Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse Onigiri Bento

I have Mickey shaped rice mold, so this is Mickey and Minnie Onigiri Bento with ham and cheese and pasta salad for CC. JJ loves pasta salad, so that's what she gets. and the one on the side is for my husband, black bean chicken over rice. 

Baked Sweet Potato

We've been liking this awesome baked potato for snack, sides, and little addition to bento lunch. Cut up potato and sprinkle salt and a little olive oil. Baked in the oven 400F for 15 to 20 min. If you like parmesan cheese will go with it, too!

Yakitori Bento

Yakitori is something easy to make, and easy to eat. Chicken thigh is better than chicken breast for this because chicken breast tend to get dry. You can make these on the grill on hot summer day, too. Basic Teriyaki mixture: Soy sauce, Sake for same amount, and at least one table spoon of sugar. After chicken is cooked through, coat with this Teriyaki mixture!

Spiral hot dogs

My husband showed me a video of how to make spiral hot dogs. I will have to find the link for that! But this is my try out. What you have to do is to put skew in the middle of hot dog. Then cut in spiral. You take out skew and there! Perfect shape of spiral hot dogs! What I like about this is that when you cook hot dogs, get more yummy grazed area. JJ loves it, too. She said there is perfect spot for ketchup, too!

Mood for pancakes!

When I overslept and no time to think what to pack in kids lunch, this pancake lunch gets handy. It is quick to make, and kids always like those. Simple, but kind of cute, too. Right?

Curry Chicken

Since my husband has been working late these days, it is becoming a habit to make dinner to go. Today's menu is curry chicken. I learned from my frien and it is really easy and quick, and yummy! First, salt and pepper chicken thigh, then coat with flour/curry powder mix. Heat the pan and add butter and olive oil, then fry until crust is getting brown. Flip over to do the other side, cover for couple of minutes to make sure chicken is cooked through, and done! Served with your favorite sides.

Mini Burger Lunch

I made mini burger into a little monster today! I found mini buns at the store the other day, and they are so cute! Perfect size for little hands. For fun, added goggly eyes!

This is for my husband who works late. It is a simple one today. 

These could be good for kids play date, too!

Hello Kitty Bento

I don't usually make character bento. But I had to try Hello Kitty bento at least once! I used teddy bear molding for rice and changed the shape of ears, so it was easy. 

Meat Balls

One of my easy menu that everyone eats is meat balls. I like it, because once you make basic meat mix, I can cook in several different ways.

Prepare Meat Mix:
First, mix one pound of ground beef and one pound of ground pork, add in one large egg, chicken stock (powder) or any soup you like, salt and pepper. When all the ingredients are mixed pretty well, add one cup of Panko bread crumbs, and about 1/4 cup of milk. Then mix evenly. Here is the basic mixture.

Now, most likely it is too much for one meal. So I make nice meat balls to freeze for later. That will be my Italian meat balls. When I cook, cook in the oven, and put tomato sauce over it! 

I wanted to try this for a ling time.. Meat Bits! First, over the stove, you make small bite size meat balls and fry them. For the taste, I used a little bit of sugar, soy sauce, sake, ginger, garlic powder, cajun powder, little chili powder, and sesame oil. Yummy! This is pretty tasty. So you can eat by itself, but also good over salad, wrap, or over rice. 

Here is Meat Bits Bento with fried rice. 

Japanese Fried Chicken

One of our favorite menu for not only lunch but for dinner is Japanese Fried Chicken. What's the difference? Well, the chicken is marinated in soy sauce and ginger for at least 30 min. I prefer to use chicken thigh so when fried, it won't be so dry. Then coat with corn starch before deep fry. Add a little lemon juice over chicken for flavor.

Here is obento with fried chicken. This lunch was for my husband who works late these days. He sometimes doesn't have time to go out to eat. So it is a nice way to have regular dinner at work.

Egg Salad Sandwich

This is our typical egg salad sandwich. Still, JJ took too long to eat all. So it might be too much for Kindergarten lunch time. I may pack smaller lunch and more snack. One tip for this egg salad sandwich.. we use Japanese mayo to mix with boiled eggs. If you have eaten one, you notice that has a bit more vinegar taste. We like it that way!

Mac and Cheese in a cup

I made Mac and Cheese in a cup, so I can put it in a lunch box! It is really easy. I used ready made pie crust, and put home made Mac and Cheese in it, baked with some more cheese and Panko on top. My girls loved it! Yay! 

Oh My Bento Challenge! Practice before school

This is my practice run before school starts. Onigiri Bento, which is with rice balls, meat balls for JJ, salamis for CC, boiled eggs, baked sweet potato and fruits. JJ will start Kindergarten this year. So it was nice to see how fast she could eat this much lunch.