The Best Laid Plans

Last night I had this plan for bento this morning that didn't come out the way I had hoped. Today is a seafood day, but I didn't plan on enough food to fill up the rest of the boxes. I also made one for Catherine, so there wasn't a lot of noodles either. Today we have shrimp sauteed in a little garlic and lemon, crab-stick salad, mangoes and edamame. The udon noodles are tossed with a little ponzu and mirin. One of these were going to be mine, but I decided instead to leave it for the eldest so she will have something to eat in school.
If you are thinking about doing bento, or have already started you may want to look at this auction: Bento4Japan. 100% of the proceeds (everything but shipping) goes to a charity in Japan to help them through this terrible time. I just got the auctions I won and couldn't be happier.

Also, take a look at one of the others I got:

One of Pippy's Favorites

I have learned that the Korean barbecue was not her favorite. She ate some and said she liked it, but there was a lot left behind and she doesn't like to hurt my feelings. Yesterday's meal was gobbled up, and the curry with rice balls that I didn't post also was eaten completely. So, that is the progress report on what I can get Pippy to eat.
Today is very simple. I took out Just Bento's "hamburgers" that I made a while ago from the cookbook and doused them in some barbecue sauce. I think put a line of the sauce on the rice because she loves that combo. I also stirfried some beansprouts with snow peas and stuffed some tomatoes, which will not get eaten, in between along with a "baby" cucumber cut in a rolling bias.
Everyone who doesn't know yet, the bento community has an auction going on at ebay called Bento4Japan.
I also won some bento from Bento Fabulous which is a fun site to get ideas from, plus- I got a purple panda box!! The other two are also very nice, but...purple...panda... the cute!

I also made the background cloth. Because I couldn't find double sided cloth, I put two sections together and sewed them together. It is a little bulky, but it does the job when I don't have a bento bag to go with the box.

Fried Rice and Fruit

Yesterday we had curry leftovers which Pippy loved so much she wanted to take it to school in a thermos. So, the curry, which had mini rice balls in it rather than meat, went into a heated thermos for her. While nutritious, it was not very photogenic.
The same could be argued about today's bento. On the top there is a simple fried rice (egg, carrots and peas) and on the bottom there is kiwi, oranges segmented and halved grapes. A little more vegetable would have been good, but I was feeling a little lazy and wasn't sure how to fit it in the shallower tier.
Don't forget! Many bento artists from Twitter are holding an auction for Japan relief efforts. It is at ebay under bento4japan.

And don't forget "What's For Lunch Wednesday"!

Back in the Saddle Again

Spring break is over, and so begins the morning ritual of bento making again. Today's bento was relatively simple, but I did add a couple of decorative touches to it. The rice is self explanatory, and I put a pitted pickled plum on it for color if not taste. Maybe she will give it a try again since it is an acquired taste. In the big section of our bunny bento, there is a checkerboard apple slice, carrot flowers decorated with cut outs of a white carrot. Steamed broccoli in my newish microwave steamer, which I am loving so far, and some Korean barbecue pork. I had more to add, but there wasn't enough room.
Happy Spring everybody, and if you get a chance try this auction that directly benefits charity for Japan: Bento4Japan which is through ebay. Things are getting added all the time, so you can just keep checking.