Kid's Favourite Bento

These are my kid's favourite meals for school lunch or snack after school. They are ham & cheese mini croissants, steamed buns with ham & cheese filling, and siomay with fish roe on top. My little one loves the addition of fish roe, he said they popped in his mouth :)

So, for my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Ham & cheese croissant
2. Ham & cheese steamed bun (recipe for steamed bun here)
3. Siomay with fish roe on top (recipe here)
4. Corn on the cob
5. Carrot sticks
6. Apple cuts for recess

And my eldest son had the same lunches except he had mandarin for recess.

Chicken, Bacon, and Leek Pies

Chicken, Bacon, and Leek Pies are really comforting food. This is my first time to make it and I really want to share the recipe with you because it tastes absolutely delicious!

Chicken, Bacon, and Leek Pies 

Ingredients :

2 sheets puff pastry, thawed

1 egg yolk with 1 tbs milk, lightly whisked

sesame seeds as needed

Pie filling:
3 tbsp butter
1 tsp olive oil
1 leek, thinly sliced
6 rashers bacon, chopped
600g skinless chicken thigh fillet, diced
2 sprigs thyme
½ cup plain flour
375ml chicken stock
1 lemon, zested and juiced

Method :
1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. For the pie filling :
- Place butter and olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add leek and cook until softened, about 2 minutes.
- Add bacon and continue cooking for a further 5 minutes.
- Add chicken and thyme and continue cooking until chicken is just cooked through, about another 5 minutes.
- Add flour to pan and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. 
- Add chicken stock and 375ml water and bring to a simmer, stirring continuously until sauce has thickened.
- Stir through lemon juice and zest and season. Set aside to cool.
3. For the pastry :
- Cut 3 circles of pastry to fit muffin tray (I used egg ring). 
- Prick the base with forks to release any trapped air, which is what causes the centre to rise up.
- Spoon filling into cases.
- Cut another 3 circles of pastry that slightly bigger than the egg ring to cover the pastry with the filling. 
- Pressing firmly around the edges. 
- Make a few small holes with a fork in the top.
- Brush the top of the pies with egg mixture and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- Place in the oven to bake until the pastry is golden and crisp and filling is cooked through, about 20-25 minutes.

tips : I used the leftover cuts of the pastry to make mummy dogs. Just wrap the pastry around the hotdog. Brush it with egg mixture and bake in the oven until the pastry turns golden and crisp.

Details as below :

For my eldest son, the lunch consists of :
1. Chicken, bacon, and leek pie
2. Corn on the cob
3. Siomay with fish roe on top (recipe here)
4. Checker & rabbit apple cuts for recess

For my youngest son, the lunch consists of :
1. Mummy dogs
2. Corn on the cob
3. Siomay with fish roe on top (recipe here)
4. Kiwi fruit for recess

Stamped Wrap Bento

My kids love wraps. This time I presented the wraps in more attractive style, used nori and sliced cheese as stamps and decorated them with eggsheet. Firstly, I cut the nori with corrugated scissor, then cut the sliced cheese with corrugated knife. Make them slightly smaller than the nori. Then I cut the eggsheet with the help of bento cutters (pictures & link below). That's it!

Details as below :

For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Chicken wraps (chicken, carrots, tomato, lettuce, bbq sauce, ham & cheese)
2. Corn on the cob
3. Milk jelly with nata de coco
4. Carrot sticks
5. Watermelon cuts for recess

For my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Chicken wraps (chicken, carrots, tomato, lettuce, bbq sauce, ham & cheese)
2. Corn on the cob
3. Milk jelly with nata de coco
4. Carrot sticks
5. "Checker and rabbit" apple cuts for recess