Bento #286 - Children's Day Bento

Tomorrow is a school holiday as it is Children's Day, so I'm making a Children's Day Bento in advance for Kimi today.

In Japan, the carp kite/windsocks or Koinobori is synonymous with their boys'/girls' day. So I'm combining the 2 and giving a Taiyaki for school. It is filled with fresh blueberries and choc pearls. Added Prawn Paste chicken wings which is also Kimi's current favourite. And of course our usual stash of broccoli and corn. I heard there's going to be ice-cream, pop corn and cotton candy at school today. Wow, Kimi is going to be very happy!

 

I felt so guilty cos I had promised Kimi that I will buy some so he can hang it at our planter but I had totally forgotten about it.  Love these colourful fishes floating in the air! Ahhhh, aren't they just lovely?

 

Since this is the last bento post for the week, Happy Children's Day and Blessed Weekend everyone!!

Bento #285 - Simply Mooncake

Not making charaben today because Kimi wanted the Green Tea Baked Mooncake I made - happy! So, this is a another simple and speedy bento which I used picks to pretty up.

In the box, there are seaweed chicken which Kimi now loves, broccoli, corn and more corn and blueberries.

Bento #284 - Black & White Kitties

Continuing on my pair/couple theme, I made these 2 cute kitties after seeing them online.  Someone made these kitty cookies, aren't they adorable? The cookies were much cuter, of course!  I'm sure you have seen the B&W Piggies? This is the kitty version, lol!

Kitties are made of cheese and nori and sit on a bed or rice, accompanied with Teriyaki Salmon, corn, broccoli, golden kiwi and blueberries. :)

No bento yesterday cos we skipped school. Oops, mummy is a bad influence on Kimi. :( Guess more school skipping as I start preparing for our upcoming trip. Yay, holidays at last!!! Break time!!

Bento #283 - Star Wars Sammies

Ok, Yoda and Darth arent exactly buddies or couple but I only had 5-10 mins to throw a bento together and this was the fastest way to close the lid on a prepared box! lol!  But, if you think about it, before Anakin became Vader, he'd most probably was chummies with Yoda? :)

I had a good time this morning cos I went for a coffee chat cum breakfast with Kimi's teacher, Kettrin. Guess we gossipped, er, I meant fellowshipped a bit too much that I almost missed the time!  Actually, I was really running late. It was such a enjoyable morning and it's the first time I had such a leisurely break in the morning.  Thanks to hb for taking care of Kimi and tks Kett, we must 'la-kopi' again soon!

In the box is quick pressed Nutella sammies with carrot bread, seaweed chix, corn and broccoli!  Really, I am lousy with bread, many mummies I know have such great sandwich pressing skills!  Must pratise more!! :)

Can you see the Lego on top right? Kimi built that and called it his "zoomer".  Nice!!

Thank God it's Friday! Yay, next week is a short week!

Bento #282 - Onigiri Couple

After I posted yesterday's bento, I realised and remembered I had wantesd to do a buddy/couple/pair theme this week!

I've always loved the simple cute triangular onigiri so I made this cute couple that has Mayo Corn centres.  Arghhh, I don know why the red decor gel smudged cos the rice was not hot/warm.  They looked so messy. :(
 
Other goodies in the box are Chicken Yakitoi, broccoli, corn, grapes and a Hanuta Choc Wafer. :)

Bento #281 - Piggy Buddies

I've been rather busy so there are 2 weeks of bento posts to upload! Yikes, gasp, yes!!

The bad thing is I can't remember the inspiration behind the bentos after all this time :(  For this bento, I only remembered Kimi wanted fish floss sushi but why the piggy buddies, er..  I totally cant remember!! lol!

So, ok, it's sushi with our usual stash of broccoli, corn, blueberries and Hanuta choc wafer. :)
 

Bento #280 - Star Wars

A lazy and fast bento. I used the star wars cutter to make Yoda's face with bread, mist it green and stuff more picks on the bento.

We had Pork Katsu Japanese Curry Rice last night for dinner, so I kept some cutlet for today's lunch but made sweet & sour sauce for Kimi instead.  He wanted Jap Curry again! Gosh, Kimi never seems to tire of Jap curry huh? lol!


Besides the pork cutlet with sweet & sour sauce, there are garlic asparagus, corn, blueberries and golden kiwi.

Bento #279 - Curious George

My initial plan of another character was thwarted cos I had to attend to something :( By the time it was settled, it was too late so I did a quick one and grabbed a cuppie topper and stuff it in the sammie.

Kimi requested for Nutella sandwich but I realised I had ran out so I replaced with Peanut Butter instead. Added broccoli, corn, jelly, cubed cheese, cranberries and golden kiwi.

Definitely, I must make that character I had planned.. Maybe next week? Phew, it's been a busy week and thank God its the weekends, I need a break and rest, BADLY!

Blessed Happy Weekends everyone!!

Bento #278 - Totoro

Ahh! Who doesn't like Totoro & friends? They are such a cute bunch! This is my 2nd time making Totoro and I'm loving it, will make again with bun which I saw at some blogs, :)

Totoro is made with 2 kinds of rice, white and rice tossed in black sesame powder.  They are hand-moulded.  I did not make the black part too dark as I don want the rice to be too bitter.

 

 

 

It's Kimi's favourite lunch combo today - breaded prawns with Japanese curry.  Japanese curry is mine and Hb's fave too, it mus run in the family? lol!  Added broccoli, corn and grapes. The Jap curry is inside the Thermos holder so it will be nice and warm when Kimi has his lunch later. :)

Bento #277 - Sirotan

I'm still on the character theme this week for Kimi's lunch bento.  Sirotan is a really cute seal character and I really did not do justice to him!  Little Sirotans are made of quail' eggs and I am so upset the gel literally melted and slided off, making a mess!

Been busy of late so I've been slack in posting. This was Wed's lunch.  Hmm, I'm kind of enjoying this theme thingey. :)

Defininitely not too happy with today's bento cos I think I did not depict the cute Sirotan as cute as he orginally is. I will try again soon.

Today's lunch is Butter Sugar with carrot bread, broccoli, corn, grapes and breaded fish. :)
 

 

Sigh, so upset the gel, melted and made a mess of Sirotan's face!

Bento #276 - Afro-Ken

 

Another doggy bento today, not intentional, just coincidence. :)

Afro-Ken is my personal fave and I collected quite a few when they were 'in'. Have since given away to my nieces. This chap is so cute and cool! His hair can be changed and he has many different wigs to the likes of Elvis Presley's curry puff, Marilyn Monroe's sexy bob and what not. He's so funny! I love this bugger and still do.  The plush also comes w removeable wigs to change around, how cute right???

Afro ken is made of 2 kinds of cheese and I used Wilton colour mist to get the rainbow effect.  Lunch is rice with meatballs in sweet sauce, broccoli, corn, grapes and jelly.

 

This is a yummy meatballs with rice recipe, almost like sweet, sticky sauce that is widely found in Japanese restaurant on their hamburg steak with a slight variance.  The hamburg steak has a stronger BBQ sauce flavouring while I did not use any in this recipe.  You can find the recipe here, in the Great Eastern LIVE GREAT Blog which I had contributed some time back.  Do check it out cos it's easy to make and meatballs freezes well.

 

Found some of his wigs online, there are MORE!!!

 

Bento #271 - Playful Pandas

Yaaaaawnnn! Argghh, it's the start of a new school term again. Where did the 1 week go??  We have not had enough fun or rest and it's back to school.

 

The 2 cute Pandas, Kai Kai & Jia Jia have landed safely in Singapore last week and we can't wait to see them.  Hb helped out in his company's function as he donned the Kai Kai costume.  How cute!!!

For the fun, I made a pair of Pandas today for Kimi's lunch.  He was so happy!

 

The fluffy and chubby Playful Pandas are rice onigiri and they are amongst asparagus disguised as bamboos, Salmon Teriyaki, golden kiwi, grapes, more corn and extra teriyaki sauce.

This short 1 week school hols I did not do much with Kimi but we did had lots of fun the last 2 days.  Arrgghh... I wished school hols starts now till next year! :(

Teacher's Day Sept 2012

The first week of September is Teacher's Day here in Singapore.  It's a time where we, or rather students show their appreciation for their teachers.  This year, we decided to bake a muffin, pack it in a mug, add a tea bag and a pocket hand sanitiser so that Kimi's teacher can take a break, sip a hot tea while enjoying the muffin that Kimi baked.  After that, they can clean their hands with the sanitiser too! lol!

We baked 3 batches of these muffins as it was given out in different batches to different teachers at different places.  First batch was at church, followed by Kimi's piano and maths teachers and followed by Kindy teachers.  The last batch was baked early this morning as Kimi was too tired after his field trip to Sentosa's Butterfly Kingdom yesterday.  He did a good job in all 3 baking sessions :)



What's inside? Muffin, serviette, tea bag (oops!! I had forgotten to add in the teabags!!), sanitisers and tags

The flower tag - Kimi says, "Take a break, have a tea & cake, which I have baked.  Just add hot water & enjoy"

 

These are for church teachers as per Kimi's request.  I replaced the Rose Hip & Hibiscus tea with White Coffee for 1 for the teachers.  He is more a coffee person, really! lol!



For Church teachers - all wrapped and ready to go!

For Kindy teachers - all ready!

Bento #270 - Clone Troopers

Ahhh...! Finally, it's the last day of school and we can have a break and some fun.  I've yet to think up the plan for next week.  Let's see what Kimi wants to do.  These days he has a mind of his own and will tell me his plan and what he wants to do or go. :)

A busy start today as Kimi was too tired after his field trip yesterday to bake cuppies for his teachers so we did it this morning.  This is a fuss-free and fast & easy recipe.  U only need a fork, a measuring cup and a bowl.  I will share recipe later.  I've shared this previously in my contributing corner at the Greast Eastern Live Great Blog.  Do check it out, it has many healthy recipes and health tips - very informative indeed!

Of course with these out of the oven, Kimi wanted them for his lunchbox too. We made 2 flavours - for his teachers, we made Lavender choc chip and cranberry and an alternative choice for Kimi is choc chip with fresh Blueberry. He had 1 each for school.  Added our usual stash of broccoli and corn, mini taiwan sausages that hb bought during his last trip and golden kiwi.

I took the easy way out and press on cupcake rings. Kimi was thrilled. I got to scream again - Yay!!last day of school today!

 

 

Easy 1 Bowl Muffins Recipe (makes 10 small muffins)

 

What do you need?

• 125g self raising flour
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 90g caster sugar
• 125ml milk
• 70g oil or melted butter
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• Toppings or fillings - Chocolate chips, fresh blueberries, dried cranberries, shredded carrot, cubed cheese and chocolate rice etc

How do you do it?

1. Pre-heat oven to 200 degree celsius
2. Sift flour and salt together and mix with sugar
3. Beat egg, milk, oil and vanilla essence till smooth well mixed
4. Pour into dry ingredients and mix till just combined
5. Spoon batter into muffin cup till about 1/3 full
6. Add in fillings of your choice
7. Top up batter till 3/4 full
8. If you wish, you may add sprinkles or leave top plain
9. Bake in oven for about 15mins, longer if larger cups or lesser if smaller cups

Tips

• I find adding choc chips to the flour to coat before adding the wet ingredients better as the chips will not sink to the bottom of the cups.  But if you want different flavours in 1 baking batch then you will have to use the 1/3 batter, filling and top up method.

Bento #269 - Ladybugs

It's ladybugs again! Our all time fave! When I looked at this pix after downloading them from my cam, a story came to my mind. It seemed like the smaller bug behind is laughing at the bigger bug for thinking that the leaves infront are real! Lol!

2 cute, silly bugs - we love ladybugs, do you?

Ok, just another slap-stick story I had conjured..Lunch today is bread onigiri filled with mayo salmon and corn, crispy meatballs, broccoli, corn, golden kiwi, grapes and marshmellow.

 

Ooh, almost half the week has gone by before the school hols beckon!  Kimi really enjoyed this crispy meatballs.  I've included the recipe below.

 

 

Crispy Meatballs

 

What do you need?

- 200g Minced meat (chix, pork or whatever you prefer)

- 2 tsp corn flour

- 1/2 tsp minced garlic

- Dash of sea salt & pepper

- 1/2 tsp fish sauce

- 1 tsp mirin

- Cheese (optional)

- 1 egg, beaten

- Some flour and bread or cracker crumbs

 

How to do it?

- Wash and rinse mince in sieve and squeeze out excess water.

- Marinate with corn flour, minced garlic, salt, pepper, fish sauce and mirin for at least 30mins.

- Wet hands, take about 2 tsp of meat, roll into balls.

- If you like cheese, flatten meat on palm, add some cheddar or mozarella in the centre and close up meat cavity and roll into a ball.

- Dust with flour, dredge in egg wash and roll on crumbs.

- Fry on medium low fire till golden brown.

- Serve with ketchup mixed with a little Lea & Perrins Sauce.  If your ketchup is too sour, you can add a little honey and mix well.  Or if you like more spice, you can sprinkle some grounded Paprika once it is out from the pan.

 

 

Bento #268 - Happy Hedgehogs

I've always loved hedgehogs especially those cute softies and now, so does Kimi. We think they are uber cute, even the real ones!  I remembered my sis's ex place had a family of them in her back garden. :) I've made hedgehogs before so here's another.

Lunch for my little one today is Chicken Miso Soup with Ume Soba which Kimi enjoys. Little hedgehogs are made from quail's eggs. I threw in some ketchup to help him eat.  Also packed in 2 mini bananas and apple juice to complete his meal.

 

Counting down to end of the week! Can't wait for sch hols to start. Am I the only mom who loves holidays? Frankly, 1 week is way too short.  Thought of starting the sch hols week earlier.  Somehow I wished I can homeschool Kimi instead and we can have fun everyday and not just academics.  Really, can the children of Singapore get back their childhood? Hope the PM's speech at last night's National Day Rally will be carried out. :)



Bento #267 - Softies Line

Thank God it's Friday!! I'm hanging out the softies on the line to end my 'line series' today! It has been fun making these line bentos, I may attempt again. :)

I woke up late this morning so the softies are rather roughly cut and not as 3D and more detailed as I would like them to be.  Argghh... I forgot to add on the paw prints for my doggy! 

Lunch today for Kimi is prata with breaded scallop, corn, broccoli, grapes and blueberries.

At a closer look ... :)

 Blessed weekend friends!

Bento #266 - Photo Line

Kimi is having his yearly photo-taking session at school today and he has chosen something really smart to wear. :)

And as for me, I'm jumping on the opportunity to do another line - photo-line! Polaroids are made of cheese and nori and reminds Kimi to smile today. Hope the photographer will be as sweet as the girl I've made.

S M I L E !!!

Today's lunch is banana & walnut bread with butter sugar, corn, broccoli, fish fingers, golden kiwi and grapes.

Kimi said they called him Big Boss or Businessman in school today, lol! Hence the smug look!

The trying to be 'serious' Kimi



The Real Kimi - Cheeky and playful!

 

Bento #265 - Laundry Line

Today's bento is more of my personal fantasy more than Kimi's likes! Lol!  Made something simple - a laundy line.  Yup! And little boy asked me why.  I told him just for fun. :)

But actually, I love looking at laundry lines, especially when the clothes bellow in the wind, releasing the sweet, fresh smell of sun and detergent. I guess it's childhood memories? I especially love those country laundry lines and how nice it is to run through fresh clothes and roll on the soft, green grass!  I also love beach country homes and the white laundry that bellows softly while I stare at the endless sea, relaxing in a hammock.  Ahhh... what a life!

Upclose of my laundry line - made of cheese, salami, nori and spagetti

Ok, back to reality.  Today's lunch is rice layered with fish floss and seaweed, chicken teriyaki bites, broccoli, corn, grapes and marshmellow for treat.

I'm still dreamy again! lol! I think I need a holiday badly!

Bento #264 - Mee Goreng

Been rather busy of late and hadven't been making cutesy bentos. Kimi requested for mee goreng for lunch today so here's another non-cutesy bento. I did not think or plan anything over the weekend. But I'm happy and blessed that the little one is ok with non-cutesy bentos. :)

Fruits for today are melon cubes and blueberries and cold apple juice for a refreshing lunch.

Bento #263 - Singapore National Day Bento

Happy 47th Birthday Singapore!

Today there is an early celebration in Kimi's Kindy and he is very excited!. The kids will be dressed in the distinct Red & White and are going on a walk at the Park Connectors and thereafter, playing some outdoor games there.

The kindy will be serving donut and Kimi had wanted to eat in school but I reminded him that he may be limited by the number of pieces, so he suggested a small snack bento.

Can you tell the little boy waving the flag is Kimi? Hee hee! It is made from corn bread balls and stuffed with fish floss. Chicken satay, corn, broccoli, blueberries and green tea gummy.

Hope Kimi has lots of fun in school today! Yay! long weekend ahead!

Bento # 262 - Peeping Gophers

I've done something similar before but this time I am using mashed sweet potatoes instead of sausages. I find these real gophers really cute. I think I need to think up of more peepers like these, they are great peepers for hot lunches.

Simple fried rice today for Kimi with mashed sweet potatoes, golden kiwi, apple, peach and blueberries.

Sigh, in the end it all came back as there was a birthday celebration in school and the child's parents informed the school too late and teacher couldn't inform me on time. :(

Bento #261 - Mr Lion

Inspired by fellow FB mummy, Jasmine, I decided to make this simple bento for today. I first chance upon this cutie during my last trip to Japan last year. It's a mascot for a donut shop.  But mine don't really look like the original so I'm just calling it Mr Lion instead of Mr Donut! lol!

I cant believe how tired I was after the weekend demo. It was nice interacting with the people and I wished I could share more. :) Anyway, I was so so tired that hb had to help me wash up some of my food containers!

A simple fish floss sammie with mashed sweet potato balls, broccoli, breaded fish and blueberries.

Bento #260 - Alligators!

Yikes mum, I've got gators in my lunch!!! Hope the gators won't give Kimi's teacher a shock as she opens the cover today! lol! Gators are made from mini sausage and bread for teeth and eyes.

Today's lunch is fusili pasta in basil and pine nuts pesto with salmon, asparagus, corn and carrots. Fruits to complete the meal are the juicy melon cubes, blueberries and plum. Lots of water for Kimi today. :)

Woo, tomorrow is my big day, pray for me everyone! Blessed Weekend peeps!

Bento #259 - Porridge Day

I had planned to make fried rice for Kimi today but he woke with a runny nose.. Think he may have caught a cold while swimming yesterday. :(

So I changed it to porridge instead. Added lots of sweet and juicy rock melon cubes and blueberries.

For enrichment at school, I cut up some butter and sugar sammies for him. Think he will enjoy today's lunch and snack very much - all his fave foods! :)

Bento #258 - Happy Doggy

I first saw this doggy bento on a Japanese bento site and I fell in love with this cute fella.  I also loved all her works!  But as I made this bento today, I thought of my friend, Delci's doggy, Pika.  It was as white and as happy as he is.

Today's lunch is hand moulded doggy onigiri with fish floss filling with chicken yakitori, corm and stir-fry aspragus with shredded carrot. Fruits for Kimi are golden kiwi, dark plum and blueberries. These fruits are so sweet, juicy and yummy!

Lunch is served, have you had yours? :)

Bento #257 - Happy Seals, 31/7/12, Tue

Today's cute seals are inspired by Ming @ Bentomonsters. Tks Ming for sharing your tutorial. :)

Seals sit happily atop ume somen and tossed in Mentaiko dressing. Added cheesy pork cutlets, broccoli and corn. Fruits are apple slices and nectarine. Hb bought alot of fruits back from France and this nectarine is so sweet and juicy. I really do no justice to fruits, I just cant cut them nicely like some other mummies do.

Yipee, Kimi ate both quail's eggs.. He said he dipped it in ketchup which I gave him in a small container.  Finally, there is progress re quail's eggs.  Next = tomatoes!

Bento #256 - Mashimaro, 27/7/12, Fri

Mashimaro to end the bunny theme for this week :) Mil bought some toothbrushes with this cute bunny on it and Kimi liked it. It was also this little fella that gave me the inspiration to be a bunny themed week this week. :)  But his ears broke off while I was lifting it off aft cutting.  I'm not too happy with today's character, find that it is cut too roughly. :(

Another one of Kimi's current fave food - roti prata.  Gave him sugar and Jap curry for dipping.  Also added breaded prawns, broccoli and corn. Today for fruits, he's having blueberries and strawberries.

Thank God its Friday! Blessed weekend eveyone! :)

Bento #255 - Love Letter Bunny. 26/7/12, Thu

Sending all my love to Kimi at school today :) Here's another bunny themed bento for Kimi's lunch today.

Rice onigiri bunny with corn kernels filling, broccoli, bb corn rolled with ham and pan-fried and sweet, sticky wings.  This is such an easy and yummy recipe that kids love.  The wings are also very tender.  Do check out my contribution at GE's wellness blog here for recipe. Fruits for today are golden kiwi, strawberry and blueberries.  Weekend is just round the corner, Hallelujah!