Simple But Cute Bentos

I want to remind you that you have until tonight, 9PM CDT to enter UPrinting.com 16"x20" canvas print giveaway. 

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It has been another very busy week for me! It's Cherlin's birthday next week and preparations for her simple party keep me so occupied. With all the things that I have to do, I feel so exhausted at the end of the day, hence waking up in the morning has been hard for me this week. But hard as it is, I still try my best to prepare bentos for the girls. They're not that fancy, but they are good enough to satisfy Clarise & Cherlin's hungry tummies! 

Bento #24:  Chicken Pasta Bento (Clarise's request)

What's in it: Chicken Pasta With Sun-dried Tomatoes, flower shaped American cheese with nori eyes & lips, and grapes / cantaloupe

 

This is again my Pasta with Chicken and Sun-dried Tomatoes in Alfredo Sauce (minus the sun-dried tomatoes). This is Clarise and Cherlin's favorite so don't be surprised if you will see this in their bentos often. To give it a cute effect, I topped it with flower shaped American cheese with nori eyes & lips. Simple but truly delightful!

Bento #25:  Burger Bear Bento (Cherlin's request)

What's in it: Quarter Pounder Cheeseburger, American cheese, carrots, celery, and  mini donuts / grapes and cantaloupes

Cherlin requested for a bear sandwich bento again. Instead of ham sandwich, I thought of making quarter pounder cheeseburger. The night before, I made quarter pounder burger patties. I just added a tsp of salt and herbes de provence and quarter tsp of freshly ground black pepper to a pound of 80/20 ground beef, divided it into four, flattened each into ½ " thick and then grilled for 14 minutes (7 minutes on each side).
The next day, I just heat them up in the microwave for about a minute before putting them in burger buns.

Bento #26:  Curly Girl Pancit Canton Bento

What's in it: Pancit Canton with carrot bits, fried Chinese chorizo, hard boiled egg with grapes and cantaloupe 

I woke up 20 minutes later than usual, and I didn't have enough time to make Cherlin's pussy cat bento request. This is the simplest replacement I could think of: pancit canton with hard-boiled egg and chinese chorizo. This is actually Lucky Me Instant Pancit Canton. I just added some carrot bits into it. It took me only 15 minutes to prepare this. The girls love hard-boiled eggs & chorizo so they gave me 2 thumbs up for this!

Bento #27:  Starlight, Star Bright Bento

What's in it: Sweet ham & cheese sandwich, American cheese, flower turkey ham and carrots, celery, and grapes / cantaloupe

Cherlin wanted a smiling flower Bento. I thought of using pot sticker mold instead of the flower cutter I frequently use. It didn't look much like a flower though. I added eyes, lips and star hair clips using American cheese. After I finished it, it didn't look like a flower. It looks more like a sun...but it has star hair clips, so I really didn't know what to call it. One of my facebook readers, Monina Clingaman, suggested that I call it starlight, star bright because it looks so cheery. I find the name cute so I agree with her...hence the name Starlight, Star Bright Bento. :)

Canvas Print Giveaway and This Week's Bentos

It's Friday again! Can't believe how quickly the week went by! I hardly noticed it. Time indeed flies fast when you're having fun. Today, just like the past seven consecutive Fridays, I'll be sharing with you the cute bentos I made for the girls...but before that, I have something special for you!

The wonderful people at UPrinting.com has offered my readers the chance to win a 16"x20" rolled canvas print! This is a great opportunity for you to turn your favorite digital photo into a beautiful canvas print! What a wonderful artwork to decorate your home!

UPrinting.com is an online printing company that offers a wide variety of printing services for both business and personal use. From labels and business cards printing to high quality vinyl banners and canvas printing, they have it! So, if you have any printing needs, visit their website and see for yourself all the products they offer.

My apologies to all my non-US readers...this giveaway is for US residents 18 years old and above only. Winners of Uprinting.com giveaway in the past 6 months are also not allowed to join. To enter this giveaway, simply leave a comment on this post. Yes, it's that simple! But if you want additional entries, you may do the following:

1. Like Pinay In Texas Cooking Corner and UPrinting on Facebook, and leave a comment here stating that you "liked" both pages.

2. Follow PinayInTexas and UPrinting on Twitter, and leave another comment here stating that you are following both.

3. Post about this giveaway on Facebook and/or tweet about it, and leave a separate comment here stating you have posted or tweeted about this giveaway.

You can have a total of 4 entries. Just don't forget to leave a separate comment for each. This giveaway will end on September 23, 2011 (Friday) 9PM CDT. One winner will be chosen via random.org to receive  one (1 ) piece 16” x 20” rolled canvas print, with 2-inch border or No border and 1 Business Day Turnaround *Free shipping.

If you love decorating your home with your favorite family or scenic photos, you'll love canvas prints even more!  So be sure to join this giveaway, and get a chance to win a free canvas print with free shipping!!! You really don't wanna miss this! 

Disclaimer: This canvas print giveaway is sponsored by UPrinting. No monetary compensation was given to PiTCC for hosting. All opinions expressed here are my own

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Now for this week's bentos...

Just like the past weeks, the girls mostly requested for sandwich bentos. They said it's easier and quick to eat in school. We agreed that I'll let them decide what they want in their bentos, so when they ask for sandwich, I prepare sandwich...but veggies and fruits must go with it!

Bento #20:  Adorable Puppy Bento (Clarise's request)

What's in it: Ham & Cheese Sandwich, White American Cheese, carrots, beef franks, blueberries, and grapes / strawberries

Clarise has always wanted to have a dog, and since I told her she can't have one until she's responsible enough, she just contents herself with anything "doggy" - posters, stuff toys, books, etc. Last Monday, she requested me to make a doggy themed bento. 

This was actually very easy to make. I still don't have a round cutter, so again, I used a glass to shape the dog's face. For the ears and the neck, I just used a sharp knife to cut the bread.

I made the face, ears and neck into sweet ham sandwiches.

Then for the eyes, I used white American cheese and blueberry cut in half. For the eyebrows, the lips and the collar, I used nori...then sweet ham for the tongue and blueberry for the nose. I added beef franks, carrots and bone shaped white American cheese for added decoration. Clarise really loved it...and Cherlin did too!

Bento #21:  Gobble, Gobble! Turkey Bento (Clarise and Cherlin's request)

What's in it: Cheese Sandwich, egg, carrots, sweet ham, blueberries, and grapes & cantaloupe/strawberries

For some reasons, we talked about Thanksgiving Day while having dinner last Monday...and there came Clarise's idea of having a turkey themed sandwich bento. But Cherlin said she wanted egg...so to satisfy both of them, I made a "turkey" cheese sandwich...

 

and a "turkey" designed hard boiled egg.

I made two happy girls with this! I joined Cherlin for lunch on Tuesday, and I saw how excited she was to see what I made for her.

Bento #22:  Starry, Starry Fried Rice Bento (Cherlin's request)

What's in it: Fried rice, Filipino red hotdogs, turkey bacon, strawberries and brownies

This is the type of food they usually eat for breakfast on weekends: fried rice with turkey bacon or hotdogs and sometimes, fried chinese chorizo or sauteed corned beef. I really like it when they request that I prepare something with rice for their school lunch (which they seldom do). I think it's more filling! For this one, I cooked fried rice with egg and turkey bacon strips, and made turkey bacon and boiled red hotdog kabobs. For a change, I let them have brownies for dessert, instead of fruits. :) 

Bento #23:  Bunny Bento (Cherlin's request)

What's in it: Turkey ham sandwich, American Cheese, mini sweet ham kabobs, carrots, blueberries, grapes and strawberries

Cherlin & I were reading  "The Weasel and the Bunny Rabbit" last Wednesday night, and that is how she came up with the idea of a bunny theme. I thought of preparing something with rice or noodles, but she insisted on just having sandwich, and Clarise agreed. So, bunny designed sandwich it is! The face and ears are made up of multi-grain white bread and turkey ham. I used white American cheese and blueberry for the eyes, grapes for the nose, and American cheese for the teeth. I added a piece of baby carrot, bunny shaped cheese slices and turkey & sweet ham rolls with grapes & strawberries for dessert. I find it really "cute"...and the girls agreed! 

In my past 8 weeks of making bentos , I've seen how my girls love it! Waking up at 6am (or sometimes earlier) and thinking of themes/designs make bento-ing more difficult than I thought...but the bentos I prepare definitely make my daughters smile, so I can't complain! Watching the joy and excitement  in their eyes is priceless! So, as long as I can see they're having fun, I'll keep doing it!

That’s it for today my friends! A wonderful weekend to you all where ever you may be! Stay happy and stay full!!! ;)

Recreating PiTCC Recipes In Your Kitchen and This Week's Bentos

If you are following Pinay in Texas Cooking Corner on Facebook, maybe you already know about our ongoing contest called Recreating PiTCC Recipes In Your Kitchen. It's a dish photo contest wherein PiTCC FB fans who recreates any recipe from Pinay In Texas Cooking Corner can submit a photo of their dish. The photo that gets the most "likes" wins. I haven't announced the prize yet...but I assure you it will be really "great"! This is supposed to be a Christmas giveaway but after seeing some photos from followers who recreated my recipes, I got the idea of just hosting a photo contest. The contest period may seem too long, but with everyone's busy schedule, I guess it's better that way so there will be enough time for interested fans to join. There are 11 entries so far...looking forward to seeing more! Check out Pinay in Texas Cooking Corner on Facebook, and see for yourself which recipes our FB fans recreated in their kitchen! You might get inspired to join too!

Now, for my Friday Bento post...

The bentos I made this week weren't fancy...but I'm sure Clarise and Cherlin loved them because their lunch boxes were always empty when I checked them in the afternoon. I guess that's a good proof that they liked the food, right? (Unless they threw them, which I hope not.)

Bento #17:  Fried Rice & Embutido Bento (Clarise's request)

What's in it: Meat and Vegetable Fried Rice, embutido / mini ham and beef franks kabobs, grapes and cantaloupe

Clarise requested for meat and vegetable fried rice with embutido. Cherlin said she didn't want embutido so she had mini ham & beef franks kabobs instead. That was the first time Clarise and Cherlin had rice for school lunch...they said everyone was looking at them because they were eating rice in school. But they didn't mind. They are Filipinos and they love eating rice! :)

Bento #18:  Yogi Bear Bento (Cherlin's request)

What's in it: Ham and Cheese Sandwich, Beef Franks, Carrots, Celery, Grapes, Raisins, Kiwi & Peaches

Tuesday night, Cherlin asked me if I can make a Yogi Bear themed bento. I just said "I'll try". The next morning, I thought an ordinary bear bento would be easier, so that's just what I did. I used a bear face cutter for the small bear, and I used a glass for the big bear. (Sad to admit but I don't have a round cutter. hehe) I filled them with mayo, sweet ham & white American cheese. For the ears, eyes & nose, I used cheese and grapes. For the small bear's eyes, I used raisins.

I added a small piece of romaine lettuce to look like a cap (just like Yogi's). When I picked her up from school in the afternoon, she gave me a big warm hug, saying thank you for making Yogi & Boo-boo.  She said they looked so cool, and Clarise agreed! I realized little kids are indeed so easy to please! So I'm officially calling this Yogi Bear Bento! :)

Bento #19:  Chicken Nuggets and Mac & Cheese Bento (Clarise's request)

What's in it: Macaroni & Cheese, chicken nuggets, grapes and cantaloupe

Mac & Cheese is Clarise and Cherlin's favorite. They can eat it everyday and when it's all gone, they keep asking for more...so I usually cook a lot of it and just store it in the refrigerator.  They had mac & cheese with chicken nuggets yesterday, and today, Clarise requested to have it again...but this time, with beef franks. They just couldn't get enough of it! :) 

Wishing you all a great weekend! As we commemorate 9/11 this Sunday, let us all remember those who were killed, those who sacrificed their lives or health to rescue others, and all those who have mourned and continue to mourn their loss from that horrible act of terrorism...and let us pray that such tragedy never happen again...

Curly Haired Girl Bento and Sandwich Bentos

So how are your kids enjoying their time back at school??? For both my girls, so far so good! They are still so enthusiastic every morning...no hard time waking up, eating breakfast, taking a shower and dressing up. My 4th grader got perfect scores in her first spelling, math & science quizzes. She joined the school choir and is auditioning for the all city choir...and she's running again for student council class representative. I guess it will be a busy school year for her! My kindergartener on the other hand, is really enjoying school so much! She gets a "green" in her daily folder everyday which means that she's doing good...she's full of stories when she gets home...and always so eager to do her homework! Her first year in school is really starting well! I hope things will remain the same for both Clarise and Cherlin! May their enthusiasm and eagerness to learn never stop!

Ryan (the hubs) thinks the bentos I make for the girls contribute a lot to their enthusiasm because it gives them something to look forward to everyday. This week, instead of me deciding what to put in my daughters' bentos, I had them tell me what food and theme they want. It is a whole lot easier that way! At least I am sure that they like the food, and they're not just force to eat the bento because it's cute! :) But I still do all the design, and they won't see it until lunch time...so it's always exciting for them to see what I came up with! 

I'm sharing with you three of the themes Clarise and Cherlin requested for this week:

Bento #14:  Flower Garden Bento (Cherlin's idea)

What's in it: Flower shaped cheese/peanut butter sandwich, flower shaped carrots

with celery leaves, flower shaped spam with cheese, broccoli, grapes and pear

Cherlin wanted a flower garden theme, and she wanted bread, carrots, cheese & spam in it...so here's what I came up with.

For 1 flower, you will need, 2 slices of bread. You have to cut the crusts off, cut each slice into 3 equal pieces and using the back of a knife, make a crease on each for easier folding. You will also need two slices of American cheese cut into the same size as the bread, and a few more slices that you can use to design the flower. Put one slice of cheese on  each piece of bread, and gently fold them together to form a heart shaped petal. Push the edges to seal. I made one big and one small flower for each bento box so I used three slices of bread, instead of just two (5 petals for big flower & 4 petals for small flower). Clarise requested for peanut butter filling so I just spread peanut butter into each piece of bread and folded them the same way as the cheese filled petals. After making the petals, arranged them together in the bento box to make flowers and just decorate them as you please. As for me, I made star and flower shaped cheese for the centers.

I also added flower and star shaped spam on top of the cheese flower center to make it more appealing, and made some more flower shaped spam with cheese center for an additional flowery effect in the bento box...

To add some color, I made flower shaped carrots with celery leaves...and I also added blanched broccoli in it. This is a bit time consuming, so I suggest that you cut the bread ahead of time and just wrap them tight with plastic. Do the same with the carrots, cheese and spam. Wrap them in plastic and refrigerate. 

Bento #15:  Curly Haired Girl Bento (Clarise's idea)

What's in it: Chicken Pasta, American Cheese, Carrots, Spam, cantaloupe and grapes

This is very simple. This is basically my Pasta With Chicken and Sun-dried Tomatoes in Alfredo Sauce, but Clarise requested me to cook it without the sun-dried tomatoes all because she likes it better that way. So that's what I did. She wanted me to use the pasta as girl's hair cause she read from Lyn's (of My Lil Cheeky & Messy) comment on my bento post last week that spaghetti noodles should be used for a more defined hair. Thanks to Lyn for that tip!

To make the girl's face, I just used spam...and for the eyes and lips, I used cheese. I also made some flower shaped smileys using spam and cheese.

Bento #16:  Under the Sea Bento (Clarise's idea)

What's in it: Fish and Starfish shaped ham sandwich, squid and octopus beef franks, cantaloupe, grapes and kiwi

Clarise requested for an "under the sea" theme, and she just wanted ham sandwich in it. But I wanted to add more sea creatures, so I made squids and octopus using beef franks. For steps in making the octopus, click here. For the ham sandwich, I used multi-grain white bread, bread, mayonnaise, and turkey ham... 

For the eyes and mouth I used regular American cheese, and for the scales, American white cheese.

For the squid, cut one beef frank in half then cut each half lengthwise. For each piece, notch the top to form a pointed head and then make a notch on each side about half inch down the head. Make several slits to form the legs of the squid. Using a knife, make 2 small holes for eyes and a little slit for a smile. This will become noticeable after cooking. Boil in water until the legs are curled up.

These are the cutters I used for the fish & star fish. For the fish tails, I just used a sharp knife to shape it.

Wishing you all a great weekend! And for my friends and readers here in the US, Happy Labor Day!

Yellow Haired Girl and Butterfly Bento

Days pass by so fast indeed! Imagine, it's Friday again...which means that the 1st week of school is almost over. The past 5 days have been contrary to what I expected. Because it's Cherlin's 1st week in Kindergarten, I thought that the morning rush will drive me crazy, but it didn't. Since Monday until this morning, everything was so smooth. By 7:10a.m, Clarise and Cherlin are both dressed up and ready to go to school, and the good thing is, they are always wearing their sweet smiles...which means that they are always excited to go to school. We even had the time to take pictures, so I guess there's really no morning "rush" around here...

...and the bento making (that I thought would be hard) turned out to be just like the ordinary packed lunch preparation I used to do for Clarise before. (The only difference is the added creativity and style that I put into it!) But since I have to prepare packed lunch for 3 now (including Ryan) I have to wake up 30 minutes earlier than before. But waking up at 6a.m. is just fine. After 5 days, I'm kinda used to it now. And I'm telling you, I am now addicted to making bentos! I just love to see how much my girls enjoy them! It's an added work to me, but the joy and excitement they bring to my daughters make me feel so good! The first thing I check when they get home are their lunch boxes, and seeing them empty gives me some sort of fulfillment! It just proves that Clarise and Cherlin loves the bentos I prepare for them, and I believe that's enough reason for me to keep on enhancing my creativity to come up with cuter bentos. :)

Here are two of the bentos I made for the girls this week. I made bento for them everyday but the other three are almost the same as the ones I already featured here. These two are my new creations, so to speak! I found them really cute. Clarise and Cherlin agreed with me on that, so as some of their classmates who saw these bentos! Check them out!

Bento #12:  Yellow Haired Girl Bento 

What's in it: Mac & cheese, sweet ham, mozarella cheese, carrots
cantaloupe and grapes

This is my homemade mac & cheese that I decorated with sweet ham (face) and mozarella cheese (eyes and lips). I cooked it the night before then just heat it up in the microwave the next morning. It's supposed to look like a smiling yellow haired girl, but I wasn't able to define the hair that much. I added some rolled sweet ham, carrots and mozarella cheese mini kabobs. And for dessert, Clarise requested for cantaloupe and grapes kabobs while Cherlin just had grapes. I used the cute music notes picks that I got from Fit JP Store in Houston. For the girl's face, I used these cutters:

I used the bear shaped cutter for the face...I trimmed the ears though. And for the eyes and lips, I used the blue cutters.

Bento #13:  Flowers and Butterfly Bento 

What's in it: Butterfly shaped cheese sandwich, flower shaped sweet ham with julienned carrots, cantaloupe and grapes

For this bento, I made use of these cutters:

• Heart shape cutters - for the wings of the butterfly
• Wiener cutter - for the body of the butterfly
• V smile cutter - for the antenna of the butterfly
• Flower shape cutter - for small flower shaped sandwiches

To make the wings of the butterfly, cut 4 slices of bread and 2 slices of American cheese using the big heart shaped cutter. Then cut a heart shaped hole into 2 of the heart shaped slices of bread using the small heart shaped cutter. (Am I using the word heart shaped cutter too much? Sorry, I just want to make my instructions clear.) Put the wings together: whole heart shaped slice of bread at the bottom then heart shaped slice of American cheese in the middle and the heart shaped slice of bread with heart shaped hole on top. Trim the bottom point of each heart sandwich, move them close together and put the body of the butterfly on top. I used black sesame seeds for the eyes and mozarella cheese for the white body stripes.

For the flower shaped ham, this is what I did:

I fold the ham crosswise then cut the center part into strips . I made 2" julienned carrots, put about 8 pcs. of them on the ham and then rolled the ham over. I secured each flower with a bento pick. Easy hah! :)

These bentos put smiles on my daughters' faces...I'm sure it will do the same to all the little girls out there!