Tofu Totoro Musubi

A few weeks ago I ran across this fabulous YouTube video on how to make Spam Musubi Totoros.  It inspired me to try making them with slabs of extra firm tofu instead and this was the result!  Except...I didn't have enough nori left to make the bands of the musubi.  But I loved how the Totoros turned out.  I made four of them and since only two would fit into A-chan's bento I got to eat the leftovers for lunch.  Yummy!

In the bento:  Tofu totoros, rectangular onigiri (hidden under the totoros completely), raspberries, steamed broccoli, pineapple, carrot acorns and some frozen blueberries.

To make the totoro shapes I traced the bento box on a piece of paper, then divided it into two rectangles.  I drew a rough totoro shape in each rectangle.  With a piece of saran wrap between the drained slices of tofu and the paper template I used my handy dandy exacto knife to cut out the totoros. They were then cooked in a skillet with a mixture of sesame oil, soy sauce and mirin as I tried to get a spam-ish color from them.  The white parts were all white egg sheet, the black details were nori (of course) and the whiskers were uncooked soba noodles.  Getting the soba noodles to stick up at the correct angles was actually the most difficult part.  Tiny egg sheet flowers were stuck to the steamed broccoli with more uncooked soba.

What do you mean it's Monday?

I love how expressive faces can be on bento characters.  This rabbit's face expresses exactly how I feel.  How can it be Monday again already?  I will conquer the Monday, mwahahaha!  A-chan made sure to notify me that the ears would get squished when I put on the lid, but I laid them flat on top of the veggies and fruit to fix that problem.

In the bento:  Cheese sandwich, strawberries, kiwi, blackberries, corn on the cob, steamed broccoli steamed cauliflower and carrot bunnies.

The bunny's ears were cut from the heel of the bread and provolone cheese.  His mouth is another piece of bread cut in a circle with an x of nori on top.  It is held to the sandwich underneath with a pink pick. The white parts of the eyes were cut from (you guessed it) provolone cheese.  The green parts are zucchini peel and of course the black is nori!  The little carrot bunnies have mouths cut from tiny slivers of zucchini peel.

I'm experimenting with using more veggies to decorate with instead of nori.  It helps to use up some of the scraps that are created from making the charaben, so it feels better to me.  Plus it adds more color which is always a good thing!  The zucchini bits used in this bento were saved from the scraps that I cut out from another bento.  They were saved in an airtight container in the fridge.

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.  

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')

Fried Rice Experiment Bentos

Game night Bentos!

Not eating eggs (in an overt form) has cut quite a few old favorite recipes out of my repetoire, so I've been lately working on making reasonable substitutes. Of course they are reasonable subs if you keep in mind that we've been vegetarian for nigh on ten years now and can't remember how real eggs taste. :) I have conquered the eggless omelette version 1 and decided last night to expand that into fried rice which we haven't had in gah! so many years. It came out pretty darn tasty! Even my husband liked it and he wasn't a fan of fried rice to begin with. I paired it up with Maruchan's instant Teriyaki Yakisoba for an easy to prepare meal during a gaming night. (What better time to experiment with food that may or may not come out edible than when you've been pigging out on cakes, donuts, chips and chocolates all day?)

Egz for Fried Rice version 1.0

1/2 pkg silken tofu

1/4 cup cold water

1 dash turmeric

1 dash garlic

1 dash ginger

1 dash parsley

4 TB all purpose flour

some oil

1. Beat silken tofu with a fork in a bowl, add water and spices.
2. Mix in flour bit by bit.
3. Heat a some oil in a hot pan and pour in half of the mixture. Let sit to cook for several minutes, checking for browning/burning on the bottom. (be careful with utensils getting stuff stuck to them, it's very clingy until fully cooked.)
4. Put in the rice and veg and stir all together. Cook fried rice as usual. (the tofu mixture seemed to be absorbed into the rice a lot, you couldn't see it in there as an individual ingredient at all.)
5. When rice is done take it out and let is cool for a moment while cooking the rest of the Tofu mixture.
6. Heat a goodly amount of oil in the pan then pour in the other half of the mix. Spread into a thin layer. (It was easy to get holes in the layer, but I didn't think it mattered since it was going to be mixed with the rice.) Let it "fry" until it seems a solid mass and can be turned. Turn and cook until getting a bit brown.
7. Remove from pan and tear or chop into bits, add bits to rice.

Note: My fried rice has peas, onions, carrots, & tons of soy sauce in it. Any other ideas for veggies to put into fried rice?