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. :)

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! 

Happy Girl Bento

Just 3 more days before school starts here in Texas...and I am both excited and sad about it! I'm mostly excited because of the bentos that I'll be preparing for Clarise and Cherlin. This is the first school year that I will be doing this, so both the girls and I are looking forward to it. I just can't wait to see how far could my creativity go! If you read my post the other Friday, you know why I'm sad and I don't want to talk about it or else I'll be in tears again...so let me just share with you this cute bento that I made yesterday. Cherlin named it Happy Girl Bento. This is basically rice with buttered mixed vegetables and a  happy girl's face made of squid ball with beef frank hair.

Bento #11: Happy Girl Bento 

What's in it: Beef frank, squid ball, buttered mixed veggies  

and rice with salmon furikake

For the beef franks, just cut some lines on them and then cook them in boiling water together with the squid balls until they are all heated through. Remove from heat and drain on a paper towel.

For the eyes and lips, I used this nori puncher. I didn't have nori so I just used romaine lettuce. :)

Then I sprinkle the rice with this Salmon Furikake. For those who aren't familiar with this, "furikake" is a Japanese condiment which is meant to be sprinkled on top of rice. It is a mixture of dried and ground fish, sesame seeds, chopped seaweed, sugar and salt. Salmon, egg, powdered miso and vegetables are often added to the mix. The one with salmon is our favorite.

I plan to do bento for the girls everyday starting next week as long as time permits me...so watch out for more bento ideas here! I'll be sharing them with you every Friday!

 

Filipino Red Hotdogs and Buttered Veggie Spaghetti & Octodog Bentos

Just 10 days to go before school starts here in Texas! I'm so excited for Cherlin who'll be in Kindergarten this year! Quite sad because my baby and little helper won't be with me the whole day anymore. I'll really be missing her...but I'm so happy with the thought that my baby has grown into a smart little girl who seems so ready to face a new world. 

Yesterday was "Popsicle with the Principal" at Robertson Elementary (Clarise and Cherlin's school). Cherlin was so eager to go, not just because of the popsicles but also to be able to shake hands with the principal. I was so proud of her when she confidently talked to the principal. The smile on her face showed how excited she was to be in school.

Time really flies so fast!!! It was not so long ago when I gave birth to Cherlin...

From that tiny helpless baby, she's this confident 5 year old now who's all set for a new level of exploration.

I'm so proud of her but I can't help but feel sad. Actually, thinking about it put me in tears. This was exactly how I felt when Clarise started Kindergarten. But I know it will be more difficult for me now. It won't be easy to drop them both to school then come home into an empty house. I'll be missing the time Cherlin & I used to spend together while waiting for 3p.m. to pick up Clarise from school. I know this is just one of those feelings that fall under the job description of "being a mom", and yes, it will pass. I guess for now, I just have to focus on how lucky I am to see my bright, loving, healthy daughter turn into a Kindergartener, and learn to look on the bright side: Cherlin will learn a lot from school and meet new friends and I, on the other hand, will have more time for myself doing things I love like cooking and blogging (and shopping!). That would be good, right?!

I am happy that Clarise and Cherlin seem so excited for the coming school year. At least, all I have to worry is me being sad for being left alone at home (LOL), and not them feeling uncomfortable in school or whatsoever. They even said that the thought of the bentos I will be preparing for them everyday is adding up to their excitement. That's really good to know! To see them enjoying bentos is the only reason why I got myself into bento-ing. Oh well, actually, they are my inspiration in everything I get myself into! 

I guess I'm boring you with my being too emotional now, so I better go on with my bento post for today. I made two simple bentos this week. They were for the girls' packed breakfast on two consecutive mornings (Tue & Wed) that we went to the park:

Bento #9: Filipino Red Hotdogs Bento 

What's in it: Filipino red hotdogs,  

flower and bunny-shaped cheese sandwiches and grapes

I used the bunny and flower shaped cutters for the sandwich, and the rabbit wiener cutter for the hotdogs. They're so cute, aren't they??? FYI, after shaping the hotdogs, I boiled them instead of frying. This results in nice evenly cooked hotdogs.

Bento #10: Buttered Vegetable Spaghetti and Octodogs Bento 

What's in it: Spaghetti pasta with buttered vegetables,  

and octopus beef franks

For the spaghetti, I just sauteed a Tablespoon of minced garlic and a cup of mixed vegetables in 4 Tbsp olive oil-flavored butter then mixed 3 cups of cooked pasta in it.

 

For the octodogs, I used 3 regular sized beef franks. With the use of a sharp knife, I cut each of them into 2. Then I cut the 8 'legs' of the octopus, leaving about a third of each halved beef franks to form the head. Using a knife, I also made 2 small holes for eyes and a little slit for a smile, which became noticeable after cooking.

 

I boiled them until the legs are all curled up, after which I drained them on paper towels before arranging in the bento box. If you want a curlier effect, you can use 1 whole hot dog to make one octodog.