Buns of Steel!

A character from Ranma 1/2, Martial Mayhem, Buns of Steel video. I just couldn't stop myself. It had to be done. To get the blue for his tunic I took a little bit of blue gell food coloring and smeared it all over a raw gyoza wrapper. It's not quite the right color, but it is definately blue!
Eyes, mustache and belt were nori. Sleeves were cucumber slices, mouth was a bit of tomato. I don't think he came out all that well, but it was so much fun to try!

We all had the same thing: Vegetable fried rice with tofu egg-substitute mixed in which was sooo yummy, cabbage buns, corn croquettes, teriyaki tofu & onions, black olive skewers, baby tomatoes, japanese wheat cookies.

The red and blue flowers in mine and my daughter's bentos were done with the food color gel on gyoza wrappers, the yellow 'clouds' were tofu egg-substitute omelette cut-outs. It was wonderful to try out somewhat more traditional decoration with our two bentos. The mix of flowers and clouds was nowhere near as elegant as the art that inspired me to try this, but it was definately worth the trying!

LCE #42

Mashed potatoes with black olives, grapes, cheesy love with grilled cheese hearts and fairy bread hearts.

I wanted to make something cute but not very difficult or needing much thought. This is the result. It went over very well, in fact!

Bouquet Bento

A 'cheer-up' bento for my daughter. The main decoration is on a background of soy turkey & cheese sandwich which was cut specifically to fit this bento. The large flower was cut from a cheese slice and then sugar dots were pushed in on their sides so that they stick up a little. The orange flowers are carrots which were cut out with my tiniest flower cutter. The last flower was done with corn and a pea for the center. Blue sugar dots provide a bit more color. The stems and leaves are cut from cucumber peel, the large flower's stem has the peel side down to give a different color.

The rest of the bento included pretzels, skewers of corn and peas, baby tomatoes, mozzarella coins and a side bowl of tomato soup. The soup bowl is one of the toddler bowls that you can get as a rainbow stack at Walmart or Target. They are very economical, travel well because the lid is usually pretty tight and best of all they are microwaveable!

Family Picnic Bentos

A bento for my husband, daughter, mother and myself. We were supposed to eat our bentos at the lake as a picnic. But it rained. So we went to a park that has covered pavilions instead. And it continued to rain. The bentos were pretty yummy, though!

The menu: Veggie & Balsamic vinegar pasta with black olives and carrots, grilled cheese sandwiches (heart, flower & star), baby tomatoes, veggie potato pancakes, blueberries and carrots, cucumber slices.

It was a bit more challenging to do yet a fourth bento, I kept running out of counter space!

Bao Bentos!

Top tier: Cabbage bun with carrot flower, carrot sticks, steamed broccoli and apple flower.
Bottom tier: Sesame Seugai (restaurant leftovers, yay!), baby tomatoes, carrot slices, blueberries & more steamed broccoli.


Cabbage bun & carrot flower, carrot sticks, baby tomatoes, steamed broccoli, Sesame seugai leftovers.

Sesame suegai leftovers, baby tomatoes, steamed broccoli, blueberry and apple flower skewers, cabbage bun, Zoo Land cracker, carrot sticks.

We finally tried the buns from Super H Mart!! They are yummy and soooo easy to cook. I just put them in a tupperware container, put a sheet of microwaveable cling wrap over the container with a small corner open for a vent and microwaved them for 2 minutes. How great is that?! A word of caution, though, overcooking is really bad. I managed to overcook one that I cooked seperately and it came out as a rock.

Indian Leftover Bentos

Since my toddler didn't like the Indian dinner the night before, her bento is pretty different from those of my husband and I.

Top tier: Mixed dried fruit, 'Fruit by the Foot' rose, cinnamon graham crackers w/ peanut butter, snap pea snacks, carrot sticks, Morningstar Farms Chik nuggets and a container of ketchup.

Bottom tier: Curried rice and peas, Alphatots french fries, carrot stars.

My husband and I both had curried rice and peas, Gujarati carrot salad, Aloo Bhaji. Since cauliflower and I don't really get along too well, I had extra peas and he had extra Bhaji :) Technically the carrot salad is supposed to be grated, but I didn't have the energy for it so I just made ribbons. It still tasted really good, though!

OMG Garlic Bentos

These bentos were characterised by the amazing amount of garlic in the pasta. The recipe was shown to me by an old friend of my husband's when we were a whole lot younger than we are now. We still call it R's Meal in honor of him. It consists of mega portions of minced garlic, olive oil, salt and basil.

We all had pretty much the same stuff in all of our bentos: R's Meal pasta with tomato flower, black olive & cucumber leaves, vegetarian forfar bridie, corn, cucumber slices & container of HP sauce. My daughter's bento included some of the Zoo Land biscuits from Super H Mart which are yummy, but not at all sweet like I was expecting them to be. They are more like butter crackers and a tiny bit flaky.