Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

Celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday on 2nd March, I made his famous character Thing 1 and Thing 2. It took me quite some time to cut the nori, but I'm quite happy with the results :)

Details as below :

Thing 1 bento for my eldest son, it consists of :

1. White steamed rice with "Thing 1 character" on top (red, white, and blue eggsheet and nori)

2. Prawn and tofu nuggets (recipe in here) with BBQ sauce

3. Asparagus and carrot sticks

4. Watermelon cuts for recess

Thing 2 bento for my youngest son, it consists of :
1. White steamed rice with "Thing 2 character" on top (red, white, and blue eggsheet and nori)

2. Prawn and tofu nuggets with tomato ketchup

3. Asparagus, leak leaf (for divider) and carrot sticks 

4. Green grapes for recess

Prawn Tofu Nuggets and Mini Croissant

My kids don't like tofu, so I tried to incorporate it in something that they love to eat, which is nugget. This recipe works so well, they said they LOVE the nuggets! So I share the recipe for you to try.

PRAWN TOFU NUGGETS

Ingredients :
350 gr white tofu
100 gr prawn
5 pcs garlic, mince
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
salt to taste
2 egg
2 tbs corn flour
2 tbs breadcrumbs

For coating :
Breadcrumbs/panko (japanese crumbs)
1 egg
canola oil for frying

Method :
1. Blend all the ingredients together in food processor until well-mixed.
2. Put the mixture into a shallow bowl (grease well and line the base with baking paper).
3. Cook it in a steamer basket over a large saucepan of simmering water for 30 min.
4. Cool it down
5. Slice it into nuggets shapes
6. Set out the flour and eggs in separate dishes
7. In small batches, coat the nuggets in flour, shake off any excess, dip it in egg, and lastly coat well with panko.
8. Transfer it to the baking tray.
9. Put it in the fridge for min 10 minutes
10. Fry it in the deep fryer until turning brown

For my little one, I prepared :
1. Ham & cheese mini croissant
2. Prawn & tofu nuggets with tomato ketchup
3. Corn on the cob
4. Leak leaf (as divider) and carrot sticks
5. Banana yogurt
6. Green grapes for recess

And for my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Ham & cheese mini croissant
2. Prawn & tofu nuggets with BBQ sauce
3. Corn on the cob
4. Carrot sticks
5. Green grapes
6. Watermelon cuts for recess

Cannelloni Bento

We had cannelloni with Ricotta and Spinach leftover, and it was perfect for kid's school lunch. This was the first time I made this recipe, and my kids loved it! They even didn't notice there was spinach in it :)

Here the recipe : Cannelloni Emiliani with Ricotta and Spinach from Barilla

Ingredients :
20 pcs Cannelloni Emiliani Barilla
for filling :
500 g ricotta
40 g frozen spinach
70 g grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/2 pcs onion - chopped
2 tbs olive oil
1 knob of butter
salt and paper to taste
For the bechamel sauce :
1.2 lt hot milk
60 g butter
60 g flour
salt and nutmeg to taste

Method :
1.  For the bechamel, melt the butter in a pan.
2.  Add the flour, and all the (hot) milk.
3.  Beat the heat with a whisk until it boils.
4.  Add salt and nutmeg to taste.
5.  Blanch the spinach with salted boiling water and chop roughly.
6.  Brown the onion in a pan.
7.  Add the spinach and ricotta, and cook for a further minute.
8.  Remove from the heat.
9.  Add salt, pepper, and Parmigiano-Reggiano
10. Fill the Cannelloni Emiliani with the filling using a spoon or piping bag
11. Spread a layer of bechamel in a buttered dish and lay the Cannelloni Emiliani on top.
12. Cover with the remaining bechamel and sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano
13. Bake at 190C for 30 minutes.
14. Allow it to rest for 10 minutes before serving.


Details of the lunch boxes as below :

For my little one, I prepared :
1. Cannelloni Emiliani with Ricotta and Spinach slices with carrot "flower" on top
2. Corn on the cob
3. Sausages
4. Kale leaf
5. Green seedless grapes
6. Kiwi fruit for recess

For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Cannelloni Emiliani with Ricotta and Spinach slices with carrot "flower" on top
2. Corn on the cob
3. Sausages
4. Kale leaf
5. Green seedless grapes
6. Watermelon cuts for recess

Smoked Salmon Pinwheel Bento

Another great idea to avoid boring sandwiches is to make pinwheel. This time I made smoked salmon pinwheel. Just flatten the wholemeal sandwich, spread the cream cheese, smoked salmon, and the dill, roll it and then cut into half.

For my little one, I prepared :
1. Smoked salmon pinwheel
2. Corn on the cob
3. Crackers and cheese
4. Carrot "flower" and kale leaf
5. Red grapes
6. Kiwi fruit for recess
7. Banana yogurt

For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Smoked salmon pinwheel
2. Corn on the cob
3. Tamagoyaki (egg rolls)
4. Carrot "flower" and kale leaf
5. Red grapes
6. Pear cuts for recess

If you want more lunch box ideas, please head to Following In My Shoes blog where I joined up the linky party, or click button below. Enjoy then...

Chinese Fried Rice Bento

My kids love fried rice! Recently I found this "The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook" blog post that writes about 5 Secrets to Making Fabulous Fried Rice. It is very helpful tips on how to get the right consistency of fried rice, just like restaurants produce. My kids just can't get enough of it. So I kept the leftover for their school lunches.

For my eldest son, I prepared :

1. Fried rice 

2. Halves hard boiled egg

3. Ham "flower"

4. Corn on the cob and kale leaf

5. Grapes

6. Pear cuts for recess

For my little one, I prepared :
1. Fried rice 

2.Corn on the cob

3. Ham "flower"

4. Carrot sticks and kale leaf

5. Grapes

6. Kiwi fruit for recess

Pocket Sandwich and Beef Sausage Rolls

This is the first time I use CuteZcute Mini Pocket Sandwich Maker from All Things For Sale and I  love it. The stamps create cute patterns, very easy to use, and cut the bread neatly. My little one said he can't wait to gobble them up :)

I prepared this for my eldest son :
1. Beef sausage rolls (recipe is in here) with ketchup
2. Milk jelly with nata de coco
3. Carrot sticks
4. Rockmelon cuts for recess

And I prepared this for my little one :
1. Pocket Sandwich with strawberry jam filling
2. Beef sausage roll with ketchup
2. Milk jelly with nata de coco
3. Carrot sticks
4. Banana for recess

Here is the link to get CuteZcute Mini Pocket Sandwich Maker :

Boys with the Winter Hats

I'm glad that my little son is willing to have rice for his lunch box. Before that, he never wanted rice because it's difficult to eat. But he can't resist to have this cute onigiri for school :) 

Meanwhile, my eldest son is the biggest fan of rice, in many forms (sushi, onigiri, fried rice, etc).

And because it's round shape, this onigiri is easy to hold, and my little one said he had no problem eating it.

For my Year 3 son, the bento consists of :
1. A boy with winter hat (onigiri with salmon furikake filling, nori, ketcup, and hat foodpick)
2. Maling Guo Long
3. Stir fried baby corn, egg and mushroom
4. Kale leaf and "flower" carrot
5. Corn on the cob
6. Grapes
7. Rockmelon cuts for recess

For my pre-primary son, the bento consists of :
1.  A boy with winter hat (onigiri with salmon furikake filling, nori, ketcup, and hat foodpick)
2. Maling Guo Long
3. Stir fried baby corn, egg and mushroom
4. Kale leaf and "flower" carrot
5. Corn on the cob
6. Ham "flower"
7. Kiwi fruit for recess

Foodpicks that I used :

Rolls Bento

My kids love sausage and sandwich rolls so much. These snacks are so easy to make as well. I share the recipe here.
I used one of my new food picks. I bought it from All Things for Sale website. Isn't it brilliant on how food picks transform an ordinary lunch box to a cute one in no time ? :)

Details as below :

For my little boy, I prepared :
1. Sausage and sandwich rolls
2. Homemade Beef Sausage Rolls (recipe in here) with ketcup
3. Corn on the cob
4. Carrot sticks and Kale leaf
5. Pear cuts for recess

For my eldest son,  I prepared :
1. Sausage and sandwich rolls
2. Homemade Beef Sausage Rolls
3. Corn on the cob
4. Carrot sticks and Kale leaf
5. Hard boiled egg (nori and ketchup)
6. Pear cuts for recess

Similar tools I used for today's post :

You might like to visit Fun Food Friday linky party host by Eat Amazing . Just click button below. Enjoy then...

Pita Pocket Bento

This is another simple bento using pita pocket bread. We can fill it with many good stuffs. This time, I put grated carrot, chicken, ham, cheese, and BBQ sauce. Too bad  that I ran out of lettuce leaf :(.
This pita pocket bread is perfect for little hands to hold :)

Details as below :

For my pre-primary son, I prepared :
1. Pita pocket bread with grated carrot, chicken, ham, cheese, and BBQ sauce filling
2. Corn on the cob
3. Sultana
4. Kiwi fruit

For my Year 3 son, I prepared :
1. Pita pocket bread with grated carrot, chicken, ham, cheese, and BBQ sauce filling
2. Corn on the cob
3. Sultana
4. "Mouse" hard boiled egg (carrot, black sesame seed, and nori)
4. Pear cuts for recess

Pretty Gardens

Simple, easy to make and fast bento for the boys. I prepared the bacon & cheese scrolls the day before for snacks and kept the leftover for their school lunches. Just spread tomato ketchup, sliced bacon, and cheese over puff pastry. Roll and cut it to around 2.5 cm thick, and put it in the oven at 180 C until golden brown.

Details of the lunches, as below :

For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Bacon & cheese scroll, decorated with bow tie pasta
2. Corn on the cob
3. Tamagoyaki
4. Mini carrot cake with bow tie pasta on top
5. Sausage and cheese
6. Broccoli and carrot sticks
7. "Rabbit" apple for recess

And for my little boy, I prepared :
1. Bacon & cheese scroll, decorated with bow tie pasta
2. Corn on the cob
3. Tamagoyaki
4. Mini carrot cake with bow tie pasta on top
5. Sausages and cheese
6. Carrot sticks
7. Kiwi fruit for recess

Perfect Couple

Happy Valentine's Day!! Still with Valentine's day theme, today I prepared "Perfect Couple" bento for my boys. I asked the boys to choose. My eldest son chose the boy, and my little one chose the girl bear (because he loves the bow tie pasta).

Details as below :

This Girl Bear version consists of :
1. Stuffed sandwich with strawberry jam filling (Bow tie pasta and nori)
2. Heart shaped hard boiled egg and sausages
3. Corn on the cob
4. Carrot sticks
5. Dried sultanas
6. Kiwi fruit for recess

The Boy Bear version, consists of :
1. Stuffed sandwich with strawberry jam filling (black sesame seed and nori)
2. Heart shaped hard boiled egg and flower sausages
3. Corn on the cob
4. Carrot sticks and broccoli with cheese on top
5. Dried sultanas
6. Mini carrot cake

Special Valentine's Day Bento

Valentine's day is near. It's a perfect time to celebrate and share the love with your loved ones. I made special valentine's day bento for my boys, with little notes to tell them how much I love them. They're just so special for me. I couldn't ask for more...

Do you spot the heart shaped boiled egg ? here is the link on how to make it.

Here are the details of my creation :

This bento consists of :

1. Heart shaped stuffed sandwich with chicken and mayo filling. I put cheese and carrot on top.

2. Heart shaped hard boiled egg sprinkled with black sesame seed

3. Heart and flower shaped sausages

4. Corn on the cob

5. Beef and prawn dumpling

6. Sausage rolls (recipe is in this link)

7. Dried sultana & apricot

8. Broccoli with cheese and carrot decoration

9. Banana for recess

And this bento consists of :

1.  Heart shaped stuffed sandwich with chicken and mayo filling. I put cheese and carrot on top.

2. Heart shaped hard boiled egg

3. Heart shaped sausages

4. Corn on the cob

5. Beef and prawn dumpling

6. "Love letter" Fish tofu with apple skin and cheese

7. "Checker" apple

8. Broccoli 

9. "Rabbits" apple for recess

Similar bento tools that I used for today's post :

I joined up my fellow Bento Bloggers and Friends for Valentine's 2014 Blog Hops. Please click the link bellow to visit Kathy with her blog : Eclectic Lamb. Enjoy then!

Prawn Bento

I made lots of creations with croissant (just click on the croissant at the Label area), but I thought this tiny prawn made of mini croissant is so cute. I only add cheese and nori for the eyes, so simple.

Details as below :

For my year 3 son, I prepared :
1. "Prawn" mini croissant
2. Beef and prawn dumpling
3. Broccoli
4. Iris sausage
5. Corn on the cob
6. Sultana & dried apricot
7. Kiwi fruit for recess

And for my pre-primary son, I prepared :
1. "Prawn" mini croissant
2. Beef and prawn dumpling
3. Corn on the cob
4. Irish sausage
5. Carrot sticks
6. Sultana & dried apricot
7. Honey dew cuts for recess

You may get similar cute foodpicks here :