Baymax Bento

Finally the boys got the chance to watch Big Hero 6, and it is one of their most favourite movies ever!
For a surprise, I made these baymax bentos for their lunches. It was super easy to make, just cut two dots and a line of nori, and stick them on the hard boiled egg. Baymax is done!

For my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Baymax hard boiled egg
2. Sausage and sandwich rolls (recipe here)
3. Corn on the cob
4. Milk jelly with nata de coco
5. Carrot sticks
6. Rockmelon cuts for recess

For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Baymax hard boiled egg
2. Sausage and sandwich rolls 
3. Corn on the cob
4. Milk jelly with nata de coco
5. Broccoli and Carrot sticks
6. Kiwi fruit for recess

Dutch Beef Croquettes Bento

I love trying new recipes. This time, I tried to make Dutch Beef Croquettes to give variation in my kids' diets. This recipe is quite time consuming, so I made a big batch and put the extras in the freezer.

Dutch Beef Croquettes Recipe

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
500 g beef mince
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme 
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1 tbsp soy sauce

For the roux
40 g butter
40 g flour
1 cup milk
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 Eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup milk
1 cup plain flour
1 pkt breadcrumbs
Vegetable or canola oil, for deep frying

Mustard Mayonnaise
1 tbsp Hot English Mustard
1/2 cup Mayonnaise

Method
1. Place olive oil in a large frying pan over medium - high heat, add onion, carrot and celery and cook for 3 – 5 minutes, add
beef mince, salt and pepper and cook for a further five minutes, or until mince is cooked through. Remove from heat.
2. Place beef mince mixture into a food processor bowl, add herbs and seasoning and process on high for about 1 minute.
Set aside.
3. To make the roux, place a medium sized saucepan over low heat. Add the butter and as it melts, stir in the flour. Once a paste like
consistency is achieved, whisk in the milk. The mixture will thicken up quickly but allow mixture to cook for 5 minutes to
ensure there is no floury taste, whisking occasionally. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Add one cup of the roux to the beef mince mixture and stir well. Place mixture into fridge or freezer to cool down.
5. Prepare three bowls, one with eggs and milk lightly beaten together, one with flour and one with breadcrumbs.
6. Once mixture is cool, take about a tablespoon of mixture and form into a log shape. Dip into egg wash, then coat in flour,
then roll in crumbs, dip in egg wash again and then finally coat in breadcrumbs. Set aside and repeat with remaining
mixture.
7. When you are ready to cook, heat vegetable oil in saucepan and heat oil up to about 180◦C. Deep fry 3 – 5 croquettes at
a time, cook for about 1 minute or until golden. Remove and place on paper towel. Repeat with remaining croquettes until all are cooked.
8. Combine mustard and mayonnaise in a bowl and serve with warm croquettes.

For my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Dutch beef croquette with mustard mayo
2. Milk jelly with nata de coco
3. Corn on the cob
4. Broccoli and carrots
5. Twiggy sticks
6. Yogurt for recess

For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Dutch beef croquette with mustard mayo
2. Milk jelly with nata de coco
3. Corn on the cob
4. Broccoli and carrots
5. Rockmelon cuts for recess


I used this tool below to produce those pretty carrots :

Goat Sandwich Bento

Celebrating Chinese New Year in 2015, the year of Goat. I made these cute goat sandwiches for the boys. The sandwiches are ham and cheese sandwiches, decorated with cheese, nori, and black sesame seeds.

For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. "Goat" sandwich
2. Dutch beef croquette with mustard mayo
3. Corn on the cob
4. Broccoli and carrot sticks
5. Apple cuts for recess

For my youngest son, I prepared :
1. "Goat" sandwich
2. Dutch beef croquette with mustard mayo
3. Corn on the cob
4. Carrot sticks
5. Green seedless grapes
6. Kiwi fruit for recess

Similar tools I used for this post :

 

Colorful Bento

This type of bento does not take long time to prepare. Bento does not have to be too complicated. I've done most of the works on the weekend (like baking the scrolls, making the fish balls & datemaki, and also boiling the broccoli), then kept them in the freezer until needed. For extra cuteness, foodpicks will come very handy.

For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Bacon and cheese scroll (recipe here)
2. Corn on the cob
3. Fried fish ball
4. Datemaki (sweet rolled omelette)
5. "Penguin" sausages (cheese, black sesame seed, carrot, and sausage)
6. Broccoli and carrot sticks
7. Green seedless grapes for recess

And for my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Bacon and cheese scroll 
2. Corn on the cob
3. Fried fish balls
4."Penguin" sausages (cheese, black sesame seed, carrot, and sausage)
5. Carrot sticks
6. Green seedless grapes for recess


Similar tools for this post :

   

Blueberry and Raspberry Muffins

These blueberry and raspberry muffins are so easy to make and taste divine. Here is the recipe :


Blueberry and Raspberry Muffins

Ingredients :
1 3/4 cups self raising flour
2/3 cup caster sugar
100 gr white chocolate, chopped
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup yogurt/sour cream
1/3 cup milk
100 gr butter, melted
1 cup frozen blueberries/raspberries

Method :
1. Preheat oven to 200°C
2. Line up 12-cups muffin pan with large paper muffin cases
3. Mix in together flour, sugar and chopped white sugar
4. Whisk together egg, yogurt/sour cream, milk, and melted butter
5. Then add to flour mixture and stir until just combined (don't over-mix)
6. Gently fold in the raspberries/blueberries
7. Spoon the mixture evenly to the muffin cases and bake for 25 - 30 minutes until golden and just firm in the middle

For my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Blueberry muffin
2. Corn on the cob
3. Fried fish balls
4. Carrot sticks
5. Green seedless grapes
6. Kiwi fruit for recess

For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Raspberry muffin
2. Corn on the cob
3. Fried fish ball 
4. Datemaki (sweet rolled omelette)
5. Carrot sticks and broccoli with cheese on top
6. Green seedless grapes for recess

You may find the notes picks here :

Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head Bento

For this Valentine's day, I made Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head bento for my boys. They are Woody's friends at Toy Story, and are so cute together. 

Happy valentine's day to you all...have a great day with your loved ones!

For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Mrs. Potato Head (hard boiled egg, crab stick, nori, cheese, and carrot) with salt and pepper
2. Ham and cheese sandwich pinwheels with carrot hearts
3. Broccoli
4. Twiggy sticks
5. Heart shaped jelly with nata de coco
6. Kiwi fruit for recess

For my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Mr. Potato Head (hard boiled egg, crab stick, nori, cheese, and carrot) with salt and pepper
2. Ham and cheese sandwich pinwheels with carrot hearts
3.Twiggy sticks
4. Heart shaped jelly with nata de coco
5. Rockmelon cuts for recess

Similar tools I used for this post :

    

Cucumber Wrapped Sushi Bento

Inspired by Nami from Just Once Cookbook, I made these pretty cucumber wrapped sushi for the boys.  I really love Nami's blog. She is really passionate about Japanese foods and very inspiring. You may find Datemaki recipe and how to make it here. 

Details for the boys' lunches as below:

For my eldest son :
1. Cucumber wrapped sushi (white steamed rice, cucumber, carrot and cheese)
2. Corn on the cob
3. Broccoli with cheese & carrot flowers
4. Homemade chicken nuggets
5. Datemaki (sweet rolled omelette)
6. "Tulip" sausages
7. Carrot sticks
8. Watermelon cuts for recess

For my youngest son :
1. Cucumber wrapped sushi (white steamed rice, cucumber, carrot and cheese)
2. Corn on the cob with carrot & cheese flower on top
3. Broccoli
4. Homemade chicken nuggets
5. Datemaki (sweet rolled omelette)
6. "Octopus" sausage
7. Carrot sticks
8. Banana flavoured yogurt for recess

You may find the Daisy cutters by clicking here :

Chicken Nuggets Wraps

My sons love wraps so much. But this time, I ran out of lettuce in my fridge :( Since my youngest son does not really like broccoli on its own. I cut it small, then put it inside the wrap to add some green in his diet. And he didn't mind at all to eat broccoli in the wrap. Kids' are funny, huh ?

For the chicken nuggets recipe, I adapted from Popcorn chicken recipe from Better Home and Gardens with a little bit of twist to my liking. 

Chicken Nuggets Recipe

Ingredients
600g chicken breast fillets
1 cup plain flour
2 Tbsp cajun seasoning
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp icing sugar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to season
4 eggwhites
125ml milk
2 cup breadcrumbs
1 cup shredded cheese
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying

Method
1. Using a meat mallet, pound chicken to 1cm thick. Cut into 2cm squares. Combine flour, seasoning, onion powder and sugar in a bowl. Season well. Put eggwhites and milk in a separate bowl and mix to combine. Put breadcrumbs & shredded cheese in a third bowl.

2. Toss 1 chicken piece in flour mixture, shaking off excess. Dip in eggwhite mixture, then coat with breadcrumbs. Repeat eggwhite and breadcrumb stages to create a thick double crumb. Repeat double-crumbing with remaining chicken pieces.


3. Pour oil into a large heavy-based saucepan to 3cm deep and heat to 180°C on a cook’s thermometer. Cook chicken, in batches, for 3 minutes or until golden. Drain on paper towel. 

For my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Chicken nuggets wraps (wraps, nuggets, bbq sauce, grated carrot, broccoli, cheese and ham)
2. Corn on the cob
3. Carrot sticks
4. Datemaki (sweet rolled omelette)
5. Homemade fried fish ball
6. Yogurt for recess

For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Chicken nuggets wraps (wraps, nuggets, bbq sauce, grated carrot, cheese and ham)
2. Corn on the cob
3. Carrot sticks and broccoli
4. Datemaki (sweet rolled omelette)
5. Homemade fried fish ball
6. Green seedless grapes for recess

The cute foodpicks in this post can be found here :

First Day of School in 2015

After 7 weeks of long holiday, finally the day has arrived! First day of term one in 2015 and the kids are ready for a new exciting year.
My eldest son is in year 4 and my youngest son is in year 1. 

Here are special bento lunches that I prepared for them :

For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Ham & cheese sandwich with "year 4" carrot cuts
2. "Penguin" sausage (with cheese, carrot, and black sesame seed)
3. Corn on the cob
4. Homemade chicken nuggets
5. Datemaki (sweet rolled omelette)
6. Broccoli and cheese
7. Carrot sticks
8. Watermelon cuts for recess

For my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Ham & cheese sandwich with "year 1" carrot cuts
2. "Octopus" sausages (with cheese, carrot, and black sesame seed)
3. Corn on the cob
4. Homemade chicken nuggets
5. Broccoli and cheese
6. Carrot sticks
7. Banana flavored yoghurt for recess

Similar bento tools I used for this post :