Making Bento is a Blessing... :)

Bento 115 - Smurfy Valentine

2012-02-07T17:07:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to try on some egg sheets again. I made some blue egg sheets with a tiny drop of blue food colouring on egg white and pan fried it with low heat.
But I still can't make a smooth one, there are still bubbles on the surface.
However I just use them to make Smurfs as the sky blue is just right. Cut two pieces of sammies by using round cutter. Then place the oval shape egg sheets on the sammies for the face. Trim the bread as the Smurf hats and Cheese for Smurfette's blond hair.
Add a few grapes and a mini mandarin orange with a ring on it. The heart was cut out from strawberry swissroll. I have also put in a half boiled egg in another layer of the bento box too.. but didn't take a photo of it.

Most probably I won't be free to make cute bento for my boy next week, so wish you all Happy Valentine's!

Bento 114 - Happy Dragon 2012

2012-01-31T16:59:00.000-08:00

Happy Chinese New Year, Gong Xi Fa Cai! We are back to bento making after E's week long Chinese new year holiday.
Both kids fell sick during the new year celebration. So I was practically busy looking after them. I was so worried when E has high fever one night. Glad both of them are ok now just before the school starts.. whew..
Our local radio station- My FM has released a Chinese New Year Music Video - featuring the mascot - Happy Dragon 2012.
Both E love the song so much, they requested to play the VCD on the car everyday for almost a week now.
So to impress my boy, I made him his favourite Happy Dragon! Added a few rainbow marshmallows as treats, they look like the colourful fireworks display throughout the Chinese New Year celebration, don't they?
Wishing all a healthy and happy year of Dragon!

Bento 113 - Panda lookalike

2012-01-15T19:10:00.001-08:00

Made E's favourite egg, cheese & sausage sammies for his school snack today. Hope he likes this little panda which I still cannot convinced myself that he looks like Panda.. lol.. well.. wait till me ask E what he thinks later.
Inside the box there is also a mini honey orange which is only available once a year during the Chinese New Year.

The Chinese New Year is getting closer.. just can't wait to celebrate with the kids and family!

Bento 112 - Pikachu & Mijumaru

2012-01-11T00:45:00.001-08:00

Hello and Happy New Year everyone! I feel great to be able to back to my bento making routine again. Actually E started school last week, but i was too tied up in my work so i just make simple bento without posting up here.
I was able to breath a little this week, so i make up my mind I must at least make one cute bento for E. :)
He was watching Pokemon cartoons recently, so i decided to make the popular Pikachu and Mijumaru pokemon monsters.
E was delighted but demanded I should make a more detail pokemon monsters next time, with the body and tail..haha..
alright, alright.. maybe my little ones has high expectation on my bento creations. maybe he didn't know his mama is trying her very best to make a decent bento for him.

Snowman Marshmallow Pops

2011-12-18T19:20:00.001-08:00

We are on a long bento break.. so I thought of posting some photos of my Christmas project. ;)
I made some Snowman Marshmallows pops for the kids coming Christmas celebrations. Hope they like them.
Wish you a Merry Christmas and Blessed New Year !

Bento 111 - Little Bee

2011-11-23T17:03:00.000-08:00

Though Ethan's School holiday has started this week, but he will be joining the school's holiday class for a week. The kids will have lots of fun activities at school.
So I still prepare simple bento for E.
Today's menu is his favourite macaroni and with a little bee made from egg.
You realised there is another picture of bread bento below.. that is for Little Miss E, she begins to show interest in his brother's bento. So I thought I can start making simple bento for her.
She love the Miffy and Minne Mouse cheese sammies so much that she even kiss the bread.. lol.. cute little girl..
So this is her first bento from mummy and my first double bento.
I can't wait to make double bentos for my kids when little Miss E starts schooling in 1 year time!

Year End School Children Party

2011-11-18T23:50:00.000-08:00

Friday was Ethan last day of school for 2011, the school have a party where the students are asked to bring a dish to share with all teachers and children. This year I just prepare a simple and easy potato salad cup for the teachers and some konyaku jelly for the kids. ( I made bento snack box for the kids last year)

The salad in the cup idea was from a japanese bento blog.. i simply love the idea for party and picnic or even road trips.
Wrapped the plastic food cups with pink and green ribbon, and decorate the quail eggs with cute details, attached a small thank you card i made together with Ethan on the cover.
Hope this bring smiles on the teachers' faces. I want to say Thank you to all the teachers for their patience, kindness and guidance during the kids' tender years.
Good teachers make a great difference in the early stage of their lives.

Bento 110 - Macaroni and eggs

2011-11-15T21:54:00.000-08:00

Another day without any inspiration.. i actually stared at the bento box for 5 minutes and still don't know what to make. In the end, I just place a few rings of eggs on top of the macaroni and few animal shape cheese by using the cutters.
However, my son loved this bento so much that he kissed me on the cheek this morning. And when i pick him up from school today, he told me proudly his classmates gathered around him to admire his bento.
All these little things makes my day, and a lot of people might asked why spend so much time making lunch or snack for the kids and decorate them with cute little details.
well, now I can proudly says, when our kids appreciate our love in making bento for them, its just priceless.

Bento No. 109 - sausage bears

2011-11-13T17:03:00.001-08:00

Happy Monday everyone! I know I have been MIA for a while.. busy in work.. I still make bentos for E, but not the fancy ones.. so didn't bother to post it up here..:)
Back to bentoing today with a sausage bears snack bento for my son and a ninja egg? i don't know, after peeling off a bit of the egg white.. thought it looks a bit like ninja..lol..
Added a few grapes in the box too.

Bento No. 108 - Rilakkuma & Korilakkuma buns

2011-11-01T17:51:00.000-07:00

This is the first bento for the week, I had a day off yesterday from work.. if felt so good just relaxing and enjoying breakfast with my hubby and do some grocery shopping after sending the kids to school. Yup, sometimes just simple little things can make me happy.. :)
So no more Halloween bento , i think all of us are enough of Jack' Os and mummies for the time being.. lol...
Bought some bread and buns from the bakery yesterday..decorated the bun with cheese as Rilakkuma and Kaya sandwich balls as Korilakkuma. Added with a few cute hat and bow picks, and they are done!
Guess what else is in the box today.. some boiled peanuts too.. (E's grandma love to boil the peanuts till soft, it tastes good)

Rilakkuma is very easy to make, I have made a few of them in the past too.. you can take a look here, here,here, overhere,somemore and here too.

Bento No. 107 - Sushi O' Lantern

2011-10-24T00:02:00.000-07:00

Made some sushi for E's bento today. Decorated one of them as Jack ' O Lantern and added a quail egg ghost too. Yup, still in Halloween mood.. :)
Inside the box are tamagoyaki and sausages.
I have linked this post to Allergy-Free Vintage Cookery.

Bento No. 106 - Zombie Green Pig

2011-10-19T17:49:00.001-07:00

Still in time for some more Halloween bentos. Today we have a green pig (quail egg coloured green by dipping in pandan juice) from Angry Bird game who turns Zombie! Inside the box are a mini hot dog with cheese and quail egg fillings, sausage and quail egg skewers and some grapes.

E finish up his bento today.. :)

Bento No. 105 - Not so scary Scarecrow

2011-10-16T17:51:00.001-07:00

Happy Monday Everyone! Continue with my series of Halloween Bentos today with a not so scary Mr. Scarecrow.
Insert 2 long spaghetti sticks in the mini sausage like a cross, attached a quail egg as the head on top. Cut out the shirt from a piece of Nori (Roasted seeweed).
Inside the box are a cup of pasta and two grapes as the crows.

Bento No. 104 - Witchy Chicky

2011-10-12T17:54:00.001-07:00

Let's continue with Halloween fun! Made a Chick / Kiiroitori who thinks she is a witch.. She is trying to fly with her broom made from biscuit and grapes. :)
Inside the box are also Corn, grapes and Longan.

Bento No. 103 - Halloween Monsters

2011-10-10T02:11:00.001-07:00

Hallow Everyone, I want to share a fun Halloween Bento today.. haha.. I just love Halloween bentos.
I colour one of the quail eggs with Pandan Juice to make the green Frankenstein and another with tumeric powder add in water for the mustard yellow Jack ' O Pumpkin. Make a cute version of Dracula and Jack (from Nightmare before Christmas).
Inside the box are also a cup of Macaroni and Cheese with a slice of hard boiled egg as the full moon with some bats from nori.

Do you get the Halloween feel? haha.. Happy Halloween!

Shared this bento at Shannon's WFLW , Bento Blog Network and For the Kids Fr iday, hop over to check out other great bento ideas!

Bento No. 102 - Totoro Family

2011-10-04T18:10:00.001-07:00

Happy Wednesday Everyone! I love Monday and Wednesday as these are the two days i will make bento for E for his school snack. And I can share my bentos with fellow bento lovers.

I just love making another Totoro bento again, can't get enough of them..hehe..
I chose a farm fresh tiny egg for the big Totoro, and 2 quail eggs for the blue and white smaller totoros. Use a tiny drop of blue food colouring to dye the quail egg for the sky blue.

Cut a grape into half and make 2 soot balls. If you are not familiar with Totoros, I strongly recommend you to watch "My Neighbour Totoro". Its a nice Japanese animae from Ghibli collections.

You can take a look at my previous blog post, if you are interested to know more about the stories of Totoro.

Bento No. 101 - Friendly Frankenstein

2011-10-02T18:15:00.001-07:00

Halloween is around the corner, I just can't wait to make some Halloween bentos. I had so much fun making Halloween bentos last year and enjoy the funny and cute Halloween ideas from other bento friends.
Today in E's bento is a friendly Frankenstein by dying the hard boiled egg with Pandan juice. Nori as his hair , scar and facial details. Jewel foodpick as his bolts.
Inside the box are a cup of pasta with sausages and a Cheese friendly ghost. Added some longans and grape too.
Ethan smiled when i show him his Frankenstein. :) You can take a look at the Frankenstein I made last Halloween too.

Bento No. 100 - Totoro

2011-09-27T17:36:00.000-07:00

This is the 100th bento that I made for E since July last year.. Can't imagine I can continue this so far.. I once wonder whether this little interest of mine can last for a long time..
Now I am pretty assured that I really love bento making.. maybe its the motivation from my son, to see his happy face when he eats his bento. :)
I think my favourite bento so far is the Totoro bento that I made early this year. So I make my 2nd Totoro bento today with hard boiled eggs.
Inside the box are also sausage bunny, grapes, pineapple and longans.
Shared this at Shannon's WFLW week 70.

Bento No. 99 - Hi there, chicky!

2011-09-25T17:50:00.000-07:00

Its Monday again, we have good weather this morning..everything's fine... My boy woke up without complaining.. brush his teeth and get ready to school..
Its a good start for the week.
I boiled 2 small farm fresh egg for E's bento. Made one of them into a hatching chick..
Wrapped the cube cheese with another layer of cheese and nori sheet.
In the box are some honey stars , grapes with 2 selfmade food picks.

Bento No. 98 - Little Chicks

2011-09-20T18:40:00.001-07:00

Since I still have some quail eggs left, I made a nest of chicks today. Inside the box are E's favourite fruits - Grapes, Longan and Starfruit.

E's school concert is coming soon, he will be having his rehearsal next week. He seems to like it this year ( he was crying and not wanting to join the dance practice last year).

Hopefully he will have a successful performace. Year end is approaching, which means E's playschool year is coming to end.

He will be in Kindy next year.. wow.. my boy is growing up so fast..

Bento No. 97 - Rilakkuma & Korilakkuma

2011-09-18T18:54:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday Everyone! Hope this can make my Monday Blue go away.. ;)
Bought some quail eggs during weekends, so I boiled a few to make Rilakkuma (dip in soy sause for the brown shade) and Korilakkuma.

Joined the two quail eggs together with spaghetti strips. Inside the box are few slices of Starfruit and heart shaped mushroom sausages.

Bento No. 96 - Lullaby Rilakkuma

2011-09-13T18:31:00.001-07:00

Morning everyone, today i want to share another egg bento idea. Dip the hard boiled egg in light soy sauce to have a light brown shade for making Rilakkuma.
Rilakkuma is lying on his bed, snuggled under his (seaweed and cheese) blanket, getting ready to sleep.
But his eyes are still wide open, is he waiting for me to read him bedtime story?
Shared this bento at Shannon's WFLW week 68.

(sorry for the blurry picture, think the camera battery is running low)

Want to see my Anpanman toys? :)

2011-09-11T19:33:00.000-07:00

I was cleaning the house during last weekend, and take out one of my treasure chest. Inside were my sets of Anpanman collections.

E was so eager to help me display and arrange them in the glass cabinet. :)

Bento No. 95 - Happy Mid Autumn Festival

2011-09-11T18:34:00.001-07:00

Happy Mid Autumn Festival! Today is the 15th on the Chinese Lunar Calendar, we will celebrate tonight with family dinner, kids playing Lanterns and eating the Mooncakes. :)

In the Lunar Calendar, tonight will be Full Moon in sight.. so I made a round egg yolk as the Moon and the egg white as the fog/cloud in the night. The remaining egg white was cut into a rabbit.

Added a piece of Red Bean paste mooncake made by my mum. Usually this piggy shape mooncake are for the kids. The traditional mooncake will be the round one.

A bento friend help to get the Angry Bird Lanterns for my Big E and Little Miss E, they are so cute!

Trip to Tip of Borneo

2011-09-06T17:52:00.000-07:00

During the School Holidays, me and the kids went for a road trip with my parents and sister to the Northern tip of Borneo.

It was a 3 hour journey to the destination and 3 hours back, quite a long journey. Luckily the kids can take it well, just that little Miss E had a bit of car sick and throw up a bit.

It was a bright sunny day with clear blue sky and calm sea with a bit of sea breeze..

The kids enjoyed the trip very much.. little E was a bit exhausted as she insists walking by herself.. up and down the hill... tough little lady.. :)

Bento No. 94 - Little Panda

2011-09-06T17:15:00.000-07:00

Hello my bento friends! After a week of school holidays for the kids. I am back to bentoing.. need some boost to restart my engine to make bentos again.. haha.

Today is just another simple egg bento for E, attached 2 small grapes as the ears to the egg and nori for eyes and nose. Its just simple as that.

Added cubes 2 ham and cheese sammies too.

Bento No. 93 - Snoopy

2011-08-23T22:36:00.000-07:00

Yup, another Bento with Egg, made Snoopy with a hard boiled egg and Cheese sammies for Woodstock.
Both pals are enjoying their afternoon and the fragrance of jelly Daisy in the garden. :)
Shared this bento at Shannon's WFLW too.

Bento No. 92 - Little Mouse

2011-08-21T17:40:00.000-07:00

Today E's bento consist of a farm fresh hard boiled egg, homemade jelly and raisin bun.

Egg has become the main component in E's snack bento, so I have to think of different ideas on an egg. I made a little white mouse today, he is sneaking in to have a bite on the jelly. :)

Bento No. 91 : Sausages, Ham and Corn Sunshine

2011-08-14T18:37:00.001-07:00

I made a simple bento with sausages, omelete and Ham skewers plus sweetcorn for E today.

Not much details, just add a few Anpanman picks and some cheese with nori eyes and mouth on the Corn to make a Happy Sunshine.

Hope you all have a Happy Sunshine Monday!

Bento No. 90 - Mr. & Mrs. Sunshine

2011-08-09T17:38:00.001-07:00

I bet you will be not surprised to see another bento with " Eggs", Ethan loves eggs.
Recently he has rejected bread, so i just have to replace it by hard boiled eggs.
The eggs are quite big, so I cut them into half so he can eat them easier. The round yellow egg yolk looks like the bright sun to me.. I made sun glasses for Mr. Sunshine too. Weather are very hot and sunny recently, so sun shade is a must. :)
Inside box are also a few grapes and pineapple cube.

Bento No. 89 - Two Little Piggies

2011-08-07T17:50:00.001-07:00

Happy Monday to all! Another week has past, now we are entering August.. wow.. time flies.. Life has been busy for us.. :)

E's appetite has a slight change recently.. he seems to be bored of sandwiches.. so I make a hard boiled egg little boy and two little pan fried Cheese sausages piggies for his school snack.

Hope he will smile when he see the 2 piggies winking at him. ><

Angry Bird Birthday Party

2011-08-01T18:19:00.000-07:00

Choc pops with icing image
Marshmallow pops

Birthday invitation card and cupcake toppers

Green Pig
Yellow Angry Bird
we don't have black balloons haha.. we have blue and red angry bird balloons too, but they burst before i take the picture..

Ethan's celebrated his 4th birthday party on Sunday night and a school birthday celebration Monday. He is a happy birthday boy as mummy promised to give him Angry Bird birthday party!

I google Angry Bird cupcake and party ideas months ago.. I saw some cupcake toppers free printables from Tip Junkie. I just need to print and cut it out , then attach a stick behind. Found some angry bird free printables for balloons from Tip Junkie too. It's fun.. you should try it!

I spent the whole Sunday morning and afternoon making the cupcakes, choc pops and Marshmallow pops. Its tiring, but it feels so great after seeing the final outcome. They are just too cute.

E's cousins and his classmates was impressed with the Angry Bird cupcake presentation and love the choc pops and marshmallow pops too.. who could resist them with the cute Toy story and Mickey icing images on top rite? :)

To make Ethan's birthday party a success, I want to say Thank you to my dear bento friends - Kidsdreamwork and Bento Fun, who give me the inspirations and are so kind to help me get the cute Mickey Mouse clubhouse cupcake stand, choc pops mould and icing image. They are both talented wonderful mums that i got to know when I started bento making. :)

I am happy that I manage to give Ethan a happy birthday memory and my boy is so proud of his mummy.. :)

Bento No. 88 - Angry Birds, yes again..:)

2011-07-26T17:41:00.000-07:00

Theme for E's bento is Angry Birds again today, as he requested for the Green Pig when I made him the first Angry Birds bento.

Since we bought some Pandan swiss roll, I decided to make his wish come true.
Pandan cake for the green pig, Cheese and sammies for the yellow Angry Bird, Nori Sheets on top of sammies for the Black Angry Bird.

I know E will not satisfy for only the Green Pig. So stay tune for my next challenge to make the red, white, blue and green Angry Birds.

Added this to Shannon's WFLW week 61 too!

Bento No. 87 : Two Little Chicks

2011-07-19T18:32:00.001-07:00

Today what E have in his bento are black and white little chicks made from Giant grape and a tiny farm fresh hard boiled egg. It is kind of interesting to see an egg and grape with the same size laying side by side.

Added PBJ sandwich, orange cube and some raisins requested by E.

Bento No. 86 - Humpty Dumpty

2011-07-17T18:01:00.000-07:00

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall, All the king's horses and all the King's men, Couldn't put Humpty together again.

This is one of my favourite Nursery Rhyme since young. I thought E to sing the Rhyme when he was 1 year old, and he can remember every word every time we sang it during bedtime.

Now i realised i forgot his hands..:)

Bento No. 85 - Korilakkuma

2011-07-10T22:58:00.001-07:00

I made Korilakkuma with a hard boiled egg today. Besides that , there are 2 slices of cheese and chicken meat sandwich (we had some left over chicken breast from dinner), a slice of pineapple and a giant grape.

These are all E's favourite food. Add few Rilakkuma and Kiiroitori picks as companion. :)

Bento No. 84 - Goldilocks and the three bears

2011-07-03T19:25:00.001-07:00

Today I made Goldilocks and the three bears bento for E. I pan fried some cheese sausages for making the three bears and a quail egg for Miss Goldilocks.
E was amused by the bento this morning.. he thought Miss Goldilocks looks funny. :)
I have posted this over Shannon's WFLW, and this bento was on Featured Friday too, cool!

Bento No. 83 - Cut the rope

2011-06-29T22:55:00.000-07:00

Every Apple fans out there would know the ipad / iphone game called " cut the rope". This is also an equally addictive game as the angry birds. Actually me, my hubby and my boy loves to play this game and even compete who has the highest scores. :)

The frog like creature is called "Omnom", we need to cut the rope at the right timing so that the candy will drop into Omnom's mouth.

Omnon is made from Pandan cake, i added a few quail eggs and grape fellows in th box too.

Bento No. 82 - Angry Bird

2011-06-19T19:06:00.001-07:00

My boy has been into games during holidays.. and my ipad has been invaded too..

He loves to play angry birds. When I asked him which angry bird does he like most? He told me blue and black angry bird because the blue bird can split into 3 little birds to attack and the black bird is powerful as it could explode like a bomb. Wise choice huh..

I made a yellow bird and black bird (due to natural food colour constraint :P). I know he would love a blue angry bird. The mini pocket sammies are filled with shredded chicken and cheese.

I forgot to add the eye brow for the black bird, so it kinda make him less grumpy with an innocent look..??? :)

Bento No. 81 - Kung Fu Panda - Lord Shen

2011-06-14T17:26:00.001-07:00

As promised earlier, I made a Lord Shen bento for my boy. I know Lord Shen is lot more elegant than my version. He is supposed to be a Peacock i think.
Hope my E will like it. :)

In case you are wondering what did I use for those red stripes at the end of the fan, its strips trimmed from strawberry gummy bears! hehe..

The Lord Shen toy are from Mac Donalds. Yeah.. i know its unhealthy, thats why i rarely bring my kids for fast food, actually E is more interested in the toys than the meals. :)

Orange Poppy seeds cupcake with fondant icing

2011-06-12T19:59:00.000-07:00

I tried making some cupcakes during the weekend, and made some fondant icing too. Thanks to my parents for helping to babysit my 2 little tykes. I share some pictures on my first experiment on cupcakes below. ;)

I think they are a bit overbaked, there are cracks on the surface.

Icing sugar sieved to make the fondant

Mixture of dissolved Liquid Glucose, Gelatin and a drop of red colouring for making pink fondant

Pour the liquid into the icing sugar and mix well. Knead till it gets soft and sticky.

Roll a piece of fondant

Use any cup or round cutter on fondant for the base on the cupcake.

For making piggy, cut few small round shapes for the ears and nose

Here is my first fondant piggy

and some bunnies

Bento 80 - Kung Fu Panda - Po

2011-06-12T18:10:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone! we are back, E has back to school today! As Kung Fu Panda 2 hit the box office during the school break, every kids in town will be talking about Kung Fu Panda.

We brought Big E and little Miss E to MacDonald's, as they have Kung Fu Panda toys comes with the Happy Meal.

So to cheer him up on his first day of school after a 2 weeks break. I promised to make him a Po bento. Drop in a few alphabets PANDA for spelling lesson too.

And he loves it! My next challenge will be Lord Shen! We'll see.

Cake Pops and Choc Pops

2011-06-05T20:14:00.001-07:00

I have been thinking for trying to make some cake pops since i saw these cute little things in Bakerella website. I finally gave it a try last weekend.

I made some cake pops and choc pops for my nephew's 5th birthday party.

Get ready my ingredients: 1 pound chocolate cake ( i only use half of the cake), 4 inch pop stick, cream cheese, Candy melts ( for Choc pops) and some sprinkles.

Cut the cake into smaller pieces before i crumble them and mix with the cream cheese. Knead until its sticky, add more cream cheese for if you feel they dont stick together.

Roll them into small cake balls about 3cm in diameter, I found the larger cake balls will drop after dipping into the melted chocolate as they are too heavy. I have learnt from this lesson. :)
Chill in the freezer for about 5-10 mins.

While waiting for the cake balls to chill. Double boil (or you can use microwave) the chocolate for dipping the cake pops later.

Take out the cake balls, insert the popstick after dipping a bit of the melted chocolate. Then put it back to the fridge to chill again. Its better not to put in the freezer for longer than 10 mins, as the cake balls will turn out to be too dry, when dip in to the hot chocolate, it tends to crack.

Lesson 2 learn here.. few of my cake pops cracked and fell off the pop stick. Blunder! :(

After taken out from fridge, rotate the cake pops in the melted chocolate gently and let the excess chocolate drip. Then add your favourite sprinkles on top.

These are the few successful ones. I know there are still rooms for improvement. I found the surface is not smooth enough.

Wrapped them up in transparent plastic bags and there you go.. perfect party snacks/gifts.

I bought some Wilton's Choc pops moulds. Just melt some Chocolate bars or Candy Melts.

Fill up the moulds and let it set. Remember to give them a little tap to get rid of the trapped air.

I found there will be small holes on the chocolate if we did not give a final tap.

Here are some strawberry Chocolate filled Easter Choc mould.

However I think the cake pops are a bit on the sweet side. Maybe i will make a cake with less sugar next time. Your advice in making cake pops and choc pops are most welcome.

Bento No. 79 - Rilakkuma pocket sammies

2011-05-22T17:44:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday! I hope today is a happy for all, as mine is not the case. Little Miss E has fever for the past few days.. still have fever on and off after taking medicine..

well.. I hope she will recover soon. If not I need to take a day off from work tomorrow.

Running out of ideas, I choose my back up plan - Rilakkuma.. hehe..

We have some left over Chicken breast meat from dinner tonight. I made a shredded breast meat and cheese pocket sammies for E.

Spread the shredded chicken breast on a piece of bread, place a piece of cheese on top. Cover them up with another piece of bread (after cutting a bear shape in the middle, in this case i make Rilakkuma), then seal it.

E loves eggs whether sunny side up or hard boiled. I seldom pack eggs in his bento as i find its difficult for him to consume during his 20 mins break. So I bought some quail eggs, smaller in size ,easier for him to pop in his mouth..haha..

I made Kiroiitori with a quail egg (idea from Karenmama's bento book).

Inside the box: another half piece of quail egg and some grapes.

My precious collections

2011-05-17T17:49:00.001-07:00

I have promised earlier to some of my bento friends to share my figurines collection when I finally have time to unpacked them.

I got the chance to do so while i was house cleaning during last weekend. And we just bought 2 glass display cabinets. yipee!

Finally my precious collections is out of the box and to be shared with others.

I started collecting Precious Moments figurines while I was working and staying in Singapore. The figurines sure costs me a bomb. But I just love them too much.. the tear drop eyes figurines are simply adorable.
They are made from porcelain, so must handle with care. I have warned my kids they can only view but not touch my figurines in the cabinet.. :)

Now you understand why I was overwhelmed with the Precious Moments Christmas Theme at a mall during my trip to Singapore last year.

While there are some Anpanman and friends toy figurines that i bought at the Flea Market at Clarke Quay in Singapore. I believe now they have moved to Chinatown Point.

There are quite a big toy collectors community in Singapore, that's why i could get a nice collection of them.

The pair of Mickey and Minnie figurines was souvenirs bought from Hong Kong Disneyland. The precious moments couples in the wedding car is the figurine that placed on my wedding cake during our Big day. I just can't refrain myself from adding the parachute couples to my collection.

Pinochio and Tinkerbell is from HK Disneyland. Animal lovers will love these 2 figurines with little gal bathing and walking the puppies at the park.

I particularly love the one at the right, just like my son fall asleep beside his father watching TV.

The one at the background, there will be lightings on the Christmas tree with Christmas songs playing when you swith it on. Think you won't miss the one far right corner, a precious moment version of Monalisa portrait.

And here are some more.

Anpanman and friends

Hope you enjoy viewing my collection. :)

Bento No. 78 - Little Ultraman

2011-05-17T17:34:00.000-07:00

We have just got back to work and schooling today after a day off yesterday. It was Wesak Day, a public holiday in Malaysia.
Little Miss E has been cranky these few nights.. maybe due to her toothing..
Hence another simple bento for E. He requested for Ultraman, what a relief for me. hehe.. I must confess i did struggle to get out of bed to make the bento for him. I made a ham and cheese pocket sammies for him today, it was a light one as it will be Macaroni in today's menu.
I have just hopped over and shared this bento at Shannon's WFLW.

Bento No. 77 - Super Mario Icon

2011-05-09T17:42:00.001-07:00

My boy are into playing games recently. He likes to play Super Mario Wii Sport with her aunt ( my younger sister). I am not a "game" person since young.
However i did play a little bit of Super Mario. Its quite easy and the characters are fun..
I think Super Mario is a classic for the Nintento games. Can you imagine I played Super Mario when I was young, and now my son is still playing it. haha..I wanted to make Mario and Luigi.. however I need to prepare some red and green eggsheets. Next time maybe (I wish I had more time everyday).
I opt to make the other Super Mario Icons appear in the game instead. The typical Toad (Mushroom), Star and Flower.This time I remember to take the pictures to show the tools and a brief tutorial on how to make the icons.

1) For making Toad (Mushroom)

I use the a bear cutter for the mushroom head,
an arrow cutter for the stem. Round cutter for
round spot on the mushroom (Karenmama's bento book cutter).

or you can cut it out from Cheese by tracing the
shape of the Toad on a piece of paper.

2) Use the round side of the bear shape cutter on
a piece of ham, then trim the unwanted edges
by using a knife.

Use the bottom part of the arrow cutter on a
piece of cheese for the stem or the face of the
mushroom.

3) Tools for making Flower

An oval cutter on a piece of ham for the base.
A smaller oval cutter ( in this case I use a round cap, just press gently by fingers to make it an oval shape) on a piece of cheese and place it one the ham.

Then use smallest oval shape (Karenmama bento book cutters) for the face for the flower.

4) Easiest to make is the star, just use any star cutter will do.

All the expression are Nori cut by using Karenmama's bento book facial puncher.

And again I find the cutters and facial expression puncher that comes with Karenmama's new bento book is so so useful.. I can make so many characters by using them. Strongly recommended.. :)

Just shared this post over Shannon's WFLW, lets hop over to catch up with other great bento creations!

Bento No. 76 - Friendly King of the Jungle

2011-05-08T17:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday! We had a great time yesterday celebrating Mother's day. We brought the kids along with my parents and sister to 1 Borneo Mall. The kids enjoy their playtime at the playground.

After some shopping, we had lunch at the Kam Tong HK Restaurant. The food was great. The kids were exhausted but i know they totally enjoyed it.

Sometimes spending precious moments with our love ones is all that matters, we don't want to squeeze in with the crowd in those expensive restaurants for dinner.

Just a simple lunch a few laughters to share, will be a fond memory for each of us.

I made a simple Ham and Cheese sammies for E today. Use the Wilton's flower shape cutter on Ham for the Lion's mane. Round shape cutters on Cheese for the face. Cut 2 small round shape of Cheese as the nose using a bigger straw. Insert few spagetti strips for the whiskers to complete the Lion.

In the box : I add a few cubes of Pineapples (another E's favourite besides grapes), a grape jelly and a giant grape as usual.

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-06T00:30:00.000-07:00

E brought home a handmade mother's day card from school today. Oh I just love the Blue kitty.

very oriental feeling.. like those paper used for Origami.
I love you too, son. :)
This coming Sunday is Mother's Day, we are planning to spend some family time at the mall and have lunch with my mum, dad and sister.
Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mums! Enjoy your special day!

Bento No. 75 - Rilakkuma and friends

2011-05-03T17:31:00.001-07:00

Today E's school menu is Macaroni, so I just make a light bento for him.
Made 2 tiny square sammies.
Use a small bear shape cutter on Cheese for Rilakkuma and an oval shape cutter for Kiiroitori.
Rilakkuma's eyes and mouth are nori cut by Carla Craft -Panda facial punch while eyes and feet of Kiiroitori are nori cut by facial expression punch came along with Karaimame's new bento book.
Both Rilakkuma and Kiiroitori's nose, ears and wings are cut by using oval cutter from Karaimame's bento book too.
I should have post the step by step. ok, promise I will do that later.
In the box : some raisins filled in a tiny sauce container and a giant grape.

Bento No. 74 - Anpanman to the rescue

2011-05-02T18:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Tuesday! Just got back to work after a long weekend. To start the week, I made a fairly easy bento - Anpanman.
I bought some shoulder ham so use the round cutters to on cheese to make the face, cut 3 round shapes on ham to make the nose and cheeks.
In the box : we have ham and Cheese roll and sammies, homemade jelly and some grapes.
E thought it was a clown..haha.. ya.. with the big round nose.. it sure does..

I have some collection on Anpanman too.. will post it up when i open my treasure box again.. :P

Some more bento tools, yes again..

2011-04-25T00:35:00.000-07:00

Newest released by Karaimame, ordered online from BentoCraft
(there are a set of 5 cutters and 2 food picks included, a good buy)

Bento book by Akinoichigo, ordered online from BentoCraft

Yum Yum Bento Box from Crystal and Maki, a gift from my sis in US

Heart and checkered food picks from BentoCraft

Dessert food pick from BentoCraft

Hello Kitty fork and spoon from Konikuniya

Tomica Bread or cookie cutter from BentoCraft

I have invest on some bento books recently, though they are not cheap. I think its worth to purchase some books for inspiration and basic technique for making bentos.

Bento No. 73 - Peko Chan

2011-04-25T00:16:00.000-07:00

Peko Chan Candy box

Glass miniature of Peko Chan

Peko Chan in Japan World Cup Jersey

I made Peko Chan charaben today! Peko Chan is a little girl character as trademark for Fujiya Confectionery.

She is so cute and always licking her lips.. She just love Sweets! I have mentioned earlier that I have quite a huge collection of Japanese Toy figurines.
Here are a few of my Peko Chan collection.

I made a pocket sandwich with ham and cheese fillings for E.

and I have just share this bento at Shannon's WFLW, lets hop over to take a look at other cute bentos!

Bento No. 72 - Blueberry Panda

2011-04-19T02:04:00.000-07:00

Little Miss E is still not feeling well, she was cranky and can't sleep well through the night.
So I got to make another speedy bento again.

Pin the blueberries as the ears and nose of the Panda on Kaya sandwich with short spagetti strips. I cut some Nori and Cheese for the eyes and mouth too.

Bento No. 71 - Little Chick

2011-04-18T02:02:00.000-07:00

Hello! Its Monday again! Time flies. For me, it has been zombie nights these weekend, my little Miss E caught a serious Flu. She was crying through the night.

I have to take leave today to bring her to the paedatrician and take care of her at home.

So I made a speedy bento, use the zig zag cutter for the cracked egg shell, and oval cutter on a piece of Cheese for the chick. Another small piece of triangular Cheddar Cheese for the beak.

Drop in a few blue berries and grapes in the Cherry food cup too.

Bento No. 70 - Did you find any Easter Eggs?

2011-04-11T19:25:00.001-07:00

The Easter holiday mood is setting in, E joined an Happy Easter colouring contest organised by local Bank, it was submitted by the school last week.

Made a few Egg shaped sammies, nested them in the peapod silicon cup as Easter eggs hiding between the grass.

I decorate the Easter eggs with Cheese and the colour candy sheets. Drop in few grapes too.

Let's start the easter egg hunting fun! Maybe you wish to ask the Cheeky Bunny for some clues. :P

E was amused by my Easter Eggs sammies. He said its cute. :)

Just shared this Easter Bento at Shannon's WFLW, have you shared yours ?

Bento No. 69 - Unicorn

2011-04-10T18:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday Everyone! (As it usually won't be a "Happy" Monday, so just to cheer up a bit.) Today I choose the "Horse Shape" Wilton's animal cutters to make a Unicorn. The Unicorn itself is triple deck sammies with jam and Cheese. Trim a strip of rainbow colour candy sheets as its mane, Cheese as the tail. Use a sharp end of the food pick as the Horn and add a pair of wings on the Unicorn's back.

Unicorn is an elegant and mystical creature, so i suppose it usually appears in the sky. I added an imaginary cloud shape sammies friend floating in the sky.

Inside the box are a piece of homemade orange flavour Konyaku Jelly, grapes and Laughing Cow flavoured cube cheese (This pink one taste like ham, E loves it).

When I asked E whether he knows what is in the box, he said " Unicorn".

Phew! I am relieved he recognised it as Unicorn. :)

Bento No.68 - Rilakkuma

2011-04-04T22:57:00.000-07:00

E's grandma bought some buns for breakfast. So i use the buns to make my first Rilakkuma. Add some Jam and Cheese sammies and grapes too. Its so simple to make, great for those lazy Mondays.

And I have just shared this bento at Shannon's WFLW, have you? :)

Bento No. 67 - A fun day at the park

2011-04-03T18:48:00.000-07:00

Today I use the mini cutters on cheese to make a little rabbit and bear. They are holding their balloons and running around the park happily.

My boy loves to go to the park to run around and feed the fishes in the pond with bread crumbs. It has been a while I didn't bring him to the park. Hope little Miss E will learn to run soon, so she can play hide and seek with his brother. :)

Cut two more grapes as Tulips in the garden.

Bento No. 66 - Little Miss Daredevil

2011-03-28T18:45:00.000-07:00

E requested Mr Men bento again, he wanted a Mr. Grumpy, but I don't have any blue eggsheets. Will KIV his request for the moment, replace it with Little Miss Daredevil.

I replicate the bento from Little Miss E's baby bag. I love this Little Miss Daredevil bag, isn't it cute? :)

Cut the strawberry jam sammies as the base by using a big round cutter, another slice of Cheese as the face on top. Tiny piece of Cheddar Cheese for her hair.

Some white bread for her helmet, and use the Wilton Food Writer to draw the design on the helmet. And again, not a very nice effect on bread too.

Hope E will like his Little Miss Daredevil bento. :)

Bento No. 65 - Mr Happy (Sketch)

2011-03-27T20:19:00.000-07:00

Another super zombie Monday without any bento ideas.. I was really not in the mood to cut nori details, so i took out my set of Wilton food writer. Trying to experiment how these food marker pen works on Cheese.

So I choose to sketch Mr Men character - Mr Happy, the result is not too optimistic, the ink sort of smudge on the cheese. Think the pen works best on icing or fondant.

Then I decided not to let E bring this slice of cheese to school, as the teacher might wonder why his mummy use a marker pen to draw on the cheese.

As they might not know they are products such as "edible food colour pen".. hehe..

And the kids might start using their pen drawing on cheese.. I dont want to create that kind of confusion.. or is it just me who are over worried. :P

So I ask E to eat the slice of cheese with bread on his way to school. He seems to like the idea too.. he has started reading the Little Miss books series, and he is asking for the Mr. Men collection. I am still searching for the complete set of books for him.

I made another "normal bento" with Cheese and strawberry jam sandwich rolls.

Add in 2 green stalk pick to the sandwich rolls as Roses.

Bento No. 64 - When little Puppy meets Rudolph

2011-03-21T17:48:00.000-07:00

I don't have any particular bento ideas today. I just looked at what we have bought from the bakery, we have ham and cheese bun and local kuih Bahulu (some sort of cake made from flour and egg).

Attached two grapes to the bun with spagetti strips as the ears for the puppy. Insert a red jewel pick as the red nose and flower pick on the Kuih Bahulu for the reindeer.

I have posted this to Shannon's WFLW.

Bento No. 63 - Fly, Fly, Butterfly

2011-03-20T18:09:00.001-07:00

I choose one of the cutters i bought to make a butterfly sammies. Use different size of flower cutters on cheese and colourful soft rice cake to make the patterns.

Insert 2 purple jewel picks for the antenna and some flower picks on the grapes as the flowery garden.

Today E's school reopens after a week long holiday. I am glad he switched back to the normal daily mode quickly this morning.

He has been spending his time playing with his cousins and gluing to his Nintendo DS Lite screen for the whole week.

I told him its time to get back to serious stuff. No more games.

Pray for Japan

2011-03-14T18:51:00.000-07:00

Everyone has been following news on the disaster happened in Japan last Friday. I watched the coastal city being swept away by the giant Tsunami from the news.

It is devastating for the earthquake survivors to witness their own home and family being taken away from them by the earthquake and tsunami.

I almost teared when i saw one heart wrenching photos from CNN that 2 parents went back to the scene and found their daughter's body trapped inside a abandoned school bus.

I can't imagine how will i cope if this happen in our country. I salute the their courage and patience to overcome this difficult times.

And I am so sad to see such a beautiful country of Japan being torn apart by the Tsunami.

And now they are still struggling to solve the nuclear plant leaking problem at Fukushima. You can find updated news at NHK.

Hope I can help as much as I can, we can donate through the International Federation of Red Cross as posted in Sonoma bento's and Maki's blog.

Let's all pray for Japan, hope the country and people will recover from this catastrophe soon.

Bento No. 62 - Anpanman

2011-03-13T18:54:00.000-07:00

Today I posted a bento made for E on Sunday for his lunch. This time i made an Anpanman Onigiri bento with Tamagoyaki, sausages, cucumber and carrot sticks.

Try on my new anpanman cutter on the egg sheet as the eyes and mouth, and crabsticks for the nose and cheeks.

Anpanman is one of my favourite characters too.. I have quite of big collection of the Anpanman figurines and toys.. ( now still inside "carton boxes" in the storeroom).

I have still have no time to unpack and display them after we move in our house.

Another confession, I have another addiction on collecting cute Japanese characters figurines and toys before i started bentoing.

E clear the bento in seconds. :)

Bento No. 61 - Guardian Angels

2011-03-08T18:21:00.000-08:00

Ethan did not request for any particular character in today's bento. So i made a pair of guardian angels. I believe everyone of us are watched over by a guardian angel. Whenever we need help they will be there without us knowing.

I use a small round cap and heart shape cutters to cut sammies for the face and body of the angels.

Insert the flying wings pick and the ring pick as the angels' wings and halo.

2 star shape cheese sammies as the base for placing the angels on top.

We are in a rush this morning so I had to take the picture of the bento in the car.

So thats the reason for the poor quality of the picture and the head of the blue angel being dislocated.. haha.. ( Little Miss E keep poking on the angels, while i struggled to take a picture of it).

Bento No. 60 - The not so green Tortoise

2011-03-07T17:58:00.000-08:00

Ethan request a Tortoise bento today. I have just bought a box of 50 pcs animal shape cutters, now I have 50 ideas for my bentos..haha.. how convenient.

Luckily I found a tortoise cutters inside the box.

Use the cutters on sammies. Use the same cutter on a slice of cheese for the shell.

Print some square and triangular shape on the cheese as the pattern on the shell.

Add in some cherries and grapes to complete the bento.

Bento No. 59 - Footprints in the Sand

2011-02-28T16:38:00.000-08:00

I want to share a poem that i love very much :

One night a man had a dream.

He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the LORD.

Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.

For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand.

One belonging to him and the other to the LORD.

When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand.

He noticed that many times along the path of his life, there was only one set of footprints.

He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times of his life.

This really bothered him and he questioned the LORD about it.

"LORD, You said that once I decided to follow you, You would walk with me all the way.

But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times of my life, there is only one set of footprint. I don't understand why when I needed You most You would leave me."

The Lord replied, " My son, My precious child, I love you and I would never leave you.

During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of foot prints, it was then that I carried you."

I want to share this poem to all and to someone that I care and love very much who is now at the lowest, saddest and most troublesome times of life.

Don't give up hope, at the end of the footprints, you will find some Irish Clovers for Good Luck and a rainbow for a good sign and new beginning.

Bento No. 58 - Oracle Paul the Octopus

2011-02-28T15:58:00.000-08:00

I am glad that E always request for a theme for his bento nowadays, and this save my time of thinking what to make.

He asked for a Octopus this time round. haha.. I am quite happy to hear that as its quite easy to make.

Use a small round cutter to cut cheese as the face and oblong cutters to cut eight of his tentacles. I asked E to count how many arms does the Octopus have too.

Placed the Octopus on sammies for contrast.

I make Paul the Octopus that predicted the World Cup results. You can see his eyes is a bit blurry as he has predicted so many games, need to stay awake to watch the games maybe..aha.. :)

Add in some grapes and Strawberries for him too.

Bento No. 57 - Froggy and Bear

2011-02-27T21:41:00.001-08:00

Today Ethan request for a frog bento, so i use the bear shape cutter on a piece of Pandan swiss roll to make froggy. Use the same cutter on sammies to make a bear.

I accidentally saw a grape with heart shape, I put a heart shape pick on it too.

Bento No. 56 - Baby Elephant

2011-02-20T19:47:00.000-08:00

E requested a Elephant bento yesterday, I planned to make some blue eggsheets to make a Blue Elephant. However, Little Miss E and Ethan is not feeling well again. (Blame the bad weather).
After i rock Little E to sleep last night, Brother E start calling for me and his forehead was so hot, he had a higher fever.
His fever has subdue this morning. Hope they will recover soon.

I just got to use Cheddar cheese as the Orange Elephant.

I use a big round cutter for the sammies as the face of the Elephant, 2 different sizes of heart shapes cutter to cut cheese as the floppy ears.

Welcome to the next level of bento addiction :P

2011-02-17T23:11:00.000-08:00

I can't wait to try all my new gadgets. I just loved the transparent cover bento boxes.

I ordered them from Bento Craft, and i got my parcel within 2 days. very efficient. :)

Bento No. 55 - lil Monkey and Bear go to school

2011-02-17T22:40:00.000-08:00

My Boy asked for a Monkey bento so i try making my first Monkey. :)

Make 2 sammies using 2 diff sizes of bear shape cutter.

Place Cheese as the face of the Monkey and bear on top .(I am using bear shape cutters too..very handy tool, its a must have for bentoing)

Added a cap and hat pick for the duo.

Put in only 2 grapes for E, as you notice its a very light bento as he will have his fav fried noodle in school menu today.

I have use the newly added Tomica bento box, E is so excited to see his new bento box.

Bento No. 54 : Happy Valentine ! I see you , You see me

2011-02-13T16:54:00.001-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you! Today I made a simple bento for E.

Using heart shape cutters to make 3 sammies and a few apple hearts. Place Cheese hearts on the sammies and use alphabet cutters for 3 alphabets S E E which represent my hubby and my 2 Es.

I just want to say I love them with all my heart. Thank God for Blessing us and giving me a beautiful family.

Fill up another deck of the bento with some skewers of grapes, starfruits and apples using my new flower/Sakura cutters.

Bento No. 52 & 53- Bentos on Lazy Days

2011-02-08T22:28:00.001-08:00

A simple Tuna Sandwich using the pocket sammies cutter. Cut a bear and a rabbit Cheese face and stick it one.

Just use different shape cutters you got to cut mini sammies and use nori cutters to add some facial expression on it.

These are the few bentos that i made during those lazy days (usually Mondays), and i just don't have any bento ideas at that time. Thus i called them lazy bentos. :)

Bento No. 51 - Baby Koala Bear

2011-02-08T22:01:00.001-08:00

I have been planning to make a Valentine's Day theme bento, however i got to change to plan B as my prince (ya..E called himself "Prince" yesterday.. i couldn't believe my ears and i make fun of him for the whole day) requested a Koala Bear bento.

However i still place a mini heart on the baby koala, so I think it still count as a
Valentine's bento? :)

I scratched my head and try to imagine how to make a koala from my wholemeal bread.

I pull out my tray of cutters, choose a bear cutter for the face, 2 diff sizes of flower cutter as the ears, oval shape for the body and 2 oblong shape cutters for the arms and legs.

I place a slice of cheese on the sandwich as background for contrast. Carefully arrange the different shapes cut from sammies on the Cheese and pin it down with short spagetti strips.

While Koala Bear needs a tree to hang on, so I use the bread crust that i trimmed just now to recycle as the tree trunk, slot in a few leafy picks.. tata.. a tree is done.

As I run out of E favourite grapes, i added a jello and gummy as a treat.

Kids love Chinese New Year & Dong Dong Chiang

2011-02-07T23:02:00.000-08:00

My boy striking a pose with his Kung Fu Sham

My little E wearing her oversize Traditional Chinese Sham with her Grandpa.

yea.. and Kids just love the Dong Dong Chiang ( Lion Dance)

Chinese New Year Celebration at the Padang Merdeka (Independence square)

Lion Dance, Dragon Dance, and Peking Lion Dance and the Unicorn too

My cheeky boy

Look at his excited face, there are 15 Lions perform at a friend's CNY party

Quite a impressive scene

u can see the ministers and politicians posing for the photographers on the stage

We didn't go anywher during CNY, just spent time with both me and my hubby family members.

Well thats what CNY all about, to celebrate with our love ones..

and the kids love the fireworks, Lion Dance and Ang pows (red packet with money for the kids as a blessing).

Bento No. 50 - Three Bears without Goldilock

2011-02-07T22:38:00.001-08:00

I have made a Happy Bunny Family bento earlier on, so I thought of making a Bear family this time. Using different sizes of bear shape cutter again to make triple deck ham and cheese sandwich. Pop in a mini honey mandarin orange again and few grapes.

Bento No. 49 - Little Rooster and Little Hen

2011-01-23T22:35:00.000-08:00

I have been trying to wake up a wee bit earlier than usual recently, so to have more time to prepare stuffs and get everything ready before leaving house.

As I have been late to work for 2 days due to both E fell sick early this month. So I better not take the chance again.. :)

I have seen cute little chicks made by other bento mums, and I love them. I finally have a try on it, with a little help of my jewel , flower and musical note picks.

I cut sammies by using a heart shape cutter, add a Pink jewel pick for the rooster, yellow flower pick for the hen.

And I found a musical note just perfect for the chicky feet..haha..

On the top layer of the box, i add some grapes, lemon slices and cheese crakers for E.

Bento No. 48 - Sandwich Puff Bunnies

2011-01-18T21:38:00.000-08:00

The weather has gone kind of crazy recently, hot and humid during the day and showers in the evenings. Lots of us, especially kids caught the flu bugs.

And we see floods in many parts of the world, like Brisbane in Australia, Brazil, Philippines etc.. And worst cold in decades, sudden change in weathers, extremely cold winter in Taiwan, Korea, Mongolia etc..

Its kind of sad and worrying to see this happen to our earth. Lets Pray for those unfortunates and hope this will end soon.

Both my Es are down with flu and cough too. So I am kind of worn out for the past few days. Thats why I always wish for health for my kids. Its hard to see them suffer, coughing through the night without getting enough sleep. sigh..

Little Miss E has slowly recovered, and Brother E is in recovering stage.

I have taken a day off to be with my boy E, so no school for him yesterday.

Today, I made him a light sandwich bento as I know he won't have a good appetite. And thankfully his school menu of the day is porridge, which is just right for him.

I use the Curry Puff mould I bought sometime ago, try to make some pocket sammies.

There are different sizes of them, we just have to find a right size of round cutter to cut the bread for fitting in the mould.

In my case, i use a round shape plastic container to print the round shape on the bread and cut it out.

Made 2 sandwich puffs, add 2 red jewel picks as their nose, and heart shape cheese as love to my 2 Es who were not well.

I have post the step by step of making the Sandwich Puff Bunnies below :

This is the Curry Puff mould that can be found at most Supermarkets or Bakery shops.

Fold it into half to press on the dough or bread of

your choice.

Cut a round slice of bread with the prefered fillings and place it on the mould.

Fold it into half and press gently.

Open it , trim the unwanted bread or dough if needed.

Tata, my Sandwich puff.

cut 2 bunny ears from the bread crust, use spagetti to secured the bunny ears on the bread.

Bento No. 47 - Little Girl and Boy Loves to Sing

2011-01-11T22:08:00.000-08:00

My Boy E has started his 2nd year of pre-school early this month. So everything has gone back to the usual momentum now. We get up early every morning, dress him up, getting ready to work and send E to school.

So i thought of making my first back to school bento for E. I use a round cutter to make the face of the little girl and boy from kaya sandwich.

They have dressed up well and hair was nicely done. A pink ribbon pick for the girl and a green bow pick for the boy.

Put a few musical notes pick I got recently on the grapes. It looks like the notes are floating around while the kids are singing their Kindy songs along with the music. I put in a few colourful mini Microphone chocolate i bought from my recent trip as a treat for Ethan. ( I noticed E does not really fancy Chocolate, which is a good thing I guess?)

Bento No. 46 : The Happy Bunny Family

2011-01-10T21:32:00.000-08:00

2011 is the Year of Rabbit/Hare in the Chinese Zodiac. And the Chinese New Year is just around the corner..Yipee! we love the New Year atmosphere where we got to eat all the good food, Lion Dance and Firecrackers/Fireworks.

To celebrate the year of rabbit, I will make my first bunny bento.

Use difference type of Rabbit cutter to cut some Chiffon Cake, Cheese and Nori for the eyes, nose and mouth.

I made a happy family with a papa, mama and baby bunny. Nothing is better than to have a healthy and happy family.

Add in some Starfruits, mini honey Mandarin orange (its very sweet and juicy, we got plenty of them during period of Chinese New Year) and grapes to fill up the box. Two orange gummies camouflage as Carrots as a treat for E.

Bento No. 45 - Ghibli Collection : My Neighbour Totoro

2011-01-04T21:42:00.001-08:00

My version of Totoro ><

The famous Cat Bus and Totoro

Little sister Mei was sick, Totoro was accompanying queitly beside them waiting for bus.

I made a Ghibli Themed bento - My neighbour Totoro.

Since I have some Banana cake, I can use it as the body of Totoro, use the smaller round cutter to cute some bread for the chest. Cheese and Nori for the eyes, nose, mouth and details on Totoro's chest.

Studio Ghibli was created by Japanese Animator - Hayao Miyazaki. He has created many famous anime that was released in movie. " My Neighbour Totoro" was a classic, other anime that i like are " Spirited Away ", " Laputa- Castle in the sky" and recently the " Ponyo".

I love his anime for the amazing storyline with some morals and real issue we face daily (like global warming, family relationship etc). Especially there is always a little girl charater in the anime who is so cute and innocent that touches our heart. Oh and the beautiful soundtrack too.

I have watched almost every anime in Ghibli collection. So I am one of those die hard fans of Ghibli/ Miyazaki.

This story is about two young sisters' adventure after moving to the countryside with the father due to the bed-riden mother. In the forest is where they meet the giant Totoro (Cat/Owl) creature which only can be seen by young children. And also they meet the Cat bus who help them travel back to visit their mother. Oh, and the little black dust bunnies only be seen by the baby sister Mei.

oops..I think i got carried away....

So today's bento is actually a recap of my favourite childhood movie. So E has not much idea of what is Totoro, he had only watched part of it when he was very young. Maybe i should let him watch again as he would understand the story more now.

Have added this bento to Shannon's WFLW week 33, have you added yours?

Bento No. 44 - City Mouse and Country Mouse

2011-01-03T22:17:00.001-08:00

E requested for a Mouse bento from the Story book - " The City Mouse and Country Mouse."
I have been reading him night time story since he was 2. I just bought a batch of books recently. And I have finished reading all of them to him, some of them repeated not twice but many times. :)

Hmm.. think its time to replenish the books again. Last night,E requested a Country Mouse bento, so I happily obliged.

I use the newly added Mickey Mouse cutter to cut Strawberry sammies and Banana cake into 2 different colour Mouse.

So there is a White city mouse and a Brown country mouse.

I use 2 different tones of cheese as their ears and nose for contrast. Nori for eyes and whiskers.

Added skewers of grapes and some Cheese crackers. Though they look different , they both love Cheese for sure. :)

Have added this to Shannon's WFLW week 32.

Bento No. 43 - Ben 10 series - Echo Echo

2011-01-02T22:22:00.001-08:00

Today E starts school again, and its time i pull out my bento gadgets (after blowing away the dust after setting aside for a month. haha).

I finally make my first Ben 10 Alien force bento for E, as promised for ages. Made the easiest one first - Echo Echo (used to be his favourite toy, you can see how the toys was handled.. boys will be boys).

Made strawberry jam sandwich, cut out the face of the Echo Echo, Cheese for the eyes and mouth. Use a round cutter to cut some nori sheets and cheese to make the ben 10 logo on Echo Echo's chest.

Add in a few homemade Jelly too.

Hope my bento cheer him up a bit, he is reluctant to go to school after a long break. When i ask him : " Do you know what did i made you today?" He looked at it, and shake his head.

Oh my, I guess my Echo Echo is not even close to the real one. But he seems happy as i explained to him its Ben 10 bento.

Added this to Shannon's WLFW, have you?

Some more new gadgets

2010-12-23T22:30:00.001-08:00

Mr Men Little Miss bento box, and multicolor bento box straps.

animal, flowers, jewel and musical note food picks.

These are gifts from my best friend from her recent trip to Tokyo, Thank you!

Food Barans, Food drawing pen, Nori Punchers.

Mickey Mouse cookie cutters from Tokyo Disneyland

More bento boxes for my 2 Es , I will keep the pink Marie cat bento box for my little girl when she starts school.

Bento No. 42 - Dancing Snowman, la..la..la..

2010-12-23T21:53:00.001-08:00

A cute Hello Kitty Christmas Cookie from little E's baby sitter, so sweet.

A little twin star Christmas Decoration with light and Jingle Bell song I bought some time ago.

I know I have been missing from my blog for a while.. haha.. As my boy is having his school holidays, he will be at my mum's house and having his breakfast there.

So I can sleep a little more each morning for a month..:) ( feeling bit guilty for confessing I am being lazy)

But I just can't do without a Christmas Bento at all. So I just make a simple snack Christmas bento.

A sandwich Snowman with a top hat cut from layered cheese. His eyes, mouth and buttons are from nori. However I take a shortcut using different colour jewel picks for his red nose, green bow tie and blue arms.

Beside the Snowman, is another musical Christmas tree. Just decorate with different musical notes picks that I just bought. The Snowman is dancing along the Festive songs.

With this, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Blessed New Year !

Universal Studio Singapore

2010-12-01T00:04:00.000-08:00

He likes Gingy and the talking Donkey in Shrek movie.

Rollercoaster in Galactica was temporarily closed due to technical inspection.

Cute Shrek and the family cushions.

Fairy Godmother Potion Shop, there is a souvenir shop and a mini Ferris wheel inside.

Welcome to the Far far away Castle

Shrek's hut

Beware! Ogre!

We had lunch at the Frair's outlet, I loved this Woody Lunch Box that comes with the Kid's meal.

He chose his new Shrek Cap.

yay! M & Ms

And Jelly Beans

I am lost in the Candy Land

Candylicioius

Our cute and sexy Betty Boo

Madagascar Carousel

Some cute and yummy stuff...in Singapore

2010-11-30T22:45:00.000-08:00

Marina Bay Sands Hotel

This is another pleasant surprise when i saw this Precious Moments Christmas Theme at Jurong Point.

I used to collect the Precious Moments figurines.

Beautiful angels

and Lucky Us, just in time for the musical show. Precious moments figurines moving round and round inside the christmas tree just like the musical box.

I was mesmerized by these cute figurines.

Saw my boy hiding behind the glass.

Cute Bear from Harrod's at Changi Airport

My Boy's fav Mac D with his Kid's meal toy.

This mini Ferrari go-cart are really for sale, not just display.

Chuggington, err.. don't know his name, as my boy is not a fan..haha

I practically wanted to scream when i see this Giant Stitch, cutey.

Finally have a try on the Famous - Macaroon (Left to right : Hazelnut, Strawberry & Passion Fruit). Well, not bad I can say.

Saw this Giant Rainbow Pocky sticks at Watson. Just can't resist to have it!

Hershey's Store

Lot's of imported Confectionery from Japan, Milky girl is my favourite too!

Mini Chocolate Ice-cream cone, Cuteness Alert!

Here is my favourite Mos Burger - Ebi rice burger~ yum yum..

and of course the Chunky Fries and Iced Milk Tea.. I waited for 1 year and 1/2 year (from my last trip) to have another bite on this..hmm..

Bento No. 41 - School Children Party

2010-11-19T00:11:00.000-08:00

Homemade Mango Flavour Konyaku Jelly

Today is last day of school for E this year. The school is having a children party, parents are asked to bring a dish for the kids for the party.

I took a day off to make some mini party pack for E's classmates. I sent E to school in the morning then return home to start making the bentos. I have about 40 minutes to complete them.

So I choose to make a simple one, I made some Mango flavour Konyaku jelly a day before and chilled in the fridge.

Bought some buns to make mini burgers, grill some chicken nuggets in the oven while i pan fried some mini chicken mushroom cocktails.

Inside the box, there is 1 mini burger, 1 konyaku jelly, 1 rainbow marshmallow and a mini cocktail.

The time is just enough for me to make 20 party boxes. I forgot to take a photo on all of them laying on the table, as I was rushing to pack them to send to E's school. haha.

E brought home a Rabbit party hat and card. I wonder why they called it farewell party, probably because some students will be leaving the school after graduated this year.

Bento No. 40 - Polar bear onigiri

2010-11-15T19:36:00.000-08:00

I made a simple breakfast for E. Using the bear shape rice mould to make the snowy white polar bear.

Nori for eyes and mouth, a tiny sausage button for nose and dab some tomato sauce for the cheeks.

Fried some mushroom sausage and egg too.

E request for more tomato sauce to complete his bento.

Bento No. 39 - Bread Sushi

2010-11-14T21:32:00.000-08:00

I am a Sushi Lover, so i will make Sushi for Lunch during the weekends occasionally.

However E does not like to eat Sushi. In order to introduce him to this Oishi food, I had an idea of making Sushi from bread and Cheese.

Use the small round cutter to make some mini strawberry jam sammies. Cut long strip of Nori to wrap around the bread.

Chop some red Gummies to sprinkle on top , does it looks like fish roe sushi? hehe

A bar of layered cheese as the Tamagoyaki Sushi, strapped it by nori strip.

The last one is sweet corn sushi, pressing on 2 types of Cheese by mini oval cutter.

In the bottom layer of the bento box, I add some Honey Stars and grapes, and tried to make some "Bread Pops". Use the animal cutter, in this case a bear and a rabbit, insert a pick in between the sammies. Does it looks like a mini bread lollipop? :)

I get this idea from Emily's Blog. Finally got the chance to try my hands on it.
Its fun and easy making it.

Forgot to mention about E's reaction, when he first open his bento, he frowns a bit like want to say " ma, I don't like sushi.' I quickly explain to him it is bread sushi, all of them are jam sammies and there are gummies and cheese on them.

Then he was kind of relief and start to smile.. haha.. kids.. he ate all of the bread sushi.. :)

Bento No.38 - Cat Love Fish

2010-11-10T21:37:00.000-08:00

Made some Strawberry jam sammies by using the animal sandwich cutter, I choose the cat and heart shape.

Cut a few fishes using layered cheese. The cat grin widely as he got to eat his favourite fishes. :)

Overlapped two kind of cheese as the heart, meaning the cat LOVE the fishes..

Added some grapes and some biscuits for E too.

Have been busy and down with flu bugs lately. Luckily I still manage to post one bento at Shannon's WFLW. Hehe..

Bento No. 37 - Silly Little Owl

2010-11-03T17:47:00.001-07:00

I made another simple bread bento for E as he will have Macaroni during his break at school, i don't want him to be too full.

Use a round cutter to cut the strawberry jam sandwich as base. Darker colour cheddar cheese as the body and lighter cheese cut into heart shape as the chest.

Nori as the eyes, wings and feet.

Its kind of a silly looking owl, I don't have a hat pick so I use the jewel pick instead.

Bento No. 36 - Lovey Dovey Bear

2010-10-31T22:35:00.000-07:00

After a good whole month of fun making Halloween themed bentos and admiring other creative bentos, we are back to normal. I missed the Halloween though..

To adjust back to usual tempo.. I make a simple bento for E. Spread some strawberry jam on a bun and make it into a bear.

Cheese as the nose, nori the eyes and mouth. Cut a small section from the gummies as the rosy cheeks.

Added few heart shaped layered cheese for E.

He wiped out everything. :)

Bento No. 35 : Itsy - Witchy Spider - Trick or Treat?

2010-10-26T22:25:00.001-07:00

To catch the last band wagon for making Halloween Bentos, I made a Witch Spider bento.

I sandwiched the Chocolate Pocky sticks between the Oreo cookie as the spider legs.

Bread crust as the witch hat, cheese and nori as eyes. Lay the spider on a piece of sweetcorn bread, thats why it is looks yellowish.

Sprinkle a few Jelly Beans and some layered cheese as Candy Corn. These are the candy goodies for trick or treating.

I made a corn bread origini as the ice-cream ghost, place on top of a ice-cream cone.

To practice my carving skills, I tried to carve a Orange Jack' O fruit basket, fill it up with Orange wedges and red grapes.

E has been singing nursery rhymes learnt from school recently. One of them is

" Itsy - Bitsy Spider".

Here is how it goes :

" The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Climbed up the water spout,

Down came the rain, and washed the Spider out,

Out come the Sun, and dried up all the rain,

And the Itsy Bitsy Spider, climbed up the spout again."

Its nice to sing nursery rhymes along with E. :)

I posted this bento over Shannon's WFLW.

Cake Pops! A new trend!

2010-10-21T23:18:00.000-07:00

I saw some wonderful images of " Cake Pops" or Cake Lollipops on some websites. It caught my eye immediately.

The above images was from Bakerella.

I wanted to learn to make one right away.. ( If I had the time to do so ;p)

This is going to be my another passion just like when I got to know how to make Charaben not long ago.

I am definitely interested in trying the 'Cake Pops' out during one of my free days..

If anyone has tried this, kindly drop me some advices and tips.

Bento Giveaways

2010-10-20T00:48:00.000-07:00

A spiderweb bento caught my eye while dropping by Shannon's WFLW. The spiderweb is so neat and love the candy spiders too..

Glory Mischief is also having a bento giveaway. There are lot's of bento supplies for grab, I love the silicone cup with Bird's feet, so adorable. For those who wanted to start making bentos, this is a good chance to win a starter kit.

Giveaway is open to all. US/Canada and International.

Giveaway ended 23rd October 2010.

____________________________________________________

My bento friend Kidsdreamwork who inspires me very much is having her 1st Anniversary bento giveaway too.

The giveaway is opened until 22nd October 2010, Friday Midnight, Malaysia time (GMT+8).

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Bentobloggy is having another bento pack giveaway!

You have until Sunday, Oct 31st, by 11.59pm EST time to enter.

Good Luck!

Bento No. 34 - The Mummy & Frankenstein

2010-10-19T22:40:00.001-07:00

To continue with the Halloween Frenzy, I made another Halloween themed bento.

The two star of the day are Mummy and Frankenstein.
My Boy knows what a Mummy is as he watched the movie " Mummy Returns" , but he never seen Frankenstein. Well, its pretty normal as no kids will like to watch horror movie Frakenstein. haha..

He take it as The Hulk, which I don't blame him. They are pretty similar.
Sheri has made a Frankenstein bento too , and it is not scary at all, too cute!

Strips of cheese are layout randomly on the surface of the sandwich as bandage of the Mummy and 2 M & M's as the eyes.

As for Frankenstein, I cut a piece of the homemade Pandan Chiffon cake. Nori and cheese for the eyes and mouth. 2 green jewel picks as the bolt on both sides of the neck.

Its pretty simple to make actually.

On the top layer of the bento, I cut 2 piece of steamed purple sweet potato into Bats, some grapes and cherry tomotoes.

Have posted this bento over at Shannon's WFLW this week.

Bento No. 33 - Cupcake O'Lantern and Batman

2010-10-18T22:58:00.001-07:00

Ethan has requested a Batman bento since last week. I have been busy so i thought i might as well make a ' Batman Logo' in a Halloween bento as well, as ' Bats' are also a main character in a Halloween bento.

I have a pumpkin cupcake which i placed some nori on it as cupcake O' Lantern, and carve a plum into Plum O' Lantern too.

However, I think E does not really fancy plum and think he might not finish it if I put the whole piece of plum in his bento box.

I decided to slice it and mix with the skewers of grapes.

I cut a small piece of the layered cheese as mini Jack O' Lantern too.

The Batman logo was cut free hand from nori sheets. Placed it on top of a layer of cheese and Kaya sandwich.