Packages Galore

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. :D
The bowl I got in this one makes me laugh so much. XD But the real prize in this package was the Totoro chopsticks and case! Totoro = <3

On to the bentos.

Bento #52 (Mine)
top tier: Rice with nori face, zucchini and fried tofu in korean barbecue sauce.
Bottom: Shrimp and krab salad and grapes.
Top of box had pocky and a milk candy. And there was a sidecar of mandarin orange segments.

Bento#53 (mine)Top tier: Zucchini with Korean barbeque sauce, cornbread and mini flan pudding cup.
Bottom: Hamburger, and garlic mashed potatoes.
Sidecar of mandarin orange slices.

Both lunches were made mostly from dinner leftovers. The Zucchini was cooked for 2 minutes in my microwave steamer and then tossed in the sauce. Both were also packed in a two tier Clickety click Mink the monkey box.

It's Friday, Argh!

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? :O

Anyway, 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, edamame, Mr. Tomato stuffed with cream cheese and parsley, gyoza(dumplings) and ginger scallops.

This was a massive feast for a lunch and I didn't quite finish all of it. But it was delicious! I packed it in one of the three tiers of my Jyubaku, purchased at Daiso for $4.

Bento #51:(Mine)

Top tier: gyoza, broccoli beef, chow mein, orange chicken, musroom chicken.
Bottom tier: Fried and steamed rice.
Side dish: Blueberries and musk melon (Cantaloupe)

This was an easy bento. Leftovers from Pandaexpress...or safeway..I can't remember-dinner And just cut up the fruit in the morning. Packed in a two tiered Clickety Click Mink the Monkey box and 260ml Pink "Comment vas-tu?" side dish.

Phew! Glad I got on here. I just made a trip up to Daiso and H Mart and came back with lots of goodies for my Bentoswap partners. I love seeing all the new things at Daiso every time I go there. :D

I'm getting new bento things in the mail from Ichiban kan and swaps so I'll be sure to try them out with new bentoing! Toodles!

~Kaits

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 copy of the book Face Food.). In fact, it's shipping out in 2 more days! :D

We went to see "The Hundred Dresses" at the Seattle Children's theater last thursday and since we got picked up 10am and the play ran until about 1 we had to pack lunch and eat it on the way. I wish I had gotten a picture of my younger brother's lunch because he made it himself and it looked great! but he ate it before I had the chance. (Boys. :P)
Bento #38 (Mine)

Top tier: steamed broccoli, turkey meatballs, hardboiled quail eggs, apple rabbits, cherry tomatos and a raddish. Bottom tier: White rice and a piece of nori dipped in soy sauce.

This took no longer then 20 minutes (Because I made fresh rice. the other stuff took me 10 minutes.). I already had boiled quail eggs in the fridge, the meatballs were leftover gyoza filling, and I cut up that piece of nori ages ago. (It says Shitai which means "I want to try it" in Japanese.) So in the morning all I had to do was steam the broccoli, peel the eggs, microwave the meatballs, and cook the rice. Both lunches in this post were packed in a 738ml Hello Kitty box that I got for $1 at Dollar Tree.

Bento #39 (Mine)

In the top tier: cucumber, tomato/pepperjack kabobs, edemame, babybel cheese and an apple rabbit. Bottom: Tamagoyaki and kamaboko fried rice.

This lunch took me 10 minutes. (That was all the time I had. Phew!) I made the 2 egg omelet in my handy tamagoyaki pan and while I was waiting for it to cook I peeled and sliced the cucumber, heated up the rice and edemame, and started packing the top tier. The fried rice was leftovers from lunch yesterday when I had it inside a crepe style omelet.(Yum!) Here's the recipe, although I'm sure it will be different next time I make it and I don't have exact measurements because that's not how I cook. :P

Kamaboko fried rice

• 2 half-inch slices of kamaboko - cut into cubes
• 3 mushrooms (I can't recall what kind I used. Something from the asian market.) - cut up
• 1 green onion - sliced
• less then 1/4 corn (I used frozen)
• 1 tsp ketchup
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup of cooked rice (Any kind will do. I used pollished white rice)

Happy Boxing Day!

(Written yesterday and forgot to post. Oopsies.)
Today's lunch is in honor of all the people who got gifts they didn't want. :P
Bento #35


An 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 was mixed with soy sauce and cooked in my new Tamogoyaki pan.

I had a very Bentotastic Christmas. I got several pairs of chopsticks, a tamogoyaki pan, Bento box in the Heartland, and some other books (from Mom) coming in the mail.

Squished Bento

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 large batch of broccoli that was going bad earlier this week.)

This is what happens when you make onigiri that are too big for your box. Obviously this photo was taken after transportation. :P

I packed my first oshibori today too.

I saw this at Daiso in a pack with another oshibori and it was too cute to pass up. The caption makes me giggle. ^_^

And here it is with it's case. I found this tupperware in the kitchen and it works perfectly. It's 118ml and has a very secure lid. It's great when you can find bento supplies at home. :)

A Package from Japan

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 think this is big. Well it's not! :P
Persian cucumber, clemintine orange, asian walnut pancakes (not sure about the real name), mini eggrolls and strawberry yogurt.

Bento #24 (Josh):


On the top is Leftover rice and tofu/vegatable stirfry from dinner last night, bottom is clemintine oranges, carrot sticks, and a blue egg shaped like a car.

Mini hamburgers and Nashi

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 into little hamburgers and froze them. The rice was leftovers from dinner.

Mom's Bento was almost the same. Except instead of the third burger she had an egg roll and she had junior caremels rather then panda cookies.

I love those asian pears. They're simply delicious! :D

Golden Curry

Daiso is my new favorite store. They have everything there. and mostly under $2! Just look at these spoils. :D

2 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 and is microwavable and the picks are super cute. I can tell you I'll be going to Daiso a lot now. :)

On to the Bentos!

Bento #20 (Josh)

Rice with furikake, chicken and veggie curry*, granola, dried apple slices, and 2 hello panda cookies.

Josh's bentos usually don't take more then a few minutes to put together. The rice and curry were leftovers from dinner (So yummy!). I threw it in the box while it was still hot since his box is thermal and I didn't have to put as much food away.

Bento #21 (Dad)

Apple chunks sprinkled with lemon juice to reduce browning, cheese kabobs and a hard boiled egg, brown rice and chicken curry.

Another really fast one, except that I had to defrost the rice as I had frozen it about a week ago. I didn't want the cheese or egg to get soggy so I put the apple in a disposable muffin tin(pack of 20 for under $1) and left peeling the egg to him.

*The curry had chicken, green bell pepper, enoki mushrooms, carrots, onions, and golden curry mix.

New box

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 egg.

Quick tip, Leftovers: I had a gyro last night for dinner and didn't finish it, so I took it home. I realised that the bread would get soggy in my box so I took out the meat and put it on some bamboo skewers I had cut in half.

Dad's bento: More leftovers

Coleslaw, carrots, and barbecue ribs. (Not pictured: Brown rice and nori.)

Matt's bento: Fast and easy

This morning at the last minute I needed to make my little brother something for lunch, but it was no problem. 2 already made onigiri, a frozen burrito and some soy sauce makes for a quick and easy meal. Another tip: When you make something like onigiri, make some extra and put them in the fridge or freezer. It helps if you need to make lunch in a hurry.