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.

Freezing Cornbread Muffins

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 to spend money and I don't feel as good or full for the lack of good food. So (enough with the rambling back story :P) Any way that I can get lunch together faster is great. I get so much inspiration from Biggie at Lunch in a box.

I love cornbread. So I made 3 dozen mini cornbread muffins-from a mix, this week. Then I wrapped them in plastic wrap (To prevent freezer burning) and into a Lock and lock container in the freezer they went. You can't really read it. But I have a piece of tape stating: "Cornbread muffins 9/22/08" This is because things need to be marked in our freezer or people ask you repeatedly what it is. Also, dates are a good idea so it gets eaten up. These should last for a few months though, and I'm sure they'll be eaten by then.

Here's more of the inside. You'll also notice the divider in there. 12 of the muffins have cheese in them so that let's me know which is which.

Freezer foods are a great way to make a fast lunch. I usually have edamame(Soy beans), Gyoza(potstickers), An pan(Red bean paste buns. Yum!), and rice, fried tofu in the freezer. Because I have a microwave steamer-which I picked up at Ross for $3, it's easy to throw a handful of beans or some dumplings in it while I'm getting things together to go. Only takes about a minute to cook. Or I pack the dumplings in the steamer and take it to work to cook it. Then it's nice and hot at lunch time.


Real bento post coming tomorrow!

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

Long Delay!

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 (Mine) ARGH!
Here's the breakdown: Hunk of brie, mushrooms, sugar snap peas, quail eggs, and onigiri filled with smoked/peppered salmon with nori faces. There's also some red leaf lettuce around the edges to make it less green. >.>

Backlogged bento #49: (Mine) Chirashi sushi!

(let's see if I remember what's in this. XD) On the left: Blueberries and cheese wheel. Right: Rice with shrimp, avacado, cucumber and hard boiled egg shaped like a car and cut in half.

Working bento

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 strawberry marshmellow and a brownie.

Bottom: White rice mixed with spinach with chicken and an umeboshi.

Chicken and rice were leftover from dinner, I heated them up at work. Teriyaki nori is one of my favorite snacks.

Bento #47 (Mine):

Top Tier: More cherry tomatoes and nori, sweet and sour eggrolls and a fish shaped boiled egg.

Bottom: Thai curry fried rice with chicken.

Curry rice is leftover from a restaruant. I put the eggrolls frozen and cooked them in the toaster oven at work. I just got transferred to the other warehouse and sadly, they have no toaster oven. I guess I'll have to cook at home. :P

Both lunches are packed in a 738ml Hello Kitty box bought at the Dollar Tree for $1.

Chicken Salad in 2 Ways

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 salad-filled onigiri on a bed of red leaf lettuce.

These were packed in 2 of 3 tiers of a Jyubako box I bought at Daiso for $5.

Eeep! 50th bento is right around the corner! I think I have an idea of what to do, but people might only get it if they watch Korean movies. :P

Sakura Festival Bento

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 slices.
Middle tier: Sakura sushi, edemame wontons(recipe coming), sakura mochi, and sakura carrot slices.
Bottom tier: Cheddar and pepperjack cheese cubes,red leaf lettuce, hard boiled quail eggs, radishes, naruto maki, pickled ginger, wasabi, and more sakura carrot slices.

This bento was really fun to put together. It probably took me 2 1/2 hours in total. I made the sushi and wontons the night before and the sakura mochi were bought at Uwajimiya in Bellevue.
I am so amazed with how the sakura sushi came out. I have a book about making Hana sushi and this was my first time actually trying it out. When I cut into the roll I let out an "ooh!" as I saw the pretty flowers. They're not incredible, but they look somewhat like flowers so I'm pleased. Sadly, we couldn't find a cherry tree near Seattle center to eat under, (The weather wasn't that great anyway.) so we didn't have a real Hanami picnic, but we did have a nice time. I wish we could've gone to all three days of the festival.