Bento (158) - Steak and Noodles for Kidlet

Goose actually asks me for bentos every once in a while. I guess all the pain and suffering I went through while he was in Kindergarten paid off ^.^

This was a quick and easy kidlet bento. For the left, I cut several slices of steak and "fanned" them out for display. The white is plain soba noodles, and the piggy is filled with sweet soy broth (for both steak and noodles). Upper right is golden kiwi and grapes. Lower right is cherry tomatoes and pickled garlic (he picked out the garlic and left the tomatoes :P)

Bento (157) - Egg Foo Yong - Why yes, I do make this a lot!

What can I say? It's fast, it's easy, and it's tasty - which is why I make Egg Foo Yong a lot. I ran out of time to decorate the left side :( :( :( (silly work)- which is essentially a mixture of egg, imitation crab, peas, green onions, and nommy nommy sauce over rice. The right side is fruit salad (courtesy of Sams club) and peas - separated by a barrier of lettuce. I scattered carrot flowers over the top, and added a mini-food cup with umeboshi and rabbit pick.

Bento (156) - Sad Panda . . . er . . . Happy Panda

This is more panko-encrusted chicken with stir fry vegetables - but I wanted to point out the cute little butterfly I made with one of my new cookie cutters! Squee!

Top left is blueberries topped with cheese cut outs. The flower in the lower right is an umeboshi with a pea sliced in half to make the "leaves."

Bento (155) - Lion Safari

Hello! My apologies for the long delay in um . . . . healthy lunches. Rumors of my fleeing the internet have been greatly exaggerated! I haven't made many bentos lately - and sadly, for whatever reason, I forgot to post the ones I did make. So I have a little catching up to do - and then hopefully it's back to my healthy habits. ::fingers crossed:: The New Year is a good time for that, right?

Top layer is sweet potato/apple salad and tomato/pickled garlic salad. Bottom level is panko-encrusted chicken, rice, and umeboshi.

And a kawaii lion pick! That was mean of me to get all my new toys and not show them off, wasn't it? :P

Bent (154) - Egg Foo Yong and Panda

My long awaited supplies have arrived from J-Box ::squeeeeeeeeee:: and should be making appearances shortly. Today, I packed my new black neko (cat) box (the kitty face is actually a freezable cold pack . . . how adorable is that?!) with egg foo yong (a mixture of egg, soy, sugar, onions, fishcake, peas, and carrots) over rice - and I packed the top with potato salad (left), fruit salad (right), a broccoli divider (if you can't identify the broccoli, I can't help you) with two grapes and an umeboshi (pickled plum) up front.

And a kawaii (cute) panda. Don't forget the panda!!! :P :P :P I also topped the two salads with cheese stars from one of my new cheese punches. Hooray!

Join me in the madness as I contemplate the cuteness! MU HA HA.

Did I mention I can make fried eggs that look like little bears now? ::squeeeeeeeeeee:: (with the yellow bear mold to the far right . . . yes, yes . . . that is for fried eggs . . . or pancakes ^.^).

Bento (153) - Checkered Apple

I forgot to mention . . . while making apple flowers, I decided to give myself a little reminder about knife safety. Hahahahahaha . . ha . . . ha. . . . . The good news is: it could have been worse (much worse!). However, I feel obligated to throw out the following safety tip - ALWAYS work with a sharp knife, because if your knife is dull, you tend to apply pressure, and it is far more likely the knife will slip. Of course, I didn't cut myself doing the detail work on the apple flower . . . no . . . I cut myself cutting the apple in half. ::sigh:: It's no more than a papercut - I'm just highly annoyed at myself and grateful it wasn't worse. Thank you thank you thank you to whatever guardian spirit was watching out for my poor little fingertip.

Onwards and downwards! Today's bento was more leftover PF Chang's orange chicken, rice, umeboshi (pickled plum), the utterly nommy tomato/pickled garlic salad (a new favorite!!), and a checkered apple.

Bento (152) - Apple Flower

In trying to get inspired to bento again, I decided to play with apples this week. This lovely apple flower had to be collapsed down for storage, but I was able to spread the leaves before I ate it! Om nom nom!

For the observant - pictures with a white background are taken at work (my cubicle desk is white). Top level is grapes, apple flower, and carrot cutout with tomato/pickled garlic salad. I bought the pickled garlic at the Renaissance Festival - and it is amazingly delicious!! Bottom level is PF Chang's frozen orange chicken, rice and umeboshi (pickled plum).