Bento for Beginners

and the winner is.....

2010-09-27T23:26:00.000-04:00

Congratulations Leslie! Your name was drawn out of the bag of 32 entries. Please contact me with your info asap! If I don't hear from you in a week I will draw another winner! Please don't hesitate to send me an email at tayngene@yahoo.com!

One day left!

2010-09-24T22:04:00.002-04:00

Just a reminder that the contest ends tomorrow at 12am eastern time! I will close off the comment section at that time so everyone knows that it has ended. Glad to see so many entries and good luck to all!

Bento Box giveaway!

2010-09-05T00:49:00.001-04:00

Who would love to win this lovely blue sheep bento box? I think you do!

I would like to see how many bento packers there are who don't even own a bento box! This is open to everyone though, but you must be a follower of my blog and in your comment link a picture of your lunches packed in bento style in something less traditional. You can enter as many times as you like and I will put your name into a drawing and we will see who the winner is! I will pick a winner on September 25th so that is 20 whole days for you all to get as many entries in as possible. Good luck can't wait to see all the lunch!

Steak and Pho noodle bento

2010-07-31T11:52:00.000-04:00

Todays lunch has steak, and pho noodles (aka rice sticks) with corn, broccoli, and tomatoes! I guess the rainy dreary day inspired a boring bento. I promise some cuteness in the near future. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Asian food Market!

2010-07-27T17:49:00.000-04:00

After a long hiatus from the blog, my bento obsession was refueled by stumbling upon an oriental food market. I have really missed the bento scene, and hopefully I am back for good this time. I don't know how many of you in the states are from the East coast, but if you ever happen to wander down to Myrtle Beach SC there is a little store tucked in Socastee which is just out of the beach. No bento boxes but there is a great collection of foods and treats and cooking ingredients. I bought a lot of things that had to be eaten before I made my trek back home and unfortunately I did not get any pictures. I do however have a few pictures of the treats I bought! A assorted pack of mini jelly cups. These are a lot like jello. Some grape flavored gummies, a lychee and coconut jelly and some golden rabbit caramel. I also got some buckwheat soba, rice sticks or pho noodles, seaweed sheets, furikake, some bean paste filled things....They were covered with like a powder and kind of chewy with red bean paste inside...Should these have been cooked? I wasn't entirely sure. I also got some mochi ice cream, it came with chocolate, green tea, and vanilla. It was ice cream wrapped in mochi from what I could tell. I can't wait to start putting these things in bento! Hope to be hearing from you all soon!

Neat magnetic containers from wal-mart!

2010-05-18T13:50:00.000-04:00

Found these super neat containers at wal-mart for 4 dollars a peice yesterday. They screamed "BENTO" when i walked by. They are pretty small, but big enough for all my picks, and paper cups and some punches to fit in. They have a strong magnet on the back, and stick right to the side of the fridge for easy storage and display. I am in love with them! I found them in the desk/office area.

I also apologize for the lack of posts. I have been so busssy! I did get a new camera though, and I am trying to get motivated to take photos of my bento from now on. I am going to try doing them in a close up, then get the whole picture and collage them like so. Let me know what you guys think! Glad to be back.

Im back, with a low carb bento!

2010-04-10T10:19:00.000-04:00

I am truly sorry for dropping off the face of the internet (again.) I decided that I needed to kickstart my self into a weight loss program, along with an hour+ excercise in the afternoon after work and ahhhhh! I had no time to take pictures of my bento creations. I promise I will be back on track soon. I am just having to schedule myself a little bit better. In todays bento I have: Baked Tilapia, broccoli, cheese cubes, cucumber, and some avacado mayo mash wich I like to use for dipping. It is abit like guacamole without the zestyness.

On a side note, for any of you trying to watch your calories, or carbs, or weight watcher points or what have you you need to check out Fat Secret It is an amazing tool to help keep track of what you eat. You just enter your food into the easy to use calender and voila! It can show you all the nutritional values of your daily intake.

Also while Im on here, be sure to check out Allthingsforsale the banner to the right. They have revamped their store, and have a 5% off sale ontop of their usual sales going on right now. They ship internationally!

Sorry everyone

2010-03-27T08:06:00.000-04:00

I know, shame on me! I dropped off the face of the internet again. Spring has sprung and I have been so busy working on getting a garden together, visiting family, and spring cleaning. I have also added an hour of exercise into my routine so by the end of the night when I normally post im exhausted! My new carb low diet also leaves my bento lacking at the moment, but I promise I will post some up soon. Hope everyone is doing great!

Buckwheat noodles

2010-03-11T12:24:00.001-05:00

Bento is actually for dinner to take to work tonight. I had ordered some buckwheat noodles a few weeks back so i finally decided to try them out today! So we have buckwheat noodles with bologna and cheese flowers, steamed cabbage, prunes, edamame, banana chips, and some broccoflower. Hope everyone is having a great day!

Make your own steamer

2010-03-11T11:59:00.000-05:00

How to make a simply microwave steamer at home. This is perfect for making speedy bento, you don't have to wait for a pot of water or an electronic steamer to heat up. You also don't have to pay 3$ to order one offline and wait weeks to get it! The pictures are labeled 1-5 just follow along.

You will need two medium sized plastic food storage containers and 1 lid.
Cut along the side about 3/4s of the way down and then cut around.
You should get something similiar to this.
Cut/poke some vent holes in your newly cut container. This is going to be the platform.
Fill your non cut container with abit of water, then insert your cut container open side down until it is sturdy. Place your veggies on top and sit the lid on do not seal it up just let it rest lightly on top.
Place in mircowave and heat until desired tenderness of your veggie!

Make sure you use a microwave safe container. You can cut holes in the top aswell but letting it rest on top does just the same. I haven't tried it with rice, but im guessing it would probably work if anyone uses it for anything else let me know! Hope this helps out. I know it is usefull in my kitchen when i prepare bento for only myself. I can quickly steam up some veggies to throw in my box.

Changing the layout

2010-03-11T09:52:00.002-05:00

Changing the layout so please don't be alarmed if something goes missing! I want to find something simple, but elegant. Any ideas?

Bento find + Panko chicken

2010-03-06T21:56:00.000-05:00

Bento for the day! Rice, panko crusted chicken, grapes, carrots, banana chips, and broccoflower with steamed cabbage. My panko chicken is super yummy, I add the panko, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and abit of onion powder to the crust and is is awesome. I also wanted to share with you guys me newest bento find right here at my local Dollar Tree. I was so excited when I saw these I grabbed them up and prayed they would fit into the boxes and they did! They are mini tuberware like containers and they fit with the lid on and everything! Not the cutest things in the world but they will be a big help. I also started some seedlings and look what has sprouted up I am so excited to see some movement in the little green houses. I've planted peas, carrots, lettuce, a variety of bell peppers, squash, and two types of tomatoes. Is anyone else planting a garden this year? This is my first attempt. Wish me luck!

New box!

2010-03-02T18:32:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! Got my new box today, so I celebrated by packing it up and sharing it with you all! This new skater bunny box came with the dividers, and a rice press. I love the way it gives an immediate elegance to the box by being so neat and tidy. I also ordered some furikake it's seaweed, shrimp and egg flavored. So in the box we have rice, grapes with kumquat slices, bologna flower, broccoflower, grape tomato, carrots, dried apricots and bananachips. We are getting more snow today, so hopefully there will be more bento tomorrow while I play in the kitchen on my snow day!

Happy Hedgehogs!

2010-02-24T14:11:00.001-05:00

The rain/snow/slushy is making it a terribly nasty day after such a beautiful weekend. Hope everyone is having a great day! Some comfort foods for today, a barbeque chicken steamed bun, tamagyaki, kiwi slices and a edamame, broccoli, and grape tomato salad. It has itailen herbs sea salt and a little garlic tossed with olive oil. Its simply but yummy. Have a great afternoon everyone!

Thank goodness for cling wrap

2010-02-19T18:48:00.001-05:00

Turkey, mayo, and cheese sandwhiches with banana chips, dried mixed berries, dried apples, and dried apricots (I love dried fruit...did ya notice?) and some carrots. I started wrapping my sandwhich halfs up because the wheat bread was getting way to dry and stale when it would sit in there. But a heads up to all you bento gals, spring time= colorful saran wrap! Yayy! I normally can't find any cute colored cling wrap any other time of year, so I will be stocking up. Hope you all are having a great Friday!

I'm back! (and I brought some food with me)

2010-02-18T12:48:00.001-05:00

I have been shamefully lazy, I apologize. I have been making bento, but forgetting to take pictures! I also had two days off in a row so I was lazing around the house. I am back now, and hopefully back on the picture taking, blog post making bandwagon :P. I am sure you all missed me terribly (haha) Hope everyone had a great valentine's day! I will be making rounds tonight and post up comments for the past few days that I have missed. In the bento for today we have mini dog puppies, swiss soft cheese, brocolli, and dried apples. The bottom teir has chocolate cake with cream cheese icing, dried prune, clemintines, and some strawberry all natural applesauce. Hope you all are having a great week!

videos for your veiwing pleasure

2010-02-13T08:48:00.000-05:00

Sorry I have been MIA everyone. This work week has been super busy, and I had been making bento but unfortunatly no pictures were taken before they were devoured. So, this morning I have been lurking on youtube for abit, and decided to share a few cute bento related videos hope you enjoy!

Chili & Sandwhiches

2010-02-08T17:14:00.001-05:00

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Sorry for the boring bento, but it has been a super busy work weekend for me. I actually made this friday, and haven't had time to post it until now. It was a pretty simple bologna, swiss and mustard sammie with clemintine, soft cheese, and chili! It's not a traditional chili by any means, it is more like a spicy vegetable soup but it was super yummy through all this cold weather!

Steamed bun recipe!

2010-02-06T09:18:00.003-05:00

Okay, since I can't figure out how to neatly place my photos around my text I apologize if the pictures are out of order. My recipe is not exact either, so you may have to tweak it yourself at home. Recipe: 1 cup of Hungry jack pancake mix, (Extra light and fluffy is what I used) add about half a cup of water and mix until it looks like pancake batter. Then add a pinch of salt, and get some all purpose flour out. You are going to want to add AP flour until you get a nice firm non sticky dough. I don't know how much it took, but it should look like the roll in the first picture. Knead for about ten minutes to get all the lumps and bumps out. This also helps give you a uniform color. Roll into a baguette shape and cut into four peices. I didn't take photos of me shaping any buns, sorry! I also want to explain the tin foil in the pot. I don't have a proper steamer, but to keep the buns from sitting in water I just balled some tin foil up. Set it in the pot and it keeps them elevated and the steam can get to all sides.

I filled the buns with a chicken and brocolli mixture and let them steam for about 20 minutes. I did cook the chicken through before steaming, just because raw chicken in dough could cause some serious contamination. I shaped them into a hedgehog, pig, bear and one was a traditional pleated bun. Its really easy, like working with playdough. Sorry the recipie isn't exact! But working with the pancake mix cuts out the need for yeast and letting it sit 2 hours to rise. There are several really great recipies online, but this is my own quick and easy version. If you try it out, let me know! I'm sure you can use any other kind of pre packaged pancake batter, but the light and fluffy seems to work the best for me. Hope you are all having a great weekend!

What weird looking onirgiri...

2010-02-03T13:49:00.001-05:00

Using my new bento box! Two bologna and cheese "onigiri" sandwhiches, grapes, banana chips, and carrots with ligh ranch in the cup. Hope all is having a great day, the snow if finally melting here so everything is back in full swing around my town. Made some steamed buns today, will post up recipie tomorrow. It was quick and simple, and tasted amazing. Definitly something worth making everynow and then. Hope you all have a great day!

New bento goodies!

2010-02-02T19:36:00.001-05:00

I got a package today! I was waiting patiently (okay...so not very patiently) for my new bento box to arrive. Last time we got a bad winter storm the USPS was not running and our mail was about 3 days late. So, considering hubs was off today due to bad road conditions I was a little bummed about the chances of my box arriving but it did!I also took the time to take some shots of my ever growing collection of bento boxes, and etc. Just a few pictures showing the size and how the box collapses and goes up.

When the box is collasped it's a little bigger than the bottom teir of a normal sized bento. You then unfold the sides up, and inside each corner is a ridge where you snap the box together. I tried taking a picture so you could see how it snaps together. Once it's expanded it's a little larger than my urura box.

Putting pictures up behind the break so it's not so time consuming to upload!

Random bento tools that I have collected over the past few months. Cutters, egg molds, picks, nori punch...Love those little sauce containers! All my silicone and paper cups. Just got a few today actually. The cat shaped ones, and the pastel small cups. I also got two large orange and green cups that have little animals on the sides. They are so cute you can even see the little tail on it! Hope everyone is having a great night! There will be bento food tomorrow!

Snow and penguins?

2010-01-30T13:43:00.001-05:00

So, since I've been seeing a bunch of penguins around I decided to jump on the bandwagon. We have a larger penguin made from bread, nori, carrot beak and bologna and swiss inside, The little baby pengu is made from a dried prune, leftover swiss and carrot beak. There is dried apples, carrots, banana chips, black berries, and grapes filling in everything else. I surely felt like a penguin coming in from playing with the dog outside in the 6 inches of snow (and still coming) She had so much fun in the snow. Hope you all are having a warm, and wonderful saturday!

Please excuse my terrible southern accent, and my goofy voice talking to the dog.

Waiting on the snow bento

2010-01-29T23:04:00.000-05:00

Well, while the whole town was buzzing about our expecting snow storm I unwillingly drug myself to work. I knew it would be a long slow day at the salon so I packed a snack also to ward off any snicker bar temptation. No one seems to know what to do when they call for snow except fill their grocery carts full of milk, bread, and eggs and rush the pumps for gasoline at the last minute. Luckily I was ahead of the curve and did my shopping earlier this week. As we speak the snow is drifting down quite swiftly and my yard is covered in a soft white sprinkle of fluffy snow. So! onto the the food shall we? Black berries, grapes, carrots, dried apples and banana chips were the raw fruits and veggies I packed. I also threw in some ham and swiss cheese rolls and cooked up some edamame, potatoes, and shrimp in olive oil with abit of sea salt. Nothing fancy, but delicious on a cold day. In the snack is more banana chips, and two clementines. Hope everyone is having a great night, and I will see you all tomorrow with pictures of the snow.

attempted egg sheet fail!

2010-01-28T13:59:00.000-05:00

Well today I was attempting to make an eggsheet in the mircowave...and it turned out terrible. I think maybe because the plate got stuck at one point it made the edges bubble up and out and the center was almost completely void of egg. So I rolled it up and tucked it shamefully in the corner of my bento. Also packed in some bacon chedder chicken paninis, dried plums and apples, and edamame. The bottom teir has obviously baby carrots, black berries, and grapes. I finally restocked my fridge and cabinets mainly because of the storm they are calling for in my area tomorrow ( 6-12 inches of snow!) That's a lot for my area and I'm sure we will be off work if we do actually get any accumalation. So I may be making some snow day bento! Hope everyones having a great wenesday!

Bought bento lunch

2010-01-27T17:19:00.003-05:00

This was the lunch I bought from our local asian eatery! I thought for 5.50$ I would get a nice compact bento sized lunch. I am afraid they sent a picnic bento haha. It was aloot of food for one person. I was abit dissapointed in the Salmon rolls, they were not rolled very good and the rice was just plain steamed white rice =( but all in all it was really great. It came with egg drop soup, 6 salmon rolls, spring roll with carrot underneath, pad thai noodles (don't you love that great pink color?) and some more rice. Took half of it home and will eat it for dinner tonight! Hope you're all having a great week!

The bento that started it all....

2010-01-26T08:35:00.001-05:00

This box was the original reason I ever got into bento! I saw it online one day and thinking it was so adorable I had to order it right away! Those cute little strawberries inspired my whole new addiction. I actually got my blue urura box first (I think that was just shipping issues) but I thought that bento was small. You should have seen the look on my face when this one came in! It's actually alot smaller than my other bento. Both of these teirs fit down inside the smaller teir of my Urura and other boxes. I'm guessing it's more for children, but If I pack something hearty in it it keeps me full all day.

So we have chicken nuggets with a ham flower cut outs, baybel light garlic cheese, barbeque sauce in the cup, mixed berries, brocolli, corn and tomatoes. Hope everyone is having a great day!

Pb&j bento

2010-01-25T09:16:00.000-05:00

Not one of my typical bentos. I'm not a big bread fan, but I was craving a simple pb&j. I couldn't find any of my cutters that were big enough for a sandwhich that would fit in the box, so I just used the actual box for a cutter. Tossed in some strawberry applesauce with walnuts and dried fruit around the sides. The brussel sprouts were cooked in abit of bacon, so the crumbles are tossed in with them and the broccoli. I also threw in a few baby carrots.

I normally am fine with out a snack, but I worked a long shift yesterday so I threw a quick salad with tomatoes, walnuts, romaine, and avacado and some ranch in the cup.

No bento, but a game!

2010-01-24T10:01:00.001-05:00

Found this super cute game on the internet. It is really addictive so beware! It will open in this window, but try opening it in a seperate window so you can get the full screen.

Chicken nugget lunch

2010-01-22T14:52:00.000-05:00

Boring chicken nugget bento, but it was nice and comforting on a cold day. I attemtped to make some of those flowers out of meats, but it was a huge fail! Also had some edamame, tomatoes, dried apricots, cheese, cherries and carrots with ranch! Hope everyone is having a great week!

California rolls.

2010-01-17T18:50:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posts. I was terribly ill yesterday I'm guessing I got a stomach bug off my sick goddaughter earlier this week. So for lunch today even though I am home I decided to make a bento to share with everyone. We have california rolls again, string cheese, soy sauce, brussel sprouts, carrot chips, cherries a mini jelly sandwhich ( I needed something sweet!) and some light ranch in the cup. Not anything fancy, but definitaly yummy. I can't decide weather or not I like the more elegant style bento or the cute style. I boderline on both I guess. I really like the cute elements, but than again the nice neat elegant bento really appeal to me. I guess I will just have to mix it up. Sorry there hasn't been much variety lately. Since Hubs can't eat raw fruit and veggies I try to buy things that I can use before they go bad. I had gotten some mung bean sprouts, but they spent two days in my refridgorator and turned into mush. I don't know why they went bad so fast. Is that normal? Hope you guys are having a great weekend!

5 Minute sushi bento.

2010-01-14T22:47:00.000-05:00

Applause is in order for this amazing feat. I managed to whip up a bento in 5 minutes while changing clothes, brushing my teeth and getting myself together for work. Spent the morning again at the hospital. Baby was discharged Thanks for the get well wishes. Came home to change and wasn't going to make a bento but I was up to the challenge. So here we have the 5 minute sushi. Not the best filled box ever, but cut me some slack it only took five minutes.

There is california rolls made from precooked than frozen rice. I really like to cook a batch for the week, wrap it up in saran wrap while it's still warm and freeze it. Two minutes in the microwave bring it right back to life. Some cherries, string cheese, carrots, edamame, and ranch are hanging out in the rest of the lunch. I do like edamame, but if I eat too many beans they start to taste a little weird so I am working myself into them slowly.

Thanks Angi for the award!

Angi over at Bento Junkie left me this award. It says list 10 things that make you happy, than pass it on to 10 blogs that make your day!

My hubs makes me breakfast almost everyday!
Talking to my mom.
Cooking anything new
Jack Johnson's music.
Fuzzy socks
New bento boxes (Duh!)
My family get togethers
Having good health
My amazing friends
Warm towels

Now for 10 blogs! (in no particular order.)

New2Bento
lilys kleiner bentoservice
lian mama bento
I am running out of blogsss... So I will edit this later! Most blogs have been tagged by this award already :P! Hope everyone has a great night, and keep the people of Haiti in your thoughts.

Salmon Lunch bento

2010-01-13T21:19:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of updates, I have had a crazy schedule the past couple of days. This was a rushed lunch bento. I spent all morning in the hospital with a sick baby (My goddaughter) and her mother. I dropped by the house to throw this together before work. We have Salmon, and broccoli in the top teir. Edamame, carrot chips, ranch and cherries! It was super yummy. The Salmon was awesome! I let it marinade overnight in olive oil, white vinegar, garlic and some McCormick all purpose seasoning. Then let it roast in the oven for about an hour. Hope everyone is having a great week!

Lunch bento 1.9.10

2010-01-10T11:16:00.001-05:00

lunch bento with brocolli,shrimp,cheese, wontons, edamame, and corn.

sushi lunch (yes you can be jealous =p)

2010-01-07T12:26:00.000-05:00

As promised, here is my lunch of the day! I am pretty proud of how this came out, I really like how it all came together. So here are way to many photos!

Smoked salmon, shrimp (prawns) and my ice cube tray molded rice

My poor fishy...He gave me the stink eye the whole time I made lunch.

Done sushi. Okay...The shrimp went nuts. I couldn't get the bend out of them so they wouldn't lay nice and flat...the first one was too far gone lol.

And finally the finished product. Top teir has my smoked salmon sushi and lone shrimp sushi (or sashami? i have no idea what the difference is.) Corn, and edamame. Bottom teir has carrot flowers, corn, apple bunnies and mixed dried fruit. Hope everyone has a great day!

ATTN: TOFU EATERS

2010-01-07T09:40:00.000-05:00

I need your help! I have tried several different ways to eat tofu, and I just cannot do it. I am not trying to go vegeterian or anything, but rather introduce some healthier protien into my meal. Tofu is just yuck to put it bluntly. So, I was wondering if you any of you had any recipies or ways to fix tofu in your favorite fashion so I can try it. I would appreciate any help/links/recipies etc! Lunch post following shortly.

Bento on Good morning america featured on Yahoo!'s front page news

2010-01-06T08:19:00.000-05:00

School%20Lunch%20Masterpieces%20-%20ABC%20News

Just thought I'd share this with everyone. It was featured on Yahoo!'s front page today. Congrats to Kai!

Comfort foods

2010-01-02T18:12:00.001-05:00

Chicken nugget, mac n cheese, brocolli, and corn. Comfort food on a cold day!

I'm back!

2010-01-01T20:30:00.000-05:00

I missed you all! Sorry the holidays had me on a slight break, but I am back and with new bento gear! Hope everyone had a great new year. Two lunch bentos first, than some of my new stuff!

We have miso soup in the small container, terryiake tofu, shrimp and some stir fry noodles. The top teir has dried apricots, carrot chips, apple wedges, and some garlic and herb cheese. I also found some soy bean edamame? and ranch in the cup.

Bento for today. Edamame, crab rangoons, and some shrimp on skewers. Bottom teir has fruit cocktail, apple wedges, and a cheese. Boring, but light and tasty after the heavy eating holidays.

My new bento boxes! They came in a set of three with matching belts.

I got this bag to go with my bunny bento, and it's the perfect size for a bento and a bottle of water.

Mini forks and spoons. I am in love! I am super clumsy with chopsticks and these are small enough to fit right down into the bento.

Then I got this as a free gift with my purchase and I adore this little container. I've been taking my oatmeal breakfast with me in it along with fruits and things. The air tight lid is great for messy foods.

Anyone set any new years resolutions? I decided that I am going to try to be a dedicated blogger, and post hopefully 5 days a week at least. Please forgive me if I don't, to err is only human. ;P See you all tomorrow!

More leftover!?!

2009-12-05T21:31:00.000-05:00

More left overs! Hah. It's so easy to throw in a bento. Sorry no cute bentos, but I promise I will take the time on a cute one soon!

Turkey update, and leftover bento!

2009-12-03T21:50:00.000-05:00

know it isn't thanksgiving, or christmas. So most of you are wondering, "Why roast a turkey on a random thursday?" Well, because it's almost friday and I didn't want to make a turkey catastophe public to my family if possible. However this was a meal to be very proud of. It came out fabulous. I never realized turkey wasn't soposed to be a dry tasteless bird. I was in love with turkey all over again after the first bite!

My beautiful brown turkey! It got a little too dark in some places but it was sooo good.

Okay, for some people this might be gross. That is a turkey neck in potatoes and carrots. It turned out fabuloso. I used just a little bit of turkey drippings from the pan to give it some seasoning. And cooked it for a good two hours in my le crueset (love these pans) and it was fall apart potato goodness.

And last but not least, the leftovers bento! We will be eating turkey for awhile after this. But I have a big slice of turkey underneath carrots, stuffing and potatoes. Kiwi, oranges, and concord grapes. Note: Concord grapes are heavenly. This was my first time getting my hands on some. They are not like any other grape I have ever had. You peel away the skin and get a dark purple outer layer that melts away, then a tangy center almost like a jelly ball of goodness. I don't know if they are that easy to come by, or if i just overlooked them before but they are well worth the price.

The smells in my kitchen.

2009-12-03T14:44:00.000-05:00

Not exactly a bento! But, I was off today so I decided to finally get around to attempting a few different things in the kitchen. I will definitly post pictures of the finished products but for now here are some starters.

Candied Lemons:

I got this recipie from Martha Stewart!

It only takes 1 lemon, 1 cup of sugar, and a cup of water.

My first ever turkey:

Now this isn't finished yet, but this was my first attempt at roasting a turkey. I put stove top stuffing up it's hieney, rubbed it with savory 5 season blend and garlic. I also injected it with a garlic and butter sauce.

My kitchen smells heavenly right now. Between the turkey and the sweet smell of lemons it's damn near mouth watering. I will be sure to post up the finished products. I plan on dipping the lemons partially in chocolate. I am testing them out first before I make a huge batch as christmas candies to give out!

Oranges, apricots, and carrots oh my!

2009-12-01T20:29:00.000-05:00

Was in an orange mood apparently today! Had to break up the color with a green pepper. Stir fry in the bottom tier with corn and red pepper. Oranges and apricot rows, carrots and weiner blossoms.

P.S.

My Blog list isn't updating everyone anymore. Any ideas why, and how I can fix this?

More bento tools!

2009-11-29T11:47:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of real posts lately. I promise I will get back on track soon. The holidays keep me busy at work, and home. I wanted to share these few things hubs found for me at our local hobby store! They are little metal cutters, and they are perfect for bento! They come with three different sizes and I think they were only 1$ and some change.

I also found this super cute bento box on ebay and I am dying to have it! Anyone know anywhere else I could buy it? I think it is super cute.

Also a quick link to a recipie I used on thanksgiving. It was fabulous! brussel sprouts! They turned out so amazing! Not the healthiest with the bacon and cream, but they tasted wonderful.

bento to go

2009-11-28T14:28:00.001-05:00

sorry bento on the go. I am out of fruit so i just mashed things together. Pasta salad with peas, stir fry, fruit salad, bell pepper and onigiri head it looks like a mummy?

It's my party and ill cry if i want too

2009-11-27T15:33:00.001-05:00

Its my birthday! Hubs made me an orange cake with cream cheese icing. It is delicioso!

Sorry for the break!

2009-11-23T18:37:00.000-05:00

Sorry I have been M.I.A for about a week. The xbox 360 has been consuming most of my time. I have been nerding. I got an award!!! Thanks Angi @ Bento Junkie. I promise there will be bento tomorrow!

The rules are to state 7 things about yourself and then to pass this on to 7 other bloggers.

I live in Southern Virginia
I am a cosmotologist
I have a dog, and 2 ferrets
My hubs is my high school sweetie
I really don't care if it's organic (I know thats terrible)
I love butter
I went to boarding school!

Since most of the other blogs have been tagged I promise to put a list up soon!

Leftover breakfast bento

2009-11-17T11:47:00.000-05:00

Leftover breakfast made into a bunny! Took hot scrambled eggs wrapped them up in cling wrap and rolled it into a tight ball and set in cold water until it was cool. Bacon ears, leftover potato cut out over some spicy hash browns, with three wiener blossoms. On the other side we have corn, grapes, and star fruit over baby bananas. Sorry there was no post yesterday! I was reading and lost track of time.

cat bento!

2009-11-15T12:17:00.000-05:00

Bento today! Headed off to work ina bit so made myself some quick lunch. We have chicken, peas, corn and ocotodogs in savory all purpose seasonings quickly steamed in a pot. Then We have a cat, with cheese mouth, eyes,whiskers, and cucumber ears. Grape "bubbles" with orange slices underneath. Then three cucumber and crabmeat skewers with the leftover cheese rolled up under there!

No bento

2009-11-14T19:54:00.001-05:00

No bento today, the inlaws are in and i've been working all weekend. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

2009-11-13T20:24:00.001-05:00

new holiday bento picks! Sorry no bento today but at least I managed an update :p

Salad bento

2009-11-12T10:16:00.000-05:00

Today we have baby spinach, imitation crab, cucumbers, ranch dressing in the sauce cup, baby bananas and star fruit. The bottom teir has a crabmeat rangoon, cheese, onigiri (which i painted with my new food coloring pens!) grapes, and spinach.

recipies

2009-11-11T20:07:00.000-05:00

Just two recipies of the things I made myself today. Sorry no bento, but I was exhausted this morning. I think I am finally catching a cold.

Crabmeat Rangoon:

This is my form of crabmeat rangoon. It's not the healthiest thing in the world, but if you bake them I don't think they would be to bad.

You will need the following: Crabmeat, plain cream cheese or cream cheese spread, soy sauce, spring onion (optional), and wonton wrappers.

Take the cream cheese let it meet room temperature then put it into a mixing bowl. Add a dash of soy sauce, and onion to your taste. I like mine with alot of crab meat so if I use imitation be sure to flake it well. Mix everything together in your bowl until it is all blended well. Next get your wontons cradle them into your palm and use a spoon to put about a medium sized dallop of mixture into your wonton. Close them up by either folding in half or bringing the corners together. Now you can either bake them in the oven until the wontons are brown and crispy or drop them into hot oil until you get a nice cripsy shell. Enjoy!

Mix Seafood stirfry:

Something I came up with today. I've always seen those "mixed seafood" packages in the grocery store with squid, octopus, shrimp, and sirimi (imitation crab looking fish). Today I finally decided to buy some and try it out. This recipie is totally impomptu, but it turned out delicious. You are more than welcome to alter it an any form, and I hope you try it out! You will need: Peas, orange pepper, cabbage,onion,carrots,yellow corn,asparagus,mixed seafood, stir fry noodles, terriyake, and oyster sauce.

Start by boiling water for your noodles. Take all your vegetables and combine them in a large skillet or wok. Add a little water to the bottom and butter or any kind of oil you like and let them steam for abit on medium heat. When the cabbage starts getting limp take your vegetables and pour them out into a large pan or bowl. The noodles only take about 5 minutes to boil, so when they are done add them into your hot skillet with some oil and abit of oyster sauce I only use alittle to flavor the noodles. Add the noodles to your pan of vegetables, and stir. Now, take your mixed seafood and add to the hot skillet with a little bit of butter and terriyake sauce. Mine was already cooked, but I let them simmer for a few minutes. Add the seafood to your noodles and vegetables and you have a pretty tasty meal with lots of vegetables.

Not the prettiest thing in the world but it was super delicious on this cold rainy day. I also packed it up and froze it like i do my rice in cling wrap. I'm hoping it reheats like rice that way I have a freezer stash of something different. Promise there will be bento tomorrow!

Peaks of Otter Winery

2009-11-10T12:27:00.000-05:00

So I really wanted to share my trip to the winery with everyone, so on my day off I have finally got enough time to sit down and go over all the details. First a big thanks to the folks at Peaks of Otter Winery/Johnson's Orchard for having such a lovely farm, and some of the best wine i've tried. Hubs and I went on a day trip up to the peaks of otter, and decided to stop by the winery on the way out just to check it out. We didn't realize what a treat we would stumble upon. Pulling up into the gravel driveway the first thing you see is a huge statue of johnny appleseed, several signs stating it is a working farm, (one saying "If it has feet it kicks" my favorite) It is definitley an authtentic experience. Then you go into a building much like a barn, I think it was a packhouse if I'm not mistaken. There are huge crates of fresh picked apples, rows and rows of jams, jellies, and apple butters and wines. We took a few minutes to pick out several apples which you can either pick fresh off the branch, or out of the crates.
Than we moved onto the wine tasting which was full of surprises. Now, I've been to a wine tasting before but never have I gotten to try so many different ones. Their selection is wonderful, and the spicy chili wines are something out of this world. We ended up tasting 30 different wines, all right from the farm. I have to say the "sweet heart" and "blueberry muffin" wine are my absolute favorites. I am a sucker for a sweet wine. Hubs tried "Kiss of the Devil", a 30 different chili wine that turned his whole face red! Hah! I wasn't up for it, but we did get a bottle to take home and cook with. We actually ended up with 8 bottles, but for a little over 100$ It wasn't a bad deal at all. There was also a few other wines that were different like the "what a tomato" an apple tomato wine that was abit to sour for my taste but different with a summery tomato taste.
Leaving, we gave the small white jack russel roaming about a pat. Loaded up our goodies and rode back through the beautiful scenery of the mountains to our cozy little home. It was a great time. I would have loved to wandered about the orchard abit but we were pressed for time. Our next trip is already planned sometime before christmas holiday so we can get a few more bottles of wine as presents this year. I will also be sure to make note when I use the spicy wine in cooking so you can all be jealous of my local find :P!

Catipillar

2009-11-09T18:40:00.000-05:00

Bento for tomorrow! We have, chicken salad stuffed onigiri, leftover bbq wrapped up with abit of mayo, green beans, and weiner blossoms. In the bottom teir we have grapes, light garlic and herb cheese, checkered apple (my first!) and peas and carrots.

2009-11-08T21:23:00.000-05:00

We had a great trip today! Beautiful weather, scenery, and great wine at the orchard.

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Bee bento

2009-11-07T11:00:00.000-05:00

Quick bee bento for lunch today. We have tangerine, grape flower, onirigi bee with cheese and nori. The top teir has a chicken salad dino, green beans, weiners and a cheese. No bento tomorrow but, we are going to the Peaks of Otter orchad and winery so I will post pictures of our trip tomorrow night!

Crabs at the beach

2009-11-06T07:12:00.000-05:00

Bento of the day! Leftover crawfish claws, baybel cheese, corn and asparagus. I was going for a beach ball, but I'm not exactly sure if anyone else can see that lol. The bottom teir is tangerine, grapes, pomegranite, and swiss cake 100 calorie rolls.

Lions, bunnies, and bears?

2009-11-05T15:44:00.001-05:00

Lion and bunny bento! Top teir has, lion onigiri, green beans, large grapes, and some pomegranite. Bottom teir has asparagus nestled in stir fry noodles with oyster sauce, green peas, and carrots.

Oven baked salmon and asparagus rolls

2009-11-04T07:33:00.000-05:00

So today we have carrots, yogurt with dried mixed berries, cheese, and two dogs. The top teir has 3 salmon and asapargus with mayo and mustard sauce, some extra asparagus, and large dark grapes. Yum!

Bento for today!

2009-11-03T08:03:00.000-05:00

Pretty boring lunch today :P but Im trying to post once a day. Some small chicken salad sandwhiches, ninjadogs, and potatoes. Top teir has brown rice and "happy" tacos. The pink is my new bento box, which I will post better pictures of later.

Lunch from thursday!

2009-11-02T20:35:00.000-05:00

Sorry no posts lately! Busy with the halloween holiday coming and going. Here's a bento from thursday I think :P and I promise pictures tomorrow of my new bento stuff!

Salmon with vinegar and oil sauce, pasta salad, brown rice, carrots, and dried mixed berries. Boring but I promise some cuteness tomorrow!

CONTEST!

I will have a contest if I can get at least 10 comments from different people on this post. So if you are lurking, please just say hi!

Cute yummy time!

2009-10-29T13:01:00.000-04:00

So today is just full of posts! My Cute Yummy Time book arrived today that I won from Jacki's Bento Blog! Review will come soon and hopefully some super cute bento! Thank you Jacki and La Carmina!

Bento of the day!

2009-10-29T12:45:00.000-04:00

The reason I took a photo of my plate is to prove that there is alot of food going into these! We have salmon, brown rice, tortellini, peppers, rice and lima beans, rasberries and cheese. Sorry about the blurry photos, it was taken on my cell phone. Thats also why there is a weird icon on there....I was being lazy and saved it :P

Contest?

2009-10-29T10:30:00.000-04:00

Sorry no posties for the past few days, life is hectic but there will be one tonight, promise! I am thinking about doing a contest! But, I do want to be sure there are enough participants. So, I'm not sure what/how to do this contest so any ideas would be great! I am planning on having a bento set as the prize and you get to choose between :

I think they are nice prizes! So as soon as I get an idea for a contest it will be on!

Bento of the day!

2009-10-24T09:16:00.000-04:00

Thrown together super fast so excuse the lack of lettuce bedding. Top teir has two hand shaped brown rice onigiri. A cocktail weiner, two mini quiches halfed, a potatoe slice with bologna in the midde and that red thing is the cut out from my cheese. Just needed a pop of color! The bottom has salmon salad, potatoes and carrots, rasberries, and a cheese wheel.

New stuff!

2009-10-23T22:01:00.000-04:00

Got a few new things in the mail today! A set of 24 plastic coated cups, super cute baran, a nori punch (finally i can make cute faces!) and vegetable cutters. I ordered it Wenesday thinking it wouldn't get here until at least next week but I had a pleasant surprise finding it in my mail box today! Thanks to the guys over at All Things For Sale I am super estatic it came so early and they have great priced bento box sets everyone should definatly check them out.

Bento of the day!

2009-10-22T20:43:00.000-04:00

Bento of the day!

In the top picture, we have onigiri made of brown rice, salmon salad, tomotoes, and ninja octo dogs! The bottom picture there is a boiled egg, bell pepper slices, garlic and herb cheese, dried fruit mix and hiding under there is a 100 calorie cupcake. There are three in a pack so i'm guessing 30 something calories a peice. Have a great night!

Great Bento videos!

2009-10-22T12:33:00.000-04:00

Couple of cute videos I thought I would share with everyone!

Sorry about the delay!

2009-10-21T06:37:00.000-04:00

Sorry I dropped off the face of the interwebs! My internet went out, and I have been desperately trying to get it back on. So finally on with the bento!

Top teir Bottom teir

So in the top we have two tex-mex mac n cheese with beef stuffed peppers. They do have faces but the sun isn't up yet so the flash kind of kills them =/. There is also a fruit salad with baby bananas and a mixture of dried cherries, blue berries, and cranberries. Two small sausages, grape tomatoes, and pumpkin seeds. On the bottom teir we have brown rice with lima beans and corn mixed in a spam heart on top and a few bits spread around. Rasberries, cheese, and a spinach mini quishe.

I also came across a few cute things at the grocery store that fit perfectly into bento boxes. Those 100 calorie packs of cupcakes, and etc. They are absolutely tiny! But they are the perfect size for bento. I'll be sure to point them out when I use them.

My bento arrived!!!

2009-10-01T16:39:00.000-04:00

A box! For me?

OMG! =^.^= It's here!

celebratory bento for tomorrow!

top teir ^ bottom teir v

WOW talk about i was in shock about how small everything was! That onigiri mold is so tiny! I have way more respect for awesome bentors now. So on the top we have succotash in the heart cup, tri colored grapes with the balloon end picks, my new heart shape egg molded egg(it was a terrible attempt i lack patience and took it out to early)and a small star onigiri with cheese. On the bottom we have a bear and bunny onigiri cheese and turkey rolls, goldfish tomatoes and a musubi? musabi? Whatever that spam and rice thing is haha, and a little bottle of sauce hanging out.

California roll bento!

2009-10-01T13:46:00.001-04:00

Just pictures of making the rolls what you need, and then finally the bento!

nori and water, the water helps to seal off the end of the roll

crab meat stick individually wrapped

cucumber and an avacado

of course in between these two shots i've obviously washed, cut and prepped my area.

Than you spread a thin layer of rice down leave a little room on the end

so it doesn't end up squishing out.

Then just fill and roll up tightly

I like mine cold and refridgorated. So i popped mine in the fridge overnight

cut them this morning and threw them into the box with tri colored grapes and grape tomatoes!

California rolls

2009-09-30T23:08:00.001-04:00

So after locking my keys inside of my workplace, and having to wait 35 minutes for anyone to come let me in...I made it home and cooked supper. I also managed to make a few rolls of california rolls to take for lunch with me tomorrow! So, since i'm having a terrible night I am not risking putting my SD card in my computer. You will have to wait until the morning to see my (not so) lovely california rolls with a sort of step by step photo process. Have a great night everyone!

ice cube tray onigiri shaper in action!

2009-09-30T12:42:00.000-04:00

I promised to post some pictures of how the ice cube tray onigiri came out so here they are with step by step photos! My flash was abit of an overkill but i hope the photos look okay.

First I sprayed my tray with some oil

all nice and oiled

(if you look closely you can see my penguin tray in the background)

Fill the tray up with short grain rice from my rice cooker

pop in the freezer for just a minute to let them cool down

and voila! blossom/rounded star shaped onigiri!

the flash killed this picture, my apologies

and the onigiri in action along with my first bento!

This is the bob the builder box i found yesterday at the dollar store, with a silicone pinch bowl from the dreaded wal mart. I threw this together rather quickly just to show the onigiri off. So please excuse my terrible knife work on that tulip weiner

Bento boxes?

2009-09-30T11:35:00.000-04:00

size reference, its a half slice of bread

I found these yesterday at my dollar store (i am a dollar store junkie) and commented over at Hapa Bento about local items found for bento. I wasn't sure if they would be considered a bento box, or tuberware but they are cute nonetheless. So of course I have photos! If anyone would like these i would be more than happy to go get more, and ship them to you for price+shipping of course. Just leave me an e-mail or comment and let me know. All of these 550ml, freezer and microwave safe

Bento things found in local stores

2009-09-29T16:35:00.004-04:00

These a few things i have found in local stores in my small town. I will post pictures of them actually in use with step by step photos as soon as possible.

I have an ice cube tray with blossoms, a heart shaped sandwhich cutter, two pinch bowls, and three egg/pancake shapers. Everything is silicone execpt for the sandwhich cutter.

This is just a close up of the ice cube tray. It has amazing detail to just be from a simple dollar store. Im hoping to use them for gelatin, and try mini onigiri in them. I have been collecting them for about a year with each season so i have hearts, skulls and pumpkins, beach balls, crabs, flamingos, penguins, and tons of others. They are silicone so im hoping it will be easy to get onigiri out of them. Pictures as soon as I use them!

I have also seen things that i think might work similiar to certian bento specific items. Like a butter spreader, for making cubed onigiri. Anyone ever tried that, or have any other tricks and tips?

Bento Tools

2009-09-25T11:16:00.001-04:00

The all important Bento box itself

Veggie picks in super cute shapes
Spice containers

Sauce containers

Another sauce container

Egg shapers

Onigiri shaper

These are just pretty basic items that will help add to the super cuteness of my bento meals. I ordered them all from the same site, and at great prices. The bento with the bag, chopsticks and band was only 13.99$ I haven't been able to find any online for less than that. The other small things were no more than 3.50$ a peice. You can find them all @ http://www.allthingsforsale.com<>

Introduction

2009-09-25T10:56:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone!
Just a little bit of an introduction to my new blog that way if you've stumbled here by mistake you will not be but so lost. I have a new found obsession for bento lunches. They are cutest things i have ever seen. I have just ordered several things and impatiently waiting for them to get here. I know there are a lot of bento junkies out on the web, and so I've decided to track my bento experience online. I'll be uploading photos and all that good stuff as soon as everything arrives. Hopefully I can get some feedback and start a little community of bento beginners like myself ^^