Fall is here!

Apparently Halloween ushered in the proper fall weather and now it's time for us to pull out all our sweaters and gloves.  There are at least seven different colors of leaves in the trees around our house.  It's the perfect weather to sip coffee and ruminate.  I decided to post a bento of mine today, clearing the bento palate from the glut of Halloween cuteness.  My absolute favorite part of this bento was the tiny purple flowers!

In the bento:  Rice (haha, like you didn't already know that), tonkatsu-ish tofu slices, broccoli sprouts, tiny purple potato flowers, apple, potato salad, checkered cucumber slices, snap peas, a veggie gyoza and carrot leaves.

In other news, A-chan and I have joined the ranks of crazy people participating in NaNoWriMo!  If you haven't been clued in to what that is:  National Novel Writing Month.  Yes, that's right.  We're attempting to write a novel in a month.  Two of my very best friends have been participating for years and this November I decided to throw myself into the frenzy.  A-chan got all excited about it and wanted to sign up too.  It's been three days and so far we're both keeping up our daily word goal.  For me it's just a fun challenge.  I'm hoping that for A-chan it will be a great time-management learning experience as well as fun.

Weekend Fun Bentos

This past weekend was amazing.  We had an incredible time at Anime Weekend Atlanta.  Then we went on to participate in the Color Run 5k with A-chan's godparents.  And there was a Fall Festival after lunch at The Flying Biscuit.  Eating lunch while covered in colors was just a bit strange but also kind of fun.

These bentos were for our lunch at AWA on Friday.  Inari zushi are easy to make and quick to pop into bentos when I'm in a hurry.  I wanted A-chan's to be cute.   I wanted mine to be more elegant.  There were plenty of egg sheets left over from making Vash the Stampede the day before so I used them for fans and flowers.  Everything in this bento was about being quick to make and easy to assemble.

In the bento:  Inari zushi, corn on the cob, grapes, black plum slices, carrot flowers, baby tomatoes and cream cheese soy turkey rolls.

The bunny faces were cut from provolone.  The butterflies were punched from nori with one of my fav nori punches.  It was bought at Michael's and I love it!  I use it all the time on bentos for myself.

After the Color Run

A-chan at the finish line

Birthday Bento!

Yesterday was my birthday.  I am old.  So old.  Don't get me wrong, though.  I am happy to be the age that I am and enjoying every minute!  A-chan used my new age to help her choose things all day long.  Can't decide which kind of candy to buy?  Just count them until you get to Mommy's age.  This was a great reminder of how much energy I don't have now that I'm so old.  Grocery shopping took way longer using this method, lol.

Even though I didn't have to go anywhere I decided to make myself a bento anyway, just to enjoy it.   I used one of my favorite boxes that I haven't gotten to use much recently.

In the bento: Tier 1 held carrot ribbons, quick cucumber pickles, potato salad, a lemon wedge and strawberries.  Tier 2 had green rice with black sesame seeds.  The largest tier contained strawberries, lemon wedges, soy turkey and cream cheese rolls, more carrot ribbons and three veggie gyoza.

It was a lovely day and I wish that it had lasted a lot longer than 24 hours.

Tsukune Dinner Bentos

This blog was originally named because we are a vegetarian family.  Despite the belief here in the west that Japanese food is synonymous with vegetarianism, that is so far from the reality of daily cuisine in Japan.  (More on this subject below...)  I am an anarchist for combining my love of Japanese food and bento making with my life of vegetarianism!  Many times I take traditional Japanese recipes and 'fake them up' into vegetarian versions that I can make quickly and easily at home.

Tsukune patties are one of our favorite of these anarchized recipes.  And yes, I realize that 'anarchized' isn't actually a word but I like it so I'm going to use it anyway.  Tsukune in Japan are made from ground chicken, usually served on a skewer.  Mine are made from firm tofu, fried onion paste, flour, panko and water.  Totally not traditional Japanese cuisine but oh so yummy!  A-chan prefers hers with ketchup while I eat mine drenched in mayo and sriracha.  I will post the recipe soon.

In the bento: Rice with black sesame seeds, carrot flowers, steamed broccoli, corn on the cob, vegetarian tsukune patties, an apple bunny for A-chan and a checkered apple for me.  My bento had some broccoli sprouts scattered around while A-chan refused to have any in hers.

While I want to make dinner bentos as lovely as these every time, I admit that they aren't always so picture worthy.  Somehow I'm only organized enough to make pretty food in the mornings and by afternoon I'm throwing food into bento boxes and hoping I'll get us to dance class on time.

(Vegetarianism in Japan continued...) Like my grandparents who used to think that life will end if one doesn't flavor food with meat, most Japanese consider a meal to be incomplete without some form of meat.  There is more in common between the South and Japan than most people think!   The idea of vegetarianism is not well understood in either place, though that is slowly changing.  I've been told that it is as difficult to find vegetarian food in Japan as it is to get a veggie meal at a BBQ joint - almost impossible unless you want to eat plain bread.  A meal without meat seems to equate to hardship and unhappiness in Japan, which leads to a very different view of food.  Below are some links about this that are fun to read and occasionally eye-opening.

http://thisjapaneselife.org/2011/09/07/japan-vegetarian-food/

http://www.lyndonhill.com/veginjapan.html

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/02/24/national/japans-vegetarians-stay-in-the-closet/

Yakisoba is Yummy!

Once again I deceived myself into believing that I would have a smidgen of free time during the Thanksgiving break.  Wrong!  On the plus side it was a fabulously fun week.  These bentos were eaten at Zoo Atlanta while we sat and watched the Gorillas have a snack.  I kept them plain and without characters since I would be carrying them through the zoo for a few hours before lunchtime.  This turned out to be a great plan since I got very excited about the Red Panda who was incredibly adorable.  There apparently was some jumping and squeeeing that could potentially have destroyed any characters.

After lunch I was excited to talk about bentos to the Japan Society of Georgia Perimeter College, woot! I really, really love to talk about bentos.  This was the second time that I had trouble remembering the name of a Japanese recipe, though.  It was Tsukune!  Next time I'm going to have it tattooed on my hand, I swear.  Thank you guys so much, I loved it and enjoyed meeting you all!

In the bentos:  Yaki soba noodles with sauteed tofu, cauliflower, broccoli and carrots was the main part for both of us.  A-chan had an apple bunny, baby corn and some black olives on picks.  I had the apple pieces that were cut off to make the bunny and some cucumber slices.

JapanFest DayTwo

I can hardly believe how quickly this week has gone by.  On Monday my face was sore from smiling so much over the weekend!  Tuesday was entirely taken up with tests at school.  Today there were more tests but they were outweighed by the beautiful blue skies and clear weather.  Now that my exams are over I am able to finish up my posts about the wonderfulness of JapanFest!  Everyone loved seeing A-chan's lunch so much on Saturday that I decided to make a bento just for display on Sunday. People's reactions to seeing the bentos in person were so sweet and it made me very happy.

In the bento: Two plain onigiri, an apple bunny, blackberries, edamame on a pick, tofu karaage, carrot stars and almost invisible in the back were steamed broccoli and tiny tomato halves.

The onigiri were very quickly formed with the use of a triangular rice mold.  Their eyes were punched out of nori with a face shaped puncher, but the mouths were cut with scissors.  I used the end of a toothpick to apply sriracha sauce to make the cheeks.

In addition to the display bento we each had lunch bentos.  On Sunday A-chan's asthma was under control so she got to come along, yay!  Her bento had the same contents as the display with the addition of some kiwi slices.  Mine had Japanese curry instead of onigiri.

We had a fantastic time.  One of her favorite things was seeing all the Koi.  She also loved the games in the ginza.

A-chan in her new Yukata and me in my Aunt Takiko's Michiyuki. Her Yukata and face paint matched!

Playing games.  This one was the ring-toss.

The consolation prize for the ring toss was cotton candy. She loves cotton candy!

Birthday Treat and Review

Ahhh, the beauty of lunch is mine!  I bought myself a 'Bento Colors' box from Bento & Co. for my birthday. I might not have needed an excuse to buy a new bento box but a birthday is a good one.  For a long time I have passionately wanted one of these sleek boxes but kept putting it off because I didn't make many bento lunches for myself.  That's changing with my new schedule and going back to school!

At first I wasn't sure what to do with three entire tiers.  Filling three tiers required a new way of planning.  In actuality it wasn't difficult at all and I was amazed at how much food fit into this box even though it is relatively skinny.  The tier on the far right is deeper than the other two.  I was delighted to be able to fit the huge cherry tomato in without having to cut it and it fit absolutely perfectly into the rounded end.  The lids were a bit different from any of my other bento boxes, but I was very happy with the way that they fit and I felt that they made a good, solid seal.

In the bento:  The left tier held Fuji apple slices, steamed broccoli, steamed edamame, two cherry halves, two tiny homemade vegetarian meatballs and a lemon wedge.  The middle tier is stuffed with rice and topped with a sprinkling of homemade furikake.  The right tier had a huge cherry tomato, potato salad with edamame and mustard seeds, steamed squash and two carrot flowers on a bed of purple cabbage.

Purple is my favorite color.  You'd be surprised at how difficult it is to find purple bento boxes!  Now you know why I coveted this one...   The three boxes slide into the outer case very easily with guides on the inside to help.  It also closes completely with little effort and fit into almost all of my bento bags.  (Yes, I had to try it in all of them, just to see.)  Opening it is also pretty easy although I had to use the thumb of my left hand on one side and the right hand on the other.  My hands simply were not large enough to grasp the end and remove it in one fell swoop.

Overall I am just as delighted with the 'Bento Colors' box as I had hoped to be.  While having an extra tier was intimidating at first, I have since fallen head over heels for the extra space.  I loved carrying it and found that I didn't obsess about it falling over like I have done with other boxes.  The elegant case is just perfect and beautifully streamlined.  The only drawback was that my camera didn't want to take a good picture of the case - it was simply too reflective!  I had to put the elephant in front to give the camera something to focus on in order to get a relatively decent picture.

Butterflies and Tulips

Yesterday was my birthday.  It was a wonderful day and I enjoyed every moment!  My birthday present to myself was a new bento box from Bento & Co. which I can't wait to try out.  Expect an excited post with a review tomorrow.  This bento was quick and easy to put together except for the black sesame seeds which were not nearly as simple as I expected.

In the bento:  Rice with egg sheet butterflies and carrot tulips, a container of sauteed tofu, sesame carrots, pomegranates, blueberries, grapes, and plums.

The small flowers were cut from egg sheet and plum peel and the leaves were cut from spinach with scissors.  Since I've also been going to school I have been making bentos for myself.  Here is my first umeboshi bento!

In the bento: Rice, homemade vegetarian meatballs with carrot stars, clementine wedge, steamed green beans, Japanese sweet potato slices, grapes and a container of squash and green peas.  Instead of my usual lettuce baran I used folded over spinach leaves.

Nice and Simple

One of my bentos, woohoo!  It's not nearly as cute as the ones that I make for A-chan, but it's still delicious.  I love that I look forward to eating lunch.  This one is very simple with only 5 ingredients and took about 7 minutes to make.

In the bento: Rice with pickled ginger shreds and radish sprouts on top, a huge cherry tomato, sugar snap peas, orange slices and Morningstar Farms Chik'n Strips.

The rice was already cooked and in the fridge, it just needed a minute in the microwave to warm it up.  The Chik'n strips were lightly sauteed in a little olive oil and garlic.

Yaki Udon at the Zoo

You guys get to see a lot of A-chan's bentos.  So for our Zoo trip day I was selfish and only took a picture of my bento.  It's not as pretty as most of hers, but still very appetizing!  Since it's Spring Break our schedule has been completely skewed so this bento was limited by the fact that I hadn't gone grocery shopping and we were out of almost everything.  But I want you to ignore the fact that there is nothing red in this bento and focus on the red flower of the bamboo pick.  Pretty red flower.

We had a great time at Zoo Atlanta, taking it slow and moseying around to see all the animals.  A-chan made a new friend while we were there, a little girl who was a year older and was very sweet. They hit it off and spent the afternoon conquering the zoo together.  I foiled the goats at the petting zoo by wearing my hair up so they couldn't eat any this time.  I know they were disappointed!

In the bento:  Yaki udon with broccoli, carrots and onions, pan sauteed tofu with black sesame seeds, a bit of cucumber, a checkered apple, a pick with grapes, a carrot flower and cucumber peel leaf.  More carrot pieces and grapes were hidden underneath the carrot flower and huge chunk of apple.

I planned to carry our bentos with me during the day to avoid the long walk back out to the car.  The yaki udon would hold up well to being carried and shifted around, I thought.  It did!  A-chan had fun trying to eat the long noodles as I had forgotten to cut hers before packing up.

It was a chilly day with overcast skies.  Happily the rain that had threatened all day held off until after we left the zoo!  

A Study in Color

Here are two bento pictures that have bad background color choices.  The yellow is overpowering in the top one, and the red overpowers the bottom.  Even though these are not great pictures, I still like the bentos!  The top bento was one of mine while the other shows a bento for myself and one for A-chan that we recently took for lunch on a long trip.

In the top bento: Half a golden plum, sugar snap peas wrapped in soy turkey, carrot flowers, colossal black olives, Korean sweet potato slices and two curry filled onigiri.

The curry filled onigiri were an experiment.  I wasn't sure whether they would be too messy, but they turned out quite perfect!  A tiny taste of curry and vegetables in the center.  You can see the curry gravy barely peeking through the rice on the sides.

In the bottom bentos: Rice mixed with tofu soboro, apple slices, grapes, carrot flowers, raspberries , black olives.  My bento has a wonderful ribbon of sriracha hot sauce.

Normally the tofu soboro would be layered on top of the rice.  But since there was a good likelihood of eating in the car I wanted to try and prevent as much mess as possible.  

It's been a while since I've posted and I apologize.  Last week was crazy!  I did pass my huge test and the great news is that I have officially been accepted into college!  I'm both a little scared and a lot excited.  I can't wait to get started, it's going to be a great adventure.  

Moroccan Yumminess

Arrrgh!  No matter where I positioned the butterfly or what angle the photo was from, this butterfly just looked awkward to me.  It's still a nice butterfly and A-chan liked it a lot, so why am I worrying about it?!  I shouldn't, right?  Today I made myself a bento too.  It was yummy!  Have you ever been to a Moroccan restaurant?  If you haven't, drop everything and go now.  Yes, I mean it - now!  Both of our bentos have leftovers from the Moroccan feast that I cooked the other night.  Not only is Moroccan food delicious it makes a ton of leftovers which just tickles pink the freezer stash lover in me.

In A-chan's bento:  Garlic and Basil couscous, Moroccan chickpeas, carrot butterfly, strawberries, steamed broccoli, carrot hearts, veggie hotdog flowers with green pea centers, and a container of feta cheese.

In my bento: Garlic and basil couscous, Moroccan vegetable stew, pan seared tofu and a perilla leaf.

The sweet Julie Moore got me thinking about couscous recently, making me realize how long it had been since I'd made Moroccan food.  I am grateful - I love this stuff! Go have a peek at the post I just made with the couscous, stew and tofu recipes.

Unfortunately A-chan does not share my relish in Moroccan cuisine and totally refused to eat the Vegetable stew.  That's why her bento has only the chickpeas, each one individually picked out of the stew to go into her bento.  Yep, that's how much I love my girl :)

Pastitsio Bento

Ahhh, Monday.  The sun is shining but it is as cold as all get out!  I've never been exactly sure what that phrase meant.  My grandparents used it a lot as I was growing up and it is now part of my brain function whether I understand it or not.  Might as well use it, right?  Today's bento of leftover vegetarian Pastitsio is perfect for this weather and it's all for me.  Happy Meatless Monday!

The package of sesame leaves that I picked up last night is the excuse for making myself a bento today.  They looked so pretty and it's been a long time since I've done anything experimental food-wise.  These are actually Perilla leaves which are related to Basil and Mint, but are often marketed under the name Sesame leaves.  Since I'm allergic to Mint, today's experiment is very cautious.  If I have no reactions today I will be more adventurous later in the week.  I love how the leaf looks in the bento - can't wait to actually try tasting it!

A-chan chose Starfruit as her food experiment.  So far she hasn't liked it, but I am so proud of her for trying it!  And since she doesn't like it that just means more for me...

In the bento:  Vegetarian Pastitsio, Perilla leaf, an almond, baby carrots, a huge cherry tomato, blackberries, steamed broccoli, a slice of starfruit and an orange slice.

Pastitsio is a Greek meat and pasta casserole.  I adapted a recipe to be made with Morningstar Farms recipe crumbles.  The recipe is posted on my other blog so if you're interested, go check it out.  It makes a huge amount!  (And you can substitute real meat for the fake meat if you happen to be a carnivore.  Just sayin')

Mama's Bento

There wasn't a need for a bento today.  A-chan was home from school yesterday and today for MLK.  So I made up an excuse to make a bento for myself.  It got eaten at home and satisfied a creative need.  As a bonus I made myself some quick pickles which I adore!

In the bento: Two lozenge shaped onigiri with nori wraps and eggsheet flowers, quick cucumber pickles, leftover Mongolian suegai from the Chinese restaurant, Moro orange slices, a small bunch of tiny grapes and a couple of chunks of Dubliner cheese.

The onigiri weren't quite large enough to stretch to both sides of the box so I placed them inside a large lettuce leaf to hold them in place and add to the prettiness.  The eggsheet flowers were held onto the nori with sriracha as 'glue' and sriracha dots grace the middles of the flowers as well.

We ate at local Chinese restaurant the other night where I got one of my fav dishes - Mongolian suegai.  Yum! There wasn't a lot of it leftover so I had the perfect amount for a bento.  It was a delicious lunch and a quick bento.

I had promised a while back to write up my vegetarian Spaghetti recipe that has been seen in several bentos here and there.  Technically it's my grandmother's recipe that I hijacked into going vegetarian.  But the recipe is now up on my other blog!  Woohoo!  Here is the link: http://incaseofasparagus.blogspot.com/2012/01/make-spaghetti-vegetarian-style.html