Bento #30 : Girl in Flower Head Band

It's been quite a long time since I cook salmon in Cinderella's menu. I tried this new, wonderful curry house at my town, and I was just so hooked with the salmon cheese curry rice. Hence, for today bento, I will be using salmon. It is just so very easy to make the salmon cheese.
Recipe :
2 thin salmon fillet
1/2 slice of cheese
1 egg (actually you may only use a little)
panko crumb

1. Sandwich the cheese between salmon fillets.
2. Dip the salmon into egg and then to panko crumb
3. Deep fried the salmon

In this bento : cheese salmon and broccoli

Bento #29 : School boy

I love to make one character bento as it is quick but give a special look in the bento. Sometimes when I want to create a more complicated bento character, Cinderella screamed asking for her dinner to be ready... Otherwise she will start to look for unhealthy snack (that I hide for myself --> bad mommy). This bento is a good example. I was actually planning to make a penguin bento (like the one in Yum Yum Bento Book), when Cinderella suddenly approaching me. There is a salty snack on her hand and she handed it to me,"Pretz Pretz." --> she wanted me to open it for her. Ohhhh why does she always manage to find the mommy's snack? T_T
I know that she is hungry by this time. So I changed into plan B and create a school boy bento. I still didn't manage to make her eat her fruit. But she joyfully eat the veggies.

In this bento : tofu croquette, broccoli, green beans, and apple.

Bento #28 : Old Granny

I saw one Granny bento at Hawaian Bento Box Cookbook and I thought it was too cute to waste. So I made this for Cinderella. It was surprisingly very easy. The book was actually using cheese shaped strawberry as the head, but I use rice instead, shaped with hand. The rest of facial expression was made using nori and the flower on top of her head was sausage.

Bento #27 : Mousy mouse

Have you ever felt that your world just revolves around your kids? I do. And don't get me wrong, I love Cinderella so much that I lose my words to define how deep I do love her. But sometimes I miss being with my friends again. I quit my job and stay at home since pregnancy. And my social circle is getting smaller. So, I was very excited today to see my old friends. There are 4 of us (oh plus two, I brought Cinderella, and my friend brought her fiancee to introduce to us). We threw jokes at each other, laugh at them and just having fun. Ohh.. just like the old times...
I made this bento for Cinderella. As usual, she ate home brought bento while I am eating out.

In this bento : pork roulade, quail egg, veggies

Bento #26 : Chicken Bento

Finally my Yum Yum Bento Book has arrived along with Hawaii's Bento Box cookbook. I am soo excited. Ohhh they all look so cute, and I can't wait to try the bento idea. This bento is actually inspired by them (both books feature chicken bento)
The original bento in yum Yum bento book actually use corn kernel for the beak. I don't have one. So I use thin slice of carrot, divided into two. It turned out that the beak look swollen to me. Hee hee. Under the flowers are actually quail egg that was supposed to be two chicks. But I failed, the knife cut the egg yolk so I can't use it as a chick hatching from the egg. I will definitely try it again some other time.
In this picture : beef croquette and veggies

Bento # 26 : Miss Piggy

Cinderella has recovered from her diarrhea, thanks God! She was so happy to see her little friends again at school. She jumped out from the car, rushing into her class and almost forgot her bag. =)
I made her this mini but maxi bento for her. Pig bento has always been a favourite to me. It's easy, it's catchy and just too cute to ignore. Hee hee

In this bento : beef croquette and broccoli

Bento #24 : It's Bear Again

Cinderella has been sick since last week. It really breaks my heart to see her coughing, sneezing, and having diarrhea. I thought it was a regular flu. Instead, it is actually an allergic reaction to milk.
She has developed skin rashes since she was a baby. And by almost 2 years, the allergy has changed into rhinitis, and just recently, diarrhea. She lose 400 grams during this diarrhea, which makes her fall from 15 percentile to 5 percentile in just a week. She looks sooo skinny that it breaks my heart *sob sob*
I brought her two weeks ago to a nutritionist and she recommended this special formula milk which is high in calorie but low in casein. Cinderella actually loved it. So she drank quite a lot of it. After 4 days, she developed all those allergy symptoms.
Any ways, she lost her appetite because of the bloating. And I have to try my head to toe to get her to eat. I cooked her porridge, oatmeal, soup, fritters, and the list go on and on and on... She kept refusing to eat. Well, she actually ate, but it is only half or a third from what she usually has. So I made her this bento, to cheer her up...

In this bento : beef roulade and veggies

Bento #23 : Kitty kitty Miaow

I remembered that "cat" is the first animal word that Cinderella spoke. I often take her out for a walk around our housing complex, and she sees so many cats along the way everyday. I think that's why she likes cat so much.
I think I've been making this kitty theme for 3 times during these two weeks. It's so easy, I only need scissors to cut the nori (Cinderella loves to eat the nori scrap, as a plus), and I don't have to shape the rice (just use a round lunch box is enough). And moreover, she always thrilled to see kitten face in her bento.

In this picture : salmon teriyaki, diced tofu, carrot and green beans wrapped in zuchini, broccoli

Oh yes, I submit this bento to join What's For Lunch Wednesday. Anyone who also wants to submit her bento can submit it to this link :http://bentolunch.blogspot.com/search/label/what%27s%20for%20lunch%20wednesday

Bento # 21 : Flower in the garden (spoiled Cinderella)

I guess these several weeks with her Mom making her cute bentos, has made Cinderella rather spoilt. She knew exactly, which one is done with considerable effort and which one is not. Well, i guess it shows on the result, doesn't it? Cinderella ate this bento half heartedly. >_<
I didn't put too much effort for this bento. I just used the flower onigiri shaper and put flowery carrot on top of it and arrange it in lots and lots of veggie, just like in the garden...
Ah well, live and learn....

Bento # 20 : Froggie Bento

Ah well.. I guess almost everybody has made this froggie bento. I would just have to add more veggies to Cinderella's diet since she refuses to eat fruit nowadays. So, I guess froggie bento would be just right to make her eat spinach without knowing it.
She loved it. Took a peek, and said, "Mommy.. froggie froggie... " She ate most of her lunch. I wonder with that many things in her tummy, where does it go? She is so skinny for her age, although her height is average =(
In this bento : grilled beef teriyaki, fried tempeh, asparagus, carrot and green beans wrapped with zucchini, broccoli

Bento # 18 : Grown up bento

Well, I run out of idea for Cinderella bento this time so I decided to make it simple and clean. It turned up to be a grown up bento to me. Cinderella didn't like it too much. She likes to see the character she knows of, at the least, animals that she can name....
In this bento : mini burgers, carrot and green beans wrapped in zucchini, broccoli.

Bento # 17 : Pig Bento (again)

Cinderela has allergies since she is still a baby. She will develop rashes on her skin when I eat the wrong food. The skin rashes is much lesser now, but it is now changed into runny nose and coughing. She is allergic to chicken, a bit of milk, and I suspect, of chocolate. And it's very hard to find to eating out for her. Chicken menu is everywhere, although I can actually order beef for her. But since I thought it will be safer for her, I usually bring her lunch box, even though we are eating out.
This bento was made for Cinderella to eat while we were eating out. I know, it is so sad. I wonder when will she be able to ask why she's not having the same thing with the rest.....

In this picture : monster meat ball, broccoli, corn, carrot and green beans wrapped in nori

Bento # 16 : Bee bento

Cinderella was enjoying her school more and more, which made me feel relieved. I used to have 2 hours of me time before picking her up at school. Usually I used it for watching cable and just sit on my couch. Ohhh..... the joy of having the TV for myself. Since Cinderella started to like watching TV, the channel is rotated between Playhouse, Nickelodeon, and Baby TV. I rarely watch TV because of fear that the content will not be suitable for her. Or.... when Daddy comes home from work, it's his turn to watch ESPN sport. I was so happy to be able to watch my favorite serials again, Desperate Housewife (well, I AM quite desperate to watch TV), Now, the two hours free time is missing, because I will be busy making her bento for lunch. But hey, I am enjoying this new hobby that I forget about TV... Hee hee... OK, I admit, I still watch the TV while making the bento. But bento things take over my mind more than TV

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In this bento : beef stew, carrot, green beans, and cauliflower

Bento #12 : An Pan Man

This is my 2nd kyaraben, and the easiest one, too! I loveee to look at those beautiful, freehand made kyaraben, but don't think I would have the time, more over the skill to do it. But I still want to create some character bento. An Pan Man is the easiest one I've ever made. The face was made using orange rice (rice cooked with shredded carrot) and the nose and the cheek were made using sliced carrot. The eyes, eyebrows and mouth were made using nori freehand.
In this picture : carrot rice, beef korokke, and veggie

Bento # 11 : The Fail Big Bird

I flipped through my bento book and found this Big Bird bento. Well, he's not actually the number one character that Cinderella loves. She loves Elmo the most! But, I dreaded the red color of Elmo's hair. I don't think I want to use too much food coloring. And since Elmo has the redest red hair, I guess I will have to use quite a lot colorings. So I guess I can play it safe with Big Bird. I use shredded omellete for his feather.
But the end results turns out not too good. It looked like a huge chick to me. Tee Hee.... Anyway, Cinderella doesn't seem to matter. I used yellow rice under the shredded omellete. (Cinderella used to hate yellow rice very much). But this time, she finished them all. Yayyyy!!!!

I also include the bento making step by step :

Step 1 & 2 : Half a quail egg as eye balls. Put nori as the eyelid and the pupil

Step 3. Form rice into half sphere. Put shredded omellete as the feather.

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Step 4 : Use cheese to cut two triangles as the beak and ham/sausage as the tounge. Put the vegetables in groups (carrot with carrot, green beans with green beans). I found that grouping makes it look better.

Step 5 : I cooked coconut stewed beef (empal daging) to compliment the yellow rice. Yellow rice is never a complete set without it. And while it was certainly delicious, the look of it, brown, a bit oily, was not really appetizing. So I put the flower carrot to decorate it a bit. I use a cutter to get the smoothest shape. Well, I must say that this cutter really helps me a lot.

Step 6 : Serve it with a big smile and a lotsa of enthusiasm. Kids pick up our feelings!

Bento #10 : Timmy Time Bento

My little brother was coming to Jakarta. He knew that I had been making bentos these days and asked me to make one for him. I guess not only girls like cutey stuff.
Cinderella likes Timmy Time a lot nowadays (although Cinderella is still definitely her number one idol). And since I don't think I can set up a Cinderella bento (just to think about it make me cry >_<), I decided to create a simple character bento (kyaraben), Timmy Time. The character was so easy to copy. The head and ears was cut from nori. I also add the hands (still from nori). Done! Yipppeeeee my first kyaraben.... Cinderella recognized the bento immediately (fiuhhh) but my brother thought it was Shaun the Sheep. Well, they still belong on the same sheep family, so I was quite satisfied. Hee hee..... Cinderella had really fun time eating her bento with Uncle Pepen. She still remembered the time when she was having the Timmy Time bento with Uncle, the days after. She kept asking, "Mama, Mama, where's Uncle Pepen? Want to have Timmy Time with Uncle Pepen." It's so sweet, isn't it? By the way, my brother didn't finish everything. He left the veggies, while Cinderella ate all the veggies. Shame on you! Ha ha!

In the above picture : beef rollade, veggies

Cinderella was enjoying her lunch with Uncle.

Cinderella with her favourite veggie, broccoli. On the left bottom side was her uncle's bento. Can you see something blue on the right side of the picture? That was her Cinderella's dress, her favourite toy ever.

By the way, can you see the picture was sooooo improved? Yup, that was taken by my brother, a professional photographer. He made the food looked ten times yummier. Hee hee...

Bento # 09 : Snail Bento

Beef rollade is one of my favorites food to cook. It is so easy and nutritious, besides Cinderella loves it, too. A snail bento is a perfect one to expose the rollade, and it's very quick to prepare too. I must admit that this snail is imperfect. Do you notice that it doesn't have the antenna? My in law said it more resembles to a turtle. Haha! I run out of spaghetti for the antenna. But I guess Cinderella didn't mind at all. She finished everything. She is quite an eating monster these days.... =)

Bento # 06 : Panda Bento

I saw this Panda Bento in my bento book. Thought it was so cute and it looked like quite easy to follow. But it turned out that shaping rice is harder than I think (maybe because Japanese rice is more sticky). The rice keeps falls off and they refuse to stick to each other. I found out later that using hot rice is better than cold rice since it still has the moisture to make it glued.
The rest of panda rice is actually very easy. Cut nori to shape like panda ear and for the rest I used nori puncher. This bento capacity is very small. The rice in the bento is only half from what Cinderella was actually eating.
By the way, I still hasn't found the reason of why Cinderella seemed like to choose bento in plate rather than box? Hmmm.... strange....

In this picture : beef croquette, diced carrot and green beans.

Bento # 05 : Bento Bunny - super lazy bento

I still feel extremely lazy after going from Bandung trip. I want to fix a bento for Cinderella without too much effort. In my fridge lied several store-bought meatballs that I could use. So I just throw the meatballs into frozen beef stock plus the veggie (cauliflower, mushroom,green beans, and carrot).
It really took me minimum effort to do this bento. I just had to cut ham into circle and ready shaped bunny ears. I also use the flower cutter for the carrot and mushroom. If you notice, the flowers on the left and right side of the bunny, you can see that the white one is actually the remaining mushroom that was cut in the middle. I slip the flower carrot in the middle of the mushroom. And viola, there you go... quite pretty compared to the usual bare flower carrot.
I also put fruity picks on top of the meatball and the flowers. This whole bento thing only took me 30 minutes from food preparation until done.
Oh yes, the bunny has no facial expression since I ran out of nori.


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Bento # 04 : Primavera Pasta Bento

I found this terrific pasta recipe from my good ol' pasta book. I admit that I have a bad habit of piling recipe books without sometimes not trying any recipes from the book! But that time, extremely tired after the family trip to Bandung, I need to find something quick to cook. And pasta is my choice.
The most beautiful thing about pasta is : you can throw almost everything in it. Just like fried rice (which is on my top list of being comfort lazy food). The same thing happens with this pasta. I opened my fridge and found the basic veggie : carrot, green beans, and peas plus minced pork and ham. I still had meat stock and I hadn't use my heavy cream (it's almost expired).
I flipped through the pages and found this Primavera Pasta (i thought the naming was quite grande. hee hee). The original recipe contains only veggie. But since I thought my lil baby need protein, I decided to add meat. A decision that I never regret.
This pasta turned out to be sooooo delish. The decoration was also very simple. I use pork ham as the pork face. Cut two small triangles as the ear, one oval as the nose and put two holes with straw. The whole decoration took me no more than 5 minutes. The best part, Cinderella ate almost the whole thing.

Recipe :
50 gr minced beef or pork or chicken
2 slices of ham
diced carrot
diced green beans
frozen peas, thaw
whipped cream
stock (beef/pork/chicken/vegetables)
onion, diced
garlic, diced
olive oil
butter
salt and pepper to taste
pasta

direction;
1. boil the pasta according to the direction. meanwhile prepare the sauce
2. heat butter and olive oil. Toss the onion and garlic, then the minced beef/pork/chicken, and ham. Next put in the vegetables and stock. Let it simmer until the vegetables are soften. Last put in the heavy cream. Add more stock if the sauce gets too thick
3. Salt and pepper to taste
4. Toss the sauce to the boiled pasta.

Super easy and super tasty!