Leftovers At Last

So we finally have a leftover dinner bento. Okay, so it's not turkey, but Chinese food is just as good. Plus, the Little Goose has another new bento box. This one was only $4.99 at a trinket store in near Ranch 99 in El Cerrito (different store from the one I got the Snoopy box from, I really ought to remember these store names!)

Top box:
-Brown rice topped with carrot flowers with mint leaves. I REALLY need to learn how to garnish with something other than carrot and in shapes other than flower (although this one I cut using a paring knife). Or at least, if I'm going to stick to the flower thing, I should make them more elaborate.
-Leftover almond chicken with a sprig of mint

Bottom box:
-Grape skewers (love those skewers!)
-Rambutan (last can!)

No kid pics because I'm busy busy busy busy busy these days and I don't see them much while they're awake. =(

Snoopy and the Caterpillar

For once I didn't have to go to eBay to get a cute bento box. This one was had from a store in the same center as the Ranch 99 in El Cerrito, CA. The Little Goose and I both love Peanuts, although, the whole thing with the adults speaking nothing but gibberish isn't quite so funny now that I'm an adult and parent.

So! On the left we have:
-BBQ pork stir fried egg noodles from Cam Huong in Oakland, CA; one of my favorite Vietnamese delis, if you happen to be in Oakland, check them out. While the food isn't spectacular, it's fast Viet food that's relatively authentic and cheaper than my uncle on Christmas (which is pretty darn cheap, you can't beat $2.50 banh mi).

On the right we have:
-Persimmon and kiwi slices arranged in the shape of a caterpillar (primarily because I couldn't really figure out how to arrange them); the eyes and antennae are made from kiwi seeds and cilantro stems.

And...ta da, I finally took a picture of one of the kids. Here is the Little Goose with one of her new books, The Magic School Bus at the First Thanksgiving, which didn't arrive until after Thanksgiving unfortunately. She loved it regardless. =)

Pooh Platter

:sigh: The Thanksgiving holiday weekend is over, it's back to the grind for all of us and back to bento for this little blog. We ended up not having any leftovers from Thanksgiving and so I had to actually cook something for today's bento. It's a new classic pooh (at least, I think that's classic pooh) bento box that I ordered on eBay and it came all the way from Hong Kong. Very cute eh? The contents may seem very simple and paltry but they are some of the Little Goose's favorite comfort foods; eggs, rice, and peas. Usually, she has this combo with a bit of soy sauce in fried rice form, but I thought I'd present it a bit differently today.

Top portion:
-Asian pear with a sakura flower carved into it with a persimmon center
-Persimmon slices under the asian pear (my husband's father, paternal grandfather, and maternal grandmother each have their very own twenty something odd year old persimmon trees and it's persimmon season and so we are swimming in this delectable fruit)

Bottom portion:
-Rice topped with oshinko sakura flower with a carrot center
-Mini omlets (tamago) topped with carrot flowers
-Peas

'Twas The Night Before Thanksgiving

...Ah forget it. I was going to write a silly poem, but I'd much rather eat. My aunties and uncles have begun to arrive and already the men have started a poker game in the living room, the children are running around screaming and laughing (bedtime? yeah right), and the kitchen...dear GBH the kitchen! Is filled to the brim with food, glorious food. My sister is making the turkey and bringing it over tomorrow but the aunties have provided us with the above traditional fare. Fresh homemade pork cha gio (eggrolls) and bun bo (beef vermicelli noodle soup). Diet? What diet? Let the gorging begin!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Now get off the computer and go spend time with your families!

(Also posted at thelotuslife.net.)

Meatball Madness

Ok, so just a quick description since I'm SLEEPY. This is the first time I've been sleepy before 2am in DAYS and so I'm definitely going to just lie down and snooze for a bit and hopefully get more than 5 hours of sleep for once.

Top box:
-Steamed broccoli
-Edamame skewers
-Steamed carrot heart
-Teriyaki chicken meatballs (We just buy the pre-made kind from Costco, the Little Goose likes them and they're easy to heat up so it's perfect, next time I use them I'll note the brand as I'm rather forgetful right now.)
-Carrot flower with edamame center, broccoli stem, and edamame "leaves" over rice

Bottom box:
-Half a madeleine
-Grape skewers
-Rambutan

Good night! =)

PS Many thanks to Ngoc over at Cooking Cute for the edamame skewer idea. Her site rocks. Check it out if you haven't already at www.cookingcute.com

Busy Thursday

Ok, so I'm not being lazy today, work and school are just kicking my butt. I'm not even going to begin to think about how the baby is now sick with a cold/flu/some illness or other. It's just one of those weeks. At least we have Thanksgiving to celebrate next week and you know what that means...leftover bento! Wheee!

The Little Goose gets the whole of next week off from school though, I'm not entirely sure what we're going to do with her for all that time since the hubs and I still have to work. We'll see, maybe we could just stick her in the bathroom...I kid! I kid! More than likely, she'll be babysat with the baby with some TV books, crayons, and crafts to keep her busy. I may or may not make her fancy lunches next week. We'll see.

Today we have in the top box:
-Vietnamese braised pork ribs (my mom made them), very yummy
-A Steamed medly of veggies including chayote, sugar snap peas, and carrots

In the bottom box:
-Grapes
-Raspberries
-Asian pear
-Loacker chocolate wafer cookies

Tuesday: Extension of Monday

I hereby declare Tuesday an addendum to lazy Monday. That is all.

Left container:
-Watermelon and apple skewers

Right container:
-Kappa maki and oshinko maki (cucubmer sushi and pickled radish sushi basically)
-Topped with cucumber and oshinko stars

And today's baby pic, :sigh: here is my Sweet Pea. This picture makes it seem like he's a big boy without much baby left. He's only 19 months old, where did my baby go??