tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576149964095681252024-02-20T18:35:26.041-08:00Obento ObsessionAndrea Peachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00141048624815082948noreply@blogger.comBlogger202125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-657614996409568125.post-25070767849230096302016-05-23T17:32:00.001-07:002016-05-23T17:32:39.102-07:00Bento (195) - Zucchini Boat Bento<br />
Sadly, while this bento is one of the more visually pleasing bentos that I've made, Goose was not fond of the zucchini boat (which is essentially a hollowed out zucchini stuffed with browned meat/onions/tomato sauce/etc.). :P Upper left hand side was an attempt to see if celery was an acceptable mode of transportation for hummus. Nope. Bottom left was a round of sandwich meat pinwheels to beef up the protein (no pun intended) and blueberries to fill in all the little holes that were leftover. Red fruit to either side of the zucchini boat was raspberries. All in all, I call it a success--but will likely never make it again. >.<<br />
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<br />Andrea Peachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00141048624815082948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-657614996409568125.post-11265229041842753872016-05-16T19:34:00.001-07:002016-05-16T19:34:31.295-07:00Bento (194) - Chicken Apple Skewers with Kale Salad and WatermelonAck! Once again, I have fallen behind in posting. The good news is that I have lots of bento pictures lined up and patiently waiting for their turn. :P<br />
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Today's lunch (or yesterday's lunch, or last week's lunch, something along those lines....) was chicken apple skewers over brown rice. Top right is a kale salad mix with blueberries and a panda sauce-holder filled with the world's yummiest balsamic vinegar. ::drool:: I had to buy a new bottle at Nature's Grocer, and the girl at the checkout was super-excited. She asked if I had a chance to try the vinegar, and I told her that I most certainly did NOT drink the first bottle... >.< (And you can't prove it!)<br />
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Lower right-hand corner is watermelon and pumpkin seeds. <br />
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<br />Andrea Peachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00141048624815082948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-657614996409568125.post-41296756719697229512016-05-10T17:20:00.003-07:002016-05-10T17:20:50.938-07:00Bento (193) - Imitation Crab and Avocado SaladToday's lunch was an old favorite...imitation crab chunks with sliced up avocado. The avocado has been coated with fresh lemon juice to keep it from turning unappetizing shades of brown. My family loves the sharp lemon tang this adds to the dish--but if you aren't so fond of sharp citrus, you can quickly run the avocado through heavily salted water and it should still do the job. Upper right is watermelon with a blue elephant food pick, and bottom right was my sad attempt to add carbs by having quinoa crackers and a store-bought garlic/apple topping that I purchased from Garlic Festival. Because apples. And garlic. And no, Goose didn't eat it. >.<<br />
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<br />Andrea Peachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00141048624815082948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-657614996409568125.post-24471039999765623992016-05-07T20:02:00.001-07:002016-05-10T17:24:12.300-07:00Bento (192) - Ham and Pineapple Skewers (and a glimpse into my bento making madness)It's been a long time since I did a bento "how to" (and really, these things would probably work out better if I planned them in advance), but as I was making today's pineapple and ham skewer bento, I thought it would be fun to give you a glimpse into my bento making madness...which is also a small confession that, while the end-product may end up looking decent most of the time, it's mostly the product of me half-panicking around the kitchen in the morning.<br />
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For those who just want the usual quick summary--today's bento was ham and pineapple skewers. Top right is home-made salsa and pineapple with a single accent blueberry (because I'm snobby like that). Bottom right is store-bought quinoa crackers (which are a lot like rice cakes), blueberries, and a silicone flower cup filled with almond slivers, chocolate chips, and an accent raspberry (because I couldn't let the blueberries hog all the action). You may now ignore the rest of my blog post if you so desire.<br />
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First, I began by putting in a handful of lettuce to act as a back-drop and support for the ham and pineapple skewers.<br />
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Next, I made sure that I had an adequate supply of cubed ham and pineapples. Next time I might try some fancy marinating...but for today, I was keeping it sweet and simple.<br />
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For each skewer, I applied one piece of pineapple and one piece of ham. It helps that I have adorable animal shaped skewers, but really, in a pinch, toothpicks would do just fine.<br />
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I kept adding additional skewers. Note that I alternated the order of the pineapple and ham in order to add some color contrast.<br />
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Add skewers until no other skewer can fit in the lettuce pool. The octopus skewer proved to be too tall, so his ham and pineapple goodness was sacrificed to the maker and he was banished to the cutting board, and later a bath of dish soap followed by a time-out on the dish-drying mat.<br />
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Here I felt rather proud of myself for finishing the main part of the bento. This was shortly followed by the realization that I had no idea what to give Goose for sides. When in doubt, I break out the cute silicone holders and hope for sudden inspiration (see my earlier note about trying to plan my bento before doing a "how to make a bento blog in the future). Salsa! I have leftover salsa in the fridge. Then it's just a matter of finding crackers or chips!<br />
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After shuffling through the pantry, I found the quinoa crackers...which were slightly too big. A few minutes with a chef's knife reduced them to proper size. They didn't turn out exactly uniform. I make no apologies!<br />
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Then I filled the cup with salsa...and suddenly realized that any salsa spillover would result in soggy crackers for Goose. Given the high occurrence rate of bento tip-overs, I decided it would be safer to move the crackers to a compartment with no liquid components. <br />
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Of course...that begged the question of what food I could use that would survive a salsa spill and still be edible. After a few minutes of racking my brain, I realized the salsa was fruit-based (peaches), and I HAD AN ENTIRE TUPPERWARE CONTAINER OF PINEAPPLE sitting right in front of me. ::face-palm::<br />
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I then used blueberries to fill in all the spaces around the remaining silicone flower cup. I figured blueberries wouldn't make the quinoa crackers soggy unless Goose managed to apply a massive amount of force to his bento (like throwing it under a car tire). I thought the Salsa and pineapple lacked a little color, so I went ahead and threw one blueberry up top, just to be artsy.<br />
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Then I filled the silicone cup with almond slivers and chocolate (mostly out of desperation). Of course, once I had already filled the cup, it dawned on me that the crackers and blueberries have a very similar color scheme to the chocolate chips and almond slivers. ::second face palm::<br />
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I fixed it by adding a freeze-dried strawberry. 'Cause...red. <br />
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Ta da! >.< A totally beautiful, put-together bento that really didn't take 20 minutes longer than I thought. Really.Andrea Peachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00141048624815082948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-657614996409568125.post-4803706599008914382016-05-03T18:00:00.003-07:002016-05-03T18:02:03.706-07:00Bento (191) - Turkey Zucchini Poppers with Sriracha SauceI went back in search of the chicken zucchini poppers recipe...and it had disappeared! Ack! I found a similar recipe for turkey zucchini poppers--but having made it both ways, I must say I definitely prefer the ground chicken version! This bento wasn't the most attractive thing I've ever made (too much brown...yech!) but I tried to liven it up with little drops of red sriracha sauce and a kiwi sauce container (which is filled with dijon mustard). What can I say? Goose has odd taste buds. :P<br />
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Left is three turkey/zucchini poppers over brown rice with dabs of sriracha sauce. Top right was leftover brussel sprouts and bacon from a dinner earlier that week. Bottom was a rather sad looking leftover banana/grape/blueberry fruit salad that would have been much brighter colors if I had made it that morning--but I can't do it all, people!Andrea Peachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00141048624815082948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-657614996409568125.post-29139548268062684752016-05-02T19:23:00.000-07:002016-05-02T19:23:04.296-07:00Bento (190) - Turkey and Pepperoni Pinwheels (Again) and Chocolate Chia PuddingSo this bento resembles bento 188, but I had to post and share a rather amusing story. We tried making a batch of chocolate chia pudding, which is essentially chia seeds, unsweetened cocoa powder, cinnamon, and almond or coconut milk. Overall, it came out pretty tasty (and has a bizarre consistency a lot like tapioca pudding)--but Goose wouldn't eat it until I drizzled a little honey over the top. Now that you have the backstory, I present Goose's bento. <br />
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Long story short, Goose snubbed the pudding. Why? Because by lunch time, the honey had absorbed into the pudding. so he assumed I had failed to apply the appropriate level of raw sugar to his bento. :P :P :P But in an amusing twist of fate--I HAD PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE. Mu ha ha ha!<br />
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Top left was green grape/blueberry salad, top right was the chocolate chia pudding (with honey), and bottom half was the ever lovely turkey pepperoni pinwheels with appropriately adorable animal skewers.Andrea Peachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00141048624815082948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-657614996409568125.post-6149145563231328852016-05-01T19:50:00.002-07:002016-05-01T19:50:57.752-07:00Bento (189) - Almond Butter and Sliced Banana SandwichToday's lunch was an almond butter (like peanut butter--only made with almonds) sandwich with honey and sliced bananas. Goose had a literal side salad (kale and mixed greens) with raw pumpkin seeds. The orange container was mix of olive oil and balsamic vinegar for a quick and easy salad dressing. Lucky for me Goose loves vinegar! To the far right is a watermelon/purple grape salad and a small cup filled with macadamia nuts and chocolate chips. <br />
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Sadly--this lunch was only half-eaten as a fried chicken sandwich at school proved more enticing. :P :P :P Not that I blame Goose. This was our first try at non-gluten bread, and we discovered brown rice bread was not to our taste (looks great--crumbles like a batch of dry brown sugar). Since then, we've discovered a much better brand that tastes and behaves in a much more bread-like manner (Canyon Bakehouse, in case anyone out there is wondering). Yay! :)<br />
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<br />Andrea Peachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00141048624815082948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-657614996409568125.post-73036226283246829702016-04-28T19:28:00.003-07:002016-04-28T19:28:56.137-07:00Bento (188) - Turkey Pepperoni Pinwheels with Sweet Potato and GrapesToday's lunch was turkey/pepperoni pinwheels (held together with plastic skewers), honey-glazed sweet potatoes with pumpkin seeds, and green grapes. Goose didn't care for the sweet potatoes, but announced I had finally figured out a way to make him eat turkey, so I'll call that a thumbs up on the pinwheel bites...which are also super-easy to make! You just lay down a piece of thick cut turkey and two pieces of pepperoni, roll tightly, then use a chef's nice to slice the roll into these cute little circles. The skewers serve to pin the meat in place and as handy little handles. As a bonus, I got to eat the leftovers. Yum!<br />
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<br />Andrea Peachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00141048624815082948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-657614996409568125.post-67054574434314896112016-04-26T20:24:00.001-07:002016-04-26T20:24:18.445-07:00Bento (187) - Chicken Apple SkewersToday's lunch was chicken apple skewers with a side container of watermelon/grape salad and a salted cucumber/pickled garlic and pickled jalapeno vegetable arrangement. Sadly, I over salted the cucumbers in an attempt to quick pickle them--and so Goose wisely left them mostly untouched. :P :P :P For the skewers, I used leftover chicken bits from an earlier dinner (dijon mustard and lime marinated chicken) and an apple pear...but this recipe would work just as well with simple chicken cubes seasoned lightly with salt and pepper and a standard red apple. I would love to take credit for the pickled garlic (pickled veggie experiments coming soon...woot!), but I confess these were store-bought from the Garlic Festival which (oddly enough) sells their delicious wares at various Renaissance festivals (www.garlicfestival.com). Om nom nom nom.<br />
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<br />Andrea Peachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00141048624815082948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-657614996409568125.post-30607231520911096272016-04-25T18:10:00.002-07:002016-04-25T18:10:53.313-07:00Bento (186) - Chicken Zucchini Poppers with Guacamole and Totally Unrelated Smiley Face PancakesToday's lunch was chicken zucchini poppers (which are essentially meatballs) with a mandarin orange/blueberry salad and a side of homemade guacamole. The corn tortilla chips are store bought (a brand called Simply Sprouted sriracha corn tortilla chips).<br />
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And just to prove it runs in the family.... Goose was adding banana slices and split cashews to his pancakes this morning and made these cute little guys without any prompting from me at all. >.< It's good to know I'm corrupting the next generation.<br />
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Andrea Peachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00141048624815082948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-657614996409568125.post-21818768404508033422016-04-23T15:39:00.003-07:002016-04-23T15:39:35.529-07:00Bento (185) - Enchilada Stuffed Sweet PotatoDay two of the awkward bento box. Leftovers! The left is essentially an enchilada recipe: bison (yes I use bison instead of hamburger), onions, garlic, and home-made enchilada sauce over a chopped up sweet potato. Top right is a mandarin orange and blueberry salad, and lower right is celery with almond butter and raisins (also known as "ants on a log"). Flowers are thin-sliced carrots that I hit with a vegetable cutter. Goose was skeptical--but eventually announced I finally had found a way to make him eat celery. :)<br />
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<br />Andrea Peachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00141048624815082948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-657614996409568125.post-47340663216680448892016-04-19T18:07:00.000-07:002016-04-19T18:07:13.352-07:00Bento (184) - Absolutely Adorable Egg-Salad SandwichesWow. Who knew my bento page still existed? :P<br />
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Soooo...before I get to posting the yummies, I have to add a little bit of a disclaimer. I recently enrolled Goose in a tutoring program that recommends temporarily putting your kiddo on an elimination diet (likely to test for allergies). Why the disclaimer? I have to cut gluten, dairy, and refined sugar out of Goose's diet (in addition to limiting soy and eggs), which means most of my usual recipes are no longer suitable <i>for this particular nutrition plan</i>. So, I'm experimenting...and some of these bentos may be lacking in veggies or fruits or carbs. Hey, I'm working on it!<br />
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Day 1: Absolutely Adorable Egg-Salad Sandwiches (don't judge! It was right after Easter and we had to do SOMETHING with all those eggs and the rest of the bread). <br />
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I ordered some sandwich stampers from J-Box. Highly, highly recommend. Very easy to use and made absolutely adorable miniature sandwiches. Sides are mandarin oranges and an umeboshi plum and carrots, snap peas, and broccoli with a dab of almond butter (like peanut butter, only with almonds). <br />
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The program provided a bento box (score!)--which I later decided was very
awkward to work with and clean (not so awesome). Andrea Peachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00141048624815082948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-657614996409568125.post-5133116548473017372015-08-09T21:28:00.001-07:002015-08-09T21:28:59.236-07:00Bento (183) - Sweet Soy Broth Bento (Again)<br />
This is one of my favorite bentos (and the appearance doesn't change much, so maybe I should stop posting it :P) -- but, behold -- the sweet soy broth bento. The main dish is soba noodles and small chunks of steak that have been marinated and cooked in a mixture of sake, mirin, soy sauce, and rice vinegar. Mmmmmmmmm. Upper left was blueberry/mandarin salad with cute bunny food pick. Lower left was edamame with carrot star and more sweet soy broth to pour over the noodles before merciless devouring.<br />
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My bento was similar to Goose's, with the addition of store-bought mini-mochis. Yum!<br />
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<br />Andrea Peachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00141048624815082948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-657614996409568125.post-14938365672462030702015-08-04T17:54:00.002-07:002015-08-04T17:54:38.525-07:00Bento (182) - The Art of Arranging Leftover ChickenHave I ever mentioned how hard it is to artfully arrange large chunks of meat? I attempted a slice and feather approach...and while it doesn't look terrible...I'm not sure how well it worked out either. :P Ah, well! <br />
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Goose's bento was chicken, rice, and lettuce divider. Blue sauce cup holds bbq sauce for dipping the chicken bits. Upper left is raspberries and store-bought mini-mochi, bottom right is sweet bell peppers stuffed with cream cheese surrounding a broccoli floret. Orange stars are carrot stars.<br />
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My bento was similar. I think I over-starred. I REGRET NOTHING! :P <br />
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Andrea Peachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00141048624815082948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-657614996409568125.post-23464347129811390122015-07-28T20:45:00.002-07:002015-07-28T20:45:33.985-07:00Bento (181) - Meat, Cheese, and Cracker Bento - Pepperjack BearsAaaaand continuing the series of homemade meat, cheese, and cracker bentos.... I'm still working out how to get a good balance of fruits and vegetables (not to mention proper cheese and cracker position). LOL. The first time I gave Goose colby jack cheese giraffes they apparently got warm and melted, so he didn't eat his crackers because the cheese was gooey. O.o This time I gave him less crackers and we added a cold pack to his insulated lunch box to make sure the cheese behaved itself, and he complained that he ran out of crackers....<br />
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Left side is ham circles topped with carrot stars, pepperjack cheese bears, and blueberries. Right side is Ritz crackers, raspberries, and a stack o' carrot bears.Andrea Peachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00141048624815082948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-657614996409568125.post-65016799979809028862015-07-25T13:15:00.003-07:002015-07-25T13:15:56.182-07:00Bento (180) - Egg Salad Sandwich with Cheese GiraffeHere was a highly successful lunch of egg salad sandwich (shaped by a
flower cookie cutter) surrounded by blueberries and topped with a
cheese giraffe. Upper right is two pickled sweet red peppers stuffed with plain cream cheese. Lower right is store-bought mini-mochis. Goose ate EVERYTHING. O.O<br />
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<br />So, I've fallen behind in posting (surprise surprise). In my
defense, July has been an exceedingly busy month for me O.o, including a
kitchen renovation, which means I currently have no kitchen. And yes!
Yes, I am still trying to bento without a kitchen. LOL. Wish me luck! Andrea Peachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00141048624815082948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-657614996409568125.post-81485855225563396712015-07-19T11:00:00.001-07:002015-07-19T11:08:27.074-07:00Bento (179) - Make Your Own Lunchable - Cheese GiraffesAfter paging through my new bento cookbook Everyday Bento by Wendy Thorpe Copley, I decided to set out on the long, arduous (okay, maybe not so arduous) journey to make my own Lunchables. Not that I have anything against the Lunchable brand, but it is essentially meat, cheese, and crackers (all of which I have on hand). I purchased a few cheap (or rather, cheaper than my bento boxes :P) Sistema containers that are divided into two parts. Then...I had to open a Lunchable to see how all the items fit.<br />
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Yep. That's everything that's in a a Lunchable folks. By comparison, I bought a pack with slices of four different cheeses, some deli honey-ham, and a pack of Ritz crackers. A few minutes with my cookie cutters made Goose's home-made Lunchable adorable!<br />
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<br />Orange stars are carrots, giraffes are colby Jack cheese (which melted...I had to actually explain to Goose that real cheese melts O.o), and the multicolored balls are store-bough mini-mochi.Andrea Peachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00141048624815082948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-657614996409568125.post-69586954928720724712015-07-14T20:17:00.001-07:002015-07-14T20:17:02.912-07:00Bento (178) - Mini Cocktail Sausages Octopi BentoConfession time...I've been afraid of the mini crab/octopi hotdog bentos because I could never get my cutter to work properly. I finally found a suggestion in Yum-Yum bento to slice a cocktail dog in half diagonally and then make two to three slits to create the little legs...and amazingly, it worked! (You will need to toss the little boogers in boiling water to get their legs to splay out.) Octopi eyes are nori cut-outs.<br />
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I tried giving Goose a "grown up" bento box...which I found out later
went disastrously as he pretty much threw his lunch all over the
ground. O.o Ah, well. What can you do? Lower level is Neapolitan
noodles (noodles with ketchup, carrots, and onions) topped with broccoli
and mini cocktail dog octopi. Upper level left is minced pickled
garlic with bunny food pick, sweet soy mushrooms (MmmmmMMMMmmm), and
mandarin oranges with a pickled plum in the center.<br />
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On an amusing side note, J. offered to assist with bento preparation and learned the first rule of noodles--don't overpack. At lunch, we both shared a laugh over our "pasta bricks." <br />
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<br />Andrea Peachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00141048624815082948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-657614996409568125.post-72109964321600112832015-07-13T21:34:00.001-07:002015-07-13T21:34:30.039-07:00Bento (177) - Velveeta Mac & Cheese Mouse and Butterfly BentosI would love to take credit for the below Velveeta/baloney mouse...but it's an idea I stole from the bookYum-Yum Bento Box by Crystal Watanabe and Maki Ogawa. Their suggestion of using the single serve mac & cheese cups if you are short on time worked brilliantly--and much to my surprise, cold Velveeta noodles weren't half bad...especially with peas!<br />
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Of course, Goose ate the mouse, but refused to eat the mac & cheese. LOL. Upper right is half a boiled chicken egg soaked in soy sauce, broccoli, carrots, and a naruto slice for color. Lower right is strawberry/blueberry salad.<br />
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J. got the leftover noodles from my last bento, complete with naruto slices and piggy container holding more soup base. Yum! <br />
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I decided to suffer the mac & cheese experiment with Goose, but made mine a garden, complete with cheese butterfly and naruto flowers. :) I also have half a chicken egg soaked in soy sauce, broccoli, and carrots (lightly cooked). Yum!<br />
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<br />Andrea Peachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00141048624815082948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-657614996409568125.post-26787783325328292442015-07-11T15:26:00.001-07:002015-07-11T15:26:16.262-07:00Bento (176) - Naruto NoodlesWith this bento, Goose has confirmed that he doesn't like potato salad. :P Even freshly hand-made nommy potato salad with mayo and carrots and salted cucumber bits. Personally, I think he's crazy--but then again, I remember hating potato salad until I was an adult. <br />
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All three of us had similar bentos, with potato salad (upper left), blueberry/strawberry salad (lower left), and a main course of fried noodles with peas and carrots, soaked in a tablespoon or two of udon sauce (I was out of udon sauce--so I used a few tablespoons of a different soup base, but it didn't have as much flavor. :( Must...add...udon sauce...to shopping list). To add a little color (and protein), I topped the noodles with naruto slices. These bentos were a little protein-light. In the future, I would likely recommend replacing the potato salad with a second serving of protein and a simple veggie (like cooked carrot stars).<br />
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<br />Andrea Peachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00141048624815082948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-657614996409568125.post-26048625468937284902015-06-29T20:23:00.000-07:002015-06-29T20:23:06.377-07:00Bento (175) - Return of the Ham Sandwich - Or Three-Tiered Alien MonsterCan you believe I actually forgot how to properly size the sandwich for Goose's bento? O.o I stuffed some grapes and blueberries into the extra space (and Goose reassured me he wasn't hungry at the end of the day), but I still have this niggling feeling that I was a bad bento-mommy. LOL. I ended up sticking a blue elephant pick in the blueberries, but that photo turned out fuzzy...so no elephant pick for you! It surprised me when I went to pack a fork and Goose demanded a cute food pick instead. I have corrupted my child. MU HA HA. <br />
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Upper right is a single sweet pepper with chopped garlic, and the multi-colored rainbow bits are store-bought mini-mochis.<br />
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<br />Andrea Peachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00141048624815082948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-657614996409568125.post-63956093826750731732015-06-28T07:16:00.001-07:002015-06-28T07:16:08.104-07:00Bento (174) - Quail Egg Tulip BentoIt's that time of year again....when Goose has returned to his summer camp and I must dust off all of my bento equipment and remember how to make absolutely adorable lunches. I bought a new bento book yesterday and added it to my library--and
realized I should either bento more or stop buying books! LOL. :P<br />
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For Goose's first day of camp, I decided to be ambitious and make quail-egg tulip bentos. Given that I was making three (one for Goose, one for myself, and one for J) it meant peeling 10 quail eggs and coloring several of them (for the flowers). My advice--if you are adventurous enough to try making these....give yourself an extra hour and a half for peeling, coloring, and cutting those *$%&^ miniscule eggs. :) :) :)<br />
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Tulip leaves are snap peas cut diagonally. Top left is blueberry/grape salad, and bottom left was mini hamburger bites, a piggie container with soy sauce, and carrots cut into flower shapes (which I also boiled for a few minutes and coated lightly in honey....since Goose informed me he doesn't like raw carrots).<br />
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J.'s bento was essentially the same thing--but instead of adding hamburger bites for extra protein, I added quail eggs soaked in soy sauce. <br />
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My bento was identical to J.'s....just in a different shape box!<br />
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Andrea Peachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00141048624815082948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-657614996409568125.post-43129973876688450962014-08-05T20:54:00.002-07:002014-08-05T20:54:39.236-07:00Bento (173) - Three-Topping Bento with Roasted PineappleSorry for the slew o' posts. As you can probably tell, I fell behind in posting (if not in making :P) my bentos over the last two weeks. It's the return of the three-topping bento accompanied by roasted pineapple/dried cherry salad, sweet simmered mushrooms, and mini-mochi!<br />
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For J.'s bento, I used tomato salad mixed with chopped basil and shiso leaves. Since I ran out of peas for the three-topping portion, I substituted chopped zucchini.<br />
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My bento supplies were running low which forced me to use the two yellows (pineapple and eggs), but I think using the dried cherries to "break up" the color scheme helped slightly. You laugh, dear bento reader . . . but I actually do think of my foods in color groups. :PAndrea Peachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00141048624815082948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-657614996409568125.post-57936154653616553672014-08-05T20:38:00.001-07:002014-08-05T20:38:28.233-07:00Bento (172) - Spaghetti with Pepper StarsThe morning I made this bento, I woke up exhausted and told Goose he was going to have to take a Lunchable, because mommy was too tired to bento. He looked at me with wide eyes and said "But, Mommy, I don't have any Lunchables." (Of course, now I'm wondering if I should admit to occasionally feeding my child Lunchables on a bento blog . . . . but ::shrug:: I guess the damage has been done. No one is perfect interwebs. No one. :P). Long story short, I was overjoyed to find Olive Garden leftovers in the fridge . . . and for a five minute bento, I must admit this one came out quite nicely.<br />
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I used a small shaped veggie cutter to punch out the sweet pepper stars. Upper right is more pepper stars and a cup of mini-mochi. Lower right is grape/blueberry salad. I take no credit for the spaghetti. Olive Garden makes awesome spaghetti. Oh! One nice bento tip . . . lining the container with lettuce leaves nicely protected the white plastic from spaghetti stains. :) Andrea Peachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00141048624815082948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-657614996409568125.post-1282185133937524252014-08-05T20:28:00.002-07:002014-08-05T20:28:56.341-07:00Bento (171) - Egg Salad Sandwich BentoThis bento was a twist on the ham sandwich bento I discovered this summer. Instead of a ham sandwich, I creatively used egg salad. Ok . . . ok . . . it may not win any awards, but give the lady an "A" for effort! :)<br />
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Upper right is blueberry/raspberry salad and lower right is chopped pickled garlic and an orange sweet bell pepper.<br />
<br />Andrea Peachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00141048624815082948noreply@blogger.com0