Simple But Cute Bentos

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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. :)

My First Try With Kids' Bentos

Since Clarise started school 5 years ago, she has always been bringing homemade snacks and lunch to school. This is because she hates cafeteria food and the the long lines she has to go through before she could eat lunch. Since her kindergarten year, I've always tried my best to wake up early so I could prepare breakfast as well as packed snack and lunch for her & Ryan, that we Filipinos call "baon". Baon is basically the same as bento which is Japanese home-packed meal in box-shaped container, the only difference is that baon is usually not elaborately arranged and may come in whatever container (baunan) available, which in Clarise's case is Ziploc® sandwich or snack bags and sometimes, Ziploc® containers. Clarise hates having lunch boxes to take care of after eating. She's the type who prefers disposable containers so she can just throw everything into the garbage after eating. When my friend, Anna started posting pictures of the bentos she prepares for her kids on Facebook last year, I thought it would be nice if I could try making some for Clarise too. I showed her the pictures. She said "'they're cute but I don't like it. Besides, it would be added work for you, Mom". I wasn't sure if she really didn't like it or she was just being considerate to me. But after giving it a serious thought, I realized that she's right...I might not have enough time to prepare pleasingly arranged bentos, so I better stick to the usual simple baon I'm comfortable doing.

But since I started blogging in January, I've come across a lot of bento sites including My Lil Messy & Cheeky and Cooking Gallery which features very cute bentos. All these really boost my interest to try bento-ing myself. Whenever I find a cute bento, I would show it to Cherlin. I'm really glad that she finds bentos cute! One time, she said that's how she wants her baon when she starts school this fall. Great reason for me to buy bento accessories, right? And so I did!!! Last July 9, I got my first set of bento accessories that I ordered from allthingsforsale.com. Cherlin and I were so excited to open the package! And guess what...I saw the glow in Clarise's eyes when she saw what's in it! Good that I ordered lunch boxes and bags for her too! All I heard from both of them when we were looking at the accessories was "ohhhh...that's so cute! I can't wait to see what you gonna make for us, Mom!"...

...And so, my bento-ing begins!!! I know that the bentos I'm sharing with you today aren't as good as that of the pro's, but I want to share with you my very first bentos so you'll see how I will evolve from a newbie bento-er to (hopefully) a pro! (^.^)

This is my first experiment with cutters and egg molds. Prepared on July 12, 2011 for the girls' take out snack on our way to the library.

Bento #1: Stars and Bear Bento (for Cherlin)

What's in it: cheese sandwich, star & bear-shaped American cheese slices, bear-shaped hard boiled egg & cherries

Bento #2: Hearts and Bunny Bento (for Clarise)

What's in it: ham sandwich, heart-shaped American cheese slices, bunny-shaped hard boiled egg & grapes 

These are the bentos that I prepared on July 14, 2011 for the girls' breakfast, lunch and snack for our Kansas road trip. I tried using rice molds for the first time, and as you can see, the rice didn't come out perfect. I've researched on this and found out that I should have applied a small amount of water or oil on the inside surface of the molds before filling the mold with rice so it will come out easily and my friend Lyn of My Lil Messy & Cheeky suggested that I put a cling wrap in the mold. I'll be sure to remember doing this next time. :)

Bento #3: Breakfast Bento 

 (for Cherlin)

What's in it: star-shaped steamed rice, bunny-shaped hard boiled egg, chinese chorizo  & bacon 

(for Clarise)
 What's in it: heart-shaped steamed rice, bear-shaped hard boiled egg, chinese chorizo  & bacon

Bento #4: Spaghetti and Chicken Nuggets Bento

(for Cherlin) 
 What's in it: filipino-style spaghetti, beef franks & chicken nuggets

*I wasn't able to take a good picture of Clarise's, but it was the same except that she had more chicken nuggets.

Bento #5: Cheese Sandwich and Mini Kabobs Bento 

(for Clarise)
 What's in it: cheese sandwich, heart-shaped American cheese slices, carrots, turkey ham & mozzarella cheese with grapes & cantaloupe

*I wasn't able to take a good picture of Cherlin's, but it was the same except that she had star-shaped American cheese slices

I've seen how much Cherlin enjoyed eating her bentos. And to my surprise, I saw the same thing with Clarise. The big grin on her face seemed to be telling me that she's sorry for saying that she didn't like cute bentos.

I just ordered some more cutters, picks and egg molds. Can't wait to get them! I don't know how creative I could get with those additional accessories...but I know that the girls would be more thrilled to see added cuteness to their bentos. School will start in three weeks. I'm sure every morning will be busy for me with all the bento preparations...so wish me luck! I promise I'll share them all with you!!! (^.^)