Saturday, January 31, 2009

Baby Blues

This is for all the Bento newbies! Welcome on board Bento frenzy!

This probably depicts our kids in the initial conversion stage....

*rolls eyes*


... the rest is history!

Friday, January 30, 2009

Kids CNY party!

My youngest 9 year old baby had her friends and some cousins over for a CNY party today. I finally had a chance to use quite a number of my Bento boxes!! LOL!

I prepared 12 Bento boxes with the help of #1's God-sister and #2. #1 had last minute replacement class today.



There were tiny puff pastry pizza's, spaghetti Alio Oglio, tuna sandwiches,



nuggets, sushi, mixed salad with sesame seed dressing,


some chocolate sugar cookies, mini oranges and a free flow of Sarsi and Sprite!


The kids tucking into their Bento boxes!!


This was their dessert!



Mini Pavlova!!


The pictures of the Pavlova were quite dark so I edited them!

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Random

It's the 2nd day of CNY and we're supposed to be resting after all the reunion dinners in the different in-laws houses. We hosted last nights dinner at our home. The girls and I made a Pavlova (recipe here). (Excuse the soup spoons! It was chaotic in the house with so many relatives. Just grab whatever cutlery which was left in the cutlery box.)

Brother-in-law eldest daughter's 11th birthday was last night although the party is scheduled for tomorrow. #1 suggested we use the Pavlova as "Birthday cake" for her and sing her a Birthday song. This was the result.


some chocolate sugar cookies (recipe here)





and Tiramisu for dessert.

Mum, as usual cooked up a STORM!

Color of the pictures looks funny... must ask the camera woman!



On a different note, I just realized that this is my 381 st post!

Friday, January 23, 2009

BENTO #162

This is going to be the last Bento post for the week and fresh Bentos will be posted after 2nd February (remember, Daiso is re-stocking on this date).

I had brunch with #2 today. I made two Bentos of spaghetti and cauliflower doused in sesame seed dressing and some Chinese dessert call "Nien Kao" also known as "Kuih Bakul". It was a little nightmare trying to cut the "Nien Kao" into bits to roll them in fresh coconut mixed with some salt.

All I can say is it was sticky, sticky and sticky! I had oiled the knife before trying to cut through the "Nien Kao" but to no avail, I couldn't get a clean cut, it got stuck with the gooey "Nien Kao" all over. After a small 'war' between the knife and the "Nien Kao" and a lot of sweating and swearing in between, I managed to get them in bits all rolled up in the salted coconut!

The small 'war' was worth it because it was absolutely delicious! Now I know why my mum only does this after the "Nien Kao" turns solid after a week or so. It is so that the cutting process is much easier and she would oil a plate to steam the cut "Nien Kao" so that they would be soft and pliable again and then roll them in the salted coconut.

Right in the middle is a whole Bento box of cut up Kyuri, Zucchini, carrot sticks, alfalfa sprouts and Basil leaves wrapped up in some salad leaves. This is a delicious combination with the sesame seed dressing!

We had a ball with the deliciously sweet cherries and tiny mandarin oranges!

Happy Chinese New Year to all!!

Thursday, January 22, 2009

BENTO #161

Ha! This is my 3rd post today!! I haven't been able to update so much in such a long, long time!

There will likely be no Bento posts for the whole of next week because of the Chinese New Year holidays. #1 has to go back to college on Wednesday but the two younger girls have up to the end of next week to enjoy their celebrations!

This morning's Bento made up 2 pieces of puff pastry topped with some mushrooms (the two elder girls made these yesterday).

There was some potato salad in the green silicon cup.


The bottom Bento box contained some apple doused in thousand island, salad cream and tomato sauce! More spaghetti and Bolognese sauce to complete the meal.

I have the same question?

I was browsing Bento Lunch just now and came across this question. This situation is something that I used to face until I decided to stop packing biscuits, crackers, cereals and similar stuff into #2's Bento boxes. She would complain that the biscuits would be soft by the time she eats her Bento and lately complained about leakages from her Bento until I found a solution here.

(Suddenly, all the other plastic Bento boxes has become redundant! I think I shall have to do some spring cleaning during the CNY holidays!)

I think spillages in Bento boxes is quite prevalent if not handled properly. Firstly, if a dish comes with some form of sauce or gravy, it has to be 'capped in' by way of cling wrap/foil or a cup with a cover.

If you have noticed in recent posts here and here, I've used tall foil cups to contain the sauces so that it only reaches half way. By the time the Bento box lid is shut, there is little chance of spilling unless the box turns upside down.

To deal with the biscuits getting soft in the Bento boxes, I always have to look out for individually packed biscuits like these here, here, and here. Or pack separately like this or this. To pack biscuits into Bento boxes like this spells trouble.

To deal with the cereals, I also had to pack separately like this or this.

All these precautions has to be taken into account to ensure that the biscuits/cereal are still in a decent edible state otherwise one has to shun away from packing these food stuff into the Bento boxes.

Update on Daiso

I visited Daiso at the Curve a couple of weeks ago - my first time! The moment I walked in, my #1 daughter quipped "Mum! Just because everything is at RM5/=, you don't have to go crazy and buy everything okay!" Gosh! What a damper to my anticipation of a great night of shopping!

They had shelves of Onigiri Bento boxes and some 'plain ole' plastic containers.



Another shelf of some regular two tier Bento boxes, some come with Bento strap.

There were paper cups, silicon cups, cutters, molds, the works!


Lots of bottle and Bento insulated bags.....

More Bento accessories, loads of chopsticks, cutlery and their boxes....

Ha! This was probably a test shot! I didn't ask #1 to take this photo, but yeah, there are loads of other stuff including ladles, ladles and ladles.....LOL!!


These pictures are a little outdated because they were taken a couple of weeks ago and I just managed to load them.

Unfortunately my visit to Daiso then, ended up with me buying only one item because there was nothing much that was new.

Two nights ago, I visited Daiso again to meet Nancy to pass her some stuff. The Bento stock is now greatly reduced and I've been informed that there will be NEW STOCK coming in after 2nd February! So if you are interested in new Bento stuff, go visit Daiso at the Curve then!!

Happy Chinese New Year and Happy Shopping!!!


Please note that I have no affiliations with Daiso in any way.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

BENTO #160

This morning, I packed a fast Salmon paste sandwich with some sliced Kyuri and promised to send lunch to school for #2 because she finishes at 5.30p.m. today.

This is the lunch Bento and am going to send to school at noon.

There are blanched French beans with some Kewpie Mayo and a baby "Kam" in the top box and in the bottom box is Chicken chop and home made mushroom sauce.



A quick and easy Bento!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

BENTO #159

Finally, I've started planning my Bentos again! Last night I took out my file and rummaged through the fridge and finally decided on the items for this morning's Bento.

There was some more of yesterday's salad in the fridge and so I added some corn for color. I fried some tempura nuggets, cooked the spaghetti this morning and got some bottled Barilla Ricotta cheese sauce into a foil cup. Viola! A complete Bento!

I've found packing Bentos a blast lately because I've been waking up a little later than usual and I still finish packing the Bentos in time!

Monday, January 19, 2009

BENTO #158

When this morning's Bento was accomplished, there were two things I realized that I had blundered!

First, I have not been planning my Bentos and secondly, today #2 stays back at school for extra curricular activities up to 3.45p.m. which means that this morning's Bento would hardly be sufficient to last her till then.

I cooked lunch and so, put aside some food for her in a Bento box. There is a box of mixed tuna, salad, tomatoes and Basil.


For some proteins and carbo, there is roasted lemon chicken fried in fresh Basil and Oregano, some mango chutney and fried garlic rice. I hope she's hungry enough to eat this when she gets back!

BENTO #157

We had a very busy weekend. Saturday night, hubs and I attended a very close friend, daughter's wedding. The girls were invited to a birthday party but #2 declined to go (she's a little of a home body).

She decided to make pizza for #3 and herself for dinner. This below was the mushroom, oregano and onion pizza for herself.


This one was a fully CHEESE pizza for #3!



Each person had one pizza and obviously they couldn't finish them on their own. I used the left overs for her Bento box this morning!

I heated up the pizza this morning and then cut them up into bite sizes and skewered them for easy eating!

There was yet another raspberry chocolate tart, some kyuri and yellow zucchini and skewered jackfruit.

Meanwhile, my Kenwood is beating in the background some cookie batter and soon I will be making cookies the whole day! Look out for new cookies in tomorrow's Bento!

Saturday, January 17, 2009

BENTO #156

This is Saturday and the two younger girls are off for replacement classes for the extra days to be taken off during the Chinese New Year break! I think it's a nuisance to have replacement classes. If #2 didn't insist on going, I would just allow #3 to give it a skip (even if there are more Saturday replacement classes! *nuisance*).

Today's Bento is really simple and more of a treat Bento! In the silver foil cup, I've got pesto topped with mayonnaise - to be eaten with the packet of Japanese crackers on the left. There is blanched Cauliflower topped with some more mayo and cheese and a black sesame mochi to fill the gap.

There is some very ripe persimmon pieces in a silicon cup and more sesame seed mochi and a raspberry chocolate tart - all purchased from Dessert's bar! They are having a 'new menu' promotion and all items are sold on a 50% discount!

Those of you who follow this blog will know that #2 is crazy for mochi! She ate a third piece for breakfast!

Have a good weekend everybody!
Fresh Bentos will appear on Monday again!
Cheers!

Friday, January 16, 2009

BENTO #154

It's fish Friday again! This time it's not the same old Salmon (even though, I'm sure #2 will not mind because she loves Salmon).

Two days ago, Hubs brought back a whole freezer box of seafood which he bought from some wholesaler in Klang. This is our Chinese New Year supply of fish, prawns, lala, fish and more fish!

I can't tell one fish from another so all seafood purchases are normally done by my mum or Hubs. Oh! I know Salmon, Cod fish and Promfrets but most others are just Greek to me.

Last night, I rummaged the freezer and picked up a slice of 'fish' - please don't ask me what fish because I don't know the name! Got to ask Hubs tonight.

This morning when I fried it, it was absolutely fresh and delicious! I fried some sprouts with slivered cuttle fish, some straw mushrooms fried with julienne carrots and added a small fruit compote for #2's Bento box.



The same stuff for #1's Bento box!


This is how the 3 tiered box looks like.



These mornings, I pack three Bento boxes, but because #3 is an extremely picky eater I only have very limited food stuff to pack. It's always rotating between tuna mayo sandwich, cookies, sushi, cookies, spaghetti aglio olio, cookies, orange, cookies and more cookies!

I really don't think #3's box can be called a "Bento" and sadly it doesn't require any effort at all to pack! I've been trying to encourage her to be a little more adventurous with her food but to no avail.

She 'eats' with her 'eyes and nose' and not by tasting! Fancy Bento cuts and patterns doesn't entice her enough either! *sad, sad*

Thursday, January 15, 2009

BENTO #153

I just finished putting my fruit cake into the oven to bake. It should be ready after lunch and then my mum will be here and we'll probably begin baking some cookies for Chinese New Year.

This morning, after rushing #2 and #3 to school, I got back to pack #1's Bento. She goes to college for four days a week out of which three days begin mid mornings. I offered to make her brunch Bento to eat before she leave for college and she took me up on my offer! This morning was a little too rush to pack three Bentos so I only did two for the younger girls and went through a second cycle with this one when I got back.

This is a new Bento box which I picked up from Daiso at the Curve. Yeah! I finally visited and got some stuff. It is a three tier Bento box with individual lids, which hopefully will prevent leakage. I'll blog about Daiso in another post because I'm waiting for the pictures from #1's camera.

Anyway, everything is the same with previous Bento post #152 except for the potato and minced meat balls cooked in onions and oyster sauce. This was left over from yesterday's lunch and is #1's favorite dish.

BENTO #152

Since school commenced, #2 has been staying back at least 3-4 times a week. Since I only pack one Bento box for her, I tend to pack some rice so that the meal is substantial enough until tea time when she gets back.

This morning, I chopped and mixed up some Lollo Rosa, Basil leaves, tomatoes and ham. Then, I made a quick dressing with Olive oil, Balsamic vinegar, freshly ground black pepper and some salt. #2 had a plate full for breakfast before she left for school!

I packed the vegetable and ham combination into the smaller top box although I thought of packing it into the bigger bottom box. I realized that there was vinegar in the dressing and so refrained from doing that. I could only fit half an orange into the balance space.


I fried some chicken karaage this morning. I had prepared and coated the chicken bits in Katakuriko last night and that saved me some time. I moulded some rice and topped them with my favorite furikake.

This Bento box has kind of become a permanent feature because #2 complained about some spillage from the other plastic boxes. This box was a gift to me by Emily and is almost spill proof! I find that this Bento box size is just perfect and it has a matching bag which is not childish, which #2 is willing to bring to school.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

BENTO #151

Another quick Bento this morning, the pineapple ham is proving to be a great investment! I indulge is buying a whole leg of ham from the factory producing cured meats once every Christmas. I've been doing this for years and the suppliers have been very accommodating. This year, I got smart and asked them to cut the whole leg of ham into four blocks and vacuum wrap them into individual blocks. This is the last block from Christmas and is still fresh as the first!

The left Bento box contains, again - sliced pineapple ham with PINEAPPLES!!! LOL! I bought some pineapples to cook for my tarts and left some for #2's Bento box. Last night, #1 asked to visit the new "Giant" outlet in Kota Damansara so that she could pick up some doughnuts from J.Co. We bought a dozen and stuffed our faces full last night. There were a few left for this morning for the two younger girls Bentos.



In the right Bento is a simple quarter of a tuna mayo sandwich and some fried French beans in garlic. What a delicious mix of flavors!!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

BENTO #150

I'm uploading this post amidst cooking the fruits for my fruit cake, waiting for the chocolate chip cookies in the oven to be ready and waiting for time to go and fetch #3 from school!

I've had a very effective morning!

This morning's Bento is made up of cut oranges, some skewered pineapple ham slices sandwiched with tomatoes, Lollo Rosa and sweet basil leaves. I topped them with some Kewpie mayo for added flavor.



The right box which is also the top box had two-thirds of a croissant loaded with tuna mayo, onions and pickled gerkins. There was a slice of fruit cake from the same block I cut from yesterday.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Bento #149

Happy New Year everyone! I'm back and been packing Bento for #2 and #3 (occasionally) since school re-opened on 5th of January 2009! I didn't take any photos because I had wanted to 'crank up' on the mood and get my supplies in order.

I also prepared a lengthy and word-y post on some reading material which I managed to read the week before school re-opened but decided against posting it.

Finally, this morning, after sending another Bento off to school for #2 and forgetting to take a picture of it, I decided to make myself a Bento for lunch. #1 has a lunch appointment, #2 is staying back in school for extra curricular activities - she has in her Bento some Macaroni and a tomato based sauce, a kiwi and some Onigiri. #3, when she gets back will have some 'wantan noodles'.

I just ate this and it's delicious! In the left box is some dried cranberries in the yellow silicon cup, two pieces of bread, some 'beef serunding' in the blue silicon cup and slices of fruit cake stuffed in between the gaps.

In the right box, there is some freshly cut guava fruits in the orange silicon cup, some pea sprouts fried with dried cuttle fish, two pieces of Onigiri and some cracked almonds.

I ate bits of Onigiri with the pea sprouts and serunding and it was delicious! The fruit cake was a gift and that too was awesome! The different fruits and mixture of tastes just adds on to the deliciousness of this Bento! No wonder #2 looks forward to her Bento every day! There's no question of whether she needs a Bento or not, it's expected!

Sometimes I forget how delicious a Bento can get. I'm glad I made one for myself today and it's got me more enthusiastic about preparing them for this year!

Cheers!

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