Mushroom day :)

Ok, so when I don't have time in the morning, my cookie cutters are my heroes.  They sure can do some miracles for the regular-nothing special bento box for me.  For this bento above, I just cut a piece of ham and swiss cheese by cookie cutters in the shape of above and used a puncher with seaweed paper for the face.  Little Ketchup to put on little cheek :)

I used another small heart shaped cookie cutter on surface of a slice of apple.  Apple skin is quite hard so you may have hard time pushing in... . I used a small knife to shape it a little at the end.

Oh my... . I just realized it's almost midnight and my daughter is taking lunch tomorrow.  And I HAVE NO CLUE what to make!  Well, I better go look what I have in my refrigerator.  Thank you for stopping by to read my blog!

Pig Onigiri

 Onigiri .... it's a rice ball as you may already know.  I made a pig rice ball today for my daughter's lunch.
Although I did this with rice, you can probably use the ears and nose for a sandwich as well.

Here is how to make the ears and a nose.

First, you take a piece of ham or bologna and cut the edge like this ↓

Cut two of those like this ↓

Then hold it half ↓

Fold it one more time like this↓

Use deep fried pasta or just simple pasta and use it as a stick to hold ↓

Make another one for both of the ears. then use cookie cutters or simply just cut the ham in small round for the nose. Use a straw to scoop out two holes↓

Then just place them on a bun or a rice ball.  Use seaweed paper for the eyes and mouth. I used ketchup to color the cheek :)

RILAKKUMA sandwich

So today is Wednesday and I made Rilakkuma sandwich for my daughter today. It's just a dinner roll with hot dog ears.  I placed a Swiss cheese as a nose and seaweed for eyes and nose.
I like to use Swiss or provolone cheese instead of Cheddar because Cheddar tends to melt quicker than others.  FYI :)

Hot Dog Octopus

There are SO MANY ways to make octopus by a hot dog.  Here is one way to make one.

First, you cut the hot dog in angle like this.... ↑

Slice 7 times the hot dog for its legs↑(I think I cut 8times on this picture above so it may have 9 legs.... oops)
Then cook it in broiled water for few minutes. Or pan fry it if you like.

Poke three holes for the eyes and mouth by toothpick then place sesame seeds and carrot :)



Easy! right? Who doesn't love hot dogs!

Use Cookie Cutters on Ham, Cheese and Thin Layer of Fried Eggs!

I know sometimes you have left over Pasta and Stir fried noodles in your refrigerator.
Or simply you want to give your child some spaghetti noodles in a lunch box. You can still make the pasta lunch cute with a slice of  ham, cheese or thin layer of fried egg by using any cookie cutters. Just like I did the picture above!

First I beat an egg in a small bowl and add small amount of milk(any milk is fine. if you don't have any, you can even add water or sake, anything.lol). Fry the beaten egg on small pan. Make sure it's a very thin layer like .... a piece of sliced ham or something. You take it out, and cool it off. Once it's cooled off, you can cut it by cookie cutter. Simply place it on top of pasta, any noodles or even for bed of fried rice/white rice.

I buy lots of Bento goods at Japanese dollar stores in Japan. I recently found they sell some here too so if you are interested, go to http://www.daisojapan.com/. If you are in California, you can also visit to ICHIBANKAN.  I love both of the stores!

P.S.
When the noodles are cold, they seem to become little flavorless. So make sure you add extra sauce or soysauce to make it a little more flavorful or little salty when you put pasta or noodles in the lunch box(unless you are using the thermos lunch box).

Panda Bear and Things you can do with straws!

You will need ......

1. Frozen (or fresh) Edamame thawed(if frozen)
2. Small rice balls 
3. seaweed paper

I make small rice balls with sticky rice as you may have already know. When I make them, I use clear/Saran wrap and put small amount of rice on there and make them in a shape. That way, your hands won't get sticky and it's easier to shape rice that way anyways. 

After making small rice balls, break the edamame into half (you don't have to cut them. It will easily break apart.). Place tiny amount of mayonnaise or ketchup on the rice ball where you want eyes to be. Place the half of edamame on top of mayonnaise (mayo will make edamame more stable on the rice) for the eyes. 

You can put the rest of edamames push them into the rice balls to look like ears. 

You can cut the seaweed paper for the mouth or nose and simply place it on the rice. I use Japanese hole punch that will create shapes for the face.... something like this. These come very handy! 

So, I know some people have asked me how I create a mushroom with radish. It's super easy. A STRAW! 

You can do lots of things with straws. Only thing you have to do is just to scoop out the surface of radish with a straw. Same thing goes to the flower on the quail egg above. I used thin straw on that one and cut it slightly in angle. That will make the straw in shape of tear drop (somewhat). Then I pushed the straw into the egg 5 times to make the petals. Easy - right? :) 

If you need me to post a pic of how to cut a radish into a mushroom, let me know. I will post them for you. 

Cookie Cutters for Veggies and Frozen Grapes

As you may have already noticed, I use many shapes and sizes of cookie cutters. They are wonderful to make cute shaped carrots, cucummbers and so many more!  Try any arts and crafts stores to find smaller size of cookie cutters. They are much more useful for cutting veggies.  Use big ones to create sandwiches.

Frozen grapes are always great way to keep the lunch box cool, like putting ice packs in the lunch bag. I tried several different frozen fruits but so far, grapes works the best and tastes the best even though when its thawed.

 Let me know if you find any good fruits to be frozen! I am opened to any new advice!

My Little Chick....

You will need....

1. Quail eggs
2. Black sesame seeds
3. Carrots
4. Toothpick or Cocktail stick to prick the egg

Here is another easy one.  Broil the quail egg(s) for about 3min.  Peel the shells and let it cool for 5min.(or you can make it a night before and keep it in the refrigerator).  Prick two holes by toothpick for its eyes and slightly bigger than eye holes for its beak.  Cut a carrot into a small(very tiny) piece and place it into the beak hole you pricked earlier.  Place sesame seeds into the eye holes and it's done :) 

Now, sometimes I boil the eggs in the hot water with curry powder with it. That will make eggs turn into cute yellow and make them look more like chicks. Some people don't like the flavor and smell of curry, so that is totally optional. 

My daughter likes to bring rice balls for her lunch box sometimes. On this day, I made rice balls in the shape of Penelope (it's a french koala bear character from a book).  I used a tiny bit of food coloring to make it blue(very tiny amount of food coloring) and cut the seaweed paper in two small balls to make it its eyes.  I used Surimi and cut by scissors  (fake crab fish cake) for its nose. 

Edamame Caterpillar

Here is what you need....

1. Edamame (I use frozen one and just take out few and thaw them in the refrigerator night before)
2. Black sesame seeds
3. Cocktail sticks (tooth picks)

Probably this Edamame Caterpillar the most popular item in my daughter's lunch box. It's cute, easy and very nutritious so it's a win-win item for both my daughter and I.

How to make this is very simple,  just cooked(or just thawed) 6-7 edamames put together by a cocktail stick. Before you put the last one, prick two small holes on a edamame with a tooth pick or a cocktail stick to make eyes. Place black sesame seeds into the holes and it's done!