Saturday 25 January 2014

Bebento A50



It's been awhile I did not make any bento lunch for my hubby. We love to eat Indonesian dishes : Beef rendang Padang with eggplant and sambal Lado. They are complement to each other. Padang is the capital of West Sumatra province in Indonesia, that has speciality in spicy foods. So, if you like spicy foods, this one is worth to try.

In this box, I prepared :
1. White steam rice with fried egg, tofu on top sprinkled with black sesame seed
2. Beef rendang Padang (recipe as below)
3. Eggplant stir fried
4. Sambal Lado
5. Cucumber

BEEF RENDANG PADANG
3 lbs beef stew meat, cut into 1-2-inch pieces
8 red chilies, stemmed and coarsely chopped (you can take out the seeds to reduce the heat level)
1 small red onion, chopped
1 pcs garlic
5 pcs candle nuts
2 inches fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1 stalk lemongrass, tough outer layers removed, tender insides finely sliced
2 inches galangal, chopped
1/3 cup tamarind paste (combined with 1/3 cup warm water)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 (15 ounce) can light coconut milk
1 teaspoons sugar
salt to taste

Method :
1 Put the beef in the slow cooker.
2 In a blender or food processor combine chili, red onion, galangal, candle nuts, ginger, garlic, lemongrass, tamarind  paste, 1 cup warm water, and the spices.
3 Puree until smooth, then pour over the beef.
4 Stir in the coconut milk and cook, cover it, on the low setting for 5-6 hours.
5 The beef will be tender and the sauce will be dark brown.
6 Ladle most of the sauce into a small saucepan and cook over medium high heat to reduce until slightly thickened, about 30 minutes.
7 Pour the sauce back in the cooker and cook on high for 30 minutes to 1 hour longer.
8 Stir in the sugar and season with salt to taste.


Monday 20 January 2014

Minions Birthday Cake


I had been so busy last November until I forgot to post this Minions birthday cake. This was a special request from my little one when he turned 5 years old. The cake was white vanilla birthday cake from Add a Pinch blog. And I decorated it with marshmallow fondant. You can find the recipe and video tutorial here.

My little one was so excited with his Minions, especially that he can play with the characters. He loves Despicable Me movie and is never tired to watch it over and over again.




Here are the characters that I made. They all have unique expressions and are so fun to make :)
You can find the tutorial here.

Tuesday 14 January 2014

Sushi bento

We're still in the school holiday, but we (me and my kids) have been missing Bento so much...I don't know why, but everytime I make bento, I feel so happy. Besides channeling my creativity, I'm happy to see my kid's reaction when they're looking at their lunches. They proudly say that they're eating healthy food and cheer for that :)

As for a holiday activity, I was glad that they accompanied and helped me making sushi. It's good to let them know and involved in the food preparations.



For my 5 years old boy, I prepared :
1. Sushi with crab stick, carrot, and cucumber filling
2. Snow peas, pickled ginger, and Salmon furikake
3. Fish shaped milk jelly



For my 7 years old boy, I prepared :
1. Sushi with crab stick, carrot, cucumber, and tamagoyaki filling
2. Snow peas, pickled ginger, tamagoyaki (egg rolls) cuts, and furikake
3. Car shaped milk jelly

I used egg mold  for the jelly.(link as below).

Wednesday 1 January 2014

TOP 13 of 2013


We come to the end of year and this is my last post in year 2013. Above are some of my creations  in Bebento-kids that I love. The first eight pictures (clockwise) are : The Minion Onigiri, the Pirate Sandwich Bento, the cute Doggy Rolls, my kids favourite Power Ranger, the yummy Smoked Salmon Pinwheel bento, the adorable Peppa Pig, the famous Harry Potter, and the colourful Christmas Stocking.


And the other five pictures (clockwise) are : Tooth Fairy and Tooth Superstar, First Day of School, Om Nom from Cut the Rope game, yummy Roast Pork Wrap, and last but not least, my cutey Pussy Cat

This year has been so fruitful in my bento blogging journey. I managed to add more variations and recipes, put up affiliate link (if you want to know where I buy my cute stuff, you may click the link on the left side of my blog or some that I included in my posts), created my Bebento E-book, joined my fellow Bento Bloggers and Friends, put my button up (at the bottom right side of my blog - you're welcome to grab it), and improved my picture quality.

I'm pretty sure that you have your own favorites. Thanks for being with me in this journey. I have so much fun in creating bento and make sure my kids have fun in eating their lunches as well. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you, may you have a wonderful and prosperous year ahead. And I'll see you in the beginning of next school term!  All the best!

Please spare your time to visit my friends in Bento Bloggers and Friends, we're having linky party.
Enjoy then :)