Grilled Cheese Flower Bento

The main part of the bento - the grilled cheese flower sandwich had extra cheese decorations added once the sandwhich had cooled down. There are also some carrot butterflies, green grapes, fresh blueberries, cucumber grass and a skewer of blueberries with a balloon sticker-enhanced toothpick. For desert were a sweet midget pickle and tiny hamburger shaped cookies that were surprisingly good. On the side - tomato soup in a microwaveable bowl.

Bean Jam Wafer Bento

This was an extremely easy bento for a day when speed was required. Jasmine rice with green pea heart , cheddar jack cheese slices, baby tomatoes, sesame carrots, a skewer of chick peas (my little girl LOVES those things, who knew?) and an extra huge, lovely, wonderfully yummy bean jam wafer from Super H Mart.

The heart of peas was created by packing the rice around the outside of a heart shaped cookie cutter, then putting the peas into the center. Gently lift out the cookie cutter and voila - something that kind of sort of resembles a heart from certain angles, lol.

The wafer is really really good, I can't quite describe it though. The outside is a lot like an old fashioned ice cream cone which was a bit surprising at first.

Garden Fresh Bean Bentos

Top tier to bottom: Vegetable ramen with carrot hearts, green beans and a black olive. Blueberries from our bushes with canned mangosteen sections and candied mango-chili slivers. Jasmine rice with a mamenori cover, baked tofu fingers.

Left tier: Lots of steamed broccoli with tiny carrot flowers, a black olive, fresh blueberries and canned mangosteen, cheese crackers and sesame sticks.

Right tier: Baked tofu fingers, black olives, jasmine rice, green beans, carrot stars.

Jasmine rice, green beans, carrot acorns, baked tofu fingers, black olives, veggie ramen, steamed broccoli. The lid section contained lots of blueberries.

My toddler had just picked green beans from her grandpa's garden and was so excited about eating them that I had to spruce them up a bit. her excitement did not last beyond the first bite, however, as she realized that she still did not like green beans. But at least she tried them!

Fairy Heart Bento

Fairy bread is this absolutely gorgeous phenomenon that caught my eye on Flickr a while back. Not only is it easy to make, it's lots of fun and my toddler can't get enough of it. Fortunately I introduced it to her as something reserved for special occasions. If you aren't familiar with Fairy bread - it consists of white bread, something spreadable such as butter or peanut butter with all kinds of colorful sugar sprinkles on top. Search for it on flickr to get a lot of beautiful pics!

Included with the Fairy bread: pretzels, cheddar cheese, green grapes, applesauce with carrot flowers.

Non-challenge Bento

This was my husband's bento on the same day as the Challenge bento.

Top tier: Vegetable Bao (store bought), steamed broccoli, rambutans and orange slices, carrot star, baby tomato, cheese slices.

Bottom tier: Vegetable fried rice (no egg), steamed broccoli, baby tomatoes, home-made two-potato curry gyoza, cheese stars.

On the side: Coconut cream cookies.

The Challenge Bento

A while back a friend of mine slightly dissed my bentos, commenting on how small they were and how they could never hold enough food for him. This was utter blasphemy and it became a challenge! My response: this bento, the single bento I have ever made that included meat. Yes, it's true.

Top tier: A ton of veggie fried rice with egg, tightly packed. 3 beef shumai, store bought. 3 pork gyoza, also store bought. Steamed broccoli floret, carrot star and mozzarella shooting star.

Bottom tier: Vegetable bao, more beef shumai and pork gyoza, steamed broccoli, baby tomatoes, rabbit shaped boiled egg with nori mustache and eyeglass. Carrot star, cheese slices, rambutans and orange slices.

On the side: a package of cookies and a container of hot sauce.

It was great fun to do a 'challenge' bento! All the meat was in wrapped form and required steaming to cook so that I could cook it without touching any of it. It had been so many years since I'd cooked a hard boiled egg that I actually had to look up directions for it, lol. It was kind of neat to use my egg shaper for the use to which it was intended, though.

Black sesame seed bento

Left to right: Steamed peas, hello kitty soy sauce container, cherry tomato, sesame carrots with black sesame seeds, jasmine rice with black sesame seed circle.

A very simple bento that was easy to make and took very little time. The black sesame seeds are a favorite of mine both for taste and for looks. They do really taste a lot different from white sesame seeds - I can't explain how exactly, but they do!