Hawai`i's Bento Box Cookbook, Bentos and More for Kids

Mooooving!

2009-11-16T17:16:00.000-08:00

Just to let you all know that I have moved my site over to a new site. Please visit me at http://susanyuen.wordpress.com/ . :) Thank you!

Bento Class

2009-11-14T00:08:00.000-08:00

Today I taught two bento classes for Paige's after school enrichment program. The kids (myself included) had a great time playing with food and making bentos. Pictured are some of the sample bentos that they modeled their own bentos after today. Unfortunately, even though I left my camera right by the door, I forgot to bring it with me to take pictures of the kids and their creations! :( Waah! The kids were great, so creative and just lots of fun to spend the afternoon with. Thank you Jenny for letting me come and hang out with you all! :)

Soba with Gyoza, Bacon Croquette, and Miso Soup Bento

2009-11-13T09:29:00.000-08:00

The croquettes that I made the other day finally made an appearance in today's bento! For Paige's lunch I made cold soba with veggie gyoza and a heart shaped bacon croquette. I also packed a thermos with hot miso soup since the weather has been a little cooler these past few days. Finally a tiny bit of winter weather has come our way here in Hawaii! :)

This afternoon I am helping Paige's teacher for the after school program to do a couple of bento classes. As a kid food/cooking projects were always the most fun and memorable for me. I can vividly remember making clam dip for chips, cookies, jello, ants on a log and so much more for school projects or for show and tell. Even as a kid I was always a foodie. :D Then as a teenager, my family was very brave and often would let me cook dinner. I liked to experiment with cooking and sometimes the food would turn out pretty awful. Well at least all of my experiences laid a foundation for my cooking skills and helped to cultivate my love for it. :)

Tortellini with Meatballs Bento and Making Croquettes

2009-11-12T08:57:00.000-08:00

Last night we had a few friends over dinner and I made spaghetti with meatballs. Paige wanted the meatballs for lunch today, so I packed some in a thermal container to keep warm. I also packed cheese tortellini with a few fruits and veggies.

Yesterday, I also worked on making potato croquettes using various rice molds. I thought it would be fun to make the croquettes into different shapes by utilizing the different rice molds that I have. I made a simple potato base of a mashed potato, cooked bacon, onion, salt, and pepper. Then I let the mixture cool and molded them with the different shaped rice molds. I used really simple shapes so that it would be easy to mold and bread.

After shaping the potato base, I dredged them in four, egg, and then panko. I covered the croquettes with additional panko and froze most of them for later use.

Here's a pic of the molds I used and the finished product. I fried a few of the croquettes today and they held up really great and tasted wonderful. The croquettes are the perfect size for a bento and also serves as a wonderful side.

Sean's Snack Bento and Utilizing Bento Leftovers

2009-11-11T14:54:00.000-08:00

Sean and I had a lot of errands to run yesterday, so I packed up a small snack bento for Sean to take along. I made him a musubi stuffed with seasoned kombu and decorated it with a precut nori motorcycle. I also packed a few chicken nuggets with a side of bbq sauce in the bottom tier.

Javapot tagged me with the topic "Bento leftovers, what to do with them?". Well, I try to utilize everything in some way. Luckily I have a few "garbage disposals" besides myself, namely Sean and our bunnies (Caramel, Chloe, and Buddy). Sean likes to watch me make bentos or watch me cook because he likes to sample as well as eat whatever scraps (like cheese, fruit, kamaboko, egg, and the list goes on). Our bunnies are the fruit and veggie scrap disposal and because there are three of them, they eat a lot! They also take care of a lot of our cuttings in the yard too. :)

At the beginning of summer Paige and I started an herb and cherry tomato garden. The herbs include two types of basil, two types of oregano, parsley, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, and shiso. By growing my own herbs, it won't go to waste if I don't use it right away. I just pick what I need to use for my bentos or for cooking.

Bread- with leftover bread, like the crusts, I store them in the freezer until I need to use them. I mostly use them for things like meat loaf, hamburgers, or meatballs. You can also find the pasta with meatballs recipe here. I also sometimes pulse them in a food processor and use them for breadcrumbs.

Cheese- I use the leftover cheese in grilled sandwiches and omelets.

Meats or kamaboko- I use them in omeletes as well as fried rice.

Coffee grinds- I know this is not a bento leftover, but I drink coffee every morning and I sprinkle the grinds on our lawn or leafy shrubs because it makes everything nice and green. However, don't sprinkle on flowering plants because they won't flower.

I am tagging Sherimiya from Happy Little Bento.

Once you accept the tag, the rules are simple.

1. Please link back to the person who tagged you and add your name to the 'tagged list" below.

2. When you have answered the question (which can be in any style/format you like), nominate another (one will do) fellow blogger (who is not already on the list) and pass the tag to your nominee.

3. If you (the selected nominee) has already answered the question in an earlier post (well done) then your job is very easy- just link the tag to your earlier post and pass the tag on as per item nos. 1 and 2 above. Alternatively you can update it (if you wish).

Have fun :)

Tagged:

1. javapot

2. susanyuen

3. Sherimiya

Home Sweet Home Bento

2009-11-10T09:37:00.000-08:00

I was pressed for time this morning so Paige's lunch today was simple. Chicken nuggets, rice, and veggies with a slice of Forelle pear. I got this Rilakkuma bento box at the Marukai Sakkura Zakka store the other day. It came with two inserts for the container, but I just used one today. Sorry for the short post but we have to run. :)

Korean BBQ Beef Stuffed Musubi Bento

2009-11-09T11:12:00.000-08:00

Stuffing a musubi is a fun way to change up your bento and the choices are endless. You could stuff it with things like ume, salted salmon, seasoned kombu, fried chicken, fried shrimp, and so much more. Stuffing your musubi will not only give it texture, but tons of flavor as well. Today I stuffed Paige's musubis with thinly sliced Korean barbecued beef and decorated it with precut nori flowers. The rest of her bento included vegetable gyoza, a few grapes, and veggies.

Korean BBQ Beef Musubi

Homemade Bacon Fried Rice with Love

2009-11-06T11:10:00.000-08:00

Happy Aloha Friday everyone! We had a bunch of left over rice, so I decided to make Paige fried rice today with the homemade bacon that she loves. For the fried rice I used homemade bacon, carrots cut very small, thinly sliced green onions and seasoned it with a little bit of soy sauce, oyster sauce, and pepper. It didn't really need too much since bacon has a lot of flavor. I cut out small hearts from the egg sheet that I used for yesterday's lunch and cooked an egg with the help of a metal heart shaped cookie cutter. I also made sure to cook the egg through, especially the yolk, since she wouldn't be eating her lunch for awhile.

Hope you all have a great and restful weekend!

Happy Girl Bento

2009-11-05T11:17:00.000-08:00

Paige requested chicken karaage today, so I made that along with a tamago heart, veggie gyoza, and a few vegetables to fill up her bento. I packed her rice on the top level of the two tiered bento box and decorated it with takuwan (Japanese pickled daikon) flowers and a little girl made from bologna and egg.

If my pictures have been looking a little strange it's because I'm trying to learn how to use my camera. I am definitely a point and shoot kind of person, but lately I've been trying to educate myself on how to take better photos and make use of the other camera features besides the AUTO setting. :) I wish they had a quick and easy guide on how to take fabulous photos. If anyone comes across one let me know. :)

Maple Leaf Fall Bento with Chicken Karaage and Homemade Bacon

2009-11-04T12:22:00.000-08:00

Paige's lunch today consists of chicken karaage, tamago, broccoli sauteed with homemade bacon, and hot rice stored in the Totoro thermal container. I decorated her bento with smiley maple leaves cut from kamaboko and colored with Color Mist.

I finally got to try out the homemade maple cured smoked bacon recipe and it was actually quite easy to do. There are only a few ingredients and you basically just cure the pork belly in the dry salt rub and maple syrup for a week in the refrigerator. You flip the belly over once a day and then smoke it at the end of the week. I used my kamado oven and smoked it for about 2 hours at 200 degrees until it reached an internal temperature of 150 degrees. It was nice and caramelized by the time it was ready to come out. Thanks Dan for the recipe and hints! :)

Top and bottom view of the bacon

Woohoo, homemade maple cured bacon!!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T22:50:00.001-07:00

Happy Halloween everyone! The Yuens had to spend the evening in tonight because both Paige and Sean are sick. :( We had fun dressing up anyway and did other festive Halloween activities. We made a haunted house, played a few tricks, and turned our angel hair pasta into a gruesome dinner of worms and crazy eye balls with meat sauce. We also had Caesar salad with parmesan crisp ghosts.

This year Paige wanted to be a cowgirl and Sean was supposed to be a knight but opted for his old bumble bee costume at the last minute. Mark and I decided to dress up this year too. We had a bunch of old costumes and turned ourselves into Axel Rose and Slash from the 80's band, Guns n Roses. I think I need to work on my rock star pose, which is not very happening. :D I had a cool 5 o'clock shadow too, but it didn't show up very well in the picture.

The real Slash and Axel.

Kabocha Somen and Miso Soup with Wakame

2009-10-29T11:57:00.000-07:00

Sean has been under the weather these past few days and his appetite has been suffering as a result. He likes soup, so I made him miso soup that has a combination of red and white miso with tofu, green onions, and a lot of wakame. I also made him somen which is actually made with pumpkin giving it a neat yellow color, though it has very little pumpkin flavor. As a last minute addition I added in a fried fish cake ball and decorated it to look like a mini pumpkin.

Candy Corn Bento with Sesame Chicken

2009-10-28T14:02:00.000-07:00

Today's lunch is the last Halloween bento post because Paige has a class potluck tomorrow. I asked Paige for suggestions for her bento today and she came up with candy corn! As a kid, candy corn was the one candy at Halloween that I really didn't like and would gladly give it away. I loved (and still love) anything chocolate although my favorite as a kid was Snow Caps. Little drops of chocolate goodness with white nonpareils stuck to the tops. Yum!

The candy corn is made from kamaboko which I cut using an egg shaped cookie cutter. I pressed the sides of the cutter in to make it narrower giving it the candy corn shape. I sprayed the bottom of candy corn with yellow Color Mist and then cut a thin strip of kamaboko for the center and sprayed that orange. Finally I finished it with eyes and mouths cut from nori.

Hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween! :)

Turkey and Mozzarella Panini Bento

2009-10-27T11:52:00.000-07:00

Paige's lunch today was quick and easy. I made a turkey and mozzarella sandwich and grilled it on our panini press. Before packing the sandwich, I cooled it off on a small rack so that it wouldn't get soggy from any condensation. I also packed Paige a peach fruit cup and a small bag of mini oreos.

Tortellini with Marinara Sauce and Pumpkin Garlic Bread

2009-10-26T14:13:00.000-07:00

I went to Costco this weekend so we are now well stocked with our usual purchases like tortellini, rotisserie chicken, and of course toilet paper. ;) Paige requested (one of her favorites) tortellini with marinara sauce for lunch today. I also made her pumpkin shaped garlic bread with eyes and a mouth cut from cheddar cheese and filled the other container with grapes and a few veggies. Hope you all had a restful weekend! :)

Trick-or-Treaters Bento

2009-10-23T12:05:00.000-07:00

Last week I made Max, the King of all Wild Things, and I thought that I would use the same idea to make kids with bear costumes for a Halloween themed bento. The bear costume is made from an egg sheet and the faces are cut from bologna. I also made a small pumpkin patch below the trick-or-treaters with carrots and thyme (for the vine). I also cut out a few pumpkin shaped carrots. Paige requested the same lunch of chicken katsu and homemade bacon, which was great because the katsu was already prepped. I just had to pull a few pieces from the freezer last night to thaw, so that I could cook it this morning.

Here is the recipe for the Chicken Katsu Bites:

8 boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into 2 inch chunks

Garlic salt and pepper to taste

1 cup flour

3 eggs

1 tablespoon water

1 teaspoon sugar

3 cups panko + more for packing

Oil for frying

Pat chicken dry with a paper towel, then season with garlic salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken in the flour and shake off the excess. Beat the egg with the water and sugar to make an egg wash. Then dredge the floured chicken in the egg wash and then liberally coat with panko. Deep fry until golden and cooked through.

To freeze, line a container with a thin layer of panko. Place uncooked breaded chicken in the container in a single layer. Sprinkle with another thin layer of panko and place another layer of chicken on top. Repeat process, cover, then freeze until needed.

Paige likes a ketchup sauce with it and the recipe is as follows:

1 cup ketchup

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/8 teaspoon pepper

For those interested in the homemade bacon recipe, Dan said that he got it from the L.A. Times letter, The recipe for maple-cured smoked bacon. Dan uses Grade B maple syrup for the recipe and during the smoking process, he uses a kamado oven and wood chips which adds to the flavor of the bacon. I am definitely going to try out the recipe using Dan's tips. I have an ancient kamado oven, which looks nothing like the picture on the kamado link, but it still works great! The recipe also gives instruction on making it in an oven if you don't have a smoker. Thanks Dan for the link and your tips. :)

Chicks with Chicken Katsu Bites and Homemade Bacon

2009-10-22T11:49:00.000-07:00

Whenever I make chicken katsu, I always make a lot and freeze most of it (breaded and uncooked). That way when I want to make chicken katsu, all I have to do is pull it from the freezer the night before and it will be ready to go the next day. Just remember that if you freeze the chicken katsu, pack extra panko in between each layer and it will absorb all of the moisture ensuring that when you do cook the katsu, the breading will be crispy. With this batch, I cut the chicken into small chunks (the size of chicken nuggets) and and then breaded it so that it would be easier for me to pack it into Paige's bento.

Our good friend Dan, gave us some delicious bacon that he made himself. Our family absolutely loves it and I have to be the "bacon keeper" so that they won't eat it all in one sitting. Paige got a bonus in her bento today, a couple of slices of Uncle Dan's homemade bacon and she was thrilled. I also have to add that Paige is not a bacon eater, but she absolutely loves Uncle Dan's one. However, I am sad to say that our homemade bacon supply is running low (hint, hint). ;)

Flowers with BBQ Chicken Bento

2009-10-21T15:06:00.000-07:00

Paige's bento today consists of rice, flowers made from egg sheets and kamaboko, sliced bbq chicken and a few veggies. I have been using the egg sheets quite a bit because they are such a versatile medium as well as easy to make. I've been a big fan of simple these past few weeks and I think it shows in my bentos. :)

However, I did have an idea for an easy Halloween bento. I came up with the idea this morning after I made Paige her lunch so I just used the same bento. I made the ghost's eyes with the egg sheet and nori for the eyes and mouth. It was quick and easy! :)

Car PBJ Sandwich

2009-10-19T13:53:00.000-07:00

I try to make Sean a bento once a week because he gets such a kick out of having a lunch just like Paige. Today I made him a PBJ sandwich using the sandwich mold that I used to make a similar sandwich for a field trip that Paige went on. To make the impression of the car, I used only the right side to the mold (pictured below) which is just like the ones I used for the bus and boat sandwiches from a previous entry.

Sean says- Thank you Grandma for the Handy Manny bento box!

Max, the King of all Wild Things, Bento

2009-10-16T11:46:00.000-07:00

Paige asked for a Where the Wild Things Are bento because she saw Anna the Red's amazing bento tribute. If you haven't seen it yet, you have to check it out because it is truly a work of art and looks yummy to eat! I told Paige that I could probably manage to make a version of Max, but the rest would be way too difficult for me to do. I was pleased that Paige was very happy to see her Max bento this morning. :D Paige's bento included cold udon with mochiko chicken and julienned carrots and cucumbers. Have a great weekend!

Bears with Mochiko Chicken Bento

2009-10-15T12:35:00.000-07:00

It's been a crazy morning for me already. First of all, our ice machine is making hollow ice cubes and is slowly dripping water to form a huge iceberg in the ice tray. Then when I pulled out the bowl of chicken in marinade, that I was going to cook for Paige's lunch, I accidently overturned it. The bowl was still covered with plastic wrap, which luckily kept the chicken contained, however much of the marinade leaked out in the fridge. Yuck, raw chicken marinade. :P Then I left the house this morning in a scramble because we were running late and our car alarm went off when I opened the doors. Of course it would happen that I couldn't shut it off because the button on the alarm's remote was hopelessly stuck and had to run back in the house to look for the spare one, which BTW I couldn't find. By the time I returned the alarm thankfully went off, but I still couldn't open the doors without setting the alarm off again. By this point I was laughing at all of the craziness, said a prayer, and when I pressed the remote again, the alarm obediently turned off. :D I guess we have those days once in a while.

Paige's bento today included bears cut out from an egg sheet, mochiko chicken, a vegetable gyoza, and a few fruits and veggies. The noses and tummies of the bears are cut from fish sausage and I used a couple of crown picks for the top of their heads.

Angel Hair Pasta with Meat Sauce and Garlic Bread

2009-10-14T15:12:00.000-07:00

In a few days Where the Wild Things Are opens in theaters! As a kid, I absolutely loved the book and was so excited to hear that they made a movie based on it. There is a great review of the movie at TIME.com .

Paige's lunch today is leftovers from dinner, angel hair pasta with meat sauce and mozzarella flowers, flower shaped garlic bread, and a green salad with ranch dressing.

Make Your Own Stuffed Sandwich Mold

2009-10-13T16:38:00.000-07:00

I have seen a bunch of sandwich molds that will not only cut off the crusts of sandwiches but crimp the edges like the ones pictured on my previous post. They were really cute and easy to use but were quite expensive. I got to thinking about how I could make my own inexpensive sandwich mold and came up with a method using a plastic cookie cutter. Keep in mind that it not as easy as using the more expensive molds, but with a little effort you don't have to buy anything and can make your own stuffed sandwiches with the plastic cookie cutters that you already have at home.

First of all, you need 2 slices of bread, and it needs to be fresh otherwise the edges will not seal properly. Take one slice and lightly imprint the top, flat edge of the cookie cutter (not the cutting side) so that it will give you an idea of how much to fill the sandwich if you are using PBJ, which is what I did. Only fill to the very inside of the imprint, otherwise the sandwich will not seal properly. You could also use the cookie cutter to cut out your cold cuts and cheese to place in your sandwich. Place the second slice of bread over the top and place the flat edge of the cookie cutter over the top. To protect your hands, take a folded paper towel or dishcloth, place over the sharp edge of the cutter, and press down evenly on all sides. Keeping pressure on the cookie cutter, take a sharp pointed paring knife and drag your knife around the outside of the cutter, cutting away the excess bread. Before removing the cutter from the sandwich, make sure that the edges are sealed well, if it's not then just press a little harder on the cutter.

Sandwich container, compliments of Aunty Lynne :)

Sandwich Cutters at Compleat Kitchen Kahala

2009-10-10T16:23:00.000-07:00

For those who live on Oahu, I found these sandwich molds/cutters at the Compleat Kitchen at Kahala Mall! There was also a heart mold that crimped the sandwich edges like the ones above, similar to the one I used in this previous post. They also had an assortment of other sandwich cutters (different from the ones pictured above) from Hello Kitty to Mickey Mouse, it kind of looks like this one that I used in another previous post. Compleat Kitchen also carries bento boxes too now.

Tamago Smiley Faces with BBQ Beef over Somen

2009-10-09T11:39:00.000-07:00

Paige's bento today included leftover BBQ beef that we had for dinner last night, somen, a few veggies, and tamago smiley faces. I stored the somen sauce on the side in a small bottle which is not pictured. This is the last of the tamago mold attachments which makes the tamago into a round shape. I included a short "how to" of how I made used the mold. Again like I said before, I'm not sure what the instructions read on the mold's box, but this is how I adapted it to work with my tamago pan which measures 5"x7". If you use a different sized pan, you need to adjust the recipe.

Tamago recipe:

2 eggs (large or smaller)

1/2 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon mirin

1/2 tablespoon water

1 pinch of salt

Beat the eggs then combine the rest of ingredients and mix well. Spray pan lightly with nonstick pan spray and pour enough of the egg mixture to cover the bottom. Cook over medium low heat and when egg has just about set, roll the edge over carefully about a half inch. Keep rolling the egg over until you reach the other side. Slide egg roll back to the end that you started from, spray pan lightly again, then add more of egg mixture. Repeat process until all of the egg is used up.

With the finished tamago place next to mold to measure and cut the excess off.

The tamago roll should be slightly bigger than the mold, so it will be sticking out a little. Put the top on and secure with a rubber band tight enough so that it applies a little pressure to the tamago. Place in refrigerator over night or until completely cooled. Once cooled, remove and slice.

Tamago Chicks and Honey Garlic Chicken Bento

2009-10-08T09:38:00.000-07:00

Success! I tried out the bird attachment for the tamago mold that I used last week. I used 2 eggs to make a roundish looking tamago roll. Since my tamago pan is 5 inches wide I had to cut off the end (which Sean happily ate) of the tamago roll in order for it to fit into the 3 inch long mold. I wrapped a rubber band around it, to apply a little pressure to the mold and put in the refrigerator to cool. Once completely cooled you can cut it and it will hold its shape. I have to caution you, that I have no idea what the instructions on the box says. It's written in Japanese and obviously I can't read it. The rest of the bento includes rice, honey and garlic fried chicken, and a few veggies. By the way I picked up the mold from the Marukai Zakka Avenue store at Ward. Has anyone seen it sold online?

On a separate note, this is what boys do with stickers. I put this picture up on Twitter yesterday of Sean playing with the stickers his Uncle Dan gave him. Thanks Uncle Dan for the good laugh.

Baked Macaroni with Meat Sauce and Bear Garlic Bread Bento

2009-10-07T14:14:00.000-07:00

As a kid, I remember eating leftover spaghetti or macaroni with meat sauce in a sandwich. If we had spaghetti the night before, I would go home after school, microwave the leftover pasta, put it on a slice of bread which I folded in half and ate it like a taco. I know, sounds strange but I loved it! Tell me I'm not the only one who has done that. :)

This is Sean's bento today- baked macaroni with meat sauce and cheddar cheese, bear garlic bread, and a few slices of oranges and carrots. The portion is just right for Sean who is almost 3, but if I were making it for Paige who is 7, she would need double the amount. I also put less fruits and veggies in Sean's bento because he snacks on fruits, vegetables, and cheese throughout the day.

Cookie and Craft Stencils for Your Bento

2009-10-03T23:28:00.000-07:00

I've been playing around with these craft and cookie stencils for the past few days and was pretty pleased with how well they worked out. For sandwiches, I have used the stencils with cocoa powder, colored sugars, and Color Mist. Since the cocoa powder by itself is bitter, I would suggest matching it with a sweet type of sandwich filling like PBJ or Nutella. The Color Mist has absolutely no taste, which is a plus for savory type sandwiches, and it goes on very cleanly. Check out the Halloween cookie stencils below, they are great and just in time for your Halloween bento or party. Wilton also has Christmas cookie stencils available for the holidays as well. Next on my list is to try the stencils out on rice with furikake or Color Mist. :)

A few days ago I received this from Michelle at Foodie Footsteps! Thank you so much! :)

The rules are that you have to send it to six people and answer the following questions. The six blogs that I chose are:

Joann's Blog Adventure

Bunches and Bits

Mothering Corner

Cuisine Paradise

Adventures in Bentomaking

Daily Affairs

There were so many, but I chose these particular blogs because I have been following them the longest.

Now the questions:

1. Where is your cell phone? charging

2. Your hair? very short

3. Your mother? the greatest woman in the world

4. Your father? married to the greatest woman in the world

5. Your favorite food? Thai food or Italian, I can't decide

6. Your dream last night? I can't remember

7. Your favorite drink? diet pepsi

8. Your dream/goal? book 3

9. What room are you in? living room

10. Your hobby? Cooking, making bentos

11. Your fear? big cockroaches

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? right here with my family :) Although, Paige would like to go to Disney World.

13. Where were you last night? home

14. Something you aren't? outgoing, I'm really shy

15. Muffins? Blueberry crunch

16. Wish list item? new refrigerator

17. Where did you grow up? Hilo, HI

18. Last thing you did? Make lunch

19. What are you wearing? green dress and shorts

20. Your TV? off

21. Your pets? 3 rabbits

22. Your friends? Loyal, supportive, generous

23. Your life? couldn't ask for more

24. Your mood? relaxed

25. Missing someone? Mom, come back already...

26. Vehicle? Nissan SUV

27. Something you're not wearing? makeup

28. Your favorite store? Williams Sonoma

29. Your favorite color? green

30. When was the last time you laughed? this morning

31. Last time you cried? last week watching Bridge to Terabinthia

32. Your best friend? easy, it's my husband Mark

33. One place that I go over and over? grocery shopping

34. One person who emails me regularly? Lori-Ann

35. Favorite place to eat? Champa Thai or Paesano

Aloha Friday Bento

2009-10-02T11:39:00.000-07:00

It's Aloha Friday! For lunch today, Paige has a SPAM musubi, pork gyoza, and tamago flowers. I made the tamago flowers with this mold (pictured below) and it comes with three different attachments to make a tulip (like the one I made), a bird, and a circle shape. I don't know how to read Japanese so I can't tell you what the directions say. However I just made the tamago recipe that I normally use and it worked out just fine. Hope you all have a great weekend! :)

Sun Shiny Day Bento

2009-10-01T15:03:00.000-07:00

A really great feel good song is I Can See Clearly Now by Johnny Nash. I thought of this particular song when I made Paige's bento this morning because the end of the chorus goes "... it's going to be a bright, bright sun shiny day.". Or at least I think it's "sun shiny", I've seen it written as "sun shining" too. Paige's bento has beef stew in the thermal container with a few fruits, veggies, and rice in the two side containers. The sun is made from an egg sheet with a haku flower lei made from fish sausage. Hope you all had a chance to listen to the song. :) I've listened to it a few times and now I can't get it out of my head.

Pumpkin Patch Bento with Kalbi and Chap Chae

2009-09-30T09:58:00.000-07:00

Paige had a lot of fun yesterday at the botanical gardens and came home telling me about all of the different things they saw. Being the girly girl that she is, she was most impressed with a tree called the Lipstick Tree. Paige excitedly told me about how they make lipstick (and other cosmetics) with the seeds of the tree and how their guide even demonstrated the color by rubbing some of the seeds on herself. :) Apparently it is also used as a spice and food coloring as well. Paige also came home with a bunch of mosquito bites too. Unfortunately I forgot the bug spray. :(

Any way, last night we had kalbi for dinner, so I saved a few slices to cook this morning for Paige's bento. I added in a small portion of chap chae, rice, and furikake (stored in the little monkey container). The pumpkins are made of kamaboko dyed with food coloring and decorated with nori and fish sausage.

Lipstick Tree (photo from Wikipedia)

Field Trip Bento and How it Feels to be Toothless

2009-09-29T09:51:00.000-07:00

Paige and her class went on a field trip to the botanical gardens today. The school suggested brown bag lunches for easy disposal, so I made her lunch in a disposable bento box. The PBJ sandwiches were made with a sandwich maker that both cuts off the crust and seals the edges. The triangle sandwiches are made by spreading 1 slice of bread with peanut butter and jelly, fold in half so that it forms a triangle, and then cut the sandwich with the cutter. I made two of the PBJ sandwiches and added in a few pretzels and goldfish to fill the box.

Last night Paige woke up at 10 and came running out to tell me that her tooth fell out. It was the last and biggest of a bunch of loose teeth to come out. She was a little frightened and in awe when she saw how much blood this last tooth loss had produced. I must say that it was a gusher. Most of her teeth just kind of fell out without incident and bled very little in comparison. When she woke up this morning, and after examining herself in the mirror for a while, she told me "I like having no teeth!". O_O I think she likes that she has a little lisp now too.

Ghosts with Fried Mandoo and Shiitake Mushroom Soba Bento

2009-09-28T11:07:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I made a huge batch of Korean mandoo. We ate mandoo soup for dinner on Saturday, then fried mandoo for dinner last night, and I also froze a bunch of uncooked ones for a later date. By preparing the mandoo two different ways, I saved on time and my family didn't get tired of eating the same thing. Today's bento consists of fried mandoo over a bed of soba and sauteed shiitake mushrooms and to keep in the Halloween theme, I made a couple of ghosts with thick slices of kamaboko cut with a tulip shaped cutter.

Mandoo Soup!

Witch Sandwich for a Halloween Bento

2009-09-24T01:38:00.001-07:00

As a kid, I envisioned all bad witches to look like either Witch Hazel (from Bugs Bunny) or like the wicked witch from the Wizard of Oz. My favorite of course was Witch Hazel because I loved watching Bugs Bunny cartoons. Check out this clip of Witch Hazel, the Romeo and Juliet parody still makes me laugh to this day. I just love her cackle!

My sister requested a witch themed bento and I had a difficult time coming up with something cute. Instead I chose to do a witch cut out from nori against a mozzarella cheese moon, which in retrospect is probably something for older kids. It's definitely not cutesy enough for Paige and Sean, but I thought it would be something different than the stuff that I've been doing lately. Hope you enjoy it. :)

Boo! Bento

2009-09-23T16:42:00.000-07:00

Ghost PBJ sandwiches make a quick and easy Halloween bento for your child. Use a wide heart shaped cutter to cut the bread with and then cut the bread in half to make the ghost. I added on sugar paste eyes and cheddar cheese mouths that I attached with a little bit of peanut butter. Then I added this cute spider pick that I found at the Executive Chef store at Ward Warehouse. By the way they sell the sugar eyes as well. :)

Honolulu Advertiser's Small Talk Blog

2009-09-23T01:28:00.000-07:00

If you have a chance, check out Diane Ako's blog Small Talk on the Honolulu Advertiser's website. She was so kind to feature me on her blog, but read the rest of her posts. I love her, she's so funny and down to earth. :)

Kona the Cat with Carrot Somen and Pork and Vegetable Gyoza Bento

2009-09-22T15:02:00.000-07:00

I made today's bento for Sean. It's carrot somen with pork and vegetable gyoza, with a kitty made from an egg sheet and fish sausage. Sean called the kitty, in his lunch, Kona because that's the name of our neighbor's cat who frequents our home. Sean likes Kona but is afraid to pet him because, not only is Kona a very large cat but he also likes to play a little too rough for Sean's liking. :)

Sean riding on an elephant statue at the zoo. :)

Panda Bento with Korean Chicken

2009-09-18T11:56:00.000-07:00

What do pandas and our rabbits have in common? They love to eat bamboo. We have this huge bamboo bush in our yard that grows like weeds. The more that you trim it back, the fuller it grows back. We've been giving our rabbits the bamboo leaves which they seemingly prefer over their rabbit pellets and hay. I guess it's a great way to recycle the bamboo cuttings. :)

Paige's bento has panda musubis stuffed with Korean chicken, a few more pieces of chicken on the side, veggies, and a slice of orange. I also made a little panda out of kamaboko to decorate her lunch with. I hope you all having a great Aloha Friday!

Singing Bird Bento

2009-09-17T11:48:00.000-07:00

After being sick again this week, Paige finally went back to school today. Nothing serious, just a low grade fever with no other symptoms. Paige loved the fact that she was home schooled for a few days just like her BFF Avi. :) She did miss her school pals though and was getting a little stir crazy being in the house for so many days.

Paige's bento today is called the "Singing Bird Bento" which was inspired by all of those pesky birds that loudly chirp at the crack of dawn right outside of our bedroom window. Those same birds have been eating the flower buds off of Grandma's orchids and have stole a few of our cherry tomatoes right off of the plant. Grandma says that they are called Bulbuls and I think that this is a picture of one below.

Anyway, I didn't want to make a black bird and opted to do a yellow, friendlier version of the bird. It was a great opportunity to try out the yellow egg sheet tutorial that I saw on Mothering Corner . When I made the egg sheet, I mixed 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch with 1/2 teaspoon water and mixed that with 2 large egg yolks (I used the leftover egg whites for my breakfast). Poured it in a small nonstick pan on medium- medium low until it set and flipped it over once so that the other side would set. It was very easy to do...thanks Shoppingmum for the tutorial. The rest of Paige's bento included chicken and vegetable gyoza, furikake tamago, and a few veggies including a couple of miniscule stunted cherry tomatoes from our garden.

This is the cutter that I used. It is one of many that I inherited from my good friend Dan (same guy who gave me those Halloween ones)!

PBJ Halloween Sandwich Bento

2009-09-15T13:01:00.000-07:00

I know that I'm a little early for Halloween, but a friend gave me a bunch of cookie cutters that I just had to test out. The cutters actually worked really well and you can see the imprint pretty clearly (click on the photo to enlarge). These types of cookie cutters are a great alternative to the Japanese sandwich cutters that I used in previous posts. I used bread that was slightly thicker than your average slice, about a 1/2 inch. If you want the imprint clearer on the top slice, after using the cutter to cut the bread, lightly press the bread into the cutter with your finger tips. It was quick and easy, and the kids loved it! Thanks Dan for all of the cutters! :)

Happy Flowers and the Totoro Thermal Lunch Box

2009-09-11T12:55:00.000-07:00

I was gracious today and let Paige use my new Totoro thermal lunch box. :D It consists of 1 large thermal container, 2 smaller side containers, a fork with a case, and the zippered lunch tote. I placed hot rice into the thermal container and in one of the smaller containers, put in the rest of the sesame chicken that I fried this morning. On top of the chicken I cut out 2 kamaboko flowers that I sprayed yellow and pink with Color Mist, and then gave them both happy faces because it's Friday! I packed the other small container with fruits, veggies, and a little bit of ranch dressing in the red piggy sauce container.

Sesame Chicken and Soba Bento

2009-09-10T15:42:00.000-07:00

Paige's lunch today is kind of a spinoff from the fish cake bento that I did last month. I found these tiny fried fish cake balls at Don Quijote yesterday, which I cut in half and decorated with faces and picks. I love these fun picks and I have used them many times in Paige's bentos. The fried fish cake (which are very tasty BTW) sits on a bed of soba noodles with carrots, cucumbers, and green onions. I also made sesame chicken which I packed in a separate container.
Look what came in the mail today! Mark surprised me with an early birthday present. I've been wanting this Totoro thermal lunch set for a while, but I never bought it for myself because I thought it might be too extravagant. Thanks Mark, you know I love it! :)

Piggy Chicken Nuggets Bento

2009-09-09T16:46:00.000-07:00

After being sick for a few days, Paige went back to school today. The poor girl missed out on her Labor Day holiday, but she was glad to have an excuse to just lie around and do nothing. I think that she was especially glad that she didn't have to practice piano. :)

Paige's lunch today consisted of a few chicken nuggets, of which I turned one of them into a beady eyed, nervous looking pig. He looked really cute when I first put the nori on his eyes, but then the nori shrunk and gave him his really weird bug-eyed look. Any way the rest of her lunch included a musubi, SPAM tamago, nishime, and a few veggies.

Continuing on the topic of what to do with bento leftovers- below is a picture of our breakfast on Monday. I used up the leftover cheddar cheese bits that I had and made omelets with Portuguese sausage, vine ripened tomatoes, mushrooms, and green onions.

Portuguese Sausage, SPAM, and Kamaboko Fried Rice with Egg Breakfast

2009-09-07T13:16:00.000-07:00

Today is Labor Day, which means no school or bento today. Instead I'm posting about what I did with leftover Portuguese sausage, SPAM, and kamaboko that I had in the refrigerator. I had only a little of each as well as some rice from dinner last night, so it was perfect for making fried rice. I cooked the meats with a little bit of oil and then added in the kamaboko and cold rice. I seasoned it with a little oyster sauce, shoyu, garlic salt, and pepper then finished it by adding in green onions and some frozen peas and carrots. Our family enjoys eating our fried rice with an easy over egg on the top as well. Happy Labor Day!

Turkey and Mozzarella Panini with a Sun Dried Tomato and Basil Mayo

2009-09-05T21:14:00.000-07:00

What do I do with leftover cheese? I make a lot of grilled sandwiches and today I made a turkey and mozzarella cheese panini with a sun dried tomato and fresh homegrown basil mayo. Years ago I bought a Breville Ikon Panini Press from Williams-Sonoma, and to this day I still use it quite often. It is not only perfect for grilled sandwiches, but you can also use it to cook burgers, steaks, chicken, vegetables- basically anything that you would cook on a grill. I love this particular brand because it is extremely well made, easy to clean, and performs like a restaurant caliber panini press.

I made the sandwich with turkey, leftover mozzarella cheese from the cut outs that I did earlier this week, and I made a sun dried tomato and basil mayo. I mixed a couple of tablespoons of mayo with a couple of sun dried tomatoes and a few leaves of basil from our garden that I chopped up and mixed in. It was enough to make 4 sandwiches with. Normally the kids would never eat basil, but having mixed it in with the mayo was a good way to introduce them to basil and they loved it.

photo taken from William's-Sonoma

Meatballs with Angel Hair Pasta- What to do with Leftover Bread Crusts

2009-09-05T00:33:00.000-07:00

What has this got to do with bentos? Well, this is one of the ways that I utilize the bread crusts that I cut off from the kids sandwiches when I make them sandwich bentos. Adding just the right amount of bread makes your meatballs both tender and moist and helps to bind the meat together so that it doesn't fall apart during cooking. I usually make the sauce from scratch, but it does take some time to simmer so I changed my recipe a little to expedite the cooking process. This fast and easy version is always a big hit with my family- I hope you'll give it a try.

Meatballs with Angel Hair Pasta

2 cups bread cubed

1 cup milk

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground pork

1 large shallot minced

3 cloves of garlic minced

1/4 cup of parsley minced

1 extra large egg

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 jars (1 pound 9 ounces) of Original Prego (or your favorite bottled pasta sauce)

1 1/2 pounds of angel hair pasta cooked

In a large bowl, combine the bread cubes with the milk and let sit for 5 minutes. After the bread has soaked up all of the milk, mash the bread with a fork a little to help break up the bread. To the bread mixture add in the beef, pork, shallots, garlic, parsley, egg, salt, and pepper- then mix together.

Form mixture into balls (we like them big) and then pan fry in a little olive oil on medium high.

The meatballs will be a little soft so turn them carefully with a pair of tongs to get all sides browned. At this point they will be only half cooked.

Transfer to a sauce pot and cover with pasta sauce. Bring to a boil, lower heat to a simmer, cover and cook for about 30 minutes. Serve over cooked pasta. Enjoy!

Bunny SPAM Musubis

2009-09-04T14:40:00.000-07:00

Lately, I have had a few readers have ask what do I do with the leftover cuttings from the bentos that I make. Things like bread crusts, cheese, SPAM, kamaboko, fish sausage, fruit, and so forth are some of the items that I use to make Paige's bentos. For example, take today's lunch. I made bunny SPAM musubis and I used the leftovers from the bunny cut outs to make tamago with SPAM and green onion. I put a couple slices of the tamago in Paige's bento and the kids ate the rest for their breakfast with some rice and fruit. I'll try to do more posts with what to do with the leftover cuttings to show how I utilize different things.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Bunny and Flower PBJ with Campbell's Shrek Pasta Soup

2009-09-03T11:34:00.000-07:00

Like Sean's lunch yesterday, I used sandwich cutters for Paige's PBJ today. I also gave her a thermos of Cambell's Shrek Pasta Chicken Soup. The soup includes pasta shapes of Donkey, Gingy, Puss in Boots, Fiona, and of course Shrek. Speaking of sandwiches, Jennifer posted a comment on yesterday's post giving me a link to Funky Lunch , a site that specializes in making fun sandwiches. Check it out, you will be amazed! Thanks Jennifer for the link!

Buses and Boat PBJ Sandwiches

2009-09-02T14:13:00.000-07:00

Today Sean got a special bento filled with PBJ sandwiches of buses and a boat. The sandwiches were just the right size for his small hands and he had a lot of fun playing with and eating them. The sandwich cutters are very fast and easy to use. There are 2 parts to each cutter, one to cut the bread and the other to stamp the impression of the bus or boat into the bread. I also gave him some fruit which he loves and a few carrots which he doesn't like so much unless they're cooked. He'll eat one and then leave the others. Hopefully if I keep on giving them to him, he'll eventually acquire a taste for them.

Cow Bento

2009-09-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

Paige's lunch today is beef stew over rice (in the Zojirushi thermal container) that was leftover from last night's dinner and I also made a small cow PBJ sandwich for her mid morning snack. The PBJ sandwich is a bit more substantial than the pretzels or goldfish that I used to pack for Paige but that's because this year her lunch is later than it has been in the past. The cow is made of cheddar and mozzarella cheese, bologna, and nori for the eyes.

Happy Birthday to Paige's classmates, Taylor and Kyler, who celebrated their birthdays this past week!

Angel Hair Pasta with Meat Sauce and Garlic Toast Stars Bento

2009-08-28T09:52:00.000-07:00

Paige's quick and easy lunch today are leftovers from the other night. I made angel hair pasta with meat sauce and to top it off, I added a couple of mozzarella stars. The pasta and sauce were heated and then packed in the Zojirushi mini thermal lunch box, so that it'll be warm when Paige is ready for lunch. To her lunch, I added a couple of star shaped garlic parmesan toasts as well as orange slices and grapes. The picture below is the first set of garlic toasts that I stuck in the toaster oven. I wasn't paying attention because I was too busy drinking my coffee and chatting with Mark, and as a result burnt the first set. O_O It only took me a little over 15 minutes to reheat the sauce and pasta, and put it all together including remaking the garlic toast! I was going to add in a few fun animal picks to brighten it up but I forgot and added them in after I took the picture. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Ducky Bento

2009-08-27T09:48:00.000-07:00

Due to three loose teeth and one missing tooth Paige has been having a lot of trouble eating lately. Even worse, the problem teeth are located all in the front so she can't bite into anything. I have been trying to make food that is soft or food that she can just pop into her mouth and not have to worry using her front teeth. Both of her musubis are stuffed with chicken karaage that I cut up into small pieces and decorated with precut store-bought nori. I also made carrot flavored somen, which in my opinion, just tastes like regular plain somen. The orange color is pretty neat though. We have also tried out the pink ume and yellow kabocha (Japanese pumpkin) flavored ones, but they too don't have much taste.

Paige's bento includes chicken karaage, a musubi stuffed with chicken karaage (I made one for her snack too), carrot somen with a SPAM flower, some veggies, and grapes too.

Bunny Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

2009-08-26T11:25:00.000-07:00

Paige took a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with apples to school today. The peanut butter, Roasted Honey Nut Skippy, was introduced to us by Grandma last year and has since been our family favorite. I love sandwich days, not only do I not have to cook but I get to sleep in a little later too. :) The cheese bunny is made with cheddar and mozzarella cheese, and fish sausage for the nose and cheeks. To secure the bunny to the sandwich, I stuck a flower pick between the ears.

Pooh and Piglet Musubi Bento

2009-08-25T12:08:00.000-07:00

Paige's lunch today consists of Pooh and Piglet musubis stuffed with fried chicken. I made the nori by just cutting a strip to fit the musubi and then using a Pooh and Piglet punch to cut out the nori. The rest of her lunch included tamago with green onions, more fried chicken, cucumbers, carrots, and pineapple which I packed in a separate container. I love these types of bento boxes that you can store the musubis on top and the rest of the lunch on the bottom. I picked up this box from the Mauraki Zakka Avenue at Ward and it was only $1.99. The lunch box belt was sold separately for $1.99 as well.

While we were in Hilo over the weekend, Paige and her cousins, made their own bentos. We made blue rice and a variety of ocean animals for them to put into their bentos.

Paige's bento.

Dillon working hard on designing his bento.

Caitlin with her masterpiece.

First Day of School Bento

2009-08-24T15:46:00.000-07:00

Today is Paige's first day of second grade! In anticipation of today, Paige was much too excited to sleep last night and then woke up extra early this morning. She couldn't wait to get to school to see her new teacher and friends. I made her a somen bento with carrots, cucumbers, and eggs with fried gyoza. I also packed her mandarin oranges with blueberries and pretzels for her morning snack. Sean was a little sad to not have Paige around today, but then again I think that he was happy to have mom all to himself.

Over the weekend Paige and I went to Hilo to do a photo shoot for my upcoming cook book which will be out in the spring of 2010. Our very talented family friend Kevin Fujitani took the photos for me. His work is incredible and if you have a chance, check out his website Techy3 Design Studios. Kevin's one of three extremely talented guys that do web, print, and video services.

Fried Fish Cake Smiley Faces and Plumeria Bento

2009-08-19T22:12:00.000-07:00

Summer officially ends for us this week with Paige going back to school on Monday. Bad news is that I'll really miss having her around :(, but the good news is that she is really excited to go back. We finally got all of her school supplies labeled, packed, and ready to go today. Paige is especially excited to use her brand new back pack. She's had the same one for the last three years and it gave out this summer.

Anyway, I made this quick bento with braised short ribs that I made the night before. Rice, fruit, veggies, kamaboko plumeria flowers, and fried fish cake smiley faces. Hope you all had a great summer!

Photo taken from Wikimedia.

Julie's Bento

2009-08-13T02:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Sally and her 7 year old daughter Julie from Australia, sent me an email with pictures of the bento that Julie made all by herself! Julie- you are awesome and thank you for sharing your bento with us all! Please keep sending me pictures. :)

Alphabet Pasta with Meat Sauce and Bear Garlic Toast

2009-08-11T17:00:00.000-07:00

As of late, I've been working on the book 2 of Hawai`i's Bento Box Cookbook which should be out in the spring of 2010. I've been crazy busy trying to write out all of the recipes and take all of the photos for the book which accounts for my lack of posts. Today's bento is actually going to be our dinner tonight, alphabet pasta with meat sauce and garlic toast. Paige and Sean wanted to eat the pasta for lunch today so I made them bentos and added on the cheese bears to the toasts. Anyway hope you all are having a great week!

KHNL Morning Show Bento

2009-08-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

This morning Paige and I were invited to be on KHNL's morning show with Diane Ako! We had to be there at 5:25 in the morning which meant that I had to get up at 1:30 am to make 6 bentos for the show. O_O I made an extra bento for Diane (pictured above) with a panda bear, bunny SPAM musubi, kamaboko butterfly, fish sausage flowers, fried shrimp, chicken karaage, and tamago. Paige and I were there for 2- three minute segments which you can check out at the KHNL site. I have to add that I was extremely nervous but Diane was awesome, she totally made me feel at ease and was so easy to talk to. Thank you to Diane and KHNL for having us there today!!!

SPAM Hot Dog Sushi Kids

2009-07-30T16:19:00.000-07:00

I saw SPAM hot dogs for the first time at the store yesterday and just had to try them out! For our lunch today I cooked the SPAM hot dogs in teriyaki sauce and used them to make sushi. I decorated them with nori faces and used these cute picks that I picked up for the Ward 99 cents store which is now called Marukai Zakka Avenue. It's located right next to Marukai Market Place at the Ward Farmers Market. They also had these cute $1.99 bento boxes for sale along with a bunch of other adorable bento boxes and accessories that I haven't seen there before. As for the SPAM dogs themselves, they had the consistency of a regular hot dog and did taste exactly like SPAM. Sean loved it, Paige just thought it tasted okay, and I liked them except I thought that they were a bit pricey in comparison to hot dogs.

Variety School of Hawaii Sandwich Bento

2009-07-24T13:36:00.000-07:00

This morning Paige and I visited the Variety School of Hawaii . The children are currently studying Japan, including the Japanese language and culture. They were all so wonderful and whenever appropriate spoke in Japanese to us. As an activity, we made jelly sandwich bentos using cookie cutters, sugar paste eyes, cake decorations, and icing (as our glue). The children filled their bento boxes with the sandwiches, pretzels, and fruit snacks. They all did such a great job and were very creative too. Thank you to the children, Jolene, and the staff at the Variety School!

Bear Breakfast Bento

2009-07-21T15:13:00.000-07:00

Today's bento post is dedicated our good friend Trina who is battling cancer. Trina is an amazing woman who is both beautiful inside and out. I am so thankful that she calls me her friend and I just wanted to say how much I appreciate and love her. We are all praying for you Trina!

I made the bento for breakfast this morning and it includes bear musubis, corned beef hash, tamago with turkey bacon, and grapes. The Totoro bento box is from the Marukai 99 cents store at Ward.

Hello Kitty Bento Box

2009-07-13T14:51:00.000-07:00

My niece, who recently came to stay with us this summer, brought me (actually Paige) this beautiful Hello Kitty bento box! I filled it with maki sushi, fried noodles, and stir fried pork with string beans from Gulick Deli. I bought a big plate and split it between Paige, Sean, and myself. Lucky Paige got to eat from the Hello Kitty box. Thank you to Caitlin and her mommy! :)

Fried Rice Pikachu Bento and Camp Malaekahana

2009-07-08T18:00:00.000-07:00

Every Fourth of July weekend, our church goes camping at Malaekahana Beach Park, which is about 40 minutes north of Honolulu. The beach is absolutely beautiful and camp is a great time for our church family and friends to fellowship and enjoy God's many blessings. We also celebrated Aliisa's (our beautiful young friend's) birthday. Happy Birthday Aliisa!!!

After all of the Fourth of July festivities I was too tired too cook and we had Costco rotisserie chicken (which I love) for dinner. The next day, I made Pikachu out of fried rice made with the leftover chicken and vegetables. The rest of the bento included sliced rotisserie chicken and honeydew melon flowers.

I'm Back!

2009-07-02T23:51:00.001-07:00

This year we decided to stay close to home for our summer family vacation and went to the Big Island where most of my family resides. We went to Kapoho, south-east of Hilo town, and rented a six bedroom beach house, big enough for the whole clan. The 40 minute drive to Kapoho was beautiful with the terrain constantly changing. We went from rainy Hilo town, through this fantastic wooded area with trees that seem to touch the sky. After breaking through the wooded area we saw acres and acres of papaya trees which soon turned into old lava covered terrain.

The kids loved this statue! It reminded them of the Easter Island statue that was on the movie Night at the Museum .
There was so much to do there! This path took you from the beach house to the beach where the kids collected shells and sea glass. They also had great fun fishing for small reef fish with hand poles and even accidently caught a baby eel, which we later returned back to their ocean homes. The beach house also had a great pool which the kids and adults absolutely loved.

Campfire smores!

Before leaving Hilo we had to stop off at the famous Cafe 100, home of the loco moco!

When we came back to Honolulu, my sister and her family returned with us to stay for a week. Yesterday we went to the water park in Kapolei and had more fun in the water. While they were here I made the kids hot dogs on a stick, pictured at the beginning of the post. It was just your standard hot dog wrapped in store bought crescent rolls, brushed with egg wash, and baked for 15 minutes. I stuck the skewer in after the hot dog was cooked. My nephew Dillon liked it just because there was a stick in it! :)

Lunch in a Cup: Chili Cheese Dogs with Rice

2009-06-17T15:26:00.000-07:00

Hefty makes these really cute kid's cups called ZOO Pals which I used to serve lunch in today. I put rice in the bottom of the cup, chili, and topped it off with shredded cheddar cheese. Then I cut the hotdogs in half and stuck them in for the animals ears. Paige's friend Avi was over today and they ate lunch outside in the yard since it was a beautiful day.

Top view!

Hotdog Butterfly

2009-06-15T14:35:00.000-07:00

As a summer project we planted a herb garden with oregano, rosemary, bay leaves, basil, American parsley, Italian parsley, and lemongrass. Paige also planted a tomato plant a while back and it's already starting to flower. :) I also found a few white bugs on the tomato plant's leaves, which I think are aphids so I'm picking up more marigold plants because I've read that they are excellent aphid deterrents. Hopefully that will do the trick and those pesky bugs will go away without me having to resort to pesticides. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Anyway, when I was watering the plants this morning there were a few white butterflies hanging around the yard and they gave me inspiration for Paige's and Sean's lunch today. The hotdog butterflies were very simple with cheddar heart wings and mouth, mozzarella and nori eyes, and two jewel picks for the antennae.

More Brownie Pops and the Great Chocolate Volcanoes

2009-06-12T20:03:00.001-07:00

Paige will be going on a sleepover this evening, so we made more brownie pops for her to take over to her friend's house. We made some of the brownie pops with chocolate sprinkles and the rest with the rainbow nonpareils, and then bagged them in fun cellophane bags.

With the leftover batter we made these brownie cupcakes and spooned the leftover chocolate (that we used for dipping the pops) over the tops with sprinkles. Paige called them the "Great Chocolate Volcanoes". :) Have a great weekend everyone!

Fun on a Stick

2009-06-11T15:39:00.000-07:00

We made these brownie pops a few days ago and they were such a hit with the kids. An added plus was how easy they were to make with these silicone pans by Wilton. I used a boxed brownie mix and baked them at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes. At about 25 minutes I usually just poke a toothpick in them to see if they are done.

After baking and completely cooling them I dipped them in melted chocolate and then into sprinkles. They were a lot of fun to eat and I think they would make pretty favors as well for any special occasion.

Butterfly Summer Bento, Trying to Beat the Summer Heat

2009-06-04T01:58:00.000-07:00

With the summer heat here in Hawaii, I decided to do a cold bento. The top tier has a Chinese style chicken salad that I made with leftover rotisserie chicken (from Costco), romaine, cabbage, celery, carrots, and dressed with a sesame vinaigrette. The bottom tier has cold soba with edamame, green onions, and a citrus shoyu dressing. To decorate the bento I made cheese butterflies and used a couple of fun picks in place of their antennae.

Another way to cool off here in Hawaii is shaved ice! You can find it anywhere here in Hawaii and all it is, is a combination of finely shaved ice, one or more flavored sugary syrups, and sometimes additions such as condensed milk, vanilla ice cream, or adzuki beans. My personal favorite is strawberry with vanilla ice cream and condensed milk. Yum!

As you can see, the shaved ice syrup will leave it's mark upon you!

Paige, Sean, cousins Caitlin and Dillon, and Uncle Burt

By the way, for those of you who live on Oahu, I got the Pikachu bento box for $8.99 from the Marukai 99 cent store which reopened in the Ward Farmers Market! I also bought a rectangular Totoro bento box and have a funny story to tell you about it. My sister and I went to the 99 cent store and saw all of the new bento boxes that they had. Of course we had to get the Totoro and the Pikachu bento boxes, and my sister and I figured that we would pick up a few extra just in case. We thought "Why not? They can't be more than a few dollars anyway.". Hah! Luckily before we got in line to pay for them, I overheard a woman asking the cashier how much the Totoro bento boxes were and he told her $16.99. Needless to say my sister and I had a good laugh and then put back the extra boxes that we had picked up. :)

Izakaya Food= A Lot of Dishes to Wash

2009-05-30T16:41:00.000-07:00

I love the concept of Izakaya food which is somewhat like the Japanese version of tapas. It basically consists of small portions of a wide range of food that can be ordered in these Japanese drinking establishments. Food such as chicken kara-age, tofu, edamame, sliced grilled steak, sashimi, yakisoba, and so much more. Last night, Paige's good friend Ashlee came over to play and stayed to have dinner with us as well. Our dinner was pretty simple but I "fancied" it up for the girls by using a lot of the little Japanese dishes that we have. We ate cold udon (in the soup bowl- I should have took a picture with the cover off), chicken and vegetable gyoza, pork shumai, rice, a small green salad, and apple juice.

Also a few weeks ago, Mark and I went to an Izakaya restaurant with a few friends and had a great time. Here are a few pictures of the food we ate.

Green Salad with House Dressing

California Roll

Cold Udon and Hot Udon

Tonkatsu and Pork and Ginger Gyoza

Agedashi Tofu (fried tofu in a broth with grated Yamaimo)

Spicy Ahi Roll

Chicken Kara-age

Natto with Ahi and a Quail Egg

Fried Mochi

The Aloha (Means Goodbye) Shirt Bento

2009-05-28T10:04:00.000-07:00

For those of you who live in Hawaii know that the Hawaiian word Aloha means both hello and goodbye. And if you have watched Larry Beil as a sports anchor, you would also know that his catch phrase after a home run is "..and Aloha means goodbye!". Well, this is Paige's last bento for the school year. Her bento consists of tortellini with meat sauce, bread with an Aloha shirt made out of cheddar and swiss cheese, and a few veggies and oranges. Tomorrow actually is the last day, but her class will be having a party in school and will be providing lunch. Although school will be over, I will still continue to post throughout the summer. :)

Lemons in Bentos, Save Them for Sean

2009-05-23T12:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we picked up lunch at Shirokiya and Paige and Sean shared a chicken katsu bento. Whenever they share food it always works out because Sean will eat the things that Paige won't and vice versa. Remember how I posted once about Sean and his peculiar eating habits? Well Sean ate the lemon that was in the bento. We all thought it was so hilarious because he would suck on the lemon, make a sour face, and then go right back to sucking on the lemon again! :D

Piggies and Chicken & Vegetable Gyoza Bento

2009-05-21T11:49:00.000-07:00

Last night I made chicken and vegetable gyoza for our dinner tonight and used a few of them for Paige's lunch today. Along with the gyoza, I made her piggies and used heart picks that I got from JstuffSale.com for their ears. JstuffSale is an eBay store that has a huge assortment of bento boxes, accessories, molds, and cutters too. I always check out their store first, not only because they have such a great selection, but because they are both fast and reliable. :)

PBJ Cow Sandwich

2009-05-20T14:36:00.000-07:00

Remember those Cusipro cutters that I posted the other day? I used the cow cutter for Sean's PBJ sandwich today. The cow is decorated with cheddar and swiss cheese, which were the first things Sean ate. He didn't eat much of the cow, just part of the head. I'm guessing it's because I used whole grain bread instead of white. :P

Student Council Fundraiser Bento

2009-05-19T11:20:00.000-07:00

The student council at Paige's school fundraises by selling snacks to the children at school a few times a year. Children, like Paige, who are part of the student council donate snacks to sell and use the proceeds towards missions work here on Oahu as well as Vietnam and for other student council activities. Our donations were mini-bentos with SPAM musubi, gyoza, and a slice of hotdog. We made 15 of them to sell at school this morning for 75 cents each.

Sheep Bento with Shrimp Tatsutaage

2009-05-18T11:30:00.001-07:00

Cookie cutters are so versatile, not only can you use them for their intended purpose, but they are also great tools in bento making. I bought this Cuisipro farm animal set at the Ward Warehouse Executive Chef. It's made of very durable plastic which is dishwasher safe and neatly stacks together to save space. They have so many different sets from trains to zoo animals too, which are all available online at Amazon.

Paige's bento today includes a SPAM sheep with wool made out of cheese, shrimp tatsutaage (Japanese fried shrimp), musubis, and veggies.

Paige Musubi with Strawberry Melona

2009-05-15T11:12:00.000-07:00

If you have never eaten a Melona ice cream bar, you have to try one! It is a creamy piece of heaven on a stick and comes in many flavors like melon, banana, strawberry, mango, and possibly other flavors that I haven't seen or tried yet. Our family favorites are the melon and strawberry flavored bars, which unfortunately never last for more than a few days in our house. Paige's bento today is a musubi of her holding a strawberry Melona bar (her favorite flavor) made out of fish sausage. I also made shrimp with chicken sausage, carrots, and packed her a bag of apples as well.

Mother's Day Breakfast

2009-05-11T01:29:00.000-07:00

For Mother's day, Mark got up really early to make my Mom (who is visiting from Hilo) and I breakfast, as well as for the kids too. Pictured above was Mom's omelette which had grated cheddar cheese and a medley of fresh vegetables including broccoli, tomatoes, onions, and green onions, which he made into a smiley face using rice and Portuguese sausage. I had the same except he put furikake on the rice balls instead of the sausage. I have to tell you that Mark does not cook, so for him to go through the trouble of cooking this is pretty awesome. It took him two hours of sweat to put breakfast together for the whole family. Thanks Mark, for you blog entry and for making Mother's Day very special!

2009 Ka Palapala Po`okela Awards written by Mark Yuen

2009-05-10T02:12:00.000-07:00

Because Susan was just too modest to discuss this particular subject, I have the honor of writing today's blog. Each year, the Hawai`i Book Publishers Association presents awards to the best publications from Hawai`i. This year, Susan's book, Hawai`i's Bento Box Cookbook received one of the seven nominations under the best Cookbooks category. As a result, last night at the Bishop Museum, we had the privilege of attending the 2009 Ka Palapala Po`okela Awards ceremony honoring the best locally published books from the past year.

We learned earlier this past week that Susan's book did not win as Chef Chai Chaowasaree's "The Island Bistro Cookbook" deservedly achieved the highest honor. Although I personally was a little disappointed because I know how much work and effort Susan put into this book, I quickly reminded myself as to why Susan wrote her book in the first place. To explain, when Susan first thought of submitting her bento book idea to the local publishing companies, she told me that she did not care if not one single soul bought the book. Instead, she just wanted a tangible object that Paige could see one day and hopefully understand how much Susan loved her so much that she would take so much time just to make her a "special lunch".

In fact, I remember not too long ago, when Susan started making Paige her special lunches just so that Paige would have an incentive to stay for lunch at preschool, Susan did not have even one cutter or mold. Believe it or not, Susan initially started by cutting everything by hand! It was painful just watching her using an exacto knife to cut nori strips one-by-one. It wasn't until she discovered all those wonderful cutters on ebay did she realize that bento making did not have to be so difficult. Of course, little did I know, but even after buying all those cutters and molds (thereby driving me crazy!!), Susan still spends a lot of waking hours thinking of different bento ideas and implementing them so that Paige can have, indeed a special and unique lunch each school day.

As a result, on this particular special day when we celebrate "Mother's Day", in order to honor all the mothers who sacrifice so much of their lives for their children, I want to tell those of you who do read this blog how much of a wonderful mother Susan is. You see, I watch Susan each morning when she's hunched over the kitchen counter tirelessly putting small, miniscule pieces of nori to add detail to Paige's lunch. Not once do I ever hear her complain. For it is her love for Paige that Susan devotes so much of her time to make these bentos. As such, thank you, Susan for being such a great and loving mother to our children and much congratulations on this Mother's Day! Love, Mark

Hello Kitty Saimin with Gyoza

2009-05-08T12:24:00.000-07:00

Thank you everyone for all of the thoughtful birthday wishes for Paige! She was so thrilled to read all of them and felt very special that you all took the time to send them. Last night Grandma and Grandpa had a small family dinner for her too with pizza and ice cream cupcakes from her Uncle Burt and Aunty MaryAnn. Before she went to bed, she said that she had a wonderful day and that she felt very special. :) Thanks again everyone for making her day!

For lunch today, Paige requested saimin. I made the saimin with pork and vegetable gyoza, Hello Kitty made from kamaboko (Japanese fish cake), egg, a SPAM flower, and green onions. I kept the broth separate from the noodles in a thermos, for Paige to add in when she's ready for lunch.

Happy Birthday Paige!

2009-05-07T16:40:00.000-07:00

Today Paige turns 7 years old! How time flies, I can still vividly remember the day the God blessed us with her beautiful life. Paige is a kind, loving, and thoughtful little girl. Mark and I are always amazed by her desire to please others. Okay, okay... I'll stop being the bragging mother, but I really can't help myself. :)

For her birthday, Paige wanted (more than anything else) to have a birthday party in school with her friends. Mark took the day off and we brought lunch and cupcakes to school for her class. It was a good thing that Mark took the day off because I sure needed the help. I woke up at 5:30am to make bentos for 20 people which included carp sushi, fish SPAM musubis, mochiko chicken, fried noodles, and BBQ beef maki sushi. It was a lot to cook so I cheated a little and bought the noodles and BBQ beef sushi from Fukuya's. :)

Cupcake cake from Safeway on Kapahulu.

Boy's Day Bento

2009-05-05T12:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Boy's Day! Even though Paige is a girl, I thought it would be fun to make a Boy's Day bento for her. The musubi boy's have on samurai hats that are very easy to make. Check out the Origami Fun site for the detailed directions. The rest of the bento included hotdog carp, garlic shrimp, and pork and vegetable gyoza. I also packed a bag of grapes which I put into her cooler bag with her drink.

Just for Fun

2009-05-02T18:21:00.000-07:00

Burt (my brother in-law), Caitlin and Dillon (my niece and nephew) came for a short visit from Hilo. I just wanted to share a short video of Sean and Dillon rocking out :). Sadly, they are leaving today...we miss you guys already!

Beach Bento

2009-05-01T15:52:00.000-07:00

Paige had the day off from school, so we decided to have some fun at the beach today. I packed us a bento that consisted of wakame musubis, bear SPAM musubis, furikake tamago, gyoza, carrots and grapes (not pictured) in the Vivo Kids Bento Box. The musubis in the bento are not the standard sized musubis, I used a smaller sized mold which was why I was able to pack six of them in the bento. However, it is a very large bento box for a child so I usually pack Paige's lunch in one of the tiers and put her snacks in the other whenever she takes the Vivo to school.

Ala Moana Beach Park

We got there early in the morning, so the water was still too cold for the kids liking. While they waited for the sun to warm things up, they had fun playing in the sand.

They had a little bit of a show too, because there was a swim/run competition going on while we were there.

Shumai Bear Saimin with Shoyu Pork

2009-04-30T12:22:00.000-07:00

Last night I made my take on Okinawan style shoyu pork which is usually made with pork belly. Since pork belly is really fatty, I decided to use pork shoulder instead. This morning I sliced up the leftover shoyu pork and put it in Paige's saimin bento which she took to school today. I kept the noodles separate from the broth so that it won't get soft and mushy. When Paige is ready to eat, she can pour the broth over the saimin herself and have a nice and warm lunch. I also put in kamaboko (Japanese fish cake), green onions, and I made two little bears out of the shumai.

Bird Family Bento

2009-04-29T12:53:00.000-07:00

Over the last couple of years, I have amassed a drawer full of musubi molds- some that I have purchased and others that were given to me. Mark shakes his head at me whenever he sees me rummaging through it, although he has said before that he's glad that I'm into collecting cooking gadgets instead of jewelry. :) I'll have to take a picture of my musubi molds and post it one day. I found two different sized bird molds and decided to do a family of them- Papa, Mama, and Baby bird. The pink flower and beaks are from the pink part of the kamaboko (Japanese fish cake), and the wings are cut from bologna and secured with angel hair pasta to the musubi. Paige's lunch included teriyaki steak, a SPAM flower, grapes, and veggies.

Fire Truck Sandwiches

2009-04-27T12:47:00.001-07:00

For those who inquired about my cookbook, it's available locally at all of the Borders and Barnes and Noble locations on Oahu. I guess it takes some time to be in stock online. I did however see that someone's selling it on Amazon for $154.47...uh yeah, that's pretty ridiculous. It should never be more than $14.95.

Anyway back to my post. This is Sean's fire truck snack bento. I used white cheese and cut it out with the fire truck cutter (pictured below). Then "painted" it red with a little bit of red food coloring, and cut out nori for the details- the windows, ladders, and wheels.

Here's a picture of Sean motioning to me if he could eat it. Sean loves cars and trucks (especially fire trucks) so he was very happy to see his snack!

Food Paint

2009-04-24T20:31:00.001-07:00

Recently, I've seen a lot of people use food markers on their bentos and I wanted to try it out as well. After looking all over here locally and not finding anything, I decided to try my hand at "painting" with food coloring. I have been using food coloring (pictured above) and food safe paint brushes by Wilton, made for cake decorating. I am still experimenting with the colors but all in all the colors are very vibrant on white cheese. A few examples are the Blue Bird Bento (blue birds) posted today and the Paige Bento with Tonkatsu and Curry (red flowers with the yellow centers). I literally only just started "painting" with the food coloring this week, so I'm still very new at it. The blue and red food coloring I used straight, but for the yellow I had to dilute it with a very tiny amount of water because it looked orange. I'll post more about other colors as I test them out too. Hope this helps to those who inquired about how I colored the blue birds. :)

Homer Simpson Breakfast Bento

2009-04-23T11:14:00.000-07:00

This morning, I made Mark a Homer Simpson breakfast bento to take to work. Crispy bacon, scrambled eggs, cheese, on buttered and toasted bread with strawberries and grapes. Mark kind of reminds me of Homer- he's rough around the edges and but funny with his over the top antics. Mark makes life exciting for us all, that's for sure. :)

Paige Bento With Tonkatsu and Curry

2009-04-22T14:08:00.000-07:00

Mark and I both love to eat curry but the kids don't particularly enjoy the strong flavors of it. I finally found a brand that tastes great to us and that the kids will eat too- it's Vermont curry! In fact, Paige enjoyed it so much that she asked me if she could take it to school for lunch today. :) I made tonkatsu (Japanese fried pork cutlet) for Paige's lunch with hot curry in a thermos so that she could spoon it onto her bento when she's ready to eat it. I made a little cheese Paige decorated with nori and cheese flowers colored with food coloring.

This is a link to a local curry house that we have here- Curry House Coco Ichibanya
so that you can get an idea of how versatile curry is and the many ways that they serve it.

The Clone Wars Bento

2009-04-21T14:04:00.000-07:00

As a child, I remember how amazed I was with the whole Star Wars saga- the story line and how everything in the movies seemed so real that I fully bought into the special effects. Now when I watch the earlier movies I still love the story but the special effects seem pretty funny and unrealistic. The more recent Star Wars films have both the great story line and amazing special effects, but I think I miss the old characters and actors (Princess Leia was of course my favorite). The last movie, The Clone Wars, is an animated film which I have yet to see. Paige has told me bits and pieces of the movie from what she has heard about it through the boys in school, so I thought it would be fun to do a Star Wars bento. I decided on doing the Clone simply because, of all the characters, it seemed the easiest to do. I have found that it is not at all difficult to cut the nori for the characters that I have been doing, but what makes it difficult is my lack patience. So try not to look too closely, you'll see all of my mistakes! :) Anyway, the bento included the cheese and nori Clone, kalbi, veggies, and grapes.

*When I showed Mark my Clone bento he told me that I made a storm trooper and not a Clone. So I had to google it and show him what a storm trooper looked like. :)

Waikiki Aquarium Bento

2009-04-20T16:22:00.001-07:00

This past Friday evening we had the opportunity (with Paige's class) to go to the Waikiki Aquarium's after-dark flashlight walk, which takes you through the aquarium's exhibits at night. Normally, the Waikiki Aquarium is open only during the day, but they occasionally do night-time events like the one that we went to. It was a learning experience even for us adults. We saw aquatic animals that you don't normally see during the day, the different ways that they "sleep", and how some of the animals actually change their colors at night. I wasn't able to take any pictures inside the exhibits but we were able to take a few outside.

This was a very friendly, football-sized pufferfish that hung around the side of the tank where we all were standing. I think he wanted his picture taken!

Paige's bento today, included an aquarium of star fish and jelly fish made of kamaboko (Japanese fish cake), a SPAM reef fish, kalbi, veggies, and grapes.

Youppi Bento- written by Hockey FANATIC, Mark Yuen

2009-04-16T23:37:00.000-07:00

Did you hear that? No? Really? Did you hear THAT? No, you still didn't hear that? Well, put your ears closer to your computer speakers. Concentrate, concentrate, close your eyes, and listen really hard. Not yet? Well, if your ears are caressing your computer speakers, perhaps you will be able to hear the faint, almost inaudible noise coming from the many ghosts speaking from the ruins of the old Montreal forum. They are chanting, "Les Canadiens Sont La, Les Canadiens Sont La!"

Ah yes, it is Spring's debut, the season when things end and when things begin. For Spring is when the dreary, cold white winter sinks into the oblivion of yesteryear and when the sun begins its ascent to summer's glistening summit. Spring is also the time when the long, boring regular hockey season ends and when the gladiators of ice commence their bloody battle for the rights of Lord Stanley. This year, Le Club de Hockey Canadien, aka, the Montreal Canadiens begin their postseason against the bad old Bruins. The Canadiens barely squeezed into the playoffs in what turned out to be a disappointing season full of hope and dreams in their centennial year. But a season of despair is forgotten now, as the postseason brings hopes anew.

To bring good fortune and hope to my favorite hockey team, I asked, rather begged my wife, Susan, to make me a Montreal Canadiens bento. Susan responded by googling the mighty but simple "CH" logo and found Youppi, the mascot of the Canadiens. And voila, folks, here is the impetus for today's bento-it's Youppi proudly sporting his Canadiens cap for all those to see. Thank you, Susan, and good luck to Le Club de Hockey Canadien who unfortunately loss the first game to the Bruins, 4-2.

SPAM Elephants and Garlic Shrimp Bento

2009-04-16T14:00:00.000-07:00

First of all, I just wanted to let those who inquired about my cookbook know that it has finally arrived! It has not yet been distributed so it may take a few days, I'll keep you posted.

This was Paige's bento from yesterday, which included SPAM elephant cutouts, garlic shrimp, a potsticker, and a few fruits and veggies. I used fish sausage for the elephants ears and for the flowers. Her bento was packed in (my favorite lunch set) the Zojirushi mini thermal lunch box which you can check out on Amazon. Also, since I had a few people ask me about the fish sausage, I posted a picture of it below.

The one that I buy comes in a pack of three (only one is pictured) and looks like long hotdogs. You peel of the outer casing and it looks like a very smooth pink sausage for a lack of a better description.

Gibson Flying V Bento for Mark

2009-04-15T11:30:00.000-07:00

Lately, my husband has been asking me to make him a "manly" bento. Because Mark is an electric guitar enthusiast, I decided to make him a bento which included one of the guitars that he owns. This particular guitar is his Gibson Custom Shop 67 Flying V with Maestro. When I showed Mark his bento, the first thing he said was "You do know that guitars have six strings, right?". So I replied "Of course I do, there just wasn't enough room for six strings." :) After that initial comment he said that he really liked it, and that it was "cool".

Bento for Me

2009-04-13T12:15:00.001-07:00

I've been bento blogging for about 7 months now and through it, I have met a lot of wonderful people from all over the world. There are so many different bento blogs out there which are full of fun pictures, ideas, and stories not only about children bentos but adult ones as well. It's a lot of fun to take a peek into someone else's life and learn about them, their family, and their culture. One blogger, named Javapot, recently put forth the "Who-R-U Bento contest/challenge". It's a contest for bento bloggers to get to know one another by coming up with a bento that best reflects you and tells a little bit about you.

My entry to the contest is a little cheese avatar of me dressed in a chef coat set against Diamond Head (which is obscured by my big head), our beautiful blue Hawaiian sky, an island palm tree, and some hibiscus which is Hawai`i's state flower. I dressed myself in a chef coat because, before having children, I used to work as a sous chef in two different restaurants and secondly, I love to cook and feed people. Fried chicken is my favorite food, so I thought it would be appropriate to have that in my bento too.

Don't forget to check out Javapot's blog!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T15:58:00.000-07:00

Paige and Avi had a lot of fun decorating their Easter eggs yesterday using traditional food coloring as well as this fancy egg decorating kit by Dudley's. The kit came with 5 reusable stamps, stamp pads, and an art brush. Paige even accidentally dyed three of her fingers blue when she forgot to use the spoon to dip her eggs. It was a pretty funny sight.

After dying all of the eggs we had an egg "fight" to see who's egg was the strongest. The girls were wondering why I took a candle and rubbed wax all over the egg, until they realized that the wax made my egg virtually indestructible. :) After that, they took it away from me!

Then today at church, we had an Easter egg hunt for all of the children. There were 700 eggs hidden and about 35 children who participated in the hunt. Sean was so happy to grab the eggs and put them in his bag. It was funny how he squealed with delight every time he spotted more eggs. They did a great job and found all of the eggs in no time!

Paige with her stash!

Sean got more than a little help filling his bag.

The children also sang Jesus, The Resurrection for the congregation during our church service. Our Pastor gave a great sermon about understanding Jesus and how you fully don't know and appreciate Him until you understand him in the context of his entire life and ministry- from the Old Testament prophecy to His resurrection. Everything that Jesus lived and died for was because God loved (and will always love) us all.

"For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." -John 3:16

Change is Good, Easter Bento #4

2009-04-09T11:28:00.000-07:00

Easter eggs according to Christian tradition (from my understanding) symbolize the resurrection of Christ as well as the rebirth of man through His resurrection. Just as the prophets of the Old Testament and Jesus himself foretold of God's great plan for the redemption of man, Jesus died on the cross and rose again three days later. It is because of God's plan of redemption and of Jesus' great love and sacrifice for us, that we are all now able to experience a great intimacy with God as His children.

A local church here had put a banner up saying "Easter Changes Everything". I thought- Wow, there is so much truth to that simple statement! Jesus' resurrection changed us by giving us freedom from sin, thereby allowing us to have a true relationship with God. It is through Jesus' unselfish act that we are now justified. Thanks to my dear friend Alli, I'm able to remember that the concept of "justification" means that God sees us "just as if we had no sin". However, being justified does not mean that we are perfect people or that we can do whatever we please, but that we should want to live a life that is pleasing and that glorifies God. Christian life is one of great joy in knowing that we are God's children and that no matter how much we may sometimes struggle with living in this world, He is always with us much like a parent who unconditionally loves, helps, guides, nurtures, and teaches a child.

Paige's lunch today includes musubis, tonkatsu (Japanese fried pork cutlet), kamaboko Easter eggs, and chicks cut out from cheese.

Easter Lilies and Hope, Easter Bento #3

2009-04-08T10:56:00.000-07:00

Easter Morn

Easter morn with lilies fair

Fills the church with perfumes rare,

As their clouds of incense rise,

Sweetest offerings to the skies.

Stately lilies pure and white

Flooding darkness with their light,

Bloom and sorrows drift away,

On this holy hallow'd day.

Easter Lilies bending low

In the golden afterglow,

Bear a message from the sod

To the heavenly towers of God.

-Louise Lewin Matthews

As a symbol of hope and purity, white lilies adorn Christian churches everywhere during Easter. Hope is key in the Christian faith and should not be confused with today's common definitions- to wish for something, or to desire or have expectations of it's fulfillment. John Piper, author of Desiring God, best defined it with his statement- "Christian hope is when God has promised that something is going to happen and you put your trust in that promise. Christian hope is a confidence that something will come to pass because God has promised it will come to pass.". Please read John Piper's article, it is a wonderful definition of Christian hope.

Paige's bento today consisted of tortellini with meat sauce, veggies, and bread. The lilies are made out of kamaboko (Japanese fish cake) and rests on cheese and the bunny is made of bologna and fish sausage. I forgot to mention in yesterdays post that I spray the insides of the thermal container (including the lid) with a non-stick pan spray (like PAM) to prevent the container from being stained by the tomato sauce. Works everytime!