Stamped Sandwich Bento

This time I use CuteZcute Mini Pocket Sandwich Maker as a sandwich stamp and Egg Mold Kit that I got from All Things For Sale. I'm using it as sandwich stamp and to mold the egg as well. Luckily, I remembered to add carrot for the bear's ears. I love how it turned out to be.

For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Ham & cheese stamped sandwich
2. Corn on the cob
3. "Bear" hard boiled egg with salt & pepper
4. "Caterpilar" sausage
5. Carrot sticks and spring onion for garnish

For my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Ham & cheese stamped sandwich
2. Corn on the cob
3. "Bear" hard boiled egg with salt & pepper
4. "Flower" ham
5. Spring onion for garnish

Bento tools I used for this post :

Adventure Time

Special bento for my son who turns 8 years old today. It's Jake & Finn characters from the Adventure time. It consists of :
1. Jake onigiri (white steamed rice colored with turmeric, nori, egg-white, and black olive)
2. Finn hard boiled egg (with ham and nori)
3. Stir fried baby corn with mushroom
4. Ham "flower" with julienne carrot
5. "Flower" sausages
6. Kay choi for baran
7. Pear cuts for recess

And for the teachers and his classmates, I made 26 Adventure Time cupcakes. They're white vanilla cupcakes with marshmallow fondant icing.

Bento tools I used for this post :

 

Banana Dolphins Bento

I saw the idea of making dolphins out of banana from Pinterest before. It's pretty interesting, so I tried to make them for the kids, and they love it!
This time I made similar bentos for my kids, each with :
1. Mini arancini balls (recipe below)
2. Corn on the cob
3. Pork Siomay and tomato ketchup
4. Sliced cheese, lettuce and julienne carrot wrapped in ham.
5. Carrot sticks
6. Banana for recess


Mini Arancini Balls Recipe

Ingredients :
4 cups vegetable stock
75 g butter
1 brown onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 cup sliced bacon
1 cup sliced button mushroom
1 ⅓ cups Arborio rice
½ cup dry white wine
⅓ cup finely grated hard cheese
Salt and ground pepper
2 eggs
1⅓ cups dried breadcrumbs
Oil to shallow or deep fry

Method :
1. Place the stock in a medium saucepan over high heat. Bring to the boil and then reduce
to simmer.
2. Heat the butter in a large, heavy based saucepan over medium heat.
3. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion softens. Then add bacon and mushroom and cook for few minutes until soften.
4. Add the rice and cook for 1 minute or until the rice appears slightly glassy.
5. Add wine and cook until it has all been absorbed.
6. Add a ladleful of the stock and stir with a wooden spoon until all liquid has been absorbed.
Repeat process until all stock has been used.
7. Cook for 20 minutes or until the rice is tender yet firm and the risotto is a creamy
consistency.
8. Remove from the heat and add the cheese. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
9. Set aside to cool for 1 hour.
10. Add egg to the mixture and stir until well combined.
11. Roll 1 tablespoon of mixture into a ball.
12. Roll in the breadcrumbs and shallow fry them until they are golden brown.

Bento tools I used for the ham :

Flowery Chicken Wraps Bento

Another variation of chicken wrap. I just marinated the chicken with soy sauce and lemon, mixed with corn flour and fried until turned into brown. Put together with lettuce, shredded carrot and cucumber, BBQ sauce and cheese for filling.

Details as below :

For my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Chicken wraps with ham & carrot "flower" on top
2. Corn on the cob
3. Ham "flower"
4. Siomay with tomato ketchup (recipe in here) - this time I add celery in it.
5. Lettuce
6. Kiwi fruit for recess

And for my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Chicken wraps with ham & carrot "flower" on top
2. Corn on the cob
3. Ham "flower"
4. Siomay with tomato ketchup (recipe in here) - this time I add celery in it.
5. Lettuce
6. Apple "rabbits" for recess


Bento tools I used for this post :

  

This post is link to Fun Food Friday by Eat Amazing. You may click this button below :

Hatched Chicks Bento

The good thing I love about bento is that I can serve similar types of food the next day, with totally different presentations. So the kids will still be having fun every time they open the lid. There are always surprise factor and unique experience for them to enjoy their meals.

Details as below :

For my pre-primary son, I prepared :
1. Chicken and broccoli nugget (recipe in here) and tomato ketchup
2. Zucchini parmesan ball (recipe in here)
3. "Hatching chick" hard boiled egg
4. Corn on the cob with carrot "flower" and black sesame seed
5. "Crab" sausage
6. Lettuce
7. Banana for recess

For my Year 3 son, I prepared :
 1. Chicken and broccoli nuggets (recipe in here) and BBQ sauce
2. "Hatched chick" hard boiled egg
4. Corn on the cob
5. "Tulip" sausage
6. Lettuce
7. Banana for recess

Wink...Wink..

This time I tried to make a clever recipe from Stay at Home Mum. It is a good way to incorporate greens into kids meal. Here is the recipe :

Chicken Broccoli Nuggets

Ingredients:

250 grams chicken mince
1 cup broccoli
3 bacon rashes, fat trimmed
1/2 cup almond meal (I replaced it with plain flour)
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups panka breadcrumbs
1 cup grated cheese
oil for frying
Place broccoli, bacon, flour, garlic salt and chicken mince in food processor and blend until broccoli and bacon are in small pieces. You can continue to blend if you want them really camouflaged.

Lightly beat egg in small bowl, in separate bowl pour panka crumbs. Roll chicken mixture into balls then flatten slightly. Dip in egg then roll in panka crumbs and set aside on a lined baking tray. Repeat until all mix is used.

Fry pan – heat oil over high heat then reduce to medium, place 4-6 nuggets in frypan at a time turning after 1-2 minutes when golden brown. Then cook other side for a further 1-2 minutes. Remove from oil and set aside on paper towel. Repeat until all nuggets are cooked.

Deep Fryer – once oil has reached temperature (190 degrees) place 5-6 nuggets in the basket and cook for 60-90 seconds until golden brown. Remove from oil and set aside on paper towel. Repeat until all nuggets are cooked.

Details as below :

For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Chicken broccoli nugget with BBQ sauce
2. Zucchini and parmesan balls (recipe in here)
3. Fried chicken dumpling
4. "Winking Clown" hard boiled egg (egg, nori, carrot, and lettuce)
5. Carrot sticks
6. Sausages
7. Watermelon cuts for recess

For my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Chicken broccoli nugget with tomato ketchup
2. Zucchini and parmesan balls
3. Fried chicken dumpling
4. "Winking Clown" hard boiled egg (egg, nori, carrot, and lettuce)
5. Carrot sticks
6. Sausages
7. Green grapes for recess

Bento tools I used for today's post :

Penguin Families

Yay! I found cute penguin fish cakes at my favorite shop in the city and instantly wanted to use them for my kids' bento. They look so attractive, don't they ? :)
I laid them on top of the mini stuffed potato casserole. You may find the recipe here.

So for my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Mini stuffed potato casserole with pink "penguin" fish cake on top
2. "Penguin" hard boiled egg (egg, nori, carrot, corn, and angel hair pasta)
3. Milk jelly with nata de coco
4. Corn on the cob
5. Watermelon cuts for recess

And for my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Mini stuffed potato casserole with yellow "penguin" fish cake on top
2. "Penguin" hard boiled egg (egg, nori, carrot, corn, and angel hair pasta)
3. Milk jelly with nata de coco
4. Corn on the cob
5. Broccoli and cheese on top
6 Banana for recess

Mini Stuffed Potato Casserole (Pastel Tutup) Bento

My kids love this comfort dish so much. We call it "Pastel Tutup". It's the Indonesian version of Stuffed Potato Casserole.Along with a big casserole dish, I also made the mini version of it in the cupcake mold silicones for kids' school lunches. Here is the recipe :

Pastel Tutup (Stuffed Potato Casserole)

Ingredients :

Filling ingredients:                                                     
-  250 gr chicken mince
- 2 pcs bratwurst sausages, sliced thinly
- 100 gr sliced bacon/ham
- 1 tsp nutmeg powder      
- 100 ml  milk
- 50 ml chicken broth                                  
-  ½ diced onion  
-  1 Carrot diced
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup corn kernel
- 1 tsp Sugar
-  25 gr Cloud ear fungus-sliced (soak in hot water until soft then drain)
- 1 little pack dried rice vermicelli (soak in hot water until soft then drain)
- 1 clove chopped Garlic cloves-grind
- ½ tsp dash of Sesame oil, 1 tsp oyster sauce, 1 tsp fish oil, 2 tsp sugar, salt & pepper to taste.
- 3 tbsp Butter
- 1 tsp corn flour for thickening

Other ingredients:
 - 1½ kg potatoes-steamed & then mashed
  - 75 gr butter
- ½ tsp nutmeg powder
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper powder
 - 100 ml Milk
- 1 egg yolk
 - 100 gr grated Cheese plus extra for sprinkled

Directions :
- Preheat the oven 180°C
-  Combine butter with mashed potatoes while still hot. Pour in the milk, cheese & seasoning, mix well.
-  For Filling:
 Sauté onion & garlic with butter, add in mince, sausage and ham until fragrant. Pour in broth; simmer until the meat cooked.
 Put in carrot, peas, corn, fungus, milk & seasoning. Cook until the broth absorbed. Dissolved corn flour with a little bit of water, pour in until the mixture thickened.
-  Greased the baking dish with butter. Place the mashed potatoes into the dish & press it to cover the bottom & all side of the dish (± 1½ cm thick). Put in the filling until ¾ the hight of the dish.
- Spread the rice vermicelli on top
- Cover the top side of it with mashed potatoes. Brush the potatoes surface with egg yolks, sprinkle with grated cheese. Make lines on the surface using a fork, bake for 30-40 mins until golden brown.
- Enjoy it!

For my little one, I prepared :
1. Mini Pastel Tutup
2. Carrot sticks
3. Milk jelly with nata de coco
4. Carved apple for recess

For my eldest one, I prepared :
1. Mini Pastel Tutup
2. Tamagoyaki (egg rolls)
3. Milk jelly with nata de coco
4. Rockmelon cuts for recess

Spring Bento

I always love spring time, when flowers start to blossom and butterflies fly around the garden. Even though it's autumn now in Australia, I tried to capture that moment in my bento.

Details as below :

For my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Chicken and vegetables parcel with "leaves" eggsheet and "butterfly" crabstick
2. Half hard boiled egg
3. Carrot sticks
4. Milk jelly and nata de coco
5. Banana for recess

For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Chicken and vegetables parcel with "flower" (cheese, carrot, black sesame seed) and "leaves" (eggsheet) on top.
2. Half hard boiled egg
3. Carrot sticks
4. Milk jelly and nata de coco
5. Rockmelon cuts for recess

Bento tools I used for this post :

  

Dragon's Kingdom Bento

 My eldest son won coloring competition on the Easter holiday, and he got a family pass to Adventure World (a theme park in Western Australia) and a showbag for his prize. We had great fun there, so I thought of making Dragon's Kingdom (one of the attraction sites there) bento for him and his brother this time.

That's Yarli the dragon for the idea. Details as below :

For my 7 years old son, I prepared :
1. Strawberry jam sandwich with Yarli on top (eggsheet, cheese, crabstick, and nori)
2. Hard boiled egg with crabstick "heart" on it.
3. Milk jelly with nata de coco
4. Rockmelon cuts for recess

For my  years old son, I prepared :
1. Strawberry jam sandwich with cheese, carrot and black sesame seed on top
2. Hard boiled egg with Dragon''s Kingdom eggsheet letters.
3. Milo cereal
4. Milk jelly with nata de coco
5. Banana for recess

Bento tools I used for this post :