i made this bento on thursday but forgot to post it. i promised a friend i was going to pack him a bento so i did. a little simple, but i didn't have that much time in the morning to make it but he still enjoyed it ^_^

- ham and cheese sandwich
- cheese triangle and ham star on top
- bunny shaped boiled egg
- sliced cucumbers

it's been a while since i made a bento, the last one i made was end of august. school started for me but i just didn't have much of an opportunity to make a bento. i did make one last week but it wasn't pretty enough to take a pic of so i didn't lols. anyways, for sure now i'll be making a bento for myself every wed and here's today's ^_^

- eel on rice
- tamagoyaki in heart shapes
- edamame on picks

i really wanted to do the bento challenge this week so i was going to make this for my lunch for work but then we didn't have any leftover rice for my mom so i gave her my lunch : ) i usually get food at work anyways so i didn't mind at all.

- totoro onigiri (body - rice and shredded pork and seaweed wrapped in nori/ears - rice wrapped in nori
- cheese/nori eyes and tummy
- quail eggs of totoro's white little friends with cheese/nori eyes
- grape tomatoes and grape tomato-cheese skewers
- i'm not sure what these are called, it's from the sea lols
- sliced cucumbers to fill gaps

hehe was lazy the past 2 days so i didn't get up to make lunch for my mom. since we didn't have any leftovers ('cause that's what she usually brings for lunch the next day) from dinner last night, i told her i'll make her lunch today.

bento #24..
- scrambled egg, turkey ham, cheese and lettuce in a bun
- sausage, lettuce, ketchup+onion bits, moon cheese cut-outs in a bun
- grape tomato+cheese skewers
- sliced cucumbers

i decided to make japanese-style hamburger for my mom and sis =D


bento #22 (for sis):
- 2 hamburgers, one round and one bear shape topped with ketchup-worcestershire sauce on bed of rice
- heart egg
- potato salad with corn, carrots and cucumber bits
- vanilla pudding
- cucumber flowers


bento #23 (for mom):
- same as sis but without vanilla pudding, a flower egg instead of heart egg

thought i'd do something different for my 20th bento and since im also packing lunch for my mom, that makes me on my 21st bento ^_^. i included a sketch this time, let's compare it!


this is a sketch i made last night..


..this is the final product. there are of course changes, but the crab looks the same!
bento #20>> mommy crab (for sister, she's a growing young lady!):
- omelette wrapped around ketchup fried rice (sausage bits and peas)
- ketchup smile (looks like a nervous smile, i was working with a giant bottle of ketchup so yea..haha)
- cucumber slices eyeballs, cut-out nori for eyes
- carrot claws, carrot legs
- grape tomatoes to fill in gaps


bento #21: baby crab (for mommie, she doesn't eat a lot of rice):
- same as mommy crab but smaller version; the ketchup smile is nicer for some reasons lols but the egg crepe broke when i made it so it doesn't wrap as nicely as mommy crab >"<

additional..
- box of grapes (for mom and sis)
- yogurt (for mommie)

this looks very similar to the sandwich i made the other day for my sister, but this one is for my mommie. my sister apparently isn't going to volunteer today so i only made lunch for my mom.

my mom and i have been seeing this "black sesame butter" out for some time now, and finally got it yesterday to try. its basically a spread for bread and stuff, and we thought it would be good. ^_^


close-up..
- ham, egg and cheese club sandwich on white bread
- black sesame butter mini sandwich
- sliced cucumbers
- grape tomatoes

hehe im always on a lookout for bento stuff and i decided to go back to oriental centre to see what else i can get. i saw these the first time i was there, but decided to get the bunny and bear egg molds to play around first, now i want the other 2, which is the fish and the car one. after looking at a demonstration of how a tamagoyaki mold works, i decided to get one too since i saw it there. i got the flower one, and maybe later on, i'll end up getting the heart-shaped one too ^__^

so i decided to make sushi and kimbab last night for today's lunch and decided to pack lunch for my mom too (she's been complaining why my sister gets lovely bentos and she doesn't lols).


bento #17 (sis' bento):
- assorted sushi and kimbab (egg, carrots, yellow radish, crab meat, marinated beef cut from beef ribs, spinach, sesame seeds, roe)
- green tea daifuku with red bean paste filling
- strawberry container of soya sauce


bento #18 (mom's bento):
- assorted sushi and kimbab (egg, carrots, yellow radish, crab meat, marinated beef cut from beef ribs, spinach, sesame seeds, roe)
- green tea daifuku with red bean paste filling
- cucumber container of soya sauce
- yellow clickity-click container of wasabi (she loves it lols)

today i decided to make some daifuku for the very first time. i wanted to buy some food colouring, but decided not to b/c i had a better idea! instead, i added a teaspoon of green tea powder to the mochi and made a green tea daifuku with red bean paste filling. i know those go good together and i still have a delicious memory of having soft green tea ice cream with red beans in japan. mmm =9!

btw, my sister loves this! so does everyone else : )

i didn't know what i was going to pack for my sister today until last minute before i went to bed last night. i normally like to sketch out how i would like to arrange it in the bento box, but this time, i didn't bother, i was just going to work with whichever box i choose to use and it turned out pretty good i think =P


close-up..
- ham, egg and cheese club sandwich (black sesame bread)
- chicken nuggets with container of ketchup
- grape tomatoes, skewered tomato-gouda cheese

additional..
- plum
- lemon tea

today's lunch was a quickie and i was done before my sister came down for breakfast =P

left-middle: mixed mini sandwiches (cheese/cucumber+ham/egg salad)
top right: animal crackers
bottom right: vanilla pudding

today's bento for my sister..


top tier: instant noodles with seasoning and sesame oil topped with egg, cucumber and nori strips


bottom tier:
left - cheddar cheese
middle - salt crackers
right - potato cheese balls

additional..
box of green grapes (not in pics)

i woke up a little later but luckily, i only decided on a simple bento today for my sister.

top left - bunny shaped boiled egg
bottom left - sliced korean cucumbers (which are smaller and thinner in overall size)
right - smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel
centre of bagel - more sliced cucumbers

additional..
box of green grapes

finally back to some bento-ing..because my sister is doing a volunteer work at a church so i will be packing her lunch for 2 weeks : )


top view of her bentoo


closer view of her bento..
left - potato cheese balls
top - tamagoyaki with nori
right - cooked zucchinis with carrot strips
bottom half - tonkatsu on bed of rice with sauce container of tonkatsu sauce


additional..
box of animal crackers i baked yesterday
a white flesh nectarine

anyways, just here to upload the pictures and now im going back to bed lols

so as told that i can get these cute strawberry sauce bottles at mika's japanese gifts in mississauga, i actually went there today and got them! the package comes with mini cucumber sauce bottles as well : )

i was roaming around the store so carefully, trying to see what they have and hopefully not miss out on anything. i was about to pay for just these sauce bottles, when i decided to walk around one more time before i do that. so then, i stumble across some bento bowl sets, and there was one with the packaging opened for those who want to see how it looks like and the compartments. i was thinking, hmm, this can be useful when i want a lighter lunch, let's say, soup noodle or even just soup and some side dishes. this was originally $40 cdn, but it was half price for $19.90 so i was like, what the heck, i'll get it! there were 2 colours, this blue one with cherries, and a traditional redish wooden looking colour one. i thought this one was cuter, so i got it ^__^

since today is the last day of school for my sister, (well she only had to go to school at 9am to pick up her report card - then heading out with some friends) i decided to just pack her a snack bento. at first i wasn't gonna even pack anything, but she insisted that i still pack her some food - such a pig lols.


top: 3 mini homemade portuguese custard tarts (i said she can treat one each to her friends)


bottom left: homemade japanese cheesecake squares on pastel coloured muffin cups


middle: some roast flavoured pretz, divided from the custard tart by a homemade egg divider ^^
bottom right: small package of almond crackers

since my sister only has to go to school tmrw to pick up her report card, i decided to make her just a snack bento. she's heading out to the movies afterwards, so she can sneak these snacks into the theatre and eat it ^_^ these are japanese cheesecakes, in which i baked them in a square glassware and cut them into small squares and put them into colourful muffin cups.


these are 6 mini portuguese custard tarts. i think the filling is a little too sweet, but i think it should balance out well with the puff pastry b/c those are tasteless : )

second last bento for my sister before summer school ends for her..i think this is the cutest one i've made so far : P


top tier:
left - crab meat and cucumber salad; crab wiener
middle - 1 salted quail egg


right - a round divider cup of white flesh nectarine pieces, with some cheddar and gouda cheese flowers and stars


bottom tier:
left - triangle onigiri wrapped with seaweed + cut out ">_<" face (filling: some seasoning flakes)
- heart onigiri topped with cut-out smoked salmon heart (filling: some seasoning flakes)
- surrounded by some cucumber strips


right - star onigiri topped with cut-out cheese star + seaweed "^_^" face (filling: smoked salmon and cream cheese)
- flower onigiri topped with egg + pea (filling: some seasoning flakes)
- surrounded by more cucumber strips


using my new bento box =D i forgot to take a picture with the matching chopsticks + case - but im still missing the bento belt/strap. at the store i got it, they said it won't be re-stocked until sept T_T

finally back at my bento making after a 3-day vacation (shopping in new york!! =D). only 3 more days left of summer school for my sister..


3 small grilled cheese sandwiches


some roast flavour pretz, divided by my homemade dividers! aren't they cute?


sliced cucumbers with a sauce container of ranch dressing as dipping sauce