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".

Round Up 2015

To round up year 2015, here I share 15 of my favourite creations. And if you want to read the post further, you may click the link on each title below.

I would like to thank you all for your supports and for being with me in my bento journey. Looking forward to sharing more creations and recipes in 2016! 


These are my 15 favourite creations in 2015 (in random order) :

1. Rice Balls Bento

This bento has a special place in my heart because my sons and I made it together as a team. It was part of our school holiday activities and we were really had a great time together. 

2. Moroccan Chicken and Vegetables Couscous Bento 

I love this couscous recipe so much because it bursts with colours and is so healthy. I made this bento for my husband, and I shared the recipe in the post. Yum!

3. First Day of School in 2015

During my bento making journey, I like to mark special events by creating special bento. For this post, I especially love the cheese sandwiches with the writing on them, the penguins, and datemaki  (sweet rolled omelette).

4. Phineas Croissants Bento

I really love how the eyes food picks work. It adds extra cuteness in no time. I also love the pizza flavoured Turtle Bun. You may find the recipe here.

5. Tempura Bento

This is the first time I made tempura batter from scratch and I absolutely enjoyed the results. They looked gorgeous in my new bento box. I shared the tempura batter recipe in this post.

6. Easter Bunny Rolls Bento

Look how cute those bunnies are! No doubt it is one of my favourite post this year. I shared the recipe of the bunny rolls in this post.

7. 2015 International Bento Contest

One of my highlight is to participate in the 2015 International Bento Contest by Bento & Co. Although I did not win this time, I really enjoyed every steps of making this creation.

8. Minecraft Birthday Cakes

One of my hobbies beside making bento is making birthday cakes, especially with fondant icing. This post is special for me because I made this cake for my son's birthday. It was a special request from him as you can guess, he is one of Minecraft game fans :)

9. Pretty Sushi Bento

My sons' love their sushi. I love this post because it looks so pretty and colourful. So appetising! To learn more about sushi, you may click this post.

10. Teddies are Back to School

I love my kids. Even though they are in pre-school no more, they are still willing to bring these kind of cute lunches to school. They do not feel embarrassed whatsoever. Thank you, my sweeties!

11. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

To celebrate the Roald Dahl day, I tried to create Mr. Willy Wonka from Roald Dahl's famous book Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, and I was really pleased with how it turned out.

12. Baymax Onigiri Bento

It was one of my boys' favourite movie character, Baymax from Big Hero 6. The onigiri was pretty easy to make and the honey sesame chicken tasted divine. I shared the recipe in this post.

13. Cute Spiders Bento

 I remember I had so much fun making this bento for the Halloween-themed. The spiders are so cute and adorable. Love them!

14. Inside Out Birthday-themed

One of my memorable moment is making this Inside-Out birthday cake for my son. I tried to make the "Joy" figurine from scratch, and pretty happy with the result. To see his reaction is worth the effort. 

15. Rudolf Cheese Puffs

Last but not least is the Rudolf cheese puffs. I really love this recipe and to create Rudolf in the Christmas bento-themed is just so much fun!

"Happy New Year to you all..."

"Wishing you a prosperous new year and may all your dreams from the last year turn into achievements during 2016"

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:

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 :

  

Favourite Creations in 2014

To round up year 2014, here I share my 14 favourite creations. And if you want to read the post further, you may click the link on each title.

My highlight in 2014 is being able to participate in Japanese TV station (NHK World) special program, " Bento- the Global Lunchbox Project" which received the 4th in NHK World's "VIEWERS' CHOICE AWARDS 2014" of "Food&pop culture" category. If you missed the show, you may watch it online in this link.

I would like to thank you all for your supports and for being with me in my bento journey. Looking forward to sharing more creations and recipes in 2015! 


These are my 14 favourite creations in 2014 (In random order) :

1. Back to School Bento 

This bento has a special place in my heart because the idea to make replica of me and himself in the lunchbox was given by my youngest son. He was just 5 years old at that time. I'm sure he can feel the love when he opened his lunch that day.

2. Delicious Sausage Rolls Bento

I got lots of feedback from busy moms that really want to make bento for their kids, but can not spend lots of time to prepare them. And since I have to make two bentos for my sons every school day in 2014, I have to be practical as well. This bento is suitable for busy moms/dads because the sausage rolls and the jellies can be made in advance. I shared the yummy recipe in this post.

3. Special Valentine's Day Bento

In some occasions, I love to create bento with more details for special people. I really love how the cheese patterns and carrots messages turned out. 

4. Duck Pancakes Bento

I tried to put variety in my creations. This time, the homemade duck pancakes look and taste so beautiful.I shared the recipe in this post. Yum!

5. Sunflowers Bento

I adored the color of the sunflowers in this lunches. They are so vibrant and simply gorgeous. And my son told me that he loved the carved banana too :)

6. Bento & co International Competition 2014

Even though I did not win this competition, but I was really happy with how it turned out. I spent quite some time to plan, make and photograph it. I love all the details and how colorful this bento was.  

7. Perfect Couple

I shared this bento at #Wonderlunchbox competition by Wonder White and won a $100 visa gift card. So grateful!

8. FIFA World Cup Bento

This bento is so special for both me and my eldest son. I still remember his reaction when he saw it. He is really into soccer this year, and this bento means so much to him.

9. Fish Drumsticks Bento

The combination of colours, fresh foods and vegetables looks so gorgeous in this bento. I love the unique fish drumsticks well. I shared the recipe in this post.

10. Adventure Time

It was when my eldest son turned 8 and I made an Adventure Time birthday themed cupcakes for his teacher and classmates. To go along with the theme, I also made this cute Finn and Jake bento. My son really had a great time on that day.

11. Casper and the Pumpkin Witch

One of my favourite halloween themed bento. I can't believe so many of you love Casper so much like me and my son do :)

12. Santa Suit Bento

I don't know why but for me, this Santa suit bento is kinda cute. I love all the details from the snowflakes, presents, and the idea of using a coke ring as Santa's belt is just brilliant!

13. Minions Birthday Cake

This post is not a bento post, but I really love this Minion birthday cake that I made for my youngest son. Each of the Minions has unique expression, and by getting used to do Bento, certainly helps me a lot in creating this birthday cake. 

14. Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

I feel that these bentos are really suitable for my sons. The boys really look alike (even though they have 2.5 year gap) just as Thing 1 and Thing 2 from Dr. Seuss. 

Bento for Friends

My friend asked me to make vegetarian bento for her doctor. She told me that her doctor often forgets having lunch due to busy schedules. I really admire my friend because she is always so thoughtful to others. And since she is my biggest bento fan, I made one for her as well (the one with sausage on top).

The vegetarian bento box consists of :
1. White steamed rice with nori and carrot flower.
2. Tamagoyaki
3. Corn on the cob
4. Stir fried baby corn and mushroom
5. Stir fried tofu with garlic and chives
6. Broccoli
7. Strawberry punnets