Pandas and Onigiris

My kids love rice and what they consider Onigiri: plain sushi rice wrapped in seaweed. We finally found some Furikake seasoning this week and everybody liked it so now I need to get some Furikake containers for their lunch boxes :)

Our lunch consists of three Onigiri, apples and orange slices, energy bites and seaweed Arare which are Japanese crackers wrapped in seaweed.

For the younger kids I made smaller Onigiri and they packed apples, oranges, energy bites and Arare as well.

The kids loved decorating with our new panda picks and I think they came out very cute :)

My sister asked me the other day for a quick picture tutorial on how to make these very plain Onigiri because she wanted to make some to dip in different sauces and I made this tutorial on my phone - so pardon the light and quality - but I though some of you might like to see it.

Typically, I steam the rice and let it cool until it is only slightly warm. I put about one Tablespoon of rice on a small piece of plastic wrap and either form a ball by kneading the rice or twist the top of the foil until a ball forms. In this tutorial I used some seaweed and a seaweed stamp and made first a round rice ball with face. You can also cut a long strip of seaweed and wrap the rice ball in it to look more like an Onigiri. Beware that the seaweed will "shrink" once it absorbs some of the moisture from the rice so cut the strip a little longer then necessary!

Hope this helps if you are looking to make some very simple rice lunches!

World Animal Day Blog Hop

Today is World Animal Day and Bento Bloggers & Friends are having an exciting Blog Hop! 

We all picked a different animal to make today ~ click through the hop to see them all !

I picked a BEAR as my animal:

And here is the World Animal Lunch I made:

First I added some lettuce and my rice bear. The bear is made with rice and colored with soy sauce. I mixed about 1/2 cup of cooked rice with soy sauce until I was happy with the color. I added the rice to a piece of plastic wrap and shaped the head. I added thinly cut julienne style cucumbers with a tiny amount of salt and then folded them into the middle of the head of the bear. Then I made two small rice balls for the ears and added some white rice for his snout and also cheese and nori details to make his ears and face :)

I love the this tutorial from Moriazu on how to make a shaped onigiri! 

After that I added the details: straw-bear-ries, Italian cookies, Enjoy Life Chewy On-The-Go Bars Cocoa Loco -- 5 Bars, pretzels to make a fence and cheese flower to go with my soy sauce flavored bear. 

I hope you enjoyed my Bear Bento

 and now please click on the blog hop button to see what animal Obento Momma picked!

Happy World Animal Day!

and

This is also my 100th post! 

Thank you for all your support!

Things I used to make this lunch:

Kitty Cat Snack

My daughter loves having special snacks and since we got the fabulous CuteZCute Animal Friends Cutter in the mail recently (review to follow) she wished for a Kitty Cat Lunch. I used the cutter to make a strawberry jelly bread sandwich and also added some grapes with bento picks. 

I really love how easy it was to make the cat and my daughter loved that it looked so cute!

I also made her a girl and her cat rice balls to complete her snack. I simply rolled some cooked white rice into balls and added seaweed decorations and a bow pick :)

Things I used to make this lunch:

Baby Bird Onigiri Snack

 I made these cute Onigiri Snacks this weekend. They were so easy to make and the kids loved them!

I put about two tablespoons of rice on a small piece of plastic wrap and rolled the rice into a ball. I added nori details cut out with my nori punch and cut out a small triangle for the beak.

Happy Snacking!

Things I used to make this lunch:

Ruff-Ruff Bento

I had some rice left over from yesterday and decided to make bento boxes for lunch today!

I packed a rice ball shaped like a dog with nori accents and a carrot tongue, strawberry hearts and a jelly sandwich in the upper tier. In the lower tier I packed a cereal bar, cheese crackers and cinnamon cookies. I also packed ice water and popcorn today.

To make the dog I placed some rice in plastic wrap and shaped the head. Then I added the nori accents I had cut out earlier with sharp scissors. The tongue is a piece of carrot cut with a vegetable knife :)

Happy Monday!

Car Bento

I am ending this week with one last rice bento. This time my son wanted a "Police Car Bento." I feel a lot more comfortable using cookie cutters then rice presses and so I thought of this after seeing this amazing bento from Daisy Selalu! Her blog is amazing. Please go and visit (:

I made fresh sushi rice and added just a little salt. I pressed the rice into a car cookie cutter I have and filled in the surrounding space with scrambled eggs before removing the cookie cutter. I added cucumber stars and red pepper flowers and nori detail to complete the top.

At the bottom are car shaped whole wheat bread sandwiches with Nutella and peanuts. I used this cutter and stamp set for the sandwiches. I really love it because it is so versatile :) We also packed Kefir in a reusable drink bottle today.

Happy Friday!

 

Lunch in a Box

The end of the school year is nearing and it seems the kids are getting more and more excited about the last lunchboxes of the year. Everyone wanted to plan their lunchboxes last night and think about what they wanted and how.

My 7 YO wanted a sandwich bento box with a jelly sandwich and a granola bar at the bottom (with a little bear and grass decoration) and a peanut butter and banana sandwich at the top. I also added a couple of dye-free yogurt pretzels and some grapes with - as he called it- M&M bento picks ;)

My 5 YO wanted a jeep or recycling truck sushi box. Yes, he asked for this and I had no idea and for sure not the skills to fulfill that wish. I ended up making three triangle rice shapes and set them on lettuce. I added cucumber skin for the window and recycling sign and cucumber slices and yellow mini tomatoes as wheels. For him, I also added a few yogurt pretzels, more garden cucumbers and an oat & brownie bar from Trader Joe's. I have a lot to learn but it was fun to make!

With a lot of imagination (especially with that of a 5 YO) you can make out the truck, lol.

My oldest wanted a homemade Lunchable and got Tortilla chips and Guacamole, some yogurt pretzels and a Pumkin Seed Ciabatta roll with butter and blackberry jam.

All three have ice water today and no additional food since today is a short day :)

Happy Wednesday!

Tuesday with Love

I had originally planned something fun for Fat Tuesday but we are all feeling a little queasy and I thought keeping it simple might be better.

So instead, I made a rice ball caterpillar that I decorated with ham, cheese, cucumber skin and left over soup crackers. I would have used Nori if I had planned a rice bento but cucumber skin sliced thin with a peeler is a great substitute if the lunch is not sitting for a long time. It is also great for decorating sandwiches and I love using it for making eyes ;) I also added an apple to the lunch, applesauce with sprinkles and some carrots and celery.

Hope everyone is enjoying Fat Tuesday without any queasy tummies out there!