Top from left:  Buttered corn, assortment of fish cake
Bottom from left:  Mini pears, chocolate flavoured mantou

Mini are good.  But mini is always expensive.  I am refering to both food and electronic gadget for example the palm size mobile phone, the netbook, pns camera, etc.  I am always feeling excited when I see mini food cos they are easier to pack into bento box.

You can tell that the pears are mini cos they are no where larger than the mantou.

Post dated bento consist of individually packed rice + chicken floss . Dishes is fried egg (using egg white for the face, cincau jelly for the eyes and whiskers *haha!*, egg yolk for the nose and carrot as the ribbon), blanched broccoli and cauliflower and pan fried salmon slices.

This is how I prepare the rice:

Filled onigiri mould with rice and make a well at the centre. Position chicken floss in the well before closing them with more rice. You can mix rice vinegar to your cooked rice or just leave them plain.

Place your rice ball on the centre of plastic wrap and wrap them up.

As for the pan fried salmon slices:

Cut salmon in slices. Marinate them with teriyaki sauce, dash of pepper, honey and dark soy sauce. Melt a little butter on non-stick pan and fried them. Make sure you do not overcook the salmon.

As for the Hello Kitty egg:

Separate egg white and yolk. Fried them separately. The rest is all cut out from the Hello Kitty cookie cutter.  I really respect those amateur bento blogger. How did they find time to do all those cutesy bento? I took near to 1 hour to prepare this bento. I think this is the first and last time I EVER use the cookie cutter for bento’ing. Really  so much work!

Schedule post* and you know what?  Internet line in Beijing is so much faster than Streamyx!!!!!

This is not a bento post but because I have accidentally watermarked them, saved and named under bento, they are too late/lazy for me to do further changes  now. 

Hello Kitty Fish cake.

Bought them in Takashimaya (Singapore) for S$6.90.  I was told Jusco has them too at about RM12.90.

They kids had them with vermicille noodle one day and reckon they are good.  Prince is not reluctant to ate them even though that pink kitty is for sissy.  I even packed udon with the fish cake some other day and he happyly ate them in the school canteen.  I’m ok if he refused to eat them.  He don’t know what he is missing. kekeke.

Ever since school reopen early of this year, kiddos have been bringing bento to school for their lunch. Prince is the one that set such a routine that Friday is canteen day and I gladly obliged as I get a day rest from all the nerve wreaking too. They used to buy “yee meen” or “cheng tong meen” every friday till one day, the word ‘nuggets’ came to existance.

Left to right: Fried rice (left over), chicken nugget with ketchup on the side, celery & carrot stix with kewpie mayo on the side and dragon fruits.

Well, here is my Motto – “Never Buy Food That Mummy Can Prepare”. Moreover, RM1.00 for 2 pieces of nuggets is a bit over priced. Next day, the kiasu and kiamsiap Mummy went and bought chicken nugget to be included in their bento (since they like it so much).

And you know what I hate the most? That darn smelly and oily kitchen at 6am! Grrr….

My kids love to compliment their rice or porridge with chicken floss.  It is even a bigger hit with Baby Princess who is a very picky eater.  She doesn’t mind eating white rice and chicken floss everyday.  Even when we are out of chicken floss, she doesn’t mind white rice.  Sometimes, I nicknamed her ‘White Rice Baby’.  To me, as long as she is willing to eat, I’m fine with just anything cos she only drinks milk and refuses solid when she turned one.  I know, that is very weird.  She started eating solid willingly when she joins the daycare at the age of 2 yrs 9mths.

To make the onigiri, I opt out the rice vinegar.

I preferred to use a onigiri mould.  Make a well at the centre of the mould.

Placed chicken floss on the centre.  Cover them with rice again before pressing the mould together.  Turn them out and you get a triangle shape.  You can use your hand to shape the rice but it is messy work plus you get odd sizes which I don’t like.   Not forgetting, hot too.

For the older kids, they have homemade sui mai.

Method:  Season minced meat & prawn meat with soya sauce, pepper, sesame oil and corn flour.  Wrap them in wanton skin.  Snip away remining wanton skin. Optional, garnish with some crabsticks.  I put them in moulds again so that I get even sizes.  LOL.  I am quite particular about sizes.  Oil your plate before steaming so that the wanton won’t stick to the plate.  Steam them for 5 mins or till done.

I have different types of eater at home.  This is Prince’s Bento as the Eldest Princess doesn’t like green.  I do give her optional like cherry tomatoes (Prince hate it) or carrot sticks (Prince hate it too).

Place a sheet of baran in between the onigiri so that they won’t stick to eath other.

The more I look at Hubby’s bento, the more I want to snigger at it.  I cooked a whole bunch of the Bunashimeji mushroom with Hong Kong Kailan.  When come to presentation, just a few strand of the mushroom is needed and yours truly wacked the remaining whole lot of it cos I don’t need presentation!  Fyi, I am a Mushroom Mania!

I marinate my own Turmeric chicken aka satay.  The ingredients:  I used deboned chicken drumsticks as I hate breast meat.  Marinate them overnight with a little sprinkle of sugar, salt, honey, pepper and turmeric powder.  Grill them on high for 20mins or till done.

Usually I will braised the leftover roast duck with salted vegetable.  But this time, I have them cut into cubes and add them to the pasta salad with cheese dressing.

I just throw in what ever I have – weiners, lettuce, carrot, wheel pasta, tomatoes and cheese dressing.

Another version for the kid’s bento as the left over duck is not enough to go round.  What you see is the Prince bento as the Princess dislike broccoli.

What is it like coming back to work after the week long break?  GOOD!  I’ve never felt so rejuvenated!

Left to right: Hershey’s Orange Marshmallow, mini mandarin oranges and mini pear. Bread with cream cheese spread and lots and lots of Mama Carries!

Another 5 more sleep to CNY (Chinese New Year). Can you feel it? Can you! Can you?

Surprisingly I haven’t eat any mandarin orange at all this year. For a little CNY theme, I simply bought a packet of mini mandarin oranges from the night market and sometimes I wonder why all fruits from China decided to shrunk. If you do not know what I meant, look at that green pear. Weird isn’t it? For someone who can/know/good in baking cookies, the only cookie I bought for CNY from a church friend of ours called Mama Carrie. They are very delicious and is a hit among the little one at home.

This year I am so smart to indulge CNY goodies two week before CNY. That way, I do not have to stuff myself silly on CNY. I am all soaked in CNY mood now. Have you! Have you?

Bento dated sometime end of 2008.

We was one of the few regulars to Dragon-I. Sometime end of last year, Dragon-I came out with new menus and additional over 30 new dishes. One of them is this Oink-oink pau.

They are quite pricey at about RM6.00 odd for a pair of Piggy pau. Baby Princess ate one piggy pau and I reserved the other one for next day bento. Note the missing ear? Baby Princess wants to eat both the piggy pau but I won’t let her. She decided to steal one side of the ear under my nose. I was so mad I kept on nagging at her. My 8y/o then suggested that I cut out a small piece of marshmallow to replace the ear. Very funny. Not!

Bento #67

At the same day, I copy another dish from Dragon-I’s menu for Daddy’s bento. But of course this is my version la.

Carrot sticks and yellow zucchini rolled up with Breakfast ham.

Since Carlgene wants just bread + butter + sugar, I woke up 30minutes later than usual.  But the big Sista wants Tuna sandwich and Baby Princess wants fairy bread. Gosh!  So many request.

This is the Big Sista’s bento.  The only food differences in my 3 children’s bento is the bread.  They all had pretzel and a bottle of Vitagen.  Since I do not have a baran long enough to act as a divider between the sandwich and Vitagen,  I had the sandwich wrapped in wax paper instead.  Anyway, they are just plain tuna sandwich cos the Big Sista doesn’t like vege or even cucumber in it.  She is so picky that I gave up on her!

The kancheong (heart throbbing) part would be in the evening when the children return from school.  And my first question would be, “Carlgene, did you finish your Bento?”

“YES!”

Yay!

I am a little phobia now and would check with him everyday if he wants a bento or buying food from canteen. And for Day 3 back to school, he wants to buy food.  Aiyah, I am so sad to hear that 🙁 .  The Big Sista still prefer a bento.  So this morning, I shoved a packet of Rocky for the two of them.  I can’t wait to find out this evening if the Prince finish the packet of Rocky AND still buy noodle from the school canteen. kekekeke… fyi, he has a very good appetite.