:00

I finally decided to order from Ichbankan. Everything is so cheap and the package came very quickly! I got a nori face punch, Mink the monkey bento belt, chopsticks and chopsticks case. The wall hooks were a free gift they threw in.This week also brought 2 packages from bento swaps This swap was just for the 3 mayo cups and she surprised me with the rest-which includes homemade greeting cards. :

Freezing Cornbread Muffins

2008-09-25T22:46:00.000-07:00

I wake up at around 6 and have to get to work at 7 so I try to get my lunch packed up the night before. But sometimes, I forget or I'm very tired so I don't have a lunch. Which is very bad. Because I end up buying something in the break room which means my lunch consists of: a hot pocket/burrito, a granola bar, and some fruit snacks. Not the best. It makes me pretty mad at myself because I have

It's Friday, Argh!

2008-09-19T20:32:00.000-07:00

Yes, Sadly I made a pirate bento last week and today happens to be "Talk like a pirate day". Oh why didn't I realize? :OAnyway, I didn't get a picture of my nice bento this week because I was running out the door whilst packing. So here are two summer bentos.Backlogged bento #50: (mine)I had: Tamagoyaki(Japanese rolled omelet), sushi rolls(Just rice and furikake in seaweed.), Sugar snap peas,

Long Delay!

2008-09-12T21:27:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how I've been neglecting my poor bento blog. But as I said, I have been making bentos. I think I'm going to just update once a week for now and maybe every now and then put up another too. But for now, let's just expect to see an entry on Friday night with the week's highlight bentos. :)(I guess I'll still number them even though I've already made well over a hundred.)Bento #48 (

Working bento

2008-05-27T20:46:00.000-07:00

I got a job 2 weeks ago so I've been neglecting updating here. But I have been making bentos. Oh, have I been bentoing! :D Forgive the missing uh...6(?) bentos. I usually pack up lunch the night before and I run off to work at 6:30am. Aaaaand it's a little embarasing taking photos of your lunch at work. >.>Bento #46 (Mine):Top Tier: Cherry tomatoes, pepperjack chese, teriyaki flavored nori, a

Chicken Salad in 2 Ways

2008-04-27T22:00:00.000-07:00

Bento #44: (Mom)Mom has white rolls, cucumber, celery, cottage cheese, a strawberry, and chicken salad with a tomato slice.Not much to say about this one. Except that I kept the rolls from getting soggy by making a wall of red leaf lettuce between them and the cucumber.Bento #44 (Mine)I have cottage cheese, cucumber, kamaboko(steamed fish cake), hard boiled quail eggs, grapes, and chicken

Sakura Festival Bento

2008-04-21T23:59:00.000-07:00

This weekend was the Seattle Cherry blossom festival. My parents took my brothers, my friend and I. It was really fun! I loved talking with so many sweet Japanese women. And all the paintings and kimonos were really lovely. Because it was such a special occasion it called for a special bento in a new Jyubako box.Top tier: Red leaf lettuce,strawberries, apple rabbits, an orange, and sakura carrot

Chicken Salad For Two

2008-03-19T20:34:00.000-07:00

We went grocery shopping last night. Hurrah! Some fruits and veggies in the house! Fast, simple, plain-looking lunches today. I packed them both the night before to save time in the morning.Bento #40 (Mom's)Mom has Chicken salad with celery, cucumbers, and avocado, ritz crackers and walnuts. 2 carb choices (Probably around three with snacks since she ate most of the tangelo.) Bento #41 (Mine)I

2008-03-18T10:42:00.000-07:00

I keep telling myself I need to update here but I don't. As they say quite often in Korean dramas, How frustrating! Especially since I have been making bentos. Oh well, anyway. Biggie, over at Lunchinabox just finished up a bento gear organization contest. Check out the results! Such wonderful ideas! I considered entering, but I have no great ways to organize and I already bought the prize (A

A Much Needed Update

2008-02-27T21:29:00.001-08:00

Boy, I haven't been on here in a long time. Life was calling. I have been making bentos however and will try to post more often by putting up some older ones.Things have been a little hectic lately. My Mom had a stroke this week, but she's doing much better. We also found out this month that she has type 2 diabetes, so expect to see lots of diabetic lunches with tips for carb counting. :)Bento

Lynnwood Daiso and Enchanted boxes

2008-01-09T22:08:00.000-08:00

We were down at the Alderwood mall yesterday so we stopped at the Daiso there(of course!). It was bigger then the Federal way store and lots of fun to look around. They had a ton of boxesI grabbed mini chopsticks, some sauce bottles and veggie cutters. But the best thing I got yesterday was at the Disney store. Duh duh duh duuuuuuuh! I <3 Enchanted! And these boxes were in a pack for $5.50 or

A New Year, A New Bento

2008-01-01T18:08:00.000-08:00

This is yesterday's lunch. I made one for my brother too, but didn't get a picture. It was pretty similar though.Bento#36 (mine)R-L: Rye cocktail bread, pomegrante arils, colby jack cheese, ham, hard boiled egg, and edemame.This lunch took about half an hour simply because of the pomegrante. But now I have a whole bunch of arils in the fridge to put in other lunches (and just to snack on. Yummy!)

Happy Boxing Day!

2007-12-26T21:56:00.001-08:00

(Written yesterday and forgot to post. Oopsies.)Today's lunch is in honor of all the people who got gifts they didn't want. :PBento #35An egg, sweet potato, radish, and steak on a bed of rice packed in my pink Hello Kitty box.(Don't know the ml. I should find out.)I actually didn't spend as much time on this as you might think. It was my way of using up my leftover dinner from last night. The egg

Tamagoyaki For Breakfast

2007-12-19T12:52:00.000-08:00

Bento #34 (mine)Tamgoyaki and baby jazz apple rabbits. Packed in my new Hello Kitty box from my swap with Snappiness on Flickr. Time: About 15 minutes. I cut up the apple and let it sit in a bath of cold water, sugar, and lemon juice while I made the eggs. This was my second attmept at Tamagoyaki and it came out so well. (I made a third attempt that night that was even better.) I used Biggie's

Squished Bento

2007-12-14T11:17:00.000-08:00

Bento #33 (Mine)Tuna-filled onigiri, steamed broccoli, cheddar cheese, dried apricots and radishes. Packed in a 738ml Hello Kitty box.Preparing: I had to rush with this one. Only had 10 minutes to make lunch for myself and Mom. Luckily, the fridge has food in it. Rice leftover from dinner took a quick trip in the microwave and I made the onigiri while the broccoli was reheating. (I steamed a

Tuna Fish Onigiri

2007-12-11T00:05:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine came over today and we had a Japanese day without even trying. Started off with Onigiri for lunch, watched Grave of the Fireflies and then spent the afternoon happily making origami cranes and shurikens. It was a gooood day. :DBento (Ok, so it's not in a box.) #33I had tuna-stuffed onigiri, enoki mushrooms with water chesnuts and some broccoli.A very quick lunch for 5. My friend

It's a Pan, Duh.

2007-12-08T21:07:00.000-08:00

We went to the Zoo today with my brother and his family so I packed a lunch for Mom, Matt and I. Mason ended up coming too so there almost wasn't enough food.Bento #32:We had: Panda onigiri with nori faces , onigiri with umeboshi, cup of pickled ginger and a elephant of soy sauce on a bed of romaine lettuce. And off to the right you can see our side car of a persimmon and an orange.This bento

Happy Day of The Ninja!

2007-12-05T08:56:00.000-08:00

Yes it's here the annual "Day of the Ninja" And to celebrate I'm showcasing my favorite ninja Bentos(And other things) I've found online (I do this to cover up the fact that I didn't make my own.). Ok, let's get started. :DMade by: shiro-ko on livejournal.An amusing blog post including a ninja themed restaurant.http://runwitme.blogspot.com/2007/05/sunday-of-running-and-ninjas.htmlNot exactly

Real Bento

2007-11-28T13:01:00.000-08:00

After waking up late today I rushed around the kitchen trying to find something to pack for lunch. Cheese cubes, a pita, 2 hard boiled eggs and some cucumber slices went into a box for Mom, Matt and I to share as we headed for the door. We get to work and what does mom say? "I don't think that'll feed all of us. Let's get bento for lunch." Oh bliss!Our real bento: mixed tempura, gyoza, california

Breakfast and Curry

2007-11-25T19:46:00.000-08:00

Not much about the bentos today. I don't feel like typing a bunch of stuff. Happy Thanksgiving! :DBento #31 (mine)Bottom tier: Crackers, swiss laughing cow cheese, and dried apricotsTop: Fresh pineapple skewers and a bear shaped hard boiled egg.Bento #32 (Josh's)Bottom round: Rice and tofu/veggie curry. I sandwiched the curry with the rice to keep it warmer longer.Second round: Homemade gyoza and

The Holiday Approacheth

2007-11-20T19:36:00.000-08:00

Since we'll have to cook so much food tomorrow and Thursday I got a head start on my sushi tray tonight. And you know what that means: More pictures! :DI don't have a musubi press, but I found a really easy way to make spam musubi without one. First I cut the spam block in half and then cut it into strips. I put those in the marinade while I shaped the rice:After that I took the marinaded spam

Sushi Bento

2007-11-19T19:18:00.000-08:00

Took a trip to Daiso and H mart today with mom and picked up lots of goodies. She's employed me to make a sushi plate for Thanksgiving. She really enjoys Asian stuff now and we're both learing a lot about Japanese culture. I'm reading this book aloud in the car. It's really charming and fasinating. I highly reccomend it for anyone who's interested in Japanese food. speaking of Japanese food...(

A Little Under the Weather

2007-11-09T10:36:00.001-08:00

Not feeling that great today and today's bento reflects it. I wish I could've had fresh hot rice though. That is my ultamite comfort food. Bento #27 (mine)In the yellow box I have granola, dried mango and a tangerine in the bottom and about half an Asian pear in the top. The round container has some saltines, 2 packs of hot and sour soup and a green tea bag and the hello kitty bottle is full of

A Package from Japan

2007-11-05T21:41:00.000-08:00

I'm so happy! I got my egg molds in the mail today!So many cute shapes. We tried them out today and some of them got messed up because I didn't peel them right. I'll have to keep making them until they look nice.Another trip to Daiso this weekend brought more fun goodies. Silicone baking cups, an oshibori, and a new box.Bento #23 (Mine from a few days ago) :With nothing for rederence, you might

Real Onigiri

2007-10-12T10:38:00.001-07:00

Bento #22(mine):Onigiri, green pepper, container of sesame ginger dressing, mini hamburgers and eggroll, cheese skewers, hello panda cookies and grape tomatos to fill it in.I love my onigiri molds! I cooked up the rice last night, molded them and put them in the fridge. Using the molds makes it take about 5 minutes to make 6 or 7. So much easier then doing it by hand.

Mini hamburgers and Nashi

2007-10-10T22:22:00.000-07:00

Again I started eating my lunch before taing a picture so half my pear chunks are gone. :P I had to use my cell phone to take the photo because my camera died.Bento #22 (mine):Rice with furikake, mini hamburgers with gap filling grapes, half a nashi (Asian pear) and cheese skewers with "hello panda" cookies.Really quick and simple. Mom made tamale meat loaf on Saturday so I made some of the meat

Golden Curry

2007-10-08T23:31:00.000-07:00

Daiso is my new favorite store. They have everything there. and mostly under $2! Just look at these spoils. :D2 sizes of onigiri molds, assorted sauce bottles, fun food picks and a lunch box. (I also got a thermal lunch bag.) They didn't have any egg molds and niether did H Mart so I'm going to have to find them online. But I was very happy with what I did find. My lunch box has four compartments

Shopping Trip and Dino and Pac-man Bentos

2007-10-04T23:13:00.000-07:00

I was at Ross this week and I was snooping around the toys section when these caught my eye. I ended up buying the one with a built in fork and it came with a 600ML bottle for $1.99USD. All of the boxes there are packed in sets of 2 for $2-3USD. I packed a Bento in my new box today but didn't get a picture.Bento #18 Ice age Dino (Mine) :I wasn't going anywhere that day but I find it easier to

Skipping some

2007-10-02T00:07:00.000-07:00

I haven't had a chance to update in a while and I'm not going to post 2 weeks worth of bentos here tonight so we'll just go with my favorites. (Both of Josh's lunches here are Vegetarian.)Josh recently bought a thermal lunch box near the hispanic food at Winco that I jokingly call his "Ms. Bento". :D But seriously it has lots of space and mostly keeps the food warm. Not bad for $9. Bento #12 (

It's Bento, For Breakfast.

2007-09-13T15:35:00.000-07:00

I alwasy get hungry on Sunday mornings (We get to church at 8am to make coffee and don't get home till about noon.) and bento has come to my rescue. Apple slices, grapes, a container of yogurt, a Lion king kiddy spoon, and a box of Lychee drink. All packed in my new Hello Kitty box that I got for 49 cents at Ross.It took me about 5 minutes to throw it all together before we left. Josh's Bento

New box

2007-09-06T20:11:00.000-07:00

I picked up this little baby at Storables last night. It has three containers that are all freezer, microwave, and dishwasher safe. It also comes with an icepack to keep the food cold. It was a great buy for $8.95. I packed my bento in it today:Top: Gyro skewers, white rice onigiri, and soy sauce.Bottom: Peach yogurt with red and green grapes, olive man with carrot pieces and a hard boiled

Bento for the whole family

2007-09-04T23:23:00.000-07:00

Well, not quite the whole family. :)Josh's Bento: Classic favorite with an asian flair.Ham and cheese on dinner rolls, pretzels, Lychees and salad(Bok choi, carrots, hard boiled egg and catalina dressing.).My bento: Lovely BentoTop: Soy sauce onigiri wrapped in nori, cheese cut outs, carrot slices, hard boiled egg chick(nori and carrot face) and heart and peanut butter and jelly on a dinner

Barbecue and Mr. Healthy Bento

2007-09-03T23:16:00.000-07:00

Josh's Bento consits of leftovers again:Cheese cut-outs, pork ribs, pickles, pepperoncinis, olives and a pluot.Dad's lunch was more fun to make:Top: Flower and triangle brown rice onigiri with nori seaweed, carrot cut-outs and a little container of balsamic vinegar and olive oil.Bottom: Bok choi and carrot sald with a hard boiled egg and a pepperoncini on the side.

Tuna melt

2007-09-02T20:16:00.000-07:00

Cheddar cheese and Tuna salad (canned tuna and mayonnaise.) on a toasted english muffin.Not exactly a Bento, but it is food art! After taking the picture I threw it in the microwave for 30 seconds and it was perfect.

First Bento and box

2007-09-01T20:52:00.000-07:00

I don't have a photo of my very first Bento, because my dad took it to work before I thought of it. But it was 3 egg onigiri (Riceballs), carrot and celery sticks, and 2 button mushrooms. Not the fanciest, but he enjoyed it. As the posts move on I will have photos and more indepth info on what's in the Bento.Today my mom and I went to the 99 Ranch Asian Market and the Great Wall Mall to shop for

Obento, starting out.

2007-09-01T20:45:00.000-07:00

I'm just starting out on this, so I thought I'd put up a post with some info on Obento (Or bento, as it's more commonly called.), boxes, resources and other sites.What is Bento?For all difficult answers we turn to the internet! Check out this page on Wikipedia. It has lots of information on the origin and practice of the Bento box. This site also has tons of information about Bento and is also a