First Day Back to School

Summer is over too quickly.  I can't believe that school is already starting!  Where did summer go?  In our house bento supplies are required back-to-school shopping.  A-chan was excited to get two new bento boxes and matching snack boxes and I was thrilled to get a few small decorating items.  It has been our tradition in the past for A-chan to request a special bento theme for the first day of school.  This year she couldn't decide on anything and left it up to me.  A mermaid seemed perfect since one of the most loved and most time-consuming activities of the summer was swim lessons.

In the bento: Pink rice mermaid onigiri, checkered cucumber, a huge cherry tomato, grape halves, sea themed biscuits, fried tofu, peach slices (hidden under the hair) and blackberries.

The mermaid's tail was cut from soy turkey slices and her hair was cut from an egg sheet.  Tiny carrot flowers decorate her hair and bra.  Sugar dots made a great pearl necklace.  I used a nori punch for her eyes and mouth and then dabbed on a bit of ketchup for cheeks.

Now let me show you our new bento loot!  A-chan loves taiyaki so getting the matching taiyaki set was a definite must.  That set was a surprise.  The skull boxes, however, she chose herself.  They are not my taste, lol.  She adores them - in part because they remind her of Monster High, I think.

Her old much-beloved bento bags were falling apart after being used continuously for two years and being washed a ton.  So she begged me for the orange piggy bag.

And here is the thing I got just for me.  Well, technically I will use it with her bentos.  But it's really for me.  Japanese letter cutouts!  Sweet!  I can't wait to start using these beautiful things.  Of course, first I will have to learn a little more Japanese than I currently know.  Can you see the carrot dangling in front of my face?

Fruit Friday

It is that time of year again.  The school pizza rant is here!  Today is the first day of school pizza on Friday for A-chan and it made me grumble and grump all morning.  I despise it.  I loathe it.  Why am I so upset by it?  That's a good question and one that I have tried to solve for myself today.  Partly because it undermines everything that I am attempting to teach my child about good nutrition.  Another factor is that I hate having to scrounge around to find exact change to put in the envelope in a society where cash is fast becoming obsolete. There is a part of me that is acting like a 5 year old who's toy just got taken away because it's a morning where I don't get to make a proper bento.

But it goes deeper than that.  It's almost as if this one thing usurps every ideal that I am trying to instill in our family  - not just good nutrition but also less waste (they are served on paper plates) and the evils of peer pressure.  I know that the reason for Friday pizza is a good one - they are raising money for the class.  And I absolutely love everything about my daughter's school except for this one thing.  It seems extremely petty to be so upset about it, honestly.  But at the same time it seems as if the school is trampling on all the hard work that parents do.  I know that I am overreacting.  By the end of autumn I will be excited about making fruit-only bentos again.  Today, however, I am going to revel in my grumpiness.

In the bento: Strawberries, peach slices and a huge bunch of tiny champagne grapes.

A-chan was happy about having Fruit Friday bentos to go with her pizza again.  When we went to the store to purchase fruit for the week she desperately wanted to try these itty bitty grapes for Friday.  I love it when she wants to try new foods!

Polar Bear

What does a Polar Bear do on Summer vacation?  I think he would go to Antarctica for vacation.  Until we got our air conditioner repaired yesterday I was starting to day dream about traveling there myself!  This is another tightly packed summer camp bento, but I wanted it to be a little cuter since it was for the last day of camp.

In the bento: Rice, sesame carrots, grapes, cherry tomato halves, steamed broccoli, soy sauce tofu and peach slices.

The Happy Bear's features were punched from nori.  His snout (or should that be muzzle) is an oval of provolone cheese with nori on top.  He also has tiny circles of gari for cheeks.

Fried Rice for Camp

Have you ever looked at a word, one that is very familiar, and been totally convinced that you'd spelled it incorrectly?  The word 'summer' went all wonky on me this morning.  It just looked wrong!  Ah, well.  I would attribute it to heat stroke except that it hasn't been very hot at all.

In the bento: Veggie fried rice, a huge cherry tomato, peach slices, grapes, pickled cucumber slices and black olives.

This bento is another one from last week's summer camp which A-chan absolutely adored.  Again, I kept it very simple.  The fried rice has green peas, roughly cut carrots, onions and scrambled tofu mixed into it. I put a little too much soy sauce in the rice as I fried it, so it ended up more brown than normal.  It seemed overkill to put in a soy sauce bottle with her bento, lol.

Pink Panther

 A-chan is a huge fan of the Pink Panther cartoon.  I haven't determined whether it is because of all the pink, which is her favorite color, or because it's funny.  Today's bento going was to be Pink Panther themed no matter what.  The only question was what method to use.  I decided upon an artistic challenge to balance out all the math study I've been doing.  Instead of using egg sheets I wanted to try an icing painting which seemed like fun!

In the bento: Miniature eggo pancakes, peach slices, corn on the cob, steamed broccoli, huge black olive slices and a container of tiny carrot hearts.

Using store bought icing I mixed three variations of pink.  The lighter pink was made by mixing together some pink strawberry flavored icing and some regular white vanilla icing.  The middle pink is the strawberry icing while I mixed some red food coloring with more strawberry icing to deepen the shade for the darker pink.

Next I wrapped and taped three henna cones, two of which can be seen in the background, filled them with the icing and proceeded to 'paint' the pancake.  Small cuts of nori became eyebrows, eyelid and whiskers.  I am completely delighted with the way he turned out!  A-chan was thrilled.  I don't think I've surprised her that well in ages.

Thank you all so much for the kind thoughts and support!  I appreciate it very much.  You guys are the best!  And your sweet comments help me feel a little braver :)

It's the Circus!

This bento was completely unplanned.  When I woke this morning and realized that I'd put not one second's thought into the bento for today, there was a moment of panic.  I rallied with the first cup of morning coffee and managed to pull together a few ideas. Since I had no plan, I decided to try and use some picks that I don't often get to use.  The loveliness of the veggie hot dogs is something of a miracle but I am rather pleased with them!

In the bento: Bowtie pasta sprinkled with feta cheese, black olive slices and carrot stars, veggie hot dogs, steamed broccoli, chunks of peaches, a black olive and carrot circle.

The seal balances three circus balls made from slices of the largest black olives that I have ever seen.  A-chan chose the can labeled 'Colossal' and they do indeed match that description.  Carrot stars and nori star centers make for a neat decoration.  Balancing happily, the elephant is on top of another circus ball made from carrot and black olive.

My husband recently let me know that he does not wish for our marriage to continue.  It was quite a shock and I'm still shaken.  I will be continuing to make bentos, of course, and to post when I can.  My posting might be a bit erratic for a while as I adjust to a new schedule.  I'm embarking on an adventure and going back to school!  I have only just applied and still have to be accepted, and I also must take a placement test in two weeks.  Demonstrating good study habits will be good not only for myself but also for A-chan. Plus,  school gives me an excuse to make more bentos for myself.