Bibimbop!

Mid-term tomorrow, 8:15am daily meetings, and an increasingly long list of responsibilities at work. But, at least I had a little bit of time to make the Little Goose her lunch. Primarily from leftovers, we had bibimbop last night and I put aside a container for the LG. And so we have we have from top and clockwise, over steamed white rice:

lightly steamed garlic carrot shavings,
cucumber,
sliced galbi (korean bbq shortribs),
sliced steamed cabbage,
steamed sugar snap peas,
and topped with toasted sesame seeds and a little cucumber bunny.

Unfortunately, no gochujang since the LG doesn't like anything spicy. :sigh: One would think that a half Vietnamese, 1/4 Korean kid would love spicy...must be the Japanese side.

Spring Rolls for Spring

Holy cow! It's been over two months since I've posted here. Unfortunately, it's mainly because I've been extremely busy and posting lunch has fallen by the wayside. I still make bento on a regular basis for the Little Goose, but they haven't been nearly as "fancy" or "fun" and I've gotten a little lazy about the whole process of taking and uploading pictures (yes, I'm ashamed to admit that).

But here we go! One bento and one cute kid pic!

In the bento we have:
-Dried cranberries
-One apple "bunny"
-Banana chips
-Vietnamese spring rolls stuffed with lettuce, shredded chicken, and carrot flowers (yes the flowers are wrapped inside the spring roll)


Sweet Pea turns 2

The Anti-Climatic Return!

Oh wow, it's been over a month since I've posted here. Although I've been making bento lunches for the Little Goose in the past month, they have not been as fancy or pretty and so I have not been posting any pictures. Also, I've been super busy with school and work so I haven't had much time to devote to just lunch, it is a lower priority than spending time with my kids and getting some sleep after all. Anyhoo...unless I have some time, the lunches will probably be a bit simpler than they have in the past. For example, this one here. We have:

-One mini-orange blossom with a Reese' Pieces center
-Stewed carrots over rice
-Vietnamese braised beef ribs
-More rice (but loosely star shaped...for that extra oooh, obviously =)

PS I did get a brand spanking new to me 19th century antique cypress wood and lacquer bento box that I'm hoping to use sometime soon. It's for an adult's lunch which I've never really done before, but I'm sure I'll come up with something. When I do, I'll definitely post it here.

For today's pic, here's the Sweet Pea enjoying a nice cool shot of soy milk. No, it was not my idea (it was my mom's I swear!). But we've got a large shot glass collection. We might as well use it for something and they make the perfect toddler sized glass...if only they weren't breakable.

Short Snack

Wednesdays are short days for the Little Goose at school due to teacher meetings or something. Thus, on Wednesdays, she only gets a short snack time rather than a full lunch. Hence, the return of the teeny tiny bento. Is it bad when the dessert pack is the same size as the lunch portion?

Dessert:
- Meiji Hello Panda Strawberry cream filled biscuits

Bento:
- Teeny broccoli florets
- Honey BBQ Chicken Wings
- Baby Corn
- Baby Carrots
- Mini Seedless grape skewers

Yeah, it's sort of funny, the Sweet Pea certainly thought so. =)

Mmmm...Tuna

My uncle is a fisherman and brought in some fresh tuna for us recently. It was so fresh, it was probably sushi grade or something, but not being big raw fish eaters, my parents made these awesome Vietnamese braised tuna steaks. I made the rice. =) I'm so proud.

Left:
-Sauteed bok choy with minced garlic topped with carrot flowers
-Plain rice
-Braised tuna steak topped with chives and carrot

Right:
-Seedless grapes
-Mini fuji apple bunnies
-Carrot sticks

Ooh, and here is the Sweet Pea. He said he, "Buhb eee"'d me today (translation: "love you", since we say, "I lovey you!"). First time ever (without prompting)! Hear that bento lovers? My baby loves me! Who'd of thunk?

When All Else Fails...

Make fried rice. I tried to do something fancy today but just gave up. It's amazing, but somehow, now that the quarter is over, and despite not having to worry about school (just work and family) I'm just as tired as when school was still in session. There's just something about the end of the year that just makes me want to sleep, shop, and send my little girl to the cafeteria...but I slacked off yesterday and so I had to come up with something!

Top:
-Steamed broccoli
-Chicken and veggie potsticker cut in half and topped with baby corn slices
-Fried rice with cha lua (that Viet mortadella, love that stuff), peas, carrots, and corn
-And you can't see it, but there's a section of baby corn at the bottom

Bottom:
-Persimmon slices
-Lychee Jelly (Yes, the kind that kids used to choke on and were banned from stores for a while. These are different from those earlier deadlier versions in the fact that they're bigger and you have to actually bite them to eat them. My husband claims that they don't seem as sweet and I think they seem a bit less firm, but it's been a long time since they sold the smaller, chokable kind.)

Ooooh, and a picture of a kid...well, Sweet Pea and his Daddy. Taken yesterday but close enough!

Woeful Wednesday

Why is Wednesday woeful? Because it's the middle of the week hump day. Wednesday's the day that demands that you work your butt off to make up for the fact that you were recovering from the weekend on Monday, slacked on Tuesday because you're mourning that it's Tuesday and have four days to go before the weekend. Thursday's a wash because you're pooped from Wednesday, Tuesday, and Monday. And Friday? C'mon...

So, in honor of woeful Wednesday, here is a woeful lunch for the Little Goose. She wanted grilled cheese. Since it's a short day for her on Wednesday, I'm using this TEENY TINY, ITTY BITTY little bento box.

Left:
-American cheese hearts in the shape of a flower with a dried goji berry center covering...
-Toasted turkey and cheese rolls wrapped in flattened multi grain wheat bread
-A few turkey and cheese rolls
-Half a mini dill pickle
-One bite macaroon

Right:
-Dried goji berries
-Sliced jackfruit
-Sliced lychee

Left