Kabocha Somen and Miso Soup with Wakame

Sean has been under the weather these past few days and his appetite has been suffering as a result. He likes soup, so I made him miso soup that has a combination of red and white miso with tofu, green onions, and a lot of wakame. I also made him somen which is actually made with pumpkin giving it a neat yellow color, though it has very little pumpkin flavor. As a last minute addition I added in a fried fish cake ball and decorated it to look like a mini pumpkin.

Candy Corn Bento with Sesame Chicken

Today’s lunch is the last Halloween bento post because Paige has a class potluck tomorrow. I asked Paige for suggestions for her bento today and she came up with candy corn! As a kid, candy corn was the one candy at Halloween that I really didn’t like and would gladly give it away. I loved (and still love) anything chocolate although my favorite as a kid was Snow Caps. Little drops of chocolate goodness with white nonpareils stuck to the tops. Yum!

The candy corn is made from kamaboko which I cut using an egg shaped cookie cutter. I pressed the sides of the cutter in to make it narrower giving it the candy corn shape. I sprayed the bottom of candy corn with yellow Color Mist and then cut a thin strip of kamaboko for the center and sprayed that orange. Finally I finished it with eyes and mouths cut from nori.

Hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween!

Turkey and Mozzarella Panini Bento

Paige’s lunch today was quick and easy. I made a turkey and mozzarella sandwich and grilled it on our panini press. Before packing the sandwich, I cooled it off on a small rack so that it wouldn’t get soggy from any condensation. I also packed Paige a peach fruit cup and a small bag of mini oreos.

Tortellini with Marinara Sauce and Pumpkin Garlic Bread

I went to Costco this weekend so we are now well stocked with our usual purchases like tortellini, rotisserie chicken, and of course toilet paper. Paige requested (one of her favorites) tortellini with marinara sauce for lunch today. I also made her pumpkin shaped garlic bread with eyes and a mouth cut from cheddar cheese and filled the other container with grapes and a few veggies. Hope you all had a restful weekend!

Trick-or-Treaters Bento

Last week I made Max, the King of all Wild Things, and I thought that I would use the same idea to make kids with bear costumes for a Halloween themed bento. The bear costume is made from an egg sheet and the faces are cut from bologna. I also made a small pumpkin patch below the trick-or-treaters with carrots and thyme (for the vine). I also cut out a few pumpkin shaped carrots. Paige requested the same lunch of chicken katsu and homemade bacon, which was great because the katsu was already prepped. I just had to pull a few pieces from the freezer last night to thaw, so that I could cook it this morning.

Here is the recipe for the Chicken Katsu Bites:

8 boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into 2 inch chunks

Garlic salt and pepper to taste

1 cup flour

3 eggs

1 tablespoon water

1 teaspoon sugar

3 cups panko + more for packing

Oil for frying

Pat chicken dry with a paper towel, then season with garlic salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken in the flour and shake off the excess. Beat the egg with the water and sugar to make an egg wash. Then dredge the floured chicken in the egg wash and then liberally coat with panko. Deep fry until golden and cooked through.

To freeze, line a container with a thin layer of panko. Place uncooked breaded chicken in the container in a single layer. Sprinkle with another thin layer of panko and place another layer of chicken on top. Repeat process, cover, then freeze until needed.

Paige likes a ketchup sauce with it and the recipe is as follows:

1 cup ketchup

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/8 teaspoon pepper

For those interested in the homemade bacon recipe, Dan said that he got it from the L.A. Times letter, The recipe for maple-cured smoked bacon. Dan uses Grade B maple syrup for the recipe and during the smoking process, he uses a kamado oven and wood chips which adds to the flavor of the bacon. I am definitely going to try out the recipe using Dan’s tips. I have an ancient kamado oven, which looks nothing like the picture on the kamado link, but it still works great! The recipe also gives instruction on making it in an oven if you don’t have a smoker. Thanks Dan for the link and your tips.

Chicks with Chicken Katsu Bites and Homemade Bacon

Whenever I make chicken katsu, I always make a lot and freeze most of it (breaded and uncooked). That way when I want to make chicken katsu, all I have to do is pull it from the freezer the night before and it will be ready to go the next day. Just remember that if you freeze the chicken katsu, pack extra panko in between each layer and it will absorb all of the moisture ensuring that when you do cook the katsu, the breading will be crispy. With this batch, I cut the chicken into small chunks (the size of chicken nuggets) and and then breaded it so that it would be easier for me to pack it into Paige’s bento.

Our good friend Dan, gave us some delicious bacon that he made himself. Our family absolutely loves it and I have to be the “bacon keeper” so that they won’t eat it all in one sitting. Paige got a bonus in her bento today, a couple of slices of Uncle Dan’s homemade bacon and she was thrilled. I also have to add that Paige is not a bacon eater, but she absolutely loves Uncle Dan’s one. However, I am sad to say that our homemade bacon supply is running low (hint, hint).

Flowers with BBQ Chicken Bento

Paige’s bento today consists of rice, flowers made from egg sheets and kamaboko, sliced bbq chicken and a few veggies. I have been using the egg sheets quite a bit because they are such a versatile medium as well as easy to make. I’ve been a big fan of simple these past few weeks and I think it shows in my bentos.

However, I did have an idea for an easy Halloween bento. I came up with the idea this morning after I made Paige her lunch so I just used the same bento. I made the ghost’s eyes with the egg sheet and nori for the eyes and mouth. It was quick and easy!

Car PBJ Sandwich

I try to make Sean a bento once a week because he gets such a kick out of having a lunch just like Paige. Today I made him a PBJ sandwich using the sandwich mold that I used to make a similar sandwich for a field trip that Paige went on. To make the impression of the car, I used only the right side to the mold (pictured below) which is just like the ones I used for the bus and boat sandwiches from a previous entry.

Sean says- Thank you Grandma for the Handy Manny bento box!

Max, the King of all Wild Things, Bento

Paige asked for a Where the Wild Things Are bento because she saw Anna the Red’s amazing bento tribute. If you haven’t seen it yet, you have to check it out because it is truly a work of art and looks yummy to eat! I told Paige that I could probably manage to make a version of Max, but the rest would be way too difficult for me to do. I was pleased that Paige was very happy to see her Max bento this morning. Paige’s bento included cold udon with mochiko chicken and julienned carrots and cucumbers. Have a great weekend!

Bears with Mochiko Chicken Bento

It’s been a crazy morning for me already. First of all, our ice machine is making hollow ice cubes and is slowly dripping water to form a huge iceberg in the ice tray. Then when I pulled out the bowl of chicken in marinade, that I was going to cook for Paige’s lunch, I accidently overturned it. The bowl was still covered with plastic wrap, which luckily kept the chicken contained, however much of the marinade leaked out in the fridge. Yuck, raw chicken marinade. Then I left the house this morning in a scramble because we were running late and our car alarm went off when I opened the doors. Of course it would happen that I couldn’t shut it off because the button on the alarm’s remote was hopelessly stuck and had to run back in the house to look for the spare one, which BTW I couldn’t find. By the time I returned the alarm thankfully went off, but I still couldn’t open the doors without setting the alarm off again. By this point I was laughing at all of the craziness, said a prayer, and when I pressed the remote again, the alarm obediently turned off. I guess we have those days once in a while.

Paige’s bento today included bears cut out from an egg sheet, mochiko chicken, a vegetable gyoza, and a few fruits and veggies. The noses and tummies of the bears are cut from fish sausage and I used a couple of crown picks for the top of their heads.