Bento (168) - Lemon Pepper Tilapia and Noodles 'Cause . . . Leftovers

Sooooo. . . . since I've determined to stop whining about my cruddy week -- I was gored by a hippopotamus, and I'm very very very sorry this post is late :)

Goose had ham sandwich bento (yes, it has become a staple) with strawberry/grape salad, cooked carrots, and a mini-cupcake holder of mini-mochi.  YUM!  He actually ate the ENTIRE THING!!!  (Except the sushi grass . . . because that's not edible.)  O.O

J. and I had variations on the same theme . . . except instead of "ham sandwich" we had lemon-pepper tilapia leftovers over noodles.  I should have stuffed a lettuce leaf or some cilantro between the fish and noodles to add some greenery . . . but I am still clinging to this silly idea that getting to work on time is a good idea . . . :P

Bento (167) - Lemon Pepper Tilapia

Believe it or not, I've been trying to make this post since Monday.  O.o  The interwebs briefly deserted my home, but a new wireless router has once again opened the floodgate to more adorable food!

Monday's bento was lemon-pepper tilapia fillets on a bed of lightly pickled (a/k/a rubbed with salt and left alone for five minutes) cucumber slices and brown rice.  Upper left is cherry tomato/pickled garlic/sweet bell pepper salad, and upper right is strawberry and grape fruit salad.  Of course, using tomatoes and strawberries made my bento rather . . . red . . . which is why I added a solid line of yellow bell peppers to make things a little more appetizing to the eye.  :)

Goose has a chickie sauce holder filled with ranch for dipping his bell pepper slices.  :)

Bento (166) - Imitation Crab and Avocado Bento

Friday's bento was imitation crab and avocado chunks lightly tossed in lemon juice.  Goose even ate his avocado.  O.O  Since Goose is normally not fond of green things, I included a helping of brown rice to make sure he would have a little extra variety.  Upper right is miniature mochi-bits (I'm pretty sure all the white dusting is solid preservatives :P) with a soy-soaked quail egg to add extra protein.  Bottom right is pickled garlic and and a whole sweet pepper.

I only had one extra quail egg, so I left it out of my bento.  For J.'s bento and my bento, I added a split boiled chicken egg (also soaked in soy sauce!) and added leftover fajita vegetables to help hold the egg in place.  Bizarre bento tips for folks . . . the more you chop something up into smaller bits, the easier it is to stuff in small spaces and arrange.  I actually had quite a bit of difficulty attractively arranging the pickled garlic since the pepper is a firm item and doesn't exactly . . . . squish.  :P

 

Bento (165) - Alien Sheep-Cakes

 

I didn't even intend to make a bento this morning.  Then I realized I had brown rice . . . and two quail eggs . . . and ten minutes . . . and I thought to myself I can do this in ten minutes!  I'll be honest -- it took fifteen.  :P But if you're wondering why the horns are a little sloppy and there are no mouths on my fluffy brown rice sheep . . . now you know the sad sad truth.  The sheep-cakes are brown rice with a quail egg pressed in the center.  (I soak the quail eggs in soy sauce to make them brown.)  The horns are cheese (hand carved in a hurry) and the eyes are punches of nori.  Yes, I do have the little smiley face hole punchers.  :P  In retrospect, I probably should have gone with simple circles to keep them from looking like little aliens, but what the hey!  Upper right is a Del Monte fruit cup deposited directly from the can into my bento.  The pink is a mini-cupcake holder with an umiboshi (pickled plum) in the center.  Bottom right is the last of the leftover sweet simmered mushrooms topped with carrot stars.  I ended up using the mushrooms to flavor the brown rice . . . so it turns out I didn't even need the piggie holder filled with soy sauce. 

Bento (164) - Three-Topping Onigiri Bento

Today's bento was onigiri with three different toppings: sweet simmered mushroom, salted cucumber, and shrimp stolen from a pre-made cocktail platter (MU HA HA!).  The shrimp onigiri almost looked like little hearts . . . though the flavor was a bit bland.  I will probably add a drop or two of cocktail sauce in the center next time.  The cucumber onigiri was a pleasant surprise.  Salty and vinegary, crisp and refreshing.  Highly recommended.   Bottom level was a mandarin orange/dried cherry salad, and a soy bunny on edamame.  (Soy bunny is a quail egg soaked in soy sauce and topped with cheese ears and sesame seed eyes).

Since Goose has been showing an aversion to green things, I left the cucumber onigiri out of his bento.  Oddly enough, today he ate the onigiri and the mushrooms, but left the fruit, carrot stars, and edamame.  O.o  I have an odd kid.

My bento was the same as J's, but I tore up a shiso leaf (a Japanese strain of mint) to use as a separator.  I'm not sure whether it significantly added to the overall cuteness, but when one of my rice balls crumbled, it made a handy wrapper for the excess rice.  :)

Bento (163) - Return of the Blue Kitty Food Pick

Today's bento is beef marinated in sweet soy broth (leftovers!  :P) accompanied by rice topped with sweet simmered mushrooms, carrot flowers, and sprinkles of cilantro.  The top level is more sweet simmered mushrooms, edamame, and a mandarin orange/dried cherry salad.

I sent Goose to summer camp with a ham sandwich AND a blue kitty food-pick.  ::squeee:  You knew it was only a matter of time before the return of the blue kitty food pick.

 

Bento (162) - Steak Marinated in Sweet Soy Broth and Topped with Cilantro

Monday's bento was steak marinated in sweet soy broth (which is also poured over the noodles as a yummy sauce), then topped with cilantro taken from my herb garden.  All the sauce containers (including the piggy) have additional sweet soy broth (no cilantro for Goose, since he has that weird genetic thing that makes it taste like soap.)  Top level is store-bought potato salad with an umiboshi (pickled plum) and bottom level is grape/blueberry salad.