Clown Doll and Shy Rabbit

I baked zucchini slice (recipe below) and it turned out pretty yummy. But my little one didn't want to bring it to school because it was too tricky for him to eat. He wanted something that is easy to grab with his little fingers instead, which is fair enough I think :)

Zucchini slice

Ingredients
2 zucchini, grated
1 large onion finely chopped
3 rashers bacon finely chopped
1 cup of corn kernel
1 cup tasty cheese grated
1 cup self-raising flour
1/2 cup of oil
5 eggs
Salt/pepper
You will need

GLAD Bake

Method
Preheat the oven to 170*C. Grease and line a lamington tin with Glad bake.
Put zucchini, onion, corn, bacon, flour and cheese in a large bowl. Add oil and lightly beaten eggs, and mix. Season with a little salt and pepper. Pour into lamington tin.
Bake it for 35-40 mins until golden and set. Allow it to be cool slightly before cutting.

So, for my little one I prepared :
1. Ham & cheese sandwich with rabbit stampede (nori, cheese, black sesame seed, nori, and red apple skin)
2. Apple "checker"
3. Carrot sticks
4. Kiwi fruit

For my eldest son, I prepared the clown doll :
* The head is made of hard boiled egg, nori, carrot cheeks, and broccoli for the hair.
*  Zucchini slice for her body with carrot ring for the button
* ham & cheese rolls, and carrot sticks for the side.

And at the other box : apple "checker" for recess

Bird on the Nest

I had leftover noodle for my eldest son and my little one is really fond of Cruskits crispbread with sour cream, smoked salmon, and dill lately, so I prepared those for their bento. Details as below :

For my little one, I prepared :
1. Cruskits with sour cream, smoked salmon, and dill
2. Red grapes
3. Kiwi fruit
4. Corn on the cob
5. Carrot sticks and lettuce

And for my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Noodle with chicken, mushroom, spring onion, corriander leaves and choy sum
2. Corn on the cob
3. "Bird" hard boiled egg (nori, and carrot)
4. " Heart" shaped milk jelly
5. Lettuce
6. Red grapes
7. Pear cuts for recess

Jack O' Lantern Bento

These little lotus paste buns are so cute and gave me an idea to create Jack O' Lantern out of them. Details as below :

For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Jack O'lantern lotus paste buns decorated with nori
2. "Ghost" hard boiled egg
3. Corn on the cob
4. "Eyeballs" (crab meatballs, cheese, and nori)
5. Purple radish, broccoli, and lettuce

For my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Jack O'lantern lotus paste buns decorated with nori
2. Corn on the cob
3. "Draculla mouth with fang" (apple and almond sliced)
4. Kiwi fruit
5. "Eyeballs" (crab meatballs, cheese, and nori)
6. Lettuce

Giraffe & Cow Bento

I used tulip cookie cutter for giraffe and cow heads. It works perfectly :)
Details as below :

For my little one, I prepared :
1. "Giraffe sandwich" (strawberry jam sandwich, with giraffe on top. It made of cheese, bread crust, black sesame seed and nori)
2. Jelly
3. Sultanas on sticks
4. Carrot sticks and spring onion
5. Kiwi fruits

For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Turkish gozleme (recipe as below)
2. "Cow" hard boiled egg (cheese, bread crust, nori, and black sesame seed)
3. Mandarin
4. Broccoli and carrot sticks

Here is the Turkish Gozleme recipe by Jennifer Cheung (http://www.kidspot.com.au/best-recipes)

Ingredients:

* Dough
400g Greek style plain yoghurt
500g self-raising flour
4 tbsp olive oil

* Spinach filling
100g baby spinach
200g feta cheese

* Mince filling
2 tbsp olive oil
500g lamb mince
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tin tomato puree
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chilli flakes

Method:

* Mince filling
In a frying pan, fry the lamb mince and make sure you break it into small lumps with a wooden spoon.

Add the garlic as it is browning and stir well.

Add the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute, then add the cumin, tomato puree and chilliflakes and stir. Cook for a further 2 mins and set aside.

* Feta and spinach filling.
Pour boiling water over the spinach and then drain. Crumble feta up and stir through spinach.

* Dough
Combine the yoghurt with the self-raising flour and knead on a floured board for 2-3 mins.

Cut into 8 portions. Cover with a damp tea towel until ready to use.

* Cooking
Roll each dough ball into a 25cm round and place 4 tablespoons of filling on one half. Fold dough round in half and press together the edges.

Heat a skillet, frying pan or barbeque hotplate to medium heat and brush each Gozleme with olive oil. Cook on each side until golden "eyes" appear.

Serve with lemon wedges.

Notes
This recipe makes 8 Gozleme which is enough to hold 4 of each filling.
The lemon wedges are essential for this recipe.

Hatched Chicks

Details as below :

For my year 2 son, I prepared :
1. Frog onigiri (white steamed rice shaped using bear rice mold, carrot, nori, and black sesame seed)
2. Sausages and crab stick
3. Hatched chick hard boiled egg
4. Springrolls
5. Shell shaped jellies
6. Lettuce

For my kindy son, I prepared :
1. Salmon and sweet potato patty
2. Springrolls
3. Crab stick and sausage
4. Hatched chick hard boiled egg
5. Shell shaped jellies
6. Kiwi fruit
7. Lettuce

Free-style Bento

This box contains of :
1. Salmon and sweet potato patties (recipe as below)
2. Pork dumplings
3. Tamagoyaki
4. Onigiri sprinkled with salmon furikake
5. Corn kernel
6. Sausage and lettuce


Salmon and Sweet Potato Patties Recipe

Ingredients
600g orange sweet potato, peeled chopped into even-sized pieces
210g can no-added-salt red salmon, drained, skin and bones removed, flaked
125g can corn kernels, drained
35g (½ cup) fresh breadcrumbs, made from day-old wholemeal grain bread
2 green shallots, finely chopped
50g egg, lightly whisked
Freshly ground black pepper
45g (½ cup) dried breadcrumbs
Cooking spray

Method
1. Cook the sweet potato in a steamer basket over a large saucepan of simmering water. Set aside for 10 minutes to allow the sweet potato to dry out.

2. Preheat oven to 180°C (fan-forced). Line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Put the sweet potato in a large bowl. Mash until smooth. Add the salmon, corn, fresh breadcrumbs, shallot and egg. Season with pepper. Mix until well combined. Divide the mixture into 16 equal portions, then shape into patties. Put the dried breadcrumbs on a large plate. Coat each patty in breadcrumbs.

3. Divide the patties between the baking trays. Spray each side with cooking spray. Cook in oven, turning once, for 20 minutes or until browned and cooked through.

Funny Looking Dog

I tried to create a dog using the leftovers in my fridge. I'm not sure whether it works or not, but it's kinda cute, I suppose :)

This bento consists of :
* Hard boiled egg for the face (nori, breadcrust, and black sesame seed)
* Pork dumpling for the body
* Sausage for the feet (breadcrust and nori for paws)
* Lettuce, broccoli, and baby carrot

Seals and Penguin

Details as below :

 For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Pork dumpling
2. Two halves of hard boiled egg
3. "Seal" sausages (cheese, nori, and black sesame seed)
4. Pretzels
5. Broccoli, lettuce, and baby carrot

For my little one, I prepared :
1. Pork dumpling (underneath the penguin)
2. "Penguin" hard boiled egg (nori, black sesame seed, carrot, and tomato ketchup)
3. Pretzels
4. Sausage
5. Lettuce and baby carrot
6. Strawberry yogurt
7. Kiwi fruit

Croquettes Bento

I made bacon & cheese croquettes for the boys and they love it so much. Here is the recipe :

BACON and CHEESE CROQUETTES
From : Best Recipes (www.bestrecipes.com.au)
Preparation time: more than 30 minutes

Ingredients
4 rashers bacon, finely chopped
2 cups cold mashed potatoes
1 egg yolk
2 green onions, finely chopped
¾ cup plain flour
40 g mozzarella cheese, cut into 1 cm cubes
1½ cups fresh breadcrumbs
1 egg
¼ cup milk
Oil for shallow frying

Method
1. Heat non stick frying pan over medium heat and cook bacon 3-4 minutes or until crisp.
2. Combine mashed potato, egg yolk, onion, bacon and ¼ cup of flour in a large bowl.
3. Roll heaped tablespoons of mixture into balls. Push one cheese cube into the centre of each ball,
molding mixture around to enclose the cheese.
4. Place remaining flour on a plate and breadcrumbs on another plate.
5. Whisk milk and egg together and place in a shallow bowl.
6. Roll croquettes in flour shaking off any excess. Dip in egg mixture then coat in breadcrumbs.
7. Heat oil in frying pan.

8. Cook croquettes in batches then transfer to a plate lined with paper towel and serve hot.

I kept some leftovers for their Bento. Here are the details :

 For my little one, I prepared :
1. Bacon & cheese croquettes
2. "Star" shaped pretzels
3. "Penguin" sausages
4. Lettuce and baby carrots
5. Watermelon cuts

And for my eldest one, I prepared :
1. Bacon & cheese croquettes
2. Pretzels
3. Tamagoyaki (egg-rolls)
4. "Crab" sausage
5. Broccoli and lettuce

It's amazing how cute food-picks can make bento look more attractive. You may find it here :

Curious George and Cruskits bento

We all love curious George. He's a little cheeky monkey that is always curious and loves his best friend ( The Man with the Yellow Hat) so much. I found myself humming the "upside down" tune (Curious George movie soundtrack by Jack Johnson) while I was doing this bento :)

I made this bento for my eldest son, it consists of :
1. "Curious George" (crumpet, cheese, breadcrust, eggwhit, and nori)
2. Corn on the cob
3. Chicken nuggets
4. A cup of Sultanas
5. Lettuce, asparagus, and baby carrot

Since my little one loves smoked salmon so much, I prepared this bento for him. It consists of :
1. Arnott's cruskits with smoked salmon, cream cheese, and dill
2. Corn on the cob
3. Kiwi fruits
4. Lettuce and baby carrots

A School of Crabs

This time, I prepared sweetcorn fritters for the boys. You can find the recipe below.
And I used scrapbook punch with crab pattern to decorate the eggs, and it looks wonderful!.

SWEETCORN FRITTERS

Ingredients
2 cups (approx 2 corn cobs) fresh corn kernels
3 spring onions (or 1 small red onion), roughly chopped
2 eggs
small handful coriander (or parsley) leaves
150g self-raising flour
pinch salt and pepper
1 zucchini, finely grated and squeezed to remove excess moisture
1 carrot, grated
Canola oil, for frying

Method
Mix corn kernels, spring onion, eggs, coriander, flour, salt and pepper in a large bowl until combined.
Using your hands, squeeze the zucchini to remove any excess moisture. Add the zucchini to the corn mixture along with grated carrot, and stir to combine.
Heat 1-2 tablespoons of the oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Drop large spoonfuls of the mixture into the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes until golden on the underside. Turn and cook the other side until golden and cooked through.
Drain on paper towels and serve

For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Sweetcorn fritters
2. Chicken nugget
3. Hard boiled egg with crabs pattern nori
4. Corn on the cob
5. Lettuce

For my little one, I prepared :
1. Sweetcorn fritters
2. Corn on the cob
3. Hard boiled egg with crabs pattern nori
4. Kiwi fruit
5. Blueberry yogurt
6. Lettuce

Minion from Despicable Me

The blue box consists of :
1. "Minion" hard boiled egg (ham, cheese, black sesame seed & nori)
2. Wonton
3. Corn on the cob
4. Ham and prawn & tofu nuggets
5. Broccoli, cheese, and carrot

The white box consists of :
1. Mandarin
2. Sultanas

Chinese Cruller Bento

CHINESE CRULLER with PRAWN and MAYONNAISE recipe

Ingredients :

5 Chinese cruller, cut 5 cm each.

Filling :
400 gr mince prawn
3 pcs mince garlic
1 tbs corn flour
1 egg white
salt & pepper
sesame seed

Mayonaise sauce :
5 tbs mayonaise
1 tbs tomato ketchup
1 tbs mustard
1 tsp gula
a pinch of salt

mix all together, set a side

Method :
Mix filling all together, put 1 tbs on top of each chinese cruller, sprinkle sesame seed on top & fry with oil. Put in with the prawn facing to the non stick pan with low fire.
Put them on the plate once the prawn filling cooked, spread the mayo on top and serve.
Note : for safety issue, put the lunch box inside insulated bag and add freezer brick inside to keep it cool.
Wait until all the food cool, before closing the lid & packing it away.

For my eldest one, I prepared :
1. Chinese cruller with prawn & mayo
2. Corn on the cob
3. Jelly
4. Hard boiled egg
5. Ham "flower"
6. A box of sultana

For my little one, I prepared :
1. Chinese cruller with prawn & mayo
2. Corn on the cob
3. Jelly
4. A box of sultana

Rice Paper Rolls Bento

This bento consists of :
1. Rice paper rolls (rice paper, rice vermicelli, prawn, carrot, cucumber, and coriander leaf with sweet & sour sauce).
2. Hard boiled egg
3. Sausage and ham & cheese rolls
4. Broccoli and cucumber sticks

Mini Pizza

I tried to give variety in their lunch boxes. This mini pizza is so fast & easy to make. Just cut wraps in round shape, sprinkle with shredded cheese and put sausage on top. Bake for 10 minutes at 180C.

For my little one, I prepared :
1. Mini pizza
2. "Piggy" hard boiled egg
3. Corn fritter
4. Kiwi fruit and carrot

For my eldest one, I prepared :
1. Mini pizza
2. Corn fritter
3. "Cow" hard boiled egg
4. Broccoli and carrot

Easter Rabbits and Hatching Egg

I baked a few dinner rolls stuffed with bacon and cheese yesterday, and put aside two pieces for kids bento's today.

For my little one, I prepared :
1. Baked dinner roll with cheese and bacon
2. Hard boiled egg decorated with cute bunny rabbit
3. Homemade chicken nuggets and "tulip" sausage
4. Carrot sticks and lettuce
5. Honey dew cuts

For my eldest one, I prepared :
1. Baked dinner rolls with bunny on top (eggsheet, carrot, nori, and black sesame seed)
2. "Caterpillar" sausage
3. Homemade chicken nuggets
4. Hatched egg (hard boiled egg, black sesame seed, and carrot)
5. Lettuce and carrot sticks
6. Grapes

Similar tools I used for this post :

Bunny family

For today's post, I made Bunny family for the kids. Details as below :

For the year 2 son, the bento consists of :

1. "Bunny" dinner roll (dinner roll filled with cheese and lettuce, "bunny" carrot decorated with eggsheet and black sesame seed)

2. Corn on the cob

3. Halves boiled egg

4. Homemade chicken nuggets

5. "Candy" sausage (alongside the dinner roll) 

6. Enoki mushroom

For my kindy son, the bento consists of :
1. "Little bunny" baked dinner roll (stuffed with ham and cheese)
2. Corn on the cob
3. Sausage and homemade chicken nuggets
4. Lettuce and grapes

And for the fruit time : a bunch of "rabbit" apples

Hatched Chick and Bitterballen

For my kindy son, I made :
1. "Hatched chick" hard boiled egg (special request from him)
2. Bitterballen with tomato sauce
3. Corn on the cob
4. Sausages and baby carrots
5. Grapes and kiwi fruit

Where to buy similar food picks I used today :

Babushka

This bento consists of :
1. "Babushka" hard boiled egg (eggsheet and nori)
2. Bitterballen with tomato sauce
3. Corn on the cob
4. Sausage
5. Jelly
6. Grapes and baby carrots

You may get similar food picks like in this post :