Monday 18 July 2016

Steak and Mushroom Pies Bento


After two weeks holiday, the boys are ready for school again. For their lunches, I prepared their favourite : Steak and Mushroom Pies. We used to buy them before, but because my kids love them so much, I tried to make them myself and actually it is not that hard. Here I share you my recipe :

Steak and Mushroom Pies

Ingredients :
- 675g braised steak, cut into small pieces
- 225g button mushrooms, halved
- 200g store bought puff pastry
- 600ml beef stock
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 tbs cooking oil
- 25g of plain flour
- 1 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
- salt and pepper
- 1 tbs mushroom sauce
- egg or milk to glaze

Method :
1.Heat the cooking oil in a large frying pan.
2.In the meantime, trim the fat from the meat and then toss in the flour seasoned with salt and pepper.
3.Fry the meat in the fat until browned and then add the onion and mushrooms.
4.Sprinkle the seasoned flour into the pan and cook until golden brown.
5.Add the Worcestershire sauce, mushroom sauce and add more seasoning.
6.Pour in enough stock to cover the beef and leave to simmer for 45 minutes.
7.Preheat the oven to a temperature of 150°C.
8.Roll out a single puff pastry on a flat surface. Use a large cookie cutter or any sort of circular lid to cut out a 4-inch circle of dough. Press each dough circle into the bottom of a muffin tin so that a tiny rim of dough remains sticking out the top. Repeat with remaining dough to fill all 12 muffin cups.
9.Fill each cup with about 1/4 cup pie filling, or until the filling nearly fills the cups.
10.Cut out a circle of dough just large enough to cover the top of the crust. Use your fingers to gently press the top crust to the bottom crust until they stick together and no gaps remain. (you can use fork to stick them together).
11.Use a pastry brush to brush the tops of each pie with the whisked egg. Then bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the crust is lightly golden and the filling begins to bubble.
12. Remove and let cool for at least 15 minutes. Then very carefully use a knife to loosen the edges of each pie and gently lift each pie out. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate.



For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Steak and mushroom pie
2. Chicken ragout risoles
3. Milk jelly with nata de coco (car-shaped)
4. Segmented orange for recess


My youngest son had the similar lunch with his brother. For the milk jelly he got the Doraemon shaped.

Monday 27 June 2016

Kid's Favourite Bento


I love to put variety food in my kids' lunch boxes. This time, these are their favourites : sausage rolls, siomay and chicken ragout rissoles. Perfect snacks for little fingers.

Here I share the Chicken Ragout Rissoles recipe :

Chicken Ragout Rissoles
adapted from Indochine Kitchen

Ingredients:
For filling
1 onion, chopped
125 g chicken, cubed
150 g carrots, boiled and cubed
150 g potatoes, boiled and cubed ( I used sweet corn kernel instead)
50 g peas
30 g celery, boiled and cubed
125 ml milk
75 g flour
200 ml chicken stock
1 1/2 tbsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup oil

For skin wrapper
1 egg
50 ml milk
1/2 tsp salt
70 g flour
150 g water
1 tbsp butter, melted

For crumbing
4 egg whites
400 g bread crumbs
Oil for deep-frying

directions:
For filling
Heat oil over medium heat. Stir-fry onion until translucent, about 3 minutes.
Add chicken pieces, cook for about 3 more minutes.
Combine carrot, corn kernel, celery and peas into the wok. Continue cooking until all ingredients are well distributed, about 2 minutes.
Season with nutmeg, pepper and salt.
Add flour and stir continuously for 5 minutes.
Pour milk and chicken stock into the wok. Let simmer for 5 minutes, till the mixture thickens, stirring a couple of times to ensure even cooking.
Turn off heat and let cool.

For wrapper
Combine flour, salt, water milk, butter and egg yolk in a bowl.
Whisk mixture to a thin batter.
Pour 1/4 cup of batter into a lightly oiled and preheated non-stick pan (20cm).
Cook until the sides start to curl up, about 1-2 minutes over medium heat.
Loosen the sides with fork and flip the pan quickly on a plate to get the wrapper off.
Continue with the rest of the batter.

For assembling
Place a tablespoon of filling into the middle of a wrapper.
Roll the side of wrapper away from you, form a 5cm log.
Fold both sides to the middle, ensuring no gaps.
Roll the risoles up and brush the tip with egg white for sealing.

For crumbing
Prepare two plates, egg white and crumbs each.
Dip risoles into egg white. Coat it with crumbs.
Dip the crumbed risoles back into egg white and coat it again with more crumbs.

For frying
Heat cooking oil in a saucepan.
Lower the rolls into hot oil, two or three at a time.

Fry until golden brown, about 3 minutes.
Ready to serve.


Details as below :


For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Sausage roll (recipe here) and BBQ sauce
2. Siomay (recipe here)
3. Chicken ragout risoles
4. Apple cuts for recess


For my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Sausage roll (recipe here
2. Siomay (recipe here)
3. Chicken ragout risoles (recipe here)
4. Roast beetroot sticks
5. Segmented orange for recess

Thursday 16 June 2016

Cute Croissants Bento


Simple but cute. These Cute Croissants are pretty easy to make. Just halve the ham and cheese croissants, then plug in the fun-eyed food pick on each of them. 

The fun-eyed food picks are my favourite bento tools as it gives extra cuteness to my bento. 
You may find the same food picks here :


For my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Ham and cheese croissant
2. Chicken ragout rissoles
3. Ham and cheese scroll
4. Kiwi fruit for recess


My eldest son had the same menu as his little brother, but he had cut apples for recess instead.

Monday 23 May 2016

Roll up Jell-O and Smoked Salmon Fritatas



I saw an interesting Jell-O recipe at facebook by Cooking Panda and tried to make it. It only consists of two ingredients which are Jell-O and marshmallow. And it is pretty easy to make as well. The kids love it, so it is a win-win situation for us :)



Here are what I prepared for my eldest son :
1. Half of chicken wraps 
2. Chicken ragout rissoles
3. Smoked salmon, chive and caper frittatas
4. Roll up Jell-O
5. Pear cuts for recess



My youngest son had the same lunches as his brother, but he had banana instead for recess.

Thursday 19 May 2016

A Little Bit of Everything Bento


My boys love their wraps. But even mini wraps already make them full. Because I want them to have variety of foods everyday, I prepare half of wraps and the rissoles, so they can have "a little bit of everything" during the day.



For my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Half of chicken wraps (roast chicken, ham, cheese, BBQ sauce, cucumber, and shredded lettuce)
2. Half of chicken ragout rissoles
3. Pork siomay (recipe here)
4. Milk jelly with nata de coco
5. Kiwi fruit cuts for recess


For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Half of chicken wraps (roast chicken, ham, cheese, BBQ sauce, cucumber, and shredded lettuce)
2. Half of chicken ragout rissoles
3. Pork siomay (recipe here)
4. Milk jelly with nata de coco
5. Rockmelon cuts for recess

Monday 16 May 2016

Colorful Bento Lunches


I'm so excited with these lunches. They look so colorful and pretty. The boys just can't wait to get to the lunch time and gobble up their lunches!

Details are below :


For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Pork siomay (recipe here)
2. Chicken ragout rissoles
3. Milk jelly with nata de coco
4. Corn on the cob
5. Rockmelon cuts for recess


For my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Pork siomay (recipe here)
2. Chicken ragout rissoles
3. Milk jelly with nata de coco
4. Corn on the cob
5. Kiwi fruit cuts for recess

Friday 29 April 2016

Back to School Term 2


First day of term 2 in 2016. The boys already missed their bento and so did I. So I've been cooking up a storm this weekend, and making bacon and cheese scrolls, siomay, and milk jelly in batch. It will last for a week, I supposed.

Here are the details :


For my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Pork siomay
2. Bacon and cheese scroll
3. Corn on the cob
4. Doraemon shaped Milk jelly with nata de coco
5. Orange wedges for recess



For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Pork siomay
2. Bacon and cheese scroll
3. Corn on the cob
4. Car shaped Milk jelly with nata de coco
5. Orange wedges for recess


Bento tools I used for this post :



     

Tuesday 5 April 2016

Sushi and Chicken Ragout Rissoles


Last night we had sushi time where I and my boys were making sushi together. Basically I prepared some ingredients for the sushi fillings, and the boys may choose which ingredients will go in their sushi. 

The ingredients that I prepared were roast chicken, carrot, cucumber, smoked salmon, avocado, ham, soy sauce, Kewpie mayonese, and Japanese pickled ginger.

The boys were having so much fun creating their sushi. And after dinner, there were some leftover for their lunch box next day.

The first sushi fillings option was chicken roast, carrot, cucumber, soy sauce and pickled ginger. The second one was smoked salmon, cucumber, carrot, avocado, with soy sauce and pickled ginger. And last but not least was roast chicken, ham, avocado, Kewpie mayo, pickled ginger and cucumber.




For my younger son, I prepared :
1.Three types of sushi
2. Chicken ragout rissoles 
3. Corn on the cob
4. Fruit salad (pineapple, rockmelon, and grapes)



It is a similar lunch from his little brother. And the boys came back with empty lunch boxes. Mission accomplished!

Thursday 17 March 2016

Cute Egg Mold for Jelly


Recently my friend gave me this cute Doraemon egg mold from her trip to Japan. Instead of molding egg, I used it for molding jelly. And I really love how it turns out. 
You may find similar egg-mold bento tool here :




For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Ham and cheese croissant
2. Pork wonton
3. Pork siomay
4. Milk jelly with nata de coco
5. Carrot sticks
6. Banana for recess



His little brother had the same menu, but he prefers kiwi fruit for recess instead.

Monday 7 March 2016

Moist Raspberry Muffins


These raspberry muffins are so moist dan delicious. The original recipe has white chocolate in it, but I omit it and it still tastes divine. Here I share the recipe:

Moist Raspberry Muffins
adapted from Taste.com

Ingredients :
 1 3/4 cups self-raising flour
 2/3 cup caster sugar
 1 egg, beaten
 1/2 sour cream
 1/3 milk
 100g butter, melted
 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries

Method :
1. Preheat oven to 200C. 
2. Line a 8-cup muffin pan with large paper muffin cases.
3. Sift flour into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar. 
4. Whisk together egg, sour cream, milk and melted butter, add to flour mixture and stir until just combined (don't over-mix). Cently fold in the rapberries.
5. Spoon the mixture evenly into the muffin cases and bake for 25 -30 minutes, until golden and just firm in the centre.



For my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Raspberry muffin
2. Corn fritter
3. Milk jelly with nata de coco
4. Carrot sticks
5. Kiwi fruit for recess


My eldest son had similar lunch as his little brother, but he had watermelon cuts for recess instead.

Sunday 28 February 2016

Sushi Sandwich Bento


Sushi or pinwheel sandwich is so pretty and easy to make. This time I put ham and cheese filling. But you can use any ingredients that you want, for example : combination of smoked salmon, cream cheese, and dill or else. 
To make it, all you need to do is flatten the sandwich with rolling pin, put cheese sliced and ham on top, roll it and then cut into three.


Inside the box :
1. Ham and cheese sushi sandwich
2. Octopus and flower sausages (with cheese and black sesame seeds)
3. Corn on the cob
4. Milk jelly with nata de coco
5. Carrot flowers

Beside that, I also provided banana and yogurt for recess.

Tuesday 23 February 2016

Sambos and Apple Pies Bento


Pretty simple lunches for the boys. I prepared ham and cheese sandwiches (sambos) with tomato ketchup and lettuce, and I cut them with corrugated knife.
I also prepared homemade apple pies that are very easy to make. You may find the recipe here.

Details as below :



What I prepared for my eldest son :
1. Ham and cheese sambos
2. Homemade apple pie
3. Melon jelly
4. Segmented orange for recess


My little one had the similar lunch as his big brother, but he had banana instead for recess.

Thursday 18 February 2016

Macaroni, Broccoli, and Bacon Loaf


Another yummy recipe for the boys, perfect for school lunch or snack after school. Here I share you the recipe :

Macaroni, Broccoli, and Bacon Loaf

Ingredients :
- 1 layer of store-bought puff pastry, thawed
- 225 gr Macaroni, boiled until al dente 
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small brown onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 200g middle bacon rashers, trimmed, chopped
- 1 bunch of broccoli, boiled and chopped
- 1/2 cup reduced-fat grated tasty cheese
- 1/3 cup self-raising flour
- 5 eggs, lightly beaten
- salt and pepper to taste

Method :
1. Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. 
2. Grease a 6cm-deep, 10cm x 21cm (base) loaf pan. 
3. Line base and sides with puff pastry. Prick it with fork randomly. 
4. Boil macaroni in salty water until al dente. Set aside.
5. Heat oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. 
6. Add onion, garlic and bacon. Cook, stir often, for 4 to 5 minutes until bacon is starting to brown. Set aside for 10 minutes to cool.
7. Add bacon mixture, chopped broccoli, cheese, flour and egg to macaroni. 
8. Season, and mix until well combined. 
9. Pour into prepared pan. 
10. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until golden and firm. 
11. Cool in pan for 15 minutes.
12. Transfer loaf to a chopping board and  slice.
13. Serve it with tomato ketchup or sweet chili sauce.




For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Macaroni, broccoli, and bacon loaf with sweet chili sauce
2. Homemade apple pie
3. Honey dew jelly
4. Rockmelon cuts for recess



A similar lunch for my youngest son, but he preferred tomato ketcup for the loaf instead.


Non Sandwich Bento


Kids need variety. I often try some new recipes and this time I made Kue Pukis (Indonesian coconut milk cake) and Chicken Ragout Pastry. 

Here I share the Chicken Ragout Pastry recipe :

Ingredients:
2 pcs store bought puff pastry, thawed

For filling
1 onion, chopped
125 g chicken, cubed
150 g carrots, boiled and cubed
150 g potatoes, boiled and cubed
50 g peas
125 ml milk
75 g flour
200 ml chicken stock
1 1/2 tbsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
30 g Chinese celery
1/2 cup oil

Directions:

For filling
1. Heat oil over medium heat. 
2. Stir-fry onion until translucent, about 3 minutes.
3. Add chicken pieces, cook for about 3 more minutes.
4. Combine carrot, potatoes and peas into the wok. 
5. Continue cooking until all ingredients are well distributed, about 2 minutes.
6. Season with nutmeg, pepper and salt.
7. Add chopped celery and mix well.
8. Add flour and stir continuously for 5 minutes.
9. Pour milk and chicken stock into the wok. 
10. Let simmer for 5 minutes, till the mixture thickens, stirring a couple of times to ensure even cooking.
11. Turn off heat and let cool.

For wrapper
1. Cut 1 piece of puff pastry into 4 square. 
2. Take one square, then put a heap spoon of filling in the corner.
3. Then fold the square into triangular shaped
4. Crimp the edges or press the edges with fork until sealed.
5. Repeat for all the puff pastry

Bake it 180C for about 30 minutes until it turns brown.



For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Chicken ragout pastry
2. Kue Pukis
3. Grapes jelly
4. Carrot sticks
5. Pineapple cuts for recess


My youngest son had similar lunch with his brother, but he had segmented orange instead for recess.

I use Easy Lunchbox, you may find it here :



Thursday 11 February 2016

Healthy Wraps Bento


I saw chia wraps at the Supermarket and thought it would be perfect for the boys' lunches. They love their wraps. I prepared shredded chicken, shredded carrots, lettuce, ham, cheese, BBQ sauce and mayo filling.

Details are below :



For my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Chicken chia wraps
2. Corn on the cob
3. Tamagoyaki (egg rolled)
4. Cheese sticks
5. Yogurt for recess



My eldest son had similar lunch to his little brother, but he had rockmelon cuts for recess instead.

Monday 8 February 2016

Monkeys Bento


Celebrating the year of Monkey in 2016, I prepared these cute monkeys bento for my boys. To make the monkey, I used pepperoni, cheese, breadcrust, nori, and red apple skin.

Details as below :


For my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Ham and cheese sandwich with "monkey" on top
2. Fried pork wontons and lettuce leaf for baran/divider
3. Corn on the cob
4. Grape jelly
5. Apple checker for recess



My eldest son had a similar menu with his little brother, but he had orange cuts for recess instead.


"Happy Chinese New Year to you!! 
Wishing you and your family a good health, lots of happiness and success throughout the year".