Tweety Bun Bento

My eldest son was unwell, so he stayed home and I only made one bento for his little brother.

I used the same recipe in my previous steamed bun post, but this time I put ham and cheese filling. For the tweety face, I used cheese, nori, and carrots.

Details as below : 

Inside the box :
1. Tweety ham and cheese bun
2. Corn on the cob
3. Hatching chick hard boiled egg (with black sesame seed and carrot)
4. Mini arancini ball (recipe here)

And he had apple cuts for recess. Yum!

Starry Jaffle Bento

Jaffle is basically a toasted sandwich which the outside edges of the bread are sealed together, to completely enclose the filling. The boys' favourite filling is chocolate banana with melted cheese.

I love the fact that my Easy Lunchbox is so spacious, so the jaffle can fit into it. You may find the Easy Lunchbox in this button below : (affiliate link)

For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Chocolate banana and cheese jaffle with carrot stars on top
2. Dutch beef croquettes (recipe here) with sweet chili sauce
3. Milk jelly with nata de coco
4. Cute hard boiled egg (with nori and black sesame seed)
5. Watermelon cuts for recess

For my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Chocolate banana and cheese jaffle with carrot stars on top
2. Dutch beef croquettes (recipe here) with BBQ sauce
3. Milk jelly with nata de coco
4. Cute hard boiled egg (with nori and black sesame seed) and salt pepper
5. Kiwi fruit cuts for recess

Triangular Sambos Bento

Sambo is actually an Irish and Australian slang for sandwich.
I really like how the sambo/sandwich turns out. I cut the sandwich with corrugated knife. The fillings for the sandwich are ham, cheese, lettuce, and tomato ketchup.

So the boys had similar lunches. For each box, contains :
1. Ham and cheese sambos
2. Mini arancini ball (recipe here) 
3. Homemade chicken nuggets (recipe here) with BBQ sauce
4. Red seedless grapes for recess

Sausage Buns Bento

I'm really happy with the result of my Easter Bunny Rolls and used the same recipe for the dough, I made these sausage buns, and it tastes so delicious. Definitely addition in  my kids' favourite lists.

For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Sausage bun
2. Mini arancini ball (recipe here)
3. Milk jelly with nata de coco
4. Broccoli
5. Watermelon cuts for recess

For my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Sausage bun
2. Mini arancini ball (recipe here)
3. Milk jelly with nata de coco
4. Dried sultanas in the little blue container
5. Banana for recess

Leek and Bacon Quiche Bento

Our family loves quiche. It is very tasty and super easy to make. Here I share you the recipe :

Leek and Bacon Quiche 

Ingredients:

400 grams Sliced button mushrooms

1 small onion, diced

1 leek, sliced

2 rashers of bacon, diced

4-5 eggs

½ cup of milk

Salt & pepper to taste

3 sheets frozen puff pastry

½ cup grated tasty cheese

Method:

1. Thaw pastry and preheat oven to 210 degrees. 

2. Lightly grease with spray oil a 12 cup muffin tin (standard size). 

3. Use a jar or cutter to cut out 4 circles from each thawed pastry sheet, large enough to line muffin cups. 

4. Alternatively, just cut the pastry square into equal quarters which will give the quiches a more rustic appearance. 

5. Once all muffin cups are lined with pastry, make a small cross in the bottom of each pastry cup with a bread knife, for even cooking.

6. Fry bacon, onion, leek and mushrooms until just cooked. 

7. Evenly divide mixture between all 12 cups. 

8. Combine eggs, milk and salt and pepper in a jug and whisk together. 

9. Pour egg mixture evenly between all 12 cups and top with grated cheese.

10. Cook in preheated oven for 25 minutes or until pastry browned and cheese melted.

For my eldest son, I prepared :

1. Leek and bacon quiche

2. Corn on the cob

3. Hard boiled egg with star shaped carrot pattern (and salt & pepper)

4. Broccoli

5. "Checker & rabbit" apple cuts for recess

For my eldest son, I prepared :

1. Leek and bacon quiche

2. Corn on the cob

3. Hard boiled egg with heart shaped carrot pattern (and salt & pepper)

4. Banana for recess

Farewell Bento

"It is hard to say good bye". That quote is so true. Sadly, last Friday was the last day of my boys in their school and today they are moving to different school. The boys are feeling so sad because they've been there since kindy and developing special bonding with their teachers and friends, but at same time they feel excited to the challenges ahead.

To cheer them up, I made farewell bentos for them. For the penguin, I used the mini rocket ship cutter and add black sesame seeds for the eyes and triangular carrot for the beak. And for the words "Sayonara" and "Adios Amigos" I used a set of mini alphabet cutters. And also for the waving arm, I used cutter set with 18 shapes, link as below :

 

For my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Strawberry jam sandwich with waving penguin said "sayonara"
2. Corn on the cob
3. Milk jelly with nata de coco
4. Fruit salad yogurt for recess

For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Strawberry jam sandwich with waving penguin said "Adios Amigos"
2. Corn on the cob
3. Milk jelly with nata de coco
4. Watermelon cuts for recess

For the lunch boxes, I used ELB (Easy Lunch Box), you may find it here:

2015 International Bento Contest

Once again Bento & Co held the 2015 International Bento Contest with the theme : Sandwich bento. The contest is already closed and the winners have been announced. Big congratulation to all the winners! 

Although I did not win, I'm very happy with my creation. So I would like to share it with you, details as below :

In order to highlight the theme, I presented the sandwiches in 3 ways :
1. Sausage sandwich rolls (flattened sandwich is rolled with tomato ketchup, cheese, and sausage filling, then deep fried).
2. Strawberry jam sandwich with cheese and carrot on top.
3. Chicken roll sandwich (flattened sandwich with marinated chicken minced filling, then deep fried and sliced).
The other components in the box :  fried pork wontons, halves hard boiled egg (with black sesame seeds), lettuce and carrot slices.

I'm looking forward to the 2016 bento contest and sharing the excitement of making bento with all fellow bento lovers.

Pork Fennel Sausage Rolls

I'm a big fan of My Kitchen Rules TV show and this pork fennel sausage rolls recipe by Ash and Camilla is absolut delish! 


PORK FENNEL SAUSAGE ROLLS 
Adapted from Ash and Camilla's (MKR) recipe

Ingredients :
1 tbs fennel seeds
1 tbs mustard seeds
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp olive oil
1 brown onion, finely chopped
100g streaky bacon, finely chopped
200g pork mince
200g veal mince
50g (½ cup) breadcrumbs
1/3 cup finely chopped parsley
1 orange, zested
2 eggs

Method :

1.Dry-fry seeds and cumin in a small frying pan over medium heat for 1 minute or until fragrant. 

2. Using a mortar and pestle, grind spices to a paste.

3. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. 

4. Add onion and cook, stirring, for 4-5 minutes or until softened. 

5. Add bacon and cook, stirring, until golden. 

6. Stir in spices. Cook for a further 5 minutes, then season with salt and pepper. 

7. Transfer to a bowl and add remaining ingredients. 

8. Using your hands, mix to combine.

9. Place a quarter of the filling along the centre of one pastry sheet. 

10. Roll to enclose. Cut into three pieces. Repeat with remaining pastry and filling. 

11. Place sausage rolls on prepared tray. 

12. Brush with egg, then sprinkle with combined fennel and poppy seeds.

13. Bake for 20 minutes or until crisp and golden.

The boys had similar lunches, it consists of :
1. Pork fennel sausage rolls with tomato ketchup
2. Corn on the cob
3. Spring roll

And for recess they had strawberry yogurt and banana.