Bento #14 "Filipino Style" with Side Car

Tomorrow's bento lunch is a plethera of filipino party favorites. (all thanks to my mom who was in a fancy mood and made the wonderful dishes) There is pancit, a noodle dish made from rice sticks, pork, chicken and shrimp. Garnished with celery, carrots, and cabbage. Steamed rice. Lastly, chicken and pork adobo. A stew-like dish of chicken and pork braised in soy sauce and cooking wine.

Then my husband started tinkering in the kitchen...next thing I knew he came up with this snack bento. My part is the little side car at the top.

It is three peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut into shapes using cookie cutters I found at the Dollar Tree over the weekend. The little side car is steamed edamame with toasted walnuts.
Till next time......

Bento #13

This is Wednesday's bento. Kinda a bland looking bento, isn't it? (mental note: need to add more color)

Well, anywho the men like it. Steamed rice with furikake, zuccinni fritatta, hotdog halves, and mango flower with chili limon.

Bento Haul

Well, I finally had a bento haul. Actually kinda a second mini haul. My husband, baby and I took a trip to the Santa Anita Mall in Arcadia, Ca. (located right next to the famous Santa Anita Race Track)
Tokyo Japanese Lifestyle is located here. It was a tiny store, and a little disappointing. Not much of a bento display or should I say accessory display. Anywho, I walked away with only 3 items. Here they are.

Heart and star egg molds, Bento straps, and mini containers

Bento #12 Fun Food

This is Tuesdays lunch for the men.
Turkey and ham wraps with cucumber, avocado, and tomatoe. Cucumber slices for garnish. Mango flower with chili limon powder. Funyuns and of course, a Baby Ruth bar for dessert.

Bento #11

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine was restful, sorta. With 10 month baby, its kinda hard to be totally uneventful. But nontheless, it was a very nice weekend.
Well when Sunday evening came around, I had no idea what to make the men for lunch. My brain went blank somehow.

So I just made something easy with little prep work: Fried saimin and romaine salad packed with buttery avocado and juicy tomatoes, and ranch dressing. Problem solved. Oh and I did add a brownie for dessert. (not pictured)

Bento #10 "Breakfast for Lunch"

It's the end of the workweek and I've run out of ideas. I was hoping to have some leftovers of the spaghetti I had made for dinner, but the hubby and older son gobbled it all up. Even the little baby tried to get a bit, he had his hands on my hubby's plate and a fistful of noodles. (He's growing so fast, and getting so quick a grabbing things and turning from side to side.)

Back to the bento, so because I didn't want to make another sandwich type thing, I decided to make a breakfast favorite, frittata. (Thanks Giada for giving me this inspiration, lol.) Usually I make the frittata with black olives and cheese, but we had ham in the fridge, so I decided to do ham and cheese. And who doesn't love ham and cheese.

(left to right) Steamed right with furikake, ham and monterey jack cheese frittata, steamed okra, apricot/plum slices, and zuccini bread.

Till next time and next week, have a great weekend and happy bento-ing!

Bento #9 "That's A Wrap!"

This bento was inspired by a tasty lunch I had with my mom and baby boy on a side trip to "Jamba Juice". As you all know, Jamba Juice is a healthy smoothie place. Well they have a small case of sandwiches and wraps, and some fruit plates as well. The one I tried was a Santa Fe chicken wrap. It had a tomatoe tortilla, grilled chicken, crunchy lettuce and some other veggies. It was ok, but I've had a wrap that was similar to a vietnamese bhanh minh. Yum yum! Anyway, I was thinking to myself, I could totally make this for my husband and older son. It would be more healthy than the usual bread laden sandwich, especially with more veggies.
So the menu items: Garden veggie tortilla wrap loaded with iceberg lettuce, smoked turkey, slices of carrots and zuccini, a just a smidge of mayo. And a small container of fat-free italian dressing for dipping. Accompanying the wrap are sweet slices of fresh strawberries and apricots from the farmers market. For dessert, a slice of homemade double chocolate chip walnut fudge brownies and zuccini bread.
Till next time.....

Bento #8

Well, kinda running out of ideas, so I just made something a little simple but, yummy.
Menu of the day: Nature's Own bread rounds, tuna salad, double chocolate chip walnut fudge brownies and cherries.
Hopefully the husband and son will enjoy this, especially the brownies.

Bento #7

Tuesday's bento is a simple one. Another one of my family's favorites: chicken tenders. Both the husband and son said that they tasted like "chicken katsu", chicken fried "local style" usually served with a sweet, tangy sauce.
On the menu: steamed rice with furikake, chicken tenders, romaine salad with tomatoes. Ranch dressing and ketchup in containers.

Bento #6: Mondays

Well everyone, hope your weekend and Father's day was a good one. After all the eating this past weekend, I felt that Monday's bento should be a light but filling one. So I decided to make a family and "local" favorite, Fried saimin.
This dish is a "poor man's" chow mein. It's made with top ramen noodles and whatever protein that you like. To make it more local, I added sliced spam, kamoboku (fish cake), carrots and celery.
To round out the bento, I added a plum and a Baby ruth. Sorry, but my husband has a sweet tooth and he loves chocolate.
Till next time.....

Bento #5- Post "game 7" Bento

Well the last bento of the week, and sorry to say, kinda "blah", but good and healthy nonetheless. The only excuse I can think of is to blame it on game 7 of the Lakers/Celtics Finals.. too stressing to make a great bento, lol. (Thank goodness the Lakers won, "way to go Lakers!")

Anywho, back to the bentos.

Items included: chicken salad sandwiches on white bread and 12 grain bread (for the bottom bento), mac salad in the blue container, carrot sticks with ranch dressing, and a candy bar for dessert.

The work week is over, and one week of bentos is done. Now to think of a whole different menu for next week. At least I have the entire weekend to think and plan for it. Till next time, have a great weekend and happy bento-ing!!!

Bento #4

This bento consists of steamed rice, again with furikake, it makes it look so pretty. Filipino torta, like the spanish style omelette with ground beef, tomatoes, peas and potatoes. Ketchup is in the small container, for the omelette. Macaroni salad in the upper right corner, and fresh baked banana bread in the lower corner.
These are some of my family's dinner favorites, so why not have them for lunch too! Till next time.....

Bento #3: Local "Hawaiian" Plate Bento

This bento lunch is dedicated to my hubby, an island boy. He's been craving this particular meal since I mentioned trying out bento lunches, so I finally granted his wish. From left to right: steamed rice with furikake, portuguese sausage, kimchee, tomatoe and cucumber flowers. (Ranch dressing in bottle for "flower salad") And as you can see on top of the bento box, a teeny tiny "Baby Ruth" candy bar for dessert.

I was preparing this during game 6 of the Lakers/Celtics Finals....and thank God the Lakers won, more inspiration for me to make a nice lunch for my hubby and son. The son had the same lunch except for a teeny tiny "100 Grand" candy bar for dessert. (He's allergic to peanuts.)

So I tried putting the sausage in an aluminum baking cup so the rest of food won't become greasy, and then placed the whole thing on top of a romaine lettuce leaf. And the kimchee is contained in a small "glad" container.

Well hope the boys enjoy themselves tomorrow, 'cause I know I would, and actually my mouth is drooling right now :) . Till next time.......

Bento #2

Well since the first attempt was such a hit, um, how was I going to top that. Well I had cooked soo much for dinner that there was more than enough for a "left-overs" lunch, problem solved.

I didn't have any cutesy rice molds (but am saving up for future bento haulage, lol), so I improvised. I had found a small container that had never been used, so I tried molding the rice with that. Worked like a charm. Trick that I found was that the rice should be warm, to stick together well and plop out of the mold easily. And since the main entree was kinda stew-like, I had lined that side of the bento container with plastic wrap, so as not to stain the nice container. (Something I experienced when packing leftover spaghetti...could hardly get those sauce stains off.)

So hopefully the hubby and son will like it, promise the next one will be more "eye pleasing"!

Contents of Bento #2: filipino style/leftovers (left to right): Steamed rice, pork afritada and chocolate cream wafters.

1st Attempt @ Bento

I came upon the idea of getting into the "bento scene" because I figured it would be a great way for my family to start eating healthy...meaning no more runs to McD's at lunchtime. Especially so now since my eldest son will be starting his first "job". Anyhow, I figured I better get myself in gear aka "mom/wife mode" and start making lunches for the men.

So here is my very first bento: japanese style... from left to right: Inarizushi (sushi rice in abura-age tofu skins), beef teriyaki, pickled salad (japanese kyuku, grape tomatoes, and carrots), and a apricot.

My hubby said that his officemates were so intrigued and jealous when he opened his lunch. He even said one of them stood there for 30mins just staring at it. The hubby said everything was delicious and was surprised to be very full despite the container of food being "so small". Mission accomplished! One constructive criticism: the coated paper containers for the salad and apricot got soaked from the boxed being shuffled in the office refrigerator by undetecting co-workers, so must figure a way to solve that one. Anywho, till next time....