Kawaii Bento Boxes: Cute & Convenient Japanese Meals on the Go review

Kawaii Bento Boxes: Cute and Convenient Japanese Meals on the Go

The Onigiri above has an umeboshi inside (another had pickled ginger for Kat's friend - they needed a pre-shopping snack!), formed into a ball with hands wet with salt water placed on top of pink denbu, egg sheet cut with a flower cutter and edamame on plastic wrap, which was then wrapped around the rice ball so that the toppings were pressed onto the rice. 

You may choose to leave the plastic wrap around the onogiri until ready to eat so it stays moist.

She also made them tamagoyaki and threw on a couple edamame pods - What a treat for the eyes and tummy :)

Months ago I was sent a review copy of Kawaii Bento Boxes: Cute & Convenient Japanese Meals on the Go -- I am finally getting around to reviewing it, with the help of my daughter, Kat, who made the Onigiri pictured here. As you can see from the cover of Kawaii Bento Boxes, she has been inspired by the Onigiri in this book.

I think the cover represents what you'll find inside fairly well. There is no shortage of kawaii (Japanese for cute) bento in the book, but there are also simpler bento and even speed bento.

I want to show you just a few pages from the book so you can see what it looks like and get a feel for what it has to offer.  A few more pages can be seen on Amazon.com.

This shows the page with the onigiri Kat's was based on, packed into a bento, still wrapped in plastic wrap.

These pages have some very cute onigiri ideas - two of which Kat has used already - the boy and girl and the panda.  It really makes me wish Rob would like onigiri in his bento - so adorable!  One of these days I may just have to sneak a small onigiri into his bento - hehe :)

Here we have snipets of pages dedicated to giving you some ideas for bento foods to help you get those 5 colors into the box.  There are 2 pages for each color shown above.  I think this could be useful especially to newer bento packers :)

Now tell me the pages above don't make you just squee ;)  The cuteness continues on the next 2 pages.  Plus all the other cute ideas throughout the book.

While the bento I pack are filled with predominantly typical American lunch foods, you may have noticed that I slip in Japanese ingredients here and there.  If you don't have an Asian grocery in your area, some of the things in this book may be difficult for you to locate.  Some are available online, some may not be.

Another reviewer, Pikko over at http://adventuresinbentomaking.com/ pointed out that the musubi in the book is shown with uncooked spam (though it is fully cooked in the can) and found this unappetizing, as you would never actually see it that way in Hawaii.

(Note: I read her review back in Aug/Sept when the book was about to be released - I have not re-read the review so that I would not be overly influenced in writing this one - to read Pikko's review: http://www.aibento.net/2009/06/29/kawaii-bento-boxes-review/)

I was a little thrown myself by the Scotch Egg (using a cute little quail egg) in the book wrapped in ground beef - Being a Scottish family, we would have to use sausage! :)

I am also unsure of the times shown for the bento packing.  Perhaps it is accurate for a seasoned bento packer, but I feel for a novice, the times may be way off.  It seems cooking time may not have been included in the times for the box?  Perhaps the times shown are only for packing the bento.

The recipes Kat's tried have been simple enough and her results were good.

Overall, I really like the book and think it is well worth the $12.89 Amazon.com has it listed for (note: added Associate link for the book on Amazon.com, just in case you plan to purchase it anyway).  I'm not sure I would pay the $18.95 list price, but maybe I would, after all, I've paid more for a few of our bento boxes...

I included the picture above from a previous bento I packed simply because the radish carving was from this book.  And come on, isn't that bunny egg just adorable too? ;)

Happy Bento-ing!!

Homemade Macaroni Salad this time :)

My daughter's car has died, so I have therefore lost my personal grocery shopper :(  So, I decided to just make homemade macaroni salad.  I don't know that I have ever made it homemade before - If I have, it was many years ago. 

Now we get to try and figure out how to buy them a car to drive before classes begin on Jan 20 - fun, fun right after Christmas...

Anyway, the next post may be a few days - Rob will be working with other people and they will likely order or go out for lunch.

On New Years we drove up to Edgewater, NJ to Mitsuwa to catch the Mochi pounding demonstration.  It was crazy busy!  Couldn't see a thing :(  I think Kat saw a very little bit of it at least. 

The trip wasn't a loss though - never! lol  I was happy to find they had added some new Kamoboko and just couldn't resist the two pack of the flower bento I used in Rob's bento for today - Isn't it pretty!!??  I had intended to buy the naruto kamaboko, but opted for just the one package since it had 2 in it and I was afraid, especially with Kat being out of school until Jan 20, that it wouldn't be used in a timely manner.

This is a pretty small bento for a grown man, but he said he thought it'd be enough.  He took a packet of cup-o-soup and said with that it was just enough.

Jan 5 --

Top Tier: My homemade macaroni salad (I used about 1/3 kewpie mayo and 2/3 miracle whip light) topped with flower kamaboko, dill and kombu for the 'ground'

Bottom Tier: Artichoke & Spinach Hummus, Clementine, Nuts, pea pods and carrot sticks

Peppermint bark in the lid

 

   

 

Kat wanted to pack herself a New Years Bento even though she was home.  She does a lot more cooking than I do and has a bit of a freezer stach going.  The sweet simmered black beans are frozen in little individual servings :)

 

Kimchee, Sweet Simmered Black Beans, Sweet Potatoes, Bean Sprout Namul, Rice w/ Umeboshi, Tamagoyaki and mushrooms

Halloween bento - only 2 months late! :P

A very late posting, but better late than never right?

We had re-purchased the Nightmare Before Christmas the week before I Halloween (on Blu Ray), so that gave me a little much needed inspiration :)

This was Kat's favorite movie growing up and is still a favorite of hers :)

I realized when I got the pictures off the camera that I could have done Zero w/ the daikon - Darn it! That would have been better than the skulls :( I'll have to remember if/when I do Jack again. I will likely do it again at some point considering it was really not difficult to make a sandwich into Jack Skellington :)

To keep the macaroni salad from spreading into the vegetables, and not having a food cup that was the right size and shape for this box, I used aluminum foil and created my own 'food cup'. You may have noticed that I have done this in the past, but I don't think I ever mentioned it. Foil food cups are great - I love that they are fairly inexpensive and are pliable, and very quick, but don't snub the aluminum foil for a great way to separate your moister foods - and who doesn't usually have a roll on hand? :)

Oct 29 ---
Tier 1: Mixed spring green salad w/ daikon skulls and Jack Skellington Sandwich - ham, salami and provolone w/ red pepper and daikon santa hat - faces done w/ nori
Tier 2: Cucumber, baby carrots, grape tomatoes, kiwi pumpkins and macaroni salad topped w/ black sesame seeds, daikon ghosts and carrot jack-o-lanterns
Light Hidden Valley Ranch in the container for the salad and veggies

The salad could have used more color around, but this was enough for one night :P lol

Don't feel like you must have a pretty bento box to get started!

I think this is a good spot to separate the catch-up posting to comment on the bento you see below.

As much as I love my pretty and cute bento boxes, it's important to mention that they are not necessary. This box was purchased years ago at probably Target or someplace like that. It's gotten a lot of use over the years, but not as attractively as this :)

Rob has gotten used to the smaller, more compact bento boxes and commented that this ended up really being too much food.

I have purchased other lunch containers that are more of an everyday style like this from Organize.com - Please note that I have no affiliation with them other than having ordered from them.

Oct 19 --
Top: Ham, Turkey, Salami and Swiss sandwich w/ kiwi and mango gummies
Bottom: Mac Salad w/ carrot and dill flowers, baby carrots, pepperoncinis, dates, baby kiwi and an asian jelly

Rob wanted something that would be easier to eat at a desk - says sometimes the salad can be a little messy - He'll be driving up to Albany, NY tomorrow and back home in the afternoon...

Oct 16 --

Top Tier: Baby Kiwi, Dates and Mac Salad
Bottom Tier: Mixed Baby Spring Greens, Ham Turkey Salami and Swiss Pinwheels, grape tomatoes and a bear shaped boiled egg

We saw the baby kiwi in Sam's Club and just had to get them! :)

Unfortunately, Rob ended up going out for Mexican w/ coworkers and this bento went to waste :(

Oct 15 --

Bottom Tier: Mixed Spring Greens, Ham Salami Turkey and Swiss pinwheels, grape tomatoes and car shaped boild egg
Top Tier: Mac Salad w/ black sesame seeds, cucumber slices, checkered apple and pomegranate seeds
Apple and Muscat gummies in the lid

Who needs lunchables!? :)

Oct 12 --

Tier 1 -- Mac Salad w/ black sesame seeds, raisins, kiwi flowers, pineapple and pomegranate seeds
Tier 2 -- Crackers, Sharp Cheddar, Jarlsberg, Ham and Salami and Mayo & Deli Mustard in the mini bento
Raisinets :)

Just a couple Kat bento :)

I haven't been packing many bento the last couple months, and some I did pack, I didn't photograph. One of my resolutions is to get back to bento and posting!

To start, here are a couple Kat packed herself for the days she had classes all day. More posts to come of a couple I packed for Rob and Kat's New Year bento etc.

A few of Kat's bento:



Dec 7:

Spinach Namul, Tea Dyed Egg, Broccoli and Rice

Kimchi, Clementine and Sweet Simmered Black Beans

Kat got a little inspired for something cute :)

Nov 29 --
Top Tier:
Kat has Onigiri filled w/ Tuna w/ Chung Tzzy Sauce - w/ nori to make a panda - Turkey and cranberry sauce
Bottom Tier:
Spice Roasted Butternut Squash w/ Onions, Salad and raspberry vinaigrette in the kiwi container

Wow, it's Oct already!

I don't know about the rest of you, but I can't believe it's October already! :o

Yesterday my glow bracelets arrived for Halloween - yay! I decided to 'upgrade' this year and went with the bicolor bracelets instead of the single color. Looking forward to my favorite Holiday :D

I ran out of salad, so I had Ahmetia (my 20 year old), stop on her way home from class and get a bag - unfortunately, I knew as soon as I picked it up that it wasn't good. It felt heavier than it should have felt if the lettuce were still fresh and good, so no salad in his bento for today. Ahmetia took the bag back and got a new one today, so hopefully it's good (I haven't checked it yet) for tomorrow's bento.

For today's I decided to use my pretty floral bento box. Since I rarely pack a bento for myself, it hasn't been used much, so I felt like using it :)

Oct 1 ---
Bottom Tier: Baby carrot sticks, Pine nut hummus
and macaroni salad w/ black sesame seeds
Top Tier: Pineapple, Kiwi flowers, globe grape halves
and pomegranate seeds
Apple and Muscat gummies in the lid

A Glut of Bento...

Holy cow do I suck at keeping up on my blog! :P

I keep up with putting them on my Facebook account, after all, I'm on there every day, but have really slacked off keeping this updated. I think a lot of that stems from being a little bored with packing almost the same thing the majority of the time - at least the salad. I need to expand the hubby's horizons whether he likes it or not ;) I do sneak in things here and there that are a bit out of the norm for him, and he rarely complains, but the daily (with rare exceptions) salad is getting really boring for me. Oh well, C'est La Vie!

So, here we go with all the Bento for the last 6 weeks or so:


Sept 30 --
Bottom Tier: The usual Mixed Spring Greens w/ bunny shaped boiled egg, ham, turkey & swiss pinwheels and home grown cherry tomatoes
Top Tier: Hummus w/ pine nuts (Sabra Hummus is the best ever!), Kiwi and Mac salad w/ black sesame seeds
Apple and Muscat gummies in the lid


Sept 29 --
Bottom Tier: Pulled BBQ Pork (leftovers from dinner - BBQ sauce recipe from my Mountain Measuers cookbook - A collection of WV recipes :), Pineapple, strawberries and pomegranate seeds, macaroni salad w/ carrot and parsley flowers
Top Tier: The usual Mixed Spring Greens w/ car shaped boiled egg, ham, turkey & swiss pinwheels and home grown cherry tomatoes


Sept 28 --
Top Tier: Macaroni Salad w/ black sesame seeds, Roasted German Almonds (from Celtic Fest on Sat :), Chex Mix, Pineapple and Pomegranate Seeds
Bottom Tier: Mixed Greens w/ Star shaped boiled egg, cherry tomatoes and ham & swiss pinwheels (used up my turkey making us club sandwiches for lunch yesterday - hadn't had one in years and it was so good, but forgot to save a slice or two for the bento)
Muscat, Apple and Mango gummies in the lid


Sept 25 --
Botom Tier: Mixed Greens w/ Ham, Turkey and Swiss pinwheels, carrot flowers and a heart shaped boiled egg ♥ ♥ ♥
Strawberries, Purple Peapods!! (Aren't they awesome?!), Carrot Sticks and Hummus
Muscat and Mango gummies in the lid


Sept 23 --
Bottom tier: Mixed Spring Greens w/ Strawberries, Pomegranate Seeds and Pecans (he had Lite Raspberry Vinaigrette instead of his usual Lite Ranch dressing for this :)
Top Tier: Kiwi, Babybel, Edamame, Chex Mix and Macaroni Salad w/ black sesame seeds
Muscat and Apple Gummies in the lid


Sept 17 --
Tier 1: Mixed Spring Greens w/ carrot flowers, cherry tomatoes, ham turkey and swiss pinwheels and an ice cream cone shaped boiled egg
Tier 2: Cucumber, Macaroni Salad, Carrot sticks, Clementine segments, Strawberry, Blueberries and Peaches


Sept 16 --
Top Tier: Wasabi Almonds, checkers Apples, Black Bean Orzo Salad
Bottom Tier: Mixed Greens w/ cherry tomatoes from our garden and ham, turkey and swiss pinwheels
Apple and Muscat gummies in the lid


Sept 15 --
Tier 1: Mixed Spring Greens, pumpkin shaped boiled egg, carrot flowers, cherry tomatoes from our garden and ham, turkey and provolone pinwheels
Tier 2: Macaroni Salad w/ carrot flowers, Fruit salad of raspberries, peaches, blueberries and clementine


Sept 14 --
Bottom Tier: Mixed Spring Greens w/ Southwestern Chicken Breast strips, carrot flowers and cherry tomatoes from our garden
Top Tier: Macaroni salad w/ fresh cilantro and carrot flowers, sundried tomato hummus w/ carrot flower ring, peach slices and blueberries
Mango and Muscat Gummies in the lid


Sept 11 --
Bottom Tier: Japanese Mochi Cake, Muscat Gummy and Brown Sugar White Gourd Candy, Strawberries and Black Bean Orzo Salad
Top Tier: Heart shaped Ham, Salami, Pepperoni and provolone sandwiches, baby carrot sticks, bold chex mix and pecans in the center for filler


Sept 10 --
Top Tier: Cottage cheese w/ blueberries (from a cottage double) and black bean orzo salad (yes, I made that - finally, something not store bought in his bento ;P)
Bottom Tier: Salad w/ cherry tomatoes, star shaped boiled egg and the usual ham turkey & swiss pinwheels
Side Car: Strawberries and bananas - a popular cut in bentos done on the bananas - ends treated w/ lime juice to minimize browning
Apple and Muscat gummies in the lid


Sept 9 --
Bottom Tier: Salad w/ carrot flowers, ham turkey & swiss pinwheels and bunny shaped boiled egg (I was a bit annoyed when a litle chunk got taken out of it there...)
Top Tier: Bold Chex Mix, checkered apples, strawberries, cherry tomatoes filled w/ shredded mozzarella, basil and italian dressing that Kat made and mac salad w/ a couple more carrot flowers
Apple and muscat gummies in the lid


Sept 4 --
Bottom Tier: Mixed greens salad w/ car shaped boiled egg, ham turkey and swiss pinwheels and carrot flowers
Top Tier: Olive hummus, babybel light and curry pumpkin seeds for filler, mac salad w/ carrot and cucumber flowers
Muscat gummy and japanese snack cake in the lid and he had pita for the hummus


Sept 3 - horrible photo...
Bottom Tier: Mixed greens salad w/ ham turkey and provolone pinwheels, baby carrot slices and bunny boiled egg
Top Tier: Mac salad w/ black sesame seed and nori face, peaches and olive hummus
skittles in the lid :)
He also had pita for the hummus






I hadn't grocery shopped since we got back from camping, but here is what Rob ended up with for his birthday Bento for aug 27 :)
Top Tier: Clementine sections, Bold Chex Mix, Mac Salad w. Carrot I ♥ You, Wasabi almonds and reeses pieces in a mini paper valentine's cupcake cup :)
Bottom Tier: Iceberg salad (from a bag), shredded cheddar, cherry tomatoes from our garden, southwest chicken breast and Happy ♥ Birthday carrots :)
Grape and Mango gummies in the lid



Now here are Kat’s Bento since she started college  She is an Art major, so we decided it made sense for her to attend community college for her first 2 years (as Ahmetia, my oldest daughter is also doing – though she’s in her 3rd year there – partially due to her doing a term in Scotland last year)

They are on campus for over 8 hours 2 days a week and on those days pack lunch and dinner bento. Kat forgot to take photos a few times and Ahmetia forgets and hasn’t packed them as religiously as Kat has. Kat tends to be much more conscious of spending money on food at school.

I am going to need to get them the small soft sided coolers like Rob uses for those long days, though the hotter days are over, so it’ll be something we need to remember to get before the weather heats up again.





Sept 30 -- Dinner
Top Tier: Rice w/ Furikake (rice seasoning) in the monkey, tea marbled quail eggs and spring greens
Bottom Tier: Baby Carrots, Tamagoyaki and Kiwi slices


Sept 30 -- Lunch
Bottom Tier: Pineapple, Pickled radish and strawberries
Top Tier: Tamagoyaki, Ginger Onigiri and baby carrot


Sept 24 -- Dinner
Top (Onigiri) Tier: Cherry tomatoes from the garden, Asian Jelly cup, Broccoli, Umeboshi Onigiri and baby carrots
Bottom Tier: Strawberries, Apples and grape halves


Sept 24 -- Lunch
Top Tier: Tuna and Umeboshi filled boy and girl onigiri, baby carrots and broccoli
Bottom Tier: Apples, Green Tea Cake, Kiwi, Grap halves and Spinach Namul


Sept 8 Lunch Bento -- First day of classes for Kat and she was stuck on campus from about 9:15am until 9pm :o
Top Tier: Clementine sections, apple slices and strawberries
Bottom Tier: Tamagoyaki, rice and cherry tomatoes from our garden stuffed with shredded mozzarella, basil and italian dressing


Sept 8 --
This was her dinner bento...
Top Tier: Banana, PB&J with flower cutout, broccoli and cheese dog cut up
Bottom Tier: Salad w/ craisins, walnuts, raspberry vinaigrette in the dog cup, mac salad and sweet simmered black beans she made



Now are the 2 days worth of Bento that Ahmetia packed and remembered to photograph 


Sept 9 --
Bottom Tier: Broccoli, Asian jelly and strawberries
Top Tier: Baby carrots, twice baked potato from Omaha steaks and peanuts


Sept 8 Lunch Bento --
Top Tier: Cheese Omelet, Rice w/ Furikake
Bottom Tier: Baby carrot sticks, Asian jelly, Muscat gummy and dragon fruit



Sept 8 Dinner Bento for her very long day on campus --
Bottom Tier: Baby Carrot sticks, Asian jelly and dragon fruit in cup of the peel
Top Tier: Ramen and broccoli stirfry





OK, For those of you who get the email update, I think I got all the pictures corrected. I'm too lazy to resize them :P

Happy Bentoing!

Ahmetia's Bedroom Redo

We recently had friends come in for a visit from North Carolina and decided to finally redo Ahmetia's bedroom before their arrival. I wish I had thought to take before pictures - so if I find any, I'll add them :) After all, she's 20 now and the room was more like a 12 year olds (she was 10when we moved in and decorated it originally and we still had the hearts and flowers border on the wall :o)

It's not bento, but I'm really happy with the results and just thought I'd share some photos :)