Sassy Bento 26/5/08

Sushi bento for SassyFace too today. She loves sushi and has done since a very young age. We used to take her into Yo! Sushi in Edinburgh (It's gone now, we're very sad about that) as a toddler and the staff were so amazed by her eating anything put in front of her they would give her bits of food and say "See if she'll eat that...Wow!" So she got to eat free there a few times. Maybe that's why they're gone? Anyways...

Top is the edible joke on rice paper with a cut up apple school bar; compressed fruit that looks and has the texture of plasticine but the kids love them.

Middle has two large tuna and avocado maki rolls and four smoked salmon rolls with carrots, mange tout and a piggie full of soy sauce.

Bottom is a hodge-podge of whatever I could think of to fill the bento. I tend to do the veg and extras in the morning, and this morning I was not very sharp. So we have mini salami bites, babybel, cucumber butterflys, raisins and a few smoked turkey and Bavarian cheese wraps.

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Husband Bento 26/5/08

I felt a sushi week was in order. I have the sushi presses and haven't used them much - but I love them! They really do make making sushi so much easier and less frustrating.

Top has small salmon and wasabi rolls and two large tuna mayonnaise with peppers and cucumber and avocado topped with black and white sesame seeds. Pickled ginger and a soy sauce fish.

Bottom has mini salami and chili cheese kebabs with leftover cheese - I wasn't gonna eat them - cherry tomatoes, carrots, rocket leaves and mange tout.

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Bentos for 23/5/08

Yes I started this one a bit early, but there's a lot of good TV on a Thursday night, so leftovers are chucked right into the bento. But don't think it's a slap dash affair!

My Husband is computer guy, and he loves Linux. I thought a TUX penguin - the Linux mascot, would be the tiptoppiest of man-geek lunch bento eva!

Left is sushi rice with sesame furikake, nori shape and orange pepper feet and beak.

Right has leftover steak with ginger soy and garlic sauce, spring onion and seasme. Carrots, mange tout and leftover pepper bits with a babybel.

As it's 5K day (He's a fit geek) he'll get a sidecar of mixed nuts, dates an orange and an apple.




I can't very well make a fancy bento for Dad without making one for Sassy face too. Once the penguin was done I figured since I had all the stuff out, I'd try an idea I've been toying with, and make a bento dragon.

Lid has fruit chews and gummy bears with an edible joke.

The top is plain rice with red and orange pepper cut out head shape, nori stars and thin strips of nori for eyebrows and frown lines (I have tiny scissors once used for newborn fingernails that did excellent for this). Babybel cheese for eyes, nose and mouth and rocket leaves for whiskers.

The bottom is supposed to be the dragon's tail which is a segmented hotdog with cucumber and carrot, some cheese and ham pinwheels and a red pepper tail tasslething.

I hope with all her running about before school it all stays together, but at least I have this picture to prove I tried.

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Bentos for 21/5/08

My Mom flies back home to Tennessee today. We're bummed. The two weeks have flown by and I just don't know where the time has gone. It's supposed to be the sign of a good visit, but it still sucks. I wanted to send Mom off with a nice lunch so she didn't have to suffer the ills of airplane food.

Two onigiri, one with a ham and cream cheese parcel inside the other with a pickled onion (She loves them!), rocket leaves, two seasoned fried chicken kebabs (pointy bits cut off so airport guys don't freak out over little pointy stick) some sugar snap peas, carrots and hummous to dip them in and a babybel.

I hope she likes it and has a very safe flight. I'll miss you Mom!

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The SassyFace actually ate 90% of her bento yesterday! That's rare and excellent. Today she has my bento box (Isn't it cute!) because I was too tired to wash dishes last night after two hours of bento making...and hiding in the kitchen to avoid sad "My Mommy is leaving me!" feelings (Because my Mom flies back home to America today) Top has two onigiri with fried chicken inside, and several chunks of fried chicken, with mange tout and carrot flowers on some rocket leaves. Bottom is fresh mango, babybel and some cut up pieces of "School bars" which are compressed fruit chew bars. I think they taste awful but my kids love them. There's apple and blackcurrant flavours. A haribo for playground dessert. Oh shit! I forgot a joke! (Later added "Why did the tap dancer retire? He kept falling in the sink!") (Tap in the UK word for faucet)

Left: Two onigiri one with ham and cream cheese parcel inside, the other has fried chicken, mini fried chicken kebabs, rocket leaves, mange tout, red pepper. Middle: Puree of ham, red pepper and cream cheese topped with nanami togarashi, sliced carrots, sugar snap peas, red pepper and sliced hot dog. Right: mixed nuts, haribo, apple and an orange. I made this, thought it was great, then now just as I'm typing it up I realise; Husband isn't going into work today because he's taking Mom to the airport and will work from home later. Ah well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I'll count this as practice.

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Bentos 20/5/08

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Husband is loving his bentos. Apparently his wife loves him better than any of his friend's wives love them. That strokes my competitive ego to no end.

Today he runs a 5K so he's got extras.

Left are three kebabs with mixes of rolled ham, fried chicken, chilli cheese, babybel, red pepper and sugar snap peas on a rocket salad with a few cherry tomatoes to fill in space.

Middle has more peas, carrots and leftover bits of kebab stuff that didn't get put on the skewers with sliced hotdog and a cup of cream cheese with cayenne.

Mixed unsalted nuts, tangerine, apple and a grape tootsie-pop that I got from the American/Mexican import store Lupe Pintos in Edinburgh - awesome shop if you're near there. I spend a fortune there a couple times a year to ease my homesickness.

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I've had five hours sleep - my own fault for getting absorbed in a good book. So Sassy's bento is lacking the child-friendly flair but I'm sure she'll be happy nonetheless for it.

Top is the daily joke (which I love) and some gummy sweets

Middle is cut raw veggies and some cream cheese for dipping with a sprinkle of black sesame seeds.

Bottom are kebabs of roast chicken, rolled ham, cheddar, red pepper and pea pods on some rocket with a few apple flowers dipped in lemon juice so they won't brown. I've also snipped the point off the end of the kebab sticks to avoid accidents at school. You know how kids get.

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